Podcast appearances and mentions of Rita Dove

Recorded by Rita Dove for Poem-a-Day, a series produced by the Academy of American Poets. Published on March 16, 2025. www.poets.org

Former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove discusses her upcoming performance of “The Bridgetower,” her poem to be recited in concert with the Emory Chamber Music Society on January 17 at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Plus, we hear about Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger” on “Kosmo’s Vinyl of the Week,” and we’ll learn how “The Frisky Whisker” in Underground pairs a listening room and art gallery with a couple dozen really cool cats.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During her Stone Award acceptance interview, Dove discusses her writing process, adapting her work to the stage, and facing fear through poetry, among other subjects.

In this KEEN ON Andrew Keen special, guest host David Masciotra interviews Andrew about his controversial book Cult of the Amateur. While David generously describes it as prescient, Andrew focuses more on what the 2007 book got blatantly wrong - like dismissing Google's $1.5 billion acquisition of YouTube. Duh. What both David and Andrew agree on, however, is that the book'sn focus on the damage that the supposedly “democratizing” Web 2.0 revolution did to both our culture and politics is still of massive significance. Perhaps it might be time for a 20th anniversary rewrite, a Cult of the Amateur 2.0 for our brave new AI world. Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.David Masciotra is an author, lecturer, and journalist. He is the author of I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters (I.B. Tauris, 2020), Mellencamp: American Troubadour (University Press of Kentucky), Barack Obama: Invisible Man (Eyewear Publishers, 2017), and Metallica by Metallica, a 33 1/3 book from Bloomsbury Publishers, which has been translated into Chinese. In 2010, Continuum Books published his first book, Working On a Dream: The Progressive Political Vision of Bruce Springsteen. His next book, Exurbia Now: Notes from the Battleground of American Democracy, is scheduled for publication from Melville House Books in 2024. Masciotra writes regularly for the New Republic, Washington Monthly, Progressive, the Los Angeles Review of Books, CrimeReads, No Depression, and the Daily Ripple. He has also written for Salon, the Daily Beast, CNN, Atlantic, Washington Post, AlterNet, Indianapolis Star, and CounterPunch. Several of his political essays have been translated into Spanish for publication at Korazon de Perro. His poetry has appeared in Be About It Press, This Zine Will Change Your Life, and the Pangolin Review. Masciotra has a Master's Degree in English Studies and Communication from Valparaiso University. He also has a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of St. Francis. He is public lecturer, speaking on a wide variety of topics, from the history of protest music in the United States to the importance of bars in American culture. David Masciotra has spoken at the University of Wisconsin, University of South Carolina, Lewis University, Indiana University, the Chicago Public Library, the Lambeth Library (UK), and an additional range of colleges, libraries, arts centers, and bookstores. As a journalist, he has conducted interviews with political leaders, musicians, authors, and cultural figures, including Jesse Jackson, John Mellencamp, Noam Chomsky, all members of Metallica, David Mamet, James Lee Burke, Warren Haynes, Norah Jones, Joan Osborne, Martín Espada, Steve Earle, and Rita Dove. Masciotra lives in Indiana, and teaches literature and political science courses at the University of St. Francis and Indiana University Northwest. Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

