French novelist, critic and essayist
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Brandon Sheffield subjects well known video game characters who just happen to be attending GDC 2025 to the famous Proust Questionnaire. Yes, we know it's pronounced “proost.” Hosted by Brandon Sheffield, with Matthew Burns, Frank Cifaldi, Naomi Clark, Nikki Grayson, David Hellman, merritt k, Shannon Liao, Laura Michet, Alx Preston, Liz Ryerson, Phil Salvador, and Derek Yu. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Watch episodes with full video on YouTube Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums SHOW NOTES: Luigi, via merritt k (00:14) Rick Taylor, via Derek Yu (07:12) Astarion Ancunín, via Shannon Liao (11:34) Squall Leonhart, via Phil Salvador (13:55) Headcrab, via Laura Michet (17:50) Samus Aran, via Alx Preston (20:53) Miles “Tails” Prower, via Liz Ryerson (25:44) Alan Wake, via Matthew Burns (31:02) Geralt of Rivia, via Naomi Clark (36:08) Django, via Nikki Grayson (41:30) Tim, via David Hellman (45:15) Princess Peach, via Frank Cifaldi (47:37) This week's Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!
Brandon Sheffield subjects well known video game characters who just happen to be attending GDC 2025 to the famous Proust Questionnaire. Yes, we know it's pronounced “proost.” Hosted by Brandon Sheffield, with Matthew Burns, Frank Cifaldi, Naomi Clark, Nikki Grayson, David Hellman, merritt k, Shannon Liao, Laura Michet, Alx Preston, Liz Ryerson, Phil Salvador, and Derek Yu. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Watch episodes with full video on YouTube Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums SHOW NOTES: Luigi, via merritt k (00:14) Rick Taylor, via Derek Yu (07:12) Astarion Ancunín, via Shannon Liao (11:34) Squall Leonhart, via Phil Salvador (13:55) Headcrab, via Laura Michet (17:50) Samus Aran, via Alx Preston (20:53) Miles “Tails” Prower, via Liz Ryerson (25:44) Alan Wake, via Matthew Burns (31:02) Geralt of Rivia, via Naomi Clark (36:08) Django, via Nikki Grayson (41:30) Tim, via David Hellman (45:15) Princess Peach, via Frank Cifaldi (47:37) This week's Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!
Today's selection is an ideal poem for Advent–a bittersweet shape poem that expresses the “hopes and fears of all the years.”Poet and critic John Hollander wrote of Merrill that he “was continually reengaging those Proustian themes of the retrieval of lost childhood, the operations of involuntary memory and of an imaginative memory even more mysterious.” Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the rise of celebrity lookalike contests, YSL's Proustian fantasy films, recent literary scoop on Cormac McCarthy, the extension of Brat into the deep dark winter, and all things Wicked from the uncanny Hollyweird sapphism of its press tour to the inescapability of its garish color scheme in consumer products.Links:Saint Laurent – AS TIME GOES BYMarc Jacobs reading selfiesEmma Chamberlain for Warby ParkerCelebrity lookalike contests in CNN"Aquarius" from Hair (movie adaptation)Wicked costume design breakdown – InStyleGwyneth Paltrow wins Best Actress – 1999 OscarsMr. Golightly's "Who Sang It Best" YouTube playlist"Cormac McCarthy's Secret Muse Breaks Her Silence After Half a Century" by Vincenzo Barney – Vanity FairDidion & Babitz by Lili Anolik – InterviewCharli xcx Opening Monologue – Saturday Night LiveJake Paul vs. Mike Tyson post-fight speechMiley Cyrus on her upcoming album Something Beautiful – Harper's Bazaar This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nymphetalumni.com/subscribe
In this edition of Study Break, we discuss the rise of celebrity lookalike contests, YSL's Proustian fantasy films, recent literary scoop on Cormac McCarthy, the extension of Brat into the deep dark winter, and all things Wicked from the uncanny Hollyweird sapphism of its press tour to the inescapability of its garish color scheme in consumer products. Links: Saint Laurent – AS TIME GOES BYMarc Jacobs reading selfiesEmma Chamberlain for Warby ParkerCelebrity lookalike contests in CNN"Aquarius" from Hair (movie adaptation)Wicked costume design breakdown – InStyleGwyneth Paltrow wins Best Actress – 1999 Oscars Mr. Golightly's "Who Sang It Best" YouTube playlist"Cormac McCarthy's Secret Muse Breaks Her Silence After Half a Century" by Vincenzo Barney – Vanity FairDidion & Babitz by Lili Anolik – Interview Charli xcx Opening Monologue – Saturday Night LiveJake Paul vs. Mike Tyson post-fight speechMiley Cyrus on her upcoming album Something Beautiful – Harper's Bazaar
In Search of Lost Time (1913) by Marcel Proust remains one of the most profound and monumental novels of the 20th century, presenting us an intricate labyrinth of memory, time, and desire. With us are Professor Darci Gardner from Appalachian State University, whose expertise is in 19th and 20th-century French literature and she will shed light on the enigmatic Proustian syntax as a vehicle for story-telling and more. We also have Professor François Proulx from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and his expertise in French literature will enlighten us on aspects of desire and sexuality in this novel.Suggested Readings:Marcel Proust, Swann's Way (vol.1 of In Search of Lost Time)Proust and the Arts (2018) ed.Christie McDonald & François ProulxD. Gardner, "Rereading as a Mechanism of Defamiliarization in Proust," Poetics Today (2016) 37 (1): 55–105.https://doi.org/10.1215/03335372-3452619F. Proulx, “Beyond the Epistemology of the Closet.” Nineteenth-Century French Studies 48:3-4 (2020), 185-192.https://muse.jhu.edu/article/754608F. Proulx, “Proust's Drawings and the Secret of the ‘Solitary House.'” Modern Language Notes 133:4 (2018), 865-890.https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/707619 F. Proulx and H. Freed-Thall, eds. “Proust to Other Ends,” special issue of L'Esprit Créateur, 62:3 (Fall 2022), 164 pages.https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/48666 This podcast is sponsored by Riverside, a professional conference platform for podcasting.Music by Giorgio Di Campo from FreeSound Music:http://freesoundmusic.eu / freemusicforyoutube / freesoundmusic original video: (https://youtu.be/_vZT5AHSuPk?si=KMvmbbfOpqAaWeWK)Comment and interact with our hostsBuzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the Show.Official website Tiktok Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin
How do you solve a problem like Kamala Harris? If you criticize or attack her, you'll be seen as a “racist” by the powerful people on the Left, which fuels their momentum and reminds them of their collective sense of purpose.Why is she ahead in the polls now? Because it feels good to vote for her, it's as simple as that. It's time for a woman, they proclaim, especially a woman of color.Kamala Harris has now made history four times as the first woman and first woman of color District Attorney, Attorney General, Senator, and Vice President. She only has one more win for a clean sweep, President of the United States.They tried so many different ways to recapture the magic of the 2008 Obama coalition only to realize it was there the whole time. All they needed was the “female Obama.” Everything else fell into place.Their Obama/Trump origin story of the angry white man who tried to destroy the angelic Black man is all coming back in a Proustian rush. Let's finish the job, they all think. Let's finally vanquish the bad orange racist man forever with our warrior, Queen Kamala.So what do you do? How to beat her? For one thing, you don't allow her to define your campaign. MAGA is not the party of darkness. MAGA is the party of joy. The Democrats have given us one long dark winter since Biden took office. They can't just suddenly pretend that Harris wasn't part of that.Their propaganda machine is astonishing:Imagine how the Bidens must be feeling right about now. Are they feeling any joy™? Do they like it that George Clooney and Reid Hoffman pushed him out and selected Kamala Harris? Do you think they're feeling joy™, watching the mania play out with happy smiles, laughter, and awkward dancing from Tim Walz? Yay we got rid of Joe, aren't we happy?I want Trump to win not just because of the lawfare that sets a dangerous precedent going forward, especially with Harris as president. But also because I worry that the nation's schoolchildren will be indoctrinated into the madness of the Left starting as early as preschool. Just imagine the kinds of Executive Orders Harris will sign.But beating them is not going to be easy. We now see they will do anything, say anything, tell any lie, become anybody, corrupt the system any way they want just to win.The Trump campaign has their work cut out for them.Start with this:They are not the party of JOY™What Trump did with “fake news,” he can do with the word, “Joy™” Take it back.Joy™, per the Harris/Walz campaign, translates to: “Let them eat cake.”Let them eat fentanylLet them eat high crimeLet them eat inflationLet them eat the flood of illegal immigrantsLet them eat high gas pricesExamples:Attacking Her Directly Will BackfireThe rules on the Left are different from the rules on the right, as we learned from this poll that showed white Liberals dumb down their speech when talking to minorities, and Conservatives don't.The press won't be hard on her for that same reason. They're deathly afraid of being called racists. They could lose their jobs for that. Independents might feel the same way, protective of her and hostile toward Trump and Vance.Let the Trump/Vance team now be the party of hope and change, because for millions of Americans, that is exactly what it is.Barack Obama owns “hope and change,” but the only change they meant was making history. The change that's needed now is about class, not race. But using these words will put the Harris side on defense and will probably make them angry, making it harder to take the high road.How to Campaign against Kamala HarrisThe first thing you need to know about campaigning against Harris is that she did not come to play. She has been preparing for this moment nearly all of her life.Harris is no amateur when it comes to winning elections. There is nothing she does better than what she is doing right now: making history by winning an election against a white man.She already believes this is her ultimate battle against the “evil racists” who stormed the Capitol. Someone on Twitter made a video intercutting her January 6th speech with the riots and the violence in the Summer of 2020. But listen carefully to what she says.The Good White Liberals see themselves as saviors, so even just mentioning the riots in 2020 is strictly verboten, but everyone should remember how they hid much of that from us and shamed us for caring about the people whose lives and businesses were destroyed.Harris has been making history all of her life with only wins and no losses, but she also prepared a statement, a quote from her mother, when asked about it.She said the same thing on the Oprah Show where they called her the “first African-American female District Attorney.”Her star continued to rise when she was profiled on Lifetime right around that same time:That led to her being name-checked in the New York Times even before Barack Obama won in 2008.Harris aligned with Obama early, and their relationship has been essential, not just because she had the golden light of The King upon her, which elevated her profile—she was even called the “female Obama”—but because he likely “saved” her from bombing out in the primary and was likely the main reason she was selected as the candidate (don't buy the lie that he did not endorse her).She began her run for Attorney General right after Obama won in 2008.On her YouTube page is a practice speech from 2008, “If I were president.” She was crafting an early message that America has problems and you don't have to love your country unconditionally.Eight years later, she gave more or less the same speech with some changes.The thing is, if you are running for president you do have to love your country unconditionally because that's your job. Trump should call her out on that.Harris first made history when she became the first woman of color in the DA's office in San Francisco, where she ran what Politico called a “Ruthless” campaign,” and sent out campaign ads to remind voters of the all-male, all-white history://end This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sashastone.substack.com/subscribe
IT'S LIKE A WHIRLPOOL AND IT NEVER ENDSAt last! It's time for The Big Pivot! Welcome to the SILENCE! Sportscast! All the Action! All the balls! More kicks and hits than you could reasonably kick or hit! Who's winning? YOU! Unfortunately the sports chat gets somewhat derailed by talk about gigs and the 90s before Gary Lactus and The Beast Must Die get sucked into The Reviewniverse where they find Joe Wilkinson: My Autobiography, Elf Quest, Cerebus, Viz (Gary's got a strip in it!) and Proustian comics in general.Following that, there's a lovely bit of SILENCE! (Because The Film's Started) in which The Beast Must Die has seen The Flash.All sport is finally forgotten as the hosts reckymend Comfort Blanket, Allan Quartermain and the Spear of Destiny, Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson and Gary just won't stop going on about his Patreon. At this point in the blurb we usually say, "AND MORE!".@frasergeesin@thebeastmustdiesilencepodcast@gmail.comYou can support us using Patreon if you like.SILENCE! has not been sponsored by the greatest comics shops on the planet, DAVE'S COMICS of Brighton and GOSH! Comics of London for years but we still love them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sasha Zabar, son of iconic New Yorker Eli Zabar, is the culinary dreamer and founder of Glace, the Upper East Side ice cream and sweet shop. Sasha spent his childhood working at his father's various businesses, including Eli's Market and Eli's Bread and then went on to attend the Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell. His unshakable foundation in food, family, and business drew him back to Manhattan's rich culinary scene, working stints at acclaimed restaurants like Daniel, Jean-Georges and The Mark between semesters. Following graduation, he worked with his father and twin brother Oliver to open Broome Street Bakery and Devon on the Lower East Side, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, he re-entered the family business full-time. Sasha helped rebuild the brand's digital strategy by creating new websites and bringing in new technology, eventually increasing the market's home shopping orders to hundreds per day. Sasha then went on to open Noglu, a gluten-free bakery in NYC. In June 2023, Sasha opened Glace, a French-inspired ice cream concept. When the cold weather arrived, Sasha pivoted to offer the now viral S'Mores Hot Chocolate, which led the shop to have lines around the block, more than 100k Instagram followers, features on The Today Show, The New York Times, Bloomberg and even a collaboration with Britney Spears. Sasha is excited to continue to innovate the offerings at Glace and expand the brand to a national and even global audience. On this episode, we explore Sasha's one way ticket to Edo period Japan, inspired by his love for one of his favorite books, Shogun, by James Clavell. In the conversation we also cover Sasha's passion for food, his grandfather as a role model, and his father's work in expanding the American palate. Of course, we also talk about Glace, including: The Proustian nature of ice cream, bringing flavors to life, Glace's wildly popular hot chocolate, the shop's tantalizing summer menu, and Glace's ice cream truck soon slated to open at Rockefeller Center next to the rink!
IT'S LIKE A WHIRLPOOL AND IT NEVER ENDSAt last! It's time for The Big Pivot! Welcome to the SILENCE! Sportscast! All the Action! All the balls! More kicks and hits than you could reasonably kick or hit! Who's winning? YOU! Unfortunately the sports chat gets somewhat derailed by talk about gigs and the 90s before Gary Lactus and The Beast Must Die get sucked into The Reviewniverse where they find Joe Wilkinson: My Autobiography, Elf Quest, Cerebus, Viz (Gary's got a strip in it!) and Proustian comics in general.Following that, there's a lovely bit of SILENCE! (Because The Film's Started) in which The Beast Must Die has seen The Flash.All sport is finally forgotten as the hosts reckymend Comfort Blanket, Allan Quartermain and the Spear of Destiny, Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson and Gary just won't stop going on about his Patreon. At this point in the blurb we usually say, "AND MORE!".@frasergeesin@thebeastmustdiesilencepodcast@gmail.comYou can support us using Patreon if you like.SILENCE! has not been sponsored by the greatest comics shops on the planet, DAVE'S COMICS of Brighton and GOSH! Comics of London for years but we still love them.
Humanities West completes its 2023–24 season by searching for the real Marcel Proust―featuring Adam Gopnik, who will give our first Vance E. Carney Memorial Lecture. Gopnik has been writing for The New Yorker for more than three decades and has often riffed poetic on Proust. From the September 17, 1990 issue: “. . . watching our building go co-op has been . . . a lot like the experience of reading Proust. You begin hopefully, you dream of new vistas of pleasure opening up before you, you think that your friends will think better of you for having done it . . . and then you get bogged down and the whole thing seems to go on forever.” From the June 14, 1999 issue: “As late as the nineteen-fifties, when most Americans already took it for granted that he was among the greatest of modern writers, a lot of people in France saw Proust as a slightly secondary figure―the way we might have seen a long-winded Scott Fitzgerald, or a Truman Capote who actually got his book written. In the past twenty-five years, though, all that has changed, and Proust has taken his deserved place among the French as at once the most magnanimous and the most exquisite of their novelists . . .” From the March 30, 2015 issue: “Everybody tries to climb Mt. Proust, though many a stiff body is found on the lower slopes, with the other readers stepping over it gingerly.” And from the May 3, 2021 issue: “If Proust, for Updike in the God-haunted nineteen-fifties, was the last Christian poet, we may see him now in more secular terms, as a writer who, perversely, sought serenity not in detachment and self-removal but in attachment and reattachment—a monk within a metropolitan monastery. 'Be here now' is the mystic's insistence. 'Don't be here now' is Proust's material motto: be there then, again. Enjoy, emote, repeat, remember: there are worse designs for living.” Joshua Landy has also been writing and thinking about and teaching Proust for decades. He will explore several Proustian questions: How can we feel at home in the world? How can we find genuine connection with other human beings? How can we find enchantment in a world without God? Does an artist's life shed light on her work? What can we know about reality, other people, and ourselves? When is not knowing better than knowing? Who are we really, deep down? And why does it matter to read about all this in a novel? Dora Zhang will focus on the famous Proust observation that "the only true voyage . . . would not be to visit new lands but to possess other eyes, to see the world with the eyes of another." In Proust's novel the camera provides a crucial means for the narrator to step outside his habitual gaze and to possess other eyes, to look anew on familiar scenes and to see hidden truths therein. Zhang will explore this theme of estranging our vision by highlighting the role of photography in In Search of Lost Time. MLF ORGANIZER George Hammond A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. In association with Humanities West, the Stanford Humanities Center, and the Townsend Center for the Humanities at UC Berkeley. This program contains EXPLICIT content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with poet Jehanne Dubrow (JehanneDubrow.com), author of “Taste: A Book of Small Bites.” Dubrow, professor of creative writing at the University of North Texas, has also written nine poetry collections and a non-fiction book, called “throughsmoke: an essay in notes,” about how she came to fall in love with the sense of smell. “Taste and scent work together in particular to tap into the part of the brain where we access memory and emotion,” she says. “It's linked to feeling and to a sense of personal identity.” The book, “Taste,” is divided into five sections, focusing on the five known tastes, sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Within each of those sections are tiny essays, just like small bites. “We are so often shaped by the things we've eaten in our lives,” Dubrow said. “We've all had those Proustian experiences where we taste something and Instantly we're taken back to a moment that we've forgotten about up until that time.” Dubrow talks about her love of food and cooking, vivid food memories, and suggestions for exploring taste. She also shares her recipe for the Matzah Bromelette, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts. For more from Taste Buds, follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.
