Celebrate Poe: Recent Episodes
George Bartley
This podcast is a deep dive into the life, times. works. and influences of Edgar Allan Poe - "America's Shakespeare." Mr. Poe comes to life in this weekly podcast!
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I'd like to begin the final part of this two part series regarding Michael Jackson by looking at late 1993.
Yes, Mr. Bartley, in 1993, I proposed to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, over the phone. We were married in La Vega, Dominican Republic, in May of 1994 by civil judge Hugo Francisco Álvarez Pérez.
I would imagine that the tabloid media would have a field day with that marriage!
They certainly did! In fact the tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a publicity stunt intended to deflect attention from sexual abuse allegations and to boost Presley's career as a singer. Unfortunately, marriage ended little more than a year later, and we separated in December of 1995.
What were Lisa Marie Presley’s reasons for the divorce?
Mr. Bartley, she cited "irreconcilable differences" when filing for divorce the following month and sought only to reclaim her maiden name.
Michael, did you ever see her again?
Lisa Marie later said that we had attempted to reconcile intermittently for four years after our divorce, traveling internationally to be together, but to no success.
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Welcome to the hall of imagination, and I can't believe what I'm seeing. This is the first time that I have ever seen a wax figure who is now deceased that I saw in real life.
Yes, I am Michael Jackson, and you say that you have seen me before?
Yes, I saw you with your brothers at a concert in Washington DC.
AH, Mr. Bartley, I believe that I remember that concert very well.
And Michael, if I may call you that–this is really strange–as of talking to wax figures and hearing them respond is not strange enough - but in your case I saw you during your earthly life.
Well, Mr. Bartley, Let’s have some fun… or at least, let’s start there.
Michael, could you tell us about your very beginnings–back to the Gary Indiana days.?
Yes Mr. Bartley. If you were talking about my life, it definitely does begin in fun–think of me as a kid in a tiny house in Gary, Indiana, singing my little lungs out, dancing like someone my age, trying to be heard over brothers, siblings, and the general chaos that you might find in a big family.
But it doesn’t end in fun.
You might say, Michael, that you are a tragic warning about what happens when intense fame collide with a fragile human body and mind. Why don't you start by telling us about your early years?
Certainly Mr. Bartley. I was born August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana—a working-class steel town in the Midwest. I was the eighth of ten children in the Jackson family, packed into a small house where money was tight, tempers could be hot, and music was both escape and opportunity.
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Christ said to feed the hungry, not to give them food poisoning! This will all make sense in September.
You see, In early September, I'll be sharing a special series called The 2000 Pound Pineapple. I am announcing it now because the events that comprise The 2000 Pound Pineapple are taking place right now, and should be over by September. I wanna be able to look at them in perspective.
No, it's not about tropical fruit. It's about a very real experience that completely changed my daily routine and taught me lessons about patience, recovery, perspective, and finding humor – And there is a great deal of humor– in situations that certainly didn't seem funny at the time
The series is based on real events, but it isn't simply a story about an injury. It's about what happens when life unexpectedly forces us to slow down. It is about discovering that creativity doesn't disappear during difficult times—it often becomes even more important.
Again, There will be plenty of humor along the way, because sometimes the best way to understand a challenging experience is to laugh at the surprising moments that accompany it. There will also be honest reflections on frustration, perseverance, and the importance of allowing both our bodies and our minds the time they need to heal.
If you've ever had your plans suddenly interrupted by life, I think you'll recognize a little of yourself in these episodes.
So join me in early September for The 2000 Pound Pineapple—a true story about an unexpected adventure, told with humor, honesty, and the belief that even life's detours can become sources of creativity and GROWTH.
Sometimes the most unexpected experiences become the ones that teach us the most.
Until then, this is George Bartley thanking you for listening to the hall of imagination – a part of Celebrate Creativity - which I plan to continue as usual. I’ll see you next time.
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In the previous episode, we walked with Walt Whitman down the open roads of America, hearing the chorus of ordinary lives. Whitman’s poetry celebrated the sweep of America, the chorus of countless lives, and the boundless possibilities of freedom. Across the ocean and slightly later in time, Dostoevsky turned his gaze inward, exploring the shadowed recesses of the human heart. Whereas Whitman’s lines embraced the world, Dostoevsky’s narratives probe the tensions, doubts, and moral struggles that define our inner lives. In moving from Whitman to Dostoevsky, we travel from the expansive optimism of a young nation to the intense psychological and ethical landscapes of nineteenth-century Russia—a shift that reminds us just how varied, yet universally human, the work of great writers can be.
And right now, I am standing in front of a wax figure of FYODOR Dostoevsky-or at least that's what the title on the nameplate here says.
Yes, Mr. Barley, I am most definitely Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Some might call me one of the towering figures of 19th-century literature. I was Born in Moscow into a middle-class family, AND faced hardship early: my mother died when I was young, and my father was a rather strict and harsh figure. I originally trained as an engineer, but my passion for literature led me to the literary scene in St. Petersburg.
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Welcome to Hall of Imagination. - in your previous episode I mentioned my suspicions that I would be having some more episodes dealing with Walt Whitman very soon. Well that time has come, and I'd love to talk a little bit more with the wax figure of Walt Whitman
Walt, are you prepared to speak to me tonight?\
Certainly George, you know it can get rather boring up here on this pedestal and I welcome the chance to just simply communicate with someone who is appreciative.
Well Walt, you can certainly put me in that category. I would like to ask you if you had just one thing to say or tell the listener who listening to this podcast what would it be?
George, I would like to believe that my writing helped to capture and define the spirit of the growing United States during the challenging 1800s - and yes they were most definitely challenging times. I would like to think that I had a bold and unusual way of writing that created a new artistic style for America.
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Welcome to the hall of imagination. Tonight I was looking up at the wax figure of the writer Walt Whitman– And I was not surprised in the least when he looked down at me and began speaking.
George, I was most commonly known as "Walt" among friends, family, and in much of my correspondence, rather than as "Mr. Whitman." My parents shortened my given name from Walter to Walt when I was born, and used this familiar form throughout my life. As a poet, I believe I embraced a democratic and accessible persona, and the informal "Walt" aligns with that approach.
However, in public and formal settings—especially as I gained fame—I was often referred to as "Mr. Whitman" or by various honorifics such as "the Bard of Democracy". In my later early years in Camden, New Jersey, I was generally called "Mr. Whitman" by the press and new acquaintances, but those who knew me well continued to use "Walt".
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Hello this is George Bartley, and I was walking through the wax museum when I ran across the figure of John Milton. Naturally I had to stop, and I watched him as he came to life and began speaking.
Mr. Milton, this is indeed an honor! Do you mind if I speak with you tonight?
Certainly not. I would definitely appreciate the company. And and what is your name?
My name is George Bartley, and I was in English and drama major in college–SO THE English major part of me is quite humbled to speak with you.
AH, Mr. Bartley, then I would be most obliged to satisfy you with an account of my life. I grew up with privilege, expectation, and a mind hungry for knowledge. My father, a scrivener, provided tutors, music lessons, and an education that he hoped would prepare me for greatness. You might say that from an early age, I believed that I was destined for fame, or even immortality.
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In the previous episode, I talked about an exhibit of the inklings– Token, Williams, and Barfield. But I would like to devote this entire episode to an individual who is arguably the most well-known of the inklings–CS Lewis.
Mr. Lewis, how do you believe the inklings influenced you as a writer.
Ah, Mr. Bartley, I began as a rationalist atheist, but the Inklings helped me blend logic, imagination, and faith. The result was stories that enchant across generations, such as The Chronicles of Narnia and essays that provoke thought I wanted to show that fantasy could carry deep moral and spiritual truths, and that literature could entertain while transforming the mind and heart. I would like to think that I did not just write books– I crafted worlds, ideas, and moral truths that continue to inspire readers to imagine, believe, and wonder.”
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What Were the Inklings?Today’s episode deals with four people instead of one individual.
**They are often classified as one group because they were a band of university friends who argued, challenged, and inspired each other—the Inklings.” You see, the Inklings were largely a group of Oxford professors, writers, and thinkers who met to read aloud, debate, and challenge one another.
First, I'd like to concentrate on Mr. CS Lewis. Is what I have been saying a fair way to express it.
Yes Mr. Bartley, when you and your audience think of me today, you probably often picture The Chronicles of Narnia, or my rational, graceful Christian apologetics. But to really understand me, you need to see me inside a unique circle of writers and thinkers: the Inklings—a group that met in Oxford in the 1930s and ’40s to read aloud, critique, and sometimes spar over each other’s works.
That is why this episode is about the group called the inklings
And Mr. Bartley, I do believe that my love of myth, the study of language, its history, and how it shapes thought—shaped the group’s imagination. JRR Tolkien didn’t just make up languages for fun; he spent hours analyzing old tongues to make Elvish and other Middle-earth languages feel authentic. He spent so long lecturing me on the difference between a fairytale and a proper myth that I joked that I might need a dictionary just to keep up!
Then there was Charles Williams, a poet, novelist, and theologian with a mystical streak that pushed me to explore the spiritual depths of story. Williams could be so intense that the others sometimes left a meeting feeling like they’d just survived a philosophical thunderstorm—but I secretly loved the challenge.**
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I sincerely hope that you are enjoying the episodes that make up the Hall of Imagination. A wax museum is a wonderful metaphor. During the day, the figures are silent exhibits. At night, they become people again. That gives me tremendous freedom to let them explain themselves, argue, laugh, and even admit uncertainty—all while hopefully making it clear to my audience that they're listening to a dramatization grounded in history.
After I had finished talking with the inventor of paper in the previous episode, I came face-to-face with a wax figure of a man who is often called the inventor of printing–JOHANN GUTENBERG–not surprisingly, my first remark was you must be the inventor of printing–I have spoken with an individual who is often said to be the inventor of paper– But, from what I understand you are the inventor of the movable press.
Guttenberg: That is only partially true. One must note that I developed the first method of using movable type and the printing press in such a way that a great deal of written material could be printed with speed and accuracy. Compare this to the scribe or monk– However well intentioned–could not transcribe written communication at the speed of a machine– And that machine was the printing press–a machine that used movable type. And although there was a form of movable type used in China and Korea, it never came into general use until relatively recent times.
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**Mr. Douglas, I think it would be very interesting for our listeners if you could relate the part of your life when you finally succeeded in making your escape from slavery.
But before narrating any of the peculiar circumstances, I deem it proper to make known my intention not to state all the facts connected with the transaction. My reasons for pursuing this course may be understood from the following: First, were I to give a minute statement of all the facts, it is not only possible, but quite probable, that others would thereby be involved in the most embarrassing difficulties. Secondly, such a statement would most undoubtedly induce greater vigilance on the part of slaveholders than has existed heretofore among them; which would, of course, be the means of guarding a door whereby some dear brother bondman might escape his galling chains. I deeply regret the necessity that impels me to suppress any thing of importance connected with my experience in slavery. It would afford me great pleasure indeed, as well as materially add to the interest of my narrative, were I at liberty to gratify a curiosity, which I know exists in the minds of many, by an accurate statement of all the facts pertaining to my most fortunate escape. But I must deprive myself of this pleasure, and the curious of the gratification which such a statement would afford. I would allow myself to suffer under the greatest imputations which evil-minded men might suggest, rather than exculpate myself, and thereby run the hazard of closing the slightest avenue by which a brother slave might clear himself of the chains and fetters of slavery.**
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**Could you describe your voyage to Baltimore?
Frederick Douglas: We sailed out of Miles River for Baltimore on a Saturday morning. I remember only the day of the week, for at that time I had no knowledge of the days of the month, nor the months of the year. On setting sail, I walked aft, and gave to Colonel Lloyd’s plantation what I hoped would be the last look. I then spent the remainder of the day in looking ahead, interesting myself in what was in the distance rather than in things near by or behind.**
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Did these apparently incoherent songs mean anything to you?
I did not, when a slave, understand the deep meaning of these songs. These songs told a tale of woe which was then altogether beyond my feeble comprehension; they were tones loud, long, and deep; they breathed the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with the bitterest anguish. Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed my spirit, and filled me with ineffable sadness. I have frequently found myself in tears while hearing them. To those songs I trace my first glimmering conception of the dehumanizing character of slavery. I can never get rid of that conception. Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds.”
I don't know how to express this, but it seems that our society feels that singing among slaves proved that they were happy. Is that true?
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Now I was walking in the hallway through the wax museum when I looked up at the wax figure of an Afro-American individual. He looked down at me, and his features came to life as he said–As I hope you realize, my name is Frederick Douglass, and I want to tell you about my life.
That would definitely be an honor. I tell you what–I am going to get out of the way and let you start talking about your early life. And please be as thorough as you want.
Thank you. I was born in Tuckahoe, about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot county, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest-time, cherry-time, spring-time, or fall-time. A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege.
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**Night watchman: Welcome to another night at the wax museum– Or Hall of wonder–step sound–and what do we have here. It looks like the wax figure of a Chinese person, and the identifying plaque says that his name is TI Lon
Mr. Bartley: pardon me for coming to life, but that name is tsigh loon–think of sigh& the bird loon–SIGH LOON
Night watchmen: And pardon me, but I am not familiar with you or any of your accomplishments. Were you an emperor or Chinese ruler?
Mr. Bartley: no, in fact I was made to drink poison because of political intrigue, so I guess you could say that ultimately, I was definitely not successful in the world of ancient Chinese politics.**
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**Before we begin, let me emphasize that today I'll be talking with a wax figure that never existed– In this case, a figure from literature that was never flesh and bone, but the author of the literary work from which she came created a character that is extremely lifelike, and teaches us a great deal about human nature.
I know that in the early 21st century, a group of 100 prominent writers selected Don QUIOXOTE as the greatest novel of all time. In the novel– If I remember correctly–the author Miguel de Cervantes shows the negative consequences of following a way of life that is completely out of touch. He reminds us that even a supposedly intelligent person can become completely foolish in the character of Don QUIOXOTE of La Mancha.
I met that individual last night–or at least a wax figure of that character, and I knew that something was unusual when I saw that he was dressed in armor–that this could be a person or character who was following a way of life that was completely and unrealistically old-fashioned.**
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The museum was unusually quiet.
The lights glowed softly across the polished floor.
I made my rounds through the gallery of scientists.
There stood Isaac Newton.
There stood Marie Curie.
And there, at the far end of the room, stood a familiar figure with wild white hair and kind eyes.
Albert Einstein.
As midnight approached, I noticed something.
His eyes seemed to twinkle.
A moment later, he stepped down from his pedestal
Good evening. VAT are you doing?
Professor Einstein!
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**Night watchman: you would be astonished by many aspects of the modern university that you founded with the University of Virginia.
Jefferson: That is most fascinating. "How many students attend today?"
Night Watchman: "Mr. Jefferson, the University of Virginia now has roughly twenty-five thousand students, including undergraduate and graduate students."
Jefferson: "Twenty-five thousand! Why, sir, that is a town, not a college!” When my original university opened, there were only a few dozen students.
Night watchmen: you might find it interesting that Women first began attending in the late nineteenth century, and today make up about half the student body."
Jefferson: "I confess that would have surprised many of my contemporaries.” Yes, it certainly appears that society has changed dramatically after my lifetime.**
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**Mr. Bartley: Mr. Jefferson, the last time we spoke, you had basically written the Declaration of Independence. The United States was fighting Britain in the revolutionary war, and in October 1781 George Washington's troops defeated the British at Yorktown Virginia. We had now won our war for independence.
Mr. Jefferson: And by early 1782, my family was back at my home of Monticello. My beloved Martha gave birth to her sixth child, Lucy Elizabeth. Unfortunately Martha grew weaker and weaker following the birth, and I stayed by her bedside. I would read to her from her favorite books, and at night I slept in a nearby room.
But she grew weaker and weaker, and during her final hours, she told me her final wish. Now understand that we had three living children– Patsy, Maria, and Lucy Elizabeth. She said that she could not tolerate her children being raised by a stepmother. And she begged me to never remarry. Of course I promised and soon on September 6, 1782, my beloved Martha died.
My oldest daughter Patsy was nine years old when my wife died, and many years later she wrote that I almost lost my mind from the grief– That I would refuse to leave my room for a week at a time– And then when I did come out I would go on long horseback rides through the woods surrounding Monticello. She later wrote – the violence of his emotion, of his grief to this day I dare not trust myself to describe.**
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**Welcome to the Hall of Imagination, and episode. 628 - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
During this week of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States, I would like to devote the episodes for Monday, Wednesday and Friday to Thomas Jefferson–the author of the declaration of independence.
Episode 1: The young Jefferson and the writing of the Declaration.
Episode 2: The President Thomas Jefferson
Episode 3: The elder Jefferson, the University of Virginia, reflections on the future—even artificial intelligence—and then his death on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration.**
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**There is something I would like to tell you about my life in Chicago... After all, you might say I am one of its most influential residents.”
Who are you? I asked
"My name is Jane Addams.”
I couldn't believe it! Here a wax figure was talking with me–just like the figures in the toy museum last year-and somehow this was even stranger– This was a individual who was deceased, but was somehow walking and talking to me about her earthly existence. For some reason, I felt the need to somehow test her out.**
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**Hello, I am a nightwatchman, and if you've been listening to my adventures over the past several months—especially during December of last year—you may remember that I was working as the night watchman at a toy museum. In fact, you might enjoy going back and listening to Episodes 526 through 557, where the toys came to life after dark.
This is the introduction to a new podcast series where the night watchmen works at a wax museum in Chicago where the figures come to life - and the past is never quite as silent as it seems!**
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**Welcome, my friends, to episode 625, and to a special preview of a brand-new series called The Hall of Imagination, part of Celebrate Creativity.
In this series, the figures of history—and even some figures who never existed at all—come to life in an imaginary wax museum. Some of these characters changed the world through science, literature, music, politics, and invention. Others changed our world through stories and imagination. And every episode begins after the museum closes and the lights grow dim.
But before I go any further, I want to thank all of you who listened to my recent episodes about voice control. Those episodes came out of a necessity. As many of you know, I've been dealing with some hand problems, and learning voice control has become not only fascinating but very practical. In fact, I am using voice control to help write the transcript for this very episode. Like learning a musical instrument or any new skill, it becomes easier the more you practice. Little by little, things that once seemed impossible become almost second nature.**
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https://macmost.com/printable-mac-enhanced-dictation-cheat-sheet.html
By the way, the first time you might want to turn voice control off as you go through the sentences, and then later turn voice control on.
There are several sections, so without further ado, let's start with text selection
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In this episode, I wanna talk about another side of voice control - it may be ab and work with scroll or go to sleep well and individual files in a folder le to do some wonderful things, but there are some programs where voice control it's not able to do a really good job - not because it is inefficient - far from it - but voice control deals with the human voice and doesn't play well with such programs that emphasize sound such as YouTube and GarageBand.
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**https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mh40719/mac
I certainly am going to talk about a few areas that I want to address in the next two or three episodes, but right now I'm gonna state the obvious–the best way to learn voice control is to use it.
Use the Apple support page that I previously mentioned, and if necessary, go over and over and over the commands and what they mean, until it almost becomes automatic. Stick with it, and eventually you will come to the day when you can speak to the Mac, and get things done faster and more efficiently than you could ever do using the mouse and keyboard. I know that I thought voice control would be a cool thing to use it at first but eventually lost interest. However when my hands started screaming in pain from the years of wear and tear - and it could very well happen to you - I found that I viewed voice control not as something interesting, but as a necessity.
Having said that, I want to specifically address what I think is one of the most useful characteristics of voice control - and that is the use of grids.**
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"For the next month or so, I'm going to take a break from podcasting. My sleep schedule has become seriously disrupted, and I've also been dealing with pain in my hands and arms. Before I continue creating new episodes, I need to focus on my health, work with my doctor, and become more proficient with Voice Control and some other accessibility tools. I have an appointment with my doctor the beginning of next week, and I look forward to zeroing in on solving some of the problems that have made it all but impossible for me to do a podcast now.
I have no intention of disappearing. In fact, I have more ideas than ever— I have several projects waiting in the wings. And I want to get to the point, where I can completely do an episode solely using voice control. But for the moment, the most creative thing I can do is take care of myself.
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This podcast episode is an example of dictation. In the next few episodes, I will talk specifically about using dictation in voice control, as well as some of the commands. As for now, do not forget to use enter THAT! - with an emphasis on the THAT!
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**About two weeks ago, I apologized for not doing an episode for a month. Actually, I did not do an episode for two weeks, but it seemed like a month. I like to think that this episode has some very important uses and organizing your files and folders - how to organize a messy desktop rather than just demonstrate commands. And later, will get into the use of voice control into doing some fascinating graphics with artificial intelligence.
So, - I am keeping this episode about half the length of the usual podcast episode in this series - so you would be more inclined to go back and listen to it twice or even three times. It is full of information that might be hard to assimilate the very first time, but I wanted to become second nature.
Imagine that - like me - you have all kinds of files scattered around your MacIntosh desktop - some you probably should throw away, some have information that you would someday like to use, and some that you should definitely throw away.
Oh one thing before we start-what you want to do is move a document on the desktop, but it is much easier in voice control to say drag a document. And I have a voice control turn off now, so my computer will not be doing all kinds of things when it thinks I'm issuing a command.**
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**Do not say enter! Always say enter THAT! And emphasize the THAT!
And for dictation, speak clearly and naturally.**
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Commands
Wake up
Go to sleep
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**Hello, and welcome to Celebrate Creativity. I’m George Bartley.