So how can The Dude and The Boss save America? According to the cultural critic, David Masciotra, Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski and Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen, represent the antithesis of Donald Trumps's illiberal authoritarianism. Masciotra's thesis of Lebowski and Springsteen as twin paragons of American liberalism is compelling. Both men have a childish faith in the goodness of others. Both offer liberal solace in an America which, I fear, is about to become as darkly surreal as The Big Lebowski. Transcript:“[Springsteen] represents, as cultural icon, a certain expression of liberalism, a big-hearted, humanistic liberalism that exercises creativity to represent diverse constituencies in our society, that believes in art as a tool of democratic engagement, and that seeks to lead with an abounding, an abiding sense of compassion and empathy. That is the kind of liberalism, both with the small and capital L, that I believe in, and that I have spent my career documenting and attempting to advance.” -David MasciotraAK: Hello, everybody. We're still processing November the 5th. I was in the countryside of Northern Virginia a few days ago, I saw a sign, for people just listening, Trump/Vance 2024 sign with "winner" underneath. Some people are happy. Most, I guess, of our listeners probably aren't, certainly a lot of our guests aren't, my old friend John Rauch was on the show yesterday talking about what he called the "catastrophic ordinariness" of the election and of contemporary America. He authored two responses to the election. Firstly, he described it in UnPopulist as a moral catastrophe. But wearing his Brookings hat, he's a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, described it as an ordinary election. I think a lot of people are scratching their head, trying to make sense of it. Another old friend of the show, David Masciotra, cultural writer, political writer. An interesting piece in the Washington Monthly entitled "How Francis Fukuyama and The Big Lebowski Explain Trump's Victory." A very creative piece. And he is joining us from Highland Indiana, not too far from Chicago. David. The Big Lebowski and Francis Fukuyama. Those two don't normally go together, certainly in a title. Let's talk first about Fukuyama. How does Fukuyama explain November the 5th? DAVID MASCIOTRA: In his. Well, first, thanks for having me. And I should say I watched your conversation with Jonathan Rauch, and it was quite riveting and quite sobering. And you talked about Fukuyama in that discussion as well. And you referenced his book, The End of History and the Last Man, a very often misinterpreted book, but nonetheless, toward its conclusion, Fukuyama warns that without an external enemy, liberal democracies may indeed turn against themselves, and we may witness an implosion rather than an explosion. And Fukuyama said that this won't happen so much for ideological reasons, but it will happen for deeply psychological ones, namely, without a just cause for which to struggle, people will turn against the just cause itself, which in this case is liberal democracy, and out of a sense of boredom and alienation, they'll grow increasingly tired of their society and cultivate something of a death wish in which they enjoy imagining their society's downfall, or at least the downfall of some of the institutions that are central to their society. And now I would argue that after the election results, we've witnessed the transformation of imagining to inviting. So, there is a certain death wish and a sense of...alienation and detachment from that which made the United States of America a uniquely prosperous and stable country with the ability to self-correct the myriad injustices we know are part of its history. Well now, people--because they aren't aware of the institutions or norms that created this robust engine of commerce and liberty--they've turned against it, and they no longer invest in that which is necessary to preserve it.AK: That's interesting, David. The more progressives I talk to about this, the more it--there's an odd thing going on--you're all sounding very conservative. The subtitle of the piece in the Washington Monthly was "looking at constituencies or issues misses the big point. On Tuesday, nihilism was on display, even a death wish in a society wrought by cynicism." Words like nihilism and cynicism, David, historically have always been used by people like Allan Blum, whose book, of course, The Closing of the American Mind, became very powerful amongst American conservatives now 40 or 50 years ago. Would you accept that using language like nihilism and cynicism isn't always associated--I mean, you're a proud progressive. You're a man of the left. You've never disguised that. It's rather odd to imagine that the guys like you--and in his own way, John Rauch too, who talks about the moral catastrophe of the election couple of weeks ago. You're all speaking about the loss of morality of the voter, or of America. Is there any truth to that? Making some sense?DAVID MASCIOTRA: That's a that's a fair observation. And Jonathan Rauch, during your conversation and in his own writing, identifies a center right. I would say I'm center left.AK: And he's--but what's interesting, what ties you together, is that you both use the L-word, liberal, to define yourselves. He's perhaps a liberal on the right. You're a liberal on the left.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Yes. And I think that the Trump era, if we can trace that back to 2015, has made thoughtful liberals more conservative in thought and articulation, because it forces a confrontation and interrogation of a certain naivete. George Will writes in his book, The Conservative Sensibility, that the progressive imagines that which is the best possible outcome and strives to make it real, whereas the conservative imagines the worst possible outcome and does everything he can to guard against it. And now it feels like we've experienced, at least electorally, the worst possible outcome. So there a certain revisitation of that which made America great, to appropriate a phrase, and look for where we went wrong in failing to preserve it. So that kind of thinking inevitably leads one to use more conservative language and deal in more conservative thought.AK: Yeah. So for you, what made America great, to use the term you just introduced, was what? Its morality? The intrinsic morality of people living in it and in the country? Is that, for you, what liberalism is?DAVID MASCIOTRA: Liberalism is a system in and the culture that emanates out of that system. So it's a constitutional order that creates or that places a premium on individual rights and allows for a flourishing free market. Now, where my conception of liberalism would enter the picture and, perhaps Jonathan Rauch and I would have some disagreements, certainly George Will and I, is that a bit of governmental regulation is necessary along with the social welfare state, to civilize the free market. But the culture that one expects to flow from that societal order and arrangement is one of aspiration, one in which citizens fully accept that they are contributing agents to this experiment in self-governance and therefore need to spend time in--to use a Walt Whitman phrase--freedom's gymnasium. Sharpening the intellect, sharpening one's sense of moral duty and obligation to the commons, to the public good. And as our society has become more individualistic and narcissistic in nature, those commitments have vanished. And as our society has become more anti-intellectual in nature, we are seeing a lack of understanding of why those commitments are even necessary. So that's why you get a result like we witnessed on Tuesday, and that I argue in my piece that you were kind enough to have me on to discuss, is a form of nihilism, and The Big Lebowski reference, of course--AK: And of course, I want to get to Lebowski, because the Fukuyama stuff is interesting, but everyone's writing about Fukuyama and the end of history and why history never really ended, of course. It's been going on for years now, but it's a particularly interesting moment. We've had Fukuyama on the show. I've never heard anyone, though, compare the success of Trump and Trumpism with The Big Lebowski. So, one of the great movies, of course, American movies. What's the connection, David, between November 5th and The Big Lebowski? DAVID MASCIOTRA: Well, The Big Lebowski is one of my favorite films. I've written about it, and I even appeared at one of the The Big Lebowski festivals that takes place in United States a number of years ago. But my mind went to the scene when The Dude is in his bathtub and these three menacing figures break into his apartment. They drop a gerbil in the bathtub. And The Dude, who was enjoying a joint by candlelight, is, of course, startled and frightened. And these three men tell him that if he does not pay the money they believe he owes them, they will come back and, in their words, "cut off your Johnson." And The Dude gives them a quizzical, bemused look. And one of them says, "You think we are kidding? We are nihilists. We believe in nothing." And then one of them screams, "We'll cut off your Johnson." Well, I thought, you know, we're looking at an electorate that increasingly, or at least a portion of the electorate, increasingly believes in nothing. So we've lost faith.AK: It's the nihilists again. And of course, another Johnson in America, there was once a president called Johnson who enjoyed waving his Johnson, I think, around in public. And now there's the head of the house is another Johnson, I think he's a little shyer than presidents LBJ. But David, coming back to this idea of nihilism. It often seems to be a word used by people who don't like what other people think and therefore just write it off as nihilism. Are you suggesting that the Trump crowd have no beliefs? Is that what nihilism for you is? I mean, he was very clear about what he believes in. You may not like it, but it doesn't seem to be nihilistic.DAVID MASCIOTRA: That's another fair point. What I'm referring to is not too long ago, we lived in a country that had a shared set of values. Those values have vanished. And those values involve adherence to our democratic norms. It's very difficult to imagine had George H. W. Bush attempted to steal the election in which Bill Clinton won, that George H. W. Bush could have run again and won. So we've lost faith in something essential to our electoral system. We've lost faith in the standards of decency that used to, albeit imperfectly, regulate our national politics. So the man to whom I just refered, Bill Clinton, was nearly run out of office for having an extramarital affair, a misdeed that cannot compare to the myriad infractions of Donald Trump. And yet, Trump's misdeeds almost give him a cultural cachet among his supporters. It almost makes him, for lack of a better word, cool. And now we see, even with Trump's appointments, I mean, of course, it remains to be seen how it plays out, that we're losing faith in credentials and experience--AK: Well they're certainly a band of outlaws and very proud to be outlaws. It could almost be a Hollywood script. But I wonder, David, whether there's a more serious critique here. You, like so many other people, both on the left and the right, are nostalgic for an age in which everyone supposedly agreed on things, a most civil and civilized age. And you go back to the Bushes, back to Clinton. But the second Bush, who now seems to have appeared as this icon, at least moral icon, many critics of Trump, was also someone who unleashed a terrible war, killing tens of thousands of people, creating enormous suffering for millions of others. And I think that would be the Trump response, that he's simply more honest, that in the old days, the Bushes of the world can speak politely and talk about consensus, and then unleash terrible suffering overseas--and at home in their neoliberal policies of globalization--Trump's simply more honest. He tells it as it is. And that isn't nihilistic, is it?DAVID MASCIOTRA: Well, you are gesturing towards an important factor in our society. Trump, of course, we know, is a dishonest man, a profoundly dishonest--AK: Well, in some ways. But in other ways, he isn't. I mean, in some ways he just tells the truth as it is. It's a truth we're uncomfortable with. But it's certainly very truthful about the impact of foreign wars on America, for example, or even the impact of globalization. DAVID MASCIOTRA: What you're describing is an authenticity. That that Trump is authentic. And authenticity has become chief among the modern virtues, which I would argue is a colossal error. Stanley Crouch, a great writer, spent decades analyzing the way in which we consider authenticity and how it inevitably leads to, to borrow his phrase, cast impurity onto the bottom. So anything that which requires effort, refinement, self-restraint, self-control, plays to the crowd as inauthentic, as artificial--AK: Those are all aristocratic values that may have once worked but don't anymore. Should we be nostalgic for the aristocratic way of the Bushes?DAVID MASCIOTRA: I think in a certain respect, we should. We shouldn't be nostalgic for George W. Bush's policies. I agree with you, the war in Iraq was catastrophic, arguably worse than anything Trump did while he was president. His notoriously poor response to Hurricane Katrina--I mean, we can go on and on cataloging the various disasters of the Bush administration. However, George W. Bush as president and the people around him did have a certain belief in the liberal order of the United States and the liberal order of the world. Institutions like NATO and the EU, and those institutions, and that order, has given the United States, and the world more broadly, an unrivaled period of peace and prosperity.AK: Well it wasn't peace, David. And the wars, the post-9/11 wars, were catastrophic. And again, they seem to be just facades--DAVID MASCIOTRA: We also had the Vietnam War, the Korean War. When I say peace, I mean we didn't have a world war break out as we did in the First World War, in the Second World War. And that's largely due to the creation and maintenance of institutions following the Second World War that were aimed at the preservation of order and, at least, amicable relations between countries that might otherwise collide.AK: You're also the author, David, of a book we've always wanted to talk about. Now we're figuring out a way to integrate it into the show. You wrote a book, an interesting book, about Bruce Springsteen. Working on a Dream: the Progressive Political Vision of Bruce Springsteen. Bruce Springsteen has made himself very clear. He turned out for Harris. Showed up with his old friend, Barack Obama. Clearly didn't have the kind of impact he wanted. You wrote an interesting piece for UnHerd a few weeks ago with the title, "Bruce Springsteen is the Last American Liberal: he's still proud to be born in the USA." Is he the model of a liberal response to the MAGA movement, Springsteen? DAVID MASCIOTRA: Well, of course, I wouldn't go so far as to say the last liberal. As most readers just probably know, writers don't compose their own headlines--AK: But he's certainly, if not the last American liberal, the quintessential American liberal.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Yes. He represents, as cultural icon, a certain expression of liberalism, a big-hearted, humanistic liberalism that exercises creativity to represent diverse constituencies in our society, that believes in art as a tool of democratic engagement, and that seeks to lead with an abounding, an abiding sense of compassion and empathy. That is the kind of liberalism, both with the small and capital L, that I believe in, and that I have spent my career documenting and attempting to advance. And those are, of course, the forms of liberalism that now feel as if they are under threat. Now, to that point, you know, this could have just come down to inflation and some egregious campaign errors of Kamala Harris. But it does feel as if when you have 70 some odd million people vote for the likes of Donald Trump, that the values one can observe in the music of Bruce Springsteen or in the rhetoric of Barack Obama, for that matter, are no longer as powerful and pervasive as they were in their respective glory days. No pun intended.AK: Yeah. And of course, Springsteen is famous for singing "Glory Days." I wonder, though, where Springsteen himself is is a little bit more complex and we might be a little bit more ambivalent about him, there was a piece recently about him becoming a billionaire. So it's all very well him being proud to be born in the USA. He's part--for better or worse, I mean, it's not a criticism, but it's a reality--he's part of the super rich. He showed out for Harris, but it didn't seem to make any impact. You talked about the diversity of Springsteen. I went to one of his concerts in San Francisco earlier this year, and I have to admit, I was struck by the fact that everyone, practically everyone at the concert, was white, everyone was wealthy, everyone paid several hundred dollars to watch a 70 year old man prance around on stage and behave as if he's still 20 or 30 years old. I wonder whether Springsteen himself is also emblematic of a kind of cultural, or political, or even moral crisis of our old cultural elites. Or am I being unfair to Springsteen?DAVID MASCIOTRA: Well, I remember once attending a Springsteen show in which the only black person I saw who wasn't an employee of the arena was Clarence Clemons.AK: Right. And then Bruce, of course, always made a big deal. And there was an interesting conversation when Springsteen and Obama did a podcast together. Obama, in his own unique way, lectured Bruce a little bit about Clarence Clemons in terms of his race. But sorry. Go on.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Yeah. And Springsteen has written and discussed how he had wished he had a more diverse audience. When I referred to diversity in his music, I meant the stories he aimed to tell in song certainly represented a wide range of the American experience. But when you talk about Springsteen, perhaps himself representing a moral crisis--AK: I wouldn't say a crisis, but he represents the, shall we say, the redundancy of that liberal worldview of the late 20th century. I mean, he clearly wears his heart on his sleeve. He means well. He's not a bad guy. But he doesn't reach a diverse audience. His work is built around the American working class. None of them can afford to show up to what he puts on. I mean, Chris Christie is a much more typical fan than the white working class. Does it speak of the fact that there's a...I don't know if you call it a crisis, it's just...Springsteen isn't relevant anymore in the America of the 2020s, or at least when he sang and wrote about no longer exists.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Yes, I agree with that. So first of all, the working class bit was always a bit overblown with Springsteen. Springsteen, of course, was never really part of the working class, except when he was a child. But by his own admission, he never had a 9 to 5 job. And Springsteen sang about working class life like William Shakespeare wrote about teenage love. He did so with a poetic grandeur that inspired some of his best work. And outside looking in, he actually managed to offer more insights than sometimes people on the inside can amount to themselves. But you're certainly correct. I mean, the Broadway show, for example, when the tickets were something like a thousand a piece and it was $25 to buy a beer. There is a certain--AK: Yeah and in that Broadway show, which I went to--I thought it was astonishing, actually, a million times better than the show in San Francisco.DAVID MASCIOTRA: It was one of the best things he ever did.AK: He acknowledges that he made everything up, that he wasn't part of the American working class, and that he'd never worked a day in his life, and yet his whole career is is built around representing a social class and a way of life that he was never part of.