The Keyakizaka46 variety program KEYAKITTE, KAKENAI? (2015年−2020年) + SAKURAZAKA46 THIRD YEAR ANNIVERSARY LIVE (2023年) + the passage of time and Proustian evocations of the self + conquering reality + Japanese society + the vortex of Japanese idols. Join the I'M SO POPULAR Patreon today for exclusive access to the members only discord and a juicy, uncensored continuation of the episode featuring endless gossip and drama: patreon.com/imsopopular (S3.E16)
It's not quite like the Jackie Chan movies you might be expecting. It's more bizarre and slightly less martial arts-focused – but once you get on its wavelength, it's truly a joy of a screwball action comedy. Watch TWIN DRAGONS (English subs) on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/jackie-chans-twin-dragons-full-movie-english-sub Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trylovepodcast and email us at trylovepodcast@gmail.com to get in touch! Buy tickets and support the Trylon at https://www.trylon.org/. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "In Ancient Times" by Shirley Kwan and performed by Maggie Cheung from the TWIN DRAGONS soundtrack. Timestamps 5:15 - The episode actually starts 8:00 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary 9:55 - The Jackie Chan charming asshole spectrum 16:28 - Where it departs from other Jackie Chan movies 26:34 - The double climax 30:31 - Aaron's Proustian experience with TWIN DRAGONS and THE TUXEDO (2002) 35:35 - The one where Jason directs TWIN DRAGONS 42:14 - Where TWIN DRAGONS decides to lean in and where it doesn't 50:27 - TWIN DRAGONS underrated? 52:34 - The Junk Drawer 1:00:31 - Good Grief, Give Me a GIF!
Subconscious Realms Episode 221 - Near Death Experiences PT1 - Union Of The Unknowns Podcast & Jin The Ninja. Ladies & Gentlemen, on this Episode of Subconscious Realms we welcome one of the Host's of - Union Of The Unknowns Podcast, Ashley to discuss Near Death Experiences. We also had Jin The Ninja join me as my Co-Host!! Super interesting conversation setting things up nicely for PT2
What if there was a secret key to unlocking the power of your memory lying right under your nose? Literally. In our latest chat, we, your hosts, Linton and Stacy, dive into the sensuous world of the Proustian memory effect—an intriguing phenomenon where our senses, specifically smell, can trigger vivid memories. We're not just talking about it in theory, folks. We share our personal stories, where a whiff of old perfume bottles and 'White Shoulders' transported us back in time, awakening dormant memories. Now, imagine if you could harness this sensory power to study smarter. We've got you covered! We discuss practical strategies, like sucking on peppermint candy while studying logotherapy, to enhance your recall during exam prep. Whether it's sight, smell, taste, touch, or sound, we explore how pairing sensory experiences with academic concepts can create an emotional anchor in your memory bank. And let's not forget, we touch upon the science behind this—how our olfactory bulb, the brain's smell center, is connected to our memory and emotion processors, making smell a strong memory trigger. Join us as we explore this sensory delight!If you need to study for your NCMHCE narrative exam, try the free samplers at: CounselingExam.comThis podcast is not associated with the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) or any state or governmental agency responsible for licensure.
Rob and Paul run off into the new era in this episode... except Paul has to walk. FeaturingPaul's bad back - and the blame for it - Acast+, running among the morning runners, dirty dogs, monks not warriors, a sad shrine, some belated celebrity mourning, two Georges, gig report, training plans, Tom Price, Beth and Phoebe the birthday dog, and Paul's Runners World-based Proustian rush.You can now subscribe at Acast+ to get luxurious listening advantages, should you so wish - if you've already done so - thank you. And thanks for sharing all your summer runs with us on line; what a wonderful group of people you are.Paul and Rob are both published writers - had you heard? You can get Rob's book Running Tracks here - https://www.waterstones.com/book/running-tracks/rob-deering/9781800180444 - and Paul's award-winning 26.2 Miles to Happiness here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/26-2-miles-to-happiness/paul-tonkinson/9781472975270.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/runningcommentary. Thanks for listening - we'll be back next week, and if you're desperate in the meantime, subscribe and become a Fan - there are hundreds of old episodes you can have a go on, AND you'll get next week's episode three days early. Happy running! https://plus.acast.com/s/runningcommentary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-dylan-favourite-john-prine-song/#Bob Dylan is one hell of a wordsmith. His ability to capture the mood of the times in just a handful of well-honed phrases once earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature, which he initially turned down only to begrudgingly accept later down the line. One wonders if he rejected the honour out of fellow feeling for the great John Prine, whose body of work contains some of the finest turns-of-phrase in the 20th-century folk canon. Prine always seemed slightly surprised by his own talent. While working as a mailman in Chicago, he began attending open-mic nights at the Fifth Peg. Although initially reluctant to sing himself, John was forced to take to the stage after one performer threw down the gauntlet. On stage, he was modest almost to a fault, seeming to fade into the background. His songs, on the other hand, stood tall and proud, many of which seemed so different from the usual folk balladry coming off stage that he felt embarrassed singing them: “Some were so different that I hesitated to sing them for anybody because I thought I hadn't heard anything like this before,” he once recalled. “And I thought, ‘Is it because it's really good, or is it because it's so awful?'”Bob Dylan would have agreed with the former. The pair met for the first time in New York. Prine had just been to watch Kris Kristofferson perform in Greenwich Village and ended up tagging along with the singer-songwriter after the show. After making himself comfortable in Carly Simon's apartment, Prine heard a knock on the door. It was Dylan, fresh from a long hiatus after his motorcycle crash: “We got introduced and pretty soon the guitars came out,” Prine recalled. “I got to singing one of my songs called ‘Far From Me'. My first album was three weeks away from being released and all of a sudden Bob Dylan starts singing along. I'm sitting there thinking, ‘I know all your songs, but how do you know mine!'”During a conversation with The Huffington Post many years later, Dylan would label Prine's lyrics “pure Proustian existentialism,” and “Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree.” But it wasn't just Prine's capacity as a writer that impressed Dylan. “And he writes beautiful songs,” he continued, expressing his adoration of songs like ‘Sam Stone', in which Prine sings about a drug-addled Vietnam veteran who eventually dies of an overdose. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Prine was actually drafted into the US Army during the conflict and was inspired to write the song by his fellow soldiers. It was perhaps real-world experience such as this that lent his lyrics such clarity, lyrics that Dylan found intensely moving.
Josh loses his battle against dog clothing, Andy goes deep C.K., a Proustian butt-dial, Taking the U.N. out of fun, Andy's Pred-Lit spree continues, listener questions, and much more Spiraling.
Det skulle bli middagarnas middag med modernismens främsta namn samlade vid samma bord. Men att bjuda genier på mat är ingen picknick. Annina Rabe berättar mer. ESSÄ: Detta är en text där skribenten reflekterar över ett ämne eller ett verk. Åsikter som uttrycks är skribentens egna. Ursprungligen publicerad 2022-05-18.Det är den 18 maj 1922 och vi befinner oss på Majestic hotel i Paris. Personalen är i full gång med att iordningställa ett chambre separée till en privat tillställning för ett femtiotal gäster. Kanske ligger det i luften att det kommer att bli en alla-var-där-bjudning, en sådan som det fortfarande kommer att talas om hundra år senare. En middag som samlar och definierar den nya modernistiska eran. Där ska spjutspetsarna inom konst, litteratur, scenkonst och musik blandas upp med en grädda av förmögna, inflytelserika, adliga eller rentav kungliga gäster.Här finns Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, Virginia Woolfs svåger konstkritikern Clive Bell liksom alla dansare från den ryska baletten i Paris. De sistnämnda har premiär för föreställningen Le Renard, baserad på ett verk av Stravinsky, och den officiella anledningen till sammankomsten är att fira balettkompaniet och dess ledare Sergei Diaghilev, som förstås också är där. Men kvällens värdar, det socialt och kulturellt ambitiösa mecenatparet Sydney och Violet Schiff, har en baktanke.Varje viktig epok har en tidpunkt när den står på den absoluta toppen. När den balanserar på gränsen mellan avantgarde och det etablerade, men fortfarande känns som om den bryter ny mark. I maj 1922 provocerade inte modernismen lika mycket som den gjort några år tidigare, men fortfarande hade några av dess mest betydande verk inte sett dagens ljus. Det här var ett viktigt år, inte minst för den litterära modernismen. I februari 1922 publicerades James Joyces 900-sidor långa Ulysses, en bok som skulle skriva om litteraturhistorien. TS Eliots Det öde landet utkom samma år, liksom Virgina Woolfs Jacobs room och fjärde delen av Marcel Prousts På spaning efter den tid som flytt.Värden Sidney Schiff, som själv är en medelmåttig romanförfattare, är besatt av Proust på gränsen till stalkning. Och kvällens verkliga hedersgäster är inte den ryska baletten, utan Proust och Joyce. Två författare som representerar diametralt olika sidor av modernismen, två personligheter lika disparata som deras verk. Det skulle bli de två modernistiska portalfigurernas första och enda möte.Middagen på the Majestic måste ha planerats med en rusig känsla av att befinna sig här och nu, mitt i en tid när något håller på att förändras för alltid. Sättet att se, gestalta, skriva och leva.Den utsökta menyn var utformad helt till de illustra gästernas ära. Rysk kaviar och ryska horsdeuvres för att ära den Ryska baletten. Därefter kunde man välja på en sjötunga Walewska eller lammnoisetter med haricots verts. Men paret Schiff var så ivriga över att Proust skulle hedra dem med sin närvaro att hela resten av menyn var utformad efter honom och maträtter som förekommer i På spaning efter den tid som flytt. Här fanns förstås sparris i överflöd -vilken tur att sparrisen råkade vara i säsong just vid tiden för denna middag! Där fanns lammstek med bearnaise och köttaladåb med kalvfötter. Det serverades kyckling financiére, med en sås på madeira garnerad med kycklinglever, tryffel och gröna oliver. För den Proustian som var mer fisk- och skaldjurssinnad bjöds hummer lamericaine, det vill säga med tomat, konjak, vitt vin och grädde, eller slätvar i vin- och smörsås. För den som därefter till äventyrs hade något utrymme kvar för dessert bjöds flera överdådiga alternativ i Prousts anda: Kastanjepudding serverad med vaniljglass och körsbär, mandelkaka, glass gjord på pistage och kaffe, jordgubbsmousse och tryfflar. Genomgående dracks champagne.Hur såg Proust på denna hyllning? Vad tyckte Joyce. Inspirerade den överdådiga middagen och ruset från champagnen dem till avgörande och oförglömliga samtal?Inte riktigt. Faktum är att ingen av hedersgästerna tog del av den kulinariska mångfalden. Klockan var långt över midnatt och tallrikarna undanröjda när den första av dem dök upp. En sjavigt klädd man, kraftigt berusad, kom in och damp ner på den ena tomma stolen bredvid värden. Enligt konstkritikern Clive Bell satt han bara stum med huvudet i händerna. Ganska snart började han snarka högljutt. Det var James Joyce. Proust dök upp vid tre på natten, en spröd figur insvept i en stor päls. Enligt Clive Bell var det något råttliknande över den eleganta uppenbarelsen. Vid den här tiden av sitt liv lämnade Proust ytterst sällan sitt sovrum; svårt försvagad av hälsoproblem och drogmissbruk slet han för att slutföra sitt livsverk.Det som skulle bli århundradets fest har istället gått till historien som den obekvämaste middagen i middagsbjudningarnas historia. Exakt vad som hände kan vi inte veta, vittnesmålen skiljer sig åt i historikern Richard Davenport-Hines underhållande bok A night at the Majestic citeras inte mindre än sex olika versioner men alla är överens om att det var ett misslyckande, stämningen var stel och nervös. James Joyce själv berättade för sin vän målaren Frank Budgen att hela konversationen hade bestått av ett enda ord som upprepades i olika sammanhang: Nej. Proust frågade om Joyce kände prinsessan så-och-så, Joyce svarade nej. Värdinnan frågade Proust om han hade läst Ulysses och Proust svarade nej. Joyce svarade i sin tur nej på frågan om han möjligen hade läst På spaning efter den tid som flytt.Det finns anledning att misstänka att ingen av dem talade sanning.Kanske kunde modernismens många uttryck inte låta sig inordnas under ett och samma tak. Men det kan å andra sidan helt enkelt rört sig om en ganska typisk mingelsituation som kan uppstå när ett antal inflytelserika människor i kulturvärlden möts. En gnagande och paranoid konkurrenskänsla, ett ständigt sneglande över axeln, en malande inre oro över den egna statusen i förhållande till andras. Lägg därtill det skamlösa fjäskande som nästan alltid uppstår när vanliga dödliga ska umgås med upphöjda genier.Exakt sex månader efter den här misslyckade kvällen avled Marcel Proust. Modernismen fortsatte att blomstra i flera år till och hade inte det här historiska och ack så intetsägande mötet mellan några av tidens största konstnärer ägt rum hade den här middagsbjudningen fallit i glömska, i det stora tysta arkivet av bortglömda kulturfester. Nu är den en anekdot, ett trivialt snedsteg i 1900-talets främsta estetiska rörelse. Som en påminnare om att även i de största intellektuella djupen finns en ytlig och helt mänsklig faktor.På tal om det, så lättade stämningen enligt flera källor upp något när de båda författarna delade en taxi hem och började prata krämpor. Joyce klagade över sin återkommande huvudvärk och sina ögon, medan Proust klagade över sitt magont. Det enda vi vet säkerhet är att det inte var matens fel.Annina Rabe, litteraturkritikerLitteraturRichard Davenport-Hines bok: A night at the majestic. Faber & Faber, 2007.BildenBilden är ett montage/illustration baserad på tre målningar:Jacques-Émile Blanches porträtt av James Joyce: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_James_Joyce_P529.jpgEn avbildning av Marcel Proust-skulpturen på Château de Breteuil (av ManoSolo1324132): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcel_Proust_statue_au_ch%C3%A2teau_de_Breteuil.jpgJohn Singer Sargents "A dinner-table at night": https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-singer-sargent/a-dinner-table-at-night-1884
Radio Savannah's Eindejaarsspecial 2022 Radio Savannah sluit het jaar af met boeken, boeken en nog eens boeken. We bespreken de boeken die dit jaar een lichtje bij ons deden ontsteken en geven tips voor de koude wintermaanden. We horen graag ook jullie boekentips! Laat ons weten welk boek jou in vuur en vlam zet en win een half jaar lidmaatschap op Savannah Surprise, ons maandelijkse boekenabonnement. Je kunt je boekentip mailen via info@savannahbay.nl of doorgeven via onze socials: Instagram, Twitter en Facebook. Light A Fire, Share A Story 2022 Het is weer december, tijd voor warme chocomelk, lichtjes en lampjes en lekker lezen. Deze maand hebben we een paar mooie evenementen voor je in petto en uiteraard hebben we ook voor deze decembermaand de mooiste boeken voor je uitgezocht. Om kado te geven aan jezelf of een ander: Light A Fire, Share A Story! We hebben twaalf hartverwarmende titels uitgezocht om jezelf of een ander kado te doen deze maand. Deze vind je hier in de webshop. Ook dit jaar hebben onze vrijwilligers ervoor gezorgd dat de winkel bleef draaien. Ons team is inmiddels uitgebreid met veel nieuwe gezichten. Speciaal voor jullie zocht iedereen hun vurigste titel voor je uit. Alle leestips hebben we verzameld in onze webshop. De boekentips van Lola en Suzanne Charing Cross Road 84 van Helene Hanff Een vriendschap in brieven tussen Helene Hanff uit New York en de medewerkers van Marks & Co, een antiquarische boekhandel op Charing Cross Road 84 in Londen. In de late jaren '50 van de twintigste eeuw leest Helene een advertentie waarin staat dat de Londense boekhandel Marks & Co gespecialiseerd is in boeken die niet meer in druk zijn. Alles wat zij zou willen hebben is in New York absoluut niet te krijgen. Ze schrijft een brief, nietsvermoedend dat deze eerste paar regels het begin zijn van een jarenlange correspondentie. Vind het boek hier in de webshop. Living Rooms van Sam Johnson-Schlee In this radical and elegiac essay, Sam Johnson-Schlee invites readers to consider the dreams and fantasies we have about our homes, and their underlying reality. Living Rooms blends history, theory, and memoir as it moves between the colonial trade in house plants, Proustian reminiscence, and razor-sharp critique of rentier capitalism. Johnson-Schlee suggests that, by looking closely at the places where we live, we can confront political realities that extend out into the world. In the way we furnish our homes, might we be unconsciously imagining a different kind of life? In the way we arrange our sofas, picture frames, and our pot plants, are we dreaming of a better world? And what would it mean to reject the notion that a house should be a commodity, and to embrace the idea of a truly living room? Bestel het boek via ons bestelformulier. Vincent van Barbara Stok Het bewogen leven van Vincent van Gogh blijft een onuitputtelijke inspiratiebron. Stripmaker Barbara Stok neemt in dit verhaal de lezer mee naar de korte, intense periode die de schilder in Zuid-Frankrijk doorbrengt. Vincent droomt ervan in Arles een kunstenaarshuis te stichten voor zichzelf en zijn artistieke vrienden. Maar door aanvallen waarin hij volledig in de war is, uitmondend in het beruchte oorincident, valt die droom in duigen. Zijn broer Theo blijft hem onvoorwaardelijk steunen. Van Gogh was een kunstenaar vol hartstocht voor zijn vak. Zijn ideeën over succes, tegenslag en een zinvol leven vormen een interessant tegenwicht in onze tijd van individualisme, maakbaarheid en economisch denken. Zo maakt Stok van de belevenissen van deze 19de-eeuwse schilder weer een actueel verhaal. Bestel dit boek via ons bestelformulier. In het Droomhuis van Carmen Maria Machado Carmen ontmoet haar op een doordeweekse avond, tijdens een etentje met een wederzijdse vriendin in een klein restaurant. De vrouw komt net van de sportschool en is bezweet. Haar witblonde haar zit in een paardenstaart.
