Podcast appearances and mentions of mark scarbrough

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Best podcasts about mark scarbrough

Latest podcast episodes about mark scarbrough

Walking With Dante
To Refocus Virgil And COMEDY: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, Lines 109 - 123

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2025 25:37


We come to the climax of Virgil's character in the poem, the end of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII. Let's take this dramatic and chilling scene in two episodes, starting with the moment our pilgrim, Dante, wakes up from his third dream on the mountain.Virgil steps forward to offer a grand and perhaps new hope. The journey is not about the need for justice. It's now about the search for peace.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this first of two passages where Virgil's character reaches its most accurate and compelling focus.Please support this work with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:26] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 109 -123. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:58] Callbacks from previous passages in PURGATORIO as this one begins to wrap up the canticle so far.[12:14] Omitting the erasure of the final "P" on the pilgrim's forehead.[13:37] The only calm awakening from a dream in PURGATORIO.[15:44] Virgil, finally and fully the father-guide the pilgrim has always needed.[23:51] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 109 - 123.

Walking With Dante
The Third And Final Dream On Mount Purgatory: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, Lines 91 - 108

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2025 25:36


Our pilgrim has lain down on a step of the final staircase of Mount Purgatory, positioned between Statius below and Virgil above him.As he watches the large and bright stars, he suddenly falls asleep to dream of Leah (and her sister Rachel) in an Edenic garden, the hope for self-reflection bound up in the promise of the contemplative life.This dream may well begin to sum up Dante's notion of how a human finds the divine.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk through the final dream of PURGATORIO.Consider donating to keep this work afloat by using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:29] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 91 - 108. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:05] The players around and in the dream: Cytherea, Leah, and Rachel.[10:40] Three interpretations of the dream. One, a pre-fall Even and a post-redemption Eve in the Garden of Eden.[12:50] Two, a Biblical dream after two classical dreams, but all deeply sexual in nature.[17:26] Three, two modes for revelation: the active life and the contemplative life.[19:03] Dantean psychology: finding the divine in the beloved leads to finding the divine in the self.[23:22] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 91 - 108.

Walking With Dante
The Flames Don't Burn Up Irony: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, Lines 49 - 90

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2025 34:17


Our pilgrim has entered the flames of lust. For the first time, he is not a voyeur of the torments. He experiences them on the last terrace of lust.He then hears a call to enter Paradise . . . before he falls asleep on the mountain's rocky staircase.Problem is, those flames don't burn up irony. It's thick in this passage. A goat even gets into Paradise!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this final climb on Mount Purgatory before we enter the Garden of Eden.Consider supporting this podcast with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:22] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 49 - 90. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me about this passage, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:09] Dante's guilt (or creative apex) and Virgil's white lie (or painful memory).[10:02] The angel in Latin and in vernacular Florentine--and perhaps Dante's homesickness.[15:02] The scope of the journey: a half revolution around Mount Purgatory.[18:14] The pastoral, idyllic, Edenic simile to (try to) summarize the moments after the flames.[21:09] The irony in the simile, full of inaccurate reference points.[25:28] Dante, the goat let loose into Paradise.[29:29] Our poet, a world-builder.[30:55] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 49 - 90.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about secret ingredients to up your cooking game!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 17:30 Transcription Available


Did you know there are simple additions to recipes that can take your favorite dishes over the top? We've got a list of single ingredients that up the game for all sorts of foods (or even take-out fare).We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of thirty-seven cookbooks and over twenty thousand original recipes. We've made a career out of food and cooking. This podcast is about our passion.We've also got a one-minute cooking tip about farm stands. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week!If you'd like to check out our latest cookbook, COLD CANNING, please click this link.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:[00:43] Our one-minute cooking tip: Beware of farm stands or farmers' markets with out-of-season produce.[03:12] What's a single ingredients than can improve a recipe? We've got a list of ingredients you can add to individual recipes to make them much better.[14:50] What's making us happy in food this week? Farm-stand tomatoes and Claire's Cornercopia in New Haven, Connecticut.

Walking With Dante
Of Fraud, Flames, And Love: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, Lines 19 - 48

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 28:59


Our pilgrim stands on the brink of the flames. Virgil has to use every rhetorical trick in his bag to get Dante to move . . . and the only thing that works in Beatrice.In so doing, our poet Dante attempts his first run at defining this desire that is driving him up into the heavens. But he does so in a most curious way: by bringing up Geryon, the monster of fraud.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we stand with our pilgrim before the very real chance that the poem may catch on fire around us!If you'd like to help with the many fees for this podcast, please do so at this PayPal link.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:26] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 19 - 48. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment so we can continue the conversation, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:07] Virgil's tight rhetorical argument for getting in the flames.[11:35] The beast of fraud and the problem of credence.[15:47] The final push: Beatrice.[18:12] Dante's first attempt to solve the problem of desire in his theological context.[23:19] Our pilgrim, infantilized--and ready for the flames with an apple.[26:02] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 19 - 48.

Walking With Dante
The Whole World Is On Fire: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, Lines 1 - 18

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2025 30:46


Our pilgrim has come to an impasse: the flames of lust. There's no way forward except to step into them. He must finally feel the sufferings that he has witnessed over the course of COMEDY to this point.This suffering comes after a discussion of the craft of poetry, after a unifying vision of the world, and after Dante's own memories of both seeing people be burned alive as capital punishment and being sentenced to the same fate if he returns from exile.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin the first lines of the most important canto in PURGATORIO.Consider supporting this podcast by offering a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:53] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 1 - 18. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:52] The unifying, globalizing view to begin this transitional canto.[08:36] The global, totalizing perspective v. the confusion of personal references in the passage.[11:52] The difficulties of handling multiple perspectives in narratives.[16:29] The global perspective v. Dante's personal memories and experience.[24:00] The beatitude in the passage: "Blessed are the pure in heart."[25:42] The beatitudes in all of PURGATORIO . . . and the missing one of the seven from the Gospel of Matthew.[28:26] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVII, lines 1 - 18.