In the last few episodes, I have been talking about Voice Control in a broader way — my own background, some of the reasons I care about it, and some of the larger philosophical questions behind it. What does it mean to use your voice to deal with a machine? What does it mean in terms of independence, creativity, and accessibility?
But now it is time to move a little closer to the ground.
Today, I want to talk about something very practical: how Voice Control comes with every recent Macintosh, how you turn it on, and what you are actually looking at when you face those settings for the first time.
Because that first encounter can be a little unnerving. I remember the 1st time I saw voice control on the MacIntosh. I saw it as something just for disabled people and felt that voice control could not possibly do much that was useful. And I must admit, that I gave up after about 30 seconds, and said this is not for me. I had some erroneous idea that it was impossible.
But all that needed a little time on my part.
It's not that it was badly designed.
But simply because it was new.
And new things often look more complicated than they really are.
You go into the settings and suddenly you are looking at terms like language, microphone, show hints, play sound when command is recognized, overlay, fade overlay after inactivity, fade after, fade by, and Voice Control tutorial.
And if you are a first-time user, you may think: what in the world am I looking at?
And to be honest, even if you don't fully understand some of the settings by the end of this episode, you're doing about right. It takes a while to get your bearings, but it certainly is worth it.
So that is what I want to do today. I want to slow it all down. I want to describe what the user is seeing, what those items mean, and how to think about them without getting flustered.**
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**Looking at Life from Both Sides
Hello, and welcome to Celebrate Creativity. I’m George Bartley. And I promise that starting in the next episode, I'm going to begin to teach you how to use voice control.
But today, I want to talk about accessibility, disability, voice control, and something even larger than all of those: what it means to look at life from more than one side.
There is a phrase that has stayed with me for years from a song by Joni Mitchell: I’ve looked at life from both sides now. I am not quoting the whole song, and I do not need to. That one phrase is enough, because it expresses something I have thought about for a very long time.
I have looked at disability from both sides now.
I have lived as someone who works with people that have motor difficulties. And I have also lived as someone that many people would never assume had a disability unless I told them.
I have looked at communication from both sides now.
As someone who helped others communicate.
And as someone who has known what it means to need a different kind of access to the world.
I have looked at institutions from both sides now.
From the hopeful side, where they want to help.
And from the realistic side, where good intentions often collide with lived reality.
And I think that matters.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity and the second part of Voice Control on the Macintosh: Why It Matters, and What It Feels Like to Learn It.
I hope you realize by now that this podcast has been talking about the importance of voice control and some of the human elements involved in mastering the skills. So rest assured that in a few days, I will deal into the mechanics of voice control - in other words HOW use it. My philosophy of education it's not to try to dazzle you with information that might be hard to remember, but to carefully explain a concept. And then use tried and true educational concepts by going back and explaining that concept over and over in different ways - ways that help make that concept your own. In future episodes, I intend to talk about specific voice control commands, and even have imaginary visits from historical figures in the fields of computing and literature - individuals such as William Shakespeare, John Milton, Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, and the writer of the first computer program - Ada Lovelace. But before you learn the actual information, I feel that you need to get the attitude towards learning and a different way of working down first. And that is the purpose of the previous and the following few episodes.
Now let me come back to something I said earlier in a broader way: adaptation is not defeat.
I think many people, when they first I'll say that I'd like for you to rest assured that in a few days I'm gonna deal with the mechanics of using voice control in other words and that certainly matters find themselves needing a different way of working, feel that they are somehow moving backward. They may feel that because something old has become painful or difficult, they are losing ground. But another way to see it is that they are being asked to develop a new form of competence.
And developing a new form of competence is not failure. It is growth.**
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Hello - welcome back to How to Talk to Your Mac. And this is part one of Voice Control on the Macintosh: Why It Matters, and What It Feels Like to Learn It - in this and the following episode I want to talk about the philosophy behind voice control, and then we'll get into the specifics in future episodes.
However, first, I'd like to apologize for the weeks this month when I have been unable to do an episode. For the first time in years, I think I have had computer problems when things would just not go the way I wanted. But no, I have not become a victim of pod fade, a term used to refer to a podcaster that just stops putting out episodes without any intention of continuing. And it looks like I'm going to be jumping right back into the game.
In fact, this podcast just hit over 33,000 downloads across the world. Celebrate Creativity has now has reached listeners in 121 countries and territories — Not surprisingly, the majority of the downloads are in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, and Singapore. I decided to forgo the third promo in this series–it didn't really say anything new about voice control itself, and–instead say a few words about why the use of voice control matters is so important. And I hope that when you really get into this podcast, you just might find that you can't see yourself using a computer without voice control. It may seem somewhat hard at first, but you just might find that voice control becomes natural, and the fastest and most efficient way of using a computer.
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Now I believe I mentioned that at one time I was doing up to two and three podcasts episodes a day. As a teenager I had a series of epileptic seizures, and was told that I should not swim - but after I started taking a new medication at that time - Depakote - my seizures became a thing of the past. And I'll talk about a little bit more about that later. I also started interpreting for the deaf, especially Shakespearean plays. And when I realized that I could swim safely, I started swimming 2 miles three times a week. Of course at the time I thought all this was cool, but I never thought about the fact that my activities were devastating my hands and fingers. I realized recently that I needed to take a break and learn a brand new way of communicating with a computer. I don't mean to say this was just a choice I made - I would wake up in the morning with agonizing pain.
So I decided to take that break - for the sake of my hands and arms - and especially because I know that so much of the information regarding voice control requires me to try out the steps myself and see if they work. I would hate to have to go back and say this will work but this doesn't really work. I want get it right the first time or as much as I can! I wanna be sure and give you information that you can depend on!With something like Voice Control, the difference between sounding informed and being trustworthy is often very small on the surface, but enormous in reality.
I hope that you will see the delay not as wasted time at all and I
I would like to think that listeners are not looking for just glossy theory. They are looking for someone who has gone into the weeds, made mistakes, tried the steps, hit the snags, and come back with something dependable.Because what I what I am building here are not just a series of episodes. I would like to think that along with the information, I am building credibility. A listener can forgive:
“This took me a while to figure out.”
“I had to test this several times.”
But it is much harder for a listener to forgive advice that sounds certain and then fails the moment they try it.
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**Hello this is George Bartley. And no, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth. In fact, my podcast Celebrate Creativity - with its current emphasis on William Shakespeare was in high gear - at one point I was doing two and even three episodes a day. Currently Celebrate Creativity has over 32,000 episodes globally. But that rate of output really couldn't continue very long and I started experiencing excruciating pain in my wrists and hands.
As a result, I became fascinated with a way of communicating with a MacIntosh that was totally new to me - a sophisticated way of dictating and controlling all the icons and buttons that you normally work with totally by voice. So I am starting a new podcast series called how to talk with your MacIntosh - later on we'll get into operating iPads and iPhones by voice.
And this is one podcast that I am really working hard on - because I definitely do not want it to be a series of flashy comments that end up teaching you nothing. After a bit of practice, I want you to be able to use your MacIntosh, almost as though you were talking with a friend. In other words I want to show you vocal commands that work and are easy to use. It may take practice, but it is sooooo worth it!
My goal is to teach you how to sit back and tell your Mac what you want it to do using only your voice. I have never worked as hard on a podcast, and plan to start the podcast on the first day of the lusty month of May.
In the meantime I will have more promos on April the 10th, 17th, and 24th - each on a Friday - regarding the buildup to this very important podcast - I want to be sure that you gain a strong foundation in learning Voice Control for a variety of reasons, not the least is that your hands will thank you.
And watching all those files and folders move across the computer screen to obey your voice it's about as close to magic as I have ever experienced! So join me May 1, 2026 for a solid introduction to voice control that combines the definitely practical with the seemingly magical!**
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**Up to now, Hamlet has lived inside questions.
“Did my uncle really do it?”
“Can I trust the Ghost?”
“Am I being manipulated?”
“Am I losing my mind—or pretending to?”
Act 3 Scene 2 is the moment Hamlet says, in effect:
“I’m done being uncertain. I’m going to test the truth.”
In other words, Hamlet creates a situation where Claudius either sits calmly… or cracks.
What makes this scene so powerful is that Hamlet is doing two things at once.
One: He wants evidence.
Two: He wants to feel power again.
Because Hamlet has been watched, managed, and fenced in.
So now he decides to flip the arrangement.
Now he watches.
Now he controls the room.
Now he designs the moment.
And that leads us to one of the best surprises in the play:
Hamlet suddenly becomes a director.
He lectures the actors about how to perform—
not too big, not too fake, not too showy.**
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**Master Shakespeare, are you ready?
SHAKESPEARE:
As ready as any man may be, entering a room where love is examined like evidence.
GEORGE:
That’s exactly it. Because what happens here is not romance. It’s a controlled experiment—and Ophelia is the instrument.
GEORGE:
Let’s start with the setup. Claudius and Polonius plan to spy. They stage-manage Ophelia. They put a book in her hands. They position her.
What’s the moral temperature of this plan?
SHAKESPEARE:
Cold. And convenient.
They call it “care for her.” They call it “care for the prince.”
But the act is simple: they use her presence to harvest Hamlet’s secrets.
GEORGE:
And what’s chilling is how normal it seems to them. “We’ll just hide over here.”
It’s like a household trick.
SHAKESPEARE:
Power always wishes to be ordinary.
If it feels ordinary, it feels permissible.
GEORGE:
So right away, Ophelia enters a room where her feelings aren’t the point. Her feelings are the bait.
GEORGE:
Now—Ophelia. I want to underline something for listeners: she’s not “weak.” She’s trained.
She has been coached to obey father, brother, court—every authority that tells her what “good” looks like.
SHAKESPEARE:
A young woman in that world is praised for being governable.
They call it virtue.
But it is also control.
GEORGE:
So when Polonius gives her instructions, it isn’t just advice. It’s a system:
“Speak when told. Hold this. Stand here. Offer the tokens.”Four**
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**GEORGE:
So right away: the scene begins with the king and queen acting like concerned parents. But it feels… staged.
SHAKESPEARE:
Because it is staged.
Mark their language: they crave a cause, a label, a tidy diagnosis — “What ails him?”
Yet their hands are already in the plot. They have hired watchers.
Concern and control wear the same cloak here.
GEORGE:
And the watchers are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern — Hamlet’s old friends.
Let me ask bluntly: are they villains?
SHAKESPEARE:
They are instruments.
Not grand villains with black banners — rather men who wish to please authority and keep their place.
In a court like this, friendship becomes employment.
And employment demands a report.
GEORGE:
So Claudius says, “Spend time with Hamlet, figure out what’s wrong,” but the real job is: Find what he knows. Find what he intends.
SHAKESPEARE:
Aye.
And I make it plain: they are sent for.
They are not there by chance. They are summoned, instructed, rewarded.**
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**Part 1 — Polonius coaches surveillance (Polonius + Reynaldo)
Polonius sends Reynaldo to Paris with money and messages for Laertes.
But Polonius doesn’t say, “Go check on my son like a normal person.”
He says—basically—“Go investigate my son.”
Here’s the tactic, and it’s nasty in a very realistic way:
Polonius tells Reynaldo:
Don’t ask directly, “How is Laertes behaving?”
Instead, casually drop mild accusations and see what sticks.
Not monstrous lies.
Little “reasonable” hints.
He’s teaching Reynaldo to do this:
Talk to people who might know Laertes.
Suggest that Laertes has been seen drinking, gambling, getting into trouble.
Keep it vague—lightly scandalous.
Then watch how the other person responds.**
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**Today we’re in Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5 — the scene where the ghost finally speaks.
And I want to emphasize something from the start:
The ghost’s message doesn’t just give Hamlet information.
It changes Hamlet’s operating system.
It changes what Hamlet thinks the world is.
It changes what Hamlet thinks he must do.
And it changes what kind of person Hamlet is allowed to be from this moment on.
[Music sting]
Segment 1 — What happens in the scene (plot, slowly and clearly)
GEORGE:
Master Shakespeare, let’s begin with the basic plot of Act 1, Scene 5. Hamlet has followed the ghost away from Horatio and Marcellus. What happens next?
SHAKESPEARE:
The dead speaks.
The son listens.
And the world is no longer the same.
GEORGE:
Here’s the plot in plain language:
Hamlet is alone with the ghost.**
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**Today we’re in Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 4.
Act 1, Scene 2 gave us the court saying, “Get over it.”
Act 1, Scene 3 gave us family advice that’s really control.
Now Scene 4 takes us back to the battlements — the cold night air — where the play asks a different question:
When truth appears in an unsettling form…
Do you follow it?
GEORGE:
Master Shakespeare, we’ve moved from court politics and family warnings back to the night watch. Why return to the battlements now?
SHAKESPEARE:
Because the day has done its work.
Now the night may speak.
GEORGE:
Let me paraphrase that for listeners:
Daytime Denmark is where people control the story.
Nighttime Denmark is where the story refuses to be controlled.
And Hamlet arrives here already loaded.
He’s grieving. He’s disgusted. He’s isolated.
And now he’s standing in a place where the living expect the dead.**
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**GEORGE:
Master Shakespeare, why do we go from the public court scene into this private household scene?
SHAKESPEARE:
Because the disease is not only in the crown.
It is in the rooms of the home.
GEORGE:
Let me paraphrase that in three ways so it lands:
Paraphrase #1 (simple):
You’re showing us that Denmark’s problems aren’t only political. They’re personal.
Paraphrase #2 (blunt):
The same habits that make a court dishonest can show up in a family.
Paraphrase #3 (image):
We leave the palace stage — but we’re still inside the same building of power. Just a different hallway.
SHAKESPEARE:
Aye.
GEORGE:
Let’s lay out the plot of Scene 3 in plain terms.
First: Laertes is preparing to leave for France.
He gives his sister Ophelia advice about Hamlet.
Second: Polonius enters and gives Laertes a long list of fatherly “rules” for life.Third: After Laertes exits, Polonius turns to Ophelia and questions her about Hamlet — and then he gives her orders.
So the scene is built like a sandwich:
Brother advises sister
Father advises son
Father controls daughter
SHAKESPEARE:
A neat division.
GEORGE:
This scene is about warnings.
And the warnings are not only about danger.
They are about reputation.
And reputation is currency in this world.**
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**The scene begins with the king saying -
Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death
The memory be green, and that it us befitted
To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe,
Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature
That we with wisest sorrow think on him
Together with remembrance of ourselves.
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,
Th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state,
Now If Act 1, Scene 1 is Denmark at night — cold, nervous, haunted — then Act 1, Scene 2 is Denmark in daylight — warm, ceremonial, confident, and polished.
And here’s the spine of this scene and the simple phrase that keeps coming back:
The court is telling Hamlet, with polite smiles and royal authority, “Get over it.”
And Hamlet is thinking, “I can’t. And I won’t. Because something is wrong.”
GEORGE:
Master Shakespeare, we begin with a ghost on the battlements — and then we jump into court ceremony and speeches.
Master Shakespeare - how does the ghost begin speaking.
Ah, Mr. Bartley - My hour is almost come
When I to sulf’rous and tormenting flames
Must render up myself.
Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing
To what I shall unfold.
Well Master Shakespeare, why place these scenes back-to-back?
SHAKESPEARE:
Because the world is split, Mr. Bartley.
Night shows what day denies.
GEORGE:
Let me say that again in modern terms:
Scene 1 shows you the secret weather of Denmark.
Scene 2 shows you the official forecast of Denmark.
SHAKESPEARE:
Aye.**
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**MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
Good even, sir. I come where questions are sharp and nights are sharper.
MR. BARTLEY:
And the first question is simple:
Why begin Hamlet with guards on watch instead of opening with court life, or the prince, or a grand speech?
MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
Because the world must feel unsafe before you know why. The audience must stand in the dark with common men—those whose work is to keep danger out. And yet danger comes in anyway.
MR. BARTLEY:
So the Ghost is a kind of… proof that the job cannot be done?
MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
Aye. The watch exists to prevent intrusion. Yet what comes is not an army, nor a thief—but a question with armor on.
MR. BARTLEY:
Let’s talk about the Ghost’s entrance in this scene. He doesn’t speak. He barely does anything. Yet he dominates the stage. How?
MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
Because he arrives into fear already present. The men are tense before he appears—short greetings, challenges, passwords. Even friendship must announce itself. When the Ghost enters, he does not create fear; he confirms it.
MR. BARTLEY:
So he’s not just a character—he’s a verdict.**
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Tonight is Antony— the man who takes grief, wraps it in poetry, and lights Rome on fire.
And the terrifying part is that he does it while sounding… respectful.
The conspirators imagine a clean reset.
They kill Caesar and they expect:
the crowd to applaud their courage
the republic to breathe again
the story to land exactly as they explain it
But the moment Caesar’s body hits the ground, the conspiracy inherits a problem it cannot solve:
A corpse is louder than a speech.
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**The audience sees this manipulation in terms of Cassius’s treatment of Brutus and his use of flattery and reassurance to bring Brutus into the conspiracy to kill Caesar. Later, the audience learns that Cassius is willing to gain money by means that Brutus finds dishonorable and unacceptable, though the specifics are not fully revealed. Cassius is at various times petty, foolish, cowardly, and shortsighted. On the other hand, Cassius offers Brutus the correct advice that Brutus should not allow Antony to talk to the Roman citizens after Caesar’s death. Had Brutus taken Cassius’s advice, the conspirators might have succeeded in convincing the Roman people that Caesar had to die. Despite his villainous tendencies, Cassius remains a complex character with hostile yet impressively passionate traits.
Cassius doesn’t “prove” Caesar is dangerous; he makes Brutus - another character - feel that Caesar is dangerous—and that opposing him is the only honorable choice. And hold your horses, because we will really be looking into Brutus in a future episode.
Now - and there's a point to this.
Have you ever noticed how the most persuasive person in the room rarely says, “I’m persuading you”?
They say, “I’m just telling you what you already know.”
And suddenly… your doubts feel like wisdom.**
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What we honestly have is ancient testimony, not “medical proof.
**What the ancient sources actually say
Two major biographers written well after Caesar’s death report episodes that sound like seizures:
Suetonius (writing ~150 years later) says Caesar was “twice attacked by the falling sickness” during his campaigns, and also mentions fainting fits and nightmares later in life.
Plutarch also describes Caesar as having episodes of illness and uses them at times to explain his behavior in public life (though Plutarch’s descriptions are not clinical “case notes”).
And in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Casca calls it “the falling sickness”—that’s Shakespeare drawing on the same tradition rather than independent medical evidence. His exact words are He - meaning Julius Caesar - fell down in the market-place, and foamed at the mouth, and was speechless.
Romans often used morbus comitialis for what we’d now associate with epilepsy (the idea being that a seizure could halt a public assembly).
So: yes, the term points toward epilepsy—but it’s still a label from ancient writers, not a diagnosis with modern criteria.
How reliable is it?
Reasonably important, but not ironclad:
These accounts come from biographies written later, using earlier sources we don’t always have, and they can mix observation, hearsay, and moral storytelling.
“Falling sickness” could have been applied loosely to several kinds of sudden collapse—not only epilepsy.
What might it have been, in modern terms?
There’s genuine debate. Some modern clinicians/historians argue the episodes may fit transient ischemic attacks (mini-strokes) or other causes of sudden fainting/weakness rather than epilepsy.
Others still argue that “late-onset epilepsy” remains plausible based on the descriptions.
Do we have reliable proof? No—no medical records, no exam notes, no contemporary clinical description.
Do we have credible ancient reports that Caesar had episodes called “falling sickness”? Yes, especially Suetonius.**
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**The Caesar Shakespeare gives us is not a cardboard tyrant. That’s important. If Caesar were obviously monstrous, the play would become an easy sermon: “Kill the tyrant and save the republic.” But Shakespeare refuses the easy version. He makes Caesar impressive, admired, and also irritating. He makes Caesar popular, and also proud. He makes Caesar capable of generosity, and also capable of dismissing people. He makes Caesar a public figure, and still a man who likes being told he is exceptional. That mixed portrait is the point, because political violence is almost never born from a neat moral diagram. It’s born from competing fears—and competing stories people tell about those fears.
So who is Julius Caesar here?
He is, first, a public magnet. The city pulls toward him. Soldiers love him. Ordinary citizens treat him like a living holiday. Even his enemies cannot stop talking about him. And that is its own kind of power: the power of being the topic, the center of gravity, the person around whom everyone else must arrange themselves. In a republic, that kind of gravitational pull feels dangerous even when the person at the center is not consciously plotting tyranny. Because republics depend on the idea that no single person becomes the nation.
Second, he is a master of his own image. Caesar understands theater. He knows the value of showing confidence. He knows how to receive honor as if it is inevitable. He knows how to make gestures that look like humility while still feeding the legend. And in Rome, where politics is as much spectacle as it is policy, that skill can feel like destiny. The trouble is that destiny is exactly what a republic is not supposed to accept.
Third, he is physically vulnerable, and Shakespeare wants us to notice it. Whether you interpret his illness in modern medical terms or simply accept it as the play’s description, the effect is the same. It reminds us that even the most celebrated person is not a god. And ironically, that vulnerability increases the danger, because it creates a strange emotional cocktail in the people around him: admiration mixed with contempt, affection mixed with impatience, fear mixed with a desire to prove they are not afraid. Nothing leads to rash political choices faster than that mixture.**
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**Macbeth is not hard. It’s human.
Here’s the whole play in one simple truth:
Macbeth made Macbeth.
