Podcast appearances and mentions of Mary Crawford

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE AUSTEN!!!! Sir Thomas's return looms on the horizon, Mary Crawford tells us how she really feels about Dr. Grant, Fanny gives us some real main character energy, Big T comes home from Weymouth, Henry Crawford continues to be a naughty boy, Fanny has her first ball, and a mysterious new person arrives.Topics discussed include job security, how much we love our dental hygienists, a continued reminder of where Mansfield Park's wealth comes from, Mary's compliment for Fanny, Cassiopeia, the Jane Austen Cinematic Universe, Becca's mom's love life, and Edmund's lack of rizz.The Office spoilers at 13:52 - 14:40!!!Patron Study Questions this week come from Avi, Linnea, Angelika, Emily, Liz, and Ghenet. Topics discussed include Mary's opinions, Edmund shutting down Fanny's feelings, nature's purpose in the book, the lack of romance at the ball, Maria and Julia's relationship, why Sir Thomas is in danger, and Mary's booty.Becca's Study Questions: Topics discussed include Sir Thomas's return, Big T in relation to the rest of his family, and Maria and Henry's affair.Funniest Quote: “Which is, perhaps, more in favour of his liking Julia best, than you, Fanny, may be aware; for I believe it often happens that a man, before he has quite made up his own mind, will distinguish the sister or intimate friend of the woman he is really thinking of more than the woman herself."Questions moving forward: Who is the mystery man? Is Sir Thomas coming back?Who wins the chapters? Fanny!Glossary of Terms and Phrases:Glossary of People, Places, and Things: The Office, Truth or Beard, A Cinderella Story, Gilmore GirlsNext Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 13-14Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Tuesday is the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, so today I spoke to John Mullan, professor of English Literature at UCL, author of What Matters in Jane Austen. John and I talked about how Austen's fiction would have developed if she had not died young, the innovations of Persuasion, wealth inequality in Austen, slavery and theatricals in Mansfield Park, as well as Iris Murdoch, A.S. Byatt, Patricia Beer, the Dunciad, and the Booker Prize. This was an excellent episode. My thanks to John!TranscriptHenry Oliver (00:00)Today, I am talking to John Mullen. John is a professor of English literature at University College London, and he is the author of many splendid books, including How Novels Work and the Artful Dickens. I recommend the Artful Dickens to you all. But today we are talking about Jane Austen because it's going to be her birthday in a couple of days. And John wrote What Matters in Jane Austen, which is another book I recommend to you all. John, welcome.John Mullan (00:51)It's great to be here.Henry Oliver (00:53)What do you think would have happened to Austin's fiction if she had not died young?John Mullan (00:58)Ha ha! I've been waiting all this year to be asked that question from somebody truly perspicacious. ⁓ Because it's a question I often answer even though I'm not asked it, because it's a very interesting one, I think. And also, I think it's a bit, it's answerable a little bit because there was a certain trajectory to her career. I think it's very difficult to imagine what she would have written.John Mullan (01:28)But I think there are two things which are almost certain. The first is that she would have gone on writing and that she would have written a deal more novels. And then even the possibility that there has been in the past of her being overlooked or neglected would have been closed. ⁓ And secondly, and perhaps more significantly for her, I think she would have become well known.in her own lifetime. you know, partly that's because she was already being outed, as it were, you know, of course, as ⁓ you'll know, Henry, you know, she published all the novels that were published in her lifetime were published anonymously. So even people who were who were following her career and who bought a novel like Mansfield Park, which said on the title page by the author of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, they knew they knew.John Mullan (02:26)were getting something by the same author, they wouldn't necessarily have known the author's name and I think that would have become, as it did with other authors who began anonymously, that would have disappeared and she would have become something of a literary celebrity I would suggest and then she would have met other authors and she'd have been invited to some London literary parties in effect and I think that would have been very interesting how that might have changed her writing.John Mullan (02:54)if it would have changed her writing as well as her life. She, like everybody else, would have met Coleridge. ⁓ I think that would have happened. She would have become a name in her own lifetime and that would have meant that her partial disappearance, I think, from sort of public consciousness in the 19th century wouldn't have happened.Henry Oliver (03:17)It's interesting to think, you know, if she had been, depending on how old she would have been, could she have read the Pickwick papers? How would she have reacted to that? Yes. Yeah. Nope.John Mullan (03:24)Ha ha ha ha ha!Yes, she would have been in her 60s, but that's not so old, speaking of somebody in their 60s. ⁓ Yes, it's a very interesting notion, isn't it? I mean, there would have been other things which happened after her premature demise, which she might have responded to. I think particularly there was a terrific fashion for before Dickens came along in the 1830s, there was a terrific fashion in the 1820s for what were called silver fork novels, which were novels of sort of high life of kind of the kind of people who knew Byron, but I mean as fictional characters. And we don't read them anymore, but they were they were quite sort of high quality, glossy products and people loved them. And I'm I like to think she might have reacted to that with her sort of with her disdain, think, her witty disdain for all aristocrats. know, nobody with a title is really any good in her novels, are they? And, you know, the nearest you get is Mr. Darcy, who is an Earl's nephew. And that's more of a problem for him than almost anything else. ⁓ She would surely have responded satirically to that fashion.Henry Oliver (04:28)Hahaha.Yes, and then we might have had a Hazlitt essay about her as well, which would have been all these lost gems. Yes. Are there ways in which persuasion was innovative that Emma was not?John Mullan (04:58)Yes, yes, yes, yes. I know, I know.⁓ gosh, all right, you're homing in on the real tricky ones. Okay, okay. ⁓ That Emma was not. Yes, I think so. I think it took, in its method, it took further what she had done in Emma.Henry Oliver (05:14)Ha ha.This is your exam today,John Mullan (05:36)which is that method of kind of we inhabit the consciousness of a character. And I I think of Jane Austen as a writer who is always reacting to her own last novel, as it were. And I think, you know, probably the Beatles were like that or Mozart was like that. think, you know, great artists often are like that, that at a certain stage, if what they're doing is so different from what everybody else has done before,they stop being influenced by anybody else. They just influence themselves. And so I think after Emma, Jane Austen had this extraordinary ⁓ method she perfected in that novel, this free indirect style of a third-person narration, which is filtered through the consciousness of a character who in Emma's case is self-deludedly wrong about almost everything. And it's...brilliantly tricksy and mischievous and elaborate use of that device which tricks even the reader quite often, certainly the first time reader. And then she got to persuasion and I think she is at least doing something new and different with that method which is there's Anne Elliot. Anne Elliot's a good person. Anne Elliot's judgment is very good. She's the most cultured and cultivated of Jane Austen's heroines. She is, as Jane Austen herself said about Anne Elliot, almost too good for me. And so what she does is she gives her a whole new vein of self-deception, which is the self-deception in the way of a good person who always wants to think things are worse than they are and who always, who, because suspicious of their own desires and motives sort of tamps them down and suppresses them. And we live in this extraordinary mind of this character who's often ignored, she's always overhearing conversations. Almost every dialogue in the novel seems to be something Anne overhears rather than takes part in. And the consciousness of a character whodoesn't want to acknowledge things in themselves which you and I might think were quite natural and reasonable and indeed in our psychotherapeutic age to be expressed from the rooftops. You still fancy this guy? Fine! Admit it to yourself. ⁓ No. So it's not repression actually, exactly. It's a sort of virtuous self-control somehow which I think lots of readers find rather masochistic about her. Henry Oliver (08:38)I find that book interesting because in Sense and Sensibility she's sort of opposed self-command with self-expression, but she doesn't do that in Persuasion. She says, no, no, I'm just going to be the courage of, no, self-command. know, Eleanor becomes the heroine.John Mullan (08:48)Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. But with the odd with the odd burst of Mariannes, I was watching the I thought execrable Netflix ⁓ persuasion done about two or three years ago ⁓ with the luminous Dakota Johnson as as you know, as Anne Elliot. You could not believe her bloom had faded one little bit, I think.John Mullan (09:23)And ⁓ I don't know if you saw it, but the modus operandi rather following the lead set by that film, The Favourite, which was set in Queen Anne's reign, but adopted the Demotic English of the 21st century. similarly, this adaptation, much influenced by Fleabag, decided to deal with the challenge of Jane Austen's dialogue by simply not using it, you know, and having her speak in a completely contemporary idiom. But there were just one or two lines, very, very few from the novel, that appeared. And when they appeared, they sort of cried through the screen at you. And one of them, slightly to qualify what you've just said, was a line I'd hardly noticed before. as it was one of the few Austin lines in the programme, in the film, I really noticed it. And it was much more Marianne than Eleanor. And that's when, I don't know if you remember, and Captain Wentworth, they're in Bath. So now they are sort of used to talking to each other. And Louisa Musgrove's done her recovering from injury and gone off and got engaged to Captain Benwick, Captain Benwick. So Wentworth's a free man. And Anne is aware, becoming aware that he may be still interested in her. And there's a card party, an evening party arranged by Sir Walter Elliot. And Captain Wentworth is given an invitation, even though they used to disapprove of him because he's now a naval hero and a rich man. And Captain Wentworth and Anna making slightly awkward conversation. And Captain Wentworth says, you did not used to like cards.I mean, he realizes what he said, because what he said is, remember you eight years ago. I remember we didn't have to do cards. We did snogging and music. That's what we did. But anyway, he did not used to like cards. And he suddenly realizes what a giveaway that is. And he says something like, but then time brings many changes. And she says, she cries out, I am not so much changed.Henry Oliver (11:23)Mm. Mm, yes, yes. Yep.Yes.Cries out, yeah.John Mullan (11:50)It's absolutely electric line and that's not Eleanor is it? That's not an Eleanor-ish line. ⁓ Eleanor would say indeed time evinces such dispositions in most extraordinary ways. She would say some Johnsonian thing wouldn't she? so I don't think it's quite a return to the same territory or the same kind of psychology.Henry Oliver (12:05)That's right. Yes, yes, yeah.No, that's interesting, yeah. One of the things that happens in Persuasion is that you get this impressionistic writing. So a bit like Mrs. Elliot talking while she picks strawberries. When Lady Russell comes into Bath, you get that wonderful scene of the noises and the sounds. Is this a sort of step forward in a way? And you can think of Austen as not an evolutionary missing link as such, but she's sort of halfway between Humphrey Clinker and Mr. Jangle.Is that something that she would have sort of developed?John Mullan (12:49)I think that's quite possible. haven't really thought about it before, but you're right. think there are these, ⁓ there are especially, they're impressionistic ⁓ passages which are tied up with Anne's emotions. And there's an absolutely, I think, short, simple, but extraordinarily original one when she meets him again after eight years. And it says something like, the room was full, full of people. Mary said something and you're in the blur of it. He said all that was right, you know, and she can't hear the words, she can't hear the words and you can't hear the words and you're inside and she's even, you're even sort of looking at the floor because she's looking at the floor and in Anne's sort of consciousness, often slightly fevered despite itself, you do exactly get this sort of, ⁓ for want of a better word, blur of impressions, which is entirely unlike, isn't it, Emma's sort of ⁓ drama of inner thought, which is always assertive, argumentative, perhaps self-correcting sometimes, but nothing if not confidently articulate.John Mullan (14:17)And with Anne, it's a blur of stuff. there is a sort of perhaps a kind of inklings of a stream of consciousness method there.Henry Oliver (14:27)I think so, yeah. Why is it that Flaubert and other writers get all the credit for what Jane Austen invented?John Mullan (14:35)Join my campaign, Henry. It is so vexing. It is vexing. sometimes thought, I sometimes have thought, but perhaps this is a little xenophobic of me, that the reason that Jane Austen is too little appreciated and read in France is because then they would have to admit that Flaubertdidn't do it first, you know. ⁓Henry Oliver (14:40)It's vexing, isn't it?John Mullan (15:04)I mean, I suppose there's an answer from literary history, which is simply for various reasons, ⁓ some of them to do with what became fashionable in literary fiction, as we would now call it. Jane Austen was not very widely read or known in the 19th century. So it wasn't as if, as it were, Tolstoy was reading Jane Austen and saying, this is not up to much. He wasn't. He was reading Elizabeth Gaskell.Jane Eyre ⁓ and tons of Dickens, tons, every single word Dickens published, of course. ⁓ So Jane Austen, know, to cite an example I've just referred to, I Charlotte Bronte knew nothing of Jane Austen until George Henry Lewis, George Eliot's partner, who is carrying the torch for Jane Austen, said, you really should read some. And that's why we have her famous letter saying, it's, you know, it's commonplace and foolish things she said. But so I think the first thing to establish is she was really not very widely read. So it wasn't that people were reading it and not getting it. It was which, you know, I think there's a little bit of that with Dickens. He was very widely read and people because of that almost didn't see how innovative he was, how extraordinarily experimental. It was too weird. But they still loved it as comic or melodramatic fiction. But I think Jane Austen simply wasn't very widely read until the late 19th century. So I don't know if Flaubert read her. I would say almost certainly not. Dickens owned a set of Jane Austen, but that was amongst 350 selecting volumes of the select British novelists. Probably he never read Jane Austen. Tolstoy and you know never did, you know I bet Dostoevsky didn't, any number of great writers didn't.Henry Oliver (17:09)I find it hard to believe that Dickens didn't read her.John Mullan (17:12)Well, I don't actually, I'm afraid, because I mean the one occasion that I know of in his surviving correspondence when she's mentioned is after the publication of Little Dorrit when ⁓ his great bosom friend Forster writes to him and says, Flora Finching, that must be Miss Bates. Yes. You must have been thinking of Miss Bates.John Mullan (17:41)And he didn't write it in a sort of, you plagiarist type way, I he was saying you've varied, it's a variation upon that character and Dickens we wrote back and we have his reply absolutely denying this. Unfortunately his denial doesn't make it clear whether he knew who Miss Bates was but hadn't it been influenced or whether he simply didn't know but what he doesn't… It's the one opportunity where he could have said, well, of course I've read Emma, but that's not my sort of thing. ⁓ of course I delight in Miss Bates, but I had no idea of thinking of her when I... He has every opportunity to say something about Jane Austen and he doesn't say anything about her. He just says, no.Henry Oliver (18:29)But doesn't he elsewhere deny having read Jane Eyre? And that's just like, no one believes you, Charles.John Mullan (18:32)Yes.Well, he may deny it, but he also elsewhere admits to it. Yeah.Henry Oliver (18:39)Okay, but you know, just because he doesn't come out with it.John Mullan (18:43)No, no, it's true, but he wouldn't have been singular and not reading Jane Austen. That's what I'm saying. Yes. So it's possible to ignore her innovativeness simply by not having read her. But I do think, I mean, briefly, that there is another thing as well, which is that really until the late 20th century almost, even though she'd become a wide, hugely famous, hugely widely read and staple of sort of A levels and undergraduate courses author, her real, ⁓ her sort of experiments with form were still very rarely acknowledged. And I mean, it was only really, I think in the sort of almost 1980s, really a lot in my working lifetime that people have started saying the kind of thing you were asking about now but hang on free and direct style no forget flow bear forget Henry James I mean they're terrific but actually this woman who never met an accomplished author in her life who had no literary exchanges with fellow writersShe did it at a little table in a house in Hampshire. Just did it.Henry Oliver (20:14)Was she a Tory or an Enlightenment Liberal or something else?John Mullan (20:19)⁓ well I think the likeliest, if I had to pin my colours to a mast, I think she would be a combination of the two things you said. I think she would have been an enlightenment Tory, as it were. So I think there is some evidence that ⁓ perhaps because also I think she was probably quite reasonably devout Anglican. So there is some evidence that… She might have been conservative with a small C, but I think she was also an enlightenment person. I think she and her, especially her father and at least a couple of her brothers, you know, would have sat around reading 18th century texts and having enlightened discussions and clearly they were, you know, and they had, it's perfect, you know, absolutely hard and fast evidence, for instance, that they would have been that they were sympathetic to the abolition of slavery, that they were ⁓ sceptics about the virtues of monarchical power and clear-eyed about its corruption, that they had no, Jane Austen, as I said at the beginning of this exchange, had no great respect or admiration for the aristocratic ruling class at all. ⁓ So there's aspects of her politics which aren't conservative with a big C anyway, but I think enlightened, think, I mean I, you know, I got into all this because I loved her novels, I've almost found out about her family inadvertently because you meet scary J-Night experts at Jane Austen Society of North America conferences and if you don't know about it, they look at scants. But it is all interesting and I think her family were rather terrific actually, her immediate family. I think they were enlightened, bookish, optimistic, optimistic people who didn't sit around moaning about the state of the country or their own, you know, not having been left enough money in exes will. And...I think that they were in the broadest sense enlightened people by the standard of their times and perhaps by any standards.Henry Oliver (22:42)Is Mansfield Park about slavery?John Mullan (22:45)Not at all, no. I don't think so. I don't think so. And I think, you know, the famous little passage, for it is only a passage in which Edmund and Fanny talk about the fact it's not a direct dialogue. They are having a dialogue about the fact that they had, but Fanny had this conversation or attempt at conversation ⁓ a day or two before. And until relatively recently, nobody much commented on that passage. It doesn't mean they didn't read it or understand it, but now I have not had an interview, a conversation, a dialogue involving Mansfield Park in the last, in living memory, which hasn't mentioned it, because it's so apparently responsive to our priorities, our needs and our interests. And there's nothing wrong with that. But I think it's a it's a parenthetic part of the novel. ⁓ And of course, there was this Edward Said article some decades ago, which became very widely known and widely read. And although I think Edward Said, you know, was a was a wonderful writer in many ways. ⁓I think he just completely misunderstands it ⁓ in a way that's rather strange for a literary critic because he says it sort of represents, you know, author's and a whole society's silence about this issue, the source of wealth for these people in provincial England being the enslavement of people the other side of the Atlantic. But of course, Jane Auster didn't have to put that bit in her novel, if she'd wanted really to remain silent, she wouldn't have put it in, would she? And the conversation is one where Edmund says, know, ⁓ you know, my father would have liked you to continue when you were asking about, yeah, and she says, but there was such terrible silence. And she's referring to the other Bertram siblings who indeed are, of course, heedless, selfish ⁓ young people who certainly will not want to know that their affluence is underwritten by, you know, the employment of slaves on a sugar plantation. But the implication, I think, of that passage is very clearly that Fanny would have, the reader of the time would have been expected to infer that Fanny shares the sympathies that Jane Austen, with her admiration, her love, she says, of Thomas Clarkson. The countries leading abolitionists would have had and that Edmund would also share them. And I think Edmund is saying something rather surprising, which I've always sort of wondered about, which is he's saying, my father would have liked to talk about it more. And what does that mean? Does that mean, my father's actually, he's one of these enlightened ones who's kind of, you know, freeing the slaves or does it mean, my father actually knows how to defend his corner? He would have beenYou know, he doesn't he doesn't feel threatened or worried about discussing it. It's not at all clear where Sir Thomas is in this, but I think it's pretty clear where Edmund and Fanny are.Henry Oliver (26:08)How seriously do you take the idea that we are supposed to disapprove of the family theatricals and that young ladies putting on plays at home is immoral?John Mullan (26:31)Well, I would, mean, perhaps I could quote what two students who were discussing exactly this issue said quite some time ago in a class where a seminar was running on Mansfield Park. And one of the students can't remember their names, I'm afraid. I can't remember their identities, so I'm safe to quote them. ⁓ They're now probably running PR companies or commercial solicitors. And one of them I would say a less perceptive student said, why the big deal about the amateur dramatics? I mean, what's Jane Austen's problem? And there was a pause and another student in the room who I would suggest was a bit more of an alpha student said, really, I'm surprised you asked that. I don't think I've ever read a novel in which I've seen characters behaving so badly as this.And I think that's the answer. The answer isn't that the amateur dramatics themselves are sort of wrong, because of course Jane Austen and her family did them. They indulged in them. ⁓ It's that it gives the opportunity, the license for appalling, mean truly appalling behaviour. I mean, Henry Crawford, you know, to cut to the chase on this, Henry Crawford is seducing a woman in front of her fiance and he enjoys it not just because he enjoys seducing women, that's what he does, but because it's in front of him and he gets an extra kick out of it. You know, he has himself after all already said earlier in the novel, oh, I much prefer an engaged woman, he has said to his sister and Mrs. Grant. Yes, of course he does. So he's doing that. Mariah and Julia are fighting over him. Mr. Rushworth, he's not behaving badly, he's just behaving like a silly arse. Mary Crawford, my goodness, what is she up to? She's up to using the amateur dramatics for her own kind of seductions whilst pretending to be sort of doing it almost unwillingly. I mean, it seems to me an elaborate, beautifully choreographed elaboration of the selfishness, sensuality and hypocrisy of almost everybody involved. And it's not because it's amateur dramatics, but amateur dramatics gives them the chance to behave so badly.Henry Oliver (29:26)Someone told me that Thomas Piketty says that Jane Austen depicts a society in which inequality of wealth is natural and morally justified. Is that true?John Mullan (29:29)Ha⁓Well, again, Thomas Piketty, I wish we had him here for a good old mud wrestle. ⁓ I would say that the problem with his analysis is the coupling of the two adjectives, natural and morally right. I think there is a strong argument that inequality is depicted as natural or at least inevitable, inescapable in Jane Austen's novels.but not morally right, as it were. In fact, not at all morally right. There is a certain, I think you could be exaggerated little and call it almost fatalism about that such inequalities. Do you remember Mr. Knightley says to Emma, in Emma, when he's admonishing her for her, you know, again, a different way, terribly bad behavior.Henry Oliver (30:38)At the picnic.John Mullan (30:39)At the picnic when she's humiliatedMiss Bates really and Mr Knightley says something like if she'd been your equal you know then it wouldn't have been so bad because she could have retaliated she could have come back but she's not and she says and he says something like I won't get the words exactly right but I can get quite close he says sinceher youth, she has sunk. And if she lives much longer, will sink further. And he doesn't say, ⁓ well, we must have a collection to do something about it, or we must have a revolution to do something about it, or if only the government would bring in better pensions, you know, he doesn't, he doesn't sort of rail against it as we feel obliged to. ⁓ He just accepts it as an inevitable part of what happens because of the bad luck of her birth, of the career that her father followed, of the fact that he died too early probably, of the fact that she herself never married and so on. That's the way it is. And Mr Knightley is, I think, a remarkably kind character, he's one of the kindest people in Jane Austen and he's always doing surreptitious kindnesses to people and you know he gives the Bates's stuff, things to eat and so on. He arranges for his carriage to carry them places but he accepts that that is the order of things. ⁓ But I, you know Henry, I don't know what you think, I think reading novels or literature perhaps more generally, but especially novels from the past, is when you're responding to your question to Mr. Piketty's quote, is quite a sort of, can be quite an interesting corrective to our own vanities, I think, because we, I mean, I'm not saying, you know, the poor are always with us, as it were, like Jesus, but... ⁓ You know, we are so ⁓ used to speaking and arguing as if any degree of poverty is in principle politically remediable, you know, and should be. And characters in Jane Austen don't think that way. And I don't think Jane Austen thought that way.Henry Oliver (33:16)Yes, yes. Yeah.The other thing I would say is that ⁓ the people who discuss Jane Austen publicly and write about her are usually middle class or on middle class incomes. And there's a kind of collective blindness to the fact that what we call Miss Bates poverty simply means that she's slipping out of the upper middle class and she will no longer have her maid.