Walking With Dante
Final Thoughts About Poetry, Lust, And Meaning On The Last Terrace Of Mount Purgatory

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2025 19:26


As we pass Arnaut Daniel, the last penitent soul of Mount Purgatory, let's look back over the discussions of poetry and lust in the seventh (and even sixth) terrace of the mountain.Dante has laid out a fairly straightforward theory of poetry through his encounters with three poets. Are these in a logical progression? Are they causally linked, not just sequentially?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for some final thoughts (at least for now) about poetry, lust, and how we humans make meaning.If you'd like to support this work, please consider donating through this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:50] A progression of poets: Forese Donati, Bonagiunta Orbicciani, and Guido Guinizzelli.[07:20] Francesca was indeed an ambivalent figure in INFERNO--but not now, when we read through the gravitational lensing of COMEDY.[12:56] Simone Weil claims that the hope of religion (or for her, Christianity) is to turn violence into suffering, which can then be interpreted.

Walking With Dante
French Poetry Doesn't Have To Condemn You: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, Lines 136 - 148

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2025 18:57


Guido Guinizzelli has pointed to another figure in the purifying flames of Purgatory's seventh terrace. And now he steps forward, one of the greatest troubadour poets, a model of high-brow poetry and a writer of the sort of lusty verses that led to Francesca's downfall.Arnaut Daniel breaks COMEDY in some ways. He speaks in (a version of) medieval Provençal. But he also gives the final triplicate rhyme by any penitent on the mountain--and these words sum up the action of poetry.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the final words from any penitent in PURGATORIO.Support this work by using this PayPal link.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:32] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 136 - 148. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.[02:56] Lines in Provençal--that is, French poetry, the very thing that was a catalyst for Francesca's fatal choice.[04:51] Ornate rhetoric that leads to one of the most renowned troubadour poets of the Middle Ages.[09:02] The possibility of complex irony in Arnaut's speech.[11:07] The final triplicate rhyme from any penitent in PURGATORIO: folly, power, sorrow.[14:42] Refining: the action of penance.[16:46] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 136 - 148.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about ketchup!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2025 24:11 Transcription Available


Ketchup. We all know what it is. But do we? It's not a thing. It's actually a category.Where's the word come from? How was it originally used? When was the first ketchup recipe? How has it become the condiment we know today?We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of over three dozen cookbooks. This podcast is about our major passion in life: food and cooking.If you'd like to check out our latest cookbook, COLD CANNING, please click here.[00:55] Our one-minute cooking tip: Click on "like" for any online content you in fact like.[02:18] All about ketchup! Where'd it come from? Where's the word come from? It's not a thing. It's a category of things. How'd it get to be the stick, thick tomato sauce we know today?[22:02] What's making us happy in food this week: Sichuan fish stew and Chinese food demystified!

Walking With Dante
Sweet Becomes Truthful Becomes Poetic: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, Lines 115 - 135

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2025 32:15


Dante has found his poetic father, Guido Guinizzelli, burning in the fires of lust on the final terrace of Mount Purgatory. Our pilgrim-poet has praised his poetic father for the sweet art that will last.Then Guinizzelli takes the discussion further, morphing that sweetness into truth, offering a metaphysical meaning to a physical sensation. He then proceeds to speak exactly in this sort of poetry, which our poet Dante picks up and uses to conclude this fascinating conversation.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this second and final conversation about the nature of the new poetry and Dante's synthesis of traditions into COMEDY.Please support this work with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:28] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 115 - 135. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[05:00] Corporeal and airy manifestations of the body.[07:55] Girard de Borneil, having been praised, now dismissed.[10:25] High and low poetry v. Dante's synthesis.[12:29] Unpacking too-tight lines about poetry.[15:00] The sweet morphed into the truth.[19:44] Dante's possible hesitation over his own poetic fame and his wild invocation to the truth of it.[23:53] Guinizzelli's validation and expansion into metaphoric space.[28:01] The ending of the conversation: a great example of the sweet new style.[29:50] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 115 - 135.

Walking With Dante
The Love That Dares To Speak Its Name: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, Lines 94 - 114

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2025 23:54


Guido Guinizzelli has named himself and our pilgrim, Dante, is aghast.He gets lost in a classical simile that almost loses its sense, only to finally find his love for this poetic father and express himself in the straightfoward, new style from which his own poetry was born.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through another complicated but ultimately satisfying passage on the seventh terrace of Mount Purgatory among the lustful penitents.Support this podcast by offering a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend through this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:22] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 94 - 114. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation, please find this episode's entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:21] Guido Guinizzelli substituted a philosophical ideal for feudal love.[07:06] A ridiculously complex simile in the midst of a discussion of the sweet new style.[11:18] Dante finds a father, perhaps one of the goals of COMEDY.[13:06] The pilgrim backs off from homoeroticism with feudal pledges.[15:50] Guinizzelli gets Dante's footprint that even Lethe won't wash away.[17:24] Poetry may ironically offer a hint of its immortality in its materiality.[21:47] Rereading PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 94 - 114.

Taste Buds With Deb
Cold Canning, Cooking with Bruce & Mark, and Blackberry Conserve with Bruce Weinstein

Taste Buds With Deb

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2025 25:43


On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Bruce Weinstein, food writer and author of 40 books, 38 of which are cookbooks. His latest, written with husband and frequent collaborator Mark Scarbrough, is “Cold Canning: The Easy Way to Preserve the Seasons Without Hot Water Processing.”   “Cold Canning” offers a primer on easy, safe, budget-friendly preservation. The book has 425 recipes for small-batch jams, jellies, chili crisps, pickles, krauts, kimchis, and more that will safely keep for months to years in the refrigerator or - with the exception of pickle-like foods - in the freezer.   “One of the things that I love about doing this small batch and no processing is that I can use less sugar because I'm not trying to make it shelf stable,” Weinstein explains. “That's a huge difference in taste and in health.”   “Do I think that we should all take all the sugar out of our diet? No, because then life would not be enjoyable at all,” he continues. “Everything in moderation.”   The duo met after Weinstein completed his first book (“We both loved food and we both loved to cook,” he says.) They both had other careers before diving into the food space. Weinstein went to culinary school and then worked in advertising for 20 years before becoming a food writer. Scarbrough was an English professor; he still teaches literature.   Weinstein's eating philosophy: cook, share food, enjoy.   “Eat real ingredients. … It'll make you feel better,” he says. “[You'll be] easy to get along with and people will like you.”    Bruce Weinstein shares what led to his love of cooking, his professional journey, and his favorite Jewish foods. He also talks about the joy and ease of cold canning,  some of his early cookbooks and two non-cookbooks, and his recipe for blackberry conserve, which you can get at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.   Learn more about at CookingwithBruceandMark.com. Follow @CookingwithBruceandMark on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and @CookingWithBruceMark on YouTube.   For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.  