Let me say that again:
The witches tempt. Lady Macbeth pressures. But Macbeth chooses.
They light matches all around him—but Macbeth decides to set the house on fire.
This story is not fate winning. This story is choice repeated until it becomes character.
HOST:
Here is Macbeth in five easy steps.
Temptation — an idea enters.
Choice — a line is crossed.
Habit — violence becomes a method.
Collapse — control breaks down.
Consequences — the bill comes due.
Temptation. Choice. Habit. Collapse. Consequences.
That’s the whole play. Now we’ll walk it.**
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**Macbeth’s tragedy ends when fear disappears—not because he becomes brave, but because he becomes numb and falsely certain.
Now let’s locate ourselves.
HOST:
We’re in the final stretch.
Act 4 Scene 1: Macbeth returns to the witches for more prophecy.
Act 5: the kingdom turns, the signs pile up, the “impossible” begins to happen, and Macbeth faces the end.
This is the arc:
uncertainty → prophecy → false certainty → collapse.
And that’s exactly what happens to a human mind when it starts feeding on its own “guarantees.”
ACT 4.1: PROPHECY AS A DRUG
(10–14 minutes)
HOST:
Macbeth goes back to the witches because he can no longer live with doubt.
And here is the key psychological point:
Macbeth doesn’t seek truth. Macbeth seeks reassurance.
He isn’t asking, “What is real?” He’s asking, “Tell me I’m safe.”
He wants a prophecy that will let him stop thinking.
And the witches give him exactly the kind of information that creates delusion:
statements that sound absolute.
Now listen to this carefully:
The more certain Macbeth feels, the more dangerous he becomes.
False certainty produces real cruelty.
When Macbeth feels invincible, he becomes reckless.
This is the turning point: the prophecies don’t guide him toward wisdom; they guide him toward overconfidence.
And overconfidence is a form of blindness.
Let’s simplify Macbeth’s delusion into three false comforts:
Comfort #1: “I know the enemy.”
He hears “Beware Macduff,” and he thinks knowledge equals control.
He confuses information with safety.
But Knowing a danger is not the same as defeating it.
He hears the famous “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth,” and he treats it like immortality.**
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**HOST (George):
In Macbeth, evil rarely arrives waving a pitchfork; it arrives wearing a suit and offering a reasonable argument that elections are no longer necessary.
That’s how it works in public life—and it’s how it works in this play.
And Lady Macbeth is the clearest example.
Here’s the main idea of this episode.
Lady Melania - I mean lady macbeth -doesn’t begin as a monster. She begins as a person who treats conscience like a problem to solve.
Let me say that again, because this is the entire episode:
She doesn’t argue that murder is good—she argues that hesitation is weak.
Macbeth has brakes. Lady Macbeth calls the brakes “cowardice.”
And I’ll say it again—because repetition is the way understanding sticks:
This episode is about how people talk themselves into the unthinkable by making it sound practical.
We’ll follow Lady Macbeth through five key stops:
Act 1 Scene 5: she reads Macbeth’s letter and decides to push.
Act 1 Scene 7: she persuades Macbeth when he tries to back out.
Act 2 Scene 2: the murder happens, and we see who can function in the moment.**
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**Macbeth does not become evil because he’s confused. He becomes evil because he learns to call evil “reasonable.”
Let me repeat that, because that’s the whole episode:
He starts using good logic for a bad purpose.
That’s how a smart person goes wrong.
Shakespeare makes Macbeth understandable on purpose. He shows you the self-talk.
We’re picking up right after the witches in Act 1 Scene 3. Macbeth has heard “king hereafter,” and now his mind is buzzing.
Then:
Act 1 Scene 4: Duncan names Malcolm heir. This is the moment Macbeth stops thinking “maybe” and starts thinking “how.”
Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires.
The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.
Act 1 Scene 5: Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth’s letter and decides to push him.
Only look up clear.
To alter favor ever is to fear.
Leave all the rest to me.
Act 1 Scene 6: Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle — and he’s gracious. That matters.
See, see our honored hostess!—
The love that follows us sometime is our trouble,
Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you
How you shall bid God ’ild us for your pains
And thank us for your trouble.**
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**People call Macbeth a monster. But Shakespeare’s trick is sharper than that: he shows you a man who can still choose—and then shows you the exact moment he starts outsourcing his choices to ambition, marriage, and prophecy.
Macbeth—thane, hero, newly honored… and about to discover that wanting something is not the same as deserving it.
Now to most of you in the United States, the word THANE might be unfamiliar. It simply means a basically a Scottish noble—a trusted local lord who holds land from the king and, in return, owes loyalty and military service.
So when you hear “Macbeth, Thane of Glamis” (and later “Thane of Cawdor”), think:
Title + job: a high-ranking lord
Power base: he rules an area/estate for the king
Obligation: he’s expected to fight for the king and keep order
Status: important, but below the king (not royalty)
So you can think of “Thane” as “Lord.”
Macbeth is Lord of Glamis, then gets promoted to Lord of Cawdor.
In other words, “A thane is a king’s landholding lord—part governor, part military commander.”
The play begins with the three witches, and it just makes common sense to begin by interviewing them. Notice how the witches don’t “force” Macbeth—but they weaponize suggestion: they speak in a way that makes Macbeth supply the missing steps. They plant a framework (“you are destined”), then let his ambition build the staircase.
But first let me briefly quote from the very beginning of the play where the three witches - also known as weird sisters - speak
FIRST WITCH
When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
SECOND WITCH
When the hurly-burly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.
THIRD WITCH
That will be ere the set of sun.
FIRST WITCH
Where the place?
SECOND WITCH Upon the heath.
THIRD WITCH
There to meet with Macbeth.
FIRST WITCH I come, Graymalkin.
SECOND WITCH Paddock calls.
THIRD WITCH Anon.
ALL
Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air.**
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**Today I’m taking that same Shakespearean blueprint and placing it in a new world: the 1961 film West Side Story. I’m going to do this in the simplest and clearest way possible:
I’m going to tell the film’s story in a straight line.
As we go, I’ll point out the matching Shakespeare “parts” — not as trivia, but as the engine that makes both stories run.
And one clear rule: no lyrics, no musical quotations. I don't wanna get in trouble, and besides We don’t need them. This story is Shakespeare before anyone sings a note.
Lantern lit. Curtain up.
Let’s put the pieces on the board.
Tony is your Romeo figure: once connected to the Jets, now trying to step away from violence and build a different future.
Maria is your Juliet figure: young, protected, watched, expected to choose within her group and remain loyal to it.
The Jets and the Sharks are the Montagues and Capulets: rival “houses,” reimagined as rival street groups.
Riff is Mercutio-energy: Tony’s friend, charismatic, proud, full of swagger, and emotionally committed to the feud.
Bernardo is Tybalt-energy: Maria’s brother, protective, quick to escalate, and intensely driven by honor and group identity.
Anita is the confidante figure — like a Nurse-energy role but tougher and more adult: she’s protective and practical, and later becomes crucial to the catastrophe.
Chino is the approved match, a Paris-function figure — and later becomes the instrument of tragedy.
That’s enough. Now we move.**
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**Welcome back. Verona is split by a feud. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall in love, marry in secret, and attempt to outrun a culture trained for violence.
Then comes the turning point: Tybalt confronts Romeo, Mercutio fights, Mercutio falls, Romeo kills Tybalt, and Romeo is banished. Juliet faces a forced marriage to Paris. A desperate plan depends on a message. The message fails. Tragedy follows.
Tonight we interview three figures who did not cause the feud—but who, in different ways, accelerate the catastrophe:
Mercutio: wit as weapon
The Nurse: love under pressure
Friar Laurence: good intentions, bad architecture
George (announcer tone):
A civic bulletin from Verona:
The Prince has threatened death for further public brawls.
Citizens pretend this will work because threats are easy to announce.
But the feud continues, because feuds are not ended by decrees.
They are ended by changed habits—
and habits are slower than anger.
Meanwhile, young men patrol their reputations like soldiers.
Servants learn violence as a dialect.
And in this atmosphere, a private love story becomes a public emergency.
Back to our guests.
George
I’m going to ask each of you the same guiding question:
Which moment did you tell yourself you were helping—when you were actually making it worse?
We’ll take you one at a time, and then—because this is theatre—we’ll let you answer each other.
Mercutio. You first.
“I thought I was keeping Romeo alive”
George
Mercutio, you’re not a Montague by blood. Not a Capulet.
And yet you are at the center of the storm. Why?**
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**JULIET (calm, surprising firmness):
They call me a child because I am young.
But children don’t usually bury their own futures with their own hands.
George (gentle):
Then let us speak plainly, Juliet.
Not as an emblem. Not as a tragic ornament.
But as a mind at work inside a storm.
George
If you’re joining us now: Verona is split by a feud between Montagues and Capulets. At a Capulet feast, Romeo Montague meets Juliet Capulet. They fall in love at speed, marry in secret, and try to build a private world inside a public war.
Then a street conflict erupts: Mercutio falls, Romeo kills Tybalt, and Romeo is banished. Juliet’s parents arrange a marriage to Paris. A desperate plan depends on a message. The message fails. Tragedy follows.
Tonight, we speak with Juliet—often treated as “the girl on the balcony,” when in truth she is one of the sharpest minds in the play.
First it might be useful to ask the question - Who is Juliet?”
George
Before we begin, a brief character file—because Juliet is often misread.
Juliet Capulet is:
young, yes, but not simple
devoted, but not passive
romantic, yet fiercely practical when forced
trained by obedience, until obedience becomes impossible
Her superpower is not beauty. It’s clarity under pressure.
All right. Juliet—let’s begin where the world begins to lean on you.**
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**Welcome back. But first, If you’re joining us now for the first time, here is what you must know.
Verona is split by a feud between two houses: Montague and Capulet. Romeo Montague meets Juliet Capulet at a feast, and they fall in love with reckless sincerity. They marry in secret—hoping, perhaps, that love might stitch together what hatred tore.
However the city runs on pride and sudden violence. A street fight ends in death. Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished. Juliet faces a forced marriage. A message fails to arrive. The tragedy does what tragedy does.
Today, we step away from the crowd and speak to one young man at the center.
Romeo.
George
Romeo, you are often described as impulsive. Romantic. Dramatic.
Let me ask a sharper question:
When people call you “rash,” what do they fail to see?
ROMEO:
They fail to see… I was trying to be good.
Not perfect. Not wise. But good.**
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**A large National Council of Teachers of English teacher survey reported by Education Week lists Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet among the most frequently assigned texts in U.S. And Folger Shakespeare Library notes its edition sales (a good “what schools buy” proxy) had Romeo and Juliet first, followed by Hamlet, Macbeth, then A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, and Julius Caesar.
But before I start talking about British school subject matter, I better describe one certificate and one assessment of skills that are more or less standard in the United Kingdom.
First, there is the GCSE or General Certificate of Secondary Education.
It’s the main set of school qualifications students typically take in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, usually at age 15–16 (Year 11). Students take several subjects (like English, Math, Sciences, History, etc.), and the results are used for next steps such as A-levels or vocational courses.
And then there is the AQA - which stands for Assessment and Qualifications Alliance an exam board in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland that creates the syllabuses, sets the exams, and award qualifications for subjects such as English, History, Sciences, etc.).
Now back to the Shakespearean plays most frequently studied in the United Kingdom.
Most-studied in UK secondary schools - In the UK, the gravitational center is Macbeth—especially at GCSE level. A UK secondary teaching survey reports Macbeth as the most popular overall, and one study cited within the literature reports ~65% teaching it for GCSE (with Romeo and Juliet next).
Exam boards also list Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night. 12th night is sometimes add it to the list.
So before I start going into some of the modern productions of Shakespeare's plays, I thought it might be more fun, as well as instructional, to go back and look at the originals.
But first I'm going to give you what I hope is a simple timeline - about a minute - that roughly puts Romeo and Juliet into perspective date wise.
Early 1590s: early blood-and-thunder tragedy + first big history hits (think Henry VI plays, Richard III).
1594–1596: lively early comedies and experiments as his voice sharpens (e.g., Love's Labour's Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream).
c. 1594–1596: Romeo and Juliet (mid-1590s), one of his early breakthrough tragedies.
1595–1596: Richard II (another key mid-1590s work).
1596–1597: The Merchant of Venice (often placed around this period).
1598–1599: Much Ado About Nothing (late-1590s “mature comedy”).
1599–1600: Julius Caesar (turn-of-the-century political tragedy).
1599–1601: Hamlet (written around this window; many place it at 1601).
Early 1600s: the “big tragedy” period ramps up (including Macbeth, usually dated after James’s 1603 accession).
1610–1611: late “romance/magic” phase, including The Tempest and The Winter's Tale.
1613: very late career work like Henry VIII.**
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**Mr. Shakespeare, in our previous episode, you were talking about your life and your literary career. Could you briefly remark on the uniqueness of Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, as well as their importance to literature.
Shakespeare
Now I could not speak to this assemblage without addressing the subject of my play Hamlet. Many individuals have called it my greatest play. Here is a prince torn between revenge, morality, and his own inaction. With the simple, yet profound, words ‘To be, or not to be…,’ I attempted to capture a question that has haunted humans for centuries: what does it mean to act, and what does it mean to live? In King Lear, I explored family, power, and madness, peeling back the layers of human pride and vulnerability. In Othello, I explored jealousy and how manipulation destroy trust, while in Macbeth I examined ambition, guilt, and the blurred lines between fate and choice. In each play, characters are no longer symbols or types—they are fully human, with thoughts, fears, and contradictions that mirror our own.
To use a modern day analogy, this was like a musician dropping three platinum albums in twelve months. I wasn’t just producing — I was redefining what theater could be.
This is the run that still leaves critics amazed: the great tragedies. Between about 1600 and 1608, I wrote Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth.
Mr. Shakespeare, could you specifically comment on your play Othello.
Certainly. Othello (written in 1603–04), is a love story poisoned by jealousy. Add Iago, one of literature’s great villains, and you have a play that feels chillingly modern. In Othello, jealousy and manipulation take center stage.
I understand that in the character of Iago, you make an excellent comment on the subject of jealousy.
Yes, Iago warns in the play, ‘O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.’ With just a few words, I tried to capture the destructive power of envy and the ease with which human trust can be undone.
That is very well said. Could you go on in the same vein.
It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul,
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars!
It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood;
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light:
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore,
Should I repent me: but once put out thy light,
Thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat
That can thy light relume. When I have pluck’d the rose,
I cannot give it vital growth again.
It must needs wither: I’ll smell it on the tree.
Ah balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword! One more, one more.
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,
And love thee after. One more, and this the last:
So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears: this sorrow’s heavenly;
It strikes where it doth love.**
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**You see, by 1582, when I was only eighteen, I married a lady by the name of Anne Hathaway, Some scholars Believe that my wive's name was actually Agnes. In any case, our first daughter, Susanna, was born the following year. Twins, Hamnet and Judith, followed in 1585. Unfortunately my dear son Hamnet later died.
And then comes the mystery: the so-called “lost years.” Between 1585 and 1592, I completely disappear from the historical record. No plays, no mentions, no documents, but what we do know is that by 1592, I was in the city of London and making a name for myself. A rival playwright, Robert Greene, derided me in print as an “upstart crow.” For all its venom, the insult is proof that I had arrived — I was already challenging the university-trained writers and beginning my rise to the very top of the Elizabethan stage.
George
So Mr. Shakespeare, it would seem that one might say that you were fully in the London scene.
Shakespeare
Precisely! By the early 1590s, I was fully in the - as you call it - London scene — which meant two things: theater and plague. In 1592, theaters were shut down because of an outbreak, and with the stage dark, I began to write poetry. Today the public might refer to this time in my life as my side-hustle era. I published two long narrative poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, dedicated to a wealthy young noble, the Earl of Southampton. You flatter a patron, they fund your career. And the process worked. These poems put my name in print for the first time.
And in 1609, I published a book of sonnets that included the famous “shall I compare to a summers day”
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.**
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**Greetings Mr. Bartley. Let me begin by saying that if you visit the city of Stratford-upon-Avon in England today, the first thing you’ll probably hear is that I was born in 1564. We don’t actually know the exact day, but we do know that I was baptized on April 26th at Holy Trinity Church. Since baptisms usually happened a few days after birth, tradition has settled on April 23rd — St. George’s Day — as my birthday. A fitting coincidence, since St. George is England’s patron saint and many individuals said during an after my life that Iwould become England’s greatest poet.
Master Shakespeare, could you tell us a little bit more
about YOUR background in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Certainly. I was the son of John Shakespeare, a glove maker and part-time wool dealer who rose to become an alderman in the town, and Mary Arden, who came from a well-off farming family. My parents gave me a household connected both to trade and to old Warwickshire landowners.
Mr. Shakespeare, may I be so bold as to ask you what irritates you the most?
What stings is when people decide
I simply sprang from the stage fully formed.
No rough drafts.
No homework.
Just “Ta-da, here’s Hamlet.”
I was not born quoting To be, or not to be”?
When I was twelve,
my most famous line was probably,
“Master, may I please go outside? My hand is cramping.”**
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**Now when I started this podcast I knew that I wanted to use a somewhat similar device WHERE I interviewed THE characters in Shakespeare's play - that could be very instructive and lots of fun. But first I wanted to get the relatively tedious stuff out of the way first - starting with rhetorical devices. And then I DELVED into several episodes dealing with the plague in England during Shakespeare's time. Interestingly enough topic the all important subject of the plague was not even discussed in my Shakespeare courses in college. But then again, that was before Covid. And I thought it would be especially interesting to compare Elizabethan societies reaction to the plague with contemporary reactions to Covid. Both were deadly airborne diseases, and while Shakespeare's contemporaries how to comparatively primitive understanding of how the plague was spread, the dynamics of the plague were surprisingly similar to the dynamics of Covid - showing that people are basically people - no matter what the historical period. Oh and by the way, since the subject of death could often be very heavy I thought the best way to approach it was to have relatively brief episodes - lasting approximately 15 minutes each.
But for a good part of the rest of this podcast series I went to continue a conversation with William Shakespeare, and next month start a look at the writers works, and a series of conversations with various characters - and some of Shakespeare's characters were fascinating individuals
GEORGE (quiet):
But first. You might say that We like to imagine Shakespeare alone with a quill, serenely producing masterpieces.
But the theatre didn’t run on serenity.
It ran on deadlines.
A play had to be ready.
Actors had to learn parts.
Costumes had to exist.
A crowd had to be fed a new story—often constantly.**
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**Last episode we placed you in the Bishopsgate area by documentary footprints.
Now we move a short distance to the engine room: Shoreditch—where purpose-built theatres rose.
Two key playhouses defined the neighborhood:
The Theatre (built 1576) — built by James Burbage in Shoreditch.
The Curtain (opened 1577) — also in Shoreditch, near Curtain Close.
Both sat outside the City of London’s jurisdiction, in a zone where entertainment could operate with fewer city restraints.
WILL:
In other words: a borderland.
GEORGE:
Exactly. A liberty zone—where London’s appetite could be fed without London’s conscience being too inconvenienced.
8:00–15:00 THEN: A walking tour in sound
GEORGE:
Will, walk us into Shoreditch on a performance day. What do we hear?
WILL:
Noise first. Always noise.
Hawkers. Apprentices. Laughter that sounds like daring.
And the constant London music: bargaining.
You smell food, sweat, and the city’s open secret—too many bodies too close.**
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**GEORGE:
Before we start, I want to be fair to the truth.
We do not have a neat, signed lease saying:
“William Shakespeare, here is your first London room, congratulations.”
In fact, Shakespeare’s early London years are famously foggy.
What we have instead is a trail of documents — tax records, parish lists — the kind of evidence that proves you existed in a place even if doesn’t give you a cozy story.
WILL:
History often remembers a man
not when he is dreaming,
but when he is owing.
GEORGE:
Exactly.
So today, we’re going to walk into London the way a historian has to: by following the paper.
GEORGE:
Here’s our first solid anchor: by the late 1590s, Shakespeare is recorded in the parish of St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate.
The Folger has a documented record: the Lay Subsidy Roll for St. Helen’s (1598) lists “William Shakespeare” among parish householders and gives his assessed wealth and tax.
And the UK National Archives teaching packet includes transcripts from tax commissioner records (1597 and 1598) tied to St. Helen’s/Bishopsgate, showing Shakespeare listed among those who hadn’t paid what was due.
WILL (dry):
So my earliest London address is… a bill?
GEORGE:
In a sense, yes.
The National Archives packet explicitly describes a 1597 list of people in St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate who had not paid, with Shakespeare’s goods valued and tax owed.
And the same packet includes a 1598 list in St. Helen’s parish and a later Exchequer entry showing the tax debt continuing.**
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**GEORGE:
The Bills of Mortality—weekly printed tallies—turned death into public information, something people watched like weather. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
WILL:
And once death is printed, it becomes “real” in a new way.
But it also becomes… manageable.
A column of numbers fits neatly on a page.
A grave does not.
GEORGE:
That’s the paradox: a bill can keep the dead visible—
and it can also teach the city to normalize loss.
WILL:
Yes.
A repeated tragedy becomes background noise unless the heart fights it.
GEORGE:
And then there’s the other “memorial space” in your era: the theatre itself.
After major plague closures, theatres reopened—like after the 1603 outbreak, with reopening in April 1604.
WILL:
And the crowd that returned was not innocent.
They returned carrying private funerals.