⁓ It doesn't actually mean, she'll still be living on a lot more than a factory worker, who at that time would have been living on a lot more than an agricultural worker, and who would have been living on a lot more than someone in what we would think of as destitution, or someone who was necessitous or whatever. So there's a certain extent to which I actually think what Austin is very good at showing is the... ⁓ the dynamics of a newly commercial society. So at the same time that Miss Bates is sinking, ⁓ I forget his name, but the farmer, the nice farmer, Robert Martin, he's rising. And they all, all classes meet at the drapier and class distinctions are slightly blurred by the presence of nice fabric.John Mullan (34:24)Mr. Robert Martin. Henry Oliver (34:37)And if your income comes from turnips, that's fine. You can have the same material that Emma has. And Jane Austen knows that she lives in this world of buttons and bonnets and muslins and all these new ⁓ imports and innovations. And, you know, I think Persuasion is a very good novel. ⁓ to say to Piketty, well, there's nothing natural about wealth inequality and persuasion. And it's not Miss Bates who's sinking, it's the baronet. And all these admirals are coming up and he has that very funny line, doesn't he? You're at terrible risk in the Navy that you'd be cut by a man who your father would have cut his father. And so I think actually she's not a Piketty person, but she's very clear-eyed about... quote unquote, what capitalism is doing to wealth inequality. Yeah, yeah.John Mullan (35:26)Yes, she is indeed. Indeed.Clear-eyed, I think, is just the adjective. I mean, I suppose the nearest she gets to a description. Yeah, she writes about the classes that she knows from the inside, as it were. So one could complain, people have complained. She doesn't represent what it's like to be an agricultural worker, even though agricultural labour is going on all around the communities in which her novels are set.And I mean, I think that that's a sort of rather banal objection, but there's no denying it in a way. If you think a novelist has a duty, as it were, to cover the classes and to cover the occupations, then it's not a duty that Jane Austen at all perceived. However, there is quite, there is something like, not a representation of destitution as you get in Dickens.but a representation of something inching towards poverty in Mansfield Park, which is the famous, as if Jane Austen was showing you she could do this sort of thing, which is the whole Portsmouth episode, which describes with a degree of domestic detail she never uses anywhere else in her fiction. When she's with the more affluent people, the living conditions, the food, the sheer disgustingness and tawdryness of life in the lodgings in Portsmouth where the Price family live. And of course, in a way, it's not natural because ⁓ in their particular circumstances, Lieutenant Price is an alcoholic.They've got far too many children. ⁓ He's a useless, sweary-mouthed boozer ⁓ and also had the misfortune to be wounded. ⁓ And she, his wife, Fanny's mother, is a slattern. We get told she's a slattern. And it's not quite clear if that's a word in Fanny's head or if that's Jane Austen's word. And Jane Austen...Fanny even goes so far as to think if Mrs. Norris were in charge here, and Mrs. Norris is as it were, she's the biggest sadist in all Jane Austen's fiction. She's like sort Gestapo guard monquet. If Mrs. Norris were in charge, it wouldn't be so bad here, but it's terrible. And Jane Austen even, know, she describes the color of the milk, doesn't she? The blue moats floating in the milk.She dis- and it's all through Fanny's perception. And Fanny's lived in this rather loveless grand place. And now it's a great sort of, ⁓ it's a coup d'etat. She now makes Fanny yearn for the loveless grand place, you know, because of what you were saying really, Henry, because as I would say, she's such an unsentimental writer, you know, andyou sort of think, you know, there's going to be no temptation for her to say, to show Fanny back in the loving bosom of her family, realising what hollow hearted people those Bertrams are. You know, she even describes the mark, doesn't she, that Mr Price's head, his greasy hair is left on the wall. It's terrific. And it's not destitution, but it's something like a life which must be led by a great sort of rank of British people at the time and Jane Austen can give you that, she can.Henry Oliver (39:26)Yeah, yeah. That's another very Dickensian moment. I'm not going to push this little thesis of mine too far, but the grease on the chair. It's like Mr. Jaggers in his horse hair. Yes. That's right, that's right. ⁓ Virginia Woolf said that Jane Austen is the most difficult novelist to catch in the act of greatness. Is that true?John Mullan (39:34)Yes, yes, yes, it is these details that Dickens would have noticed of course. Yes.Yes.⁓ I think it is so true. think that Virginia Woolf, she was such a true, well, I think she was a wonderful critic, actually, generally. Yeah, I think she was a wonderful critic. you know, when I've had a couple of glasses of Rioja, I've been known to say, to shocked students, ⁓ because you don't drink Rioja with students very often nowadays, but it can happen. ⁓ But she was a greater critic than novelist, you know.Henry Oliver (39:54)Yeah.Best critic of the 20th century. Yes, yes. Yeah. And also greater than Emson and all these people who get the airtime. Yes, yes.John Mullan (40:20)You know.I know, I know, but that's perhaps because she didn't have a theory or an argument, you know, and the Seven Types, I know that's to her credit, but you know, the Seven Types of Ambiguity thing is a very strong sort of argument, even if...Henry Oliver (40:31)Much to her credit.But look, if the last library was on fire and I could only save one of them, I'd let all the other critics in the 20th century burn and I'd take the common reader, wouldn't you?John Mullan (40:47)Okay. Yes, I, well, I think I agree. think she's a wonderful critic and both stringent and open. I mean, it's an extraordinary way, you know, doesn't let anybody get away with anything, but on the other hand is genuinely ready to, to find something new to, to anyway. ⁓ the thing she said about Austin, she said lots of good things about Austin and most of them are good because they're true. And the thing about… Yes, so what I would, I think what she meant was something like this, that amongst the very greatest writers, so I don't know, Shakespeare or Milton or, you know, something like that, you could take almost a line, yes? You can take a line and it's already glowing with sort of radioactive brilliance, know, and ⁓ Jane Austen, the line itself, there are wonderful sentences.)Mr. Bennett was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humor, reserve and caprice that the experience of three and 20 years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. I mean, that's as good as anything in Hamlet, isn't it? So odd a mixture and there he is, the oddest mixture there's ever been. And you think he must exist, he must exist. But anyway, most lines in Jane Austen probably aren't like that and it's as if in order to ⁓ explain how brilliant she is and this is something you can do when you teach Jane Austen, makes her terrific to teach I think, you can look at any bit and if everybody's read the novel and remembers it you can look at any paragraph or almost any line of dialogue and see how wonderful it is because it will connect to so many other things. But out of context, if you see what I mean, it doesn't always have that glow of significance. And sometimes, you know, the sort of almost most innocuous phrases and lines actually have extraordinary dramatic complexity. but you've got to know what's gone on before, probably what goes on after, who's in the room listening, and so on. And so you can't just catch it, you have to explain it. ⁓ You can't just, as it were, it, as you might quote, you know, a sort of a great line of Wordsworth or something.Henry Oliver (43:49)Even the quotable bits, you know, the bit that gets used to explain free and direct style in Pride and Prejudice where she says ⁓ living in sight of their own warehouses. Even a line like that is just so much better when you've been reading the book and you know who is being ventriloquized.John Mullan (43:59)Well, my favourite one is from Pride and Prejudice is after she's read the letter Mr Darcy gives her explaining what Wickham is really like, really, for truth of their relationship and their history. And she interrogates herself. And then at the end, there's ⁓ a passage which is in a passage of narration, but which is certainly in going through Elizabeth's thoughts. And it ends, she had been blind, partial, prejudiced, absurd. And I just think it's, if you've got to know Elizabeth, you just know that that payoff adjective, absurd, that's the coup de grace. Because of course, finding other people absurd is her occupation. It's what makes her so delightful. And it's what makes us complicit with her.Henry Oliver (44:48)Yeah.That's right.John Mullan (45:05)She sees how ridiculous Sir William Lucas and her sister Mary, all these people, and now she has absurded herself, as it were. So blind partial prejudice, these are all repetitions of the same thought. But only Elizabeth would end the list absurd. I think it's just terrific. But you have to have read the book just to get that. That's a whole sentence.You have to have read the book to get the sentence, don't you?Henry Oliver (45:34)Yep, indeed. ⁓ Do we love Jane Austen too much so that her contemporaries are overshadowed and they're actually these other great writers knocking around at the same time and we don't give them their due? Or is she in fact, you know, the Shakespeare to their Christopher Marlowe or however you want to.John Mullan (45:55)I think she's the Shakespeare to their Thomas Kidd or no even that's the... Yes, okay, I'm afraid that you know there are two contradictory answers to that. Yes, it does lead us to be unfair to her contemporaries certainly because they're so much less good than her. So because they're so much less good than her in a way we're not being unfair. know, I mean... because I have the profession I have, I have read a lot of novels by her immediate predecessors. I mean, people like Fanny Burnie, for instance, and her contemporaries, people like Mariah Edgeworth. And ⁓ if Jane Austen hadn't existed, they would get more airtime, I think, yes? And some of them are both Burnie and Edgeworth, for instance. ⁓ highly intelligent women who had a much more sophisticated sort of intellectual and social life than Jane Austen ⁓ and conversed with men and women of ideas and put some of those ideas in their fiction and they both wrote quite sophisticated novels and they were both more popular than Jane Austen and they both, having them for the sort of carpers and complainers, they've got all sorts of things like Mariah Regworth has some working-class people and they have political stuff in their novels and they have feminist or anti-feminist stuff in their novels and they're much more satisfying to the person who's got an essay to write in a way because they've got the social issues of the day in there a bit, certainly Mariah Regworth a lot. ⁓ So if Jane Austen hadn't come along we would show them I think more, give them more time. However, you know, I don't want to say this in a destructive way, but in a certain way, all that they wrote isn't worth one paragraph of Jane Austen, you know, in a way. So we're not wrong. I suppose the interesting case is the case of a man actually, which is Walter Scott, who sort of does overlap with Jane Austen a bit, you know, and who has published what I can't remember, two, three, even four novels by the time she dies, and I think three, and she's aware of him as a poet and I think beginning to be aware of him as a novelist. And he's the prime example of somebody who was in his own day, but for a long time afterwards, regarded as a great novelist of his day. And he's just gone. He's really, you know, you can get his books in know, Penguin and Oxford classics in the shops. I mean, it's at least in good big book shops. And it's not that he's not available, but it's a very rare person who's read more than one or even read one. I don't know if you read lots of Scott, Henry.Henry Oliver (49:07)Well, I've read some Scott and I quite like it, but I was a reactionary in my youth and I have a little flame for the Jacobite cause deep in my heart. This cannot be said of almost anyone who is alive today. 1745 means nothing to most people. The problem is that he was writing about something that has just been sort of forgotten. And so the novels, know, when Waverly takes the knee in front of the old young old pretender, whichever it is, who cares anymore? you know?John Mullan (49:40)Well, yes, but it can't just be that because he also wrote novels about Elizabeth I and Robin Hood and, you know... ⁓Henry Oliver (49:46)I do think Ivanhoe could be more popular, yeah.John Mullan (49:49)Yeah, so it's not just that this and when he wrote, for instance, when he published Old Mortality, which I think is one of his finest novels, I mean, I've read probably 10 Scott novels at nine or 10, you know, so that's only half or something of his of his output. And I haven't read one for a long time, actually. Sorry, probably seven or eight years. He wrote about some things, which even when he wrote about and published about, readers of the time couldn't have much known or cared about. mean, old mortalities about the Covenant as wars in the borderlands of Scotland in the 17th century. I mean, all those people in London who were buying it, they couldn't give a damn about that. Really, really, they couldn't. I mean, they might have recognized the postures of religious fanaticism that he describes rather well.But even then only rather distantly, I think. So I think it's not quite that. I think it's not so much ignorance now of the particular bits of history he was drawn to. I think it's that in the 19th century, historical fiction had a huge status. And it was widely believed that history was the most dignified topic for fiction and so dignified, it's what made fiction serious. So all 19th century authors had a go at it. Dickens had a go at it a couple of times, didn't he? I think it's no, yes, yes, think even Barnaby Rudge is actually, it's not just a tale of two cities. Yes, a terrific book. But generally speaking, ⁓ most Victorian novelists who did it, ⁓ they are amongst, you know, nobodyHenry Oliver (51:22)Very successfully. ⁓ a great book, great book.John Mullan (51:43)I think reads Trollope's La Vendée, you know, people who love Hardy as I do, do not rush to the trumpet major. it was a genre everybody thought was the big thing, know, war and peace after all. And then it's prestige faded. I mean, it's...returned a little bit in some ways in a sort of Hillary man, Tellish sort of way, but it had a hugely inflated status, I think, in the 19th century and that helped Scott. And Scott did, know, Scott is good at history, he's good at battles, he's terrific at landscapes, you know, the big bow wow strain as he himself described it.Henry Oliver (52:32)Are you up for a sort of quick fire round about other things than Jane Austen?John Mullan (52:43)Yes, sure, try me.Henry Oliver (52:44)Have you used any LLMs and are they good at talking about literature?John Mullan (52:49)I don't even know what an LLM is. What is it? Henry Oliver (52:51)Chat GPT. ⁓ John Mullan (53:17)⁓ God, goodness gracious, it's the work of Satan.Absolutely, I've never used one in my life. And indeed, have colleagues who've used them just to sort of see what it's like so that might help us recognise it if students are using them. And I can't even bring myself to do that, I'm afraid. But we do as a...As a department in my university, we have made some use of them purely in order to give us an idea of what they're like, so to help us sort of...Henry Oliver (53:28)You personally don't feel professionally obliged to see what it can tell you. Okay, no, that's fine. John Mullan (53:32)No, sorry.Henry Oliver (53:33)What was it like being a Booker Prize judge?heady. It was actually rather heady. Everybody talks about how it's such a slog, all those books, which is true. But when you're the Booker Prize judge, at least when I did it, you were treated as if you were somebody who was rather important. And then as you know, and that lasts for about six months. And you're sort of sent around in taxes and give nice meals and that sort of thing. And sort of have to give press conferences when you choose the shortlist. and I'm afraid my vanity was tickled by all that. And then at the moment after you've made the decision, you disappear. And the person who wins becomes important. It's a natural thing, it's good. And you realize you're not important at all.Henry Oliver (54:24)You've been teaching in universities, I think, since the 1990s.John Mullan (54:29)Yes, no earlier I fear, even earlier.Henry Oliver (54:32)What are the big changes? Is the sort of media narrative correct or is it more complicated than that?John Mullan (54:38)Well, it is more complicated, but sometimes things are true even though the Daily Telegraph says they're true, to quote George Orwell. ⁓ you know, I mean, I think in Britain, are you asking about Britain or are you asking more generally? Because I have a much more depressing view of what's happened in America in humanities departments.Henry Oliver (54:45)Well, tell us about Britain, because I think one problem is that the American story becomes the British story in a way. So what's the British story?John Mullan (55:07)Yes, yes, think that's true.Well, I think the British story is that we were in danger of falling in with the American story. The main thing that has happened, that has had a clear effect, was the introduction in a serious way, however long ago it was, 13 years or something, of tuition fees. And that's really, in my department, in my subject, that's had a major change.and it wasn't clear at first, but it's become very clear now. So ⁓ it means that the, as it were, the stance of the teachers to the taught and the taught to the teachers, both of those have changed considerably. Not just in bad ways, that's the thing. It is complicated. So for instance, I mean, you could concentrate on the good side of things, which is, think, I don't know, were you a student of English literature once?Henry Oliver (55:49)Mm-hmm.I was, I was. 2005, long time ago.John Mullan (56:07)Yes. OK.Well, I think that's not that long ago. mean, probably the change is less extreme since your day than it is since my day. But compared to when I was a student, which was the end of the 70s, beginning of the 80s, I was an undergraduate. The degree of sort of professionalism and sobriety, responsibility and diligence amongst English literature academics has improved so much.You know, you generally speaking, literature academics, they are not a load of ⁓ drunken wastrels or sort of predatory seducers or lazy, work shy, ⁓ even if they love their own research, negligent teachers or a lot of the sort of the things which even at the time I recognise as the sort of bad behaviour aspects of some academics. Most of that's just gone. It's just gone. You cannot be like that because you've got everybody's your institution is totally geared up to sort of consumer feedback and and the students, especially if you're not in Oxford or Cambridge, the students are essentially paying your salaries in a very direct way. So there have been improvements actually. ⁓ those improvements were sort of by the advocates of tuition fees, I think, and they weren't completely wrong. However, there have also been some real downsides as well. ⁓ One is simply that the students complain all the time, you know, and in our day we had lots to complain about and we never complained. Now they have much less to complain about and they complain all the time. ⁓ So, and that seems to me to have sort of weakened the relationship of trust that there should be between academics and students. But also I would say more if not optimistically, at least stoically. I've been in this game for a long time and the waves of student fashion and indignation break on the shore and then another one comes along a few years later. And as a sort of manager in my department, because I'm head of my department, I've learned to sort of play the long game.And what everybody's hysterical about one moment, one year, they will have forgotten about two or three years later. So there has been a certain, you know, there was a, you know, what, what, you know, some conservative journalists would call kind of wokery. There has been some of that. But in a way, there's always been waves of that. And the job of academics is sort of to stand up to it. and in a of calm way. Tuition fees have made it more difficult to do that I think.Henry Oliver (59:40)Yeah. Did you know A.S. Byatt? What was she like?John Mullan (59:43)I did.⁓ Well...When you got to know her, you recognized that the rather sort of haughty almost and sometimes condescending apparently, ⁓ intellectual auteur was of course a bit of a front. Well, it wasn't a front, but actually she was quite a vulnerable person, quite a sensitive and easily upset person.I mean that as a sort of compliment, not easily upset in the sense that sort of her vanity, but actually she was quite a humanly sensitive person and quite woundable. And when I sort of got to know that aspect of her, know, unsurprisingly, I found myself liking her very much more and actually not worrying so much about the apparent sort of put downs of some other writers and things and also, you know, one could never have said this while she was alive even though she often talked about it. I think she was absolutely permanently scarred by the death of her son and I think that was a, you know, who was run over when he was what 11 years old or something. He may have been 10, he may have been 12, I've forgotten, but that sort of age. I just think she was I just think she was permanently lacerated by that. And whenever I met her, she always mentioned it somehow, if we were together for any length of time.Henry Oliver (1:01:27)What's your favourite Iris Murdoch novel?John Mullan (1:01:33)I was hoping you were going to say which is the most absurd Aris Murdoch novel. ⁓ No, you're an Aris Murdoch fan, are you? Henry Oliver (1:01:38)Very much so. You don't like her work?John Mullan (1:01:59)Okay. ⁓ no, it's, as you would say, Henry, more complicated than that. I sort of like it and find it absurd. It's true. I've only read, re-read in both cases, two in the last 10 years. And that'sThat's not to my credit. And both times I thought, this is so silly. I reread the C to C and I reread a severed head. And I just found them both so silly. ⁓ I was almost, you know, I almost lost my patience with them. But I should try another. What did I used to like? Did I rather like an accidental man? I fear I did.Did I rather like the bell, which is surely ridiculous. I fear I did. Which one should I like the most?Henry Oliver (1:02:38)I like The Sea, the Sea very much. ⁓ I think The Good Apprentice is a great book. There are these, so after The Sea, the Sea, she moves into her quote unquote late phase and people don't like it, but I do like it. So The Good Apprentice and The Philosopher's Pupil I think are good books, very good books.John Mullan (1:02:40)I've not read that one, I'm afraid. Yes, I stopped at the sea to sea. I, you know, once upon a time, I'm a bit wary of it and my experience of rereading A Severed Head rather confirmed me in my wariness because rereading, if I were to reread Myris Murdoch, I'm essentially returning to my 18 year old self because I read lots of Myris Murdoch when I was 17, 18, 19 and I thought she was deep as anything. and to me she was the deep living British novelist. And I think I wasn't alone ⁓ and I feel a little bit chastened by your advocacy of her because I've also gone along with the ⁓ general readership who've slightly decided to ditch Irish Murdoch. her stock market price has sunk hugely ⁓ since her death. But perhaps that's unfair to her, I don't know. I've gone a bit, I'll try again, because I recently have reread two or three early Margaret Drabble novels and found them excellent, really excellent. And thought, ⁓ actually, I wasn't wrong to like these when I was a teenager. ⁓Henry Oliver (1:04:11)The Millstone is a great book.John Mullan (1:04:22)⁓ yes and actually yes I reread that, I reread the Garrick year, the Millstone's terrific I agree, the the Garrick year is also excellent and Jerusalem the Golden, I reread all three of them and and and thought they were very good. So so you're recommending the Philosopher's Apprentice. I'm yeah I'm conflating yes okay.Henry Oliver (1:04:31)first rate. The Good Apprentice and the Philosopher's Pupil. Yeah, yeah. I do agree with you about A Severed Head. I think that book's crazy. What do you like about Patricia Beer's poetry?John Mullan (1:04:56)⁓ I'm not sure I am a great fan of Patricia Beer's poetry really. I got the job of right, what? Yes, yes, because I was asked to and I said, I've read some of her poetry, but you know, why me? And the editor said, because we can't find anybody else to do it. So that's why I did it. And it's true that I came.Henry Oliver (1:05:02)Well, you wrote her... You wrote her dictionary of national... Yes.John Mullan (1:05:23)I came to quite like it and admire some of it because in order to write the article I read everything she'd ever published. But that was a while ago now, Henry, and I'm not sure it puts me in a position to recommend her.Henry Oliver (1:05:35)Fair enough.Why is the Dunciad the greatest unread poem in English?John Mullan (1:05:41)Is it the greatest unread one? Yes, probably, yes, yes, I think it is. Okay, it's great because, first of all, great, then unread. It's great because, well, Alexander Poet is one of the handful of poetic geniuses ever, in my opinion, in the writing in English. Absolutely genius, top shelf. ⁓Henry Oliver (1:05:46)Well, you said that once, yes.Mm-hmm. Yes, yes, yes. Top shelf, yeah.John Mullan (1:06:09)And even his most accessible poetry, however, is relatively inaccessible to today's readers, sort of needs to be taught, or at least you have to introduce people to. Even the Rape of the Lock, which is a pure delight and the nearest thing to an ABBA song he ever wrote, is pretty scary with its just densely packed elusiveness and...Henry Oliver (1:06:27)YouJohn Mullan (1:06:38)You know, and as an A level examiner once said to me, we don't set Pope for A level because it's full of irony and irony is unfair to candidates. ⁓ Which is true enough. ⁓ So Pope's already difficult. ⁓ Poetry of another age, poetry which all depends on ideas of word choice and as I said, literary allusion and The Dunciad is his most compacted, elusive, dense, complicated and bookish poems of a writer who's already dense and compact and bookish and elusive. And the Dunceyad delights in parodying, as I'm sure you know, all the sort of habits of scholarly emendation and encrustation, which turn what should be easy to approach works of literature into sort of, you know, heaps of pedantic commentary. And he parodies all that with delight. But I mean, that's quite a hard ask, isn't it? And ⁓ yeah, and I just and I think everything about the poem means that it's something you can only ever imagine coming to it through an English literature course, actually. I think it is possible to do that. I came to it through being taught it very well and, you know, through because I was committed for three years to study English literature, but it's almost inconceivable that somebody could just sort of pick it up in a bookshop and think, ⁓ this is rather good fun. I'll buy this.Henry Oliver (1:08:26)Can we end with one quick question about Jane Austen since it's her birthday? A lot of people come to her books later. A lot of people love it when they're young, but a lot of people start to love it in their 20s or 30s. And yet these novels are about being young. What's going on there?John Mullan (1:08:29)Sure, sure.Yes.I fear, no not I fear, I think that what you describe is true of many things, not just Jane Austen. You know, that there's a wonderful passage in J.M. Coetzee's novel Disgrace where the reprehensible protagonist is teaching Wordsworth's Prelude.to a group of 19 and 20 year olds. And he adores it. He's in his mid fifties. And he, whilst he's talking, is thinking different things. And what he's thinking is something that I often think actually about certain works I teach, particularly Jane Austen, which is this book is all about being young, but the young find it tedious. Only the aging.You know, youth is wasted on the young, as it were. Only the aging really get its brilliance about the experience of being young. And I think that's a sort of pattern in quite a lot of literature. So, you know, take Northanger Abbey. That seems to me to be a sort of disly teenage book in a way.It's everything and everybody's in a hurry. Everybody's in a whirl. Catherine's in a whirl all the time. She's 17 years old. And it seems to me a delightfully teenage-like book. And if you've read lots of earlier novels, mostly by women, about girls in their, you know, nice girls in their teens trying to find a husband, you know, you realize that sort ofextraordinary magical gift of sort Jane Austen's speed and sprightliness. You know, somebody said to me recently, ⁓ when Elizabeth Bennet sort of walks, but she doesn't walk, she sort of half runs across the fields. You know, not only is it socially speaking, no heroine before her would have done it, but the sort of the sprightliness with which it's described putsthe sort of ploddingness of all fiction before her to shame. And there's something like that in Northanger Abbey. It's about youthfulness and it takes on some of the qualities of the youthfulness of its heroine. know, her wonderful oscillations between folly and real insight. You know, how much she says this thing. I think to marry for money is wicked. Whoa. And you think,Well, Jane Austen doesn't exactly think that. She doesn't think Charlotte Lucas is wicked, surely. But when Catherine says that, there's something wonderful about it. There is something wonderful. You know, only a 17 year old could say it, but she does. And but I appreciate that now in my 60s. I don't think I appreciated it when I was in my teens.Henry Oliver (1:11:55)That's a lovely place to end. John Mullen, thank you very much.John Mullan (1:11:58)Thanks, it's been a delight, a delight. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.commonreader.co.uk/subscribe

