Long before the first stone of a church was laid in the small rural village of Stedham in the UK, the yew was already there.
There, across from a cemetery so old even the headstones now bow in solemn recognition to the earth, an ancient Taxus baccata, said to be 2,500 years old, stands.
Its life stretches back 1,600 years before the church beside it was built, a living relic, older than memory.
Half a world away, the same endurance and history linger along the oak-lined grounds of Tulane University in New Orleans, where towering live oaks, some older than the university itself, have watched generations pass beneath them, holding their own stories in the slow, steady language of time.
They are the stars of Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great, those “that reign’d at my nativity”, sent earthbound. Fixated. Unmoving. All-knowing.
It is this history that lured comedian Anthony Jeselnik to study on its grounds.
“I would’ve loved to have studied creative writing specifically, but they didn’t have that major at Tulane, and it was more important to me to go to college in New Orleans than to major in creative writing,” he told Mediaweek.
“I got the life experience of living in New Orleans.”
Most of the world is familiar with Jeselnik through his dark humour and roasting prowess. It was his appearance at the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump that saw his profile surge.
His jokes slice through like the abyss that stares back as we cross the rickety bridge of life. Just like dropping our heads and sneaking a look into the darkness below, his humour sits in the in-between.
In his arsenal are jokes that touch the seemingly untouchable: abortion, cancer, murder, just to give a taste.
However, the comedian has been spending a fair chunk of his time of late dabbling in a realm more commonly occupied by the likes of Oprah and Reese Witherspoon.
“When everything else in the world seems so horrible, it’s great to be able to focus on a passion, an organic passion of mine that I’ve had for my entire life, and to get it out into the world and to find that people have been responding positively,” Jeselnik said.
The book club has now become so popular that Jeselnik has teamed up with Bookshop.org, ensuring that participants can get their hands on each monthly recommendation after several local bookstores had sold out.
“I think books are just great teachers. And I think the more books you read, the more you see that.”
Jeselnik got his start writing monologue jokes for Jimmy Fallon before deciding to “bet on myself and go on the road as just me”.
It wasn’t long before the charismatic comedian’s unique storytelling style began to resonate with crowds.
He’s now got three Netflix specials under his belt, propelling his profile well beyond America. That success, and the pressure that comes with it, is perhaps why Jeselnik has doubled down on his lifelong love of reading, in the hope of encouraging others to join him.
“Non-fiction’s boring as hell. You learn so much from literature. You learn empathy, you learn about people. You can walk a mile in someone’s shoes, truly.”
And it’s that quieter, more reflective side of Jeselnik, the one shaped less by punchlines and more by pages, that comes into sharper focus in the full Newsmakers episode.
For anyone used to seeing him operate in the dark, it’s a rare glimpse at what sits underneath, and why, for him, literature still does the heavy lifting.
You can listen to Mediaweek’s Newsmakers here or wherever you get your podcasts.
For those playing at home, here’s a list of all the books mentioned in the podcast:
Glama Rama – Brett Easton Ellis
American Psycho – Brett Easton Ellis
No Country for Old Men – Cormac McCarthy
The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton
Departure(s) – Julian Barnes
Lost Lambs – Madeline Cash
Crux – Gabriel Tallent
Discipline – Larissa Fa
Heap Earth Upon It – Chloe Michelle Howorth
White River Crossing – Ian McGuire
The Violet Hour: A Novel – James Cahill
Among Friends – Hal Ebbott
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
Stoner – John Williams
Chain-Gang All-Stars – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
The Glass Hotel – Emily St. John Mandel
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
Faithless – Alice Nelson
Main image: Anthony Jeselnik