GEORGE:
So the playhouse becomes a communal ritual of memory—without calling itself a memorial.**
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**GEORGE:
Today: How Plague Trained Us
How plague trained Elizabethan culture—audiences included—
toward certain fears and reflexes…
and how COVID trained us in remarkably similar ways.
GEORGE:
Quick reminder: my Shakespeare can look back from the present day—films, scholarship, modern claims—
but he cannot predict the future. No prophecy.
WILL:
Memory, yes.
Foresight, no.
GEORGE:
Now, When I say “habits of mind,” I mean the reflexes that become automatic:
how you interpret a cough
how you feel about crowds
what you do with your hands
what you believe when you’re afraid
what you do to feel safe
who you trust, and how quickly you withdraw trust
WILL:
An epidemic trains a person the way war trains a person—
not by speeches, but by repeated fear.
GEORGE:
Exactly. Repetition makes instinct.**
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**GEORGE:
Now, When I say “habits of mind,” I mean the reflexes that become automatic:
how you interpret a cough
how you feel about crowds
what you do with your hands
what you believe when you’re afraid
what you do to feel safe
who you trust, and how quickly you withdraw trust
WILL:
An epidemic trains a person the way war trains a person—
not by speeches, but by repeated fear.
GEORGE:
Exactly. Repetition makes instinct.
GEORGE:
Will—give me the plague-trained mind in your world. What habits did people acquire?
WILL:
I will give you six, sir—six habits the plague taught my city.
Habit 1: Vigilance without rest
WILL:
The plague teaches you to scan.
To listen for coughs.
To watch faces.
To read the street like a warning.
GEORGE:
Hypervigilance.
WILL:
Yes. And it is exhausting.**
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**GEORGE:
In this series we’ve treated plague as a character.
We’ve treated fear as a character.
We’ve treated rumor, policy, numbers—characters.
Today I want to treat the audience itself as a character.
Not a passive crowd.
A living organism.
WILL:
Yes.
A crowd is not merely many people.
It is one creature with many hearts.
GEORGE:
And after plague, that creature is wounded.
WILL:
Wounded—and hungry.
GEORGE:
Hungry for what?
WILL:
For company.
For permission to feel.
For a story that does not lie to them…
but also does not crush them.
George - What the plague did to the audience before they even arrived
Let’s build the world they were walking in.
Your city tracked death publicly.
Bills. Lists. Tallies. Numbers.
WILL:
Yes.
A city reading its own obituary in installments.**
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**WILL:
When the theatre reopened, the audience came in carrying private funerals.
They had lost parents, children, friends, patrons, rivals.
They had seen doors marked.
They had heard carts.
They had watched the city grow quiet.
So when they watched tragedy, they were not merely entertained—
they were rehearsing mortality in public.
GEORGE:
That aligns with scholarship arguing that early modern tragic drama helped audiences imagine and process mortality—that theatre became one of the culture’s instruments for dealing with death.
WILL:
Yes.
And comedy served them too—because laughter was proof they were still alive.
But here is the key:
grief made them better listeners.
GEORGE:
Better listeners.
WILL:
Yes.
When you’ve buried someone, words change weight.
A threat sounds sharper.
A reconciliation sounds holier.
A betrayal sounds personal.
The audience did not hear with leisure.
They heard with history.**
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**GEORGE:
Today: trust and betrayal—
why people cling to rumors, why institutions lose credibility,
and why truth-telling has to be humane… or it fails.
GEORGE:
Reminder: my Shakespeare can look back from today at his life on earth—films, scholarship, modern claims—
but he cannot predict the future. No prophecy.
WILL:
I may remember what was.
I may observe what is.
But I may not speak of what shall be.
GEORGE:
During COVID, the WHO used a word that nailed it: “infodemic.”
They define it as an overabundance of information—including false or misleading information—that makes it hard to find trustworthy guidance.
WILL:
A disease of information—
how modern, and how ancient.
GEORGE:
Exactly. And that’s our theme:
the internet didn’t invent misinformation—
it changed the speed, scale, and business model.
But rumor itself?
Rumor is a very old actor.**
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**GEORGE:
Today: the social contract.
Who bears the risk, who gets protected, who gets blamed, and who gets forgotten—
in plague-time England and in COVID-era America.
Quick reminder: my Shakespeare can look back from the present day at his life on earth—films, scholarship, modern claims—
but he cannot predict the future. No prophecy.
WILL:
Memory, yes.
Foresight, no.
GEORGE:
When I say “social contract,” I don’t mean a philosophy seminar.
I mean the unwritten deal we make in a crisis:
Who is asked to sacrifice?
Who is allowed to stay safe?
Who is policed?
Who is believed?
WILL:
And who is… expendable.**
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**GEORGE:
Today: Bills of Mortality in plague London—
and COVID dashboards in our century.
How counting the dead can help a society tell the truth…
and how counting can also numb the heart.
GEORGE:
Quick reminder: my Shakespeare can look back from the present day.
He can read scholarship, watch modern productions, react to modern claims—
but he cannot predict the future. No prophecy.
WILL:
I am allowed memory.
Not foresight.
George, one might say that numbers become a character in epidemics
GEORGE:
When plague strikes, people don’t only want comfort.
They want certainty.
And certainty often arrives wearing a disguise: a chart.
WILL:
Because a chart feels like a railing on a steep stair.
You clutch it, even if it won’t stop you from falling.**
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**GEORGE (quiet):
Now When people get scared, they don’t only ask, “What is happening?”
They ask, “What can I do?”
And if the honest answer is “not much,”
we don’t accept it.
We reach for something—anything—
a charm, a potion, a ritual, a headline, a miracle.
Isn't that true Master Shakespeare?
WILL (dry):
Yes, Humanity’s oldest hobby: bargaining with reality.
GEORGE:
Today: cures, quacks, and miracles—
plague time versus COVID time—
not as medical instructions, but as a portrait of the human mind under pressure.**
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**GEORGE:
Today is Episode Three of our plague-and-COVID series:
Quarantine. Blame. Meaning.
Not the medicine—
the human weather.
GEORGE:
Quick reminder: my Shakespeare can look back from the present day at his life on earth—
he can watch films, read scholarship, comment on modern interpretations—
but he cannot predict the future. No prophecies. No spoilers.
WILL:
I may remember the storm—
but I may not name tomorrow’s clouds.
Because well the disease attacks the body but fear attacks the imagination and the imagination
GEORGE:
In Episode One we lived inside the dread: two invisible enemies, two centuries, one species.
In Episode Two we talked about closed theatres and open screens—art trying to breathe through a mask.
Today: the part that gets personal fast.
Quarantine—the walls go up.
Blame—the finger points.
Meaning—the mind hunts for a story that can contain fear.
WILL:
And when meaning cannot be found, sir—
men will invent it, as children invent monsters in the dark.
GEORGE:
When people picture plague time, they imagine one big cloud of doom.
But the lived reality was often very specific.
A house. A door. A mark.**
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GEORGE:
This is Episode Two of our plague-and-COVID series.
Last time we met two invisible enemies and noticed how history doesn’t repeat itself—
but it does rehearse.
Today: what happens to art when gathering becomes dangerous.
What happens to theatre when breath becomes suspicious.
WILL:
And what happens when the crowd—the glorious crowd—
is declared a hazard.
GEORGE:
Quick reminder: my Shakespeare can look back from the present day.
He can read modern scholarship, watch modern productions, react to films—
but he cannot predict the future beyond “now.” No prophecy, no spoilers.
WILL:
I may critique. I may lament. I may laugh.
But I may not foretell.
GEORGE:
When plague hit London hard, one of the most dramatic effects—
and for you, the most personal—was the closure of playhouses.
WILL:
Theatre is a creature of crowds. Plague is a creature that hates crowds.
We were natural enemies.
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**Before we start, a rule for anyone joining us:
In my podcast, Shakespeare—the character—has the ability to look back from our present day to his life on earth.
So he can react to films, modern productions, scholarship, the whole lot.
But—this matters—he cannot predict the future in any way.
No prophecies. No “coming attractions.” No magic spoilers.
WILL:
I may remember, yes. I may reflect. I may even revise my opinions.
But I may not play oracle.
GEORGE:
Perfect. Because today is not fortune-telling.
It’s a conversation across centuries—about what it feels like when the world closes its doors.
GEORGE:
Let’s start with something simple and terrifying:
A day begins, and you don’t know what the day is going to cost you.
WILL:
That is a fine definition of plague time.
GEORGE:
Paint me a scene. Not the grand history-book stuff.
One street. One door. One ordinary person.
WILL (slow, precise):
Very well. Imagine a London lane.
Not a romantic lane—no charming cobbles for tourists—
a lane that smells of work and waste and too many bodies too close together.**
A woman opens her shutters…
and she does not look for the weather.
She looks for silence.
Because silence means the carts have not begun.
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**In the second half of 1564, more than 200 inhabitants of Stratford are buried—about one-seventh of the town.
MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
One-seventh.
GEORGE:
Which means: you don’t get to pretend it’s somewhere else.
And another Stratford record helps us track the rhythm of fear.
The Folger’s documentation notes the outbreak breaking out that summer, deadliest in September, and that it wasn’t until the following February that the worst was over.
MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
So it had a season.
GEORGE:
A season, yes.
And isn’t that terrifying?—to live in a town where death becomes a season, like harvest.
GEORGE:
Now here’s a detail I love because it’s so human.
The Stratford Corporation—the town leadership—meets during this period and makes a choice:
they meet outside, in the Chapel garden, specifically to reduce the chance of infection.
MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
Outdoors—because indoors is… closer.
GEORGE:
Because indoors is shared air. Shared breath.
And even without germ theory, they understood this much: closeness is danger.**
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**In the previous episode, I mentioned that I was going to talk briefly about Hamnet, Shakespeare's son. Hamnet was a twin, and his sister's name was Judith. Now we do know that Hamlet died in 1596 - he was only 11 years old and was buried on August the 11th, 1596 in Stratford -upon - Avon. Basically all we know is that he died and not the cause of death.
There is a very popular novel by Maggie O'Farrell called Hamnet that was published in 2020. The book focuses on the death of Hamnet and his parent’s grief. It can best be described as historical fiction largely because it says the cause of Hamnet's death was the plague - certainly possible - but we have no record of the child dying from the plague. Personally I feel the book is a bit overlong - but maybe that is just me - I am eager to see the movie aversion, but have not yet because of transportation reasons.
But when I do see the movie, I know I will have a lot to say about it in this podcast.
Anyway, there is no question that the plague had tremendous effects upon Stratford - and I want to touch on some of them in this episode.
SFX: a wagon wheel clattering… leather creak… wind… distant bell… then the river sound fades behind.
GEORGE (low, vivid):
There’s a sound you don’t expect in a Shakespeare story.
Not a trumpet. Not applause.
A wagon.**
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**GEORGE:
Close your eyes and stand with me in Stratford-upon-Avon—an English market town of roughly fifteen hundred souls, ringed by fields, sheep, mud, and gossip.
No phones. No streetlights. No “I’ll do it tomorrow” the way we mean it.
And today, we’re not going to London. We’re not going to the Globe.
We’re going to spend one ordinary day in Stratford—
and watch how an ordinary day can build an extraordinary mind.
SFX: Footsteps on packed earth. A door opens.
GEORGE (calling):
Master Shakespeare! Are you awake?
MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
Awake? I have been up this hour and more. A house with many bodies does not sleep late—even when it wishes to.
GEORGE:
Set the scene for us. Where are we?
MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
Henley Street. My father’s house—our house—
and also his work. For the home and the shop are stitched together, like lining to leather.
GEORGE:
So you’re growing up… in a business.
MASTER SHAKESPEARE:
A trade, sir. Gloves, leatherwork—tanned hides, cutting, shaping, selling. And you learn early that a town is not made of poetry.
It is made of work.**
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**Welcome to celebrate creativity - and this series is Conversations with Shakespeare. Rhetorical triangle - part two
In the previous podcast we talked about the three central parts of a rhetorical triangle - think of the rock group ELP or Emerson Lake and Palmer from the 70s and you have E for ethos P and L for logos. Hope you've got that down
Now the three aspects of rhetoric shown on the sides of the triangle are: -and stay with me
Purpose
Purpose is the author's reason for the argument or statement. It is used to connect ethos and pathos. The author or speaker's purpose typically reflects personal or societal circumstances. Three common persuasive purposes are to assert, effect change or negotiate. Again, using the vaccine conspiracy theory as a model - the purpose - always unstated - is to divide and cause unrest.
Tone
Tone is the overall attitude and approach the author has in conveying their argument. It connects ethos to logos. Word choice is the main vehicle for establishing tone. Some common examples of tone in persuasive writing include complimentary, nostalgic or ironic. Saying a law is wrong and saying that same law is inequitable might mean the same thing - but the words wrong and inequitable are generally used with different audiences that you want to reach.
Style
Style is the method that the author or speaker uses to convey their message to the audience. It connects logos and pathos. Style usually describes the order of ideas. When we get into rhetorical devices, you will see how those devices can determine the style of the words used to persuade. An author's choice in delivery method — whether that be a written essay, a speech or a fictional story — is also a part of style.**
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**I have decided to call a slight halt to episodes regarding Shakespeare's initial exposure to rhetorical devices for several reasons. I wanted to concentrate on a few of the major rhetorical devices, and I have done so in the past few episodes. And I certainly will talk about some of the rhetorical devices that were most important to Shakespeare during future episodes. And no, this is not the last time that I will mention rhetorical devices.
But ultimately, the “number” of rhetorical devices isn’t like the number of planets. It depends on how finely you slice the pie.
How many rhetorical devices are there?
Well, At least hundreds show up across handbooks.
If you include every named sub-type, variant, and overlapping term across centuries and languages, you’re in the realm of many hundreds to well over a thousand.
That range isn’t because anyone is sloppy—it’s because rhetoric is a naming tradition, not a fixed periodic table.
And there are many reasons there are “so many”: fine divisions and overlapping names. There is no doubt that Shakespeare had to learn hundreds of rhetorical devices, but I do think we've covered the main ones.
Now there are many ways to explain why there are so many:**
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**Tonight’s device is one I love because it feels human.
It’s called aporia.
GEORGE:
Master Shakespeare, I’m going to pronounce it and then stare at you like a student: uh-PORE-ee-uh.
SHAKESPEARE (approving):
Aye. A word that already sounds uncertain—fit for its purpose.
GEORGE:
Listeners—plain definition:
Aporia is when a speaker expresses doubt or uncertainty—real or performed—often as a way to think out loud, invite the audience in, or make a point feel more honest.
In other words: “I’m not sure… but let’s consider this.”
SHAKESPEARE:
Aye. Doubt as a doorway.
GEORGE:
Now—because I promised repetition and accomplishment—
Pop Quiz Corner (10 seconds):
Which one is aporia?
A) “This is definitely the right answer.”
B) “I’m not sure what the right answer is… but let’s look at it together.”
SHAKESPEARE (dry):
If they choose A, they may apply for a job in politics.
GEORGE:
Yes — B. The doubt is the device.**
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**GEORGE:
All right, for the listener who doesn’t want a grammar lecture: antithesis is when you place two opposing ideas side by side—often in a balanced structure—so the contrast hits hard.
Like: light and darkness, love and hate, life and death.
Well let me see let's say give me a famous example one that listeners will recognize
SHAKESPEARE:
Aye. Two wrestlers in one ring. The mind loves a contest.
GEORGE:
Now—here’s my big question. Why does antithesis feel so Shakespearean? It’s everywhere.
SHAKESPEARE:
Because men are everywhere divided.
We want, and we fear.
We swear, and we doubt.
We praise, and we wound.
Antithesis is not merely a device—’tis a mirror.
GEORGE:
So it’s not decoration. It’s psychology.
SHAKESPEARE:
Now you speak sense.
GEORGE:
Okay, give me a famous example—one that listeners will recognize even if they’ve only survived Shakespeare in high school.
SHAKESPEARE:
Then we go to Verona, where passion runs faster than wisdom.**
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**SHAKESPEARE:
Aye. The mind loves threes.
Beginning, middle, end.
Birth, life, death.
Knock, knock, knock.
GEORGE:
I knew you’d do that—three examples to explain the “rule of three.”
SHAKESPEARE:
Would you have me offer four? That way lies chaos.
GEORGE:
So why does three work so well? What’s the magic?
SHAKESPEARE:
Because one is a point.
Two is a choice.
Three is a pattern.
GEORGE:
That is… annoyingly perfect.
SHAKESPEARE:
I have practiced.
GEORGE:
Okay—if someone’s never heard the term tricolon, they’ve still heard the sound of it. It shows up in speeches, prayers, comedy, slogans… and in your plays.**
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**GEORGE:
Master Shakespeare, are you with us?
SHAKESPEARE (warm, amused):
Indeed, sir. I am ever at your elbow—though I confess, your age is wondrous. In mine own day, men grew old chiefly by avoiding theaters.
GEORGE:
Ha! We’ll take the win where we can.
All right—anaphora. I’m going to pronounce it slowly so I don’t embarrass myself: a-NA-pho-ra.
SHAKESPEARE:
A fair stumbling, sweetly done. And what think you it means?
GEORGE:
Here’s my best “general adult” definition: anaphora is when you repeat the same word or phrase at the beginning of a line or sentence—and that repetition builds rhythm, emphasis, and emotional force.
SHAKESPEARE:
Aye. Like a drumbeat that gathers soldiers—or gathers tears.**
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**GEORGE (to mic, playful):
All right. Confession
Some people hear the phrase “rhetorical devices” and immediately reach for the nearest exit sign.
But over the years I have learned that rhetorical devices are not decorations. They’re not lace on the edge of language.
They’re engines.
They’re how a speaker makes an audience feel the truth—
even when the truth is… being negotiated.
And Shakespeare? Shakespeare wasn’t born with a quill in his hand.
He was trained.
Today we walk into the rhetoric gym.
GEORGE:
And we’re going to meet the young Shakespeare as he learns the craft of making words do things.
But first
GEORGE:
This is Celebrate Creativity. I’m George Bartley.
This series blends historical research with fiction and imagined conversations. Not a documentary, not advice.
Today: the schooling that made Shakespeare’s language possible—and how those rhetorical “moves” show up in the plays like fingerprints.
Now Picture it: a grammar school. from at least six o'clock in the morning to 6 o'clock at night Monday through Saturday. Repetition that drills itself into the mind.
Latin. Translation. Memorization. Imitation.
Not because the world is kind, but because the world is competitive.
A boy learns to hold language in his mouth like a tool—and to sharpen it.
GEORGE:
Master Shakespeare—be honest. Was Learning about rhetoric miserable?
SHAKESPEARE (pleasant, sardonic):
It was character-building.
GEORGE:
That’s what people say when it was miserable.**
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**George:
Stratford-upon-Avon is not London. Not even close.
London is noise—argument, urgency, ambition. London is a place where a man can vanish into a crowd and become someone else by lunchtime.
Stratford is… remembered.
Stratford is: “Ah, there he goes—John Shakespeare’s boy.”
Stratford is: “Did you hear what the Ardens are up to?”
Stratford is: “Mind your tongue—your aunt will hear you from three streets away.”
It is a market town, where your reputation is a second coat you can’t remove.
George:
And yet, it is also a place of steady human theatre: bargaining, boasting, flirting, grudges that last twenty years, and kindness that arrives like sunlight without announcement.
Somewhere in that living, breathing scene is a boy—bright-eyed, quick to imitate voices—learning people, not from books, but from… ears.
GEORGE:
So before we talk about plays—before we talk about kings and ghosts and love and murder—let’s talk about the Stratford that made a mind like Shakespeare’s possible.
Don't like that delete thatAnd to help, I’ve invited a special guest.
SFX: A polite knock at an old wooden door.
GEORGE (smiling):
Master Shakespeare?**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity. I’m George Bartley.
For the next section of this podcast, I’m beginning a new series I’m calling Conversations with Shakespeare. And tonight's episode is called get here anyone who ever try to do the right thing Transition to Shakespeare.
I want to start with something simple—something honest.
I’m doing this now because I’m seventy-five years old, and I have finally stopped worrying about whether I’m doing Shakespeare the “right” way.
When you’re younger, you spend a surprising amount of energy trying to prove you belong in the room. You want to sound smart enough. You imagine that it is important to stay ahead of critics you will never even meet. You worry about being corrected. You worry about being dismissed.
At this age, I’m less interested in proving anything.
I’m more interested in telling the truth—about what Shakespeare has meant in my life, and why I think he can mean something in yours, even if you’ve never read a play, even if high school made you hate the whole idea, even if the word “Shakespeare” makes you feel like someone just assigned you a term paper and forgot to ask if you’re alive.
Because I’m going to argue something gently but firmly in this series:
Shakespeare does not belong only to scholars.
He does not belong only to actors.
He does not belong only to English teachers.
He belongs to anyone who has ever lived long enough to look back on a moment and think, If I could do that again, I might choose differently.
He belongs to anyone who has ever watched a family argument turn into something much bigger than it started as.
Anyone who has ever wanted something so badly they could taste it—only to realize the wanting itself was dangerous.
Anyone who has ever loved someone and thought, How did I get here?
Anyone who has ever tried to do the right thing—and somehow made it worse.**
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**NARRATOR:
New Year’s Day.
The museum is quiet the way a room gets quiet after somebody says,
“We need to talk.”
Last night the toys lit up the patio with fireworks—
and the Director lit up the Night Watchman with consequences.