News Extra Originally broadcast 6th December 2025 -00.30.Stephen Minogue attended the recent 50th anniversary of the death of Eamon DeValera commemoration in Ennis where he spoke to keynote speaker Billy Kelleher, Mary Crawford, Liam Hayes and Alan O'Callaghan.  -09.45 we hear a snippet from the Clare Business Awards where SBCR was honored. -11.15 Pat O'Brien reports on the Munster immediate club final between Upper Church Drumbane and O'Callaghans Mills. -16.00 We  hear some of the introduction to Gerry O'Briens recent book launch introduced by Jim O'Brien

The gang is headed to Sotherton! We tour the chapel, Mary learns that Edmund is planning to be a clergyman (much to her dismay), and Fanny gets left alone in the woods for an hour. Topics discussed include Maria's men-juggling act, the stick up Fanny's butt, whether 5'9" is short, our nightmare blunt rotation, the debauchery of big cities, fences we've climbed in our youths, and how Mr. Rushworth runs.Patron Study Questions this week come from Avi, Ghenet, Linnea, and Judith. Topics discussed include Jane Austen's commentary on the clergy and how Edmund's profession will play out in the book, who is the better option between Henry Crawford and Mr. Rushworth, whether Edmund will be a good example for his parishioners, and whether we'd feel differently about Mary Crawford if she were our main character.Becca's Study Questions: Topics discussed include Fanny as the consummate observer, Maria's role in the story, and morality in Austen.Funniest Quote: “Oh! Do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch.”Questions moving forward: Will Maria and Julia talk about their boy troubles? Will Fanny ever get her own love story?Who wins the chapters? Fanny, with an honorable mention for Mrs. Rushworth.Glossary of Terms and Phrases:ague (n): malaria or some other illness involving fever and shivering.bon mot (n): a witty remark.ha-ha (n): a ditch with a wall on its inner side below ground level, forming a boundary to a park or garden without interrupting the view.heath (n):a dwarf shrub with small leathery leaves and small pink or purple bell-shaped flowers, characteristic of heathland and moorland.prosing (v): talking tediously.volubility (n): the quality of talking fluently, readily, or incessantly; talkativeness.Glossary of People, Places, and Things: You Belong With Me, Misery BusinessNext Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 11-12Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

Today, things begin to grow in the rice pudding. Mr. Rushworth has the hots for landscaping, Molly gets bitchcrackers for Miss Crawford, and the tides turn on our affections for Edmund when he lends out Fanny's mare. Topics discussed include hear me out cakes, apricots, Mary Crawford's poor breeding, what values we take from our families, Jane Austen's beautiful descriptions of love and how we're getting it in a different way in this book, regifting, Fanny as a chronically ill and/or anxious girlie, and pug the basset hound.Patron Study Questions this week come from Ghenet, Avi, Spring, Diana L., Angelika, Katie, Linnea, Marija, and Melissa. Topics discussed include POV shifting, landscaping and architecture, chronic illness in Austen, Edmund's manipulation of Fanny, Fanny's relationship to the servants, the number of monologues in this book, Edmund being more like his family than we thought, and all things Mary Crawford.Becca's Study Questions: Topics discussed include Edmund and Fanny's conversation about Mary and the romance brewing between Edmund and Mary.Funniest Quote: “The tree thrives well beyond a doubt, madam. The soil is good, and I never pass it without regretting that the fruit should be so little worth the trouble of gathering.”Questions moving forward: If not her cousin, then whomst?Who wins the chapters? The horse

Mary Crawford has been elected as the first female Chair of Fianna Fáil's Clare branch The Inagh woman's appointment comes amid rising frustration over Micheal Martin's leadership of Fianna Fáil, in the wake of the Presidential election... Mary was live in-studio with presenter Sally-Ann Barrett on Tuesday's Morning Focus.

In today's episode, we're talking about chapters 3-5 of Mansfield Park. Mr. Norris is dead! Will Fanny move in with Mrs. Norris? Sir Thomas goes to Antigua! Will he come back? Fanny's horse dies! Will she ever ride again? We meet SEVERAL new characters. Will our girls marry them?Topics discussed include the way incomes from livings work (correct us if we're wrong!), rice pudding lasagna, Molly's continued cousing-shipping, Sir Thomas's West Indies estate and the slavery funding the wealth in England during this era, abolitionist judge Lord Mansfield, our first proposal, whether the Crawfords are people of color, people getting duped into the bad marriage, and the ins and outs of outs.Patron Study Questions this week come from Ghenet, Avi, and Linnea. Topics discussed include Anne's autonomy in the family, the specter of slavery hanging over Mansfield Park, and why Mrs. Norris wanted to adopt Fanny in the first place.Becca's Study Questions: Topics discussed include Edmund and Fanny's dynamic, the Crawfords' role in the story this far, getting Mary Crawford's POV, the similarities between Fanny and Mary, and what Henry teaches us about Maria and Julia.Funniest Quote:“The earliest intelligence of the travellers safe arrival in Antigua after a favorable voyage, was received; though now before Mrs. Norris had been indulging in very dreadful fears, and trying to make Edmund participate in them whenever she could get him alone; and as she depended on being the first person made acquainted with any fatal catastrophe, she had already arranged the manner of breaking it to all the others, when Sir Thomas's assurances of their both being alive and well, made it necessary to lay by her agitation and affectionate preparatory speeches for a while.”Questions moving forward: Will Henry be an interest for Fanny? Is Sir Thomas shipwrecked? Will Big T and Mary Crawford fall in love?Who wins the chapters? Henry CrawfordGlossary of Terms and Phrases:apoplectic (adj): overcome with anger; extremely indignant.esprit de corps (n): a feeling of pride, fellowship, and common loyalty shared by the members of a particular group.evincing (v): reveal the presence ofinvective (n): insulting, abusive, or highly critical language.pecuniary (adj): relating to or consisting of money.plied (v): provide someone with (food or drink) in a continuous or insistent way.preferment (n): promotion or appointment to a position or office.Glossary of People, Places, and Things: Kahlil Greene, Lord Mansfield, Anxiety (Doechii), Miss Austen, Alfie Enoch, Regé-Jean Page, LaKeith Stanfield, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Hunger GamesNext Episode: Mansfield Park Chapters 6-7Our show art was created by Torrence Browne, and our audio is produced by Graham Cook. For bios and transcripts, check out our website at podandprejudice.com. Pod and Prejudice is transcribed by speechdocs.com. To support the show, check out our Patreon! Check out our merch at https://podandprejudice.dashery.com.Instagram: @podandprejudiceTwitter: @podandprejudiceFacebook: Pod and PrejudiceYoutube: Pod and PrejudiceMerch store: https://podandprejudice.dashery.com/

When a person is experiencing fear, the ego responds by aggression, avoidance or paralysis. Another way to look at this situation is the old concept of “fight, flight or freeze”. If the situation is producing fear, the ego usually overcompensates in order to maintain its sense of self and security.Join us on the show today as Mary and I discuss our current state of affairs and how fear is creating major obstacles both in our personal lives and on a national scale.Mary Crawford can be reached for further consultation on how to Jumpstart Lasting Change via her website at TheJoyOfBeingWell.com.Listen to this week's program below or on your podcast platform of choice by clicking Here.