Autobiography is the running theme of '22, so the boys read Quentin Tarantino's new book ("Cinema Speculation") and then revisited his Proustian masterpiece, ONCE UPON A TIME IN...HOLLYWOOD to try and zero in why all these old masters are looking to put themselves on screen.
Today's episode is a check-in on how the adventure of reading the world's longest novel - In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust - is going for each of us. Join us for this literary odyssey as we make our way through the 1 267 069 words in this novel with the lens of understanding why this book is known to be so rewarding and considered among the greatest of all time. Have no fear we aren't Proustian and are not attempting to provide literary criticism! If you've ever been curious about Proust or simply want to read the book with or through us, this episode is for you! You can find a fuller episode description and other book reviews on our blog: https://lesbookwormspod.wordpress.com For our current reads and a dose of French living, check out our Instagram: @lesbookwormspod
With another new MDM show out on Hulu, Pizzana chef and 'Best in Dough' judge Daniele Uditi weighs in on great pizza, bizarro pizza, and pizza that should probably be called something else entirely. Then Dave, Chris, and Noelle dive into their own 'Best in Dough'-inspired pizza reveries. Plus, working in kitchens vs. working in TV, Manhattan cyclist Dave Chang, breakfast pizza, matzoh pizza, the wellspring of pizza authority, when a game becomes your life, dipping some bread in the Sunday gravy, the Neapolitan formula, sushi on pizza, baked-bean pizza, Daniele's inner Super Mario, why fermented dough is like a 5-year-old child, Anthony Mangieri, NYC water, and the Proustian pizza Dave still dreams of. 'Best in Dough' is out now on Hulu. Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Guests: Daniele Uditi and Noelle Cornelio Producer: Sasha Ashall Additional Production: Jordan Bass and Lala Rasor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Scraping training data for your mind, published by Henrik Karlsson on September 21, 2022 on LessWrong. 2432 pages into Karl Ove Knausgaard's autobiographical My Struggle comes a pivotal plot point: the publication of a new Proust translation in Norwegian. Knausgaard at this point, in his mid-twenties, has spent nearly ten years learning to write. Without success, to put it mildly. His best friend, Tore Renberg, having read the results, in one scene comes over to Knausgaard's flat, looking a little as if he has been drinking before he arrived to work up his nerve. “But Karl Ove”, Renberg says about his writing, “there is. nothing there”. This isn't the first time we've seen how people react to Knausgaard's prose. Earlier in the book, when he is working as a teacher in a remote fishing village in northern Norway, Knausgaard comes home to find his colleagues laughing while reading a sex scene he's written. Knausgaard—still a virgin—walks straight through the kitchen into his study, where he downs a full bottle of wine in one go and proceeds to throw up all over the bookcase. But Renberg's criticism cuts deeper. Renberg, who is younger than Knausgaard, has already become an accomplished writer and knows what he's talking about. There really is nothing there. So Knausgaard stops writing. When the new translation of Prouts's In Search of Lost Time is published he has not written for two years. In the spring light, he reads Proust's memoirs, all seven of them, in one big gulp like “drinking a glass of water”. He has said it was like “visiting a wood you have been in before, a long time ago . . . and when you start walking, the memories start coming back”. After that epiphany . . . he spends another two years not writing. That is about 200 pages of his autobiography. Then, for inexplicable reasons, an editor at Tiden, a subsidiary of Norway's biggest publishing house, an editor who, like everyone else, is unconvinced by Knausgaard's writing, decides that, well, why not give him a book deal anyway. Knausgaard abandons everything, moves back to his mother's town, Arendal, and sets out to write a debut novel. He doesn't know what to write about. He overhears a conversation in the library, writes it down, and then wings it from there. The novel turns into a story about a 26-year-old teacher, Henrik Vankel. Like many debuts, it is hard to not read as autobiographical—which becomes all the tenser as the plot centers on the sexual relationship Vankel has with his 13-year-old pupil Miriam in a small fishing village identical to the one where Knausgaard taught in northern Norway. The book was an immediate critical and financial success. One reason for the success was that the writing is pure Proust. Coursing through every sentence of Ude af verden, like a virus, is the Proustian sensibility, the obsession with time and memory, the rich and clear language. Knausgaard claims he wasn't aware of the influence at the time—but something about The Search for Lost Time had worked itself into him, rearranging his sensibilities. Over the two years when he did not write, his writing had transformed. This is quite common for writers. Reading something powerful, the voice infects them. Sometimes this is a weakness, if the influence has not been transformed into something personal. But there is also no way around it: finding good influences is a prerequisite for writing well. Some writers do this very deliberately. Werner Herzog will spend days reading the Poetic Edda and listening to classical music at full volume to get himself into what he calls an “ecstasy of language” before writing a script. John Frusciante, as we discussed in the last part of this series, does something similar when writing songs. Let's call this scraping good training data for your mind. It is an important skill. Too often...
Link to original articleWelcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Scraping training data for your mind, published by Henrik Karlsson on September 21, 2022 on LessWrong. 2432 pages into Karl Ove Knausgaard's autobiographical My Struggle comes a pivotal plot point: the publication of a new Proust translation in Norwegian. Knausgaard at this point, in his mid-twenties, has spent nearly ten years learning to write. Without success, to put it mildly. His best friend, Tore Renberg, having read the results, in one scene comes over to Knausgaard's flat, looking a little as if he has been drinking before he arrived to work up his nerve. “But Karl Ove”, Renberg says about his writing, “there is. nothing there”. This isn't the first time we've seen how people react to Knausgaard's prose. Earlier in the book, when he is working as a teacher in a remote fishing village in northern Norway, Knausgaard comes home to find his colleagues laughing while reading a sex scene he's written. Knausgaard—still a virgin—walks straight through the kitchen into his study, where he downs a full bottle of wine in one go and proceeds to throw up all over the bookcase. But Renberg's criticism cuts deeper. Renberg, who is younger than Knausgaard, has already become an accomplished writer and knows what he's talking about. There really is nothing there. So Knausgaard stops writing. When the new translation of Prouts's In Search of Lost Time is published he has not written for two years. In the spring light, he reads Proust's memoirs, all seven of them, in one big gulp like “drinking a glass of water”. He has said it was like “visiting a wood you have been in before, a long time ago . . . and when you start walking, the memories start coming back”. After that epiphany . . . he spends another two years not writing. That is about 200 pages of his autobiography. Then, for inexplicable reasons, an editor at Tiden, a subsidiary of Norway's biggest publishing house, an editor who, like everyone else, is unconvinced by Knausgaard's writing, decides that, well, why not give him a book deal anyway. Knausgaard abandons everything, moves back to his mother's town, Arendal, and sets out to write a debut novel. He doesn't know what to write about. He overhears a conversation in the library, writes it down, and then wings it from there. The novel turns into a story about a 26-year-old teacher, Henrik Vankel. Like many debuts, it is hard to not read as autobiographical—which becomes all the tenser as the plot centers on the sexual relationship Vankel has with his 13-year-old pupil Miriam in a small fishing village identical to the one where Knausgaard taught in northern Norway. The book was an immediate critical and financial success. One reason for the success was that the writing is pure Proust. Coursing through every sentence of Ude af verden, like a virus, is the Proustian sensibility, the obsession with time and memory, the rich and clear language. Knausgaard claims he wasn't aware of the influence at the time—but something about The Search for Lost Time had worked itself into him, rearranging his sensibilities. Over the two years when he did not write, his writing had transformed. This is quite common for writers. Reading something powerful, the voice infects them. Sometimes this is a weakness, if the influence has not been transformed into something personal. But there is also no way around it: finding good influences is a prerequisite for writing well. Some writers do this very deliberately. Werner Herzog will spend days reading the Poetic Edda and listening to classical music at full volume to get himself into what he calls an “ecstasy of language” before writing a script. John Frusciante, as we discussed in the last part of this series, does something similar when writing songs. Let's call this scraping good training data for your mind. It is an important skill. Too often...
WH Smiths again, shoplifting, Proustian rushes, wasting the BBC's money, and the power of Dire Straits. (Rec: 10/10/21) Join the Iron Filings Society: https://www.patreon.com/topflighttimemachine See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
I am back in the house that belonged to my grandfather where I used to visit every summer as a child. It is in a beautiful tiny town on the Italian Riviera. It is a place layered with memories from 50+ years, and yet, as it changes, it becomes vaguely unfamiliar in some ways too. It is an incredible gift to be able to revisit these places that we treasure in childhood memories. We can look at them through the lens of adulthood and bring a new significance to various events and people who populate those memories. I'll be interested to see what bubbles up beyond the Proustian associations of various foods. I'm told some inner child healing might be possible. Stay tuned... I have a Patreon page! Please check it out. If you make a small pledge you'll get to see photos and clips from my journals and hear a bit more about some of the stories. This is a fun way that I can share visuals with you. Check it out HERE. Or at patreon.com/dianathebard If you want to hear more on any particular subject, or if you want to ask a question or simply connect, you can find me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/dianathebard or email me at bardofhudson.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Wisdom and Productivity: The Podcast of An Imperfect Educator
We can adapt our Proustian skills to reflect on past behaviors and how to improve them for a better 2022-2023 school year of strength and success!
Revelling in the unprecedented 1st half try scoring frenzy against the hapless Bunnies, our hosts presume that Zac Lomax must be listening to the Podcast, clearly subscribing his lighter hair shade to their influence. They discuss Cranky Cody's Red Mist, Wayne Bennett's Stockholm Syndrome, the unidentified Dragon's heroic staffer, and the lunacy of the Dragon's fan base, all without pausing for breath. Obviously the Vlandy's dalliance with Britain's blue bloods gets discussed, as does Kalyn Ponga and his strawberry milkshakes. if you're still reading - there's lots more to like! ”Is Mick Potter God?” ”The Pros and Cons of Noddy” ”Madame Bovary…Ulysses….Tristram Shandy…..things get a little literary…” ”the Atlassian Canterbury Bankstown Meth Lab/Centre Of Excellence” seems to sum up Rugby League as we know it. I can't give any more away. Listen for yourselves.. it's Proustian good y'allSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Two brilliant songwriters, Jarvis Cocker and Baxter Dury, go head to head in a war of the words.They talk about how their books came into being, holding on to things from childhood, their writing processes and recommend us some books they have read and enjoyed recently.In the Book Off, they pit Haruki Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World" against "A Swim In A Pond In The Rain" by George Saunders, but which one win!? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
DescriptionMusic has the power to arouse strong feelings and recall memories and the performer is the conduit to communicate this emotion. But it is actually far more complex than that. Join me, Steven Hobé, as we take a minute to get the scoop!Fun FactWe've all had those ‘Proustian rush' moments when a piece of music, or a single movement or even a phrase, provokes an involuntary memory, sometimes with physical side-effects such as goosebumps or shivers. Sometimes we want to feel uplifted or transported by music, taking us out of ourselves and the mundanity of everyday life to another place, to experience something touching or transcendent. Such moments, and the memory of them, are very special and individual.About StevenSteven is a Canadian composer living in Toronto. He creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form genre—his muse being to offer the listener both the darker and more satiric shades of human existence. If you're interested, please check out his website for more.A Note To Music Students et al.All recordings and sheet music are available on my site. I encourage you to take a look and play through some. Give me a shout if you have any questions.Got a topic? Pop me off an email at: TCMMPodcast@Gmail.com Support the show
Det skulle bli middagarnas middag med modernismens främsta namn samlade vid samma bord. Men att bjuda genier på mat är ingen picknick. Annina Rabe berättar mer. ESSÄ: Detta är en text där skribenten reflekterar över ett ämne eller ett verk. Åsikter som uttrycks är skribentens egna.Det är den 18 maj 1922 och vi befinner oss på Majestic hotel i Paris. Personalen är i full gång med att iordningställa ett chambre separée till en privat tillställning för ett femtiotal gäster. Kanske ligger det i luften att det kommer att bli en alla-var-där-bjudning, en sådan som det fortfarande kommer att talas om hundra år senare. En middag som samlar och definierar den nya modernistiska eran. Där ska spjutspetsarna inom konst, litteratur, scenkonst och musik blandas upp med en grädda av förmögna, inflytelserika, adliga eller rentav kungliga gäster.Här finns Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, Virginia Woolfs svåger konstkritikern Clive Bell liksom alla dansare från den ryska baletten i Paris. De sistnämnda har premiär för föreställningen Le Renard, baserad på ett verk av Stravinsky, och den officiella anledningen till sammankomsten är att fira balettkompaniet och dess ledare Sergei Diaghilev, som förstås också är där. Men kvällens värdar, det socialt och kulturellt ambitiösa mecenatparet Sydney och Violet Schiff, har en baktanke.Varje viktig epok har en tidpunkt när den står på den absoluta toppen. När den balanserar på gränsen mellan avantgarde och det etablerade, men fortfarande känns som om den bryter ny mark. I maj 1922 provocerade inte modernismen lika mycket som den gjort några år tidigare, men fortfarande hade några av dess mest betydande verk inte sett dagens ljus. Det här var ett viktigt år, inte minst för den litterära modernismen. I februari 1922 publicerades James Joyces 900-sidor långa Ulysses, en bok som skulle skriva om litteraturhistorien. TS Eliots Det öde landet utkom samma år, liksom Virgina Woolfs Jacobs room och fjärde delen av Marcel Prousts På spaning efter den tid som flytt.Värden Sidney Schiff, som själv är en medelmåttig romanförfattare, är besatt av Proust på gränsen till stalkning. Och kvällens verkliga hedersgäster är inte den ryska baletten, utan Proust och Joyce. Två författare som representerar diametralt olika sidor av modernismen, två personligheter lika disparata som deras verk. Det skulle bli de två modernistiska portalfigurernas första och enda möte.Middagen på the Majestic måste ha planerats med en rusig känsla av att befinna sig här och nu, mitt i en tid när något håller på att förändras för alltid. Sättet att se, gestalta, skriva och leva.Den utsökta menyn var utformad helt till de illustra gästernas ära. Rysk kaviar och ryska horsdeuvres för att ära den Ryska baletten. Därefter kunde man välja på en sjötunga Walewska eller lammnoisetter med haricots verts. Men paret Schiff var så ivriga över att Proust skulle hedra dem med sin närvaro att hela resten av menyn var utformad efter honom och maträtter som förekommer i På spaning efter den tid som flytt. Här fanns förstås sparris i överflöd -vilken tur att sparrisen råkade vara i säsong just vid tiden för denna middag! Där fanns lammstek med bearnaise och köttaladåb med kalvfötter. Det serverades kyckling financiére, med en sås på madeira garnerad med kycklinglever, tryffel och gröna oliver. För den Proustian som var mer fisk- och skaldjurssinnad bjöds hummer lamericaine, det vill säga med tomat, konjak, vitt vin och grädde, eller slätvar i vin- och smörsås. För den som därefter till äventyrs hade något utrymme kvar för dessert bjöds flera överdådiga alternativ i Prousts anda: Kastanjepudding serverad med vaniljglass och körsbär, mandelkaka, glass gjord på pistage och kaffe, jordgubbsmousse och tryfflar. Genomgående dracks champagne.Hur såg Proust på denna hyllning? Vad tyckte Joyce. Inspirerade den överdådiga middagen och ruset från champagnen dem till avgörande och oförglömliga samtal?Inte riktigt. Faktum är att ingen av hedersgästerna tog del av den kulinariska mångfalden. Klockan var långt över midnatt och tallrikarna undanröjda när den första av dem dök upp. En sjavigt klädd man, kraftigt berusad, kom in och damp ner på den ena tomma stolen bredvid värden. Enligt konstkritikern Clive Bell satt han bara stum med huvudet i händerna. Ganska snart började han snarka högljutt. Det var James Joyce. Proust dök upp vid tre på natten, en spröd figur insvept i en stor päls. Enligt Clive Bell var det något råttliknande över den eleganta uppenbarelsen. Vid den här tiden av sitt liv lämnade Proust ytterst sällan sitt sovrum; svårt försvagad av hälsoproblem och drogmissbruk slet han för att slutföra sitt livsverk.Det som skulle bli århundradets fest har istället gått till historien som den obekvämaste middagen i middagsbjudningarnas historia. Exakt vad som hände kan vi inte veta, vittnesmålen skiljer sig åt i historikern Richard Davenport-Hines underhållande bok A night at the Majestic citeras inte mindre än sex olika versioner men alla är överens om att det var ett misslyckande, stämningen var stel och nervös. James Joyce själv berättade för sin vän målaren Frank Budgen att hela konversationen hade bestått av ett enda ord som upprepades i olika sammanhang: Nej. Proust frågade om Joyce kände prinsessan så-och-så, Joyce svarade nej. Värdinnan frågade Proust om han hade läst Ulysses och Proust svarade nej. Joyce svarade i sin tur nej på frågan om han möjligen hade läst På spaning efter den tid som flytt.Det finns anledning att misstänka att ingen av dem talade sanning.Kanske kunde modernismens många uttryck inte låta sig inordnas under ett och samma tak. Men det kan å andra sidan helt enkelt rört sig om en ganska typisk mingelsituation som kan uppstå när ett antal inflytelserika människor i kulturvärlden möts. En gnagande och paranoid konkurrenskänsla, ett ständigt sneglande över axeln, en malande inre oro över den egna statusen i förhållande till andras. Lägg därtill det skamlösa fjäskande som nästan alltid uppstår när vanliga dödliga ska umgås med upphöjda genier.Exakt sex månader efter den här misslyckade kvällen avled Marcel Proust. Modernismen fortsatte att blomstra i flera år till och hade inte det här historiska och ack så intetsägande mötet mellan några av tidens största konstnärer ägt rum hade den här middagsbjudningen fallit i glömska, i det stora tysta arkivet av bortglömda kulturfester. Nu är den en anekdot, ett trivialt snedsteg i 1900-talets främsta estetiska rörelse. Som en påminnare om att även i de största intellektuella djupen finns en ytlig och helt mänsklig faktor.På tal om det, så lättade stämningen enligt flera källor upp något när de båda författarna delade en taxi hem och började prata krämpor. Joyce klagade över sin återkommande huvudvärk och sina ögon, medan Proust klagade över sitt magont. Det enda vi vet säkerhet är att det inte var matens fel.Annina Rabe, litteraturkritikerLitteraturRichard Davenport-Hines bok: A night at the majestic. Faber & Faber, 2007.BildenBilden är ett montage/illustration baserad på tre målningar:Jacques-Émile Blanches porträtt av James Joyce: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_James_Joyce_P529.jpgEn avbildning av Marcel Proust-skulpturen på Château de Breteuil (av ManoSolo1324132): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcel_Proust_statue_au_ch%C3%A2teau_de_Breteuil.jpgJohn Singer Sargents "A dinner-table at night": https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-singer-sargent/a-dinner-table-at-night-1884
My relationship with singer songwriter Lyndon Morgans is a few years into it's 'fifth' decade, having (like many other rock pub goers in London in the late seventies) accidentally happened across a golden moment of post punk creativity known at the time as 'Sad Among Strangers'
