Chapter 4.7 - You've Got Mail with Casper ter Kuile

Alicia and Sarah welcome podcaster and author Casper ter Kuile to discuss one of his favorite 90s films, You’ve Got Mail. They look at epistolary stories through the ages, from love letters to online chat rooms. At the end of this week’s discussion, they talk about the things they've been reading, watching, and analyzing outside of the classroom.

Literary terms of the week: Epistolary, Pen Pals

Sign up for the newsletter and follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Music by Craig Harmann

Cover art by Matt Holman

---

Show Notes:

Literary terms of the week:

• Epistolary novels

  • The Color Purple

  • Frankenstein

  • Dracula

  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

  • Ella Minnow Pea

  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower

• Pen pal romances

  • Persuasion (Jane Austen)

  • Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Becky Albertalli)

  • Attachments (Rainbow Rowell)

  • The Shop Around the Corner (movie this is based on)

• Audience

• Perspective

• Pathos

• Email vs Snail Mail

  • Personal element of snail mail

  • More time for snail mail

  • Commonality of email (reception, audience, attachments)

  • Cost of snail mail

• Basic principles of communication (according to Hitch)

  • Body language (60%)

  • Tone (30%)

  • Words (10%)

What are we enjoying right now?

• Alicia: A Closed and Common Orbit (Becky Chambers), Wheel of Time Season 2 (Amazon Prime)

• Sarah: Beach Read (Emily Henry), 1883 (television)

• Casper: Schmigadoon (AppleTV) and SoulBoom (Rainn Wilson)

Related Episodes

Chapter 3.16 - Big Magic and the Six

Chapter 3.9 - The Balcony Next Door

Chapter 3.7 - Bennets by Some Other Names

---

Please “like” by clicking on the ❤ and share this post with your friends, colleagues, and fellow lit thinkers.