Railway Infrastructure and the Victorian Novel, with Nicola Kirkby

20/10/2025 1h 2min
Railway Infrastructure and the Victorian Novel, with Nicola Kirkby

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Episode Synopsis

Dr Nicola Kirkby is Centre Manager for DIVERSE CDT, the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Diversity in Data Visualization, at City St George’s, University of London, and a member of the steering group for the Thinking Through Infrastructure Network. In this podcast she discusses her new book, Railway Infrastructure and the Victorian Novel: From Platform to Plot via the Railroad, which is out now with Cambridge University Press.

The conversation explores the different ways that rail infrastructure has reshaped the novel as the nineteenth century progressed, and asks how close reading can help us to see and think differently about the social and cultural impact of infrastructure. There’s also some healthy Raymond Williams stanning. The podcast is hosted by Dom Davies and the Thinking Through Infrastructure Network (@TTinfraNetwork).