Stanford Professor Rowan Dorin guests on the new literary history podcast Writ Large

Writ Large is a new podcast about the books that changed the world. In each episode, host Zachary Davis interviews one of the world’s leading scholars about one book that shaped the world we live in—whether you’ve heard of it or not.   

The second episode of the first season ("Seven Books, One Deadly Rumor") features Stanford historian Rowan Dorin discussing The Life and Passion of William of Norwich. 

When the 12th-century monk Thomas of Monmouth learned of a young boy’s murder in his community, he accused his Jewish neighbors of the heinous crime. Over the course of two decades, he wrote a lengthy conspiracy theory, building out the accusation and cementing it in history. Although only one copy of this text survives, its story of murdered children and international conspiracy continues to haunt us today.  

You can listen to Writ Large at writlarge.fm, on the educational podcast app Lyceum, or wherever you get your podcasts.