The community of Cloonanaha has joined forces to preserve their unique treasured landmark, Cloonanaha Church. They have set up a fundraiser to restore the church to its former glory. For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by Mary Crawford, who is involved with the fundraising efforts. You can support and donate here: https://www.idonate.ie/cause/CloonanahaChurchRestoration

The Karmic Trail is seen as any action you perform or thought you pursue, and these actions and thoughts leave an imprint on the mind.Karma is also viewed as three types:PhysicalVerbalMentalToday on the show, Mary and I will be discussing these karmic imprints because each of these actions leaves behind an imprint. This imprint has a lasting impact on your consciousness and if it's of a destructive nature, it can have an everlasting negative effect.Mary Crawford can be reached for further consultation on how to Jumpstart Lasting Change via her website at TheJoyOfBeingWell.com.Listen to this week's program below or on your podcast platform of choice by clicking Here.

Research is showing us that using quantum healing is a “journey into the depths of consciousness. By accessing the subconscious mind, quantum healing allows individuals to explore past events, and, for some, past lives”. When this method is utilized, people can gain insight into unresolved issues, and, as a result, facilitate healing.Quantum energy is based on the principles of quantum physics which teach us that everything is made of energy. How a person interacts with this energy plays a major role in the reality they live.Join us on the show today where Mary Crawford explains how to use this force to heal your life on multiple levels.Mary Crawford can be reached for further consultation on how to Jumpstart Lasting Change via her website at TheJoyOfBeingWell.com.Listen to this week's program below or on your podcast platform of choice by clicking Here.