“Not too long ago, we lived in a country that had a shared set of values. Those values have vanished. And those values involve adherence to our democratic norms.” -DMDAVID MASCIOTRA: Right. And he has a lyric himself: "It's a sad, funny ending when you find yourself pretending a rich man in a poor man's shirt." So there always was this hypocrisy--hypocrisy might be a little too strong--inconsistency. And he adopted a playful attitude toward it in the 90s and in later years. But to your point of relevance, I think you're on to something there. One of the crises I would measure in our society is that we no longer live in a culture of ambition and aspiration. So you hear this when people say that they want a political leader who talks like the average person, or the common man. And you hear this when "college educated" is actually used as an insult against a certain base of Democratic voters. There were fewer college-educated voters when John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan ran for president, all of whom spoke with greater eloquence and a more expansive vocabulary and a greater sense of cultural sophistication than Donald Trump or Kamala Harris did. And yet there was no objection, because people understood that we should aspire to something more sophisticated. We should aspire to something more elevated beyond the everyday vernacular of the working class. And for that reason, Springsteen was able to become something of a working-class poet, despite never living among the working class beyond his childhood. Because his poetry put to music represented something idealistic about the working class.AK: But oddly enough, it was a dream--there's was a word that Springsteen uses a lot in his work--that was bought by the middle class. It wasn't something that was--although, I think in the early days, probably certainly in New Jersey, that he had a more working-class following.DAVID MASCIOTRA: We have to deal with the interesting and frustrating reality that the people about whom Springsteen sings in those early songs like "Darkness on the Edge of Town" or "The River" would probably be Trump supporters if they were real.AK: Yeah. And in your piece you refer to, not perhaps one of his most famous albums, The Rising, but you use it to compare Springsteen with another major figure now in America, much younger man to Ta-Nehisi Coates, who has a new book out, which is an important new book, The Message. You seem to be keener on Springsteen than Coates. Tell us about this comparison and what the comparison tells us about the America of the 2020s.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Well, Coates...the reason I make the comparison is that one of Springsteen's greatest artistic moments, in which he kind of resurrected his status as cultural icon, was the record he put out after the 9/11 attack on the United States, The Rising. And throughout that record he pays tribute, sometimes overtly, sometimes subtly, to the first responders who ascended in the tower knowing they would perhaps die.AK: Yeah. You quote him "love and duty called you someplace higher." So he was idealizing those very brave firefighters, policemen who gave up their lives on 9/11.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Exactly. Representing the best of humanity. Whereas Ta-Nehisi Coates, who has become the literary superstar of the American left, wrote in his memoir that on 9/11, he felt nothing and did not see the first responders as human. Rather, they were part of the fire that could, in his words, crush his body.AK: Yeah, he wrote a piece, "What Is 9/11 to Descendants of Slaves?"DAVID MASCIOTRA: Yes. And my point in making that comparison, and this was before the election, was to say that the American left has its own crisis of...if we don't want to use the word nihilism, you objected to it earlier--AK: Well, I'm not objecting. I like the word. It's just curious to hear it come from somebody like yourself, a man, certainly a progressive, maybe not--you might define yourself as being on the left, but certainly more on the left and on the right.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Yes, I would agree with that characterization. But that the left has its own crisis of nihilism. If if you are celebrating a man who, despite his journalistic talents and intelligence, none of which I would deny, refused to see the humanity of the first responders on the 9/11 attack and, said that he felt nothing for the victims, presumably even those who were black and impoverished, then you have your own crisis of belief, and juxtaposing that with the big hearted, humanistic liberalism of Springsteen for me shows the left a better path forward. Now, that's a path that will increasingly close after the victory of Trump, because extremism typically begets extremism, and we're probably about to undergo four years of dueling cynicism and rage and unhappy times.AK: I mean, you might respond, David, and say, well, Coates is just telling the truth. Why should a people with a history of slavery care that much about a few white people killed on 9/11 when their own people lost millions through slavery? And you compare them to Springsteen, as you've acknowledged, a man who wasn't exactly telling the truth in his heart. I mean, he's a very good artist, but he writes about a working class, which even he acknowledges, he made most of it up. So isn't Coates like Trump in an odd kind of way, aren't they just telling an unvarnished truth that people don't want to hear, an impolite truth?DAVID MASCIOTRA: I'm not sure. I typically shy away from the expression "my truth" or "his truth" because it's too relativistic. But I'll make an exception in this case. I think Coates is telling HIS truth just as Trump is telling HIS truth, if that adds up to THE truth, is much more dubious. Yes, we could certainly say that, you know, because the United States enslaved, tortured, and otherwise oppressed millions of black people, it may be hard for some black observers to get teary eyed on 9/11, but the black leaders whom I most admire didn't have that reaction. I wrote a book about Jesse Jackson after spending six years interviewing with him and traveling with him. He certainly didn't react that way on 9/11. Congressman John Lewis didn't react that way on 9/11. So, the heroes of the civil rights movement, who helped to overcome those brutal systems of oppression--and I wouldn't argue that they're overcome entirely, but they helped to revolutionize the United States--they maintained a big-hearted sense of empathy and compassion, and they recognized that the unjust loss of life demands mourning and respect, whether it's within their own community or another. So I would say that, here again, we're back to the point of ambition, whether it's intellectual ambition or moral ambition. Ambition is what allows a society to grow. And it seems like ambition has fallen far out of fashion. And that is why the country--the slim majority of the electorate that did vote and the 40% of the electorate that did not vote, or voting-age public, I should say--settled for the likes of Donald Trump.AK: I wonder what The Dude would do, if he was around, at the victory of Trump, or even at 9/11. He'd probably continue to sit in the bath tub and enjoy...enjoy whatever he does in his bathtub. I mean, he's not a believer. Isn't he the ultimate nihilist? The Dude in Lebowski?DAVID MASCIOTRA: That's an interesting interpretation. I would say that...Is The Dude a nihilist? You have this juxtaposition... The Dude kind of occupies this middle ground between the nihilists who proudly declare they believe in nothing and his friend Walter Sobchak, who's, you know, almost this raving explosion of belief. Yeah, ex-Vietnam veteran who's always confronting people with his beliefs and screaming and demanding they all adhere to his rules. I don't know if The Dude's a nihilist as much as he has a Zen detachment.AK: Right, well, I think what makes The Big Lebowski such a wonderful film, and perhaps so relevant today, is Lebowski, unlike so many Americans is unjudgmental. He's not an angry man. He's incredibly tolerant. He accepts everyone, even when they're beating him up or ripping him off. And he's so, in that sense, different from the America of the 2020s, where everyone is angry and everyone blames someone else for whatever's wrong in their lives.DAVID MASCIOTRA: That's exactly right.AK: Is that liberal or just Zen? I don't know.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Yeah. It's perhaps even libertarian in a sense. But there's a very interesting and important book by Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke called Why It's Okay to Mind Your Own Business. And in it they argue--they're both political scientists although the one may be a...they may be philosophers...but that aside--they present an argument for why Americans need to do just that. Mind their own business.AK: Which means, yeah, not living politics, which certainly Lebowski is. It's probably the least political movie, Lebowski, I mean, he doesn't have a political bone in his body. Finally, David, there there's so much to talk about here, it's all very interesting. You first came on the show, you had a book out, that came out either earlier this year or last year. Yeah, it was in April of this year, Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy. And you wrote about the outskirts of suburbia, which you call "exurbia." Jonathan Rauch, wearing his Brookings cap, described this as an ordinary election. I'm not sure how much digging you've done, but did the exurbian vote determine this election? I mean, the election was determined by a few hundred thousand voters in the Midwest. Were these voters mostly on the edge of the suburb? And I'm guessing most of them voted for Trump.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Well, Trump's numbers in exurbia...I've dug around and I've been able to find the exurbian returns for Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Arizona. So three crucial swing states. If Kamala Harris had won those three states, she would be president. And Trump's support in exurbia was off the charts, as it was in 2020 and 2016, and as I predicted, it would be in 2024. I'm not sure that that would have been sufficient to deliver him the race and certainly not in the fashion that he won. Trump made gains with some groups that surprised people, other groups that didn't surprise people, but he did much better than expected. So unlike, say, in 2016, where we could have definitively and conclusively said Trump won because of a spike in turnout for him in rural America and in exurbia, here, the results are more mixed. But it remains the case that the base most committed to Trump and most fervently loyal to his agenda is rural and exurban.AK: So just outside the cities. And finally, I argued, maybe counterintuitively, that America remains split today as it was before November the 5th, so I'm not convinced that this election is the big deal that some people think it is. But you wrote an interesting piece in Salon back in 2020 arguing that Trump has poisoned American culture, but the toxin was here all along. Of course, there is more, if anything, of that toxin now. So even if Harris had won the election, that toxin was still here. And finally, David, how do we get rid of that toxin? Do we just go to put Bruce Springsteen on and go and watch Big Lebowski? I mean, how do we get beyond this toxin?DAVID MASCIOTRA: I would I would love it if that was the way to do it.AK: We'll sit in our bathtub and wait for the thugs to come along?DAVID MASCIOTRA: Right, exactly. No, what you're asking is, of course, the big question. We need to find a way to resurrect some sense of, I'll use another conservative phrase, civic virtue. And in doing--AK: And resurrection, of course, by definition, is conservative, because you're bringing something back.“Ambition is what allows a society to grow. And it seems like ambition has fallen far out of fashion.” -DMDAVID MASCIOTRA: Exactly. And we also have to resurrect, offer something more practical, we have to resurrect a sense of civics. One thing on which--I have immense respect and admiration for Jonathan Rauch--one minor quibble I would have with him from your conversation is when he said that the voters rejected the liberal intellectual class and their ideas. Some voters certainly rejected, but some voters were unaware. The lack of civic knowledge in the United States is detrimental to our institutions. I mean, a majority of Americans don't know how many justices are on the Supreme Court. They can't name more than one freedom enumerated in the Bill of Rights. So we need to find a way to make citizenship a vital part of our national identity again. And there are some practical means of doing that in the educational system. Certainly won't happen in the next four years. But to get to the less tangible matter of how to resurrect something like civic virtue and bring back ambition and aspiration in our sense of national identity, along with empathy, is much tougher. I mean, Robert Putnam says it thrives upon community and voluntary associations.AK: Putnam has been on the show, of course.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Yeah. So, I mean, this is a conversation that will develop. I wish I had the answer, and I wish it was just to listen to Born to Run in the bathtub with with a poster of The Dude hanging overhead. But as I said to you before we went on the air, I think that you have a significant insight to learn this conversation because, in many ways, your books were prescient. We certainly live with the cult of the amateur now, more so than when you wrote that book. So, I'd love to hear your ideas.AK: Well, that's very generous of you, David. And next time we appear, you're going to interview me about why the cult of the amateur is so important. So we will see you again soon. But we're going to swap seats. So, David will interview me about the relevance of Cult of the Amateur. Wonderful conversation, David. I've never thought about Lebowski or Francis Fukuyama, particularly Lebowski, in terms of what happened on November 5th. So, very insightful. Thank you, David, and we'll see you again in the not-too-distant future.DAVID MASCIOTRA: Thank you. I'm going to reread Cult of the Amateur to prepare. I may even do it in the bathtub. I look forward to our discussion.David Masciotra is an author, lecturer, and journalist. He is the author of I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters (I.B. Tauris, 2020), Mellencamp: American Troubadour (University Press of Kentucky), Barack Obama: Invisible Man (Eyewear Publishers, 2017), and Metallica by Metallica, a 33 1/3 book from Bloomsbury Publishers, which has been translated into Chinese. In 2010, Continuum Books published his first book, Working On a Dream: The Progressive Political Vision of Bruce Springsteen.His 2024 book, Exurbia Now: Notes from the Battleground of American Democracy, is published by Melville House Books. Masciotra writes regularly for the New Republic, Washington Monthly, Progressive, the Los Angeles Review of Books, CrimeReads, No Depression, and the Daily Ripple. He has also written for Salon, the Daily Beast, CNN, Atlantic, Washington Post, AlterNet, Indianapolis Star, and CounterPunch. Several of his political essays have been translated into Spanish for publication at Korazon de Perro. His poetry has appeared in Be About It Press, This Zine Will Change Your Life, and the Pangolin Review. Masciotra has a Master's Degree in English Studies and Communication from Valparaiso University. He also has a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of St. Francis. He is public lecturer, speaking on a wide variety of topics, from the history of protest music in the United States to the importance of bars in American culture. David Masciotra has spoken at the University of Wisconsin, University of South Carolina, Lewis University, Indiana University, the Chicago Public Library, the Lambeth Library (UK), and an additional range of colleges, libraries, arts centers, and bookstores. As a journalist, he has conducted interviews with political leaders, musicians, authors, and cultural figures, including Jesse Jackson, John Mellencamp, Noam Chomsky, all members of Metallica, David Mamet, James Lee Burke, Warren Haynes, Norah Jones, Joan Osborne, Martín Espada, Steve Earle, and Rita Dove. Masciotra lives in Indiana, and teaches literature and political science courses at the University of St. Francis and Indiana University Northwest. Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Des chants d'amour aux chants contestataires, avec Kader Tarhanine (Mali/Algérie) et Three Days of Forest (France). #SessionLive Nos premiers invités sont les musiciens du groupe touareg Kader TarhanineKader Tarhanine, l'étoile montante de la musique moderne touarègue, captive un public de plus en plus large grâce à son talent inné et à sa fraîcheur artistique. En 2012, il a été propulsé sur la scène internationale avec sa chanson emblématique «Tarhanine Tegla : mon amour est parti», devenant ainsi une figure majeure pour la jeunesse touarègue dans le monde entier. Sa musique fusionne habilement les rythmes traditionnels touaregs avec des influences rock, créant un son unique et captivant. Les paroles poétiques de ses chansons, souvent en tamacheq ou en arabe, ajoutent une dimension profonde à sa musique, touchant les cœurs de ceux qui l'écoutent. En plus de son talent musical, Kader Tarhanine est également connu pour ses performances scéniques impressionnantes et sa maîtrise exceptionnelle de la guitare, ce qui lui a valu une réputation d'artiste incontournable de la scène touarègue moderne. Au fil des ans, il a collaboré avec de nombreuses icônes de la musique africaine, telles qu'Oumou Sangaré, Fatoumata Diawara, Sidiki Diabaté du Mali, Mouna Dendeny de la Mauritanie et même Carlou D du Sénégal. Ces collaborations ont non seulement enrichi sa musique, mais ont également fait de lui un artisan de la paix par la musique, utilisant son art pour promouvoir l'harmonie et la compréhension entre les peuples. En tant qu'ambassadeur symbolique, la musique de Kader Tarhanine transcende les frontières, prônant l'harmonie entre les régions sahélo-sahariennes jusqu'au Maghreb, souvent déchirées par des crises multiples. Son engagement en faveur de la paix et de l'unité, combiné à son talent musical indéniable, fait de lui une figure emblématique de la musique africaine contemporaine.Titres interprétés au grand studio- Kal Diabbas Live RFI- Imanine, titre Cd- Al Gamra Leila Live RFI voir le clip Line Up : Kader Tarhanine (Guitare lead et chant), Mohammed Zenani (Guitare et Chœur), Alhousseini Mohamed (Percussions, Batterie, Chœur), Drissa Kone (Guitare Basse) et le tour manager Ehamat Ag El Medy.Son : Mathias Taylor & Benoît Letirant.► Album Ikewane _Racines (Essakane Productions).- Site - Instagram- Chaîne YouTube - Deezer- Facebook - Afrika Festival Hollande 2023. #SessionLive Puis nous recevons le groupe Three Days of Forest pour la sortie de Four Trees. Et c'est en duo qu'Angela Flahault et Séverine Morfin présentent cet album. Une forme musicale atypique : Alto, batterie, claviers et voix augmentées d'effets électroniques. Un quartet à l'énergie rock qui rend hommage aux poétesses afro-américaines et anglophones engagées : Rita Dove, Gwendolyn Brooks, Charlotte Perkins Pilman, Charlotte Mew... Le groupe revisite ces poèmes sous forme de «protest songs» électriques et crée un folklore imaginaire, onirique et halluciné. Leur musique vole ainsi d'un possible chant de manifestants au free jazz, d'une chanson comptine à une frénésie de transe. Une Ode à la liberté́ ! Un duo de compositrices.  Depuis 2010, l'altiste Séverine Morfin et la chanteuse Angela Flahault collaborent autour de leur amour pour la poésie. En 2017, elles créent le Trio Three Days of Forest qui en 2023 devient un quartet. Three days of Forest est Lauréat Jazz Migration 2018.Séverine Morfin affectionne les dialogues féconds : écriture et improvisation, musique concrète et jazz, rock et exploration électro-acoustique, poésie contemporaine et chanson. Elle est actuellement en tournée avec plusieurs de ses projets : le quartet Mad Maple, le quartet Simone. Elle est en résidence au Théâtre de Vanves, au Comptoir à Fontenay. Éclectique, elle collabore avec des musiciens.nes d'horizons différents, de «Fred Pallem et Le Sacre du Tympan» au Wanderlust d'Ellinoa, de l'orchestre Danzas de Jean-Marie Machado au quintet de Piers Faccini... On l'a vue participer au Tubafest d'Andy Emler, aux Comédies musicales de Thomas de Pourquery, à l'ONJ Rituels,... Formée à l'alto classique et au Jazz à Paris, elle est titulaire d'une maîtrise d'Histoire contemporaine à La Sorbonne et d'un Master 2 de Musicologie. Elle collabore avec le poète Jacques Rebotier pour la création «Chansons Climatiques et Sentimentales», avec l'écrivaine Violaine Schwartz et compose la musique de deux spectacles chorégraphiques. Elle est directrice artistique de la compagnie Garden depuis 2017. Angela Flahault est une chanteuse tout terrain, elle aime s'emparer du rock, de la folk, de la chanson, de la pop, du jazz avec la liberté́ d'une voyageuse. Au conservatoire, elle se forme au chant lyrique, à la comédie musicale mais quitte cet enseignement quand elle découvre avec appétit la musique improvisée auprès de Phil Minton puis Joëlle Léandre. En 2004, parallèlement à ses études musicales, elle obtient un diplôme national d'arts plastiques aux Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg. Depuis 2014, on la retrouve au chant lead auprès du grand orchestre du Tricollectif dans le Tribute à Lucienne Boyer. En 2017, elle se produit aussi dans Le serpent des mers et autres contes avec le flûtiste Joce Mienniel. On la retrouve au chant lead pour la création chorégraphique de Gregory Maqoma à l'Opéra de Lyon en 2021/22. En sept. 2022, elle part pour une expédition chantée sur le trajet de l'Odyssée d'Homère avec un équipage d'artistes internationaux avec Mission O. Angela Flahault trouve son équilibre dans le mélange des médiums artistiques. Qu'on ne lui demande pas de choisir entre la musique et les arts plastiques ! C'est précisément cela qui lui permet de proposer un univers fort et entier.Titres interprétés au grand studio- My Taste Live RFI- Great Trees, extrait de l'album- Crazy Woman Live RFI Line up : Angela Flahault - voix et effets et Séverine Morfin - alto et effets.Son : Benoît Letirant, Mathias Taylor, Mathieu Dubois.► Album Four Trees (Garden Rd 2024)- Site - Facebook - Instagram