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're reacting to a list of the top chain restaurants in the United States!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 1, 2025 30:53 Transcription Available


What are the top chain restaurants in the United States? Have we been to them? What do we think about them? You might be surprised by how many we have (or haven't!) been to.We've also got a one-minute cooking tip about better batters for pancakes or cakes. And we're very happy about pork belly this week.We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of over three dozen cookbooks. Our latest is COLD CANNING: small batch preserving and canning without the need of any canner at all. If you'd like to check it out, please find it at this link.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:[01:07] Our one-minute cooking tip: Never overmix a batter![03:25] The top fifteen chain restaurants in the United States . . . and what we think about them[28:48] What's making us happy in food this week? Pork belly two ways!

Walking With Dante
Queenly Embeasting: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, Lines 67 - 93

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2025 23:59


We finally come to know who has been our spokesperson for the lustful penitents: Guido Guinizzelli, perhaps the most important Italian poet working before Dante.Guinizzelli explains who the penitents are by using two classical allusions and even making up words to describe their sin, in the ways that poets always manipulate and even invent language.This passage is a shocking example of Dante's changing notion of homosexuality. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through its rather high, ornate rhetoric to discover that in fact there's more fusion that just marriage, than two become one. In fact, our poet is fusing his poetry with Guinizzelli's.Consider underwriting the many fees for this podcast with a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend by using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:52] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 67 - 93. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the comment section for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:10] Why are the mountaineer penitents gawking? What makes them feel rough and rugged?[07:28] The pilgrim Dante receives a beatitude from another poet in the borderland that is Purgatory itself.[09:14] Julius Caesar is slurred as "Queen."[13:20] Heterosexuality is the fusion of male and female: "And the two shall become one."[17:04] Guido Guinizzelli identifies himself, although he's been in the words of this passage all along.[21:26] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 67 - 93.

Walking With Dante
The Pilgrim Writes His Way Into Revelation: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, Lines 49 - 66

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2025 21:45


We've seen the two crowds of the lustful on the seventh terrace of Mount Purgatory and we clearly identified them in the last passage (and on the last episode of this podcast).But Dante the pilgrim didn't know who they were. He's stuck, confused. He then seeks to break out his manuscript and rule his paper to find his way into the shocking revelation that love in the body can exist in more than one form.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at this small passage on the seventh terrace, sandwiched between the two big revelations and before the last major discussion of poetry on Mount Purgatory.Please help underwrite the many fees of this podcast with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE: [01:51] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 49 - 66. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:34] Reading and interpreting through the passage for its metaphoric, rhetorical, and thematic knots.[14:58] One question from the passage: Why is the body so crucial to this discussion?[17:03] A second question: What about this passage brings up the mechanics of writing?[19:29] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 49 - 66.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about chaos cooking!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2025 26:17 Transcription Available


Chaos cooking. A new trend. Well, sort of new. About two years old at this point, but it's found it's way into restaurants across the country. What started as a "throw it from the pantry into a pot" technique has morphed into the new version of culinary fusion.We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of more than three dozen cookbooks, including our latest: COLD CANNING, a guide to turning small batches of fresh produce into jams, chutneys, conserves, sauces, chili crisps, dessert toppings, and more, without a steam- or pressure-canner in sight.We have lived through the ages of fusion cuisine and are really intrigued by this new take. It's sloppier and messier, but it's also sort of fun. Plus, we've got a one-minute cooking tip about how to cook faster. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:[01:12] Our one-minute cooking tip. Smaller things cook faster![04:41] Chaos cooking: what is it, how does it work, and how have you already had an example of it without necessarily knowing it?[23:10] What's making us happy in food this week: fresh New England corn on the cob!

Walking With Dante
The Episode In Which My Voice Breaks: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, Lines 25 - 48

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2025 27:57


Our pilgrim, Dante, may have opened his mouth to answer how he got to where he is in his corporeal body, but he's interrupted by something completely unexpected: a group of people, moving the opposite direction of everyone else on Mount Purgatory. He's witnessing the moment when love moves the fence. These are the homosexuals on the doorstep of heaven.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I work through the passage that was the inception of this entire podcast and is the best illustration of my thesis that love remakes the world.To support this podcast and underwrite its many fees, please consider a one-time donation or small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:38] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 25 - 48. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment to continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:32] The passage is an interruption of people (à la Cavalcante with Farinata) and of tenses: It moves consistently into the narrative present tense.[05:22] The passage begins with an emphasis on identification and novelty.[06:34] Moving to the left, rather than the right, the new penitents reenact a moment of Christian fellowship and of Francesca's downfall. [09:48] The first revolutionary simile: ants who nuzzle each other.[12:25] The penitents cry out to explain who they are.[15:34] The second revolutionary simile: cranes who migrate in opposite directions.[18:08] Dante may rewrite Jeremiah's prophecy.[20:04] Dante definitely reclassifies homosexuality--which may offer even more explosive implications than he intends.[25:28] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 25 - 48.

Walking With Dante
Poets Make The Flames Of Lust More Colorful: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, Lines 1 - 24

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2025 27:32


The pilgrim, Dante, Virgil, and Statius walk on the narrow ledge between the flames of lust and the drop into the abyss. The penitents in the flames notice that the pilgrim's body makes the flames of lust more colorful . . . the work of any medieval poet in the troubadour tradition when it comes to love!Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we encounter the first penitents in the flames of lust.To support this podcast with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, please use this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:26] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 1 - 24. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment on this passage to continue the conversation with me, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:17] Three comments on PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI as a whole: It provides the poet open space for much discussion, it is part of a larger mirroring with the three upper circles of INFERNO, and it is in direct conversation with both INFERNO, Canto XXVI, and INFERNO, Canto V.[07:34] Virgil's offers only one line in this canto just before a bit of time-telling in the passage.[11:50] The pilgrim doesn't have a "sham" or "fictitious" body on the terrace of lust.[16:46] Near the flames of lust, we get a hint of the poet's expansive geographical knowledge.[22:30] The passage may already be about the craft of poetry.[25:24] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXVI, lines 1 - 24.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about fiber-maxxing, the latest social-media craze!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2025 21:44 Transcription Available


Fiber-maxxing. It's the latest social-media craze among food and fitness influencers. What is it? Why is it absurd? But also, why does it touch on something very important?We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of over three dozen cookbooks (plus Bruce's knitting books and Mark's memoir). Food and cooking are our passions. We're so happy to be able to share that with you.If you'd like to see our latest cookbook, COLD CANNING, please check it out at this link.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:[01:19] Our one-minute cooking tip: how to make better chimichurri![03:33] The latest social-media craze: fiber-maxxing. What is it? And why is fiber important?[17:55] What's making us happy in food this week? Summer corn and Bruce's wild take on chili crisp.