Who else in literature today could be more interesting to interview than Brandon Taylor, the author of Real Life, Filthy Animals, and The Late Americans, as well as the author of popular reviews and the sweater weather Substack? We talked about so much, including: Chopin and who plays him best; why there isn't more tennis in fiction; writing fiction on a lab bench; being a scientific critic; what he has learned working as a publisher; negative reviews; boring novels; Jane Austen. You'll also get Brandon's quick takes on Iris Murdoch, Jonathan Franzen, Lionel Trilling, György Lukács, and a few others; the modern critics he likes reading; and the dead critics he likes reading.Brandon also talked about how his new novel is going to be different from his previous novels. He told me:I no longer really want to be starting my books, quote unquote, in media res. I want my books to feel like books. I don't want my books to feel like movies. And I don't want them to feel like treatments for film. And so I want to sort of bring back all of what a novel can do in terms of its structure and in terms of its form and stuff like that. And so it means starting books, you know, with this sort of Dickensian voice of God speaking from on high, sort of summing up an era. And I think also sort of allowing the narrators in my work to dare to sum up, allowing characters in my work to have ideologies and to argue about those ideologies. I feel like that is a thing that was sort of denuded from the American novel for a lot of millennials and just sort of like trying to put back some of that old fashioned machinery that was like stripped out of the novel. And seeing what of it can still function, seeing, trying to figure out if there's any juice left in these modes of representation.I have enjoyed Brandon's fiction (several people I recommend him to have loved Real Life) and I think he's one of the best critics working today. I was delighted to interview him.Oh, and he's a Dickens fan!Transcript (AI produced, lightly formatted by me)Henry: Today I am talking to Brandon Taylor, the author of Real Life, Filthy Animals, and The Late Americans. Brandon is also a notable book reviewer and of course he writes a sub stack called Sweater Weather. Brandon, welcome.Brandon: Yeah, thanks for having me.Henry: What did you think of the newly discovered Chopin waltz?Brandon: Um, I thought, I mean, I remember very vividly waking up that day and there being a new waltz, but it was played by Lang Lang, which I did not. I don't know that, like, he's my go-to Chopin interpreter. But I don't know, I was, I was excited by it. Um, I don't know, it was in a world sort of dominated by this ethos of like nothing new under the sun. It felt wonderfully novel. I don't know that it's like one of Chopin's like major, I don't know that it's like major. Um, it's sort of definitively like middle of the road, middle tier Chopin, I think. But I enjoyed it. I played it like 20 times in a row.Henry: I like those moments because I like, I like it when people get surprised into realizing that like, it's not fixed what we know about the world and you can even actually get new Chopin, right?Brandon: I mean, it felt a little bit like when Beyonce did her first big surprise drop. It was like new Chopin just dropped. Oh my God. All my sort of classical music nerd group texts were buzzing. It felt like a real moment, actually.Henry: And I think it gives people a sense of what art was like in the past. You can go, oh my God, new Chopin. Like, yes, those feelings are not just about modern culture, right? That used to happen with like, oh my God, a new Jane Austen book is here.Brandon: Oh, I know. Well, I mean, I was like reading a lot of Emile Zola up until I guess late last year. And at some point I discovered that he was like an avid amateur photographer. And in like the French Ministry of Culture is like digitized a lot of his glass plate negatives. And one of them is like a picture that Zola has taken of Manet's portrait of him. And it's just like on a floor somewhere. Like he's like sort of taken this like very rickety early camera machinery to this place where this portrait is and like taken a picture of it. It's like, wow. Like you can imagine that like Manet's like, here's this painting I did of you. And Zola's like, ah, yes, I'm going to take a picture to commemorate it. And so I sort of love that.Henry: What other of his photos do you like?Brandon: Well, there's one of him on a bike riding toward the camera. That's really delightful to me because it like that impulse is so recognizable to me. There are all these photos that he took of his mistress that were also just like, you can like, there are also photographs of his children and of his family. And again, those feel so like recognizable to me. He's not even like a very good photographer. It's just that he was taking pictures of his like daily life, except for his kind of stunt photos where he's riding the bike. And it's like, ah, yes, Zola, he would have been great with an iPhone camera.Henry: Which pianists do you like for Chopin?Brandon: Which pianists do I love for Chopin? I like Pollini a lot. Pollini is amazing. Pollini the elder, not Pollini the younger. The younger is not my favorite. And he died recently, Maurizio Pollini. He died very recently. Maybe he's my favorite. I love, I love Horowitz. Horowitz is wonderful at Chopin. But it's obviously it's like not his, you know, you don't sort of go to Horowitz for Chopin, I guess. But I love his Chopin. And sometimes Trifonov. Trifonov has a couple Chopin recordings that I really, really like. I tend not to love Trifonov as much.Henry: Really?Brandon: I know it's controversial. It's very controversial. I know. Tell me why. I, I don't know. He's just a bit of a banger to me. Like, like he's sort of, I don't know, his playing is so flashy. And he feels a bit like a, like a, like a keyboard basher to me sometimes.Henry: But like, do you like his Bach?Brandon: You know, I haven't done a deep dive. Maybe I should do a sort of more rigorous engagement with Trifonov. But yeah, I don't, he's just not, he doesn't make my heart sing. I think he's very good at Bach.Henry: What about a Martha Argerich?Brandon: Oh, I mean, she's incredible. She's incredible. I bought that sort of big orange box out of like all of her, her sort of like masterwork recordings. And she's incredible. She has such feel for Chopin. But she doesn't, I think sometimes people can make Chopin feel a little like, like treacly, like, like a little too sweet. And she has this perfect understanding of his like rhythm and his like inner nuances and like the crispness in his compositions. Like she really pulls all of that out. And I love her. She has such, obviously great dexterity, but like a real sort of exquisite sensitivity to the rhythmic structures of Chopin.Henry: You listen on CD?Brandon: No, I listen on vinyl and I listen on streaming, but mostly vinyl. Mostly vinyl? Yeah, mostly vinyl. I know it's very annoying. No, no, no, no, no.Henry: Which, what are the good speakers?Brandon: I forget where I bought these speakers from, but I sort of did some Googling during the pandemic of like best speakers to use. I have a U-Turn Audio, U-Turn Orbital record player. And so I was just looking for good speakers that were compatible and like wouldn't take up a ton of space in my apartment because I was moving to New York and had a very tiny, tiny apartment. So they're just from sort of standard, I forget the brand, but they've served me well these past few years.Henry: And do you like Ólafsson? He's done some Chopin.Brandon: Who?Henry: Víkingur Ólafsson. He did the Goldbergs this year, but he's done some Chopin before. I think he's quite good.Brandon: Oh, that Icelandic guy?Henry: Yeah, yeah, yeah. With the glasses? That's right. And the very neat hair.Brandon: Yes. Oh, he's so chic. He's so chic. I don't know his Chopin. I know his, there's another series that he did somewhat recently that I'm more familiar with. But he is really good. He has good Beethoven, Víkingur.Henry: Yeah.Brandon: And normally I don't love Beethoven, but like—Henry: Really? Why? Why? What's wrong with Beethoven? All these controversial opinions about music.Brandon: I'm not trying to have controversial opinions. I think I'm, well, I'm such a, I'm such, I mean, I'm just like a dumb person. And so like, I don't, I don't have a really, I feel like I don't have the robust understanding to like fully appreciate Beethoven and all of his sort of like majesty. And so maybe I've just not heard good Beethoven and I need to sort of go back and sort of get a real understanding of it. But I just tend not to like it. It feels like, I don't know, like grandma's living room music to me sometimes.Henry: What other composers do you enjoy?Brandon: Oh, of course.Henry: Or other music generally, right?Brandon: Rachmaninoff is so amazing to me. There was, of course, Bach. Brahms. Oh, I love Brahms, but like specifically the intermezzi. I love the intermezzi. I recently fell in love with, oh, his name is escaping me now, but he, I went to a concert and they sort of did a Brahms intermezzi. And they also played this, I think he was an Austrian composer. And his music was like, it wasn't experimental, but it was like quite, I had a lot of dissonance in it. And I found it like really interesting and like really moving actually. And so I did a sort of listening to that constantly. Oh, I forget his name. But Brahms, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, love Rachmaninoff. I have a friend who says that Rachmaninoff writes Negro spirituals. And I love that theory that Rachmaninoff's music is like the music of the slaves. It just, I don't know. I really, that really resonates with me spiritually. Which pieces, which Rachmaninoff symphonies, concertos? Yeah, the concertos. But like specifically, like I have a friend who said that Rach II sounded to her like the sort of spiritual cry of like the slaves. And we were at like a hangout with like mostly Black people. And she like stopped playing like Juvenile, like the rapper. And she put on Rach II. And we just like sat there and listened. And it did feel like something powerful had entered the room. Yeah, but he's my guy. I secretly really, really love him. I like Liszt, but like it really depends on the day and the time for him. He makes good folk music, Liszt. I love his folky, his folk era.Henry: What is it that you enjoy about tennis?Brandon: What do I enjoy about tennis? I love the, I love not thinking. I love being able to hit the ball for hours on end and like not think. And like, it's the one part of my life. It's the one time in my life where my experience is like totally unstructured. And so like this morning, I went to a 7am drill and play class where you do drills for an hour. Then you play doubles for an hour. And during that first hour of drills, I was just like hitting the ball. I was at the mercy of the guy feeding us the ball. And I didn't have a single thought about books or literature or like the status of my soul or like the nature of American democracy. It was just like, did I hit that ball? Well, did I hit it kind of off center? Were there tingles in my wrist? Yes or no. Like it was just very, very grounding in the moment. And I think that is what I love about it. Do you like to watch tennis? Oh, yeah, constantly. Sometimes when I'm in a work meeting, the Zoom is here and the tennis is like playing in the background. Love tennis, love to watch, love to play, love to think about, to ponder. Who are the best players for you? Oh, well, the best players, my favorite players are Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Stanislas Wawrinka, love Wawrinka. And I was a really big Davydenko head back in the day. Nikolai Davydenko was this Russian player who had, he was like a metronome. He just like would not miss. Yeah, those are my favorites. Right now, the guy I'm sort of rooting for who's still active is Kasper Rud, who's this Norwegian guy. And I love him because he just looks like some guy. Like he just looks like he should be in a seminary somewhere. I love it. I love, I love his normalness. He just looks like an NPC. And I'm drawn to that in a tennis player.Henry: It's hard to think of tennis in novels. Why is that?Brandon: Well, I think a lot of people don't, well, I think part of it is a lot of novelists. Part of it is a lot of novelists don't play sports. I think that they, at least Americans, I can't speak for other parts of the world, but in America, a lot of novelists are not doing sports. So that's one. And I think two, like, you know, like with anything, I think that tennis has not been subjected to the same schemes of narrativization that like other things are. And so like it's, a lot of novelists just like don't see a sort of readily dramatizable thing in tennis. Even though if you like watch tennis and like listen to tennis commentary, they are always erecting narratives. They're like, oh yeah, she's been on a 19 match losing streak. Is this where she turns it around? And to me, tennis is like a very literary sport because tennis is one of those sports where it's all about the matchup. It's like your forehand to my backhand, like no matter how well I play against everyone else, like it's you and me locked in the struggle. And like that to me feels incredibly literary. And it is so tied to your individual psychology as well. Like, I don't know, I endlessly am fascinated by it. And indeed, I got an idea for a tennis novel the other day that I'm hopefully going to write in three to five years. We'll see.Henry: Very good. How did working in a lab influence your writing?Brandon: Well, somewhat directly and materially in the case of my first book, because I wrote it while I was working in the lab and it gave me weirdly like time and structure to do that work where I would be pipetting. And then while I was waiting for an assay or a experiment to run or finish, I would have 30 minutes to sit down and write.Henry: So you were writing like at the lab bench?Brandon: Oh, yeah, absolutely. One thousand percent. I would like put on Philip Glass's score for the hours and then just like type while my while the centrifuge was running or whatever. And and so like there's that impression sort of baked into the first couple books. And then I think more, I guess, like spiritually or broadly, it influenced my work because it taught me how to think and how to organize time and how to organize thoughts and how to sort of pursue long term, open ended projects whose results may or may not, you know, fail because of something that you did or maybe you didn't do. And that's just the nature of things. Who knows? But yeah, I think also just like discipline, the discipline to sort of clock in every day. And to sort of go to the coalface and do the work. And that's not a thing that is, you know. That you just get by working in a lab, but it's certainly something that I acquired working in a lab.Henry: Do you think it's affected your interest in criticism? Because there's there are certain types of critic who seem to come from a scientific background like Helen Vendler. And there's something something about the sort of the precision and, you know, that certain critics will refuse to use critical waffle, like the human condition. And they won't make these big, vague gestures to like how this can change the way we view society. They're like, give me real details. Give me real like empirical criticism. Do you think this is — are you one of these people?Brandon: Yeah, yeah, I think I'm, you know, I'm all about what's on the page. I'm all about the I'm not gonna go rooting in your biography for not gonna go. I'm not I'm not doing that. It's like what you brought to me on the page is what you've brought to me. And that is what I will be sort of coming over. I mean, I think so. I mean, very often when critics write about my work, or when people respond to my work, they sort of describe it as being put under a microscope. And I do think like, that is how I approach literature. It's how I approach life. If there's ever a problem or a question put to me, I just sort of dissect it and try to get down to its core bits and its core parts. And and so yeah, I mean, if that is a scientific way of doing things, that's certainly how I but also I don't know any other way to think like that's sort of that's sort of how I was trained to think about stuff. You've been to London. I have. What did you think of it? The first time I didn't love it. The second and third times I had a good time, but I felt like London didn't love me back. London is the only place on earth I've ever been where people have had a hard time understanding me like I like it's the only place where I've like attempted to order food or a drink or something in a store or a cafe or a restaurant. And the waiters like turned to my like British hosts and asked them to translate. And that is an entirely foreign experience for me. And so London and I have like a very contentious relationship, I would say.Henry: Now, you've just published four classic novels.Brandon: Yes.Henry: George Gissing, Edith Wharton, Victor Hugo and Sarah Orne Jewett. Why did you choose those four writers, those four titles?Brandon: Oh, well, once we decided that we were going to do a classics imprint, you know, then it's like, well, what are we going to do? And I'm a big Edith Wharton fan. And there are all of these Edith Wharton novels that Americans don't really know about. They know Edith Wharton for The Age of Innocence. And if they are an English major, they maybe know her for The House of Mirth. Or like maybe they know her for The Custom of the Country if they're like really into reading. But then they sort of think of her as a novelist of the 19th century. And she's writing all of these books set in the 1920s and about the 1920s. And so it felt important to show people like, oh, this is a writer who died a lot later than you think that she did. And whose creative output was, you know, pretty, who was like a contemporary of F. Scott Fitzgerald in a lot of ways. Like, these books are being published around the same time as The Great Gatsby. And to sort of, you know, bring attention to a part of her over that, like, people don't know about. And like, that's really exciting to me. And Sarah Orne Jewett, I mean, I just really love The Country of the Pointed Furs. I love that book. And I found it in like in a 10 cents bin at a flea market one time. And it's a book that people have tried to bring back. And there have been editions of it. But it just felt like if we could get two people who are really cool to talk about why they love that book, we could sort of have like a real moment. And Sarah Orne Jewett was like a pretty big American writer. Like she was a pretty significant writer. And she was like really plugged in and she's not really read or thought about now. And so that felt like a cool opportunity as well to sort of create a very handsome edition of this book and to sort of talk about a bit why she matters. And the guessing of it all is we were going to do New Grub Street. And then my co-editor thought, well, The Odd Women, I think, is perhaps more relevant to our current moment than New Grub Street necessarily. And it would sort of differentiate us from the people, from the presses that are doing reissues of New Grub Street, because there's just been a new edition of that book. And nobody in America really knows The Odd Women. And it's a really wonderful novel. It's both funny and also like really biting in its satire and commentary. So we thought, oh, it'll be fun to bring this writer to Americans who they've never heard of in a way that will speak to them in a lot of ways. And the Victor Hugo, I mean, you know, there are Hugos that people know all about. And then there are Hugos that no one knows about. And Toilers of the Sea was a passion project for my co-editor. She'd read it in Guernsey. That's where she first discovered that book. And it really meant a lot to her. And I read it and really loved it. I mean, it was like Hugo at his most Hugo. Like, it's a very, it's a very, like, it's a very abundant book. And it's so wild and strange and changeful. And so I was like, oh, that seems cool. Let's do it. Let's put out Toilers of the Sea. So that's a bit of why we picked each one.Henry: And what have you learned from being on the other side of things now that you're the publisher?Brandon: So much. I've learned so much. And indeed, I just, I was just asked by my editor to do the author questionnaire for the novel that I have coming out next. And I thought, yes, I will do this. And I will do it immediately. Because now I know, I know how important these are. And I know how early and how far in advance these things need to be locked in to make everyone's life easier. I think I've learned a bit about the sometimes panicked scramble that happens to get a book published. I've learned about how hard it is to wrangle blurbs. And so I think I'm a little more forgiving of my publishers. But they've always been really great to me. But now I'm like, oh, my gosh, what can I do for you? How can I help you make this publication more of a success?Henry: Do you think that among literary people generally, there's a lack of appreciation of what business really involves in some of the senses you're talking about? I feel like I see a lot of either indifferent or hostile attitudes towards business or commerce or capitalism, late stage capitalism or whatever. And I sometimes look at it and I'm like, I don't think you guys really know what it takes to just like get stuff done. You know what I mean? Like, it's a lot of grind. I don't think it's a big nasty thing. It's just a lot of hard work, right?Brandon: Yeah, I mean, 1000%. Or if it's not a sort of misunderstanding, but a sort of like disinterest in like, right, like a sort of high minded, like, oh, that's just the sort of petty grimy commerce of it all. I care about the beauty and the art. And it's just like, friend, we need booksellers to like, sell this. I mean, to me, the part of it that is most to me, like the most illustrative example of this in my own life is that when I first heard how my editor was going to be describing my book, I was like, that's disgusting. That's horrible. Why are you talking about my race? Why are you talking about like my sexuality? Like, this is horrible. Why can't you just like talk about the plot of the book? Like, what is the matter with you? And then I had, you know, I acquired and edited this book called Henry Henry, which is a queer contemporary retelling of the Henry ad. And it's a wonderful novel. It's so delightful. And I had to go into our sales conference where we are talking to the people whose job it is to sell that book into bookstores to get bookstores to take that book up. And I had to write this incredibly craven description of this novel. And as I was writing it, I was like, I hope Alan, the author, I hope Alan never sees this. He never needs to hear how I'm talking about this book. And as I was doing it, I was like, I will never hold it against my editor again for writing this like, cheesy, cringy copy. Because it's like you, like, you so believe in the art of that book, so much that you want it to give it every fighting chance in the marketplace. And you need to arm your sales team with every weapon of commerce they need to get that book to succeed so that when readers pick it up, they can appreciate all of the beautiful and glorious art of it. And I do think that people, you know, like, people don't really kind of, people don't really understand that. And I do think that part of that is publishing's fault, because they are, they've been rather quick to elide the distinctions between art and commerce. And so like publishing has done a not great job of sort of giving people a lot of faith in its understanding that there's a difference between art and commerce. But yeah, I think, I think there's a lot of misapprehension out there about like, what goes into getting bookstores to acquire that book.Henry: What are the virtues of negative book reviews?Brandon: I was just on a panel about this. I mean, I mean, hopefully a negative book review, like a positive review, or like any review, will allow a reader or the audience to understand the book in a new way, or to create a desire in the reader to pick up the book and see if they agree or disagree or that they, that they have something to argue with or push against as they're reading. You know, when I'm writing a negative review, when I'm writing a review that I feel is trending toward negative, I should say, I always try to like, I don't know, I try to always remember that like, this is just me presenting my experience of the book and my take of the book. And hopefully that will be productive or useful for whoever reads the review. And hopefully that my review won't be the only thing that they read and that they will in fact, go pick up the book and see if they agree or disagree. It's hopefully it creates interesting and potentially divergent dialogues or discourses around the text. And fundamentally, I think not every critic feels this way. Not every piece of criticism is like this. But the criticism I write, I'm trying to create the conditions that will refer the reader always back to the text, be it through quotation, be it through, they're so incensed by my argument that they're going to go read the book themselves and then like, yell at me. Like, I think that that's wonderful, but like, always keeping the book at the center. But I think a negative review can, you know, it can start a conversation. It can get people talking about books, which in this culture, this phase of history feels like a win. And hopefully it can sort of be a corrective sometimes to less genuine or perceived less genuine discourses that are existing around the book.Henry: I think even whether or not it's a question of genuine, it's for me, it's just a question of if you tell people this book is good and they give up their time and money and they discover that it's trash, you've done a really bad thing to that person. And like, there might be dozens of them compared to this one author who you've been impolite to or whatever. And it's just a question of don't lie in book, right?Brandon: Well, yeah. I mean, hopefully people are honest, but I do feel sometimes that there is, there's like a lack of honesty. And look, I think that being like, well, I mean, maybe you'll love this. I don't love it, you know, but at least present your opinion in that way. At least be like, you know, there are many interpretations of this thing. Here's my interpretation. Maybe you'll feel differently or something like that. But I do think that people feel that there have been a great number of dishonest book reviews. Maybe there have been, maybe there have not been. I certainly have read some reviews I felt were dishonest about books that I have read. And I think that the negative book review does feel a bit like a corrective in a lot of ways, both, you know, justified or unjustified. People are like, finally, someone's being honest about this thing. But yeah, I think it's interesting. I think it's all really, I think it's all fascinating. I do think that there are some reviews though, that are negative and that are trying to be about the book, but are really about the author. There are some reviews that I have read that have been ostensibly about reviewing a text, but which have really been about, you don't like that person and you have decided to sort of like take an axe to them. And that to me feels not super productive. I wouldn't do it, but other people find it useful.Henry: As in, you can tell that from the review or you know that from background information?Brandon: I mean, this is all projection, of course, but like there have been some reviews where I've read, like, for example, some of the Lauren Oyler reviews, I think some of the Lauren Oyler reviews were negative and were exclusively about the text. And they sort of took the text apart and sort of dissected it and came to conclusions, some of which I agreed with, some of which I didn't agree with, but they were fundamentally about the text. And like all the criticisms referred back to the text. And then there were some that were like projecting attitudes onto the author that were more about creating this sort of vaporous shape of Lauren Oyler and then sort of poking holes in her literary celebrity or her stature as a critic or what have you. And that to me felt less productive as like a book review.Henry: Yes. Who are your favorite reviewers?Brandon: Ooh, my favorite reviewers. I really love Christian Lawrence. And he does my, of the critics who try to do the sort of like mini historiography of like a thing. He's my favorite because he teaches me a lot. He sort of is so good at summing up an era or summing up a phase of literary production without being like so cringe or so socialist about it. I really love, I love it when he sort of distills and dissects an era. I really like Hermione Hobie. I think she's really interesting. And she writes about books with a lot of feeling and a lot of energy. And I really love her mind. And of course, like Patricia Lockwood, of course, everyone, perhaps not everyone, but I enjoy Patricia Lockwood's criticism. You don't?Henry: Not really.Brandon: Oh, is it because it's too chatty? Is it too, is it too selfie?Henry: A little bit. I think, I think that kind of criticism can work really well. But I think, I think it's too much. I think basically she's very, she's a very stylized writer and a lot of her judgments get, it gets to the point where it's like, this is the logical conclusion of what you're trying to do stylistically. And there are some zingers in here and some great lines and whatever, but we're no longer, this is no longer really a book review.Brandon: Yeah.Henry: Like by the, by the end of the paragraph, this, like, we didn't want to let the style go. We didn't want to lose the opportunity to cap that off. And it leads her into, I think, glibness a lot of the time.Brandon: Yeah. I could see that. I mean, I mean, I enjoy reading her pieces, but do I understand like what's important to her at a sort of literary level? I don't know. I don't, and in that sense, like, are they, is it criticism or is it closer to like personal essay, humorous essay? I don't know. Maybe that's true. I enjoy reading them, but I get why people are like, this is a very, very strong flavor for sure.Henry: Now you've been reading a lot of literary criticism.Brandon: Oh yeah.Henry: Not of the LRB variety, but of the, the old books in libraries variety. Yes. How did that start? How did, how did you come to this?Brandon: Somewhat like ham-fistedly. I, in 2021, I had a really bad case of writer's block and I thought maybe part of the reason I had writer's block was that I didn't know anything about writing or I didn't know anything about like literature or like writing. I'd been writing, I'd published a novel. I was working on another novel. I'd published a book of stories, but like, I just like truly didn't know anything about literature really. And I thought I need some big boy ideas. I need, I need to find out what adults think about literature. And so I went to my buddy, Christian Lorenzen, and I was like, you write criticism. What is it? And what should I read? And he gave me a sort of starter list of criticism. And it was like the liberal imagination by Lionel Trilling and Guy Davenport and Alfred Kazin who wrote On Native Grounds, which is this great book on the American literary tradition and Leslie Fiedler's Love and Death in the American Novel. And I, and then Edmund Wilson's Axel's Castle. And I read all of those. And then as each one would sort of refer to a different text or person, I sort of like followed the footnotes down into this rabbit hole of like literary criticism. And now it's been a sort of ongoing project of the last few years of like reading. I always try to have a book of criticism on the go. And then earlier this year, I read Jameson's The Antimonies of Realism. And he kept talking about this Georg Lukács guy. And I was like, I guess I should go read Lukács. And so then I started reading Lukács so that I could get back to Jameson. And I've been reading Lukács ever since. I am like deep down the Lukács rabbit hole. But I'm not reading any of the socialism stuff. I told myself that I wouldn't read any of the socialism stuff and I would only read the literary criticism stuff, which makes me very different from a lot of the socialist literary critics I really enjoy because they're like Lukács, don't read in that literary criticism stuff, just read his socialism stuff. So I'm reading all the wrong stuff from Lukács, but I really, I really love it. But yeah, it sort of started because I thought I needed grown up ideas about literature. And it's been, I don't know, I've really enjoyed it. I really, really enjoy it. It's given me perhaps terrible ideas about what novels should be or do. But, you know, that's one of the side effects to reading.Henry: Has it made, like, what specific ways has it changed how you've written since you've acquired a set of critical principles or ideas?Brandon: Yeah, I mean, I think part of it is, part of it has to do with Lukács' idea of the totality. And, you know, I think that the sort of most direct way that it shows up in a sort of really practical way in my novel writing is that I no longer really want to be starting my books, quote unquote, in media res. Like, I don't want, I want my books to feel like books. I don't want my books to feel like movies. And I don't want them to feel like treatments for film. And so I want to sort of bring back all of what a novel can do in terms of its structure and in terms of its form and stuff like that. And so it means starting books, you know, with this sort of Dickensian voice of God speaking from on high, sort of summing up an era. And I think also sort of allowing the narrators in my work to dare to sum up, allowing characters in my work to have ideologies and to argue about those ideologies. I feel like that is a thing that was sort of denuded from the American novel for a lot of millennials and just sort of like trying to put back some of that old fashioned machinery that was like stripped out of the novel. And seeing what of it can still function, seeing, trying to figure out if there's any juice left in these modes of representation and stuff like that. And so like that, that's sort of, that's sort of abstract, but like in a concrete way, like what I'm kind of trying to resolve in my novel writing these days.Henry: You mentioned Dickens.Brandon: Oh, yes.Henry: Which Dickens novels do you like?Brandon: Now I'm afraid I'm going to say something else controversial. We love controversial. Which Dickens? I love Bleak House. I love Bleak House. I love Tale of Two Cities. It is one of the best openings ever, ever, ever, ever in the sweep of that book at once personal and universal anyway. Bleak House, Tale of Two Cities. And I also, I read Great Expectations as like a high school student and didn't like it, hated it. It was so boring. But now coming back to it, I think it, honestly, it might be the novel of our time. I think it might accidentally be a novel. I mean, it's a novel of scammers, a novel of like, interpersonal beef taken to the level of like, spiritual conflict, like it's about thieves and class, like it just feels like like that novel could have been written today about people today, like that book just feels so alive to today's concerns, which perhaps, I don't know, says something really evil about this cultural stagnation under capitalism, perhaps, but I don't know, love, love Great Expectations now.Henry: Why are so many modern novels boring?Brandon: Well, depends on what you mean by boring, Henry, what do you mean? Why?Henry: I mean, you said this.Brandon: Oh.Henry: I mean, I happen to agree, but this is, I'm quoting you.Brandon: Oh, yes. I remember that. I remember that review.Henry: I mean, I can tell you why I think they're boring.Brandon: Oh, yes, please.Henry: So I think, I think what you said before is true. They all read like movies. And I think I very often I go in, I pick up six or seven books on the new book table. And I'm like, these openings are all just the same. You're all thinking you can all see Netflix in your head. This is not really a novel. And so the dialogue is really boring, because you kind of you can hear some actor or actress saying it. But I can't hear that because I'm the idiot stuck in the bookshop reading your Netflix script. Whereas, you know, I think you're right that a lot of those traditional forms of storytelling, they like pull you in to the to the novel. And they and they like by the end of the first few pages, you sort of feel like I'm in this funny place now. And to do in media res, like, someone needs to get shot, or something, something weird needs to be said, like, you can't just do another, another standard opening. So I think that's a big, that's a big point.Brandon: Well, as Lukasz tells us, bourgeois realism has a, an unholy fondness for the, the average, the merely average, as opposed to the typical. And I think, yeah, a lot of it, a lot of why I think it's boring echoes you, I think that for me, what I find boring, and a lot of them is that it feels like novelists have abandoned any desire to, to have their characters or the novels themselves integrate the sort of disparate experiences within the novel into any kind of meaningful hole. And so there isn't this like sense of like things advancing toward a grander understanding. And I think a lot of it is because they've, they are writing under the assumption that like the question of why can never be answered. There can never be like a why, there can never be a sort of significance to anything. And so everything is sort of like evacuated of significance or meaning. And so you have what I've taken to calling like reality TV fiction, where the characters are just like going places and doing things, and there are no thoughts, there are no thoughts about their lives, or no thoughts about the things that they are doing, there are no thoughts about their experiences. And it's just a lot of like, like lowercase e events in their lives, but like no attempt to organize those events into any sort of meaningful hole. And I think also just like, what leads to a lot of dead writing is writers who are deeply aware that they're writing about themes, they're writing about themes instead of people. And they're working from generalities instead of particularities and specificities. And they have no understanding of the relationship between the universal and the particular. And so like, everything is just like, like beans in a can that they're shaking around. And I think that that's really boring. I think it's really tedious. Like, like, sure, we can we can find something really profound in the mundane, but like, you have to be really smart to do that. So like the average novelist is like better off like, starting with a gunshot or something like do something big.Henry: If you're not Virginia Woolf, it is in fact just mundane.Brandon: Indeed. Yeah.Henry: Is there too much emphasis on craft? In the way, in the way, in like what's valued among writers, in the way writers are taught, I feel like everything I see is about craft. And I'm like, craft is good, but that can just be like how you make a table rather than like how you make a house. Craft is not the guarantor of anything. And I see a lot of books where I think this person knows some craft. But as you say, they don't really have an application for it. And they don't. No one actually said to them, all style has a moral purpose, whether you're aware of it or not. And so they default to this like pointless use of the craft. And someone should say to them, like, you need to know history. You need to know tennis. You need to know business. You need to know like whatever, you know. And I feel like the novels I don't like are reflections of the discourse bubble that the novelist lives in. And I feel like it's often the continuation of Twitter by other means. So in the Rachel Kong novel that I think it came out this year, there's a character, a billionaire character who comes in near the end. And everything that he says or that is said about him is literally just meme. It's online billionaire meme because billionaires are bad because of all the things we all know from being on Twitter. And I was like, so you just we literally have him a character as meme. And this is the most representative thing to me, because that's maybe there's craft in that. Right. But what you've chosen to craft is like 28 tweets. That's pointless.Brandon: 28 tweets be a great title for a book, though, you have to admit, I would buy that book off the new book table. 28 tweets. I would. I would buy that. Yeah, I do think. Well, I think it goes both ways. I think it goes both ways. I somewhat famously said this about Sally Rooney that like she her books have no craft. The craft is bad. And I do think like there are writers who only have craft, who are able to sort of create these wonderfully structured books and to sort of deploy these beautiful techniques. And those books are absolutely dead. There's just like nothing in them because they have nothing to say. There's just like nothing to be said about any of that. And on the other hand, you have these books that are full of feelings that like would be better had someone taught that person about structure or form or had they sort of had like a rigorous thing. And I would say that like both of those are probably bad, like depending on who you are, you find one more like, like easier to deal with than the other. I do think that like part of why there's such an emphasis on craft is because not to sort of bring capitalism back in but you can monetize craft, you know what I mean? Like, craft is one of those things that is like readily monetizable. Like, if I'm a writer, and I would like to make money, and I can't sell a novel, I can tell people like, oh, how to craft a perfect opening, how to create a novel opening that will make agents pick it up and that will make editors say yes, but like what the sort of promise of craft is that you can finish a thing, but not that it is good, as you say, there's no guarantor. Whereas you know, like it's harder to monetize someone's soul, or like, it's harder to monetize like the sort of random happenstance of just like a writer's voice sort of emerging from from whatever, like you can't turn that into profit. But you can turn into profit, let me help you craft your voice. So it's very grind set, I think craft has a tendency to sort of skew toward the grind set and toward people trying to make money from, from writing when they can't sell a book, you know. Henry: Let's play a game. Brandon: Oh dear.Henry: I say the name of a writer. You give us like the 30 second Brandon Taylor opinion of that writer.Brandon: Okay. Yeah.Henry: Jonathan Franzen.Brandon: Thomas Mann, but like, slightly more boring, I think.Henry: Iris Murdoch.Brandon: A friend of mine calls her a modern calls her the sort of pre Sally Rooney, Sally Rooney. And I agree with that.Henry: When I'm at parties, I try and sell her to people where I say she's post-war Sally Rooney.Brandon: Yes, yes. And like, and like all that that entails, and so many delightful, I read all these like incredible sort of mid century reviews of her novels, and like the men, the male critics, like the Bernard Breganzis of the world being like, why is there so much sex in this book? It's amazing. Please go look up those like mid-century reviews of Iris Murdoch. They were losing their minds. Henry: Chekhov.Brandon: Perfect, iconic, baby girl, angel, legend. Can't get enough. 10 out of 10.Henry: Evelyn Waugh.Brandon: So Catholic, real Catholic vibes. But like, scabrously funny. And like, perhaps the last writer to write about life as though it had meaning. Hot take, but I'll, I stand by it.Henry: Yeah, well, him and Murdoch. But yeah, no, I think I think there's a lot in that. C.V. Wedgwood.Brandon: Oh, my gosh. The best, a titan, a master of history. Like, oh, my God. I would not be the same without Wedgwood.Henry: Tell us which one we should read.Brandon: Oh, the 30 Years War. What are you talking about?Henry: Well, I think her books on the English Civil War… I'm a parochial Brit.Brandon: Oh, see, I don't, not that I don't, I will go read those. But her book on the 30 Years War is so incredible. It's, it's amazing. It's second to like, Froissart's Chronicles for like, sort of history, history books for me.Henry: Northrop Frye.Brandon: My father. I, Northrop Frye taught me so much about how to see and how to think. Just amazing, a true thinker in a mind. Henry: Which book? Brandon: Oh, Anatomy of Criticism is fantastic. But Fearful Symmetry is just, it will blow your head off. Just amazing. But if you're looking for like, to have your, your mind gently remapped, then Anatomy of Criticism.Henry: Emma Cline.Brandon: A throwback. I think she's, I think she's Anne Beattie meets John Cheever for a new era. And I think she's amazing. She's perfect. Don't love her first novel. I think her stories are better. She's a short story writer. And she should stay that way.Henry: Okay, now I want you to rank Jane Austen's novels.Brandon: Wait, okay. So like, by my preference, or by like, what I think is the best?Henry: You can do both.Brandon: Okay. So in terms, my favorite, Persuasion. Then Mansfield Park. Sense and Sensibility. Pride and Prejudice. And then Emma, then Northanger Abbey. Okay.Henry: Now, how about for which ones are the best?Brandon: Persuasion. Pride and Prejudice. Mansfield Park. Emma,.Sense and Sensibility. Northanger Abbey.Henry: Why do people not like Fanny Price? And what is wrong with them?Brandon: Fanny Price is perfect. Fanny Price, I was just talking to someone about this last night at dinner. Fanny Price, she's perfect. First of all, she is, I don't know why people don't like her. She's like a chronically ill girl who's hot for her cousin and like, has deep thoughts. It seems like she would be the icon of literary Twitter for like a certain kind of person, you know? And I don't know why they don't like her. I think I'm, I am becoming the loudest Mansfield Park apologist on the internet. I think that people don't like Fanny because she's less vivacious than Mary Crawford. And I think that people are afraid to see themselves in Fanny because she seems like she's unfun or whatever. But what they don't realize is that like Fanny Price, Fanny Price has like a moral intelligence and like a moral consciousness. And like Fanny Price is one of the few Austen characters who actually argues directly and literally about the way the world is. Like with multiple people, like the whole, the whole novel is her sort of arguing about, well, cities are this and the country is this. And like, we need Parsons as much as we need party boys. Like, like she's arguing not just about, not just about these things like through the lens of like marriage or like the sort of marriage economy, but like in literal terms, I mean, she is so, she's like a moral philosopher. I love Fanny Price and she's so smart and so sensitive and so, and I guess like maybe it's just that people don't like a character who's kind of at the mercy of others and they view her as passive. When in fact, like a young woman arguing about the way the world should be, like Mary Crawford's, Mary Crawford's like kind of doing the above, not really, not like Fanny. But yeah, I love her. She's amazing. I love Fanny Price. And I also think that people love Margaret Hale from North and South. And I think that when people are saying they hate Fanny Price, what they're picturing is actually how Margaret Hale is. Margaret Hale is one of the worst heroines of a novel. She's so insufferable. She's so rude. She's so condescending. And like, she does get her comeuppance and like Gaskell does sort of bring about a transformation where she's actually able to sort of like see poor people as people first and not like subjects of sympathy. But Margaret is what people imagine Fanny is, I think. And we should, we should start a Fanny Price, like booster club. Henry, should we? Let's do it. It begins here. I just feel so strongly about her. I feel, I love, I love Fanny.Henry: She's my favorite of Austen's characters. And I think she is the most representative Austen character. She's the most Austen of all of them, right?Brandon: Yeah, I mean, that makes great deal of sense to me. She's just so wonderful. Like she's so funny and so observant. And she's like this quiet little girl who's like kind of sickly and people don't really like her. And she's kind of maybe I'm just like, maybe I just like see myself in her. And I don't mind being a sort of annoying little person who's going around the world.Henry: What are some good principles for naming literary characters?Brandon: Ooh, I have a lot of strong feelings about this. I think that names should be memorable. They should have like, like an aura of sort of literariness about them. I don't mean, I mean, taken to like hilarious extremes. It's like Henry James. Catherine Goodwood, Isabelle Archer, Ralph Touchett, like, you know, Henry had a stack pole. So like, not like that. But I mean, that could be fun in a modern way. But I think there's like an aura of like, it's a name that you might hear in real life, but it sort of add or remove, it's sort of charged and elevated, sort of like with dialogue. And that it's like a memorable thing that sort of like, you know, it's like, you know, memorable thing that sort of sticks in the reader's mind. It is both a name, a literary, a good literary name is both a part of this world and not of this world, I think. And, yeah, and I love that. I think like, don't give your character a name like you hear all the time. Like, Tyler is a terrible literary name. Like, no novel has ever, no good novel has ever had a really important character named Tyler in it. It just hasn't. Ryan? What makes a good sentence? Well, my sort of like, live and let live answer is that a good sentence is a sentence that is perfectly suited to the purpose it has. But I don't know, I like a clear sentence, regardless of length or lyric intensity, but just like a clear sentence that articulates something. I like a sentence with motion, a sense of rhythm, a sense of feel without any bad words in it. And I don't mean like curse words, I mean like words that shouldn't be in literature. Like, there's some words that just like don't belong in novels.Henry: Like what?Brandon: Squelch. Like, I don't think the word squelch should be in a novel. That's a gross word and it doesn't sound literary to me. I don't want to see it.Henry: I wouldn't be surprised if it was in Ulysses.Brandon: Well, yes.Henry: I have no idea, but I'm sure, I'm sure.Brandon: But so few of us are James Joyce. And that novel is like a thousand bodily functions per page. But don't love it. Don't love it.Henry: You don't love Ulysses?Brandon: No, I don't… Listen, I don't have a strong opinion, but you're not going to get me cancelled about Ulysses. I'm not Virginia Woolf.Henry: We're happy to have opinions of that nature here. That's fine.Brandon: You know, I don't have a strong feeling about it, actually. Some parts of it that I've read are really wonderful. And some parts of it that I have read are really dense and confusing to me. I haven't sort of given it the time it needs or deserves. What did you learn from reading Toni Morris? What did I learn? I think I learned a lot about the moral force of melodrama. I think that she shows us a lot about the uses of melodrama and how it isn't just like a lesion of realism, that it isn't just a sort of malfunctioning realism, but that there are certain experiences and certain lives and certain things that require and necessitate melodrama. And when deployed, it's not tacky or distasteful that it actually is like deeply necessary. And also just like the joy of access and language, like the sort of... Her language is so towering. I don't know, whenever I'm being really shy about a sentence being too vivid or too much, I'm like, well, Toni Morrison would just go for it. And I am not Toni Morrison, but she has given me the courage to try.Henry: What did you like about the Annette Benning film of The Seagull?Brandon: The moment when Annette Benning sings Dark Eyes is so good. It's so good. I think about it all the time. And indeed, I stole that moment for a short story that I wrote. And I liked that part of it. I liked the set design. I think also Saoirse Ronan, when she gives that speech as Nina, where she's like, you know, where the guy's like, what do you want from, you know, what do you want? Why do you want to be an actress? And she's like, I want fame. You know, like, I want to be totally adored. And I'm just like, yeah, that's so real. That's so, that is so real. Like Chekhov has understood something so deep, so deep about the nature of commerce and art there. And I think Saoirse is really wonderful in that movie. It's a not, it's not a good movie. It's maybe not even a good adaptation of The Seagull. But I really enjoyed it. I saw it like five times in a theater in Iowa City.Henry: I don't know if it's a bad adaptation of The Seagull, because it's one of the, it's one of the Chekhov's I've seen that actually understands that, like, the tragic and the and the comic are not meant to be easily distinguishable in his work. And it does have all this lightheartedness. And it is quite funny. And I was like, well, at least someone's doing that because I'm so sick of, like, gloomy Chekhov. You know what I mean? Like, oh, the clouds and the misery. Like, no, he wants you, he wants you to laugh and then be like, I shouldn't laugh because it's kind of tragic, but it's also just funny.Brandon: Yeah. Yes, I mean, all the moments were like, like Annette Bening's characters, like endless stories, like she's just like constantly unfurling a story and a story and a story and a story. Every scene kind of was like, she's in the middle of telling another interminable anecdote. And of course, the sort of big tragic turn at the end is like, where like, Kostya kills himself. And she's like, in the middle of like, another really long anecdote while they're in the other room playing cards. Like, it's so, it's so good. So I love that. I enjoy watching that movie. I still think it's maybe not. It's a little wooden, like as a movie, like it's a little, it's a little rickety.Henry: Oh, sure, sure, sure, sure. But for someone looking to like, get a handle on Chekhov, it's actually a good place to go. What is the best make of Fountain Pen?Brandon: That's a really good, that's a really, really, really good question. Like, what's your Desert Island Fountain Pen? My Desert Island Fountain Pen. Right now, it's an Esterbrook Estee with a needlepoint nib. It's like, so, I can use that pen for hours and hours and hours and hours. I think my favorite Fountain Pen, though, is probably the Pilot Custom 743. It's a really good pen, not too big, not too small. It can hold a ton of ink, really wonderful. I use, I think, like a Soft Fine nib, incredible nib, so smooth. Like, I, you could cap it and then uncap it a month later, and it just like starts immediately. It's amazing. And it's not too expensive.Henry: Brandon Taylor, thank you very much.Brandon: Thanks for having me. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.commonreader.co.uk/subscribe

