La Celestina

Season 6, Episode 1

In this Illuminated Lecture, Professor Barbara Fuchs, Distinguished Professor of Spanish and English at UCLA and director of Diversifying the Classics, addresses La Celestina, a text written in Spain at the turn of the sixteenth century, soon after the expulsion of the Jews. La Celestina asks radically uncomfortable questions of its society and our own: what do we owe each other, especially across lines of class or gender? How do we make room for ourselves in a place where we may not be welcome? In a time of profound dislocation, how do we find meaning in the world?

This episode was recorded as a live presentation on April 30, 2026 at The Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles.

Read the transcript for "La Celestina."

THE TEAM

Hosted by Aaron Henne

Scholarship provided by Barbara Fuchs, PhD

Edited for the podcast by Julie A. Lockhart and Gregory Scharpen

Featuring the voices of Edgar Landa, Julie A. Lockhart, Jacob Surovsky, and Ilana Zackon with music performed by Jeremy Robinson

Theme music composed by Michael Skloff and produced by Sam K.S.

Transcription by Julie A. Lockhart

"La Celestina" Learning Resources

Learn more about:

• La Celestina

• Fernando de Rojas

• Crypto-Jews

• The Inquisition in Spain

• 1492 Expulsion of Jews from Spain

• Anthony Munday

• The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet

Watch with captions on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/K2T38dOrp8E

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