Des chants d'amour aux chants contestataires, avec Kader Tarhanine (Mali/Algérie) et Three Days of Forest (France). #SessionLive Nos premiers invités sont les musiciens du groupe touareg Kader TarhanineKader Tarhanine, l'étoile montante de la musique moderne touarègue, captive un public de plus en plus large grâce à son talent inné et à sa fraîcheur artistique. En 2012, il a été propulsé sur la scène internationale avec sa chanson emblématique «Tarhanine Tegla : mon amour est parti», devenant ainsi une figure majeure pour la jeunesse touarègue dans le monde entier. Sa musique fusionne habilement les rythmes traditionnels touaregs avec des influences rock, créant un son unique et captivant. Les paroles poétiques de ses chansons, souvent en tamacheq ou en arabe, ajoutent une dimension profonde à sa musique, touchant les cœurs de ceux qui l'écoutent. En plus de son talent musical, Kader Tarhanine est également connu pour ses performances scéniques impressionnantes et sa maîtrise exceptionnelle de la guitare, ce qui lui a valu une réputation d'artiste incontournable de la scène touarègue moderne. Au fil des ans, il a collaboré avec de nombreuses icônes de la musique africaine, telles qu'Oumou Sangaré, Fatoumata Diawara, Sidiki Diabaté du Mali, Mouna Dendeny de la Mauritanie et même Carlou D du Sénégal. Ces collaborations ont non seulement enrichi sa musique, mais ont également fait de lui un artisan de la paix par la musique, utilisant son art pour promouvoir l'harmonie et la compréhension entre les peuples. En tant qu'ambassadeur symbolique, la musique de Kader Tarhanine transcende les frontières, prônant l'harmonie entre les régions sahélo-sahariennes jusqu'au Maghreb, souvent déchirées par des crises multiples. Son engagement en faveur de la paix et de l'unité, combiné à son talent musical indéniable, fait de lui une figure emblématique de la musique africaine contemporaine.Titres interprétés au grand studio- Kal Diabbas Live RFI- Imanine, titre Cd- Al Gamra Leila Live RFI voir le clip Line Up : Kader Tarhanine (Guitare lead et chant), Mohammed Zenani (Guitare et Chœur), Alhousseini Mohamed (Percussions, Batterie, Chœur), Drissa Kone (Guitare Basse) et le tour manager Ehamat Ag El Medy.Son : Mathias Taylor & Benoît Letirant.► Album Ikewane _Racines (Essakane Productions).- Site - Instagram- Chaîne YouTube - Deezer- Facebook - Afrika Festival Hollande 2023. #SessionLive Puis nous recevons le groupe Three Days of Forest pour la sortie de Four Trees. Et c'est en duo qu'Angela Flahault et Séverine Morfin présentent cet album. Une forme musicale atypique : Alto, batterie, claviers et voix augmentées d'effets électroniques. Un quartet à l'énergie rock qui rend hommage aux poétesses afro-américaines et anglophones engagées : Rita Dove, Gwendolyn Brooks, Charlotte Perkins Pilman, Charlotte Mew... Le groupe revisite ces poèmes sous forme de «protest songs» électriques et crée un folklore imaginaire, onirique et halluciné. Leur musique vole ainsi d'un possible chant de manifestants au free jazz, d'une chanson comptine à une frénésie de transe. Une Ode à la liberté́ ! Un duo de compositrices.  Depuis 2010, l'altiste Séverine Morfin et la chanteuse Angela Flahault collaborent autour de leur amour pour la poésie. En 2017, elles créent le Trio Three Days of Forest qui en 2023 devient un quartet. Three days of Forest est Lauréat Jazz Migration 2018.Séverine Morfin affectionne les dialogues féconds : écriture et improvisation, musique concrète et jazz, rock et exploration électro-acoustique, poésie contemporaine et chanson. Elle est actuellement en tournée avec plusieurs de ses projets : le quartet Mad Maple, le quartet Simone. Elle est en résidence au Théâtre de Vanves, au Comptoir à Fontenay. Éclectique, elle collabore avec des musiciens.nes d'horizons différents, de «Fred Pallem et Le Sacre du Tympan» au Wanderlust d'Ellinoa, de l'orchestre Danzas de Jean-Marie Machado au quintet de Piers Faccini... On l'a vue participer au Tubafest d'Andy Emler, aux Comédies musicales de Thomas de Pourquery, à l'ONJ Rituels,... Formée à l'alto classique et au Jazz à Paris, elle est titulaire d'une maîtrise d'Histoire contemporaine à La Sorbonne et d'un Master 2 de Musicologie. Elle collabore avec le poète Jacques Rebotier pour la création «Chansons Climatiques et Sentimentales», avec l'écrivaine Violaine Schwartz et compose la musique de deux spectacles chorégraphiques. Elle est directrice artistique de la compagnie Garden depuis 2017. Angela Flahault est une chanteuse tout terrain, elle aime s'emparer du rock, de la folk, de la chanson, de la pop, du jazz avec la liberté́ d'une voyageuse. Au conservatoire, elle se forme au chant lyrique, à la comédie musicale mais quitte cet enseignement quand elle découvre avec appétit la musique improvisée auprès de Phil Minton puis Joëlle Léandre. En 2004, parallèlement à ses études musicales, elle obtient un diplôme national d'arts plastiques aux Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg. Depuis 2014, on la retrouve au chant lead auprès du grand orchestre du Tricollectif dans le Tribute à Lucienne Boyer. En 2017, elle se produit aussi dans Le serpent des mers et autres contes avec le flûtiste Joce Mienniel. On la retrouve au chant lead pour la création chorégraphique de Gregory Maqoma à l'Opéra de Lyon en 2021/22. En sept. 2022, elle part pour une expédition chantée sur le trajet de l'Odyssée d'Homère avec un équipage d'artistes internationaux avec Mission O. Angela Flahault trouve son équilibre dans le mélange des médiums artistiques. Qu'on ne lui demande pas de choisir entre la musique et les arts plastiques ! C'est précisément cela qui lui permet de proposer un univers fort et entier.Titres interprétés au grand studio- My Taste Live RFI- Great Trees, extrait de l'album- Crazy Woman Live RFI Line up : Angela Flahault - voix et effets et Séverine Morfin - alto et effets.Son : Benoît Letirant, Mathias Taylor, Mathieu Dubois.► Album Four Trees (Garden Rd 2024)- Site - Facebook - Instagram