The Synergy Connection Show has for many years now shared that our inherited beliefs and emotions, which are stored in our subconscious, control to a major degree our thoughts and actions. We truly do create our own personal reality!Mary Crawford has a new program to help participants “find and release hidden beliefs, doubts, fears and trauma hiding in the cells of your body. Some of these energies are yours from experiences in this lifetime and others have been passed down on your DNA through ancestral lines”.Join on today's show as we discuss her new program “Jumpstarting Lasting Change” which are 4 sessions done over a 4 week period. She will work with your Little Child, Your Heart, Systems within the Body and Nutrition. These sessions are designed to meet your specific needs.Mary Crawford can be reached for further consultation on how to Jumpstart Lasting Change via her website at TheJoyOfBeingWell.com.Listen to this week's program below or on your podcast platform of choice by clicking Here.

The National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education will hold its annual conference later this month. The theme of the conference, which will be held in Athlone, is Belonging. For more on this, Alan Morrissey was joined by the Chairperson of The Conference Committee and Vice Chair of NABMSE, Mary Crawford and Professor of Disability and Children's rights at QUB, Prof. Bronagh Byrne. Photo (c) midlandsprint (c) NABMSE

The Synergy Connection Show has for many years now shared that our inherited beliefs and emotions, which are stored in our subconscious, control to a major degree our thoughts and actions. We truly DO create our own personal reality!Mary Crawford has a new program to help participants “find and release hidden beliefs, doubts, fears and trauma hiding in the cells of your body. Some of these energies are yours from experiences in this lifetime and others have been passed down on your DNA through ancestral lines”.Join us on the show today as we discuss this new program and how you can change your life through changing your thoughts and beliefs.Mary Crawford can be reached for further consultation via her website at TheJoyOfBeingWell.com.

The complete audiobook is available at Audible.com: voicesoftoday.net/mansfield Mansfield Park and Lovers' Vows By Jane Austen, August Kotzebue and Elizabeth Inchbald Narrated by Catherine Bilson, Graham Scott, Sarah Jane Rose, Denis Daly, Linda Barrans The unlikely heroine of the novel is the bashful and unadventurous Fanny Price, who occupies a Cinderella-like position in the residence of her wealthy cousins, the Bertrams, at Mansfield Park. Fanny is the butt of ridicule by the young Bertram sisters Maria and Julia, and is relentlessly bullied by her manipulative and penny-pinching aunt, the widowed Mrs Norris. Maria, Julia, and their brother Tom, are symbols of social irresponsibility, while the other son, Edmund is earnest and upright. Although Sir Thomas' wealth is derived largely from a sugar plantation in the West Indies, Austen largely avoids discussion of slavery and the other evils of colonialism. The young Bertrams form a close friendship with the dashing and unscrupulous Henry Crawford and his glamorous sister Mary. Henry decides to pursue Fanny with a view to marriage, but she, discerning his devious nature, resists all his advances. After a visit to her family in Portsmouth, Fanny returns to Mansfield Park, and finds herself attracted to the worthy Edmund, who is recovering from a rejection by Mary Crawford. Eventually, the two marry, the only young couple in the novel to form a stable relationship. Mansfield Park is unusual in that it features the abortive amateur production of a popular sentimental drama, Lovers' Vows, planned by members and friends of the Bertram family, while Sir Thomas is absent in the West Indies. His unexpected return brings these plans to an abrupt halt. This recording also includes a multicast presentation of Lovers' Vows. In the play, the widowed Baron Wildenheim, by a twist of circumstances, comes into contact with a poor woman whom he had abandoned when he was a young man. Subsequently, the Baron had married a wealthy woman, with whom he had a daughter, Amelia. Unknown to the Baron, his first relationship resulted in the birth of a son. He is now faced with the decision about how he is to acknowledge his new-found son and the young man's mother. At the time the plot was considered controversial because of the issue of illegitimate children.

Communicating with the animals we love is a special skill most of us would love to develop because during stressful times, our ability to calm and de-stress them would help both the pet and owner. We can begin this process by silently or vocally asking permission to speak to them and Mary Crawford shares this special skill she has developed over the years with us on the show today. Scientists over the years have discovered dogs respond much like human infants to language but they have also discovered cats to be more difficult as “they choose” their people for communication.Mary Crawford can be reached for further consultation via her website at TheJoyOfBeingWell.com.

If you thought that Mary Crawford with her harp was the only siren in the Crawford family, think again. Henry Crawford is here with a volume of Shakespeare, and WOW. Prepare yourselves. This episode we unpack this scene's particular Shakespearean allusion, examine the status of reading aloud during Austen's time, and discuss Fanny's reaction to Henry's reading. You can find us online at https://www.thethingaboutausten.com and follow us on Instagram @TheThingAboutAusten and on Twitter @Austen_Things. You can also email us at TheThingAboutAusten@gmail.com. We have merch! Check out https://www.redbubble.com/people/aboutausten/shop to see the current offerings.

La satanista (The Satanist) es un relato de terror del escritor inglesa Mary Crawford Fraser (1851-1922), publicado en 1912 y recogido en numerosas antologías. La satanista, cuento de Mary Crawford Fraser —quien a menudo firmaba con el seudónimo Señora Hugh Fraser (Mrs. Hugh Fraser), y en este caso en particular con el nombre de su hijo: John Crawford Fraser—, narra la historia de una joven mujer, llamada Yolanda, y su descenso a los abismos del satanismo, la brujería y la magia negra. ¡¡¡¡¡SPOILER!!!!! No obstante, Yolanda no es una mujer malvada, sino más bien una muchacha desorientada, perdida, que se convierte en adoradora de Satanás a causa de un intenso odio por su madre. En este sentido, Mary Crawford Fraser induce la sospecha de que Yolanda en realidad lucha contra una sociedad patriarcal, contra el hecho de haber decepcionado a todos por no haber nacido hombre, y sobre todo contra sus impulsos naturales, en este caso, el amor por otra mujer, su criada y amiga Léonie. Si despejamos la maleza moralista, por momentos, impenetrable, La satanista es un cuento excelente, uno que forjó las bases para el relato de ocultismo de mediados del siglo XX, a través de una atmósfera sumamente inquietante que busca retratar las costumbres de las sociedades satánicas de la Italia de fines del siglo XIX. Vale la pena mencionar que la obra de Mary Crawford Fraser —la cual cuenta con algunos ejemplos notables, además de La satanista, como Palladia (Palladia), Los telares del tiempo (The Looms of Time), El emperador robado (The Stolen Emperor) y En la sombra del Señor (In the Shadow of the Lord)— fue totalmente eclipsada por la de sus dos hermanos: Francis Marion Crawford, autor de Por la sangre es vida (For the Blood Is the Life) y La calavera que gritaba (The Screaming Skull), y Mary Ann Crawford, autora de El misterio de la campiña (A Mystery of the Campagna). A tal punto fueron ignorados los relatos de Mary Crawford Fraser, que incluso intentó escribir secuelas de las obras exitosas de sus hermanos, como El hombre lobo de la campaña (A Werewolf of the Campagna), especie de continuación del relato de vampiros de su hermana Mary Ann Crawford, pero con hombres lobo. Sin embargo, basta leer La satanista para advertir que Mary Crawford Fraser no solo estaba a la altura de sus hermanos, sino que, en muchos aspectos, su imaginación era incluso superior. Análisis de: El Espejo Gótico http://elespejogotico.blogspot.com/2018/05/la-satanista-mary-crawford-fraser.html Texto del relato extraído de: http://elespejogotico.blogspot.com/2018/05/la-satanista-mary-crawford-fraser.html Musicas: - 01. Mind Tricks - Experia (Epidemic) Nota: Este audio no se realiza con fines comerciales ni lucrativos. Es de difusión enteramente gratuita e intenta dar a conocer tanto a los escritores de los relatos y cuentos como a los autores de las músicas. Nota: Este audio no se realiza con fines comerciales ni lucrativos. Es de difusión enteramente gratuita e intenta dar a conocer tanto a los escritores de los relatos y cuentos como a los autores de las músicas. ¿Quieres anunciarte en este podcast? Hazlo con advoices.com/podcast/ivoox/352537 Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Did you know your lymphatic system is where inflammation either happens, or is shed and decreased? It is a system that is in charge of fluid release, and toxin release!!! And, unlike your heart, it does NOT have a pump. YOU have to manually move that lymph! But it's easy, and will benefit your skin, immune system, inflammation and even overall weight loss! Tune in with our expert interviewee, Mary Crawford. ​ THE MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM IS OPEN!!!! It's called The Postpartum Freedom Community, Sign up at https://www.lizzielangston.com/community ALL NEW RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR MOMS! Check them out at https://www.lizzielangston.com/workwithme Sign up for the free mini course, GET OUT OF THE POSTPARTUM RUT:https://www.lizzielangston.com/freebie-1-optin Free meditation for calm for mothers: https://www.lizzielangston.com/freebie-4-optin BOOK A CONSULTATION: https://www.lizzielangston.com/consult Buy Postpartum Freedom: The Online Course >>>>https://www.lizzielangston.com/course Lizzie on Instagram>>>: https://www.instagram.com/lizzie.postpartumcoach/  Let's connect! Dm me any time.  Mary Crawford is a Licensed Aesthetician, Massage Therapist and Body Contouring Specialist, Certified Aromatherapist, and Skincare Educator. Mary has performed over 20,000 services in her 24-year skin and body care career.  She is the only East Valley provider, of advanced  Lymphatic Drainage with the Endolymph Microvibration Device. Her experience allows her to combine and customize modalities, for each person's individual needs, supporting greater Patient results and satisfaction.​ With CODE: Lizzie24 listeners will receive $50.00 off any service over $250.00. Please use the code on our app to purchase and receive discount. Now through January 31, 2024. Here's a special gift for you! Simply click on the link below to redeem:https://trueharmonywellness.repeatmd.app/app/signin?referralCode=5IBLqILi  $50 Towards any Service from True Harmony VIP. Enjoy! The Platinum membership that we offer in our Patient Rewards app, allows you to pick 3 treatments a month, from 6 different services plus discounts on products and packages.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's episode of the Holistic Mama Speaks Podcast, Carrie Marie engages in a captivating and insightful discussion with a lineup of esteemed guests: Candy Wilson, Chris Bargeron, Mary Crawford, and the returning guest, Michael Mulkey. Together, they delve into the compelling theme of "Rediscovering 'You' - Embracing Self-Identity Beyond Parenthood." As parents, caregivers, and individuals, the journey of self-discovery is often intertwined with the roles we assume, and this episode aims to unravel the complexities of embracing our authentic selves beyond the realm of parenthood.