PolicyWTF: Learning Everyday From GST This section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen?- RSJMany years ago, I went out for dinner with a client in Paris. It was a nice restaurant. Soon, the wines started flowing, escargots were polished off and I was educated on the mother sauces of French cuisine. The lark was on the wing, the snail was on the thorn plate, the client was footing the bill, God was in his heaven, and all was right with the world etc. You get the picture. Then late (very late) into the evening, desserts were served. And I was served pain perdu. It looked like French toast. It tasted like French toast. But here it sat staring at me as a dessert. For a moment I thought we had dined for so long that we had crossed over to breakfast. But no. This was still dinner time. And here was pain perdu. It was then I added French toast to my list of food items that are difficult to categorise. The Bombay falooda tops the list. For good reasons. After all, what is a falooda? Sevai ki kheer? Icecream? Basil seeds or sago pudding? Jelly with milk and syrup? There’s no answer. There cannot be any. Except, maybe it is 42.However, things have changed in the past few years. I have gotten the answer to such existential food queries of mine from an unlikely source.GST.The GST appellate authority for advance ruling (AAR) of various states has been a steady source of insights on this topic. I have learnt the difference between barfi and chocolate barfi – one is a sweet, the other a chocolate; what’s the essence of falooda – it is icecream, everything else is incidental; is paratha different from parotta – yes, big time; is 100% wheat paratha different from roti and khakra – of course, it is; are basundi and badam milk sweets or are they beverages – they are beverages; is a biscuit with chocolate coating a biscuit; is a chocolate with wafer coating a chocolate – well, the jury is still out on this one. I could go on. AAAR has always come to the rescue. See here and here (section 2).Adding to this long list of nuggets of wisdom was the Haryana AAAR last week. Here’s the ET reporting on pizza and pizza toppings:“A pizza topping is not a pizza and hence should be classified differently and levied a higher 18% goods and services tax (GST), the Haryana appellate authority for advance ruling (AAAR) has ruled. This could complicate taxation for several pizza brands, especially when the pizzas are sold within a hotel or restaurant, said tax experts.GST rates on pizzas differ on the basis of how they are prepared and sold. A pizza sold and eaten within a restaurant attracts 5% GST, the pizza base bought separately attracts 12% while a pizza delivered at home attracts 18% GST.The AAAR ruled on March 10 that pizza topping should face 18% GST as its preparation method is different from that of a pizza. It considered all the ingredients used in a topping and concluded that while a pizza topping is sold as a "cheese topping" it's not really cheese and hence should attract higher taxes.The authority ruled that pizza topping contains "vegetable fat" as a substantial portion, being 22% of the ingredients, and hence, it does not qualify to be categorised as 'processed cheese' or a type of cheese. Pizza topping would merit classification as 'food preparation', it said.Tax experts said GST rates could depend on three tests - common parlance test, end use test or ingredients test - and that often tax rates could differ how a product is categorised. Cheese, for example, is taxed at a lower rate if it is called "fat" or processed food preparation.”This is the kind of clarity I always wanted in life.The unintended benefits of GST through the AAAR clarifications on food items have been tremendous. Those who ask ‘show me an example of a good public policy’, should take note of this.PS: Check out how the inverted duty structure of GST creates professional refund cheaters in edition #50.India Policy Watch: The Kashmir FilesInsights on burning policy issues in India- RSJThere’s a new film in town. The Kashmir Files (TKF). It is so good that even the super busy PM has recommended it. Ministers have tweeted about it in glowing terms. State governments have given their staff a holiday to watch it. I have seen news anchors comparing it favourably with Schindler’s List. I guess a new wave of cinema is upon us. What a time to be alive. Let me admit I haven’t watched it yet, the philistine that I am. So, I cannot say much about the merits of the film. Not that it has made much of a difference to the prospects of the film. The film is a huge commercial success without my patronage. And that merits a discussion.From what I have read about the film, it is a semi-fictional account of the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) from the valley in the early 90s. It traces the events leading to the exodus, the hardship faced by the community during those days and the tragedy of being uprooted from your homeland with the prospect of never going back. Like most displaced communities around the world, the KPs have shown remarkable resilience in building back their lives since. They have gone about doing it in a manner that reflects the ethos of a gentle and graceful community. The many KPs I have met (we all have had them in our colleges) always spoke of those days with a sense of loss and anguish. But never rancour. It is what always struck me about them. The director, it appears, has taken this rich screenplay material and mounted a film that has drawn unqualified praise from the partisans of the BJP. The reaction from the opposite camp has been on expected lines too. That it is a propaganda film weaponising the tragedy of a community to sustain the ongoing campaign to vilify Muslims in India. Like many debates in contemporary India, I suspect this debate will be settled with the film earning billions at the box office in the shortest time. Or another vanity metric of this kind. The majority will have then spoken. Everybody will have to calm down. The Right Reason To Make The FilmI have written in earlier editions about the value of encouraging contesting narratives about our history in the public domain. One of the mistakes in the early years of our independence was that we didn’t let this happen as much. An ‘establishment’ was created that dominated academics, culture and arts which swore by liberty and free speech but muzzled other voices than their own. The state often supported this overtly. There might have been compulsions of the moment then for the state to have propped up a narrative. But this continued far too long and over time turned into a cabal. This meant alternative narratives festered on the fringes with limited academic rigour or challenge. And when their moment came, as it always does, these loose and phantasmagoric versions have taken over social media. You can challenge a book that’s published based on some research. But how do you counter millions of fake WhatsApp messages that are sent out every day to create new history? The eventual outcome of suppressing alternative voices is always worse. John Stuart Mill, while laying down his three arguments in favour of free speech in Chapter 2 of On Liberty, had warned about this. We now see the impact of this around us. This is the reason I believe we should welcome other voices. Our revulsion to them means nothing in the long run. For instance, I read the couple of well documented biographies of Savarkar that have come out of late. I’m no fan of the man. But there are many who are and it is worth having a full account of his life to understand the present moment. The books about him have been challenged both on their content and their message. There are debates about plagiarism of passages, poor research, and reproducing right-wing bile directly from his autobiography into the books. But they are out there for others to read and to criticise. You get a somewhat complete picture of a complex man like Savarkar; warts and all. The criticism of the books makes you more aware of the issues involved and hopefully, you will have fewer WhatsApp messages in family groups about the unproven myth of Savarkar. This should be seen as a net positive social outcome. Better than no books on him. So, my starting position on a film like The Kashmir Files emerges from there. For long there’s the argument made that if you don’t like the left-wing slant in arts and cinema, why don’t you write your own books and make your own films? So, why should anyone complain if these books and films are being made? They may have dubious artistic merits and they may even be unvarnished propaganda but let that be debated in public. It is not that left-wing art didn’t have these faults. History has shown this works out better than suppressing them.And The Wrong ReasonsWith that point on principle out of the way, let’s move on. What interests me more is the question of the role of art in society and what does the phenomenon of TKF reveal about India today.There’s the question of truth here. A lot of discussion about the film has been about its thinly fictionalised storyline that plays fast and loose with facts. Importantly, the partisans of the film have promoted it as a work that tells the ‘truth’ about what happened to the KPs of the valley. There are two problems here. One, all art is a pursuit of a truth of some kind. But it is just that. A pursuit. TKF is a film, regardless of its merit, that pursues a version of truth its makers believe in. That cannot ever be absolute. Art must make what’s invisible, visible. In that limited way only, it serves the truth. So, this relentless campaign to posit this as the only truth about what happened in the valley is dangerous. The exodus of the KPs didn’t spontaneously emerge out of a vacuum. There was half-a-century history to it that’s riddled with wars, false promises and a sense of alienation. And there’s a timeline to Kashmir history after the exodus too that includes the highest military presence in any piece of land in the world, killing of the innocents and upending of lives. TKF will contribute to this composite truth. It cannot replace it. History is always ambiguous. What really happened and why are shape-shifting monsters. We all are in the Proustian search for lost time. Even personal memory gets addled over the years. So what will you make of collective memory? You can only have versions of it.Two, I have an instinctive suspicion of the state promoting a work of art on an ideological basis. The state can be a patron as it has been for ages. It must create an environment for art to thrive. But when it weighs in on what’s good art and what’s not, understand that things have gone wrong. I’m not inclined to draw lazy parallels while writing here. But the experience of Soviet and Nazi attempts in using arts for the political end is too recent to be forgotten. Like Adorno wrote, “all art is an uncommitted crime.” It breathes because it challenges power and dominant narratives. Once it moves in lockstep with the state, it loses its vitality. Because soon works of art will be created to retrofit what pleases the state. Then there’s no pursuit of any truth. It all becomes in service of the state. What remains is propaganda.As Camus wrote in his famous essay on art, Create Dangerously (1957):“To create today is to create dangerously. Any publication is an act, and that act exposes one to the passions of an age that forgives nothing. Hence the question is not to find out if this is or is not prejudicial to art. The question, for all those who cannot live without art and what it signifies, is merely to find out how, among the police force of so many ideologies, the strange liberty of creation is possible. It is not enough to say in this regard that art is threatened by the powers of the State. If that were true, the problem would be simple: the artist fights or capitulates. The problem is more complex, more serious too as soon as it becomes apparent that the battle is waged within the artist himself.…Of what could art speak, indeed? If it adapts itself to what the majority of our society wants, art will be a meaningless recreation. If it blindly rejects that society, if the artist makes up his mind to take refuge in his dream, art will express nothing but a negation. In this way we shall have the production of entertainers or of formal grammarians, and in both cases, this leads to an art cut off from living reality.…Consequently, its (art’s) only aim is to give another form to a reality that it is nevertheless forced to preserve as the source of its emotion. In this regard, we are all realistic and no one is. Art is neither complete rejection nor complete acceptance of what is. It is simultaneously rejection and acceptance, and this why it must be a perpetually renewed wrenching apart.”The question of TKF as a work of art therefore cannot be separated from what purpose is it serving in today’s India. Is it being used to learn lessons from the past? What does the story of the exodus of a minority community at midnight with a handful of valuables and a heart full of memories teach us? I think the only lesson Kant (Immanuel) would have asked us to take is that which can be applied universally. And that is a society must protect its minorities. The majority shouldn’t turn their heads away when something similar happens again. The moral question then is simple. Is that the lesson that’s being learnt from TKF? Is that why it is a runaway hit? You know the answer as well as I do. Maybe these are big goals for a mere film. So, let’s narrow it. Is the film helping KPs in anyway? Or is it driving a wedge that makes a return to their homelands more distant? Some see the mere act of telling the story of KPs in the way it has been shown as a salve for their wounds. Maybe it is a salve. Maybe it is reopening of old wounds. Maybe it is both. That’s for the KPs to decide. What is the rest of India being asked to learn from it? There are only uncomfortable answers here. Its success tells us something about the times it has been made. Cinematically, I can bet TKF is no Schindler’s List. I don’t need to watch it to state that. We don’t need to declare holidays for people to watch it. If we want to watch a great film about India on a holiday, “uska prabandh kiya ja chuka hai.” It has been arranged. We show that great film every year across TV channels on October 2. Watch it. There’s always something new to learn for anyone who holds humanity dear.The instrumental use of art for political ends is a frontier. When you cross that, you are in strange territory. The success of TKF at the box office points us only in one direction.It is called an ‘andha kuan’ in Hindi.PolicyWTF: Pension Troubles are BackThis section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen?- Pranay KotasthaneLong-time readers of this newsletter know that I have cited the civil services pension reform in 2004 as an example of a policy success because the government was able to align cognitive maps in a manner that generated little backlash and protests. Until 2004, Indian governments promised to pay their employees’ pensions from the money collected from future taxpayers. Unlike in the private sector, where employees and the employer together contribute towards an employee’s pension fund, government employees bore no such responsibility. As a result, the burgeoning pension bill led the government to change its stance in 2004. Through the reform, any employee joining the union government from April 1, 2004, contributed a part of their salary to their pension fund and the contribution was to be matched by the government. Over time, state governments (except West Bengal) implemented this reform.To ensure that this doesn’t mean going back on past promises, this reform was applied only to new recruits, which immediately disarmed powerful unions of existing employees. Secondly, new employees effectively received a salary hike of 10 per cent, which was the government’s contribution to their pension fund. Finally, armed forces personnel were kept out of this reform given the short service term of non-officers. Quite a fair proposition, one would think. Good economics intersects with good politics; all bases covered; cognitive maps aligned. Well, not quite. Good economics needs a sustained cover of good politics throughout the policy life-cycle. Without the latter, the former has no chance. Having implemented the reform, governments forgot the need for good politics. The result is that in the last couple of weeks, two states—Rajasthan and Chattisgarh—have gone back to the old pension system. Some others are contemplating a similar move. I don’t need to explain why this rollback is terrible. But just to drive the point home, Rajasthan today spends more than half of all the revenue it raises, on pensions and salaries of state government employees. As Mehrishi & Sane write, this implies six per cent of families in Rajasthan corner 56 per cent of all the state taxes and state fees paid by Rajasthan’s residents. By rolling back the reform, the Rajasthan government is going one step further in increasing this unfair redistribution. Future generations will be left holding the can of these ballooning pensions of today’s government employees. The important question is: why the need for this rollback? The cynical reason is electoral politics. Both Rajasthan and Chattisgarh are due for elections next year and the state government is wooing the powerful lobby of government employees at the expense of faceless, dispersed citizens. However, there is another structural reason emanating from poor politics, like in the case of the now-abandoned farm laws. The employees under the reformed pension scheme, who are starting to retire now, have received much smaller pensions than their older counterparts. This has led to protests to overturn the pension reform completely. State governments are responding to these protests. And hence, it’s important to take this concern seriously. We can understand this phenomenon better using a framework from the 1970 book Why Men Rebel? by American political scientist Ted Gurr. Gurr claimed that one of the reasons why people rebel is relative deprivation. The greater the difference between their perception of “what we deserve” and “what we are getting”, the higher their propensity to protest or rebel.In the case of pensions, the reference point for “what we deserve” is the inflation-linked and unsustainable pensions that the older retirees were getting. The perceived levels of “what we are getting” is already quite low because of implementation issues. Employee and government contributions to the funds have been delayed many times over, a concern the CAG has repeatedly raised. The gap between these two perceptions—the relative deprivation—is quite high, and hence the protests. While this model is descriptive, it can also be extended to offer some lessons in politics. According to this framework, the government’s aim should be to reduce the sense of relative deprivation. This can be theoretically achieved in two ways. One, by making it clear that “what the pensioners are getting” is not that bad a deal. This can be achieved by resolving the implementation issues and modifying the scheme to allow the pensioners to opt for higher market-linked exposure. The same effect can also be achieved by communicating how government employees are already much better placed in comparison to the people employed outside the government, in an economy marred by the COVID-19 shock. Two, by adopting a realist strategy that lowers the pensioners’ perception of “what they deserve”. This is a difficult political strategy as it can backfire: who likes to hear that they don’t deserve the absolute best? But this narrative can be created by highlighting the unsustainable current pension burden and its impact on the economy and future generations. In the current scheme of things, neither of these two strategies has been tried. Governments thought that the pension game-set-match had been done in 2004. 18 years later, they are realising that a lot still needs to be done. The Union government is masterful in creating and shaping narratives. That skill, for once, is much-desired here, lest a promising policy success turns into a grave policy error.*The title of the edition is from L.P. Hartley’s 1953 novel “The Go-Between”Advertisement: If you enjoy the themes we discuss in this newsletter, consider taking up the Graduate Certificate in Public Policy course. Intake for the next cohort is open. 12-weeks, fully online, designed with working professionals in mind, and most importantly, guaranteed fun and learning. Do not miss.HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Paper & Podcast] This Ideas of India conversation is not to be missed. The linked paper on why economic growth is a necessary and sufficient requirement for developing countries to meet their citizens’ basic needs is a must-read for all public policy students. [Podcast] The ‘One Nation, One Election’ idea is back in the public discourse. We discuss the problems with this idea in the latest Puliyabaazi.[Note] A work-in-progress compilation of opinions in Indian media about the India-Russia relationship. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicpolicy.substack.com
In this wide-ranging conversation with Porchlight Beverage Director Nicholas Bennett, some of the topics we discuss include: Nick's journey from a beer and shot bar near Montauk to a supper club in Brooklyn, and on through some of the most legendary beverage programs in Manhattan, including Booker & Dax and Amor y Amargo. How making his mom's friend the worst cocktail she'd ever had kick-started an epic journey into education, experimentation, and creativity that has defined his upward trajectory in the hospitality business. Why Nick has embraced miniatures of himself in lego figurines and a puppet named Bennett, and how these avatars figure into the way Nick goes about educating and creating enthusiasm around cocktail trends he cares about. Of course, we also talk about the fantastic beverage program at Porchlight, which is a Union Square Hospitality Group venue. It's a place where Nick has been able to experiment with lots of fun riffs on drinks from the cocktail dark ages, and he's excited to share with us what's on tap for 2022. Along the way, we explore why Nick is a Blue Curacao apologist, the Proustian memory of his great-aunt's shaken Manhattan with spoiled vermouth, who one might encounter when questing for the Underberg of Destiny and the Centrifuge of Truth, and much, much more. This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life. Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.