'Review everything we do'Electronic, Richard Rorty, Ludovico Einaudi, Rob Auton, Eliza Doolittle, Rufus Hound, Vince.Guaraldi, The Gravity Drive, Fryars, The Teen Teens, Roddy Doyle, Robert Franks, The Secret Sisters, Mathilde Santing, Saint Etienne, Rita Dove, Philip Glass, Daniel Dennett, Debbie Reynolds, Malcolm McLaren, The Boswell Sisters, Lucinda Williams, Gregory Isaacs, David Byrne, Sheldon Allman, Sarah Jones.

Rita Dove and her capacious poetry... Do you know what a total solar eclipse is? Poetry isn't just a poem. Do you know what the 4B movement is? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cotton-candy-clouds-podcast/support

According to David Masciotra, the real battleground for the future of American democracy lies in that no-man's land between suburban and rural America - what he calls the “exurb”. It's here, Masciotra argues in his new book EXURBIA NOW, that we can find the pathologies of a 21st century American totalitarianism. The America that Masciotra finds in these outer suburbs is the antithesis of Tocqueville's small town America - a fragmented, alienating place without public space or communal interaction. What Masciotra uncovers is Marjorie Taylor Greene's America and this grey often overlooked zone between suburb and countryside, he suggests is the Gettysburg of American democracy, the battleground which will determine the fate of the Republic in the 2020's and beyond.David Masciotra is an author, lecturer, and journalist. He is the author of I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters (I.B. Tauris, 2020), Mellencamp: American Troubadour (University Press of Kentucky), Barack Obama: Invisible Man (Eyewear Publishers, 2017), and Metallica by Metallica, a 33 1/3 book from Bloomsbury Publishers, which has been translated into Chinese. In 2010, Continuum Books published his first book, Working On a Dream: The Progressive Political Vision of Bruce Springsteen. His next book, Exurbia Now: Notes from the Battleground of American Democracy, is scheduled for publication from Melville House Books in 2024. Masciotra writes regularly for the New Republic, Washington Monthly, Progressive, the Los Angeles Review of Books, CrimeReads, No Depression, and the Daily Ripple. He has also written for Salon, the Daily Beast, CNN, Atlantic, Washington Post, AlterNet, Indianapolis Star, and CounterPunch. Several of his political essays have been translated into Spanish for publication at Korazon de Perro. His poetry has appeared in Be About It Press, This Zine Will Change Your Life, and the Pangolin Review. Masciotra has a Master's Degree in English Studies and Communication from Valparaiso University. He also has a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of St. Francis. He is public lecturer, speaking on a wide variety of topics, from the history of protest music in the United States to the importance of bars in American culture. David Masciotra has spoken at the University of Wisconsin, University of South Carolina, Lewis University, Indiana University, the Chicago Public Library, the Lambeth Library (UK), and an additional range of colleges, libraries, arts centers, and bookstores. As a journalist, he has conducted interviews with political leaders, musicians, authors, and cultural figures, including Jesse Jackson, John Mellencamp, Noam Chomsky, all members of Metallica, David Mamet, James Lee Burke, Warren Haynes, Norah Jones, Joan Osborne, Martín Espada, Steve Earle, and Rita Dove.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Jess Cole is a writer and model. She has written for the Guardian, Dazed, I-D, Vogue International, The New York Times amongst others. Jess's favourite poet is Rita Dove. Poem mentioned I wanna be yours by John Cooper Clarke Song mentioned I wanna be yours by Arctic Monkeys Artists mentioned Kendrick Lamar Courtney Love

When the Folger reopens on June 21 and you come to take a walk in our new west garden, look down at the garden bed. There, you'll see a new poem, written for the Folger by US Poet Laureate emerita Rita Dove. This week, she joins us on the podcast to read that poem aloud for the first time. Plus, Dove reflects on how writing for marble is different from writing for the page, and remembers the moment she discovered Shakespeare. Rita Dove is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. Rita Dove served as the US Poet Laureate for two terms, from 1993 to 1995, and as a special bicentennial consultant to the Library of Congress in 1999. Her third collection of poetry, Thomas and Beulah, won the Pulitzer Prize. She is the only poet ever to receive both the National Humanities Medal and the National Medal of the Arts, from presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. In 2021, she received the Gold Medal for Poetry from the American Academy of Arts and Letters—the first African American poet in the medal's history. She teaches at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Dove has also read in the Folger's O.B. Hardison Poetry series four times, and contributed a poem to our 2012 collection Shakespeare's Sisters: Women Writers Bridge Five Centuries. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published January 30, 2024. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. Leonor Fernandez edits a transcript of every episode, available at folger.edu. We had technical help from With Good Reason, Virginia Humanities, and Voice Trax West in Studio City, California. Final mixing services provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Support Breaking Form!Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.Buy our books:     Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.      James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.Please consider supporting the poets we mention in today's show! If you need a good indie bookstore, we recommend Loyalty Bookstores, a DC-area Black-owned bookshop.Read Rick Hilles's "A Visionary's Company"Listen to Seduction's hit song "Two To Make It Right." Of the six songs on the 13-track Bodyguard soundtrack, Whitney Houston sings 6. Michelle Visage's group The S.O.U.L.S.Y.S.T.E.M. performs "It's Going to Be a Lovely Day" on the album.Read Linda Bierds's poem "Ghost Trio"Watch a live performance of Tori Amos's "Putting the Damage On." Check out the Tori-licious website Toriphoria, containing all things Amos. Rita Dove's poem "Soup" is from her latest collection, Playlist for the Apocalypse and you can listen to her reading it here.Read Jane Kenyon's poem "Three Songs at the End of Summer"Read Robert Penn Warren's poem "Tell Me a Story." Watch Natasha Trethewey's final lecture in her 2-term Poet Laureateship, "The World of Action and Liability: On Saying What Happens," in which she contends with Penn Warren, violent and racist histories, and the role of poetry in social justice. (1 hour). Trethewey later published the text of the lecture under the title "The Quarrel With Ourselves."Listen/watch Ani DiFranco's fabulous "Untouchable Face"Watch Sandra Cisneros read her poem "After a Quote from My Father."Read Darnell Arnoult's "Outrageous Love." Check out the fabulous Brenda Shaughnessy's poem "Card 19: The Sun."

He's a poet, art critic, curator, translator, cultural theorist -- and someone who helps make sense of our world. Ranjit Hoskote joins Amit Varma in episode 363 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life, his times and his work. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ranjit Hoskote on Twitter, Instagram and Amazon. 2. Jonahwhale -- Ranjit Hoskote. 3. Hunchprose -- Ranjit Hoskote. 4. I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Dĕd -- Translated by Ranjit Hoskote. 5. Poet's nightmare -- Ranjit Hoskote. 6. State of enrichment -- Ranjit Hoskote. 7. Nissim Ezekiel, AK Ramanujan, Arun Kolatkar, Keki Daruwalla, Dom Moraes, Dilip Chitre, Gieve Patel, Vilas Sarang, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Agha Shahid Ali, Mani Rao, Mustansir Dalvi, Jerry Pinto, Sampurna Chattarji, Vivek Narayanan and Arundhathi Subramaniam. 8. Ted Hughes, Geoffrey Hill, Seamus Heaney, Sharon Olds, Louise Glück, Jorie Graham and Rita Dove. 9. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 10. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. कुँवर नारायण, केदारनाथ सिंह, अशोक वाजपेयी and नागार्जुन. 12. Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Bismillah Khan, Igor Straviksky, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Steve Reich and Terry Riley. 13. Palgrave's Golden Treasury: From Shakespeare to the Present. 14. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 15. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. The Art of Translation — Episode 168 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Arunava Sinha). 17. Arun Khopkar, Mani Kaul and Clement Greenberg. 18. Stalker -- Andrei Tarkovsky. 19. The Sacrifice -- Andrei Tarkovsky. 20. Ivan's Childhood -- Andrei Tarkovsky. 21. The Color of Pomegranates -- Sergei Parajanov. 22. Ranjit Hoskote's tribute on Instagram to Gieve Patel. 23. Father Returning Home -- Dilip Chitre. 24. Jejuri -- Arun Kolatkar. 25. Modern Poetry in Translation -- Magazine and publisher founded by Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort. 26. On Exactitude in Science — Jorge Luis Borges. 27. How Music Works — David Byrne. 28. CBGB. 29. New York -- Lou Reed. 30. How This Nobel Has Redefined Literature — Amit Varma on Dylan winning the Nobel Prize. 31. The Fire and the Rain -- Girish Karnad. 32. Vanraj Bhatia on Wikipedia and IMDb. 33. Amit Varma's tweet thread on Jonahwhale. 34. Magic Fruit: A Poetic Trip -- Vaishnav Vyas. 35. Glenn Gould on Spotify. 36. Danish Husain and the Multiverse of Culture -- Episode 359 of The Seen and the Unseen. 37. Steven Fowler. 38. Serious Noticing -- James Wood. 39. How Fiction Works -- James Wood. 40. The Spirit of Indian Painting -- BN Goswamy. 41. Conversations -- BN Goswamy. 42. BN Goswamy on Wikipedia and Amazon. 43. BN Goswamy (1933-2023): Sage and Sensitivity -- Ranjit Hoskote. 44. Joseph Fasano's thread on his writing exercises. 45. Narayan Surve on Wikipedia and Amazon. 46. Steven Van Zandt: Springsteen, the death of rock and Van Morrison on Covid — Richard Purden. 47. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly. 48. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin. 49. Future Shock -- Alvin Toffler. 50. The Third Wave -- Alvin Toffler. 51. The Long Tail -- Chris Anderson. 52. Ranjit Hoskote's resignation letter from the panel of Documenta. 53. Liquid Modernity -- Zygmunt Bauman. 54. Rahul Matthan Seeks the Protocol -- Episode 360 of The Seen and the Unseen. 55. Panopticon. 56. Tron -- Steven Lisberger. 57. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India — Akshaya Mukul. 58. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 59. Ramchandra Gandhi on Wikipedia and Amazon. 60. Majma-ul-Bahrain (also known as Samudra Sangam Grantha) -- Dara Shikoh. 61. Early Indians — Tony Joseph. 62. Tony Joseph's episode on The Seen and the Unseen. 63. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 64. पुराण स्थल. 65. The Indianness of Indian Food — Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 66. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 67. The Speaking Tree: A Study of Indian Culture and Society -- Richard Lannoy. 68. Clifford Geertz, John Berger and Arthur C Danto. 69. The Ascent of Man (book) (series) -- Jacob Bronowski. 70. Civilization (book) (series) -- Kenneth Clark. 71. Cosmos (book) (series) -- Carl Sagan. 72. Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Stephen Jay Gould and Oliver Sacks. 73. Raag Darbari (Hindi) (English) — Shrilal Shukla.. 74. Raag Darbari on Storytel. 75. Krishnamurti's Notebook -- J Krishnamurty. 76. Shame -- Salman Rushdie. 77. Marcovaldo -- Italo Calvino. 78. Metropolis -- Fritz Lang. 79. Mahanagar -- Satyajit Ray. 80. A Momentary Lapse of Reason -- Pink Floyd. 81. Learning to Fly -- Pink Floyd, 82. Collected poems -- Mark Strand. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘Dancing in Chains' by Simahina.

