Jane Austen's Paper Trail

Ranking history

About the show

Latest episodes

• Q&A: experts answer your Jane Austen questions

  January 28, 2026 · 31 min

  In this special Q&A episode we've asked a panel of Jane Austen experts to answer your questions! We’ve received a virtual sack full of letters from you, ranging from questions about Austen’s religious beliefs to her grasp of contemporary…

• The happy ending

  December 9, 2025 · 35 min

  In the sixth episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we explore whether Jane was happy, using her last published novel, Persuasion, as our guide. Given that happy endings in Jane Austen's novels chiefly revolve around…

• The writer

  December 2, 2025 · 35 min

  In the fifth episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we look what kind of author Austen was, and what Northanger Abbey reveals about her view of her profession. Austen's grave in Winchester Cathedral makes no mention…

• The friend

  November 25, 2025 · 35 min

  In the fourth episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we explore who Austen made friends with, and ask what we can learn about friendship in the pages of her fourth novel, Emma. We explore who Austen’s friends were…

• The political being

  November 18, 2025 · 39 min

  In the third episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we explore Jane's politics, and her views on slavery through the pages of Mansfield Park. There are no strident political takes in Jane Austen’s novels, but many…

• The romantic

  November 11, 2025 · 37 min

  In the second episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we explore romance in the world of Jane Austen through the pages of Pride and Prejudice. Every heroine in a Jane Austen novel ends up married. It is the bow on the…

• The gossip

  November 4, 2025 · 35 min

  In the first episode of Jane Austen's Paper Trail from The Conversation, we're delving into Austen's first novel, Sense and Sensibility where gossip – and the fear of it – plays a central role in the story. Through the rumours that swirl…

• Introducing Jane Austen's Paper Trail

  October 1, 2025 · 1 min

  Introducing Jane Austen's Paper Trail, a new podcast from The Conversation. When she died aged just 41, Jane Austen's sister, Cassandra, burned most of her letters. What's left gives us tantalising clues about who she really was. Austen's…