Book 1, Chapter 1: "The Anxiety of Influence"

In the premiere episode of A Million Little Gods, we explore the supposedly “literary theoretical” method conceived by Harold Bloom for critiquing the work of poets and other artists over and against their predecessors. As a literary theory, Bloom’s idea was pretty insipid, but as a (somewhat jaundiced) way of looking at the human condition, it was actually profound. We speak to esteemed professor and critic Christopher Ricks, Poetry Magazine Editor in Chief Don Share, and Stephen Metcalf of the Slate Culture Gabfest about the history and legacy of—and perhaps more salubrious alternatives to—the “anxiety of influence.”