Walking With Dante
The Flames And Abyss Of Lust: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, Lines 109 - 139

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2025 28:57


Dante, Statius, and Virgil arrive on the seventh terrace of Mount Purgatory filled with the flames of lust.The pilgrim must make his precarious way between those burning fires and the abyss just to his right, a narrow path that may give us a clue to the poet's own fears of lust.This passage is a grab-bag of ideas, hymns, references, and emotions. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore it more fully.Please support this podcast with a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:23] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 109 - 139. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:55] Three curiosities: a double meaning at line 109, the flaming geography, and the parallels in INFERNO, Canto XXV.[08:13] Three surprising moments in the passage: a bit of humor, a glancing reference to an Aristotelean mean, and a direction connection with our poet.[12:21] A hymn for chastity and a reference to Shadrach, Mishach, and Abednego from Daniel 3.[16:56] Three examples of chastity . . . except the third seems smudged or inaccurate.[23:08] Penance as a medieval medical remedy.[24:19] PURGATORIO, the most human canto, about human development and art, all connected to nature.[26:21] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 109 - 139.

Walking With Dante
The Corporeal Afterlife Of The Immaterial Soul: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, Lines 79 - 108

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2025 33:02


Statius concludes his discourse on embryology by finally answering the pilgrim Dante's question about how souls can take on material attributes in the afterlife . . . and by gently correcting both Virgil's incomplete answer to the question in this canto and Virgil's larger explanation of the soul's journey after death in THE AENEID.This passage is justifiably complicated. Dante's imaginative and intellectual powers are on full display. It's easy to be lost in the details but there are wonders afoot, including the idea that there may be an allegorical reading of the passage that concerns the afterlife of a work of art.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we finish up Statius's discourse on the soul's material attributes in the afterlife before we ascend to the seventh and final terrace of Mount Purgatory.To support this podcast: use this PayPal link.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:49] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 79 - 108. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me by dropping a comment on this episode, please find it on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:25] Statius fuses classical imagery (the fates) and Augustinian thought.[10:02] The soul miraculously but of its own accord falls into the afterlife. Wait, what? And only now knows its path in the underworld?[13:03] The formative power of the soul is intact after death.[14:57] The afterlife soul is a fabrication of the air.[16:52] Statius gently refines Virgil's unsatisfactory answers to the pilgrim Dante's question.[18:28] The souls in the afterlife can enact their desires, just as they do in the world of the living.[20:51] Statius also gently refines Virgil's discussion of souls in the afterlife in THE AENEID.[24:24] Is this passage about the afterlife of poetry (or art), too?[27:12] Rereading all of Statius's discourse: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 108.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about the rise and fall of the Instant Pot.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 11, 2025 29:35 Transcription Available


What happened to the Instant Pot? It's come off its highs and changed dramatically. Its story is not one of overproduction or the whims of popularity. It's a more complicated story that involves investment finance and private equity.Join us, Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of four Instant Pot books, including THE INSTANT POT BIBLE. We want to talk about what happened to this favorite kitchen appliance. Plus, a one-minute cooking tip on vinegar. And our favorites this week: head-on shrimp and pickled plums![01:07] Our one-minute cooking tip: Be forewarned that there's been a big change in distilled white vinegar.[03:02] The rise and fall of the Instant Pot: its start, its wild popularity, and its move into private equity firms with all the do in their vulture capitalism. [27:10] What's making us happy in food this week: head-on shrimp and pickled plums!

Walking With Dante
The Breath Of Life, The Breath Of Poetry: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, Lines 52 - 78

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2025 29:00


Statius goes on to the second part of his discussion of human embryology by following the fetus through its developmental phases until it finally has a brain. At this point, the prime mover knows it's capable of reason and so breathes a new spirit into it . . . to make it capable of self-reflection.This passage is astounding discourse on developmental embryology as understood by medievals via Aristotle but may also be a complex allegory for the creation of poetry.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work our way through the middle bits of Statius's discourse.If you'd like to help support this podcast, please consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend. You can donate via this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:35] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 52 - 78. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me about this passage, please find the entry for this episode on my website: markscarbrough.com.[04:37] Following the logic of Statius's discourse on embryology.[19:46] Three conclusions about reproduction and human development via Statius (and the poet Dante).[23:15] Embryology as an allegory for the craft of poetry.[25:53] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 52 - 78.

Walking With Dante
The Natural Process Of Life: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, Lines 34 - 51

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 6, 2025 25:04


Dante the pilgrim has asked the pressing question of how immaterial souls can take on material attributes like leanness.To answer that, Virgil has offered a couple of unsatisfying answers, then turned the lecture over to the redeemed Statius . . . who begins by discussing human digestion. As understood via Aristotle, Aquinas, and more, food is purified into blood which then coagulates into a fetus.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the opening stanzas of Statius's remarkable and poetic description of human embryology. Dante is nothing if not surprising at every turn.If you'd like to help support this podcast by underwriting its many fees, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend, using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:04] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 51. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:13] Statius begins with two important words that signal the poetics of his lecture: "lume" ("light") at line 36 and "bello" ("beautiful") at line 43.[07:48] Dante the poet cribs his understanding of digestion from several sources and sees digestion itself as the foundation of human reproduction.[16:51] Reproduction begins as the mingling of female blood with purified, male blood.[19:26] It then continues through coagulation and vivification.[22:43] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 34 - 51.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: What have we learned after publishing thirty-seven cookbooks?

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2025 26:31 Transcription Available


We've learned a lot after writing and publishing after thirty-seven cookbooks. We'd love to share with you those lessons.We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough. We've actually written forty cookbooks, including two knitting books by Bruce and a memoir by Mark. We've been around the block! We'd love to tell you what we've learned over this long publishing career.We've also got a one-minute cooking tip. And we're really excited about a specific type of melon and Mark's really excited about a specific way to cook goat.If you'd like to get a copy of our latest cookbook, COLD CANNING, please check it out at this link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:[01:22] Our one-minute cooking tip: Store garlic at room temperature[03:27] What have we learned after writing and publishing thirty-seven cookbooks.[23:27] What's making us happy in food this week? Melons and goat!