The queens put the ass in astonishment & tease out favorite  moments in poems.Support Breaking Form!Review the show on Apple Podcasts here.Buy our books:     Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series.     James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.Please consider buying your books from Bluestockings Cooperative, a feminist and queer indie bookselling cooperative.Read Alicia Ostriker's "Locker-Room Conversation"Check out Rita Dove's poem "Afer Reading Mickey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before Bed."Anne Carson's "X. Sex Question" from Autobiography of Red can be read here. Read "The Glass Essay" from Glass, Irony and God here.Read Mark Doty's poem "With Animals" from My Alexandria. Check out "Days of 1981" here. And go (re)read "Atlantis" here.You can read Olena Kalytiak Davis's poem “Resolutions In A Parked Car” here. The line "Explain Jesus" is actually a whole stanza unto itself, and it appears in the poem, "I Am Only Now Beginning to Answer Your Letter" from And Her Soul Out of Nothing.Read "Facing it" by Yusef Komunyakaa, the final poem in his book Dien CanDau (Wesleyan, 1988). 

Lindley Ashline's (she/her) stock photographs shouldn't be as revolutionary as they are. But showcasing fat bodies and other marginalized bodies in everyday, commonplace settings enjoying their lives is tragically uncommon. Lindley takes us through the challenges and financial tensions of building out this niche business, her approach to trolls, and how she brings fat joy into her work.Lindley Ashline creates photographs that celebrate the unique beauty of bodies that fall outside conventional "beauty" standards. She fights weight stigma by giving fat people a safe place to explore how their bodies look on camera and by increasing the representation of fat bodies in photography, advertising, fine art, and the world at large. She is the creator of Body Liberation Stock (body-positive stock images for commercial use) and the Body Love Shop (a curated resource for body-friendly products and artwork).Please connect with Lindley on her website, through her free weekly Body Liberation Guide, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.For bonus content with Lindley, you can subscribe via Apple Podcasts or become a Patron.This episode's poem is called “Dawn Revisited,” and it's by Rita Dove.After recording the interview, Sophia asks each guest 10 unexpected, unrehearsed questions designed to go even deeper. Check it out by subscribing through Apple Podcast Subscriptions or Patreon for as little as $2.You can connect with Fat Joy on our website, Instagram, and YouTube (full video episodes here!). Want to share the fat love? Please rate this podcast and give it a joyful review.Our thanks to Chris Jones and AR Media for keeping this podcast looking and sounding joyful.

Evie Shockley joins Kevin Young to read “Hattie McDaniel Arrives at the Coconut Grove,” by Rita Dove, and her own poem “the blessings.” Shockley is the author of six poetry collections and the Zora Neale Hurston Distinguished Professor of English at Rutgers University. Her honors include the 2023 Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, a Lannan Literary Award, the Stephen Henderson Award, and, twice, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Poetry.

This week, Cindy Juyoung Ok speaks with Kimiko Hahn, who won the 2023 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from the Poetry Foundation, and who is featured in the October 2023 issue of Poetry. Hahn talks about how her work has changed over the years, including her current love of form, and how she's been mentoring her younger self while putting together her forthcoming new and selected, The Ghost Forest (W.W. Norton). She also discusses being wrong about Elizabeth Bishop, not getting an MFA, and what it was like studying at the University of Iowa as an undergraduate while the graduate program was filled with now-canonical poets like Rita Dove, Jorie Graham, Tess Gallagher, and others. Hahn shares two of her incredible poems from the October issue with listeners.

Today's poem is by Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952), an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the position was created by an act of Congress in 1986 from the previous "consultant in poetry" position (1937–86). Dove also received an appointment as "special consultant in poetry" for the Library of Congress's bicentennial year from 1999 to 2000.[1] Dove is the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1987, and she served as the Poet Laureate of Virginia[2] from 2004 to 2006. Since 1989, she has been teaching at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where she held the chair of Commonwealth Professor of English from 1993 to 2020; as of 2020, she holds the chair of Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing.[3]—Bio via Wikipedia Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe

As I learned from Hollis Robbins's monograph Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition (U Georgia Press, 2020), there has been a long-standing skepticism of the sonnet form among Black writers and literary critics. Langston Hughes wrote that “the Shakespearean sonnet would be no mold to express the life of Beale Street or Lenox Avenue.” Ishmael Reed condemned sonneteering, alongside ode-writing, as “the feeble pluckings of musky gentlemen and slaves of the metronome.” And yet African American poets such as Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey continue to contribute to a tradition of sonnet-writing that includes Robert Hayden, Phyllis Wheatley, Rita Dove, Amiri Baraka, and James Corrothers. Today's guest is Hollis Robbins, the author of Forms of Contention, published with the University of Georgia Press in 2020. Hollis is the Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah. Previously, she served as Dean of Arts and Humanities at Sonoma State University, Professor of Humanities at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and Professor of English at Millsaps College. Hollis is also the co-editor of a number of field-defining books including The Portable Nineteenth Century African American Women Writers (Penguin, 2017); The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin (Norton, 2006); and the Works of William Wells Brown (Oxford University Press, 2006). Forms of Contention tests the premise that a literary form such as the sonnet can both offer opportunities for reimagining society and politics and pose perils of constraint. This book captures the complexity and longevity of a vibrant tradition of Black poets taking up the sonnet form to explore race, liberation, enslavement, solidarity, and abolitionism. It also invites us to find new directions for the intersection of literary formalism and African American cultural studies. John Yargo is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Boston College. He earned a PhD in English literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in the environmental humanities and early modern culture. In 2023, his dissertation won the J. Leeds Barroll Prize, given by the Shakespeare Association of America. His peer-reviewed articles have been published or are forthcoming in the Journal for Early Modern Culture Studies, Early Theatre, Studies in Philology, and Shakespeare Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

As I learned from Hollis Robbins's monograph Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition (U Georgia Press, 2020), there has been a long-standing skepticism of the sonnet form among Black writers and literary critics. Langston Hughes wrote that “the Shakespearean sonnet would be no mold to express the life of Beale Street or Lenox Avenue.” Ishmael Reed condemned sonneteering, alongside ode-writing, as “the feeble pluckings of musky gentlemen and slaves of the metronome.” And yet African American poets such as Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey continue to contribute to a tradition of sonnet-writing that includes Robert Hayden, Phyllis Wheatley, Rita Dove, Amiri Baraka, and James Corrothers. Today's guest is Hollis Robbins, the author of Forms of Contention, published with the University of Georgia Press in 2020. Hollis is the Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah. Previously, she served as Dean of Arts and Humanities at Sonoma State University, Professor of Humanities at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and Professor of English at Millsaps College. Hollis is also the co-editor of a number of field-defining books including The Portable Nineteenth Century African American Women Writers (Penguin, 2017); The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin (Norton, 2006); and the Works of William Wells Brown (Oxford University Press, 2006). Forms of Contention tests the premise that a literary form such as the sonnet can both offer opportunities for reimagining society and politics and pose perils of constraint. This book captures the complexity and longevity of a vibrant tradition of Black poets taking up the sonnet form to explore race, liberation, enslavement, solidarity, and abolitionism. It also invites us to find new directions for the intersection of literary formalism and African American cultural studies. John Yargo is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Boston College. He earned a PhD in English literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in the environmental humanities and early modern culture. In 2023, his dissertation won the J. Leeds Barroll Prize, given by the Shakespeare Association of America. His peer-reviewed articles have been published or are forthcoming in the Journal for Early Modern Culture Studies, Early Theatre, Studies in Philology, and Shakespeare Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

As I learned from Hollis Robbins's monograph Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition (U Georgia Press, 2020), there has been a long-standing skepticism of the sonnet form among Black writers and literary critics. Langston Hughes wrote that “the Shakespearean sonnet would be no mold to express the life of Beale Street or Lenox Avenue.” Ishmael Reed condemned sonneteering, alongside ode-writing, as “the feeble pluckings of musky gentlemen and slaves of the metronome.” And yet African American poets such as Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey continue to contribute to a tradition of sonnet-writing that includes Robert Hayden, Phyllis Wheatley, Rita Dove, Amiri Baraka, and James Corrothers. Today's guest is Hollis Robbins, the author of Forms of Contention, published with the University of Georgia Press in 2020. Hollis is the Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah. Previously, she served as Dean of Arts and Humanities at Sonoma State University, Professor of Humanities at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and Professor of English at Millsaps College. Hollis is also the co-editor of a number of field-defining books including The Portable Nineteenth Century African American Women Writers (Penguin, 2017); The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin (Norton, 2006); and the Works of William Wells Brown (Oxford University Press, 2006). Forms of Contention tests the premise that a literary form such as the sonnet can both offer opportunities for reimagining society and politics and pose perils of constraint. This book captures the complexity and longevity of a vibrant tradition of Black poets taking up the sonnet form to explore race, liberation, enslavement, solidarity, and abolitionism. It also invites us to find new directions for the intersection of literary formalism and African American cultural studies. John Yargo is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Boston College. He earned a PhD in English literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in the environmental humanities and early modern culture. In 2023, his dissertation won the J. Leeds Barroll Prize, given by the Shakespeare Association of America. His peer-reviewed articles have been published or are forthcoming in the Journal for Early Modern Culture Studies, Early Theatre, Studies in Philology, and Shakespeare Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