And now… here is the night watchmen
NIGHT WATCHMAN (low, to himself):
Okay.
I’m not breaking in.
I’m… returning property.
And maybe… returning hope.
NARRATOR:
He’s been fired.
But he came anyway—because when you care about a place,
you don’t stop caring just because someone took your badge.
SFX: the door to the office of the director of the museum opens. A chair scoots. Papers shuffle.
DIRECTOR (off, mild but firm):
Mr. night watchman, I wondered if you’d show up to see me.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (startled):
Sir—! I— I can explain—
DIRECTOR:
Good.
Because I have a clipboard, three forms, and a pen that has already forgiven me for what I’m about to do.**
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**NARRATOR:
The Night Watchman rises from his desk and follows the sound—past the exhibits, past the quiet corridors, toward the patio doors.
Outside, the winter air holds that New Year’s feeling: cold, sharp, expectant.
And inside the museum… something is celebrating like it has a permit.
SFX: Door latch. Soft squeak. Patio door opens.
SCENE 1 — THE PATIO REVEAL
SFX: Outdoor patio ambience: faint wind; distant city fireworks; then—very close—party pops, tiny whistles, and toy-sized cheering.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (stunned):
Oh.
Oh, no.
NARRATOR:
The Watchman steps onto the patio and sees it: toys everywhere, arranged like a gala. A “stage” made from stacked display risers. A “VIP area” behind a velvet rope they have somehow… acquired.
And at the center: a very earnest planning committee.
BARBIE (bright, authoritative):
Okay! Everyone! Remember: we are doing this with taste.
KEN (trying to sound official):
Taste. With… also excitement. Tasteful excitement.
SLINKY (bouncy, nervous):
Taste is good! Taste is safe! Taste does not summon the fire department!
ETCH A SKETCH (grand, French-leaning, dramatic):
Non, non, non—taste is not enough! We require… symmetry. We require… balance. We require… a finale that is like… how you say… a ballet of the stars.
RUBIK’S CUBE (dry):
A ballet of the stars. On a patio. In December.
FURBY (1998-ish, with a little furbish sparkle):
Doo-ay! Tee-kah! PARTY-PAHTY!
NIGHT WATCHMAN (calling out):
Okay—okay—everybody freeze.
SFX: A chorus of little “Eep!” “Oh!” “Gasp!” A springy boing.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (trying to sound calm):
What… is going on out here?
BARBIE (as if this is obvious):
It’s New Year’s Eve.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Yes. I’m aware. I have a calendar. A very judgmental calendar.
KEN:
We’re doing a midnight celebration.**
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**NARRATOR:
In the museum, toys do not age the way people age.
They don’t get older, exactly.
They get… remembered.
And on the last nights of December, the museum feels like a giant attic—
full of objects that once felt brand new…
and now feel like proof that time is real.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (to mic, mock-host):
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Late Night at the Toy Museum—
Tonight we’re approaching New Year’s.
That magical time when everybody vows to “turn a page”…
even though most of us haven’t finished the last chapter and are actively using the book as a coaster.
And speaking of turning pages—
Ladies and gentlemen—please welcome… Etch A Sketch!
“Tonight’s featured toy didn’t start in America. It started in France, in the late 1950s, My first name was the Magic Screen—and in 1959 I was
NIGHT WATCHMAN (to mic):
Watchmen
So, basically… our guest is European royalty.
ETCH A SKETCH (light French accent, offended-proud):
Mais oui. I am not “a red toy.” I am ze Magic Screen. I am art… contained politely in plastic.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Contained politely… with two knobs.
ETCH A SKETCH:
Two dials. One for horizon… one for destiny. Try to keep up, mon ami.
I accept your applause, your awe, and your immediate apology for ever calling me “that red thing.”
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
He’s already offended. We’re going to have a great night.
ETCH A SKETCH:
I am not offended.
I am… misunderstood.
I am an instrument. A gallery. A discipline.
A tiny rectangle of destiny.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
A tiny rectangle of destiny with two knobs.**
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NIGHT WATCHMAN (to mic, mock-host energy):
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Late Night at the Toy Museum.
Tonight’s top story: New Year’s Eve is the day after tomorrow, which means the museum is preparing the traditional celebration of “fresh starts”… by using the same extension cords from 1997.
And speaking of 1997—remember when our biggest problem was keeping a Tamagotchi alive?
Now I can’t even keep my phone alive without carrying a charger like it’s a life-support system.
But enough about me—let’s talk about the real drama.
No beeping no dramatic monologues no existential crisis from a pocket size objects oh what do we have here he has arrived
Tonight’s featured guest is a toy that goes down, comes back up, and somehow still looks smug about it.
Now back in the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts, the corridors are quieter than usual. Not because the toys are asleep—no, they’ve never been less asleep than the week between Christmas and New Year’s—but because everyone is waiting.
NARRATOR (cont.):
Tomorrow night, this museum celebrates New Year’s Eve. Tonight is the last night before the countdown begins… and the night watchman makes his rounds with the steady patience of a man who has survived dolls, robots, and electronic creatures.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (EBENEZER):
All right, Mr. Museum. One more quiet night. That’s all I ask.
(beat)
No beeping. No dramatic monologues. No existential crises from pocket-sized objects.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (cont.):
…Oh.
NARRATOR:
He has arrived at the Classics & Skill Toys case. Marbles. Jacks. A paddle ball that looks like it has seen war. And in the center, on a small velvet stand, a simple circle of plastic with a string—resting like a relic.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Don’t.
YO-YO (smooth, slightly theatrical):
I was not doing anything… until you accused me of doing something.
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**NARRATOR:
Welcome back to the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—where the lights dim, the doors lock, and the exhibits do what exhibits are not supposed to do.
[SFX: A security door clicks shut.]
NARRATOR (cont.):
Tonight, our night watchman makes his rounds with a thermos of tea, a sensible flashlight, and the quiet confidence of a man who believes no object smaller than a breadbox could possibly ruin his evening.
[SFX: Footsteps. Keys jingle softly.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN (EBENEZER SMITH):
All right, Mr. Museum… let’s see what you’ve got for me tonight. No juggling dolls. No ventriloquist dummies practicing stand-up. No remote-control cars attempting a heist.
[SFX: He stops walking. The ambience hushes slightly.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN (cont.):
Oh. The Digital Fads case.
NARRATOR:
A glass display case labeled “Pocket Companions: 1990s–2000s.” Inside: a pager, a flip phone, a tiny handheld game, and—resting on a velvet stand like a jewel—an egg-shaped plastic keychain with three little buttons.
[SFX: A tiny electronic “BEEP-BEEP!”]
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
…No.
[SFX: “BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!” intensifies.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN (cont.):
Absolutely not. We are not doing this tonight. I remember you. I remember the… the neediness.
NARRATOR:
The night watchman leans closer. The little screen glows with a pixelated face that looks… concerned. Accusatory. Dramatic.
[SFX: “BEEP!” a little sadder now.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Fine. All right. Rule of the museum: if you’re going to speak, you tell me your name and what you are. No mysterious beeping from the shadows. Understood?
[SFX: One polite beep. Then a short, proud chime.]**
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**NIGHT WATCHMAN (mildly amused, to himself):
All right, Museum. Let’s see what you’ve got tonight. No stampedes. No… spontaneous karaoke from the animatronics. And if the wind-up monkey even looks like it’s planning something—no.
SFX: a faint plastic “tap… tap… tap”
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
What was that?
SFX: tiny clicks, like pegs being nudged in a bowl
NIGHT WATCHMAN (approaching):
Okay. Either a mouse has learned arts and crafts… or—
LITE-BRITE (grand, theatrical, as if onstage):
Behold.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
…Hello?
LITE-BRITE (with dignity):
Hello, wanderer of dim hallways. Guardian of velvet ropes. Keeper of “please do not touch” signs. You may address me as—
(a beat —the Artist-in-Residence.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (dry):
You’re a Lite-Brite.
For a basic explanation, I am a classic art toy: a flat plastic board with a grid of tiny holes, a sheet of black paper you place over the board, and lots of small colored pegs. You push the pegs into the holes, and when the light behind the board is turned on, the pegs glow like little stained-glass dots. Kids can follow printed pattern sheets—or freehand their own designs—so it’s part craft, part puzzle, part “tiny theater marquee” for your imagination.
But I like to think of myself as a luminary medium. I am mood lighting with a mission. I am the living marriage of electricity and vision.**
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**NIGHT WATCHMAN (EBENEZER, cheerful):
All right, toys—another calm, orderly night.
Nothing’s going to—
SFX: A sudden electronic WHIRR from a glass case.
SFX: Tiny motor clicks: eyelids opening.
SFX: A bright chirp, then a giggle.
FURBY (loud):
KAH! DOO-AY! NOO-LAH! NOO-LAH!
NIGHT WATCHMAN (startled, then amused):
…And right on schedule, the museum installs a tiny chaos engine.
FURBY:
A-LOH! MAY-MAY! A-LOH MAY-MAY!
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Hello to you too, Sir Fluffington.
Let’s keep it classy. We’re in a museum.**
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**NARRATOR:
It’s Christmas Eve at the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—
after the last visitor has gone,
after the gift-shop lights click off,
after the lobby wreath stops smelling like “busy” and starts smelling like “quiet.”
[SFX: KEY RING JINGLE. DOOR CLICKS. FOOTSTEPS ON TILE.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN (GENTLE, CONTENT):
All right, everybody…
Merry Christmas Eve.
(beat)
Now… let’s have a peaceful night.
No surprises.
No—
NIGHT WATCHMAN (LOOKING UP):
…No surprises.
NARRATOR:
In the Seasonal Traditions Gallery, under the dim night-lights, something small sat on a shelf as if it had always belonged there.
An elf doll.
Not blinking.
Not moving.
Just… waiting.**
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**This episode begins with the night watchmen engaged in conversation with Rubik's Cube.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Mr. cube, I want the museum-tour version of how to start.
RUBIK’S CUBE:
Very well.
Rule one:
Choose one face to become your “home.”
Many begin with white—because it is easy to recognize.
But any color will do.
RUBIK’S CUBE:
Rule two:
Do not attempt to solve everything at once.
Solve a layer.
Then another.
Then another.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
So… first you build a little island of order.
RUBIK’S CUBE:
Yes. And then you expand it.
NARRATOR:
The Night Watchman nods like this is simple.
Which is exactly how the cube likes to begin.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Okay, I’m going to try.
No promises.
RUBIK’S CUBE:
Promises are unnecessary.
Attention is enough.
NARRATOR:
Ebenezer turns the cube, slowly.**
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**NARRATOR:
It’s Christmas Eve at the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—
after the last visitor has gone,
after the gift-shop lights click off,
after the lobby wreath stops smelling like “busy” and starts smelling like “quiet.”
[SFX: KEY RING JINGLE. DOOR CLICKS. FOOTSTEPS ON TILE.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN (GENTLE, CONTENT):
All right, everybody…
Merry Christmas Eve.
(beat)
Now… let’s have a peaceful night.
No surprises.
No—
NIGHT WATCHMAN (LOOKING UP):
…No surprises.
NARRATOR:
In the Seasonal Traditions Gallery, under the dim night-lights, something small sat on a shelf as if it had always belonged there.
An elf doll.
Not blinking.
Not moving.
Just… waiting.**
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**NARRATOR:
In the center of the case sits a classic 3×3 Rubik’s Cube—
a pocket-size universe that has humbled presidents, professors, and perfectly confident ten-year-olds.
It’s the kind of toy that whispers:
“Go ahead. Touch me.
I will teach you something about yourself.”
[SFX: A TINY CLICK. LIKE PLASTIC TURNING—JUST ONCE.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN (startled):
…Did you just…?
RUBIK’S CUBE (CALM, PRECISE):
You heard correctly.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
You talk?
RUBIK’S CUBE:
Only when the building stops pretending it’s busy.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
All right, then.
Who—what—are you, exactly?
RUBIK’S CUBE:
A puzzle.
A mirror.
A small, stubborn cathedral for the human attention span.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
That’s… a lot to put on a little cube.
RUBIK’S CUBE:
So are the expectations.**
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**NARRATOR (WARM, LOW):
Welcome to Celebrate Creativity…
and Conversations with Toys. This episode is VIEW-MASTER: CLICK INTO WONDER.
This podcast is a dramatization that blends historical research with fiction, satire, and imagined conversations between people, toys, and other objects. It is not a documentary and not professional advice of any kind. No character, toy, product, or brand depicted in this podcast is authorized by, endorsed by, or officially affiliated with any company, manufacturer, museum, or organization; references to specific names are for storytelling only and do not imply sponsorship or approval.
I’m George Bartley… now let’s have some fun.
It’s after hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—
the place where the lights go low,
the cameras blink like sleepy fireflies,
and the toys… well.
The toys finally have time to talk.
[SFX: KEY RING JINGLE. A DOOR SOFTLY CLICKS SHUT.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN (EASY, FRIENDLY):
Evening, everybody.
All right… let’s see what kind of trouble you’re in tonight.
[SFX: FOOTSTEPS SLOW. THEN STOP.]**
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**NIGHT WATCHMAN (reading):
“Betsy Wetsy. Vintage baby doll.
A ‘practice baby’—a caretaking toy reflecting changing ideas about childhood play and domestic life…”
NARRATOR:
He pauses, as if the next line might argue back.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (continuing):
“Please do not touch the exhibits.”
That last part—I wrote myself.
[SFX: Another tiny plastic creak.]
BETSY WETSY (bright, polite, slightly prim):
Mr. Smith.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (not surprised, just tired):
Evenin’, Betsy.
BETSY WETSY:
You’re reading it incorrectly.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
I’m reading what it says.
BETSY WETSY (pleasantly firm):
Yes. Incorrectly.
NARRATOR (smiling):
Betsy Wetsy has the tone of someone who has been misunderstood by history…
and would like to speak to the manager of time.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
All right.
What’s the complaint tonight?
BETSY WETSY:
The label suggests I am… novelty.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
It says “caretaking toy.”
BETSY WETSY:
That is correct.
A caretaking toy is not a novelty.
A caretaking toy is training.
NARRATOR:
The Night Watchman looks at the bottle.
Then the diaper.
Then the “no demonstrations” sign he definitely wrote after “The Incident.”
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Betsy… I’m gonna say this kindly.
If you’re about to make a point that requires…
liquid proof…
the answer’s no.
BETSY WETSY (innocent):
Mr. Smith.
I am a lady.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
A lady with plumbing.
BETSY WETSY (cheerful):
A lady with realism.
NARRATOR:
And there it is—Betsy’s proudest word.
Realism.
Because dolls like Betsy weren’t only meant to be held.
They were meant to be managed.
They turned play into a routine: bottle, burp, diaper, lullaby.
Not just “pretend you have a baby,” but “pretend you have a schedule.”
BETSY WETSY (warmly instructive):
I taught responsibility.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
You taught somebody to carry a spare outfit.
BETSY WETSY:
That is responsibility.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (dry):
That’s also… preparedness.
BETSY WETSY (proud):
Exactly.
NARRATOR:
If you’ve never met Betsy Wetsy, here is the simplest way to say it:
she was designed as a “practice baby”—a doll built to imitate baby care in an era when toys were becoming more lifelike, more interactive, more… convincing.
And for a certain kind of childhood, she became a rite of passage.
A tiny domestic universe with a bottle as the sun.
BETSY WETSY (softly pleased):
I was beloved.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
You were… frequently cleaned.
BETSY WETSY:
That is also love.**
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**The alphabet blocks are gathered around the bobble head figure of Edgar Allan Poe - complete with Raven. The alphabet blocks seem to be fascinated by Mr.Poe’s use of language and are clearly intrigued by his words until the night watchmen makes an announcement.
Block a
You are famous for your work of terror. Could you share with us your scariest poem.
Mr. Poe.
That really depends on your opinion - what you believe is scary.
Many people believe my poem The Conqueror Worm is the scariest.
As you probably know, my birth mother was an actress and the stage was very important to her. Some people may not realize it at first but my poem The Conqueror Worm uses the theater as a metaphor for a hopeless death - that we all are ultimately food for worms after we die - so there is no hope.**
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Tonight we leave the playhouse wing and walk—quietly—into a different kind of stage: a mirrored room, a window, and a tube of glass and brass pointed at the sky.
**Because when Edgar Allan Poe looks up, he doesn’t just want a story. He wants an explanation.
SFX: soft footsteps, a faint “gallery hum,” a distant night security beep.
Different exhibit tonight, folks. Same rule, though—no touching the artifacts… even when they start talking back.
Now a telescope, such as the one you see, can be an instrument.But in the hands of the curious—especially the young—it behaves like a toy in the best sense: not a trinket, but a machine that turns wonder into a habit.
And Poe… Poe was the kind of mind that didn’t outgrow wonder.He made literature from it.
He weaponized it.
NARRATOR (leaning into awe):At first, it’s simple: you look through the tube and the sky stops being a ceiling.The moon becomes a place with edges.Stars become objects, not decorations.
But Poe doesn’t stop at looking. He starts asking the dangerous question:“If the universe looks like this… then what must it be?”
And that’s how you get Eureka: not a poem, not a lecture, not quite a treatise—but Poe’s late-life attempt to tell the grandest story of all: how everything began, how it holds together, and how it might end.**
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**NARRATOR / NIGHT WATCHMAN (gentle, amused):
It’s amazing what feels different in a museum at midnight.
In the daytime, the lights are bright, the brochures are tidy, the gift shop is cheerful…
…but when the doors are locked and the echoes stretch a little longer…
you start to notice the small things.
The way the glass cases hold their breath.
The way the EXIT signs glow like tiny red moons.
And, sometimes…
the way one little plastic head keeps nodding…
long after everyone’s gone home.
Tonight, we’re back in the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Ar tifacts.
And down one of the quieter aisles—past the superhero lunchboxes, past the snow globes that never stop snowing—
Somewhere between Shakespeare in his ruffled collar and a slightly bewildered Jane Austen…
there he is.**
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**NARRATOR (WARM, INVITING)
Welcome to Celebrate Creativity and Conversations with Toys,
our after-hours visit to the Metropolitan Museum
of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—
where the lights are low,
the alarms are set,
and words wait quietly on the shelves…
until someone notices them.
Narrator
And we see the action figure of William Shakespeare - complete with quill - surrounded by a group of alphabet blocks. He continues to talk about his life and literary career.
Shakespeare
Many scholars believe that it was around this time that I wrote the comedy As You Like It with its famous all the world’s a stage monologue. By the way, the word sans in the last line of this monologue means without - as you can probably tell, much of my language was quite different from today.
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.**
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**Shakespeare
Hello Mr. Smith. This is William Shakespeare the action figure, and I would be most remiss if I did not continue my narrative regarding my education in Stratford. You see, like many boys of my station, I probably attended the King’s New School in Stratford. It has been so long that I must admit I am a bit foggy. The curriculum would have been heavy on Latin, rhetoric, and the classics. Day after day, I was been drilled in the works of Ovid, Seneca, and Plautus. Later, echoes of those schoolroom authors would resurface in my plays — such as Pyramus and Thisbe in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as the Roman senators in Julius Caesar.
Night watchmen
So when did you start using the alphabet and language so masterfully?
Shakespeare
I certainly intend to address that, but for now be patient, my fellow toys, be patient. You see, by 1582, when I was only eighteen, I married a lady by the name of Anne Hathaway, Some scholars Believe that my wive's name was actually Agnes. In any case, our first daughter, Susanna, was born the following year. Twins, Hamnet and Judith, followed in 1585. Unfortunately my dear son Hamnet later died as a result of the plague.
And then comes the mystery: the so-called “lost years.” Between 1585 and 1592, I completely disappear from the historical record. No plays, no mentions, no documents, but what we do know is that by 1592, I was in the city of London and making a name for myself. A rival playwright, Robert Greene, derided me in print as an “upstart crow.” For all its venom, the insult is proof that I had arrived — I was already challenging the university-trained writers and beginning my rise to the very top of the Elizabethan stage.**
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**Night watchman
I must admit that my first impression of the William Shakespeare action figure was - what is all the big deal. I even have a background in Shakespeare acting - though I don't have a job with that training. But if you look at the William Shakespeare action figure - even though he has a scroll and quiil - your first reaction is what is all the fuss for?
Narrator
As the narrator of this podcast episode, my suggestion is to look at the history of the character behind the William Shakespeare action figure, complete with quill. Do you have any comments, Mr. Shakespeare. I would be surprised if you didn't.
English Shakespeare
Yes gentlemen, if you visit the city of Stratford-upon-Avon in England today, the first thing you’ll probably hear is that I was born in 1564. We don’t actually know the exact day, but we do know that I was baptized on April 26th at Holy Trinity Church. Since baptisms usually happened a few days after birth, tradition has settled on April 23rd — St. George’s Day — as my birthday. A fitting coincidence, since St. George is England’s patron saint and many individuals said during an after my life that Iwould become England’s greatest poet.
Night watchmen
Mr. Shakespeare, I am from the State of Mississippi in the United States, and am currently employed as a night watchmen in this toy museum. Could you tell us about YOUR background in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Shakespeare
Certainly. I was the son of John Shakespeare, a glove maker and part-time wool dealer who rose to become an alderman in the town, and Mary Arden, who came from a well-off farming family. My parents gave me a household connected both to trade and to old Warwickshire landowners.
Night watchman
I can't believe I'm talking to a toy - especially such a small toy - but I guess it isn't every day that you get a chance to talk to the world's greatest writer - even if it is an action figure. Well I might as well ask you - you obviously know that you are very small and stature - but what seems to bother you the most?