Walking With Dante
Virgil's Inadequacy on Full Display: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, Lines 22 - 33

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2025 22:02


Our pilgrim, Dante, has asked a very pressing question: How can shades grow thin? How does the immaterial act like the material in the afterlife?Virgil has given the pilgrim the confidence to ask this question. So Virgil takes the first crack at an answer. Problem is, he offers a whole unsatisfying answer and then turns the discussion over to Statius.This passage is a curious introduction to Statius's coming discourse on embryology. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the emotional vibe established before we get to the intellectual and doctrinal answer ahead.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:42] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 22 - 33. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:19] Curiosities in the medieval Florentine in lines 22 - 27.[06:33] Virgil's two inadequate answers to the pilgrim's question.[13:11] The wound of the intellect and their relation to poetry.[17:35] Statius and the limitations of Virgil.[20:04] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 22 - 33.

Walking With Dante
Hesitancy Is The Deadly Sin Of Art: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, Lines 1 - 21

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2025 20:58


Dante the pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius begin the ever-quickening ascent to the final terrace of Mount Purgatory. As he climbs, the pilgrim has a question about the gluttons on the previous terrace . . . but it's really a question that's been brewing since almost the opening of COMEDY itself.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at the opening lines of PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, a canto that was often treated as a scientific treatise in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance but that is now too often dismissed as a medieval curiosity: Statius's wild discussion of embryology.If you'd like to support this work, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend to underwrite the many hosting, licensing, editing, streaming, and royalty fees by using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 1 - 21. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:33] PURGATORIO's Canto XXV is a bridge between gluttony and lust, as well as a bridge between two important discussions of poetry.[07:04] We get a brief glimpse of Jerusalem as we hurry up the stairs.[09:42] Is there symbolism or even allegory in the notion that the narrow stairs "unpairs" the travelers?[11:48] The pilgrim is a baby stork--he wants to fly but still needs parental protection.[15:30] The pilgrim Dante finally asks the central problem of corporeality that has troubled COMEDY almost since its beginning.[18:43] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXV, lines 1 - 21.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: What's with so much nostalgia in food trends?

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2025 29:37 Transcription Available


Nostalgia is such a big part of food trends. It shows up in dining, cooking, cookbooks, food writing, even food packaging. Think of that old-fashioned truck on the Peach Truck boxes!Why is nostalgia such a big part of food trends, dining options, and even flash-popular things in North American cooking? Let's talk about the part of nostalgia in both our career and even in the books we've written.We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of thirty-seven cookbooks. Our latest is COLD CANNING: small-batch preserving without the need of a steam or pressure canner. If you'd like to see that book, check out this link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:[01:14] Our one-minute cooking tip: Put your small children and pets out of the kitchen when you cook.[02:40] What's with so much nostalgia in food, dining, and cooking trends?[26:38] What's making us happy in food this week: steamed Chinese riblets!

Walking With Dante
A Read-Through Of PURGATORIO, Cantos XXV - XXVII

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2025 30:01


Virgil, Statius, and our pilgrim, Dante, head up to the seventh and final terrace of Mount Purgatory.During the climb, Statius engages in a complicated and fascinating discourse on embryology (at least as understood in Dante's medieval learning).Then we find ourselves standing before a wall of flames with the lustful penitents walking, singing, and shouting as they burn. We discover there are two types of lustful penitents, before our pilgrim and his two guides have to step into the fire.It's the first time our pilgrim has felt bodily pain over any of the terrors of hell or the penances of the mountain. He comes out on the other side and Virgil declares that our pilgrim is now his own guide, no longer in need of Virgil at all.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this surprising read of the final terrace of PURGATORIO.If you'd like to help defray the many costs of this podcast, please consider a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.[01:35] My rough English translation of the three cantos: PURGATORIO, Cantos XXV - XXVII.

Vox Pop
Food Friday 7/25/25: Cold Canning with Bruce and Mark

Vox Pop

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2025 48:47


Prolific authors and podcasters Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough are back! They'll give us the lowdown on a process known as cold canning. Ray Graf hosts.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: The biggest trends in burger toppings for 2025!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 21, 2025 22:37 Transcription Available


Burgers! What are they without their toppings? Let's talk about the most popular trends for burger toppings in 2025!We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors of thirty-seven cookbooks (plus Bruce's knitting books and Mark's memoir!).We're going to get Bruce's honest reactions to the most popular burger topping trends for 2025. Plus, we've got a one-minute cooking tip for better drinks this summer. And all about sour cherry jam and home-grown currants.If you'd like to get a copy of our newest cookbook, COLD CANNING, please check it out at this link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:[01:20] Our one-minute cooking tip: Refresh the ice in your ice maker.[03:20] What are the most popular burger toppings for 2025? Mark lists them for Bruce to see his reaction![18:40] What's making us happy in food this week? Sour cherry jam and home-grown currants!

Walking With Dante
Of Mythic Trees, Human Desire, And Ceremonial Solace: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, Lines 100 - 129

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2025 36:23


Forese Donati has passed on ahead of our pilgrim Dante and his two guides, Virgil and Statius. They now need to walk on along the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory to find the stairs up to the last level.They soon come across the second tree on the terrace (or perhaps just the second tree that they've seen!). This tree proclaims itself a seedling from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.Dante and his companions appear a bit shook up as the tree offers them a classical and a Biblical example of gluttony.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our exit from the sixth terrace of Purgatory and talk about the solace of ceremonial repetition.If you'd like to donate to help support the many hosting, licensing, streaming, and editing fees associated with this podcast, please consider giving a one-time contribution or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here. Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:34] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 100 - 129. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this episode, please find the entry for it on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:47] Unpacking the first four tercets (ll. 100 - 111) and asking five questions about the second tree on Purgatory's sixth terrace of gluttony.[12:30] The possible regression to childish desire as a form of penance on this terrace.[16:05] The second tree on the terrace, a seedling from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.[24:29] The classical and Biblical examples of gluttony: centaurs and Gideon's army.[28:53] Ceremonial repetition as solace.[33:38] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 100 - 129