The Neuromantics Season 1 Episode 2 What's happening in our brains when we have that Proustian moment? Writer Will Eaves and neuroscientist Professor Sophie Scott explore autobiographical memory in their on-going quest to find the common ground between their two disciplines. In this lively and thought-provoking episode they marvel at the special immediacy of smell, discuss the social value of gossip and call on Shakespeare to help them understand the slippery nature of accurate recall. Brought to you by Tempest Productions www.tempestproductions.net Find other episodes here: https://soundcloud.com/user-986948053/sets/the-neuromantics Podcast copyright Will Eaves & Sophie Scott; articles and texts discussed copyright authors
The Proustian origins of Madeleine Swann.
Is Marcel Proust that author we all should be reading or just the founding father of internet trolling and incel culture? In this new old-stock episode (recorded February 2021) we finally get around to reviewing Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life. In addition to 50 minutes of mispronouncing “Proust” we also go off on a bunch of tangents including curated bookshelf backgrounds, loving/hating Scott Adams, the good and bad of Proustian moments, Andy's misadventures in tiny European countries, and the “frosted kiss” of beer angels/ defrosting your soul with Dunkin. (Trigger warnings: We also briefly talk about suicide, death, and hitting rock bottom) Book: How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain De Botton Drink: Pommeau De Normandie and Ben Franklin Hard Cider (sometimes mixed—don't do it) References and Attributes: Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness presented by Alain de Botton-Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S24FxdvfOko&list=PLxRuhrcSjnv2weFRcqOeCpk4Wy7_hay2j “Marcel Proust” by the School of Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mLdo4uMJUU&t=513s “How to Cope with Bureaucracy” by the School of Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL_IoZqyb1I Alain de Botton on The Tim Ferriss Show (Podcast): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KreaV59NkE Opening Background Music: “Mastermind” from https://www.FesliyanStudios.com Closing Quote: Marcel Proust read by Alan Rickman
At last, we answer America's burning question: Who won the Pronunciation Bee? And then: a glimpse into Dave's vast Basque Rolodex, a prophecy fulfilled, buying a 14-pound serrano ham from Costco, the eternally unsolved croissant conundrum, dubious expat accents, a supercomputer-fueled rumination on holiday homecomings, Proustian trauma, Christmas in the Philippines, Chris's skin care routine, winning Friendsgiving with a gravy thermos, and Antarctic ice-sampling missions into the depths of the parental fridge. Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Guest: Noelle Cornelio Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nun fear, Proustian whisky, communism in Eastenders, a postman advert, and about 50 seconds of the film. (Rec: 17/2/21)Join the Iron Filings Society: https://www.patreon.com/topflighttimemachine See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Our favourite albums are our most faithful companions. We listen to them over and over, we know them far better than any novel or film. These records don't just soundtrack our lives – they work their way deep inside us, shaping our outlook and identity, forging our friendships and charting our love affairs. They become part of our story.In this special podcast for Intelligence Squared, journalist and music obsessive Tom Gatti – editor of Long Players, a new anthology of writing on albums – was in conversation with two of his contributors, acclaimed novelist David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet) and writer and activist Preti Taneja, author of the prize-winning novel We That Are Young. They discussed the power of certain records to act on us like Proustian madeleines, transporting us back to a particular time and place – Gatti, by his own admission, has listened to Radiohead's The Bends more times than is strictly necessary; Mitchell's great formative influence is Joni Mitchell's Blue; Taneja grew up with Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest. And they explored how music influences their writing – directly in the case of Mitchell's latest novel, Utopia Avenue, the epic tale of a psychedelic rock band's rise to stardom in the late sixties.To find out more about Long Players click here: https://www.primrosehillbooks.com/product/long-players-writers-on-the-albums-that-shaped-them-tom-gatti/To see the Spotify playlist that accompanies the book please go here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5bzkr33b38k4egE6laYQuC Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
With "Mystery, Alaska," Cinematic Underdogs is officially a year old. Happy anniversary to us! It felt very apropos to celebrate our first anniversary with a perfectly mediocre sports film. That's what we are here for! Not to bring you the greatest movies ever made. Not to bring you the coolest horror flicks or underrated indie gems. None of that! We are here for nostalgic sports movies that kind of suck, but also make you feel cozy and warm and like a child again. "Mystery, Alaska" isn't very good, but it isn't very bad either. It is benign, inoffensive, utterly anodyne. It is a 90s flick about a small town who gets to play an NHL team for very tenuous reasons. But who cares about believability when you have Russel Crowe, Burt Reynolds, and Hank Azaria leading your cast? At least, that was the logic of the late 90s. And it was kind of a fun time to watch movies during that time. Your average Saturday matinee could be lightweight and melodramatic, frivolous and filled with feel good charm and you'd have a blast and yet file it into the cognitive trash by the time you got home. Run-of-the-mill 90s sports dramas were more often than not extremely enjoyable and yet completely forgettable, which brings us back to this film. Neither of us could remember if we'd even seen it. We merely remembered one scene: something pertaining to a jock strap, and a lot of ice. And as that scene emerged from the depths of our memories and replicated onscreen, it was a most uncanny experience: both familiar and unfamiliar, a sort of cinematic dejavu. There is a bittersweetness to this liminal, dissociative feeling. It reminds one that memories fade, cells decay, time flies, and we all die. But it also reminds us to cherish every moment, and all the small things we give our time to, including so-so films like these. That is the real power of "Mystery, Alaska": in being forgettable, it had the power to evoke long lost and latent recollections of time live, and time passed. It worked a similar kind of magic on us like a madeleine once stimulated Marcel. Who would have guessed a sports movie podcast would have such a Proustian slant? Anyways, I guess the bottom line is that "Mystery, Alaska" is a pretty blah film. But it was fun as hell to discuss. And so, on that note, it was a victory as usual! That is the best part of Cinematic Underdogs: we always win because the process is what we're in it for! So, ya, thanks for listening even if you don't! It is very possible we blather, bloviate, equivocate, and slander to mere ghosts! Either way, we'll keep making content! It's a nice little ritual, and fills life with meaning and fun. And we plan to do this until our stupid little podcast becomes so embedded in the archives of our past that we dust episodes off and enjoy them, like this film, as middling relics of a strange segment of time where we dedicated our minds and energy to documenting opinions and sentiments for reasons that will ultimately seem alien, enigmatic, and inscrutably bizarre.
we originally roped in our buddy Mike Perry to discuss the American pie movies and Tomcats but it turned into a Proustian time warp through our collective memories of being horny middle schoolers from the years 1999-2001.... we hope some of you can take this hallowed journey back with us to the carefree days when the antics of Stifler and the fellas were poised to shape the minds of young people forever (yes Kazaa and limewire are discussed)
Sailor Noob is the podcast where a Sailor Moon superfan and a total noob go episode by episode through the original Sailor Moon series!This week, it's the final showdown between the Sailor Scout and the Ayakashi Sisters! Will Usagi and friends be able to save Koan and Berthier or will Petz and Calaveras destroy them...and the entire world?In this episode, we discuss Japanese sweet potatoes or satsumaimo, yaki imo trucks, yam roasting parties, rangaku or "Dutch learning", Aoki Konyo, momijigari or "red leaf hunting", and imodera/imo jinja. We also talk about Usagi's terrifying mouth, "El Chanceo Ultimo", stomach trumpets, spamming Dark Thunder, DC lasers, dimensional crevices, human Palm Pilots, Proustian potatoes, hyperreal lattes, waka waka poetry, swimming in sass, depressingly good reviews, and NO FARTING TALK!So far, SO GOOD!We're on iTunes and your listening platform of choice! Please subscribe and give us a rating and a review! Arigato gozaimasu!https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sailor-noob/id1486204787Become a patron of the show and get access to even more Sailor Noob content!http://www.patreon.com/sailornoobSailor Noob is a part of the Just Enough Trope podcast network. Check out our other shows about your favorite pop culture topics and join our Discord!http://www.twitter.com/noob_sailorhttp://www.justenoughtrope.comhttp://www.instagram.com/noob_sailorhttps://discord.gg/MYg6YN7vBuy us a Kōhī on Ko-Fi!https://ko-fi.com/E1E01M2UA
We dig in to a question from one of our long time listeners...Does music evoke specific memories for you? (spoiler alert, yep)We discuss growing up in pub gardens, Mickey debuts Palaeontology corner, Team sports chat rears it's head as well as current affairs, Woke twat chat and plenty of poorly researched waffle.
Combray looms large in the Proustian imagination. In Episode 3 of Proustian Paths, our gentle walk through Marcel Proust's classic novel In Search of Lost Time finally brings us to this town. Your audio tour guide James Holden will help you navigate the section of text describing this place, and will show you all the best literary-critical views. Let's discover the town, its inhabitants, and its place in the Narrator's memories. This episode will provide you with: * a 'map' of the section dealing with the town of Combray. * a discussion of the passage's important ideas or 'landmarks'. * an opportunity to take in the literary-critical view. So put on your literary walking boots once more, read along with the show if you want, and join us as we continue our literary journey. The perfect introduction to Marcel Proust's work for new readers and a way for dedicated Proustians to get a new view on the book they love - A la recherche du temps perdu.
Proustian Paths is the new series of podcasts that will take you on a gentle walk through a classic work of French literature: Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. James Holden is your audio tour guide for this journey and is ready to show you the very best literary critical views. So, dust off your literary walking boots and listen to this trailer to be ready for our journey through this twentieth-century masterpiece, Marcel Proust's novel A la recherche du temps perdu.
The fellas dive into this no-budget creature feature with unexpected results. Alexx puts on his best duct tape and shows off some new vocal skills. Meanwhile, the sight of Bigfoot’s dong sends John into a Proustian reverie about his own filmmaking past. The post Episode 95 – Suburban Sasquatch appeared first on John and Alexx Hate Stuff.
This episode features Caro Verbeek. Observant, soft-spoken, kind and full of historical anecdotes. Her sweet son makes an appearance
I was looking for oatmeal in the cereal aisle. When I looked up after putting my canister in the cart, I saw Farina on the top shelf. The smiling boy on the box triggered a tsunami of memories. I have not eaten Farina in years because the person who made it better than anyone else in the world was my father. In our house, my mother was the primary cook, but on weekends my father made breakfast...and his scrambled eggs or French toast were the best. His other culinary feat was Farina. For some reason, when my father prepared it, the consistency was perfect: soft and creamy without becoming too thick. It would form a perfectly smooth edge when poured on the plate. He would mix sugar and cinnamon as a topping, and then add melted butter. It was heaven, and to this day, I can't replicate it. Mine always turns out denser and a bit lumpy. So, as I put oatmeal in my cart, I contemplated on what I once had and would never have again. My father died in 2016, five years after suffering a
This Locklisted special on children's books was recorded in August 2020 and was previously available exclusively to supporters of our Patreon at patreon.com/backlisted. Join us on a journey through time and space as John, Andy and Nicky discuss the books they loved as children (so actually no pubs were involved or even mentioned on this occasion). The discussion covers the importance of libraries, the Proustian aroma of parquet flooring, the challenges of the display spinner, the significance of the Puffin Club, the utility of book tokens and the joys of early audio books. The books mentioned make for an eclectic mix and include Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kästner, The Eighteenth Emergency by Betsy Byars, the Hitchhikers series by Douglas Adams, I-Spy books, the epic sweep of Sweet Valley High, Great Northern by Arthur Ransome, The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, the audiobook of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (as read by Glenda Jackson), the audiobook of Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, comics such as Mandy and Look-in, the sublime Peanuts collections by Charles M. Schulz and last but definitely not least, Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters by Malcolm Hulke. We so enjoyed making this episode that we recorded a sequel on our favourite teenage reading, which will be shared here soon. Backlisted is entirely funded by the contributions of our Patreons - many thanks to them! If you would like to hear all past episodes of Locklisted and support Backlisted in the process, please sign up as a Locklistener or Master Storyteller at patreon.com/backlisted.
Nate, Sebastian, and Jordan gather to discuss HALF-LIFE 2, Valve's 2004 sequel shooter with a gun that throws heavy objects. We discuss the limits of narrative in first-person shooters, the shifting boundaries of the uncanny valley, and how every NPC in the game can't stop talking about what a big, strong man Gordon Freeman is. Nate admits to finally warming to the Half-Life franchise, Jordan recalls leaving his first days wrangling with Steam, and Sebastian refers to the game's sound effects as "little Proustian cookies."
#301 Forsaken - It’s the first show of series 20 (how does this keep getting commissioned?) and Rich is giving a moving tribute to a wrongly disgraced broadcaster and glad to see what’s making the BBC news headlines. His guest is the reigning Taskmaster champion Ed Gamble. They discuss who is doing the most podcasts, the problem with banofee pie, naughty puppets, why heavy metal is childish, whether Ed’s fiancé is a paid actor, the Proustian memories brought up by gladiators and performing whilst looking at yourself in a sheet of perspex. Plus would being caught in an act of self-love on camera be good or bad for Richard’s career. You can sponsor Rich for Movember here http://rhlstp.co.uk/movember(He will be donating all his November badge and Twitch money to the cause too)You can get a signed Christmas Emergency Questions book by donating here http://rhlstp.co.uk/scope and then emailing Rich your address (and who you want it dedicated to) here. £10 for a signed book, £25 for one with an exclusive hand-written question. Plus other surprise treats.You can see the extra half hour of RHLSTP 300 and give money to Refuge here http://rhlstp.co.uk/300You can get Richard’s new book here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Problem-Men-When-International-matters/dp/0751581453SUPPORT THE SHOW!Watch our TWITCH CHANNELBecome a badger and see extra content at our WEBSITESee details of the RHLSTP TOUR DATESBuy DVDs and Books from GO FASTER STRIPE See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
We love Mangoes! Pépe has fond memories every time he peels, bites and licks a mango. Fiona has fond memories every time she chops, licks and smells GUACAMOLE! With avocados from Mexico! *Thank you for supporting our Show so we can continue to release New Episodes every Wednesday at 2PM PST/5PM EST!* Here is our YouTube Channel - Please Like and Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRiyeOkEv4jIXz-5WhuCZrw Our Pinterest site includes pins from mentions and topics discussed during our shows so you can learn more or discover: https://www.pinterest.com/Super_Right_Now If you can, please support our podcast at: https://redcircle.com/superrightnow/donations Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/superrightnow/donations
It is with a very heavy heart that I present this week's episode of Bookin' with Randall Kenan. Randall Kenan was a wonderful person and an extraordinarily gifted writer who is gone from this world much too soon. He left us with a wonderful new collection, If I Had Two Wings, which was published by our friends at WW Norton and Company. Much of our recorded discussion sounds much different than it did just two weeks ago as we sat down to record it. I am happy we got the opportunity to discuss If I Had Two Wings, and I am happy to have gotten the opportunity to know Randall Kenan. He will be missed. Topics of discussion include Robert Johnson at the crossroads, Time, Howard Hughes and Elon Musk, a Proustian sense of taste, Bill Withers, only missing a place when you are there, and ghosts. Copies of If I Had Two Wings can be ordered here with free shipping.