As I learned from Hollis Robbins's monograph Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition (U Georgia Press, 2020), there has been a long-standing skepticism of the sonnet form among Black writers and literary critics. Langston Hughes wrote that “the Shakespearean sonnet would be no mold to express the life of Beale Street or Lenox Avenue.” Ishmael Reed condemned sonneteering, alongside ode-writing, as “the feeble pluckings of musky gentlemen and slaves of the metronome.” And yet African American poets such as Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey continue to contribute to a tradition of sonnet-writing that includes Robert Hayden, Phyllis Wheatley, Rita Dove, Amiri Baraka, and James Corrothers. Today's guest is Hollis Robbins, the author of Forms of Contention, published with the University of Georgia Press in 2020. Hollis is the Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah. Previously, she served as Dean of Arts and Humanities at Sonoma State University, Professor of Humanities at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and Professor of English at Millsaps College. Hollis is also the co-editor of a number of field-defining books including The Portable Nineteenth Century African American Women Writers (Penguin, 2017); The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin (Norton, 2006); and the Works of William Wells Brown (Oxford University Press, 2006). Forms of Contention tests the premise that a literary form such as the sonnet can both offer opportunities for reimagining society and politics and pose perils of constraint. This book captures the complexity and longevity of a vibrant tradition of Black poets taking up the sonnet form to explore race, liberation, enslavement, solidarity, and abolitionism. It also invites us to find new directions for the intersection of literary formalism and African American cultural studies. John Yargo is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Boston College. He earned a PhD in English literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in the environmental humanities and early modern culture. In 2023, his dissertation won the J. Leeds Barroll Prize, given by the Shakespeare Association of America. His peer-reviewed articles have been published or are forthcoming in the Journal for Early Modern Culture Studies, Early Theatre, Studies in Philology, and Shakespeare Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

As I learned from Hollis Robbins's monograph Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition (U Georgia Press, 2020), there has been a long-standing skepticism of the sonnet form among Black writers and literary critics. Langston Hughes wrote that “the Shakespearean sonnet would be no mold to express the life of Beale Street or Lenox Avenue.” Ishmael Reed condemned sonneteering, alongside ode-writing, as “the feeble pluckings of musky gentlemen and slaves of the metronome.” And yet African American poets such as Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey continue to contribute to a tradition of sonnet-writing that includes Robert Hayden, Phyllis Wheatley, Rita Dove, Amiri Baraka, and James Corrothers. Today's guest is Hollis Robbins, the author of Forms of Contention, published with the University of Georgia Press in 2020. Hollis is the Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah. Previously, she served as Dean of Arts and Humanities at Sonoma State University, Professor of Humanities at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and Professor of English at Millsaps College. Hollis is also the co-editor of a number of field-defining books including The Portable Nineteenth Century African American Women Writers (Penguin, 2017); The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin (Norton, 2006); and the Works of William Wells Brown (Oxford University Press, 2006). Forms of Contention tests the premise that a literary form such as the sonnet can both offer opportunities for reimagining society and politics and pose perils of constraint. This book captures the complexity and longevity of a vibrant tradition of Black poets taking up the sonnet form to explore race, liberation, enslavement, solidarity, and abolitionism. It also invites us to find new directions for the intersection of literary formalism and African American cultural studies. John Yargo is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Boston College. He earned a PhD in English literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in the environmental humanities and early modern culture. In 2023, his dissertation won the J. Leeds Barroll Prize, given by the Shakespeare Association of America. His peer-reviewed articles have been published or are forthcoming in the Journal for Early Modern Culture Studies, Early Theatre, Studies in Philology, and Shakespeare Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

As I learned from Hollis Robbins's monograph Forms of Contention: Influence and the African American Sonnet Tradition (U Georgia Press, 2020), there has been a long-standing skepticism of the sonnet form among Black writers and literary critics. Langston Hughes wrote that “the Shakespearean sonnet would be no mold to express the life of Beale Street or Lenox Avenue.” Ishmael Reed condemned sonneteering, alongside ode-writing, as “the feeble pluckings of musky gentlemen and slaves of the metronome.” And yet African American poets such as Terrance Hayes and Natasha Trethewey continue to contribute to a tradition of sonnet-writing that includes Robert Hayden, Phyllis Wheatley, Rita Dove, Amiri Baraka, and James Corrothers. Today's guest is Hollis Robbins, the author of Forms of Contention, published with the University of Georgia Press in 2020. Hollis is the Dean of Humanities at the University of Utah. Previously, she served as Dean of Arts and Humanities at Sonoma State University, Professor of Humanities at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and Professor of English at Millsaps College. Hollis is also the co-editor of a number of field-defining books including The Portable Nineteenth Century African American Women Writers (Penguin, 2017); The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin (Norton, 2006); and the Works of William Wells Brown (Oxford University Press, 2006). Forms of Contention tests the premise that a literary form such as the sonnet can both offer opportunities for reimagining society and politics and pose perils of constraint. This book captures the complexity and longevity of a vibrant tradition of Black poets taking up the sonnet form to explore race, liberation, enslavement, solidarity, and abolitionism. It also invites us to find new directions for the intersection of literary formalism and African American cultural studies. John Yargo is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Boston College. He earned a PhD in English literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, specializing in the environmental humanities and early modern culture. In 2023, his dissertation won the J. Leeds Barroll Prize, given by the Shakespeare Association of America. His peer-reviewed articles have been published or are forthcoming in the Journal for Early Modern Culture Studies, Early Theatre, Studies in Philology, and Shakespeare Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/poetry

This week, new host Cindy Juyoung Ok speaks with Donika Kelly. The author of two poetry collections, The Renunciations and Bestiary, Kelly teaches creative writing at the University of Iowa. Rita Dove called The Renunciations, “poetry of the highest order,” and Nikki Finney, who selected Kelly's first book for the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, wrote, “Bestiary's lesson is complicated and also simple. Love can be hunted down.” Using erasures or Greek myths, writing from terror and travel, Kelly never approaches an event, state, or image in only one way. Today, we hear from a new sequence of poems featured in the June issue of Poetry, and Kelly also answers a question from the void. 

The queens get beachy, play f*ck marry kill with a Pulitzer winner, and fabricate some fab poets' drag names.Support Breaking Form, the spirit so moves you:Review Breaking Form on Apple Podcasts here.  Buy our books:Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.Watch Carl Phillips read from Then the War: and Selected Poems, 2007-2020, winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, here (~1 hour).Poets we mention in this extravaganza include:Denise Duhamel, Queen for a DayFrank O'Hara, Lunch PoemsDavid Trinidad, Peyton Place: A Haiku Soap Opera ; Swinging on a StarFranny Choi, Soft Sciencesam sax, MadnessDanez Smith, HomieYou can read a short excerpt of Nin Andrews's The Book of Orgasms at her website here. Jennifer L. Knox, Crushing ItCamille Guthrie, Diamonds                               Michael Dumanis, My Soviet Union Louise GluckYou can watch Jorie Graham's book launch for her newest collection, To 2040, online here (~1 hour).Rita Dove's latest book is Playlist for the Apocalypse. Amy ClampittEmily DickinsonEdgar Allen PoeRobert Lowelle.e. cummingsHenry Wadsworth LongfellowGertrude SteinJohn Donne's reputation as a major poet is now cemented, but it wasn't always so. Donne fell out of fashion for much of the 18th and 19th centuries. Read more about that in Adam Kirsch's review of Katherine Rundell's biography of Donne in the New Yorker, here. Ezra PoundSara Teasdale, whom you can read more about here. Hart CraneRobert FrostWalt WhitmanLucille CliftonThomas HardyJohn KeatsMarilyn Chin's sixth book of poetry, Sage, was released by Norton in May 2023.Mark DotyPatrick Phillips, whose most recent book is Song of the Closing Doors (Knopf, 2022),. Visit Phillips's website.

The queens return to the Poetry Gay Bar and talk mixers & pretty dicks.f you want to support Breaking Form, please consider buying James and Aaron's new books.Aaron's STOP LYING is available from the Pitt Poetry Series. James's ROMANTIC COMEDY is available from Four Way Books.See Spencer Reese read "The Upper Room" from The Road to Emmaus here (~3.5 min)Watch the poet Ai read "The Good Shepherd" here (~3.5 min).A terrific ee cummings documentary can be seen here (~40 min). Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), often written in all lowercase as e e cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobiographical novels, four plays, and several essays. Watch dame Judy Grahn read "I Have Come to Claim" (aka the Marilyn Monroe poem) here (~3:45 min). Hear Randall Jarrell read from his work at the 92nd Y (no video; ~40 min).Watch Ruth Stone give a full-length reading (~70 min) here. Watch Anne Hathaway read Dorothy Parker (~6.5 min) here.  (And remember to spell Anne's name right.)The Gallery of Beautiful Dicks:Pablo Neruda: watch a documentary on Neruda here (~46 min)Alexander Pope: watch a BBC episode on the genius of Pope here (~50 min). Rita Dove (listen to her on The Achiever podcast here)Claudia Rankine: watch her talk about Just Us at the International Literature Festival in Berlin here (~1 hour).Maggie Nelson: watch Nelson in conversation with Judith Butler here (~90 min).Mary Ruefle: watch Ruefle give a lecture about poetry here (~90 min).WS Merwin:  watch Merwin read here (~29 min). John Ashbery: listen to him read "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror" (30 min) here. Gertrude Stein: Listen to Stein read "If I had Told Him" here.  Read Robinson Jeffers's poem "Birds and Fishes" here. The Trevi Fountain in Rome is an 18th century fountain designed by Nicola Salvi. You can watch a bit about it here. 

Published in 1986, Thomas and Beulah is a poetry collection that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987, inspired by the lives of Rita Dove's grandparents.

