A series from The Conversation taking you on a journey through Jane Austen’s life and times with the help of the UK’s top Austen experts. Over six episodes, one per book, we visit a scandal-filled bun shop in Bath, go for a windswept walk along the sea shore at Lyme Regis and attend a glittering Regency ball in York to find out more about the woman behind the novels. This is Austen as you’ve never known her before.
Jane Austen's Paper Trail
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8 episodes
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Podcast Overview
A series from The Conversation taking you on a journey through Jane Austen’s life and times with the help of the UK’s top Austen experts. Over six episodes, one per book, we visit a scandal-filled bun shop in Bath, go for a windswept walk along the sea shore at Lyme Regis and attend a glittering Regency ball in York to find out more about the woman behind the novels. This is Austen as you’ve never known her before.
Language
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Publishing Since
10/1/2025
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Recent Episodes
January 28, 2026
Q&A: experts answer your Jane Austen questions
<p>In this special Q&A episode we've asked a panel of Jane Austen experts to answer your questions! </p><p>We’ve received a virtual sack full of letters from you, ranging from questions about Austen’s religious beliefs to her grasp of contemporary science, and even what she might have made of social media. Unlike Jane’s sister Cassandra Austen, however, we have no intention of throwing your letters into the flames. </p><p>Joining host Anna Walker to discuss your questions are <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emma-claire-sweeney-2429293" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emma Claire Sweeney</a>, a senior lecturer in creative writing at the Open University, <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-mullan-2540669" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John Mullan</a>, professor of literature at University College London and Lizzie Dunford, director of <u><a href="https://theconversation.com/jane-austen-shunned-literary-fame-but-transformed-the-novel-from-the-shadows-270590" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jane Austen’s House in Hampshire</a></u>.</p><p>Jane Austen's Paper Trail is a podcast from The Conversation celebrating 250 years since Jane Austen's birth.</p><p>You can also sign up to <a href="https://tally.so/r/MeXOvY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">receive a free Jane Austen 250 ebook</a> from The Conversation, bringing together a collection of our articles celebrating her life and works.</p><p>Host: Anna Walker</p><p>Senior Producer and Sound Design: Eloise Stevens</p><p>Executive Producer: Gemma Ware</p><p>Artwork: Naomi Joseph and Alice Mason</p><p>The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. If you like the show, please consider <a href="https://tcnv.link/2S1cahf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">donating to</a> support our work. You can <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sign up here for a free daily newsletter</a> from The Conversation here.</p><ul><li><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-jane-austens-landscapes-mapped-womens-lives-266878">How Jane Austen’s landscapes mapped women’s lives</a></li><li><a href="https://theconversation.com/inside-the-regency-ballroom-what-youd-experience-on-a-night-out-with-jane-austen-270628">Inside the Regency ballroom: what you’d experience on a night out with Jane Austen</a></li><li><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-jane-austen-readers-still-leave-letters-at-her-graveside-269752">Why Jane Austen readers still leave letters at her graveside</a></li></ul><br/>
December 9, 2025
The happy ending
<p>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. </p><p>Given that happy endings in Jane Austen's novels chiefly revolve around a love match with the desired hero, some might conclude that as Austen remained a lifelong spinster, happiness must have eluded her. But this groundbreaking writer was a woman who filled her life with meaning through interests, friendships, socialising, travel, and most of all, a purpose.</p><p>In this episode, Jane Wright is joined by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nada-saadaoui-2406991" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nada Saadaoui</a> of the University of Cumbria, whose research examines Austen’s depiction of walking in Romantic-era English landscapes, to answer the question: was Jane happy? Taking in the sea air at the Cobb in Lyme Regis, the two explore what this coastal Dorset town meant to Austen, and how it inspired the pivotal scene in Persuasion where Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth reignite the spark of their connection.</p><p>Later in the episode, Anna Walker sits down with two more Austen experts – <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-mullan-2540669" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John Mullan</a>, professor of literature at University College London, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/freya-johnston-2540671" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Freya Johnston</a>, professor of English at the University of Oxford – to comb through what clues Persuasion offers about Austen's own happiness.</p><p>Jane Austen's Paper Trail is a podcast from The Conversation celebrating 250 years since Jane Austen's birth. If you have a question you'd like to pose to Jane Austen experts for an Q&A special in early 2026, please email us on podcast@theconversation.com. </p><p>You can also sign up to <a href="https://tally.so/r/MeXOvY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">receive a free Jane Austen 250 ebook</a> from The Conversation, bringing together a collection of our articles celebrating her life and works.</p><p>Host: Anna Walker</p><p>Reporter: Jane Wright</p><p>Senior Producer and Sound Design: Eloise Stevens</p><p>Executive Producer: Gemma Ware</p><p>Artwork: Naomi Joseph and Alice Mason</p><p>The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. If you like the show, please consider <a href="https://tcnv.link/2S1cahf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">donating to</a> support our work. You can <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sign up here for a free daily newsletter</a> from The Conversation here. </p>
December 2, 2025
The writer
<p>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. </p><p>Austen's grave in Winchester Cathedral makes no mention that she was a writer. Publishing anonymously and disliking literary celebrity, she remained largely unknown as a writer in her lifetime despite occasional, reluctant contact with London’s literary circles. Her fifth novel, Northanger Abbey – written in 1799 but published posthumously – clearly reveals her views on writing and reading books.</p><p>In this episode, The Conversation's Naomi Joseph visits <a href="https://janeaustens.house" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jane Austen's House</a> in Hampshire with <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/louise-curran-1470865" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Louise Curran</a>, lecturer in 18th-century and Romantic literature. Curran is an expert in letter writing, the development of the novel and literary celebrity. </p><p>Later in the episode, Anna Walker sits down with <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kathryn-sutherland-2536227" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kathryn Sutherland</a>, emeritus professor of English at the University of Oxford, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anthony-mandal-114203" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anthony Mandal</a>, a lecturer in English literature at Cardiff University – to discover what Northanger Abbey reveals about Austen's views on writing. </p><p>Jane Austen's Paper Trail is a podcast from The Conversation celebrating 250 years since Jane Austen's birth. If you have a question you'd like to pose to Jane Austen experts for an upcoming Q&A special, please email us on podcast@theconversation.com. </p><p>Host: Anna Walker</p><p>Reporter: Naomi Joseph</p><p>Senior Producer and Sound Design: Eloise Stevens</p><p>Executive Producer: Gemma Ware</p><p>Artwork: Naomi Joseph and Alice Mason</p><p>The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. If you like the show, please consider <a href="https://tcnv.link/2S1cahf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">donating to</a> support our work. You can <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sign up here for a free daily newsletter</a> from The Conversation here. </p>
8 total episodes available
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