Walking With Dante
Forese Donati's Parting Apocalypse: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, Lines 76 - 99

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2025 26:29


We've come to the end of the long conversation between Forese Donati and Dante (as well as others) on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory among the penance of the gluttons.Dante the pilgrim hedges the question of when he will die, then Forese leaps into an apocalyptic vision of the ruin of someone closely connected to Florence--that is, his own brother, Corso Donati.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this apocalyptic prophecy about Corso's ruin, fit it into its historical context, and finally are left with the pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius on the terrace, all caught in a host of military images.If you'd like to help defray the many fees associated with this podcast, including hosting, editing, domain registrations, and my subscriptions to a host of academic journals, please consider offering a one-time donation or a very small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 76 - 99. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode of the podcast on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:43] A couple of problems with what the pilgrim Dante could know and the beginning of the military images in the passage.[08:53] Forese Donati's apocalyptic prophecy of the very near future.[13:28] The story of Corso Donati, Forese's brother and a key leader of the Black Guelphs in Florence.[19:25] The military imagery for Forese's triumph (which reminds us of Brunetto's exit in INFERNO XV), as well as that imagery for Virgil and Statius, standing near the pilgrim on the terrace.[23:56] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 76 - 99.

Walking With Dante
The Daunting Problem Of This Sweet New Style: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, Lines 55 - 75

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2025 35:01


Dante the pilgrim has claimed that indeed he is the one who is inspired by love, who writes what love breathes into him and then makes meaning from that.Bongiunta is not finished with that discussion. Instead, he goes on to name this inspiration the "sweet new style" (or the "dolce stil novo"), thereby igniting over seven hundred years of commentary and controversy.And Bonagiunta himself seems to throw some fuel on that fire, given his apparent satisfaction with himself. And Dante the poet may add some fuel, too, given his citation of classical sources, hardly breathed-in inspiration.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for this most daunting passage in all of PURGATORIO, striking near the heart of what Dante the poet believes he's doing . . . and what generations of critics and thinkers believe he's doing.If you'd like to help support this podcast, please consider a very small monthly stipend or a one-time donation through this PayPal link right here. Your contribution helps me pay the many fees associated with keeping this podcast going.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:48] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 55 - 75. If you'd like to read along or to continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:02] Bonagiunta's imaginative landscape: brothers and knots.[07:17] Bonagiunta's peers (or perhaps his school?): Giacomo da Lentini and Giuttone d'Arezzo.[11:41] The "sweet new style" and the taproot of Italian literature.[16:27] Problems with the "sweet new style": its membership, its final relationship to Bonagiunta, and its meaning sewn into the text over generations.[24:55] Two similes that comment on or even challenge this "sweet new style."[30:00] Forese's poignant question and its link to INFERNO X.[31:56] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 55 - 75.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're going on side quests!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2025 28:21


Side quests. A term from gaming but now a part of cultural moment. Everyone has a side quest, a way to find and fulfill their passions, even as they do whatever they do to pay the bills.We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors of over three dozen cookbooks. We've each found this career as a side quest that became our main quest.We've also got a one-minute cooking tip. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week!Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:[01:10] Our one-minute cooking tip: Microwave lemons and limes for a few seconds before juicing them.[02:46] Side quests. What are they? Why are they important? How has our career developed out of our side quests? And what are our current side quests?[25:02] What's making us happy in food this week? Dried mung bean noodles for Bruce and vegan mozzarella from Three Girls Vegan Creamery in Guilford, Connecticut for Mark.

Walking With Dante
Dante's Wild Claim For Love's Inspiration: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, Lines 34 - 54

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2025 29:48


After Forese Donati has pointed out five of the gluttons on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory, one of them, the first mentioned and a poet of the previous generation, keeps muttering something almost unintelligible under his breath.Our pilgrim asks him for more information. He then offers the pilgrim an oblique prophecy that has troubled Dante scholars for hundreds of years. He also asks if this pilgrim is the same guy who wrote a poem found in the VITA NUOVA.Dante replies that he is indeed that poet . . . and goes on to claim that his poetry is inspired by love itself.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we take on the first half of the single most annotated passage in all of Dante's COMEDY. We are getting to the heart of what Dante thinks he's doing with his poetry . . . but what exactly that is remains something of a mystery, or at least a scholarly debate.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:00] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, Lines 34 - 54. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[05:08] The value of paying attention: the pilgrim to Bonagiunta and Bonagiunta to Dante's poetry.[08:54] Bonagiunta's shifty murmurs of "gentucca."[11:51] An opaque prophecy about Lucca from an older poet who should know how to be clear.[17:13] Bonagiunta's refernce to a canzone (or long poetic song) from Dante's VITA NUOVA.[20:37] The pilgrim's wild claims for direct inspiration from . . . love (or maybe God).[27:02] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 34 - 54.

Walking With Dante
Of Eels And Wine: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, Lines 16 - 33

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2025 25:09


Forese Donati continues to answer Dante the pilgrim's questions by naming five penitent gluttons surrounding them on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory.As he points them out, Forese (and Dante the poet behind him) use culinary and gastronomical imagery to reinforce the themes of the terrace and perhaps to further fuel that long-standing feud between French and Italian cuisine.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we pick through the historical and cultural details in the second part of Forese's answer to the pilgrim.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:52] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 16 - 33. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this podcast episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:17] The deft use of culinary and gastronomic imagery in this passage.[06:40] Five penitent gluttons: Bonagiunta of Lucca, Pope Martin IV, Ubaldino della Pila, Boniface, and Master Marchese degli Orgogliosi.[17:12] A curiosity: It's not forbidden to name them?[19:16] Is this passage a false lead?[22:54] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 16 - 33.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about AI-generated recipes!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2025 31:57 Transcription Available


No doubt, the internet is being flooded with AI recipes. In fact, even unscrupulous publishing is being flooded by these generated recipes as small, independent publishers pop up who take advantage of the "free" content to package it as a book.But there's some hope. AI recipes aren't all bad. And there are ways to identify them before you caught in the trap of making, oh, lemon meringue trout pie.We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors who've written over three dozen cookbooks and who've been around the block several times already with AI content. We'll tell you how to spot an AI recipe, how to use AI to help in the kitchen, and what the dangers of AI recipes are.We've also got a one-minute cooking tip about a handy kitchen appliance. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:[01:05] Our one-minute cooking tip: use a stick blender![03:11] How to spot, use, and stay away from AI-generated recipes.[29:01] What's making us happy in food this week: curried chili crisp and potato salad!

