Thomas Stearns Eliot

Type: Person

As of November 2026, Thomas Stearns Eliot has been mentioned in one podcast episode on Stuff You Should Know (Nov 2025). In the episode "Short Stuff: Third Man Syndrome" from Stuff You Should Know, Josh Clark references T.S. Eliot's 1922 poem "The Waste Land" as the literary source for the term "third man syndrome." He notes that Eliot's work is directly linked to the naming of this phenomenon, stating that the phrase originated from Eliot's lines.

Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, essayist and playwright. He was a leading figure of modernist poetry in the English language where he altered the art through his writing style, verse structure and use of pessimistic language. Awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature, he is considered one of the greatest poets of the English language. He is also noted for his critical essays, which often re-evaluated long-held cultural beliefs.