Revered record-collector Gary Warren - aka Peter in the Railway Children - on getting autographs (aged 12) at Ready Steady Go!, radiogram karaoke in Neasden, the Proustian rush of rock sampler albums, an education from Al Stewart, when Elton John was underground, the Bob Dylan album title generator, sending your Dad to buy obscure psychedelia and being in a musical with Ginger Rogers. Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In which Sarah revisits her 1990s self thanks to the Proustian effect of Calvin Klein perfume and grunge. We explore Tonya Harding's early life and THAT moment in 1994 when everything went wrong. We mention strong thighs - a lot - and James Hunt the racing driver. And Gaby let's you in on her true age and recalls the pain of a busted coccyx. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
The Brew is Out There! Peter just can't stop writing about beer! Inspired by a Proustian recollection of his Cornish youth, his third book - Guile Brews - explores the endlessly fascinating process of Guile (or Gyle) Brewing. It's not nearly as simple as we're usually taught! Listen to hear some of the tricks and the reasons for doing Guile brewing and pick up Peter's book! Links: Peter's Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/search?contributor=Peter+Symons Unholy Mess Invert Method: http://www.unholymess.com/blog/beer-brewing-info/making-brewers-invert This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Brewers Publications Atlantic Brew Supply (Discount Code: BrewFiles) Don't forget to subscribe via your favorite podcasting service (iTunes, etc). Like our podcast, review it - talk it up! If you have comments, feedbacks, harassments, etc, feel free to drop us a line at podcast@experimentalbrew.com. Follow us on Facebook (ExperimentalBrew), Twitter (@ExpBrewing) or Instagram (ExperimentalBrewing). Don't forget you can support the podcast on Patreon by going to http://patreon.com/experimentalbrewing This episode can be downloaded directly at https://www.experimentalbrew.com/sites/d... Podcast RSS Url: http://www.experimentalbrew.com/podcast.rss
The Brew is Out There! Peter just can't stop writing about beer! Inspired by a Proustian recollection of his Cornish youth, his third book - Guile Brews - explores the endlessly fascinating process of Guile (or Gyle) Brewing. It's not nearly as simple as we're usually taught! Listen to hear some of the tricks and the reasons for doing Guile brewing and pick up Peter's book! Links: Peter's Lulu Books: https://www.lulu.com/search?contributor=Peter+Symons Unholy Mess Invert Method: http://www.unholymess.com/blog/beer-brewing-info/making-brewers-invert This episode is brought to you by: American Homebrewers Association Brewers Publications Atlantic Brew Supply (Discount Code: BrewFiles) Don't forget to subscribe via your favorite podcasting service (iTunes, etc). Like our podcast, review it - talk it up! If you have comments, feedbacks, harassments, etc, feel free to drop us a line at podcast@experimentalbrew.com. Follow us on Facebook (ExperimentalBrew), Twitter (@ExpBrewing) or Instagram (ExperimentalBrewing). Don't forget you can support the podcast on Patreon by going to http://patreon.com/experimentalbrewing This episode can be downloaded directly at http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/www.experimentalbrew.com/sites/d... Podcast RSS Url: http://www.experimentalbrew.com/podcast.rss
An FDR music eulogy for John Prine, an American singer songwriter who fell victim of this pandemic. Bob Dylan said in 2009, “Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mind trips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs.” Amen. Stay well and enjoy.
Chow down on crab cakes with Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Michael Dirda as we discuss the convention at which he thought he was about to be punched out by Harlan Ellison, the book he wants to write but which he realizes he could probably never publish, how discovering E. F. Bleiler's Guide to Supernatural Fiction opened a whole new world for him, whether he faced judgment from his peers for believing Georgette Heyer is as important as George Eliot, why he wants to be buried with a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, how Beverly Cleary's Henry Huggins is like a Proustian madeleine, the way he navigates the tricky act of reviewing the fiction of friends, the word he used which annoyed Gene Wolfe, and much more.
DXP #289 begins with a harrowing account of what happens when you (1) go out drinking with a bunch of DXP fans, (2) rent an electric scooter, and (3) attempt to make it back to your hotel unharmed (hint: The answer is surgery. Surgery is what happens.) We debrief about our recent DXP Cruise, after which we resume taking the Proust Questionnaire, answering personal questions about our greatest achievements, our most wished-for talent, as well as what we would most like to change about ourselves.
Rich Johnson returns to Attic Life with tales of new employment, brutalist architecture and extreme hatred for gardening. Well no-one's perfect...Luckily this is just a prelude to the main topic on this podcast which is 'nostalgia.' What is it that makes us nostalgic, can it always be refined to happy memories alone, and can you have too much nostalgia?All these questions and more are answered, plus we discover the worst Kurt Cobain impersonator (on paper, at least), the hidden pleasures gained from watching The Professionals and the Proustian rush of seeking out some Findus Crispy Pancakes. Send us your feedback if you dare by dropping us a line below.Download:Attic Life - Episode 10 (.MP3 84MB)Vintage vector created by brgfx - www.freepik.com
Seth Godin joins us to explain the generosity of authority.Talking PointsWhat “authority” means to SethThe first things that Seth thinks of when it comes to funding a missionTwo different gamesWriting every dayLevels of freelancingImposter syndromePodcastingAkimbo workshopsComfort zone vs. safety zonePublishingWord of mouthWriting a bookFinding your alignmentMaking a decisionQuotable Quotes“The more they charge, the more authority they actually get.” –SG“If you win the game to be the most generous, then you earn the privilege in the area where you seek to have authority, to exchange status.” –SG“If you’re not feeling like an imposter, I would argue, you’re not working hard enough.” –SG“If you think your secret is what people are paying for, you’re crazy.” –SGRelated LinksSeth GodinAkimbo WorkshopsTranscriptJonathan StarkHello and welcome to the Business of Authority. I'm Jonathan Stark.Rochelle MoultonAnd I'm Rochelle Moulton.Jonathan StarkAnd today we are joined by legendary marketer Seth Godin. Seth, welcome to the show.Seth GodinThank you for having me.Jonathan StarkThank you so much for joining us. I'm very excited about this conversation. I've been thinking about it for two years, so I'll try not to pummel you with random questions that are too weird but the first we want to start with, given the show title, it's the Business of Authority, what does the word authority mean to you in the context of a business?Seth GodinThat's a great place to start. I don't think it means what most people use the word authority to mean. Authority usually means what a manager has, which is power, which is the ability to get other people to do what want even if they don't want to do it. I would say that in your case what we're actually talking about is reputation. What we're talking about is a variation of trust, which is trust to the power of provability, meaning not only do I trust you but I can go to my partners, my bosses and my employees and insist that they trust you as well because you have earned that through your reputation.Jonathan StarkYes, I love the distinction. It's not the boss kind of authority. You will "respect my authorita", fabulous. Okay, so what are first things that come to mind when someone is starting to establish authority? I think it happens over time, has a lot to do with, like you said, trust and that trust has to exist in something and that something is the audience. So, you're on a mission and authority is on a mission. They're moving toward a vision that they see in the future. They're trying to lead people to that goal. What are the first things that come to mind when you think about funding that mission by building a business around it so that you can keep doing it?Seth GodinThere was a pre-question which I'll do first. Yes, as you pointed out it is in the eye of the beholder. There's a funny joke, being headed executive gets bumped off a flight on Delta and marches up to the counter and says, "Do you know who I am?", and the person behind the counter gets on the PA system and says, "Medical alert, we have someone with amnesia at the front desk. He doesn't know who he is." If she doesn't know who you are then it doesn't matter who you are and this is the McKinsey Trap. The McKinsey Trap is you're getting paid X number of dollars at McKinsey and you realize they're marking you up 4X, so you quit McKinsey and go out on your own and you can't even get paid a quarter of what you used to get paid. Well, it's the same consultant giving the same advice, so why is there a 16X difference in the comp. The reason is because when you hire McKinsey you are not buying advice. You are buying the privilege of telling the board what McKinsey said and that's what they sell. That is my current definition of useful authority in this case. It has nothing to do with proving you are right and everything to do with the mantel that you have earned in the eye of the consumer.Seth GodinNow, what that gets us is to is this whole riff about status roles because status roles are everything in our culture. Who's up? Who's down? Who gets to eat first? Why is someone dating a supermodel? Why did you buy that car? What neighborhood do you live in? All of these are status exchanges where we are trying to buy safety, or leverage or authority by acquisition of something that gives us a sense of status, so McKinsey maintains their status by acting like a diva, by not making sales calls, by charging extra. The more they charge the more authority they actually get and so while we may be tempted to hustle to get our authority, to somehow prove that we are right we are actually giving up authority when you do that because in our culture the signals that come with authority are not the same as the signals that come from the desperate chase of proving you're right.Jonathan StarkYeah and that's something we talk about all the time. I think the tricky part for people who are listening who probably agree with that, it's like, "But you can't start off by acting like a diva", right? I mean, that doesn't seem to track. There has to be this sort of progression where there's trust built and then later when you're IDEO and you've got every Fortune 500 logo on your homepage and they're all amazing brands, at a certain point it feels like you reach a critical mass and you can maintain that authority position with these status games that you just referred to. Is that the way you start though? You just go out on your own and you play hard to get with your clients. That doesn't seem like it would work.Seth GodinCorrect, another great insight. In fact, there's two games and I just described the second game. The first game is a completely different game. It is not a junior version of the other game. It is the game of who can be the most generous, that if you win the game to be the most generous then you earn the privilege in the area where you seek to have authority to exchange status.Seth GodinSo, I'll use my example. Not because I have an enormous amount of authority because I haven't sought to do that but you blog every day for a thousand days in a row. That's free. You make YouTube videos. That's free but then someone calls you up to give a speech. That's not free. That's expensive and what that means is you don't give speeches for a while because you're not willing to give a $500.00 speech because people who have something to say don't give $500.00 speeches. You will give a free speech at Ted. You will organize your own conference. Organizing a conference is generous but if you want me to get on a plane and come give a speech to your organization, that's expensive and I'm fine if you don't want to buy it because I got other things I can do that are generous instead.Jonathan StarkWell, that tracks with our normal story here, that's for sure. You may or may not know this but both Rochelle and I are daily emailers inspired by you and a friend of mine, Philip Morgan. It's transformative on your business. It's not just in the sense of you're "giving away the farm" so to speak in a particular format and being generous and sharing the ideas, honestly I think of it every day as "who can I help today," how am I going to help them, what can I write today that's going to help the kind of person who's on my list. That's great and it leads to all the things we're talking about, the expensive speeches for example, but the thing about it that it is not obvious from the outside is that it makes the writer better, not just communicating but just like a deeper thinking because you get... After the first three months of writing every day you've burned through all of the trite, obvious stuff and you need to start really digging deep looking for-Seth GodinExactly.Jonathan StarkYeah, it's amazing. It is absolutely amazing. It sounds terrifying to people when we suggest that they write every day about a particular, with a particular worldview let's say, not necessarily particular focus but like a worldview and around an idea but it terrifies people. They think like, "Oh no, I'll never be able to keep up with it. I'll run out of things to write." Is there anything you can say to inspire people to perhaps take that leap, take that... It feels risky to people that are scared of it.Seth GodinFor sure, I have a riff about the Boston Marathon, which is if you hire a running coach you will not say to her, "Teach me how to run the Boston Marathon without getting tired." In fact, everyone who runs the Boston Marathon is tired. The question is where do you put the tired. If you want to run a marathon you have to be prepared to put the tired somewhere. Well, if you want to be an independent voice with authority you're going to have to do things that feel risky. If you're not prepared to do things that feel risky you should go get a job.Rochelle MoultonPerfect.Jonathan StarkYes, correct. I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about something I heard you say. I think it was in the marketing seminar. I went through the marketing seminar. It's fabulous. I highly recommend it. I think it was in there that you described yourself as a freelancer at one point.Seth GodinAnd today as well. I'm back at it, yeah.Jonathan StarkOkay, so I want to talk about that because you're not really like any freelancer I know and I know a lot of freelancers. So, we have this mental framework here on the show about the progression from zero to authority if that's the path that you want to go down. Not everyone does but if it is the path you want to go down with the folks we work with it starts off as a technician who has this skill that they apply on a time basis for it's like a mercenary type of thing, like, "Hey, do you need some code? I'll write some code. It took me 10 hours. Give me a thousand bucks." Then it moves to an area where they're more advisory, consultative, where they're an expert at writing code, or copywriting or photography and they can teach it, or guide people or decrease risk for clients who have a big project that involves that thing. They're sort of moving up the food chain in terms of applying their expertise but they're not applying it directly. They're advising about their expertise.Jonathan StarkThen there's this level above that which we would call an authority where it's more of a thought leadership place where there's an audience that's following you to a destination and there are business models that seem to line up with those three levels. The first one is what I would normally call freelancer where you're a mercenary. You're a "free lance" who is available for hire and it's not really... They take any comer who's like, "Oh, someone wants to hire me to write code or write copy. Great, let's do it." Then this middle level, the expert, aligns up with consultant a lot of times or trainer and then the top tier authority a lot of times lines up with speaker, talking head on TV, author. Author's right in the word, so when I heard you say that you saw yourself as a freelancer rather than an entrepreneur, that didn't really track with me-Seth GodinWell, we have a semantic difference here, so I think your three levels are very smart but they are three levels of freelancing and let me make the distinction because of all the single sentences I have uttered on stage more people have told me this has changed their life than just about anything. Freelancers and entrepreneurs are different. Freelancers get paid when they work. Entrepreneurs build something bigger than themselves, so Larry Ellison is an entrepreneur. He does not write code. He does not make sales calls. In fact, Larry Ellison's only job at Oracle is to hire people to do jobs he invents. That's his only job and if he finds himself doing any work whatsoever he's doing something to harm the shareholders.Seth GodinNow, I have been an entrepreneur. I have built companies that changed parts of the world and I didn't like it. I was good at it but I didn't like it because I like doing things with my own two hands. If you read a blog post, I wrote it. If I was an entrepreneur that would be wrong. I should hire someone to write my blog post. If you take a workshop with Akimbo, I created it with my own two hands and then there are people who I think I work for, they don't work for me, who run Akimbo. That's not my job. That's their job and so I'm finding joy by doing the work. Entrepreneurs shouldn't do the work. Jack Dorsey should not be touching code, et cetera.Seth GodinAll right, so how do you move up as a freelancer? Well, the way I describe your three tiers is this. You cannot move up as a freelancer by working more hours. The only way to move up is to get better clients. What does it mean to have better clients? Clients who trust you more. Clients who challenge you. Clients who give you more leverage. Clients who pay you better. Better clients will get you better clients because your book will look better. Your work will look better and so the quest, if you are on the authority track, can be defined as what work do I need to do today to get better clients a month from now.Seth GodinIf you're just working for hire for anybody, JUUL, some cigarette company, it's not going to help you get better clients, so turn them down. Partly because it would be a moral failing to do the work but mostly because it's going to get in the way of you getting better clients and what I find, and we run a freelancers workshop so I've talked to hundreds and hundreds of freelancers about this, is the fear kicks in and this is the other riff which is imposter syndrome. People say, "What do I do with imposter syndrome?" The women who tell me this think only women have it. The men who tell me this think everyone has it but imposter syndrome is this idea that you feel like a fraud and what should I do with this. I don't deserve better clients. I feel like a fraud. Well, and a quick little aside, I used to have a record label and I did it as an experiment. I gave all the money to the artists and one of the artists, a married couple who lived in a van, and they would drive from town to town. They would play at the easily booked coffee shop. Then after they'd been there for two nights they'd drive to the next town.Seth GodinI took them aside and I said, "Guys, you got to stay in town. Stay in a town and work your way up because it's a better audience. They pay better. The mics work better. Everything is better" but I could see from the look in their eyes. They didn't think they deserved to play at Passim because they felt like imposters. My answer is, "Of course you feel like an imposter. If you are doing work that matters you are an imposter. You can't certify that you've done this exact thing before and it's guaranteed to work. You can't, so because you're a good person and an honest person inside you feel like a fraud because you're acting as if, because you're describing a future that isn't here yet and if you're not feeling like an imposter I would argue you are not working hard enough."Rochelle MoultonWow.Jonathan StarkYeah and by the way, nice shout out to Cambridge. I like that. So, there's a thing in the pricing world, my focus is pricing, and there's a thing in the pricing world called "selling to your own wallet" which this reminds me of, where it's not the same thing but it's similar where someone who can't imagine that they would pay X dollars for a watch or whatever. They imagine that no one would. I think that's fairly common. I don't think that's a shocking revelation, like "Wow, I can't believe somebody would pay a million dollars for Paul Newman's Rolex, that's just insanity" but someone paid it. Is it insane? Is it not insane? It doesn't really matter. The problem is when you start to apply that to your own business and you think, "I can't imagine anybody paying me $10,000.00 a month to maybe pick up the phone once in a while." Well, you better start imagining it if that's where you want to go and you can't just expect people to start writing you $10,000.00 checks every month if you're not delivering value, so you do have to figure out that puzzle. How can I deliver more than $10,000.00 of value every month to someone by just picking up the phone when they call?Jonathan StarkThe paralysis comes from not believing that they're worthy of that, that their expertise is not actually that valuable to anyone because they don't value it as much as they should themselves.Seth GodinYeah, that's a great point and you know the thing is most of the people you and I, the three of us talk to, don't make their own clothes. If someone came to you and said, "You must make your own clothes." It is not allowed anymore. It's immoral to make your own clothes. We would be annoyed and offended. How dare you? If you stood out front of the fancy watch store, and this is probably a worthwhile exercise and told people on their way in they're not allowed to go in to buy a watch. They're not allowed to buy a wedding ring. Go to a wedding that costs $50,000.00 and start heckling the bride and groom. You're not allowed. No, have some empathy, right? Have some empathy to realize that different people will make different choices about how they're going to spend their money. Your job is once they've made that choice how can you satisfy that need and so when I go out for my anniversary dinner I am not hoping the restaurant will charge me less. I'm hoping that we will have a better time, so that's the restaurateur's job is not to lower the price but to increase what I came for.Seth GodinSo, I think it's a little bit of a trap to say, "I hope I'll get paid a lot of money just to answer the phone." I think the right question is how can I create an environment where the people who hire me on retainer see their career's turbocharged because their bosses are so impressed that they're able to call me whenever they want. What would I have to do to make those conditions possible?Jonathan StarkI want to shift gears yet again and talk about podcasting for a second. We mentioned earlier sharing your expertise freely in particular ways and then charging a premium in other formats, say podcasting versus speaking in person. Geez, it's been like five seasons now of the Akimbo podcast I think and I think you've been on a million, maybe a thousand, thousands of podcasts but the only one I was aware of that you publishing was like a recording of a course of some kind or a workshop that you did years ago. Why that change? What made you... Is it something about podcasting? To me, it feels like it might be competing with books as a primary source of authority and then there's this question of self-publish versus traditionally published books. How do you see podcasts fitting into the authority landscape?Seth GodinIt's important to note that in addition to being a hypocrite I'm not a very good role model. The reason is because this is my hobby, that this work that I am doing every day... I'm 59 years old. I was born on the right day to the right parents. I won the internet lottery. This is my hobby and so people who try to do what I'm doing because they think I've thought through it, how to maximize something, are going to make a big mistake. Do as I say, not as I do because when I say it I'm describing what I wish I had heard when I was 30. But, I could do all sorts of things to make more money than I make now. Podcasting was an interesting problem five years ago. I'm a new media scholar. That's what I focus on. This is a form of new media. It's disruptive. It's interesting. It's personal so I came up with a podcast but I didn't want to do it because it's too much work and because there are all sorts of other personal things I had