Walking With Dante
Virgil's Silence And A First Glimpse Of Paradise: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, Lines 1 - 15

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2025 23:52


PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, is set as a direct continuation from Canto XXIII. The poet Dante cues us to the continuation but there nevertheless are a couple of subtle disruptions.For one thing, Virgil has been silence for most of Canto XXIII and will indeed remain silent throughout Canto XXIV, his longest silence yet in COMEDY. We won't hear anything from him until well into Canto XXV.And in this on-going conversation with Forese Donati, we get our first glimpse of Paradise, after curiously understanding that the human will is strong enough to slow down its progress even to that place, its ultimate goal.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through the opening lines of our on-going time among the gluttons on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:49] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 1 - 15. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:12] Canto XXIV is a continuation of Canto XXIII--and Virgil remains silent.[06:33] The "redead" is a reference to Jude 12 in the New Testament.[10:49] Does Ulysses enter into this passage?[11:50] The human will can even slow down its ultimate desire, the central motivation of the universe.[14:15] Mentioning Piccarda Donati gives us a fuller glimpse of Paradise ahead . . . and a classical glimpse.[16:48] Pain and solace are the core of the prophetic voice.[21:39] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIV, lines 1 - 15.

Walking With Dante
Renegotiating COMEDY As PURGATORIO Nears Its Climax: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, Lines 112 - 133

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2025 25:31


Forese Donati has finished his diatribe about Florentine women and is now ready to hear Dante the pilgrim's story. Who did the pilgrim get here in the flesh?The pilgrim retells the journey, renegotiating its opening and reconfiguring its theology, even this high up on the mountain, as we near the apocalyptic climax of PURGATORIO.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk slowly through this last passage in Canto XXIII.If you'd like to help support this podcast and underwrite its many fees, please consider a small stipend or a one-time donation at this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:27] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 112 - 133. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with a comment, please find this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:09] A V-shaped structure reinforced for Canto XXIII.[06:17] A question of what Forese should remember and how the opening of COMEDY should be understood.[10:20] Further negotiations about the plot of COMEDY.[14:22] The first time the pilgrim Dante names Beatrice and the first time he acknowledges the loss of Virgil.[16:09] A curious moment: Virgil named and Statius unnamed.[18:29] Two larger questions. One, COMEDY is a poem in process.[20:03] Two, PURGATORIO replicates the structure of the New Testament.[23:16] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 112 - 133.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about simple food substitutions!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2025 24:27 Transcription Available


What happens when you don't have on hand what a recipe requires?We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors of over three dozen cookbooks (not counting the ones we ghostwrote for celebs). This podcast is part of food and cooking passion.We've got a one-minute cooking tip about getting more flavor in your food. We're also talking about various easy food substitutions. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week.Our latest cookbook is COLD CANNING: small-batch preserving without any pressure or steam canner. You can check it out at this link.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK.[01:23] Our one-minute cooking tip: substitute other liquids for water in many boiled or braised dishes. [03:58] Food substitutions: easy swaps to make sure you can create a recipe.[22:26] What's making us happy in food this week? Knackwurst and fresh nectarines!

Walking With Dante
From Lofty To Lyrical In The Prophetic Voice: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, Lines 91 - 111

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2025 28:48


Having praised his wife, Nella, Forese Donati launches into the prophetic voice, the new "high style" that Dante has developed, a screed with a lyrical undertow.This complicated poetic act can only be accomplished with the vernacular, with medieval Florentine (in Dante's case).And although it fuses with misogyny and xenophobia, it nonetheless demonstrates the Dante's new style beyond love sonnets: the lyrical, prophetic voice.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore Forese Donati's condemnation of Florentine women and his wild launch into Isaiah's prophetic vision.If you'd like to help support this podcast, consider a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend using this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:40] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 91 - 111. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation via a comment on this episode, please find its entry on my website: markscarbrough.com.[03:50] As Forese launches into his misogynistic condemnation of Florentine women, he reaffirms his love for his wife, Nella, the "little widow."[08:42] Forese's prophetic discourse takes flight from a misogynistic and xenophobic platform.[11:29] Rising sumptuary laws indicate an increasingly fluid social structure, particularly for women.[15:02] Forese ends his screed at a high-style moment infused with Isaiah's prophecy (from Isaiah 7).[18:03] The prophetic discourse ends at a lyrical moment somehow still in this high style.[20:03] The vernacular is able to handle a greater emotional range than Latin in Dante's day.[23:40] Forese's prophecy never comes true--and incorporates a curious shadow of doubt.[26:23] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 91 - 111.

Walking With Dante
The Heroic Nella Donati: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, Lines 76 - 90

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2025 26:06


Dante the pilgrim and his rival/friend/fellow poet Forese Donati continue to talk about their concerns: suffering, placement on the mountain, and the role of the living in the service of the dead.Along the way, they seem to be coming closer and closer to the Christian idea of redemptive suffering, a complex stance in the face of the nihilism that almost overwhelms the suffering in INFERNO behind us.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore these problems, plus talk about Forese's wife, Nella, and the role of the vernacular in exploring and explaining the deepest truths.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:37] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, Lines 76 - 90. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for the episode of the podcast on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:17] The changing notion of suffering--yes, in COMEDY, but even in this small passage.[07:20] Accounting for time, souls, and their ascents on Mount Purgatory.[13:32] Nella Donati and two interpretive stances toward her place in the poem: 1) correcting the record or 2) hoping for a full record of a poet's works.[17:36] Vernacular language and its uncomfortable relationship with "higher" truths.[24:03] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 76 - 90.

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: We're talking about food recalls!

Cooking with Bruce and Mark

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2025 24:13 Transcription Available


Food recalls! They happen all the time. It seems there's always another one announced. What are some of the latest? And what are steps we can take to make sure we're safe at the table?We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of thirty-seven cookbooks including the latest, COLD CANNING! To find that book, please click on this link.We've also got a one-minute cooking tip (that's not really a trick but a call-out to you guys). And what's making us happy this week.Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK: [01:04] Our one-minute cooking tip? No, actually, what has made you guys happy in the last few weeks![03:27] Foods safety recalls. What are some of the latest? But most importantly, what can we do to keep ourselves safe?[20:57] What's making us happy in food this week? Vegan chili and sheet cakes!