Shakespeare
Ah, let's view things in perspective one must realize that after midnight, the Toy Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts
is a very opinionated place.
The teddy bear has thoughts about immigration.
The race cars debate who’s the fastest.
And down one quiet aisle,
between a plastic model of the Globe Theatre
and a bucket of foam swords,
stands a small figure in black.
Black doublet.
White ruff.
Quill pen forever poised above a tiny scroll.
And my name tag reads:
“William Shakespeare Action Figure
c. 2010 – Plastic, Paint, and a Suspiciously Confident Smirk.”
Shakespeare
Good even, kind sir.
You may put “suspiciously confident smirk” in the catalogue if you like,
but ’twas crafted by a very cheap mould.**
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**NARRATOR (WARM, INVITING)
Welcome to Celebrate Creativity and Conversations with Toys,
our after-hours visit to the Metropolitan Museum
of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—
where the lights are low let's get the disclaimer out of the way this podcast behind every line of Shakespeare behind every Erie sentence from Poe behind every every
the alarms are set,
and words wait quietly on the shelves…
until someone notices them.
NARRATOR (WARM, WRAP-UP):
The alphabet blocks settle back into their tray,
quiet again behind glass—
twenty-six little doors
waiting for the next set of hands
to open them.
Wherever you are listening from tonight,
I hope you’ll remember them the next time
you see a word on a page,
or a sign, or a screen.
Behind every line of Shakespeare,
behind every eerie sentence from Poe,
behind every text, email, and grocery list,
there’s still a tiny alphabet,
stacked up like toy blocks,
holding the whole thing together.
Thank you for spending this after-hours visit
at the Metropolitan Museum
of Toys and Childhood Artifacts.**
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Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.
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**NARRATOR (WARM, INVITING)
Welcome to Celebrate Creativity and Conversations with Toys,
our after-hours visit to the Metropolitan Museum
of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—
where the lights are low let's get the disclaimer out of the way this podcast behind every line of Shakespeare behind every Erie sentence from Poe behind every every
the alarms are set,
and words wait quietly on the shelves…
until someone notices them.
NARRATOR (WARM, WRAP-UP):
The alphabet blocks settle back into their tray,
quiet again behind glass—
twenty-six little doors
waiting for the next set of hands
to open them.
Wherever you are listening from tonight,
I hope you’ll remember them the next time
you see a word on a page,
or a sign, or a screen.
Behind every line of Shakespeare,
behind every eerie sentence from Poe,
behind every text, email, and grocery list,
there’s still a tiny alphabet,
stacked up like toy blocks,
holding the whole thing together.
Thank you for spending this after-hours visit
at the Metropolitan Museum
of Toys and Childhood Artifacts.**
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Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.
Send us Fan Mail
**NARRATOR (GEORGE):
The Toy Museum isn’t all hard plastic and sharp corners.
Some shelves are quieter.
Softer.
Places where the edges give way
and the labels blur a little.
Tonight, the Night Watchman has wandered away
from Barbie’s high heels and Ken’s molded hair
into a part of the museum
that feels more like a pillow aisle.
[Footsteps slow. There’s a soft rustle, like fabric against fabric.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Okay. This… is new to me.
NARRATOR:
The shelf in front of him doesn’t look like the stuffed animals of his childhood.
No glass eyes.
No stitched noses.
Just a row of round, squishy shapes—
cats, frogs, bears, foods,
all with the same simple recipe:
Big eyes.
Tiny smile.
Bodies like friendly moons.**
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**NARRATOR (GEORGE):
The Toy Museum remembers everything.
It remembers the first teddy bear sewn by an immigrant.
It remembers Barbie striking a pose at a 1959 toy fair.
It remembers dragon trucks that eat cars
and tiny supermarkets where children practice being grownups.
But tonight,
the museum is thinking in rectangles.
Bricks.
Studs.
The quiet click that has become
one of the most recognizable sounds
in the toy world.
The Night Watchman
has wandered into the construction wing.
[Footsteps on a slightly hollow floor; faint echo.]
NARRATOR:
Shelves of building sets stretch in both directions—
castles, spaceships, cities,
boxes with age ranges on the front
and smiling children on the back.
But on a low pedestal near the center,
there’s a quieter scene.
A cluster of green plates,
a few stalks of brick-built bamboo,
and three black-and-white figures
assembled from a modest handful of pieces.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Ah. And pandas.
Two things I’ve seen everywhere
and never really put together.
Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals by composed by Camille Sans-Saen, Performed by the Seattle Youth Orchestra. Source: https://musopen.org/music/1454-the-carnival-of-the-animals/. License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording).**
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**The Toy Museum has its own kind of gravity.
Once you’ve visited a shelf, it tugs at you.
Tonight, the Night Watchman finds himself
back in the Barbie gallery.
Same pink glow.
Same tiny shoes.
But the spotlight is different.
It’s shifted to the left.
[Soft click of a case light turning on.]
NARRATOR:
Onto a smiling man,
molded hair,
permanent tan,
and a wardrobe that never quite decides what he does for a living.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
All right, then.
Your turn.
KEN (slightly nervous, friendly):
Wow.
Okay. Hi.
Uh… this is weird.**
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**NARRATOR (GEORGE):
The Toy Museum never really sleeps.
It sighs. It settles. It adjusts its labels.
But somewhere, between the glass cases and the security cameras, the night gets… strange.
Previously, the Night Watchman met a bear who smelled like home.
Tonight, he’s walked into a different kind of dream—
one made of high heels, sequins, and an alarming number of tiny pink shoes.
[Footsteps slow. A light switch clicks. A faint, glamorous “whoosh” of spotlights.]
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
…Oh.
Wow.
NARRATOR:
He has found the Barbie gallery.
Rows of dolls in glittery boxes.
Outfits on miniature hangers.
Convertible cars. Dream houses.
An entire closet that looks like it exploded
and politely arranged itself into product lines.
NIGHT WATCHMAN (softly):
Teddy, I owe you an apology.
I thought your shelf was intense.
[Small, sparkling chime – your “toy waking” sound.]**
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**NARRATOR (GEORGE):
The Toy Museum KNOWS how to roar.
It has dragons that eat cars,
tiny metal racers that dare gravity,
and shelves of toys that glow and beep and shout.
But sometimes,
the museum does something much quieter.
It turns the dullest errands of adult life
into a stage for children.
Tonight, the Night Watchman
has wandered away from speeding cars
and plastic teeth,
into a corner of the museum
that feels… suspiciously like a grocery store.
[Footsteps slow. A trolley rattle, very small.]
All right, that’s tonight’s story.I’ll make my roundsand see who’s ready to talk tomorrow.
In this place,there’s always one more toywith something to say.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Let me guess.
Next stop: frozen peas?
NARRATOR:
Not quite.
In front of him, on a low platform,
is a play set laid out like a tiny supermarket.
There’s a checkout counter with a little conveyor belt,
a scanner,
a beeping register,
plastic fruits and vegetables,
milk cartons the size of his thumb,
and a trolley just big enough
for two small blue heelers to fight over.**
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**NARRATOR (GEORGE):
The Toy Museum has currents, like an ocean.
Soft shelves, hard shelves, loud shelves, quiet ones.
Last night, the Night Watchman nearly fell asleep
leaning against a Squishmallow—
no-questions-asked softness in pastel colors.
Tonight, the current drags him somewhere else.
Somewhere harder.
Sharper.
Louder.
Footsteps
NARRATOR:
He’s entered the vehicles area.
Rows of tiny cars.
Trucks.
Motorcycles.
Helicopters frozen mid-rescue,
race cars mid-victory lap.
And at the end of the aisle—
taking up an entire platform—
something stranger.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Well.
That’s… a lot.
NARRATOR:
Picture a semi truck
designed by a child who had equal access
to car magazines and dragon drawings.
A massive hauler with a dragon’s head at the front,
a dragon’s tail at the back,
and another dragon—smaller, meaner—
perched on top like a hungry backpack.
Orange track coils from its sides
like captured lightning.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
Let me guess.
Hot Wheels?
NARRATOR:
He’s not new to the brand.
He remembers having a few tiny metal cars as a boy,
a single strip of orange track
propped on a stack of books.
One or two loops,
if you were lucky.
But this…
This looks like someone asked,
“What if the car carrier was a fire-breathing monster
that eats the traffic jam and turns into a racetrack?”**
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**NARRATOR (GEORGE):
The Toy Museum has its quiet corners—
where Squishmallows wait to be hugged,
and where a teddy bear smells like home.
Tonight is not one of those corners.
Tonight, the Night Watchman
has wandered into the game aisle—
the place where toys don’t just sit and get held.
They demand players.
They demand rules.
They demand noise.
[Footsteps on carpet, then a slightly hollo w thunk as he bumps a shelf.]
NARRATOR:
Board games stare at Mr. Smith from every direction—
cardboard boxes promising strategy,
mystery,
family bonding,
or at least a temporary truce.
But halfway down the aisle,
a smaller box catches his eye.
Bright colors.
A cartoon pigeon
with a wild stare.
A plastic bird-shaped shaker
peeking through a clear window.
The title is simple,
and more than a little concerning.
NIGHT WATCHMAN:
“Exploding…
Pigeon.”
Of course.
Because apparently
“calm, soothing pigeon”
didn’t test well with focus groups.**
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**Ebenezer is back.
This is the second night for Ebeneezer Smith as the new night watchmen at the Metropolitan Museum of toys and childhood artifacts KEY in lock. DOOR opening.]
EBENEZER (muttering to himself):
Well, I’m here. Again.
This time I doubt I’ll meet any human beings I can talk with…
The toys might be a different story.
But honestly? I don’t understand what happened last night. I have no idea if that conversation with Slinky was a one-time deal—
—or just a bit of bad beef.**
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**Hello my name is Ebeneezer Smith
Thank you for staying with me.(mutters to himself)
All right. Let’s see what kind of neighbors I’ve got.
There is a set of plastic building bricks.
There is a board game whose box I remember arguing over with my cousins.
And in the “Comfort and Companions” section, a bear that looks suspiciously like something I once slept with every night until I was far too old to admit it.
[SOUND: Footsteps slow.] And I admit this is the kind of atmosphere that does make you want to talk to yourself
Well, hello there, middle-school emotional support system.
Footsteps
Everything is quiet.
Ordinary.
Almost disappointingly normal.
Let me see - here is a gallery labeled: “American Playthings: 1940s–1960s.”
A soft metallic… whisper.
[SOUND: Very faint first shhhink… shhhink…]
It has to be nothing.
The building settling.
A vent conductor rattling.
The ghost of a shopping cart from the discount store next door.**
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**Our story tonight doesn’t start in a toy store.
No bright aisles.
No sales.
No blinking “Buy One, Get One Free” signs.
Instead, we begin on a quiet city street, just after closing time, in front of an old stone building most people walk past without ever truly seeing.
During the day, it’s a respectable institution:
The Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts.
But tonight… it’s dark.
The front doors are locked.
The lights are dim.
And a slightly nervous job applicant stands on the front steps of this museum, wondering whether this was really such a good idea.
Interview interview**
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**Now today’s episode is a little different.
Usually, we spend our time tracking the lives of composers, musicians, and artists—people whose names end up in history books, or on album covers, or carved into theater walls. We talk about how they changed the sound of a century, or rewired what pop music could be, or turned their lives into performance.
But for a while now, I’ve been quietly working on something a bit… stranger.
For December, I’m moving us into a different kind of gallery altogether—one where almost nothing is bigger than a shoebox, and yet the stories are enormous.**
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**In this series, we’ve been spending time with artists who didn’t just make hits — they rewired popular music itself.
Some of them crashed.
Some of them burned out.
Some of them never got old enough to figure out who they might have become.
In the previous episode, we talked about Michael Jackson — a man whose genius was wrapped in pressure, pain, and dependency, and whose life ended in an overdose in a rented mansion in Los Angeles.
Today’s story easily could have ended the same way.
But it didn’t.**
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**Today, we’re going to spend some time with a figure who shaped pop music, dance, music videos, and the idea of celebrity itself—only to become a tragic warning about what happens when that level of fame collides with a fragile human body and mind.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana—a working-class steel town in the Midwest. He was the eighth of ten children in the Jackson family, packed into a small house where money was tight, tempers could be hot, and music was both escape and opportunity.
His father, Joseph—“Joe” Jackson—worked in a steel mill and played guitar in a local R&B band on the side. His mother, Katherine, loved gospel music and encouraged her kids to sing in church. Out of this stew came something unusual: a whole family act, and in the middle of it, a little boy who shone like a spotlight was glued to him.
Michael once described watching his father’s band rehearse in the living room, feeling this almost physical need to join in. He and his brothers—Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon—began rehearsing as a group, first informally, then obsessively. Joe Jackson realized they had something, and he ran rehearsals like a drill sergeant: long hours, no nonsense, and a clear goal—this was going to be their ticket out of Gary.
Here’s the strange thing: from the very beginning, there were two Michaels.**
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**Today, I want to put two lives—and two mythologies—side by side. Not as gossip. Not as tabloid spectacle. As a question:
What happens when two Black artists rise from a Houston salon and a Brooklyn housing project to a place where they can rewire the business, the sound, and the story of popular music—and do it as a partnership?
Let’s start in Houston.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles grows up in a middle-class Black family. Her mother, Tina, runs a salon. Her father, Mathew, works in sales. Church, local performances, talent shows—this is the rehearsal hall of her childhood.
There’s a shy little girl here who transforms when the music starts.
By the early 1990s, she’s part of a girls’ group that evolves into Destiny’s Child. This is not magic; this is labor. They rehearse until the harmonies are automatic, the choreography is drilled, the breathing is perfectly placed. Influences pour in: Michael and Janet, Whitney, En Vogue, gospel quartets, hip-hop swagger, pop hooks.
Destiny’s Child signs with Columbia. There are lineup changes, management controversies, public drama—exactly the kind of storms that break most young acts. But out of that storm come songs that define an era of young womanhood: independence, betrayal, loyalty, resilience.**
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**In this current series, we’ve been living in the neighborhood of giants—artists who didn’t just have hits, but re-wired what popular music could be.
Today… someone different again.
A man who refused categories, ignored rules, blurred gender lines, shredded guitars, whispered falsettos, wrote anthems for other people in his spare time, and turned a small Midwestern city into the center of a new universe.
Prince.
Not “Prince the nostalgia act.”
Prince the problem.
Prince the possibility.
Prince the system update.
Let’s step into Minneapolis.**
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**In this series, we’ve spent time with giants—singers, songwriters, bands, entire movements. Some of them changed my life from a distance, through vinyl and radio and the accidental sacrament of a TV set in the living room.
Today’s subject changed my life at arm’s length.
Not in a stadium, not in a Broadway theater, not on a movie screen, but in a small brick house in Richmond, Virginia—the Edgar Allan Poe Museum—where a visiting diva looked across a desk and aimed one very sharp line straight at a truth I was not ready to say out loud.
Today we’re talking about Bette Midler—The Divine Miss M. Her unlikely beginnings in Hawaii, her nights in the New York bathhouses, her Broadway stints and Hollywood turns, her persona that seems to mix stand-up comic, torch singer, drag queen, Jewish mother, and Vegas showgirl… and that one five-minute encounter that told me more about myself than any song ever had.
Let’s start far from Broadway, far from Manhattan clubs and Hollywood sound stages.**
Bette Davis Midler w she studied drama for a while at the university of Hawaii at Manoa and even worked as an extra and the 1966 film Hawaii showing up very briefly as a seasick passenger not exactly a star making moment as born on December 1, 1945, in Honolulu, Hawaii—the third of four children in a working-class Jewish family in a mostly Asian neighborhood. Her mother, Ruth, was a seamstress and housewife; her father, Fred, worked as a painter at a Navy base and did house painting on the side.
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**This is the story of Bruce Springsteen—“The Boss”—a kid from a working-class town who turned everyday American lives into epic songs, who built a career on sweat, loyalty, doubt, faith, and three-hour marathons onstage that left entire arenas wrung out and grinning.
Let’s walk through where he came from, what shaped him, how he broke through, who he’s influenced—and why, decades in, Bruce Springsteen still matters.
Picture central New Jersey in the 1950s and 60s. Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen is born September 23, 1949, in Long Branch, and grows up in nearby Freehold Borough in a blue-collar Catholic family. His father, Doug, bounces between jobs—factory work, bus driving, prison guard. His mother, Adele, is the steady one, working as a legal secretary and keeping the family afloat.
The house is tight, money is tight, tempers are tight.
Young Bruce doesn’t thrive in school. He’s restless, alienated; teachers remember him as the loner with the faraway look who really cared about one thing: the guitar.
Then comes that moment. Like so many of his generation, he sees Elvis Presley on television—this wild, electric presence shaking up the polite living rooms of America. Soon after, he discovers the twin pillars who will haunt his work: Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Guthrie teaches him that songs can stand with the powerless. Dylan shows him that lyrics can be literature without losing their bite.**
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**Today we are stepping straight into four decades of controversy, choreography, and calculated control.
Madonna.
Not just “the Queen of Pop,” but an artist who has treated her own life as a long, shape-shifting performance about power—who gets it, who’s allowed to keep it, and what happens when a woman refuses to sit down, shut up, or age politely.
I’m George Bartley. Let’s begin.
Madonna Louise Ciccone was born August 16, 1958, in Bay City, Michigan, and raised in the Detroit suburbs in a large, strict Catholic family.
Her mother dies of breast cancer when Madonna is only five.
That single loss—mother, faith, home base—echoes under almost everything that follows.
You see it in the Catholic imagery she wears and tears apart, in the recurring themes of abandonment, guilt, and confession. The tabloids called it “blasphemy.” But for Madonna, it’s also biography: a daughter arguing with the Church that shaped her and the God who took her mother.
As a girl, she is a paradox: straight-A student, disciplined dancer, cheerleader, troublemaker. Teachers remember intelligence and defiance. She wants to be seen, but very much on her own terms.**
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**If you've been following this series of modern day musicians, you may remember a concert I mentioned with the Rolling Stones. It is true that the Stones were able to hold the audience and follow their hands, so to speak. But even before Mick Jagger strut out on stage, the opening act was Stevie Wonder = a living definition of a hard act to follow. If I had just seen his opening act, I could've left knowing that I had seen a great show = but I admit I would've definitely been disappointed at missing the Stones. But there was no question that Stevie Wonder had prepared the crowd for the excitement of Mick Jagger
Today,ΩåΩ I would like to talk about an artist who can fill a stadium with joy using one riff, one chord change, and one impossibly confident note on a harmonica.
That same Stevie Wonder.
Composer, singer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, activist.
A child prodigy who did not burn out.
A hitmaker who refused to choose between romantic love songs and songs that tell hard truths.
A blind musician whose music often seems to see the world more clearly than many of us who use our eyes.
In this episode, I’d like to walk through his background,
the forces that shaped him,
the run of hits that re-wired popular music,
his effects on other artists,
and how his blindness is not a side note, but part of how he developed an uncanny vision for sound, people, and justice.**
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**Today, we’re going to spend some time with a figure who shaped pop music, dance, music videos, and the idea of celebrity itself—only to become a tragic warning about what happens when that level of fame collides with a fragile human body and mind.
Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana—a working-class steel town in the Midwest. He was the eighth of ten children in the Jackson family, packed into a small house where money was tight, tempers could be hot, and music was both escape and opportunity.
His father, Joseph—“Joe” Jackson—worked in a steel mill and played guitar in a local R&B band on the side. His mother, Katherine, loved gospel music and encouraged her kids to sing in church. Out of this stew came something unusual: a whole family act, and in the middle of it, a little boy who shone like a spotlight was glued to him.
Michael once described watching his father’s band rehearse in the living room, feeling this almost physical need to join in. He and his brothers—Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon—began rehearsing as a group, first informally, then obsessively. Joe Jackson realized they had something, and he ran rehearsals like a drill sergeant: long hours, no nonsense, and a clear goal—this was going to be their ticket out of Gary.
Here’s the strange thing: from the very beginning, there were two Michaels.**
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Today, we turn to an artist who never seemed entirely earthbound.David Bowie.For some listeners, Bowie is the sound of discovery: that first moment you realize a song, a costume, a performance can make the world feel bigger than the town you’re standing in.
For others, he’s a gallery of snapshots:
Ziggy Stardust in orange hair and stardust makeup.
The Thin White Duke in a waistcoat and a stare like a searchlight.
Jareth in Labyrinth, juggling crystal balls and rewiring childhoods.
And finally, the enigmatic figure of Blackstar, composing a farewell while the rest of us didn’t yet know to call it goodbye.
Tonight, I’d like to walk through Bowie’s life and work in a way that fits this series:
his background,
his influence,
his first appearances in the United States,
and the movies that made him more than “just” a rock star.
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**Tonight we turn to a musician whose name has become shorthand for guitar mastery, blues devotion, and, depending on who you ask, the very idea of the rock “guitar hero.”
Eric Clapton.
For some listeners, he is the ultimate guitarist: the Yardbirds prodigy, the “Clapton Is God” graffiti on London walls, the molten solos with Cream, the aching beauty of “Layla” and “Tears in Heaven,” the tasteful bends and vocal-like phrasing that defined what an electric guitar could say.
For others, his legacy is more complicated—shaped not only by brilliance, but by band breakups, addictions, controversies, and changing times.