about it. Then some podcasting people called me up and called my bluff. They said, "We have a hunch you've figured out how to do a podcast but we'll pay you" and I could do a lot of good with that money, so I'm thinking...Seth GodinWell, now I'm stealing money from poor children if I don't do this podcast. I can't keep whining about it. I either got to do it or never speak of it again and so I like these people and I said, "Sure, this sounds like something to add to my hobby list." I will say though, as the person who founded the podcasting fellowship, that in fact, surprise, surprise, it gets you more speaking gigs and I make more from speaking gigs than I make from writing books, that in fact the 100,000 plus people who listen to the podcast prefer my voice to my blog posts and that means that they're likely to want to engage with other changes I'm trying to make in the world but that's not why I made it. I made it because I'm a little bit of an egomaniac. I thought I had something to say and I like the sound of my own voice.Jonathan StarkWell, I love it. I highly recommend people listen to Akimbo and it's not overly produced, maybe like an NPR is super, super heavily produced but you definitely have a lot of sound editing. There's a lot going on there. I applaud you because that is a lot of work. We try and keep things simple here over at the Business of Authority. No music, we've got a no music rule.Jonathan StarkYou mentioned the podcast fellowship and then there's the marketing seminar. I think you're up to the eighth one. Tell us a bit about how the Akimbo workshops fit into your master plan. I know you seem like an educator. To me, you've got that great talk about what are schools for. As someone who homeschools their kids I completely resonate with that. For you, is the workshop approach the way to have the biggest impact or is just a hobby and it's just something you like to do?Seth GodinNo, this is not a hobby. This is too much work to be a hobby. I do the workshops because I'm a teacher and this is the single, most effective form of teaching I have ever done by a lot. A book can sell a quarter of a million or a million copies and I will change X number of lives where X is a number less than a hundred, maybe it's a thousand. Whereas, when a thousand people take one of our workshops we will change the lives of 500 of them and not all completely but really deeply because doing the work, doing the work together, doing the work in public, is so different than listening to a podcast or an audio book, so I'm still doing the other stuff drip by drip, day by day but when I saw what the altMBA was able to do for people I knew that it would be malpractice to not try to push it forward and then I encourage lots of other people to copy what we're doing because if enough people copy it then I don't have to do it anymore.Jonathan StarkYeah, me included. I don't know if you even remember but I emailed you after I went through TMS and I was like, "This format that you've come up with is genius. The combination of the cohort with the lessons dripped out over time and sort of people working through it together, more like study groups and online", yeah, it's great. You're welcome. That's where the pricing seminar came from because my focus is pricing.Jonathan StarkSo, your riff on education is like what's education for. Are we trying to make kids into factory workers? It seems like that's kind of how it's set up, at least how it was setup and there's still a lot of hangover from that. That ties into a concept in the Icarus Deception which absolutely blew my mind about the comfort zone versus the safety zone. I don't need to tell it. Could you riff on the comfort zone versus safety zone and how that fits with education?Seth GodinAnytime you riff on a book that I wrote eight years ago you do need to remind me but in this case I remember.Jonathan StarkGood.Seth GodinSo, why are there so many victims of massive change in our world? Why is it that when the world changes people who are supposed to be alert, whether it's Western Union, or the old version of Microsoft... I mean, Steven Ballmer is supposed to know what's going to happen next. That's his job and the same thing's true when we think about people going through school or graduating in enormous amounts of debt. Didn't they see it? Why is there so much pain? Well, the answer is because we have a narrative about where we would be safe. Let's call that our comfort zone. The comfortable thing is to go to a famous college and go into debt to get a piece of paper that will guarantee us a safe job going forward but that is not actually a safe place. It just feels safe. It is simply comfortable and this idea that safe is risky and vice versa is only present when the world changes. When the world is the way the world is then those two are aligned. Safety and comfort among rational people is the same but when the world is changing that's when we make mistakes.Seth GodinSo, how will we use our discomfort as a compass to point us to where we will ultimately be safe? I believe that every good person in the book publishing world is going to be out of a job in 20 years and that's because they are doing things that are comfortable right now, not things that are safe. What would be safe is for them to connect directly with readers. What would be safe is for them to explore. They should be in my business, right? They should be running live events. They should be running these interactions, on, and on and on, because that's the safe thing to do. It's just not comfortable and as a result good, hardworking people are going to slam into a wall because one day the backlist isn't going to pay all the bills. The end.Seth GodinTo come back to the listeners of this august podcast. There are all sorts of things you conventional do as a freelancer, as a consultant, that are comfortable but I got to tell you in a world where everyone is a click away and where Zoom is a click away they're not safe anymore.Jonathan StarkRight, I get it all the time from students where I'll make some suggestion that, "Here's a tactic that you could try. It fits with our strategy. We've defined an objective for you. We see where you want to go." Tactics, they come and go. You change them. You experiment with them. You see what's going to work different for different people and you can get so much pushback, like change the headline on your site a little bit. Oh, that seems too risky. It's like, "Well, it's not like it's a lion." What's going to happen? Lightening bolts are going to shoot out of the keyword? Risky, how? It's 100% the comfort versus risk thing, so when I read that my head exploded. I was like, "Oh, right, that's exactly what it is."Jonathan StarkIn my consulting business I saw the same thing. When I was doing mobile consulting 2010, '11, '12, these big corporations... I wrote a book and corporations were like, "Yeah, we need this guy. Come in and tell us what to do." I would come in and say, "Well, here's the situation. This is the way it's going to be in five years for sure. Mobile phones are going to be the computing platform. That's it. So, get there. It's going to take a while. You're a huge organization. You need to do these things to get there" and they wouldn't. It was one of the big reasons I left consulting was because it was like one time where I felt like I was like, "Wow, I really know what to do here, like this" and their competitors did it and now they're suffering, the whole thing. They were so, like for a big organization they were so fearful of doing anything that wasn't the norm in a context where everything was changing and you end up with Blockbuster, and Tower Records and all of these companies just disappearing overnight. Things like Airbnb, and Uber and Netflix seemingly out of nowhere but they were enabled by this mobile platform. It's unbelievable.Seth GodinI agree with everything you just said except for the last sentence.Jonathan StarkOkay.Seth GodinIt's totally believable! It would be stunning if it wasn't true.Jonathan StarkSure.Rochelle MoultonActually I'd like to get Seth's view on this. Comfortable versus safe, if you're an authority or you're on the authority track, you're consulting, you're freelancing and you've got a big idea and you think it's a book. What's the comfortable versus safe approach for publishing or producing a book now?Seth GodinOkay, so we're going to go as quick as we can through this book thing. First thing, a book is a Proustian souvenir that for many people of many ages but all of us over 30 means something. To some people it means school and it is to be avoided. To some people it means status. To some people it means wisdom, a level of achievement. Just the presence of the thing is different than saying, "I took all of these ideas and tweeted them", that the object itself has a value.Seth GodinNow, publishing is not the same as printing. Anyone can print. It is cheap. Publishing is about taking financial risk to get people who are unaware of an idea to become aware of it and pay money for it. That's what publishers do. The number of actual publishers in the US is very small and the imprimatur that they provide certainly has value but less than it used to because if you can print a document that looks just like what they would do to the uninitiated it is the same thing. Now, this leads to one of many pitfalls.Seth GodinPitfall number one is you do the comfortable thing, which is you cut little, tiny corners that you don't think anyone will notice and your self-published book is obviously self-published and then not only haven't you succeeded, you've failed because you're so desperate you're self-publishing your book in a pretend effort at authority. So, it would have been better if you had done nothing.Seth GodinWe did a book for charity last year and it took my creative director and I, between us, 400 hours to make it look like a real book. It's not something you just upload to CreateSpace and you're done.Seth GodinNow, when you get a book then you've come to the conclusion that now you need to make it a bestseller because that's where the status really lies. Well, what's obvious to anyone in the industry is you can buy your slot on the New York Times Bestseller list now, so it's now worth nothing. Don't even bother because everyone's doing it. They're all buying their way. It doesn't mean nearly as much as you think and so it's just this huge distraction where we believe we are about to be judged so we spend an unreasonable amount of time and money for this signifier that's not actually much of a signifier at all.Seth GodinThe real signifier is did someone other than you tell me about your book. That is the signifier because now the book is serving its true function which is it is a permanent container for the ideas of a single person. If someone tells me about your book, your book has just increased your authority. What we have to begin with is you have to write a book that other people will choose to talk about in a way that gives you authority. That is really hard to do. Do that first. Don't worry about the tactics of how can I get Adrian Zackheim to publish my book at Penguin in a thinly veiled attempt to become seen as some sort of authority.Seth GodinSo, when I published Purple Cow I was on the outs. My previous publisher, Simon and Schuster, had fired me because my book before that they didn't understand and it did very poorly and so I self-published Purple Cow years before self-publishing was easy and I put it in a milk carton-Jonathan StarkJust to make it easier on yourself.Seth GodinI could tell you an hour's worth of stories about that but the punchline was if you bought the 10 pack or the 12 pack of the milk carton you gave it away and the act of you giving it away is where I got my authority from and it became the bestselling marketing book of the decade because people talked about it, not because my publisher which I ended up acquiring, did a good job of publishing it. That's silly. They don't do a good job of publishing anything.Seth GodinI guess what my rant is about is you're already in one business. Don't try to get yourself into another business of being a publisher. You're probably going to be terrible at it. If you're going to make a printed artifact open your wallet, blow out the dust and spend the money to make it magnificent and the way you do that is by going to the bookstore, finding a book that already has authority, handing it to your printer/designer and saying, "It has to look exactly like this", same paperweight, same paper stock, same typeface, same trim size, same embossing. Copy this. All your ideas, all your words, no one cares about that. It's got to look and feel right.Seth GodinOkay, so then you say, not how do I get everyone in America to read this. Everyone in America isn't going to read it. You say, "Who are the 250 people who if they read this and told someone else I would be on my way and then you, or even better a more prestigious colleague of yours, send the book free to those 250 people. If those 250 people after getting the book don't talk about you didn't right a good enough book. The end.Rochelle MoultonWow.Jonathan StarkYes, thank you for that.Rochelle MoultonLove it.Jonathan StarkMy takeaway from that is what's important is word of mouth, not a book. Is that fair?Seth GodinYeah, the book is simply a way to create an artifact that works harder for you every day than you could do without it.Jonathan StarkOkay, so where my brain is going is, is the word of mouth of, "Hey, you should listen to Akimbo" or "Hey, you should listen to the Business of Authority", is that kind of word of mouth... Do you think that carries the same kind of weight because I'm starting to think it does?Seth GodinIt might carry even more. It depends on whether your book can enjoy word of mouth without people reading it.Jonathan StarkWow.Rochelle MoultonThat's the challenge.Seth GodinThomas Piketty has benefited from this. His book, Capital, is the most unread book published that year. We know this for a fact. If we multiply the number of people who purchased it times the percentage in the Kindle that was indicated that they read, it had more unread pages than any other book of the year but-Jonathan StarkThat's brutal.Seth GodinYeah but it's true and after reading 10 pages you knew everything you needed to know to talk about the book and so the book served its purpose. The book was not a ripoff. You got your $30.00's worth which is after reading 10 pages you knew enough to be able to talk with some confidence about the inequity in our society and recommend that people who disagreed with you read the whole book.Jonathan StarkYeah, it's painful actually but it makes sense. I feel like it gets back to the status a little bit, like you want to say you read it or you want to be on your bookshelf. You want to be the kind of person who you think agrees with it. You're more buying it as an artifact or a conversation piece than an educational type of thing.Seth GodinRight, so one thing you could do if you were in the pricing business and you wanted to be the most expensive pricing consultant is you could take everything you know, put it into a loose leaf binder, only make 400 of them, hand number each one and give them to your best clients with extracting a promise that they will not make copies and share with other people. Then they will and once people start getting this priceless notebook which is handed from person to person they will realize it's too much work for them to go through all of it. They'll call you and hire you.Jonathan StarkI 100% agree with that. That would totally work. That is so funny. I don't know. I feel like we're bashing books a little bit here.Seth GodinNot at all, books have been very, very good to me. Just use them for the right reason. That's all I'm saying.Jonathan StarkYeah and we talked about that in the past where it's like if you're going to write a book, both of us, our general advice is first decide who it's for. Not just like, "I want to write a book with this title." It's like who's this for. Who's going to be transformed by this? Then start working out, okay, now that I know who it's for here's the way I need to deliver this information. It seems obvious to me because I've got the curse of knowledge. How am I going to deliver it to this particular person in the most effective way that is going to turn that light bulb on for them?Jonathan StarkOkay, so that's how I would approach writing any book. It needs to be good for the reader but then we also categorize into where do you see this book fitting into your business. Is this going to be a 300 page business card that you use to get consulting clients or is this going to be like a revenue stream that you want to actually be bringing in money every month from selling this directly?Seth GodinI think it's the third one.Jonathan StarkOkay.Seth GodinYou only said two. The third one is I would like to change my pocket of the culture to create an environment that helps the people I seek to serve and that also allows me to be a participant in how it moves forward.Jonathan StarkOkay, that's fair. I wouldn't use a book for that though.Seth GodinWell, it depends. If you're Bruce Schneier and you're the leading computer security expert then your book on that, or if you're Don Norman and you're the leading expert on user-centric design, or you're the guys at... I can go down the list of the people you've heard of who have actually changed a culture by earning the privilege to change the culture by having the chops to put it in writing and say this. They gave away everything they knew because you have to give away everything you know because if you think your secret is what people are paying for you're crazy.Rochelle MoultonI was just thinking. It made me think of something I heard you say, Seth, that writing a book is a generous act.Seth GodinYeah.Rochelle MoultonDo you feel it was generous in some of those examples? Can you talk more about that generosity?Seth GodinThe generous act to write a good book and what that means is that the reader cannot tell what your incentive is other than you're trying to make things better. In the business world we can sniff it out immediately, when you are... I'm not going to mention this super agent because that's why they write the book, so I would mention them but if it's just one, self-aggrandizing anecdote after another, well yeah, now we know why you wrote the book but we got nothing out of it. But, the magic of a book is... I wrote the Icarus Deception however many years ago and it's still doing things for people with no incremental effort on my part. Another reader costs me nothing. The fact that I make it huller, maybe the advanced learn or not. I have no idea. I don't keep track but that's not why a good author talks about her book. A good author talks about her book because she knows she's probably never going to get another royalty check but if another person would read the book things would be better.Rochelle MoultonYeah, it's that transformation that you're trying to make with the idea inside your book.Seth GodinLet's get back to I have no idea how many people are listening to this but my guess is that 92% of them act in selfish, short-term ways because they're afraid, because they're afraid they don't have anything really important to say because they're afraid if they blow up their industry by giving away the secrets they will be ostracized because they don't want to be on the spot because they don't actually want be the leader.Seth GodinAnd so what they do is they think small. They play small ball. They try to transact and that's why they're still frustrated. It's interesting. My son gets Dental Town magazine and Dental Town magazine, if you have any fear of the dentist you should not read Dental Town magazine because there are articles about basically how to under serve your patients so they'll pay you more.Jonathan StarkOh man.Rochelle MoultonOuch.Seth GodinAnd, you don't want dentists doing that. You want a dentist who decides that the best way to be a successful dentist is to get better dental patients and to make it so that they don't have to come very often because if you do those two things they will talk about you, there'll be a waiting list, and on, and on and on. On the other hand if you're trying to churn the file, get people to get a cleaning every four weeks instead of every 50 weeks and you're justifying it because there's one little footnote that says more cleanings equals better healthcare, yeah. Well, would you do it for free because if you wouldn't do it for free don't tell me you're doing it out of kindness. Whereas, I feel very confident in saying I would write books for free and I do because I am not writing them to get clients. I don't have any clients. I am doing it because I want to change the culture.Jonathan StarkYeah and that's a core premise of this podcast. We've done a bunch of episodes on what's your big idea, why do you get out of bed in the morning, what is your purpose here, why bother. If it's just this self-promotional act then that's not interesting and it probably won't work anyway. But the book thing, it's more like, "Okay, I've got this mission that I'm on. I need to fund it somehow and maybe a book is the way to do it. Maybe it's not. Maybe the book is going to get me consulting gigs and I'll do the book for free or I'll give it away."Jonathan StarkI get this pushback a lot of times where people are exactly like you're saying, where they're like, "Yeah, I'd love to change the world but the people who I want to help can't afford me" or "My spouse won't let me do this because he or she's afraid that we will lose our standard of living because I've got this great job with Google, or Facebook or something and I like this idea of going out and helping people do whatever the thing is that they're passionate about." It could be spouse. It could be parents. It could be friends. Everybody's kind of like, "Well, that won't work" or "How are you going to keep making $300,000.00 a year? How are you going to keep making even $50,000.00 a year by doing X, Y and Z" and maybe it's imagined or maybe it's real but I get tons of people who have that fear. I don't think that's completely a comfort thing. Being willing to throw away your standard of living seems a little... That's a pretty tall order.Seth GodinI'm going to interrupt on the last point. I have worked with and know people who's standard of living is $3.00 a day and those people were making three, or five or $10.00 a day. I will not change places with them but on a good day they are happier than you or me and everyone on a good day is happier than someone else. The question is always going to be compared to what. If you're willing to turn off cable TV, eat rice and beans, move to a small little rental on the outskirts of town and ride a bicycle because it will give you the freedom to change your part of the world for the better then go do it. But if you're not, then stop pretending you want to change your corner of the world for the better and just go back to work.Seth GodinThe problem is when we're out of alignment between the two, where we want to leave McKinsey, get paid what we got paid at McKinsey, only work with non-profits, only work with clients we're proud of and have the privilege of walking out anytime someone disagrees with us, that's out of alignment, can't happen.Jonathan StarkPerfect, yes, absolutely and you're talking to a guy who did used to be a musician and live in his van, so I totally, totally get it.Rochelle MoultonWhat if we gave Seth an opportunity to talk about what he'd like to talk about at the very end. You know who our audience is, Seth, people on this road to authority, most have independent businesses. They're trying to make a difference in the world. They want to get paid at the same time. What else would you have to say to them?Seth GodinThis is what I came to say. You don't need more time. You just need to decide. You need to decide whether you actually want to change your corner of the culture and if you do you have to find the bravery and the boldness to do it in a way that others will choose to talk about. If you want to just have a job with no boss, you already have that and then you can go find slightly better clients and that's your progression. There's nothing wrong with it but if you're taking the time to listen to two leaders as we have here my guess is you have an itch and what we know is the culture needs you to go scratch it by doing this work. That's my mission and it might be yours.Jonathan StarkWhere's the best place for people to go to find out all things Seth?Seth GodinThe workshops are all at Akimbo.com, A-K-I-M-B-O, and if you type my name into Google I'm sure you'll find more than you need.Jonathan StarkYeah, absolutely, folks, definitely check out the blog/daily mailing list. It's fabulous. Seth is the Confucius of marketing.Rochelle MoultonAnd the books, the books live forever. 10 years old, 20 years old, they're still relevant, highly readable.Seth GodinWell, thank you. That means a lot. I'm going to sign off. Go make a ruckus and thank you both for your time. I appreciate it.Jonathan StarkThanks so much, Seth.Rochelle MoultonThank you, Seth.