The opening episode of series two contains an in-depth interview with Mary Crawford. Mary was the CEO of the Brook Advisory Clinic in Northern Ireland for 25 years, and oversaw the organisations transition to Common Youth before retiring in 2018. She is a veteran pro-choice campaigner, and a Trustee of Informing Choices NI.Mary reflects on the sex education she received growing up; being involved in abortion rights campaigns as a student in the 1970s; running personal development courses at Youth Action; the opening of the Brook Advisory Clinic in Belfast in 1992; the impact of protests and being targeted within her local area; meeting with former Northern Ireland Secretary of State Mo Mowlam MP; delivering relationships and sexuality education (RSE) programmes in community settings; providing sexual health services to young men; the decline in teenage pregnancy rates; and what constitutes good RSE.If you would like support around a sexual health issue you can call the Sexual Health Helpline on 028 9031 6100.Useful linkshttps://informingchoicesni.org/https://commonyouth.com/ResourcesAn Early Day Motion from 1991 regarding the proposed establishment of a Brook Advisory Centre in BelfastNews articlesA BBC News article regarding the firebombing of the Ulster Pregnancy Advisory Association which references the letters sent to Mary Crawford's neighbours A Belfast Telegraph article regarding the provision of young men's sexual health clinics by Brook NIA Guardian article regarding relationships and sexuality education in Northern IrelandA platform piece by Mary Crawford in the agendaNi publication regarding sexual health in the 21st century 

In this episode I'm  joined by Charlie @thebookboy to discuss Jane Austen's Mary Crawford from Mansfield Park. Described by some as the real heroine of Mansfield Park, she is a character who divides the community. embodying everything Austen tells us is good such as being outspoken and lively, Mary isn't so dissimilar than Lizzy Bennet and yet she is a polarising character and is placed in binary opposition to the heroine Fanny Price. This is a fun and interesting conversation to explore the character of Mary from two Mary sympathisers. Thanks again to our sponsor Haus of Bennet: https://hausofbennet.com/ Use code whatthediscount at the checkout for 15% off! and you will also be supporting the Podcast

Army Sergeant Majors strive to do their best to provide Soldiers with what they need to complete the mission. Staff Sgt. Yoshi Shinzato tells us what a group of Sergeant Majors are doing to make a difference. Includes sound bites from Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Schroeder, Combined Joint Task Force 101, Command Sgt. Maj., Staff Sgt. Mary Crawford, Bravo Company, 436, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Air Assault.

Mary Crawford is an Energy Transformer, Master Dowser and Nutritional Consultant. Her focus is to help you to remember the powerful creator you truly are. On the show today, we discuss how using the Emotional Freedom Technique can change your life.EFT or “Tapping” as it is sometimes called is a technique that can assist with the elimination of physical and emotional pain. Through tapping on the various meridians in the body, the person doing the “tapping” can create balance within the body's energetic system.Tapping methods can vary but with each method there are basic points that are covered. Identification of the issue that is distressing you.Rating the intensity of the issue on a scale of 1-10.Tapping on the meridian's you have chosen to use on your body while talking about the issueContinuation of the tapping while rating whether the intensity of the stressor is diminishingSince the benefits of tapping are cumulative, the best results will come from tapping daily.Mary Crawford can be reached for further consultation via her website at TheJoyOfBeingWell.com

Erika Robuck's heart-stopping new World War II drama, Sisters of Night and Fog, was named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by BuzzFeed, BookBub, Book Trib and more! It tells the story of two very different women with a common cause. Hi there, I'm your host Jenny Wheeler, and on Binge Reading today, international bestselling author Erika Robuck talks about her spell binding historical fiction, based on the extraordinary true stories of an American socialite and a British secret agent whose stunning acts of courage collide in the darkest hours of World War II. We've got free books to give away, this week Mary Crawford's Until The Stars Fall From the Sky – a clean and wholesome romance with a fiery heroine and an unlikely hero that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Books and an E reader to be won get free romance Plus win a bundle of Cozy Mysteries 50+ books (including Poisoned Legacy, #1 in the Of Gold & Blood series) and a brand new E-Reader - Total Value $550 ENTER BOOKSWEEPS TO WIN And don't forget, for the cost of less than a cup of coffee a month you can get exclusive bonus content – like hearing Erika's answers to the Five Quickfire Questions – by becoming a Binge Reading on Patreon supporter. We've got a new feature starting on Patreon this month – Encore – shorter interviews with favorite authors, people who have already been on the podcast talking about their latest book. Encore will be previewed for Patreon supporters and then released on the free to air broadcast feed two weeks later. We will do these monthly and see how we go. Encore on Binge Reading - This month Deborah Challinor talks about The Leonard Girls support binge reading on patreon First up is Kiwi bestselling historical fiction author Deborah Challinor who talks about her new book The Leonard Girls, a story about two sisters and the Vietnam war years of the late sixties. Nurse Rowie Leonard is pro war. Her younger sister Jo is a protestor and they're both in Vietnam.  As the sisters grapple with love, loss and the stresses and sorrows of war, each will be forced to confront and question everything they've believed in.  As usual all the links to things mentioned in the podcast are available in the show notes for this episode on the website www.thejoysofbingereading.com. Links for this episode Nacht Und Nebel: https://wordhistories.net/2020/12/09/nacht-und-nebel/ Virginia d'Albert Lake: https://francetoday.com/culture/remembrance/an-american-heroine/ Violet Szabo:  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/behind-enemy-lines-with-violette-szabo-1896571/ Erika Robuck book links: Hemingway's Girl: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/13485500-hemingway-s-girlThe Invisible Woman: http://www.erikarobuck.com/The-Invisible-Woman.htmlCarve Her Name with Pride (1958 movie about Violet Szabo) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carve_Her_Name_with_PrideSpecial Operations Executive (SOE): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_ExecutivePaula McLain:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/290189.Paula_McLain What Erika's Reading: The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/55711683-the-forest-of-vanishing-stars The Last Checkmate by Gabriella Saab https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/56922702-the-last-checkmate That Summer in Berlin by Lecia Cornwall: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634184/that-summer-in-berlin-by-lecia-cornwall/ A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/677123/a-dress-of-violet-taffeta-by-tessa-arlen/ Where to find Erika Website: http://www.erikarobuck.com/ Email: info@erikarobuck.com Instagram: @erobuckauthor Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-robuck-78906211/ You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/erobuck Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErikaRobuck What follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation,

This week Elle and Catrina discuss a few Mansfield Park book adaptations. What would Mansfield Park look like through the point of view of Edmund Bertram? How would Mary Crawford tell her won story? These adaptations look at the story through different points of view. Elle read Edmund Bertram's Diary, by Amanda Grange. As part of Grange's Austen heroes series, this book follows Austen story beat by beat through the POV of Edmund. While Grange always delivers a great read, this book suffers from one glaring problem in Elle's opinion.Catrina read Mary Crawford: Revisiting at Mansfield Park, by Julia Barrett. While this adaptation is actually a sequel to Mansfield Park, it explores the repercussions of Mary's actions in the original story. So, what happens when Mary finds her way back to Mansfield? Well, her new love interest might just surprise you. Wit Beyond Measure is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts.   

Welcome Dr. Mary Crawford, DPM to this week's episode of She's a DPM!Dr. Crawford has had a very successful career in Podiatric Medicine & Surgery, but more recently she has been pursuing a passion outside of medicine and transitioned into a new career. She began her business Crawford Canine Connection. Her mission? To enhance the human~canine connection through reward-based training and behavior modification.How does that differ from training students and surgical residents? What was the transition like leaving medicine? We answer all these questions and more! Resources:Crawford Canine Connection: https://www.crawfordcanineconnection.com/International Foot and Ankle Foundation: https://www.internationalfootankle.org/Lower Extremity Soft Tissue & Cutaneous Plastic Surgery (Hardback)https://www.amazon.com/Extremity-Tissue-Cutaneous-Plastic-Surgery/dp/0702031364 Welcome to She's a DPM. A podcast for women to share their experiences, knowledge, and insights on cultivating a life in, and outside, the field of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery.Contact me if there is a topic you'd like to hear more about, or if you know a kick ass Lady DPM who should be interviewed.Email: DrOexeman@gmail.com Instagram: @droexeman

Mansfield Park: Chapters 44-48In these final chapters of the novel, Fanny is stuck in Portsmouth while chaos is happening in London. Letters arrive to the Price household describing Tom Bertram's (junior) serious illness, Maria's indiscretion, and Mary Crawford's conniving. In the aftermath, Edmund finally goes to pick up Fanny and bring her back to Mansfield Park, where, once home, Fanny learns all that happened between Edmund and Mary that caused their falling out. Now, with Mary out of the picture - is it finally happily ever after for Fanny?This week Elle and Catrina discuss just how diabolical Mary really is, while wondering if Edmund truly deserves Fanny. They also discuss how Sir Thomas has grown a lot over the course of the story and comes to realize all of his shortcomings as a parent. Which is good for him, because unfortunately Mrs. Norris isn't so lucky, as her favorite niece has become her punishment.Wit Beyond Measure is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts.

Mansfield Park: Chapters 39-43Fanny is super unhappy in Portsmith. Her house is hectic and her family doesn't seem to care that she is there. But don't worry, things are only going to get weirder when Henry Crawford shows up. At least there hasn't been any word about an engagement from Edmund or Mary Crawford yet.This week Catrina and Elle take a good look at the Price family. Austen is known for showcasing the flaws of beloved family members and the Price family is no exception. Catrina also asks Elle if she thinks Henry Crawford is genuine in his affections for Fanny.It's the epistolary portion of Mansfield Park.This episode is brought to you by Kensington's newest title from Lexi George, DEMON HUNTING WITH A SOUTHERN SHERIFF. Find out more at Kensingtonbooks.com”Wit Beyond Measure is part of the Folic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts  

Mansfield Park: Chapters 27-30Fanny's anxiety around Mary Crawford's gift continues to rise after Edmund also gifts her a necklace. Edmund starts to get anxious about whether Mary is willing to marry him after he becomes a clergyman. Henry becomes buddy-buddy with William and Mary gets into a pretty intense fight with Edmund. All of this before the ball at Mansfield Park even begins!This week Elle and Catrina discuss everything from Fanny's necklace dilemma to Henry Crawford's declaration of love. Catrina gets frustrated at Edmund and Mary's constant back and forth between liking each other and complaining about the church. While Elle continues to not believe Austen when she reads that Henry Crawford is "in love."What's more, is Fanny officially out now? Wit Beyond Measure is part of the Folic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts   

Mansfield Park: Chapters 14 - 18After much deliberation, the gang at Mansfield Park have finally decided on a play - Lover's Vows. This scandalous play causes a lot of drama around the house, especially between the Bertram sisters. What's more, it puts Edmund in a bit of a situation when he has to choose between standing his ground against the play and taking up a part to keep this scandal under wraps. This week Catrina and Elle discuss how Henry Crawford tears apart Maria and Julia, Edmund's failing convictions, and why Mary Crawford might not be as devious as they previously thought. This episode has a lot of really juicy bits, and poor Fanny is right in the middle of all of it. Oh, and Sir Thomas comes home... so that should be interesting next week.Wit Beyond Measure is part of the Folic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts  

Mansfield Park: Chapters 9-13If you are looking for scandalous activities in Jane Austen novels, then these are the chapters for you! Bridgerton fans will love all this drama. While visiting Southerton, the Mansfield Park gang manages to separate themselves into pairs and find some hidden away places. Edmund and Mary leave Fanny to wander the woods. Maria and Henry send Mr. Rushworth away to find a key before heading out into the shrubbery alone. It all happens right in front of Fanny!This week Elle and Catrina talk about the drama and scandal that happens at Southerton. From Mary bad talking the church in front of Edmund to Julia getting to ride next to Henry on the way home, there is drama around every corner this week. But the real question is, can Mary Crawford convince Edmund to leave the church?Wit Beyond Measure is part of the Folic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts 

Mansfield Park: Chapters 5-8There is something about this Mary Crawford and her fuckboi of a brother Henry. They are visitors from the city who are lauded as the height of sophistication and knowledge by the Bertram sisters. Mary Clearly has her eyes set on one of the Bertram brothers, while Henry finds himself flirting with the sisters. But, most egregiously, Mary keeps taking out Fanny's horse. This week Elle and Catrina talk about the Crawfords and how they are integrating themselves into the party at Mansfield Park. Mary Crawford has a lot of opinions and somehow offends everyone, while still charming their pants off. While Henry revels in the attention he is getting from both Maria and Julia Bertram. We only get to see the beginning of the drama as Mary starts to pull Edmund's attention away from his poor cousin and Henry encourages Maria's flirting. Also, who asks farmers to lend out their wagons during hay harvesting season? Rude much?  Wit Beyond Measure is part of the Folic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts 

Numerologist, Josh Siegel, states that the base number of 2022 which is 20 implies “we are in this together and not separate”. The 22 in 2022 is also a Master Number and is associated with rebuilding our lives. Learning to balance work and relationships is yet another area of focus for 2022.Several astrologers have the perspective that 2022 is a “soul mission” year and as a result there will be a doubling of energy focused on the relationship we have with our emotions, intuition, and wellness in each aspect of our life.Mary Crawford is an Energy Transformer, Master Dowser and Nutritional Consultant. Her focus is to help you remember the powerful creator you are. She can be contacted through her website TheJoyOfBeingWell.com

In this episode, we read Chapters 4 to 7 of Mansfield Park. We talk about the character-revealing scenes, how the presentation of Fanny may make some readers dislike her, why Maria became engaged to Mr Rushworth, and Henry Crawford's behaviour.We discuss the character of Mary Crawford – who is perhaps almost as divisive as Fanny Price – and then Ellen talks about baronets, Members of Parliament, and the idea of ‘interest'. Harriet considers how the three adaptations, and two of the modernisations, present these chapters. Things we mention: General and character discussion:John Wiltshire [Editor], The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen: Mansfield Park (2005)Lionel Trilling, “Mansfield Park“, Partisan Review 21 (September-October 1954): 492-511. Also published in Encounter, September 1954: 9-19.Sheila Kaye-Smith and G.B. Stern, Talking of Jane Austen (1943) and More Talk of Jane Austen (1950)John Mullan, Live at the Hay Festival (2014) [YouTube]Kingsley Amis, “What Became of Jane Austen?”, The Spectator, 4 October 1957 – republished in What Became of Jane Austen? And Other Questions (1970)The Daily Knightley (2021) [podcast] Popular culture discussion:Adaptations:BBC, Mansfield Park (1983) – starring Sylvestra Le Touzel and Nicholas Farrell (6 episodes)Miramax, Mansfield Park (1999) – starring Frances O'Connor and Jonny Lee MillerITV, Mansfield Park (2007) – starring Billie Piper and Blake RitsonModernisations:YouTube, Foot in the Door Theatre, From Mansfield With Love (2014-2015)D.E. Stevenson, Celia's House (1943)Creative commons music used: Extract from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata No. 12 in F Major, ii. Adagio.Extract from Joseph Haydn, Piano Sonata No. 38. Performance by Ivan Ilić, recorded in Manchester in December, 2006. File originally from IMSLP.Extract from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata No. 13 in B-Flat Major, iii. Allegretto Grazioso. File originally from Musopen.Extract from George Frideric Handel, Suite I, No. 2 in F Major, ii. Allegro. File originally from Musopen. Extract from Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major. File originally from Musopen. 

In this episode, we read the Chapters 4 to 7 of Mansfield Park. We talk about the character-revealing scenes, how the presentation of Fanny may make some readers dislike her, why Maria became engaged to Mr Rushworth, and Henry Crawford’s behaviour. We discuss the character of Mary Crawford – who is perhaps almost as divisive as ... Read more Mansfield Park: Episode 2, Chapters 4-7 The post Mansfield Park: Episode 2, Chapters 4-7 first appeared on Reading Jane Austen.

This weekend sees a commemoration take place in Ennis for the 1917 Clare hunger strikers. To tell us more about this, on Friday's Morning Focus, Alan Morrissey was joined by Mary Crawford, Cathaoirleach of the Mid Clare Brigade Commemoration Group and Shane Kelly, Senior Prison Officer with the Irish Prison Service.

Mary Crawford, an Energy Transformer, Master Dowser and Nutrition Consultant, is my guest today. We talk about the importance of “joy and happiness” contributing to our overall health. She indicates her joy comes from helping you “feel great and get excited about your life”.We discuss how to open your mind to positivity which improves a person's problem-solving ability. Positive-minded individuals look at life with an “I can” attitude as they approach their goal.An additional advantage of focusing on joy and happiness is the lowering of your risk for cardiovascular disease. Reducing blood pressure, better sleep and maintaining a normal body weight are also benefits.Mary Crawford can be reached for classes and consultation at the following links:TheJoyOfBeingWell.comYouDefineWellness.com WorkshopsListen to this week's program below or on your podcast platform of choice by clicking Here.

Mary Crawford is playing the harp over at the Mansfield Parsonage, and we've got front row seats to the hottest performance in town. If you have ever wondered about all those mornings Edmund spent listening to his "prime favourite," this episode is for you. Thank you so much to Dr. Lidia Chang for joining us for this discussion! You can find her online at www.lidiachang.com or follow her on Instagram @lidiaac. You can find us on Instagram @TheThingAboutAusten and on Twitter @Austen_Things and email us at TheThingAboutAusten@gmail.com.