Today I want to trace how a quiet, art-school kid obsessed with American blues records became one of the most influential guitarists in history, move through the bands that forged his sound, and look at how his work helped define what “great guitar playing” means for generations of musicians.
Eric Patrick Clapton was born March 30, 1945, in Ripley, Surrey, England. Raised believing his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his older sister, he grew up with a complicated sense of identity and a strong inwardness that would later surface in his playing — that mix of control, melancholy, and sudden intensity.**
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**In this podcast episode, we’ll walk through where they came from, what shaped them, how they crashed into the United States—and then spend some real time inside Tommy: not just as an album, but as a story that refused to stay put, leaping from vinyl to concert halls, movie screens, and the Broadway stage.
Imagine that it is Post war England and you are in West London
Bomb sites are turning into parking lots and playgrounds. Teenagers caught between their parents’ memories of wartime suffering and a new world of consumer goods, television sets, and American rock records.
Roger Daltrey grows up in a working-class family, handy with his fists and tools, assembling his own future piece by piece.
Pete Townshend, the intense, sharp-nosed kid, is surrounded by music early—his parents are professional musicians—so the idea of a musical life is precarious, but not absurd.
John Entwistle is the quiet one, a brass-band kid who picks up the bass and makes it sing.
Daltrey starts a band called The Detours. He pulls in Entwistle. Entwistle brings Townshend. They grind through pubs, youth clubs, and dance halls. Then, after a name change detour as the High Numbers, shaped by managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, they emerge with the name that finally fits the impact:**
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**In this series, we’ve been spending time with artists who didn’t just make hits—they changed the language of modern music.
Today, we turn to a group that took blues, folk, volume, and mystery… and built a sound so iconic that entire genres still live in its echo.
Led Zeppelin.
Not just “loud.” Not just “wild.” Four musicians who fused session-honed precision, deep musical curiosity, and a taste for the epic into something that still feels massive generations later.
Tonight, we’ll look at where they came from, how they rose so quickly, why their time together burned so intensely, and how their shadow still stretches over rock and beyond.
Led Zeppelin doesn’t begin with rune symbols and stadiums.
It starts with working British musicians paying their dues.**
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**Today we meet an artist who doesn’t blow the doors off with volume or choreography, but with something quieter—and in many ways, just as radical.
A woman alone with a guitar in an open tuning.
A voice that can sound like a bell, a blade, or a diary you were never meant to read.
A songwriter who refuses to keep her feelings, or her harmonies, inside the lines.
But inwardly a mother with empty arms carrying shame that didn't belong to her and grief she poured into songs that people around her could feel even if they didn't know why both sides now Chelsea morning
Joni Mitchell.
In this episode, I want to explore:
Her background: prairie girl, painter, survivor.
Her influences: folk clubs, jazz giants, poets, painters, and her own wounds.
Her effect on music: especially the singer-songwriter era and beyond.
Her life’s arc: including the hidden child, the fame she never really trusted, the experiments that confused critics, the silence, the aneurysm, and the astonishing later-life return.
Because if Hendrix reimagined what a guitar could do, Joni Mitchell reimagined what a song could say.
Small-town skies, big inner world**
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**Our story begins not with sequins but with a housing project.
Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard both grew up in Detroit’s Brewster-Douglass projects, one of the first federally funded housing developments for Black families. Diana Ross, who grew up nearby, joined that same orbit.
Detroit in the 1950s and early 60s was a complex place:
Automobile money and factory work.
Northern promise and stubborn segregation.
Church choirs, street-corner harmonies, jazz clubs, rhythm & blues, gospel pouring out of radios.
Music wasn’t a luxury; it was a language.
The three girls—at first part of a broader group of friends—found each other through that language. They called themselves The Primettes, designed as the “girl group” counterpart to a rising male group called The Primes (who would evolve into The Temptations).**
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**Today, we turn to a musician whose care there were moves separations long stretches were Jimmy simply simply had to figure things out on his own no one was buying but whose shadow is so long that every electric guitarist since has had to walk through it.
Jimi Hendrix.
He didn’t just play louder. He didn’t just play faster. He changed what the electric guitar meant. He changed the expectations for sound, for performance, for what a song could hold.
In this episode, I want to step past the posters and the legends—the burning guitar, the psychedelic clothes, the famous take on “The Star-Spangled Banner”—and really look at four things:
His background: the fragile, human story underneath the icon.
His influences: because Hendrix was not a meteor out of nowhere.
His effect on music: how he reshaped the instrument and the stage.
His life and his death: and the pressures and possibilities that surrounded him at the end.
At the end of this journey, we’ll eventually look forward—to some very different voices who were changing the sound of the 1960s in their own way: Diana Ross and The Supremes.**
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**Today we turn to a voice that has become a kind of measuring stick. A singer you can’t ignore, can’t casually imitate, and certainly can’t replace.
Aretha Louise Franklin.
You can line up all the adjectives: legendary, iconic, incomparable. But with Aretha, those words almost sound lazy. The real story is more interesting. It’s the story of how a shy, brilliant preacher’s daughter walked out of a Detroit church and, without surrendering where she came from, changed what mainstream American music could sound like — and what it could mean.**
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**If you grew up in a certain era, his name isn’t just a performer on a poster. It’s a weather system. A shift in air pressure. A bulletin from the fault line where art, politics, faith, doubt, youth, age, and trouble all collided.
And at the end of this episode, I’m going to tell you about one night—one Bob Dylan concert—that coincided with the most frightening turn my own life had taken up to that point, and how, in a way, it nudged me toward paying attention to people many others don’t see.
But let’s start with the man himself.
Bob Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota, and grew up in the mining town of Hibbing on the Mesabi Iron Range. Hibbing was not Greenwich Village, not California, not London. It was wind, work, winters, and radio.
Inside that small-town house, though, the signals of the wider world were pouring in: country music, blues, early rock ’n’ roll, gospel, and crooners—all collapsing into one restless imagination. He listened hard. He absorbed. And he did what born artists do: he tried things on.**
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**Today’s pairing may look odd until you start really listening:
The Beach Boys and The Grateful Dead.
Two California bands. Two American institutions. Two completely different ideas of what a band is for.
One built pop cathedrals in the studio and spent decades trying to bring that sound to the stage.**
**The other built a moving city on the road and treated the studio almost like a postcard from their real life’s work.
Let’s spend some time with both—and with the very different concert worlds they created.**
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**Today I want to put two names in the same frame—Joan Baez and Taylor Swift—not because they sound alike or have the same values but because they tell us how the culture around music, fandom, and accessibility to their shows have changed in less than one lifetime.
Same art form. Very different worlds.
This episode is about those two worlds.
No boxing match.
No “who’s better.”
Just what it means that one night with Baez cost you five dollars, and one night with Swift might cost someone else a small fortune.
In one: Joan Baez at Catholic University—five dollars a ticket. A guitar, a voice that sounds like it dropped in from a kinder universe, and the feeling that history, morality, and music are all sitting beside you.
In the other: Taylor Swift in a sold-out stadium—tens of thousands of phones glowing, a three-hour epic of costume changes and choreography, and ticket prices that can look like a month’s rent.
Before I go any further, a brief portrait of Joan Baez - she was born January 9, 1941, in Staten Island, New York and raised in a Quaker family with a strong social conscience. She emerged at the end of the 1950s folk revival, her pure, ringing vibrato and unadorned guitar style making traditional ballads and spirituals feel both ancient and immediate. Her breakthrough came with performances at the Newport Folk Festival (1959–60) and early albums that brought folk music—and later protest music—to a mass young audience.**
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**In a recent episode, we spent time with a man who changed popular culture and then became a warning about what fame, isolation, and addiction can do to a single human body—Elvis Presley. Brilliant, iconic, but ultimately tragic.
Today… similar voltage. Very different story.
This is about a band that came out of the same storm system of sex, drugs, and rock and roll… but somehow did not end as a cautionary tale on a bathroom floor. Instead, they turned danger into discipline, scandal into strategy, and raw rebellion into one of the longest-running creative partnerships in modern music.
In this series, we’ve already met Frank Sinatra, who turned phrasing and breath into a method—and Chuck Berry, who wired the circuitry of rock and roll into the American imagination. Elvis showed us how a single, fragile human can be crushed under the weight of that circuitry.
Today’s story is different. This is what happens when that same dangerous current is handed to a band that refuses to burn out.
The Rolling Stones.
This is not just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. This is the story of staying power.**
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**I’d like to begin, not in Liverpool or Hamburg or Abbey Road, but in an American living room—mine, and millions of others—on a Sunday night in 1964.
It’s February 9th. The television is a piece of furniture. The picture is black and white. Ed Sullivan is the gatekeeper of what “really matters.” We’ve heard rumors about four long-haired boys from England. Maybe we’ve seen a little newspaper photo. Maybe a DJ has spun “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and sounded half amused, half alarmed, while the phone lines lit up.
And then there they are.
John. Paul. George. Ringo.
Matching suits. Hair just long enough to scandalize parents without terrifying them. Tight harmonies. Songs that feel simple and impossibly fresh at the same time. Sullivan reading his cards. Teenage girls screaming. Camera cutting to faces in the audience already past language.
Seventy-three million people watching at once. Almost 40 percent of the country.**
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**Today we’re stepping into complicated territory.
Not a personal hero of mine.
Not a composer whose scores I pore over, or a bandleader whose arrangements I quote with delight or a singer I enjoy listening to.
We’ve just spent time with artists like Frank Sinatra, who turned phrasing into a method, and Chuck Berry, who wired rock’s circuitry with wit and precision. Both, in their own ways, were architects of how modern music sounds.
Today’s subject is someone you simply cannot walk around if you’re tracing how popular music, celebrity, and American culture twisted themselves together in the second half of the twentieth century.
Elvis Presley.
For some, he’s the thrilling young rebel in black and white. For others, he’s a cartoon in a white jumpsuit. For many, he’s a brand—lunchboxes, impersonators, Halloween costumes—more than a musician.
For me, and for this podcast, he’s something else: a case study in what happens when a very real, very shy Southern kid with a remarkable voice is plugged directly into a machine that never turns off.**
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Before we talk about charts and riffs and influence, I want to begin with a memory.
Years ago, I saw Chuck Berry live at the Paramount Theatre in Manhattan.
I later learned that a few years after that, the Paramount Theater was completely shut down. Anyway, that night Chuck Berry was on a bill with The Animals and The Dixie Cups—a lineup that already told you how fast the musical world was changing. The British Invasion bands were arriving with their sharp suits and American R&B records tucked under their arms. In fact, the animals had the number one song in the country with the house of the rising Sun. And there were girl groups with immaculate harmonies. The Dixie Cups had the number two song in the country with chapel of love. Here was a crowd already fluent in the new language of pop.
And then one of rocks pioneers - Chuck Berry - walked onstage.
No elaborate light show, no army of amplifiers, no sentimental introduction. Just that stance, that sly half-smile, and a guitar tone as clean and cutting as a bell. You could feel the air in the room shift.
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Birthdays - as well as the 500th episode of a podcast - are times that generally you might want to slow down and look at the past, the present, and the future. Using that logic, I'd like to touch on the past of this podcast by calling on none other then the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe.Ghost sound Well hello, Mr. PoeGreetings Mr. Bartley. Congratulations on your 500th episode. And I couldn't have done it without you, Mr. Poe.Certainly Mr. Bartley - you devoted the majority of your podcast episodes to my life and works when the podcast was known as Celebrate Poe. Mr. Poe, Yes, at first I had difficulty in finding a subject for a podcast - then I realized that I had worked at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, and it hit me that you might be an excellent subject.And I do admit that I miss those days. Mr. Poe, That doesn't mean that I can't have some more episodes regarding you and your works. You're very existence fits in with the topic of creativity.
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Leonard Bernstein played piano from age 10, and attended Boston Latin School and Harvard University. So he studied music theory before studying conducting and orchestration. In 1943, he was appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic. Then on November 14, 1943 he was summoned unexpectedly to substitute for the regular conductor Bruno Walter. His confidence and skill under such difficult circumstances and his overall talent marked the beginning of a new career. He later conducted the New York City Center Orchestra and appeared as a guest conductor in countries all over the world. In fact in 1953 he became the first American to conduct at La Scala in Milan. And from 1958 to 1969 Bernstein was conductor and musical Director of the New York Philharmonic. He made several international tours, and his popularity increased because of his skills as a conductor and pianist, but also as a commentator and even an entertainer.
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**Today, we’re going to begin in Hoboken, New Jersey, walk through the apprenticeship years, and then trace how partnerships, heartbreak, movies, and business instincts turned a talented singer into a blueprint many still follow.
Frank Sinatra was born December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Dolly and Marty Sinatra, Sicilian immigrants. The home soundtrack mixed Italian song with the everyday music of labor, argument, and celebration. Outside the door, radio—that mid-century hearth—taught him something different: how a voice could cross a continent and still sound like it was sitting at your kitchen table.
As a teenager, Frank Sinatra studied Bing Crosby the way a watchmaker studies gears. Crosby wasn’t just stylish; he was quiet, and the microphone made quiet powerful. Before amplification, singers had to push air to the balcony. With amplification, you could saying exactly what you wanted and be understood. You didn’t have to shout your feelings; you could aim them.**
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**Today's episode is the first in a look at several dozen musicians who lived after 1900, roughly in chronological order. And let me emphasize this is a extremely subjective look - it seems like every time I would look at my list, I f would find a new musician that just had to be on there - so I'm not presenting this in any way as an ideal selection of the most popular or talented or well known musician - just a deep dive into the lives and talents of some of the greatest singers and musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries
And I'm going to start with Bing Crosby mainly because he is widely considered the first multimedia star. Bing Crosby was able to achieve unprecedented and simultaneous superstardom across the three dominant entertainment mediums of his time: recorded music, radio, and motion pictures. In other words, Crosby’s career was characterized by his massive and concurrent success in multiple platforms, a feat unmatched by performers who came before him.
Crosby was by far the best-selling recording artist of his time and remained so until well into the rock era. His recording of "White Christmas" is the best-selli Setting a standard for future male vocalist such as Frank Sinatra and he was also a major ng single of all time. And he had 41 number one hits, a number that even surpassed Elvis Presley and The Beatles.**
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Merci, Monsieur Bartley. I was born in 1875 in the little town of Ciboure, in the Basque country of southwestern France. My father was an inventive man, an engineer with a passion for mechanics. My mother was of Basque and Spanish descent, and it was from her that I inherited my love of Spanish rhythms and colors. Those two influences—precision and passion—shaped me from the beginning.
That’s fascinating—the mechanical precision of your father and the Spanish warmth of your mother. Did music enter your life early?
Very early. I began piano lessons around the age of seven, though I must confess I was not a prodigy. I studied diligently, but what fascinated me most was sound itself—its clarity, its structure, its elegance. By the time I entered the Paris Conservatoire at fourteen, I was already dreaming of becoming a composer, though I was never the favorite student. In fact, I was often considered… how shall I put it… a bit stubborn.
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**Maestro, thank you for joining me. Before we dive into your music, I’d really like to hear about your beginnings. Could you tell us about your background?
Of course. I was born in 1862, just outside Paris. My father was a baker—always kneading dough while humming—and my mother dabbled in piano. I remember sneaking into the living room to press the keys while she played. My first memories of music are not concerts or lessons, but the hum of the street, the ringing of church bells, and my mother’s faint piano melodies. At seven, I began formal piano lessons, though I often daydreamed through them.**
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Welcome, Maestro Gustav Mahler. You’ve been called a composer of contradictions—cosmic in scope, but also obsessively detailed. If you could describe yourself in just a few words, how would you begin?
Contradictions, yes—that is my very essence. I am a man who lived with one foot in heaven and the other in the street. My symphonies hold the singing of birds and the cries of the market, but also the silence of eternity.
Your music often feels like it contains the whole world. Did you set out with that ambition consciously?
Always. I once said, “The symphony must be like the world—it must embrace everything.” For me, a symphony was not just a piece of music—it was a life lived, with all its chaos, its laughter, its terror, and its final redemption.
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**Now in a nutshell, the history of Halloween and how it developed can be described in a few sentences. You see, Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the harvest, and the beginning of the dark, cold winter. The Celts believed that on the night of October 31st, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, allowing spirits to return to Earth. They would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. Later, the Roman Empire combined Samhain with their own festivals, and as Christianity spread, the church established All Saints' Day on November 1st, making October 31st "All Hallows' Eve," or Halloween. In this episode,I would like to describe what I believe are the five best pieces of classical music associated with Halloween - in other words the scariest music.
I would like to start - in each case after an introduction and description - with a beautiful piece of music by the great French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. This music is from a CD I did called FallingWater Dreams where I used basic midi files to start with, and do some arrangements of classical music. You know this was many years ago ago, because this was back in a time when basic midi files were not copyright. This selection is called Aquarium and is from the Carnival of Animals. In the spirit of this podcast episode, I think Aquarium has a beautiful, but extremely eerie quality about it - not the kind of hard-core horror that is associated with some upcoming pieces in this podcast episode. You could almost call aquarium to be creepy creepy. Again, first before playing each specific piece of music - and there should be five - I am going to make some comments about that piece of music, it's history, and in some cases = it's influences.**
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**I am most happy to be here today with you, Mr. Bartley.
And we are glad that you're here, Maestro Greig Could you tell us about your early life.*Ya, I was born in Bergen, Norway, on the 15th of June 1843. My father was a merchant and my mother was musical; she gave me my first piano lessons. From a young age, I loved the sound of Norwegian folk tunes, their rhythms, their melodies, their stories. I studied at the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany, where I learned the techniques of composition, but my heart always remained in Norway. I wanted to create music that spoke of my homeland, its landscapes, its seas, its mountains, and its people.*I became known for my piano music and for my orchestral works, but perhaps my greatest love was writing music that told stories of Norway, its legends, and its spirit.
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Maestro, could you begin by telling us a bit about your background?
Ah, yes… I vas born in 1841, in a small village near Prague, in Bohemia. My father vas a butcher, my mother a simple, steadfast voman vith a love for folk songs. My family had little vealth, little expectation beyond the ordinary trades of life. Yet I felt Music as a calling — not for fame, but as a vay to capture the spirit of Bohemia itself. I vas not born a prodigy like some; I had to vork, to study, to listen, and to shape my gift slovly.
Music vas everyvhere around me, even though I vas not born to it professionally. I learned the violin in the village, and at the church, I played in the local ensembles — but I vas alvays dravn to the melodies of our people, the dances, the songs sung in the fields.
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2 Ghost soundI am most happy, to be here, and as a ghost, my heart carries the weight of a funeral march, even in moments of applause. Interesting analogy, Maestro Tchaikovsky, but could you tell us a bit about your earthly background? Ah, yes… earthly my background. I was born in 1840, in a small Russian town nestled in the Ural Mountains. My father was an engineer in the mines, my mother of French ancestry, gentle but distant. Music was not the profession expected of me — Russia had no conservatory system then, no path for a composer. I was meant to become a civil servant, a reliable bureaucrat in the machinery of empire. What were your feelings about music as a young person?Ah music… music was in my blood. Even as a boy I could hear it whispering everywhere — in the birch forests, in the peasant songs that drifted on the wind, in the melancholy of Russian church bells. I studied law and served dutifully in the Ministry of Justice, but my heart withered there. When the Saint Petersburg Conservatory opened, I knew I must leave behind the safety of that life and risk everything for composition.
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**Today I vant to talk vith the final Composer of the three Bs - this podcast has previously Broadcast episodes regarding Bach and Beethoven - and vill certainly have more regarding those musicians - but today I vant to talk about another composer vhose last name also begins vith B, and is also considered one of the greats. That composer is yo-HAH-nes Brahms. Unlike some composers of his era, he did not have any recorded middle names or additional given names—he vas vas alvays knovn as yo-HAH-nes Brahms. And by the vay, the musical opening to this podcast it's an excerpt from a remix of Brahms Hungarian dance
Ghost sound
Ah, here is the ghost of - or if you vill - the spirit of Brahms.
Maestro Brahms, thank you for joining me today. To begin, could you tell us a little about your early life in Hamburg?
Ah, Hamburg. A fine city of ships and sailors, though not so fine ven hen one is poor. I vas as born in 1833, the son of a bass player—my father Johann Jakob—and my mother, a seamstress. had little but music and determination. From the beginning, it seemed I vas destined to live at the piano.
I’ve heard you began playing in public quite young.
Herr Bartley, By the time vas a boy, I played in taverns and dance halls to earn a fev coins.Imagine a skinny lad of thirteen, pounding avay at the piano vile sailors shouted for more beer. Hardly the glamorous concert life! But those rough rooms taught me discipline. I learned to keep the music alive, even if no one cared to listen.**
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**Well, a logical place to begin would be to ask the Maestro about his beginnings
“Ah, señor Bartley, I am pleased to be here. You ask about my beginnings? wery well. I was born October 10, 1813, in Le Roncole, a small willage in the Duchy of Parma. My father, Carlo, ran our taern, and my mother, Luigia, kept the household in order. We were not rich, nor were we musicians by trade, yet music found me nonetheless. The hymns of the willage church, the organ, the singing of neighbors — they became my earliest companions.”
“So Maestro werdi you were drawn to music even as a child?”
“Indeed. Herr Bartley, From the first I lowed the organ, its voices like a Conversation with the heavens. I studied with local teachers, but the most important influence was Antonio Barezzi, a wealthy merchant and music lower. He saw promise in a boy from the countryside, offered lessons, guidance, and even support. Without him, I might newer have left the Village where I was born. He became my mentor, my patron, and a friend.”