The reign of dankosity ends as the boys turn their coats, doff their caps (hello m'lady) and rail fat lines of sulfites. To further overextract the fun, they are joined by natural wine partisan, writer and party planner Alexis Schwartz of Thirsty, Thirsty. This is a really reasonable smart person episode, full of Proustian memories and duck muttering about Pre-Islamic monotheists in the Arabian peninsula. Kevin can't stop talking about his dumb natural wine trip I hope none of his cool new friends here this and judge him. Everyone chokes down a difficult semi-dry and avoids doing total 180s on the concept of NYS wine, so, resounding victory. Also, Duck requests you not @ him re: bronze age vs iron age, he was discussing with non-specialists and can't be as precise as he would like. Follow Alexis @alexistschwartz or @thirstythirsty to witness the future of natural wine. Also, uh, jesus guys, keep buying shirts and stuff! LIST///Pascal Janvier, Coteaux du Loire blanc, 2017//Hermann J. Wiemer, Semi-Dry Riesling, 2017//R. Lopez de Heredia, Rioja, Vina Cubilla 2009Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/Disgorgeous)
This hour, an unlikely therapeutic duo and a magical journey through the golden age of radio advertising.Kintsugi Dogby Natalie Kestecher for Short Cuts from BBC Radio 4.A bittersweet story about redundancy, an unwanted dog and the Japanese art of repair.A 700-Foot Mountain of Whipped Creamby Clive Desmond for The Organist from KCRW and McSweeney's, with executive producers Andrew Leland and Ross Simonini.From in utero to the studio, producer Clive Desmond provides a tour of the golden age of radio ads, featuring Frank Zappa, Ken Nordine, Linda Ronstadt, and Randy Newman. Here, each jingle becomes a Proustian madeleine.This episode of Re:sound was produced by Isabel Vázquez.TRACKLISTMoontone - Old Heroes (Free as Can Be, 2018)Rrrrrrose Wieck - En attendant demain (Fin de la communication, Monplaisir Loyalty Freak Music, 2019)Glaciære - Floating on the water (Hammock, Stevia Sphere, 2017)Image by humberama. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Ho ho ho! We are celebrating the season with so many of our friends from the year in our 6th annual Holiday Extravaganza! The little bar is filled with wonderful folks and terrific special beers from everyone’s secret stashes, and it’s a scene not to be missed! Plus it’s our last show for 2018, so as we sing (and you can sing along too!) “we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!” We wind up 2018’s news in fun fashion, beginning with Punch (thanks Rob!) sharing the Proustian allure of the Miller High Life! Next we have The Sacramento Bee reminding us don’t listen to the naysayers, craft is here to stay! We close out the year with The Denver Post making a final toast to 3.2 beer, a relic but also a way to help kids learn about booze! Last week we wondered “are you a lager or ale person and what characteristics does that entail for you?” For our last #caskquiz of the year we want to know “what frosty malt goodies did you imbibe for the holidays? What did Santa bring you? (Hopefully some beer too!)” We so love hearing from you! Please send in feedback and beer suggestions by calling us at (919) 502-0280, Tweeting us, following our Instagram or friending us on Untappd, posting on and liking our Facebook page, or emailing us! And please rate & review us in iTunes or Stitcher if you haven’t done so!
On the Overthinking It Podcast, we tackle “Wreck It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet.” Episode 545: Ralph Breaks The Internet: A Really Proustian Movie originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]
Proustian mediatation on love and desire? Atmospheric beach read? What did Laura's book club make of André Aciman's Call Me By Your Name? First published in 2007 and recently made into an Oscar-nominated film, the story follows 17-year-old Elio's obsession with charismatic houseguest Oliver. But were we carried away by Aciman's evocation of one long passionate summer? Or did it leave us only with a feeling we should start planning our July getaways now? Our interview is with Kay Dunbar, founder of the Ways With Words literary festivals, who lets us in on the secret to running a successful bookclub for over twenty years. And we finish with some great recommendations for your next book club read. • Find out more about Kay Dunbar's Ways With Words festivals at www.wayswithwords.co.uk • Episode booklist: The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe, Barracuda by Christos Tsioklas, Olivia by Dorothy Strachey and At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill. Kay Dunbar mentions Patrick Gale, whose most recent novel is A Place Called Winter. And if you keep listening you'll hear our extra bit at the end where we get into Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay, Hot Milk by Deborah Levy and Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea novels. • Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @bookclubreviewpodcast. Email us at thebookclubreview@gmail.com, find us on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod, or leave us a comment on iTunes. If you like the show then click subscribe and never miss an episode.
When scientist Rachel Herz decided to study the connection between smell and memory, she chose five products emblematic of childhood: Coppertone suntan lotion, Crayola crayons, Play-Doh, Johnson & Johnson baby powder and Vicks Vaporub. She studies the science of what’s called the Proustian phenomenon. The French novelist Marcel Proust writes about dipping a madeleine cookie into a cup of linden tea and the aroma immediately bringing him back to a long-lost memory. Producer Julia Longoria has always had that relationship with Vicks Vaporub — the scent transports her right back to childhood, to days in bed with the flu at her grandmother’s house in South Florida. Julia and her cousins all knew not to tell grandma when they were sick, or they’d risk being slathered with "Vickicito". Julia never had a reason to wonder why grandma loved Vicks so much, but this week’s episode reveals grandma’s love for the product is deeper than Julia imagined. And while investigating grandma’s (and the world’s) Vicks obsession, Julia is pulled into her family’s past, back to Cuba, before the Revolution.
A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far from Canon . . . If you grew up reading, eating, breathing and sleeping Star Wars then there's a good chance that the release of Episode VII has effectively wiped out the only Star Wars Universe you've ever known. But fear not, here at RIP: EU those stories are all getting a second chance. We're here to help you relive all of the awkward, nonsensical, strange and downright baffling events of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Follow along each episode as we read, discuss and ultimately decide on the fate of each story in the EU. We're back with another Solos episode. This week we're digging into our favorite (first?) Star Wars memory. Ben has very few since most of his mental circuitry is taken up by useless Star Wars trivia. James traces the origins of his cinephilia and accidentally triggers a Proustian moment of recollection in Ben. Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook and let us know about your own Star Wars memories and we'll talk about them next episode. Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ripeupodcast/ Find us on Tumblr: http://ripeu.tumblr.com Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rip_eu_podcast/
Whether you have your Thanksgiving in a restaurant or at an extended family table, for better or for worse, you can't escape the food. Thanksgiving is our most Proustian holiday, when scents of one relative's marshmallowed yams or another's oregano-dressed potatoes will evoke memories of times, places, and people, absent or near. Eson Kim's "Spice Memory," published in The Drum this past July, ponders Kim's connection to her mother through her mother's recipes, and her efforts to sustain that sometimes fragile bond through cooking.
Professor Gordon Shepherd (Yale) ‘Reassessing Mechanisms of Autobiographical Memory’ and Dr Kirsten Shepherd-Barr (St Catherine’s, Oxford) ‘Madeleines and Neuromodernism’. Chaired by Dr Sowon Park (Corpus Christi, Oxford)
The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life
On this week's show, I answer some mail with my friend, David James Poissant, plus Rose Tran shares a memoir essay about her unpleasantly Proustian relationship to Florida weather.
Gordano! Welcome to the podcast of the Sorry Not in Service show that went out on 10 radio on the 1st November two thousand and something or other. In this show we discuss childhood memories, play some listener’s Proustian songs, ruin some chairs and fail at an attempt to have a phone in with our listeners. Ho hum. Simon also attempts to break the record for saying the phrases ‘So that’s all good’ and ‘So that’s terrific news’. If you’d like to hear the full version of this show including the music, truly bad presenting and even more uses of the phrases ‘So that’s all good’ and ‘So that’s terrific news’ then head to mixcloud and search for Sorry Not in Service. If you’d like to get in touch before the next show on the 15th November then head to facebook.com/sorrynotinservice10radio. So that’s all good. Gordano!
Welcome to the second series of The Lost Property Office, in which a guest comes into my office, full of lost items and uses it as a Proustian springboard for the losses and discoveries of their own life. We have waited eight months for the office to restock itself, and there is no end of […]
Charles Dickens celebrated Christmas throughout his writing life. His autobiographical story ‘A Christmas Tree' is ‘almost Proustian', says Simon Callow
Charles Dickens celebrated Christmas throughout his writing life. His autobiographical story ‘A Christmas Tree' is ‘almost Proustian', says Simon Callow
This past weekend, Let’s Get Real host Erica Wides stumbled upon some wild blueberries while hiking, and was stunned by the flavor! Do the fruits that we eat actually contain the flavors that they’re supposed to harbor, or has foodiness diluted them to the point that they’ve lost their…fruitiness? Erica also talks about artificial flavoring, and how the average American palate has come to expect fruit to taste like candy. Erica also talks about the essence of fruit that does not exist in vegetables, meat, dairy, etc. Hear about how the pursuit of fresh fruit has driven Erica to do some pretty sneaky deeds! Finally, Erica uses her ‘Six Degrees of Foodiness’ scale to show you how an apple can turn into corn syrup-filled pastry mess. This episode has been brought to you by Whole Foods. “Talk about being so far down the foodiness rabbit hole- we can’t even identify the flavor of a real fruit when we stumble upon it the wild! They’ve taken the real flavor out of fruit and put it into bars and drinks and gum and Go-gurt and vodka where it doesn’t synchronize with its surroundings and its totally out of context.” — Erica Wides on Let’s Get Real
Richard Moran's talk on four kinds of relationships between the voluntary and the involuntary in Proust, and their relation to eros and to aesthetic response.
National Gallery of Australia | Audio Tour | The National Sculpture Prize and Exhibition 2005
The phenomenological playfulness in the process of model making is guided by Jonathan Swift’s descriptions of the inversions of scale between humans and architectural environments in Gulliver’s travels. In his sojourn on Lilliput, Gulliver was housed within the outer walls of a large property but was unable to access the interior of any building other than to peer through windows. This play on the denial of access to space other than through tiny vistas triggers the imagination of the viewer in a particular way so as to transcend the impossibility of being able to physically enter that space. An architectural model does not replicate the sensory experience of the full-scale architectural source, but it does provide a reference for triggering memory of experience or imagination, and it is indeed a work in its own right. If the notion of the miniature as a metaphor for interiority is to be embraced, then the contextual placement of the model within a gallery space may well heighten the experience of interiority and relationships of public and private. The architectural model that contains a micro-installation can also compensate for a sense of loss when an art installation is removed from an exhibition venue. Storage, too, becomes an issue for sculptural works, and an artwork and its crating can co-exist as an exhibit. As a method for recording and considering a series of site-sensitive exhibitions dating from 1998, architectural models containing micro-installations first appeared alongside the full-scale installation at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin, in 2000 and continue to evolve with The Doll’s House project. The starting point was an investigation of the eighteenth-century print room at Castletown House, County Kildare in Ireland. The observation of deterioration and decay in the study of eighteenth-century architecture has led to the incorporation of these elements into the production of the most recent models. Identifiable models of specific spaces and installations at times give way to fragmentary works. These fragments and ruins parallel the piecing together of clues from centuries of lost knowledge in order to build an understanding of the life of Lady Louisa Conolly and her Castletown print room. If we experience life and re-live memory in a fragmentary way in the Proustian sense, then the ability to record experience in miniature and model form is a way to make sense of broken moments and experiences that can be absorbed within the field of vision, as a metaphor for understanding. Photography: Joy Hirst
Download Episode Eleven ( 128Kbps MP3 - Length 15:41 - File size 14.4 MB) ( To download: PC Peoples use Right-click + Save [ Target | Link ] As... / Mac Peoples use Alt-Click ) 64Kbps MP3 (smaller than 128Kbps MP3 but lower audio quality) & Ogg Vorbis format (please check your player for compatibility) audio files available on Internet Archive In this episode of Purl Diving, we experience a small blast from the past, courtesy of Marcel Proust, his tea, and most of all, his madeleine. If you have your own Knitter's Madeleine that you'd care to share in a future episode of Purl Diving, please drop me a note, either in the comments or via email. If you have a microphone connected to your computer, you can also leave me an audio message of up to 3 minutes in length using the Odeo link in the sidebar. Audio Water/wave sample under intro created by pushtobreak from The Freesound Project Music featured in this episode: "Gigue L'angloise": Suite In G Minor: Le Troisième Livre De Pieces De Viole (1711) by Marin Marais, performed by Ralph Rousseau Meulenbroeks. "Sonnerie de Ste. Geneviève du Mont de Paris"(1723) by Marin Marais, performed by Ralph Rousseau Meulenbroeks. Additional Links: Proustian references: Du Côté de Chez Swann by Marcel Proust (original French text on Project Gutenberg site) Swann's Way by Marcel Proust (English translation on Project Gutenberg site) In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu) article about Proust's novel (of which Swann is Volume 1) that contains the famous passage about his madeleine and the memories evoked by it. Involuntary Memory (a Proustian concept) article on Wikipedia All about madeleines: Madeleines Recipe (with a good picture of freshly baked madeleines) by Stephanie Jaworski at Joyofbaking.com Music for this episode courtesy of Magnatune