Podcasts Education Self-Improvement Conversations with Tyler Ruth Scurr on the Art of Biography

Ruth Scurr on the Art of Biography

Published: Dec. 1, 2021, 1 p.m.

The most challenging part of being a biographer for Ruth Scurr is finding the best form to tell a life. \u201cYou can't go in there with a workmanlike attitude saying, \u2018I'm going to do cradle to grave.\u2019 You\u2019ve got to somehow connect and resonate with the life, and then things will develop from that.\u201d Known for her innovative literary portraits of Robespierre and John Aubrey, Scurr\u2019s latest book follows Napoleon\u2019s life through his engagement with the natural world. This approach broadens the usual cast of characters included in Napoleon\u2019s life story, providing new perspectives with which to understand him.

Ruth joined Tyler to discuss why she considers Danton the hero of the French Revolution, why the Jacobins were so male-obsessed, the wit behind Condorcet's idea of a mechanical king, the influence of Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments during and after the Reign of Terror, why 18th-century French thinkers were obsessed with finding forms of government that would fit with emerging market forces, whether Hayek\u2019s critique of French Enlightenment theorists is correct, the relationship between the French Revolution and today\u2019s woke culture, the truth about Napoleon\u2019s diplomatic skills, the poor prospects for pitching biographies to publishers, why Montesquieu\u2019s Spirit of the Laws would be her desert island read, why Cambridge is a better city than Oxford, why the Times Literary Supplement remains important today, what she loves about Elena Ferrante\u2019s writing, how she stays open as a biographer, and more.

Read a\xa0full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded July 12th, 2021

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