In the Freud Archives with Elise Riley

Episode 9 September 24, 2025 01:09:28
In the Freud Archives with Elise Riley
Unburied Books
In the Freud Archives with Elise Riley

Sep 24 2025 | 01:09:28

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Show Notes

Elise Riley, an accessioning archivist at the Beinecke Library, offers us an expert's perspective on In The Freud Archives, Janet Malcolm's nonfictional exploration of archival infightingThe book concerns three psychoanalytic scholars who come to epistolary blows over the scattered remains of Freud's legacy. But unlike most niche academic debates, this one resulted in a $13 million dollar lawsuit. In this episode, we discuss Malcolm's narrative distance, the role of fantasy versus reality, and some things the Sigmund Freud Archives could have done to avoid all this Oedipal drama.

For more on archives and obsession, join our Patreon to hear next week's episode on Henry James' The Aspern Papers.

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