STACK with Jake and Ella
Classics with a Twist: Sally Rooney, Ella Risbridger and the 900 Versions of Pride & Prejudice
24 Feb 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello and welcome to A Stack, a books podcast that's here to help you fall in love and stay in love with reading. My name is Jake, I'm a writer and a podcast producer.
And I'm Ella, I work in book publishing. In every episode we'll be cutting through the noise, building a themed stack of six books that we love and we know you will too.
This week's theme is classics with a twist. So inspired by the new Oliver in Heights film that we talked about in a bonus episode last week. Before we get into classics, Ella, how are you? Have you been reading? Have you not been reading?
I have been listening to Shameless podcast. If anyone hasn't listened to Shameless, I'm slightly loathe to recommend it because people will get hooked on their podcast and stop listening to ours. But it's an amazing podcast and I really wanted to recommend their recent episode, A Woman? You Mean a Womb? Have you listened to this episode of Shameless?
Yeah, because you've talked about Shameless a lot recently. And I've started, I was like, I'll just listen to a few more. And I've got so into it. And I'm three times a week.
Oh, you were three times a week because they've just introduced this third Friday episode, which... I just didn't feel able to commit to, although I'm sure it's fantastic content. The episode that I really would like to recommend to people is one of their deep dives, and they bring together these three different stories.
One of them being the viral Target sweatshirt that went viral that said, dump him, and the backlash to that, particularly from conservative women.
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Chapter 2: What is the theme of this episode on classics?
Two Stephen Bartlett interviews where men are talking about the impact of declining birth rates on men and the responsibilities of women to address it. And they also talk about the role of the hapless man in culture, I guess, including Chris Evans' character in The Materialists as this kind of guy who doesn't have his life together and is kind of a slob and doesn't seem to be able to...
get things together at work or at home and yet we're supposed to root for him as a romantic lead so those three stories intertwine in this really interesting conversation from these two Melbourne journalists and we'll put a link in the notes but I thought it was so good I've listened twice wow that's quite the endorsement to do listen twice what about you have you been reading or not reading I've been reading a bit but I'm really excited because when this goes out I'm about to go on a reading week a self-declared reading week
That actually, it will chime with what we're going to talk about, but that gives me shudders. Like it reminds me of uni having to read stuff that I didn't want to read.
Yeah, so it's kind of taking the words of what that was. But this is, so I've got a week of annual leave to take and I've just booked. I'm seeing some friends in Edinburgh towards the end of the week, but I've booked like the whole week to stay.
I've got a read I've got a stack I'm gonna go and sit in cafes and go on walks and just wake up late and read in bed like I'm really gonna just catch up on I've got an absolutely horrific big pile in the kitchen that's just forming into this monster of several books I need to get through and I'm picking out the ones I'm really excited and haven't been able to give a chance yet so I'm just gonna leave you're just gonna read and read how many things you're gonna get through on your reading week
Okay, I've got a full week. So I've got seven days. I'm going to Edinburgh. So the train journey is a good four hours. That's really good reading time. I can't recommend that train journey enough. I'm going to go... God, I feel really on the spot. I'm going to go eight.
Great. I look forward to hearing your report. Please re-document your updates on Instagram or TikTok.
Yes, I'll post some stuff on the SAC.
SAC podcast, everybody. shall we talk about classics and what makes a good one if any yeah let's talk about classics from two people who are dubious it feels this is i think one of the big differences between this podcast and other bookish podcasts i think most podcasts have more respect for the classics Than we do. And we'll come on to that.
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Chapter 3: How do Jake and Ella feel about traditional classics?
They hold the original to such a high standard that almost messing with it at all is sacrilege. Or if people just didn't particularly like this version of it. Why do you think people are so rabid about Pride and Prejudice?
I've never been obsessed with it. Like, I've never been... It's not one of my favourite stories, even in original form or in any of the retellings. I think, like you say, the enemies tell others. There's something in that that is just so enduring. There's something in the period, you know, we see it in Bridgerton, there's something in, like, the period piece... that people are still so drawn to.
And I also think it is probably of the classics that people have read and been told they have to read. This one genuinely is entertaining. And you can come away from that being like, I read a classic and I loved it. And so people probably have that kind of fondness for it there as well. And I think Pride and Prejudice more than any other Austen books as well. I really enjoyed it.
And yeah, there's just something very like sharp and clever about Curtis that really matches well with Austen.
Okay, my next book, it's not a classic with a twist, but I'm putting a twist on the theme of classics. Sally Rooney in Temezzo. Have you heard of Sally Rooney?
I have heard of Sally Rooney, but Jake, I have never read a Sally Rooney book.
None of them?
Not a single one.
Oh my God, I thought you might not have read in Temezzo, but I would have thought you'd read. Wow. Okay, let me see if I can get you up.
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