Welcome to the sixth episode of the What the Austen? podcast! I'm your host Izzy, and I am joined by my friend and fellow Janeite Naomi from @naomi.not.niomi. In this episode, we discuss Jane Austen's novel Mansfiled Park and focus on the character of Fanny Price. Fanny is a very different protagonist to Austen's other heroines, resembling Jane Eyre more than Elizabeth Bennet. We will go through the book looking at the her pros and cons of her character, making reference to the constant comparison between her and Mary Crawford that is evident in the novel. We will also explore her relationship with Edmund and whether their marriage is one of love or connivence. This podcast is about Janeites coming together, discussing Jane Austen's work, and having a few laughs along the way. We really enjoyed making this episode and we hope you like it! Please follow and subscribe to keep up with all the upcoming episodes.Where can you find Naomi? Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naomi.not.niomi/  Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEAudible | 30 day free trial Izzy's recommendation: The Jane Austen Collection: An Audible Original Drama Support the show

A story about love, cheese puffs, toe-free appetizers, and a talking cat (of course). Listen in as me and my guest, Kelly, meow about this breezy and silly film. Directed by David DeCoteau (Working Girls, Boys Just Wanna Have Sex, and Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge) under the pseudonym of Mary Crawford, and written by Andrew Helm (The Great Halloween Puppy Adventure, Santa's Summer House, and Death Racers -- starring I.C.P.), this film tells the whimsical story of Duffy the talking cat, voiced by the incomparable Eric Roberts, and how he touches the lives of two families in need of connection. In one house we have über-rich Phil and his socially weird son Chris. In another we have Susan, one of the worst caterers in history, with her kids Tina and Trent. Duffy works his magic and brings love and companionship to these families as well as pushes them to follow their dreams... all while being able to talk to each person only once. This film was helmed by director with a history of making softcore porn and boy, does it show in the camera work, staging, and performances. Easily one of the most hysterically agonizing selections and pretty much the only family-friendly offering this season. Listen to this NSFW episode with grownups, then share the magic of A Talking Cat !?! with the family! Available on streaming and on DVD.

What is dowsing? It is considered a metaphysical art form that helps a person access a divine power for information. Dowsing has been used for centuries and many years ago, it was a method that helped people find underground water sources. In its most simple form, dowsing aids in decision making and answering questions.Mary Crawford brings 20 years of experience in working with dowsing instruments to help her clients release trapped emotional energies and understand their nutritional and physical needs. In doing this work, she can help individuals connect to their bodies as well as their inner truths so they can live their best life.Mary can be reached for consultations via her website TheJoyOfBeingWell.com

From the legendary director who brought us Prison of the Dead, Bikini Goddesses, and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama comes a heartwarming film for the whole family. The guys (Ben, Bracken, Buzz, Nate and producer, Danny) discuss the entertainment values of this direct to video movie. What causes Bracken to lose it...listen and find out. Shot in 3 days and featuring the voice talents of Erc Roberts as Duffy the cat, is this movie worth watching with your friends? Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @BMWRPodcast or email us at BMWRPodcast@gmail.com A Talking Cat!?! was Directed by David DeCoteau (as Mary Crawford), Produced by David DeCoteau, Marco Colombo, Kathy Logan, and Gregg Martin, Written By Andrew Helm.

Fellow GaS Digital hosts Shannon Lee Heyer and Matty Jester Skulls from The Thing Is podcast, and Dalton Pruitt from the Loud Boys podcast join Zac this week for one terrible tail. The gang settles in for a long and incessantly musical fever dream that includes Eric Roberts as the voice of a cat with a magical collar, and a dwindling supernatural ability. From the mind and mansion of porn director David DeCoteau (as Mary Crawford) it's A Talking Cat!?! from 2013.PLEASE VISIT OUR SPONSORSIf you're over the age of 21 and a fan of marijuana, Hempire Direct can now sell you Delta-8 THC flower, legally shipped to 42 States. Visit www.HempireDirect.com and use code GASFLOWER for 50% OFF any of their premium Delta-8 bud!If you are currently a fan of Kratom, you can save some money and stock up at YoKratom.com, the only place you will find $60 Kilos. Visit www.YoKratom.com where you can buy directly at incredible prices.FOLLOW THE SHOW!Zac AmicoInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/zacisnotfunnyShannon Lee HeyerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonlee6982Twitter: https://twitter.com/ImShannonLeeMatty Jester SkullsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jesterskullsTwitter: https://twitter.com/drdingdaddyDalton PruittInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/saltydalty69420Twitter: https://twitter.com/newdalton69420The Thing Is...https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC87Akt2Sq_-YEd_YrNpbS2QThe Loud Boyshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWho5EheSV3fzfY1aJ0K2gAThe newest 15 episodes are always free, but if you want access to all the archives, watch live, chat live, access to the forums, and get the show five days before it comes out everywhere else - you can subscribe NOW at http://www.GaSDigitalNetwork.com and use the code ZAC for a 7-Day FREE Trial and save 15% on your subscription to the entire network.Check out https://www.PodcastMerch.com/ZAC to get EXCLUSIVE Zac Amico merchandise (including the Amico 666 Shirt seen on the Joe Rogan Experience!), with BRAND NEW items coming soon!

Oh, boy, let's talk DRAMA. Our Mansfield crew has decided that putting on a private play would be a most gripping diversion, despite Edmund's disapproval. Nothing like throwing a group project onto a situation rife with entitlement, sexual tension, and love triangles to make life easier. Jessie and Annie dive in, trying to decide if they even like their main protagonists and wtf is up with Mary Crawford?MENTIONSAngie Thomas's Concrete Rose and The Hate U GiveDana L Davis's Roman and JewelMackenzi Lee's A Lady's Guide to Petticoats and PiracyStephen Fry's Mythos: The Greek Myths ReimaginedJoin us next time for chapters 16-20 of Mansfield Park!Talk to us! We'd love to hear from you.thedailyknightley.comTwitter: @knightleypodInstagram: @thedailyknightleyEmail: thedailyknightley@gmail.comMusic from https://filmmusic.io: “Improbable” by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.comLicence: CC BY http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

WHEW, more love triangles than a geometrist can handle! Jessie and Annie return to Mansfield Park and try to sort out all the crisscrossing connections, talk about the unkosher way the others talk about Fanny's physical abilities, whether Rushforth should be sympathized, and why Mary Crawford is no Caroline Bingley. Also, Henry Crawford: Is he cute or is he tall and white? Mild CW: For discussion on sexual consent while we talk about "Brigerton" on our book/media roundup (which we loved but are not blind to its flaws): "Why Brigerton Is Problematic || Colorism, Race Baiting and Implicit Bias""How Bridgerton Handles the Book's Wildly Controversial Scene"MENTIONSIjeoma Oluo's Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male AmericaSarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury Mackenzi Lee's A Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy and The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue and Loki: Where Mischief Lies Stephen Fry's Mythos: The Greek Myths ReimaginedMadeline Miller's The Song of AchillesNnedi Okorafor's Binti Olivia Dade's Spoiler AlertJoin us next time for chapters 11-15 of Mansfield Park!Talk to us! We'd love to hear from you.thedailyknightley.comTwitter: @knightleypodInstagram: @thedailyknightleyEmail: thedailyknightley@gmail.comMusic from https://filmmusic.io: “Improbable” by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.comLicence: CC BY http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Mid Clare Commemoration Committee has been marking historic events in The Mid Clare Brigade area for the past ten years. During the Centenary of the War of Independence in Clare, the Committee is now working to acknowledge the role of Cumann na mBan in the area during this period. The role of women was pivotal but their recognition has been largely neglected. The Committee have now launched a schools project where students are invited to select Cumann na mBan members and document their life contribution to National Independence and a centenary commemorative booklet of the students work will be produced by the committee. On Friday's Morning Focus, Gavin Grace spoke to Mary Crawford, Chairperson of the Mid Clare Brigade Centenary Commemoration Committee. Picture © Mid Clare Brigade

You may already know the name of David DeCoteau, or perhaps you know him under one of his many aliases: Mary Crawford, Julian Breen or the amusingly named Richard “Dick” Chasen. He's directed 100 feature films as of this year, including four of the classic Puppet Master movies, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Test Tube Teens from the Year 2000, Witchhouse, the Brotherhood franchise, the 1313 franchise and the modern cult classic A Talking Cat!?! And how does he celebrate such a glorious accomplishment? Why, by appearing on The B-Movies Podcast of course! That's right, it's an in-depth interview with B-Movie titan David DeCoteau about his rise to straight-to-video prominence, the foundation of Full Moon Pictures, the rise and fall of Skinemax, the production of the Puppet Master movies, his ratings fiascos with the MPAA, and of course, A Talking Cat!?!, which David DeCoteau reveals was supposed to be outrageous on purpose. He also says that Eric Roberts, the voice of the talking cat, really did perform his entire role in fifteen minutes in his own living room. Because obviously. Why didn't David DeCoteau cast Brad Pitt in one of his early horror movies? You'll find out on The B-Movies Podcast Presents: David DeCoteau! Subscribe to The B-Movies Podcast on iTunes, follow us on Twitter on @BMoviesPodcast, @WilliamBibbiani and @WitneySeibold, and follow the kid who pretends to be David DeCoteau on Twitter at @DavidDeCoteau, and check out his website RapidHeart.com! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/yeahitsback/support

Mary Crawford with Calibur gun sales tells JT how the election has effected gun sales and also about an event they have coming up today.

Today - September 22nd - marks the 100th anniversary of the Rineen Ambush. The ambush was carried out by the IRA during the War of Independence and took place at Drummin Hill in the townland of Drummin, near the hamlet of Rineen. The IRA's Mid-Clare Brigade attacked a Royal Irish Constabulary lorry, killing six officers. Shortly after, the IRA volunteers were attacked by ten lorry-loads of British Army soldiers, who had been sent as reinforcements. However, they held off this attack long enough to flee the scene and sustained only two wounded. In reprisal for the ambush, the RIC Auxiliaries and British military raided three local villages, killed five civilians and burnt 16 houses and shops in the surrounding area. While celebrations aren’t possible due to public health guidelines, people are still encouraged to visit the Rineen monument, where this morning a wreath was laid and the national flag was raised. On Tuesday's Morning Focus, Gavin Grace spoke to Mary Crawford, Chairperson of the MidClare Brigade Commemoration Committee and Joe O’Neill, the grandson of Ignatious O’Neill who was Commanding Officer on the day in 1920.

Most children will only have to stay one metre apart when schools reopen in September. That's according to new public health advice, published by the Department of Education. In primary school, one metre should be kept between children from third class onwards. Social-distancing will not be essential for the first four years of schooling. Secondary pupils will be asked to keep two metres apart - but if that's not possible, one metre is sufficient. Gavin discussed these guidelines with Mary Crawford, Retired Principal of St. Joseph's Secondary School, Spanish Point and with Cllr Joe Killeen, former President of the INTO.

This episode discusses the war service of Dr. Mary Crawford, Cornell.

On Tuesday's programme, we marked the 100th anniversary of the Canada Cross shootings of 1920 in Miltown Malbay. On the night of 14th April 1920, celebrations were taking place in Miltown Malbay to mark the release of IRA hunger strikers from Kilmainham Gaol. At about 10.45pm, a bonfire was blazing at Canada Cross and a group of adults and children were gathered around it singing nationalist songs. The police and military arrived on the scene and without warning fired about a hundred shots at the crowd. Three men were killed: Patrick Hennessy from Church St, married with two children; Thomas O’Leary, Ballard Road, married with ten children; and John O’Loughlin, a 25-year-old tailor from the Ennistymon Road. 12 others were injured. Later, at the inquest in Ennis, a verdict was returned of “wilful murder without provocation”. A planned commemoration event this weekend had to be cancelled. Gavin spoke with Mary Crawford, Chairperson of the Mid Clare Brigade Commemoration Committee, and with Micheal Hennessy, the grandson of Patrick Hennessy who died on that fateful night.

Mary Crawford from Caliber gun store in Homewood joins JT to talk about how people are stocking up on ways to protect their families.

Shortly after the signing of the treaty of Schönnbrun in October of 1809, bringing an end to Austrian involvement in the Fifth Napoleonic War, a British official on a mission to the Austrian court vanished without a trace. He was in Germany, on his way back to British territories, and while examining his horses at an inn near Berlin, he walked around to the other side of his horses – and disappeared, never to be seen again. Or that's the way it's usually told. Podcast Site: https://forgottendarkness.podbean.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastDarkness Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agable_fd/ Part of the Straight Up Strange Network: https://www.straightupstrange.com/ My Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/forgdark/ Opening music from https://filmmusic.io. "Dark Dance" and "Dark Child" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Closing music by Soma. SOURCES “A century old mystery.” London Observer, December 18, 1910. “A mysterious crime.” Hull Packet and East Riding Times, September 26, 1862. Baring-Gould, Sabine. Historic Oddities and Strange Events. London: Methuen & Co., 1889. Dash, Mike. “The Disappearance of Benjamin Bathurst.” Fortean Times 54 (Summer 1990). Fraser, Mary Crawford. Storied Italy. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1915. Lang, Andrew. The All Sorts of Stories Book. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1911. Machen, Arthur. Dreads and Drolls. New York: Alfred A, Knopf, 1927. https://www.svz.de/lokales/spurlos-in-perleberg-verschwunden-id4680756.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Alexandre_de_Launay,_comte_d%27Antraigues http://www.notableabodes.com/abode-search-results/abode-details/139177/dantraigues-27-the-terrace-barnes-london

Mary Crawford, who is Chairperson of the Mid Clare Brigade Commemoration Group, outlined their plans to commemorate the highest ranking IRA officer to be killed in Clare during the War of Independence. Vice-Commandant of the Mid Clare Brigade, Martin Devitt was shot dead during a shoot-out with the RIC on February 24th 1920. A commemorative event in Ennistymon this Sunday will be attended by Mary O'Rourke, and will include music by Sharon Shannon and family.

Gentle listeners, rejoice! We're reviewing another Austen movie adaptation, this one the 2007 ITV adaptation of Mansfield Park, starring Billie Piper as Fanny Price. Listen as we discuss Fanny's spunky badminton chops, Haley Atwell's winsome take on Mary Crawford, and Edmund's incomprehensibly strange bangs. To nobody's surprise, Kristin didn't like it. Credits for the movie can be found at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847182/

Please join us in praying for Gabriel and his entire family!  We are so grateful for their witness of love. The Companions of Jesus of Nazareth GoFundMe for The Crawford Family

The Companions of Jesus of Nazareth GoFundMe for The Crawford Family

This month, we’re looking back on the history of Attucks School in Craig County. Built in 1916, Attucks served African American students in Vinita, a city located in northeastern Oklahoma, through the mid-1950s. Deeply rooted in the African American community, the school and its teachers provided students and their families with support in many different ways. Even today, its impact can be seen in the memories of alumni near and far, with many returning for the school’s biennial reunions. In this episode, we’ll hear excerpts from the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program’s archives featuring Attucks alums Arlene Kirkendoll, Charles Kirkendoll, Lois Hunt West, Robert Ramsey Jr, Okla Hicks, and Mary Crawford. Later, we’ll sit down with Kathleen Duchamp, the director of the Eastern Trails Museum in Vinita to learn more about the history and importance of Attucks School. Amplified Oklahoma is a production of the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at the Oklahoma State University Library. Show notes: https://library.okstate.edu/news/podcast/episode-22-attucks-school

Joe Weber joins us to watch A Talking Cat!?! and discuss the low-budget qualities that make this terrible family film from a former porn director highly entertaining.IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2511190/?ref_=nv_sr_1Directed by: David DeCoteau (as Mary Crawford)Written by: Andrew HelmStarring: Johnny Whitaker, Kristine DeBell, Justin Cone, Janis Valdez, Alison Sieke, Eric RobertsMovie Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-h-KpG2tHMWikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Talking_Cat!%3F!Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_talking_cat_2013Buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Whitaker-Kristine-Meatballs-Roberts/dp/B00A47BTFYJonTron Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m76z5mgv5_AIf you are enjoying I Will Watch Anything Once, please subscribe, rate and review on iTunes, like it on Facebook and follow IWWAO on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr. Email questions for your hosts and movie suggestions to iwillwatchanythingonce@gmail.comAdditional Links:Joe Weber - Twitter: https://twitter.com/BZUKAjoe - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jowstinky/DuckSnort: A Baseball Podcast - http://boardwalkaudio.com/ducksnort/Support all the Artists at Boardwalk Audio: http://www.amazon.com/?tag=iwillwatchanythingonce-20  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In part 2 of the Mansfield Park series, Kristin indulges herself with an entire episode centered around the novel's famous set piece, in which the gang gets up a production of the scandalous play Lovers' Vows. Maggie contributes her theory as to how Mary Crawford's décolletage might affect the narrative. Kevin (Kristin's husband) guest-stars to provide incisive analysis and agree that Kristin is right.The First Impressions podcast is a safe space for us to discuss our love for Jane Austen away from the haters, and perhaps even convert some skeptics in the process. Thanks for listening to our first episode, and if you enjoyed it, please spread the word and let us know what you think! We can be reached at first.impressions.podcast@gmail.com.

Where can you go to find references to a better version of this podcast, stories about horrific encounters with deer, and a promise that we’ll never do “Battlefield Earth”? Here, on this quality podcast covering Marjane Satrapi’s “The Voices” and Mary Crawford’s (a.k.a. David DeCoteau) “A Talking Cat!?!” It’s true: we lined up a special […] The post The Voices / A Talking Cat!?! | Double Bill: 19 appeared first on NoisePicnic Podcast Network.

Welcome to another Lost Tapes edition of The Film Room! This time we gaze into a mouth-shaped deep, dark abyss; we watch David DeCoteau's A Talking Cat!?! (punctuation not ours), a family film that features notable actor Eric Roberts as the titular talking cat(!?!). Did we mention it was shot on the same set as some (extremely) soft core porn? By the same director? Did we? After tumbling down the no-budget no-effort film hole, we try to climb our way back out by thoroughly picking it, and the importance of base filmmaking, apart at the seams. This is The Whimsical World of Mary Crawford! Opening Song: I'm a Stupid Cat! (Buy on iTunes) A Talking Cat!?!: The Movie: The Tumblr A Talking Cat!?! is The Room of anthropomorphic animal movies - Onion AV Club  Onion AV Club interviews Eric Roberts Laine Perez's Twitter (Great riffs) Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Fans of My Little Pony (Documentary)  Antisocial Commentary on Geek Juice Media Red Letter Media's Half in the Bag: Jack and Jill Review Look how similar all these actors look. JUST LOOK! How confusing! This picture doesn't even fully convey the cheapness of the talking effect. See below for video! Video of the talking "effect" Video of Duffy getting "healed" Closing Song: La Cucamaracha - TNN E-mail us: filmroompodcast@gmail.com  Like us on Facebook! Twitter us: @FilmRoomCast Albert: @PrimitiveManPrd Austin: @untitleduser Next Time: GOJIRAAAA!!!!