The origins of celebrity, from medieval divas to Kris Jenner

<p>From Joan of Arc to Kim Kardashian, and Davy Crockett to Donald Trump, celebrity culture has deep and wide roots. Famous people who elicited Kardashian-level feelings of love and hate in the public were present centuries ago — long before screens and social media. Though, as we find out in this podcast, they all share similar qualities. <em>*This episode originally aired on June 30, 2022.</em></p><p><br></p><p>Irina Dumitrescu is a writer, co-host of the LRB podcast Encounters with Medieval Women, and a professor of Medieval English at the University of Bonn.</p><p><br></p><p>Sharon Marcus is author of <em>The Drama of Celebrity </em>and the Orlando Harriman Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.</p>