Walking With Dante
Pain, Solace, And Being Human: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, Lines 49 - 75

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2025 29:15


Having met his poetic rival, Forese Donati, Dante the pilgrim must make sense of the clear and present pain he sees in friend's face.This passage is a curious example of felix culpa, the fortunate fall, in which suffering must be reinterpreted for the greater good. Except the pain doesn't stop being the pain. Suffering remains the central metaphysical question of the human condition, the experiential crux underneath our high-minded notions of ontology.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this conversation between two poetic rivals on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory among the emaciated gluttons.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:42] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 49 - 75. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:08] Best friends, still perhaps vain, still perhaps rivals.[10:39] A power in the water and the tree--and an intense interpretive knot.[14:56] The problem of hunger and thirst among disembodied souls.[18:50] The interpretation of suffering as the crux of being human.[26:15] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 49 - 75.

Walking With Dante
Gluttons For Poetry: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, Lines 28 - 48

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2025 33:42


Dante now walks with the skeletal gluttons who have God's writing on their faces.Along the way, there are increasingly complex and almost gaming literary references that litter the text until Dante the pilgrim suddenly is recognized by a fellow, contemporary, vernacular poet who is not known for any high style but is instead a champion of a low, vulgar poetry in this hip, new form of the sonnet.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look into the mirror of an increasingly complex meta reality in COMEDY as Dante the pilgrim meets his friend and rival Forese Donati on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:22] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 28 - 48. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me in the comment section at the bottom of the page, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:23] Internal thoughts--less revelatory than just rehearsed--about the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.[09:27] The potential blasphemy of the pelican in her piety.[12:50] Three references to other texts in increasing opacity: from Dante's VITA NUOVA, from Ovid's METAMORPHOSES, and from Josephus' history (sort of).[15:30] Starved enough to see God's writing in the human face: a felix culpa?[21:31] A misplaced tercet in COMEDY?[22:52] Forese Donati and Dante v. Statius and Virgil.[31:18] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 28 - 48.

Walking With Dante
Starved For Affection: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, Lines 1 - 27

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2025 27:51


Our pilgrim must move beyond the mystical tree on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory. So he sets off behind Virgil and Statius, only to overtaken by a group of cadaverous, skeletal penitents, whose hollow eyes watch the pilgrim's slower journey.This passage is an interesting set of problems: low stylists which end up with Ovidian references, all tied up in the very real medieval problem of starvation.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through this passage of camaraderie, mentorship, and growing affection on the terrace of gluttony.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:13] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 1 - 27. If you'd like to read along or start a conversation with me and others about this passage, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[03:19] Camaraderie and mentorship in a lower style with a final salvo at avarice.[11:34] A psalm fragment in Latin and a possible quibble about Virgil's character.[16:26] Pensive pilgrims, right out of the VITA NUOVA, Dante's earlier work.[20:05] Ovid's METAMORPHOSES as a source for hunger: cited thoroughly and then overwritten beyond its ending.[25:04] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXIII, lines 1 - 27.

Walking With Dante
You Are What You Eat . . . And Read: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, Lines 130 - 145

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2025 27:48


Virgil and Statius begin to trek around the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory but are stopped by an upside-down tree . . . that causes more questions than it provides answers.A voice in the tree warns them off and offers examples of temperance, of moderate appetites, all of which are strange interpretations of Biblical stories that don't necessarily have to do with gluttony.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we look at some of the final misreadings and misinterpretations in PURGATORIO, Canto XXII. It's a wild end to one of the most profound cantos of the second canticle of COMEDY.If you'd like to help underwrite this podcast, either with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, you can do so at this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:31] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 130 - 145. If you'd like to read along or if you'd like to talk more about this passage or this episode, please find the entry for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:02] The first temptation among the penances: ripe, tasty fruit.[05:41] Questions about this upside-down tree: how does it grow, what does the dripping liquid do for it, and what does it all mean?[11:47] This tree and the two trees in the Garden of Eden.[14:25] Three examplars against gluttony: the Virgin Mary, Roman women, and the prophet Daniel.[19:00] The classical age in the Christian age, with its precursor, John the Baptist (or perhaps Virgil).[25:03] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 130 - 145.

Walking With Dante
Going In Circles To Go Forward: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, Lines 115 - 129

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2025 23:05


Our pilgrim, Virgil, and Statius arrive on the otherwise empty sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory. Virgil seems more hesitant. And our pilgrim, Dante, more passive, as he listens to the two older, wiser poets discuss the craft of poetry.This passage represents the paradox of circularity and linearity, of stasis and advancement, that is the major structural (and thematic!) tension in COMEDY.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we work through a seemingy easy passage while the pilgrim learns the craft of poetry.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:01] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 115 - 129. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, find this episode on my website and drop down the page to see the translation and a place to start a conversation with a comment: markscarbrough.com.[03:23] Circularity and linearity: the crux paradox of COMEDY.[08:37] Marking the temporal as a reality claim in COMEDY.[13:25] A possible change in Virgil's characterization.[16:25] Learning the craft of poetry (to engage the play of quotation and interpretation).[21:12] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 115 - 129.

Walking With Dante
Placing And Misplacing Your Classical Ancestors: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, Lines 94 - 114

Walking With Dante

Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2025 29:59


At the end of their first conversation, Virgil and Statius reconstruct limbo. They transform it into a neighborhood where all the lost, classical writers live.They also transfer limbo's sighs from the damned to the poet Dante and potentially to his reader. Where have these great authors gone?And if their texts are one way to God, how many ways to redemption have then been lost with them?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the ironic and complex conclusion to Virgil and Statius' conversation in PURGATORIO, Canto XXII. We end at a place of the final misreading and misquotation: that of COMEDY itself.If you'd like to help underwrite the many fees and costs of this podcast, please consider making a one-time contribution or setting up a very small monthly stipend with this PayPal link right here.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[02:25] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 94 - 114. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find the comment section for this episode on my website, markscarbrough.com.[04:31] The reconception of limbo over the course of COMEDY.[09:56] The Roman authors in the list of those lost.[17:48] The Greek authors in the list of those lost;.[21:02] The characters from Statius' poems who are apparently in limbo.[24:55] The displacement of Manto in COMEDY: the final misreading and misquotation in a canto full of them.[27:57] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXII, lines 94 - 114.