In this edition of On the Same Page's "Poetry Parlay," Blake and Seamus read and discuss poems by two American giants – Rita Dove and Sylvia Plath. Some of the books and authors discussed in this episode include: "Ars Poetica” by Rita Dove “Edge” by Sylvia Plath “Life and Literature in the Roman Republic” by Tenney Frank “Seven Moons of Maali Almaedia” by Sheehan Karunatilaka Additional segments throughout the podcast include: Inner Shelf Fact or fiction What are you reading? On that Quote Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/gF2zVhQT Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gTHtxVh5 Podbean: https://onthesamepagepodcast.podbean.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesamepagepod_ Email: seamusandblake@gmail.com IG: https://www.instagram.com/on.the.same.page.podcast/  -------- #bookpodcast #podcast #book #novel #stories #shortstories #apassagenorth #anukaradpragasm #tolstoy #poetry #shortstoryskirmish #litfacts #paris #literature #books #novels #salmonrushdie #spotifypodcasts #applepodcasts #audible #samsungpodcasts #books #novels #audibleau #lit #onthesamepage #whatareyoureading #literaryfacts #podbean #whatareyoureading

On February 9, The City College of New York holds its 44th Langston Hughes Festival and awards its Langston Hughes Medal to a highly distinguished writer of the African diaspora: Lynn Nottage. With a mission to celebrate and expand upon the legacy of Harlem Renaissance icon and "poet laureate of Harlem" Langston Hughes, the Festival awarded its first medal, in 1978, to James Baldwin, followed by an honor roll of the greatest Black writers of our time—among them Toni Morrison, Chinua Achebe, and Rita Dove. In this episode, host Vincent Boudreau, president of City College, previews the 2023 festival by convening a conversation with Nottage and Jodi-Ann Francis, associate director of the CCNY Black Studies Program —one of the first established in the U.S. Francis is also the moderator of the Langston Hughes Festival symposium, prior to the award ceremony. Hear from Nottage, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, and librettist, how she centers Black lives, listens deeply to create resonant characters, and views her work as both artist and activist. Host: CCNY President Vincent Boudreau Guests: Jodi-Ann Francis, Associate Director of the CCNY Black Studies Program; Lynn Nottage, playwright, screenwriter, librettist, and 2023 Langston Hughes Medalist Recorded: January 19, 2023

Closing out the year with poetry performances, Raven reads “Cozy Apologia” by Rita Dove, and “The Black Finger” by Angelina Weld Grimké, and Olivia delivers a moving performance of Maya Angelou's “Still I Rise.” -- Email us! isquaredhello@gmail.com. | Follow us!  Instagram https://www.instagram.com/isquaredpodcast/ | Twitter @I_squaredpod https://twitter.com/I_SquaredPod | Facebook page http://www.fb.me/ISquaredPod -- Learn More! Rita Dove https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rita-dove | The Black Finger https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/157902/the-black-finger | Still I Rise BY MAYA ANGELOU https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise

Today's episode is with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and Author Rita Dove. Rita is a US Poet Laureate, the recipient of 29 honorary degrees…Yes, you heard correctly…29, and the only poet to be honored with both the National Humanities Medal and the National Medal of Arts. Her portfolio of work is timeless, precise, and captures the complexity of life. In today's episode, we explore the pleasure of the text. We also journey through how using your imagination can help to get what you want, the role writing can play in the midst of chaos, and how Rita's lived experience as a Black woman has shaped her understanding of the world.Things mentionedAward Winning Poet Nikki Giovanni Dawn Revisited, a poem written by Rita DoveAmerican Poet Michael S. Harper What to readPlaylist for the Apocalypse: Poems by Rita Dove Thomas and Beulah by Rita DoveThe Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni: 1968-1998 by Nikki GiovanniI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou The Pleasure of the Text written by Roland Barthes and translated by Richard Miller Dear John, Dear Coltrane: Poems by Michael S HarperStaged Otherness: Ethnic Shows in Central and Eastern Europe, 1850–1939 by Dagnosław Demski and Dominika CzarneckaWhat to listen toFeeling Good - Nina SimoneSo What - Miles DavisTake the "A" Train - Duke Ellington Summertime - Ella FitzgeraldThis conversation was recorded on August 20th, 2022.Host Dario Calmese Producer: Coniqua Johnson Visual Art Direction and Designs: River Wildmen, Adam Selah,

Revisit excerpts from the 2021 #PDXBookFest, with writers including Brandon Taylor, Aminder Dhaliwal, and Rita Dove.

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Fruta de terciopelo, exquisito cuadrado que entre el pulgar y el índice sostengo y huelo: cómo me anestesiás con tu espeso agasajo. Si no te como rápido, te empezás a fundir entre mis dedos. Buscador de placeres, si te dejo: alto enchastre. Humo nudoso, golpecito oscuro de tierra y noche y hoja, por probarte cualquier mujer se desmoronaría gustosamente. Ya basta de cháchara: estoy lista para enamorarme.

Dig if you will a picture: Rita Dove, Prince, and an infidel poet.Prince released over 39 of his own albums and won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame the first year he was eligible (2004). In 1993, Prince announced his desire to go by "an unpronounceable symbol whose meaning has not been identified. It's all about thinking in new ways, tuning in 2 a new free-quency," he wrote in a statement at the time. He was born June 7, 1958 and died April 21, 2016. Rita Dove was born August 28, 1952. In 1987, she won the Pulitzer in Poetry for Thomas and Beulah (becoming only the 2nd African American to win that award, after Gwendolyn Brooks in 1950). She was US Poet Laureate from 1999-2000. Since 1989, she has taught at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.Watch Rita Dove on the PBS News Hour here (~7 min).Watch Prince in a 1999 appearance on The Larry King Show here (~40 min)Regarding Judith Butler, here's the full quote from Claudia Rankine's Citizen: “Not long ago you are in a room where someone asks the philosopher Judith Butler what makes language hurtful. Our very being exposes us to the address of another, she answers.”  You can see Prof. Dove discuss her poetry as well as her first novel in an interview here (~25 min).Rita Dove and Natasha Trethewey present their work and are interviewed by Rudolph Byrd at Emory University and you can watch that conversation here (~75 min) About the Prince-Michael Jackson feud, Quincy Jones told GQ magazine that the beef  dated back to 1983, when the two attended a James Brown concert. Brown invited Jackson up on stage — and after Jackson treated the crowd to a few moments of singing and dancing, he asked Brown to bring up Prince. Jones later alleged that Prince felt like he'd been shown up — and accused him of making a half-hearted effort to run over Jackson after the show. Mary Shelley was the daughter of philosophers Mary Wollstonecraft, who died within 2 weeks of giving birth to Mary, and William Godwin. While Percy and Mary met when she was 16 (and she became pregnant by him at that time), she didn't marry him until she was 19. She died of a brain tumor at age 53. She published Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus when she was 20. She was, like her husband, a political radical at the time.Percy Bysshe Shelley was born August 4, 1792 and was 21 when he met Mary Godwin. You can read more about their courtship and marriage here. Shelley drowned in the Gulf of Spezia while sailing home from a meeting with Byron, when his boat was overtaken by a storm. During the 19th century, the average age fell for English women, but it didn't drop any lower than 22. Patterns varied depending on social and economic class, of course, with working-class women tending to marry slightly older than their aristocratic counterparts. But the prevailing modern idea that all English ladies wed before leaving their teenage years is well off the mark. While European noblewomen often married early, they were a small minority of the population, and the marriage certificates from Canterbury show that even among nobility it was very rare to marry women off at very early ages.You can listen to Beyonce's “Break My Vogue” [Queens Remix] here (~6 min).

Victoria Chang, a 2021 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards winner for poetry, joins The Asterisk* to discuss the weather of grief, clarity in writing and her relationship with her ancestors. The daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Chang's first two degrees, from the University of Michigan and Harvard University, were in Asian studies. But as her interest in poetry grew, she detoured into earning an MFA from Warren Wilson College. She lives in southern California and serves on the faculty at Antioch University. Her fifth collection of poetry, Obit, met with a chorus of critical praise. It won an Anisfield-Wolf prize and was a finalist for a National Book Critics Award. Anisfield-Wolf juror Rita Dove responded strongly to Obit: “At first one might think: What a gimmick, to force each poem into the narrow column of a newspaper obit! How can these compressed language gobbets be called poems, anyway? And yet after the requisite announcements (name of the deceased, time, cause of death), each obit plunges to the source of its bereavement, skewering as it darkens, until I'm left speechless, bereft, in Keats' ‘vale of soul-making.'” Chang sat down with The Asterisk* in March of 2022 at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, Va. 

This week our host, Amari Robinson, tells all about poet and essayist, Rita Dove. References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Dove https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rita-Dove https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rita-dove https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/rita_dove_345383

Rita Dove's new book of poetry, “Playlist for the Apocalypse,” goes in many different historical and personal directions.

Host Charity Nebbe discusses "Thomas and Beulah" with former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove and expert readers for this April meeting of the Talk of Iowa Book Club.

This is the April meeting of the Talk of Iowa Book Club. Host Charity Nebbe and her guests have been reading Thomas and Beulah by Rita Dove.

How do you speak with your mother when she's forgotten who you are?Rita Dove was U.S. Poet Laureate from 1993–1995 and she served as the Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004–2006. In 1987 she received the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her book Thomas and Beulah. She is currently Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.You can sign up here for the latest updates from Poetry Unbound.

Poetry Unbound with host Pádraig Ó Tuama is back on Monday, April 11. Featured poets in this season include Rita Dove, Joshua Bennett, Tiana Clark, Yu Xiuhua, and many more. New episodes released every Monday and Friday through June 3.Follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, or wherever you listen.

In 1993, Rita Dove became the first African American to be a U.S. Poet Laureate and the youngest poet ever elected to the position. Rita joins the show to share her inspirational works, including a new collection of poems called, Playlist for the Apocalypse.

Dr. Rita Dove is one of the most acclaimed contemporary American poets. But every week a few dozen UVA students get to sit down in the classroom with her to read, write and discuss poetry. Charlottesville and UVA are honored to host Professor Dove and in this episode she discusses her early literary influences, from MAD Magazine to Shakespeare, the assignment her students live in fear of, and her experience serving as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995. Her latest book of poetry is Playlist for the Apocalypse.

Listen to excerpts from the 2021 #PDXBookFest, with writers including Brandon Taylor, Aminder Dhaliwal, and Rita Dove.

In Episode 14 of Unorchestrated, Christopher and Tom conclude their conversation with Rita Dove, discussing her research into the life of George Bridgetower and the poetry she wrote about him. As in every episode, Rita reads from her book, Sonata Mulattica. We also welcome special guest, violinist Dr. Nicole Cherry, to discuss her Forge with George project, a commissioning project bringing long-overdue attention to historically significant Black artists. This is the final episode in our 14-part series, Sonata Mulattica with Rita Dove. The episode closes with Jubilee, composed in 1809 by George Bridgetower in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the reign of King George III, performed by six of the Akron Symphony's principal musicians. Rita Dove is a Pulitzer Prize winner, former U.S. Poet Laureate, and the only poet ever honored with both the National Humanities Medal and the National Medal of Arts. An Akron native, she is currently Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia. Dr. Nicole Cherry is 2nd violinist of the Marian Anderson String Quartet, and Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Performance materials of Jubilee were made available through the kindness and generosity of Dr. Nicole Cherry. For information on her Forge with George project, dedicated to restoring the legacy of great artists of color like George Bridgetower who have been dismissed from our history books, please visit: https://nicolecherryviolin.com/. George Bridgetower Photo © The British Museum