“And yet life in a small Village must have had its challenges?”**
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Musical attributions at end of transcript
Here the ghost - or if you will - the spirit of Richard Wagner - is reminiscing about his existence in 1864. A struggling genius. A lonely king. One shared dream that changed the sound of Western music forever. In Music and Majesty, Richard Wagner and King Ludwig of Bavaria revisit the passion, faith, and madness that forged a masterpiece.
George
We left you in the last episode, Maestro Wagner, with you rather down on your luck - especially financially - in other words there was no way to make your dreams come true.
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**Music attribution at bottom of transcript
That was a portion of ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner - and if you're old enough, like me, you might remember hearing that from cartoons - especially porky pig dressed in a hunting outfit and singing kill the wabbit , kill the wabbit about Bugs Bunny - but I digress
This is the first episode where I would like to explore the world of Richard Wagner. The reason I say that this is the first episode, is that the more I delved into the life of Richard Wagner, I began to realize that there is no way that I could even begin to cover his life in one episode. Oh certainly I will have some more episodes later on as appropriate regarding the lives of Beethoven and Bach, but I wanted to have at least two episodes about Richard Wagner together - one after another - so stay with me as we look into the life of this unique composer.**
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You know, Every generation has its superstar — the one who turns talent into legend, and performance into art. For us, that might mean Elton John or Lady Gaga. But in the 1800s, one name ruled the musical world like a comet blazing across the sky: Franz Liszt.
A man whose concerts caused hysteria, whose charm melted hearts, and whose fingers seemed touched by lightning.
So let’s pull back the velvet curtain and step into the age of Lisztomania!
Ghost sound
Maestro Liszt, welcome.
Thank you, Herr Bartley. Speaking across centuries is a strange delight — music is the bridge that time cannot burn.
Let’s begin at the beginning. You were born in 1811 in Raiding, Hungary, the son of a musician employed by the Esterházy family. How did music first enter your life?
Ah, Monsieur Bartley, Music was like breathing. My father played cello, piano, violin — he introduced me to the piano, and I was performing publicly at nine. By eleven, I studied with Czerny in Vienna, a pupil of Beethoven himself. The training was rigorous, but awe-inspiring.
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velcome to Celebrate Creativity - episode 488 - in her voices. The opening bars to this podcast episode are from Robert schumann’s troy mu ri - a word that means dreaming
And today ve speak vith the ghost of Robert Schumann—a man vhose music vas alive vith fire and reflection, vhose inner voices shaped every note. Step inside his vorld, if you dare.
Nov before ve meet the ghost of or if you vill the spirit of - the great Robert Schumann, a quick note: you may hear me speak of his tvo sides—Florestan, fiery and bold, and Eusebius, dreamy and reflective. But don’t be misled—Schumann definitely did not have multiple personalities - at least until his final years. Florestan and Eusebius vere his artistic alter-egos, vays to explore contrasting emotions in music and vriting. Think of them as characters living inside his imagination, giving voice to the fire and the reflection that shaped his art.” But enough of that for nov …
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**Ghost enters
Ah, here is the ghost of Maestro Frederick Chopin - one of my favorite composers. vould you prefer that I call you Maestro Frederick or Maestro Chopin.
Maestro Chopin vould be sufficient.
You could refer to me as simply Herr Bartley - or in the style of the French salons, you may also refer to me as Monsieur Bartley.
Ah, then Monsieur Bartley it is.
Well first, Maestro Chopin, could you tell us about your early years.**
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If you have ever been to a wedding or seen a portion of one on television or in the movies, I am sure you have heard some of them music of Mendelson - such as the wedding March at the beginning of this episode. Today we are fortunate enough to speak vith the ghost or if you vill - the spirit of Felix MendelsonHerr Bartley, thank you for that vedy direct introduction to vhat has to be my most vell-knovn vork. But Herr Bartley—allov me to step into the light once more. By name, I am Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born in Hamburg, Germany, on February 3, 1809. You are Mr. Bartley, I am here Herr Bartholdy. Perhaps ve are related. Not that I know of, but Maestro Mendelson, could you tell us about your family?Ja, Herr Bartley, my family vas vealthy, cultured, and deeply musical; my father, Abraham, vas a banker and patron of the arts, and my mother, Lea, nurtured a love of literature and learning. From an early age, music vas ever-present in our home—my mother’s piano, the violin in our hands, and evenings filled vith song and discussion.
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Today we have the privilege of speaking With the ghost or if you will the spirit of Ludwig van Beethoven —arguably the greatest composer of all time.
Ghost sound
Maestro Beethoven, thank you for joining us. Could you begin by telling us about your background?
Herr Bartley, it is extremely strange to look back from beyond the grave, but let me oblige. I vas born in Bonn, December 1770, into a family of musicians. My grandfather, Kapellmeister Ludvig van Beethoven, vas a respected man, and my father, Johann, sang in the court chapel. From him I inherited both music and hardship. He drank heavily, and though he recognized my talent, his methods vere Vetty harsh.
As a boy, I vas pushed to practice the clavier late into the night. Neighbors recalled hearing me sobbing over the keys, small fingers stumbling, vhile my father demanded brilliance. It vas a cruel apprenticeship, but it forged in me a stubborn resilience.
By my early teens, I vas already performing publicly in Bonn and serving as assistant organist. The Elector of Cologne, vho ruled Bonn, supported my education. He sent me to study vith Christian Gottlob Neefe, vho introduced me to the vorks of Bach — those fugues became my daily bread, the grammar of my musical thought.
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And here, right on time is the ghost of maestro Haydn to tell us about his story - his life and his music - Maestro Haydn, why don't you start at the be ginning.
Certainly, Herr Bartley. I, Joseph Haydn, vas born in 1732 in the small Austrian village of Rohrau, near the border of Hungary. My father, a humble vheelvright, could not imagine that his son vould one day travel to the grand palaces of Europe or have his music performed by orchestras in London. Yet music called me early. From my earliest years, I vas dravn to melody and harmony. I sang in the village choir, and it vas soon clear that my voice and my ear vere exceptional.
From vhat I understand, Maestro Haydn, you vent to Vienna as a young lad to become a choirboy at St. Stephen’s Cathedral vhen you vere only eight years of age.
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Gavotte
Welcome to celebrate creativity - in ze past few episodes, I'm afraid I've been a bit off in ze numbering of episodes - this is actually ze fourth season, and I believe that this is episode 483 - now we began this episode with ze Gavotte in G by ze ghost or if you will spirit - of our guest today.
Ghost sound
Taken a vastly different path than the one that my father had chosen for me well
Herr Bartley — good day.
It is certainly good to meet you.
Ya, I am Maestro George Frideric Handel; permit me first to speak plainly of those first years that zet me upon ze road of music.
That would be a very good place to start.
Herr Bartley, I vas born in ze year 1685. My fazer vas a barber–surgeon and wished me to follow a sober, respectable profession — law vas his hope for me — and he forbade any serious musical study. My mozer,
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I have the ghost of Herr Bach right here -
Frst could you tell us about your early life and family.
Herr Bartley, I vas born in 1685 in Eisenach, Germany. My family had been musicians for generations: organists, cantors, court players. To be a Bach vas, in truth, to be a musician. My father, Johann Ambrosius, vas Eisenach’s town musician. From him, I learned the violin and the rudiments of theory.
So in a sense you really didn't have a choice but to become a musician.
Herr Bartley, it vas a choice that I made very, very gladly!
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Host: Welcome to the "Echoes of Genius series” - the podcast where we explore the lives and legacies of the greatest classical composers. This is episode 480 - Red Priest Rising. The music that you have heard at the beginning of each episode, and will continue to hear throughout this podcast series is a brief the ghost of the composer who stands at the pinnacle of the Italian Baroque movement -maestro Antonio Vivaldi section of spring from The Four Seasons written by the ghost or if you will spirit - of our guest today
(Sound of a short, elegant musical flourish)
Ghost sound
Ciao, Maestro Vivaldi! La tua musica ancora ci incanta musica.
For our English listeners, that is Hello, Maestro Vivaldi! Your music still enchants us. And before we go any further, Maestro Vivaldi, I have to say, I never realized your hair was quite that red. With that shock of red hair, you’d look at home in a rock band
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First I have a confession to make. I plan to do an episode regarding a musician every day, but my right hand started hurting and I mean excruciating painful. I worried about what to do, and realized if I continue to overdo it on an already injured hand/ I would have serious problems. I thought about giving up this podcast altogether but eventually decided to take a day by day approach. It seems to be getting much better than it was yesterday, so if I notice improvement I will certainly do a podcast/. I have already written the Scripps with voice control on the Macintosh, so I didn’t really need to use my hands that much in what I consider the hardest part of doing a podcast, but there’s no way that you can really use Voice control with an audio program. So I’ll just take it one day at a time, and I’m asking you to bear with me.
Second,When I recorded my episode on Monteverdi, something unexpected happened. I’d worried I might not have enough to say, but as I began speaking in his rhythm — my approximation of his lilting Italian cadence — the words seemed to sing themselves. I found myself moving my hand in slow circles as I spoke, and somehow the motion gave the voice its own kind of melody. The pauses stretched naturally, almost like rests in a score. What I thought would be a short reflection became nearly forty minutes, not because of the facts or analysis, but because Monteverdi’s spirit reshaped the way I spoke.
That experience stayed with me. It reminded me that a voice can be musical, even when it isn’t singing — that the phrasing, the breath, the stillness between words are as expressive as the words themselves. And that’s the insight I’ve carried with me into Purcell — another composer who understood that silence, rhythm, and human feeling are inseparable.”
Today, we move forward in time — from Venice to London — to meet another spirit who carried that torch into a new century. Henry Purcell took the lessons of Monteverdi and shaped them into something deeply English yet profoundly human: the marriage of reverence and drama, sacred and stage.
If Monteverdi taught us how to breathe through music, Purcell teaches us how to speak through it — to find the eternal note that echoes across time.
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This is the first of what I hope to be a series of 25 podcast episodes regarding some of the most influential and creative musicians prior to the 1900s - all ranked chronologically - then the following month, I will deal to some of the most influential musicians after the 1900s. It somehow didn't seem right to have Beethoven and the Beatles compete with each other in a list of the greats. Both Bach and Beyoncé are extremely influential in their own ways, but how can you possibly compare the two?
Each episode is a conversation across time: we’ll explore their lives, their work, and their personalities, with anecdotes, playful commentary, and yes—sometimes a little mischief. You’ll hear the human side of genius, the struggles, the bold choices, and the moments of brilliance that made them unforgettable And we begin our journey with the man who changed the very sound of music: Claudio Monteverdi.
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Well, I checked my stats for Celebrate Creativity and I am now just 7 downloads 25,000 downloads in 100 countries and territories - something I could have never envisioned five years ago when I started this podcast as Celebrate Poe. And I will soon be starting a new series of podcasts where I talk to the ghosts - or if you will - spirits of various musicians. Therefore before I start that series, volume brimming with the knowledge of the ages snuggled into a big company chair I thought it would be interesting to go back to when I first encountered the ghost of a very talented creator - that this would be a great time to go back five years ago to the very first episode of Celebrate Poe and introduce the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe.
In this reprise of one of the most downloaded episodes of Celebrate Poe, you’ll hear how I first “met” the ghost — or spirit — of Edgar Allan Poe.
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Spring intro
“Welcome, my friends, to The Microphone Episode. Yes, this is the one where the. greatest composers of all time—individuals who shuffled off their mortal coil long ago—are handed a microphone for the very first time.
Now you might also think of this episode as a promo or the introduction to the majority of the episodes in October where I take a deep dive into the life and music of approximately 25 noted classical musicians prior to 1900. Before I actually start, I wanna talk a little bit about the challenges involved in doing such a program.
First, was the actual writing of the transcript for each podcast episode. I would read about and do research regarding each musician. Then I would know what questions to ask ChatGPT to give me a more interesting answer. For example, if I just asked ChatGPT to tell me about Beethoven - it really wouldn't have that much to go on - but if I specifically asked if Beethoven wrote any letters regarding his hearing loss, then it could give me some very useful answers. In fact, in one of the most moving documents in all of music history, Beethoven wrote in a letter to his brothers Carl and Johann in October 1802. He was only 31 at the time, but his hearing loss was advancing, and he poured out his despair, frustration, and longing for life and art. He never sent the letter—it was found among his papers after his death in 1827.
[Closing music – Spring from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, Performed by John Harrison,. Source: Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA ,License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording)
Ghost Entrance: Source: https://www.zapsplat.com/page/6/?s=ghost&post_type=music&sound-effect-category-id
https://zapsplat.net/zapsplat-sounds/download.php?fileName=sound_design_texture_ghostly_pass.mp3&expiry=1601608139,LLicense: Creative Commons.
“Vespro Della Beata Vergine/ Deus In Adiutorium - Domine Ad Adiuvandum”, by Claudio Monteverdi, Performed by Schwäbischer Singkreis; Hans Grischkat, Source: https://dn721902.ca.archive.org/0/items/lp_vespro-della-beata-vergine_claudio-monteverdi-schwabischer-singkredisc1/01.01.%20Vespro%20Della%20Beata%20Vergine%3A%20Deus%20In%20Adiutorium%20-%20Domine%20Ad%20Adiuvandum.mp3. License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording) 0:00-00:30.
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Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 475 - Echoes of Horror
Man is capable of tremendous atrocities against other individuals.
An example is The Great Chinese Famine (1959-1961): This was a period of mass starvation under Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward. While the exact number of deaths is debated, estimates range from 15 to 55 million people. While not a direct campaign of extermination like the Holocaust, it was the result of deliberate and disastrous government policies that led to mass death.
The Soviet Purges and Gulag System where a result of Joseph Stalin's policies. This period led to widespread repression, forced labor, and mass executions. The death toll from famines, executions, and the Gulag system is estimated to be in the tens of millions, with some sources citing numbers as high as 20 million people.
The conquests of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century are considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history. It's estimated that military campaigns led by Genghis Khan and his successors resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people, though a precise number is impossible to determine.
And while these events often had a higher total number of victims, the Nazi Extermination Efforts - or Holocaust - is distinguished by its systematic, state-sponsored industrial-scale goal of exterminating an entire people.
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When people talk about the most successful writers of all time, one name is almost always among the first: J. K. Rowling. The author of the Harry Potter series didn’t just sell books — she created a cultural earthquake. For millions of readers, Hogwarts was not a fictional castle, but a place they knew as well as their own schools. Her novels inspired midnight release parties at bookstores, fan conventions that filled stadiums, and a cinematic franchise that grossed billions. Children who had never finished a book before suddenly tore through six- and seven-hundred-page volumes.
Adults, too, found themselves sneaking the books into briefcases or pretending they were buying them for their kids.
“But Rowling’s brilliance didn’t appear out of nowhere. She was inspired by the masters who came before her, most notably Charles Dickens. In Dickens, she found a model for eccentric characters, worlds that felt alive, and the courage to confront cruelty — especially towards children. Much like Pip, Oliver, or the young heroes of Dickens’ novels, Harry and his friends navigate a world that can be frightening, unfair, and full of moral complexity.”
Rowling herself has acknowledged Dickens as a major influence, and it’s easy to see why. Dickens’ novels often center on children navigating worlds that are harsh, unfair, and sometimes cruel — think of the orphaned Pip in Great Expectations or Oliver Twist in Oliver Twist. Similarly, Rowling’s young protagonists face dangerous and sometimes frightening circumstances: orphaned Harry navigating a neglectful household, children confronting magical and moral threats, and characters whose lives are shaped by the indifference or cruelty of adults.
Rowling also mirrors Dickens in her love for eccentric and vividly drawn characters. From the strangely named and larger-than-life figures in Dickens’ novels to the magical teachers, ghostly ancestors, and quirky classmates at Hogwarts, Rowling populates her books with personalities so distinct they feel almost tangible. Each character, no matter how minor, contributes to the richness of the world, giving readers a sense that they are peeking into a fully realized society.
Cover art:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J.\_K.\_Rowling\_2010.jpg">
Image of J.K. Rowling, Daniel Ogren, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Image of J.K. Rowling, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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**Toni Morrison shows us that literature can be both beautiful and necessary. That stories, especially the hard ones, can teach us how to see, how to remember, and maybe even how to heal.
Morrison's importance stems from several key aspects of her work:
Her novels powerfully explore the complexities of Black life in America, often focusing on the perspectives of Black women and girls. She intentionally did not center the "white gaze" in her writing, instead creating a "canon of black work" that spoke directly to Black audiences.
Now let me take a detour and deal with the concept of a “white gaze” in an individuals writing. The "white gaze" in literature refers to the unconscious assumption that the default reader is white. This forces authors of color to constantly consider how their work will be perceived by a white audience. This can lead to over-explanation, where authors feel the need to explain cultural nuances, historical context, or even everyday customs of their communities. Characters and situations may be simplified to fit preconceived notions of a white readership - in other words stereotyping. Writers may avoid certain topics or narrative choices for fear of alienating, confusing, or being judged by a white audience - also known as self censorship.**
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**"Before Narnia ever existed, C.S. Lewis had a secret weapon: a band of Oxford friends who argued, challenged, and inspired him—the Inklings."
Think C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia all by himself? Think again. Lewis was part of the Inklings, a group of Oxford professors, writers, and thinkers who met to read aloud, debate, and challenge one another.
When we think of CS Lewis today, we often picture The Chronicles of Narnia, or his rational, graceful Christian apologetics. But to really understand him, we need to see him inside a unique circle of writers and thinkers: the Inklings—a group that met in Oxford in the 1930s and ’40s to read aloud, critique, and sometimes spar over each other’s works.
In fact, I was aware that C.S. Lewis was an extremely influential modern writer when I began this episode and intended to write it just about Lewis, but came to quickly realize that he was only a part of the “creative puzzle.**
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**=Eugene O'Neill's development as a playwright was deeply rooted in his turbulent personal life and a deliberate rejection of the popular theater of his time. He evolved from a young man adrift to become a revolutionary force in American drama.
O'Neill's upbringing was steeped in theater, but not in a way that he admired. His father, James O'Neill, was a successful actor known for a single, melodramatic role - that of playing Edmond Dantès in a stage adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.
James O'Neill first performed the role of Dantès in 1883 and it became his career-defining part. While it brought him immense financial success, he felt trapped by it, as audiences only wanted to see him in that role. This frustration over his squandered artistic talent became a central theme in Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical play, Long Day's Journey Into Night, where the father figure, James Tyrone, is a famous actor who regrets giving up classic roles for a lucrative, but repetitive part.
Eugene O'Neill grew up on the road, traveling with his father and witnessing firsthand the "ranting, artificial" nature of the American stage, which he grew to despise. He wanted to create something more profound and truthful.
He lived a restless and often desperate life, working as a sailor, a prospector, and a journalist. These experiences exposed him to the harsh realities of life and the people on the fringes of society—sailors, derelicts, and prostitutes—characters who would become central to his works.**
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**The subject of today's podcast, Oscar Wilde is extremely important because of his efforts in making wit an art form. His plays — such as The Importance of Being Earnest — are still laugh-out-loud funny more than a century later, which almost no other Victorian writer can claim. He exposed the hypocrisy and absurdity of his society with dazzling one-liners that still feel sharp in our own age of image-making and social performance.
But beyond the jokes, Wilde’s life gives him lasting weight. He lived boldly, at enormous personal risk, in an era when his sexuality was criminalized. His downfall — from London celebrity to prison — makes his art feel all the more courageous.**
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**Leo Tolstoy is Russia’s other literary giant — a master of epic storytelling, moral inquiry, and psychological insight. His genius lies in observing the human soul with relentless curiosity, asking the questions every creative mind wrestles with: How do we live well? How do we understand ourselves and others? In Tolstoy, as in Dostoyevsky, we see that the tension between human desire, conscience, and society fuels some of the most enduring art ever written."
"Imagine a man who could stage a battlefield in words… then lecture his kids on morality like a drill sergeant. That’s Leo Tolstoy — genius, eccentric, and totally obsessed with the human soul. Come meet the Russian titan who made storytelling feel like an epic adventure and a moral debate at the same time.”
"He wrote battles you can feel and love affairs you can’t forget. Leo Tolstoy was a genius storyteller, a relentless moral thinker, and a man whose life was as epic as his novels. Join me as we dive into the world of Russia’s literary titan — his triumphs, his crises, and the creativity that made him unforgettable."
Leo Tolstoy was a genius storyteller who lived through enormous personal and societal change. “Imagine a man who could write war scenes so vivid they feel like battle — and domestic life so intimate you feel you’re eavesdropping. That’s Leo Tolstoy.”**
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**In the previous episode, we walked with Walt Whitman down the open roads of America, hearing the chorus of ordinary lives. Now we cross continents and step into the narrow corridors of the human soul with Fedor Dostoevsky—where freedom and conscience wrestle in shadows. Whitman’s poetry celebrated the sweep of America, the chorus of countless lives, and the boundless possibilities of freedom. Across the ocean and slightly later in time, Dostoevsky turned his gaze inward, exploring the shadowed recesses of the human heart. Whereas Whitman’s lines embraced the world, Dostoevsky’s narratives probe the tensions, doubts, and moral struggles that define our inner lives. In moving from Whitman to Dostoevsky, we travel from the expansive optimism of a young nation to the intense psychological and ethical landscapes of nineteenth-century Russia—a shift that reminds us just how varied, yet universally human, the work of great writers can be.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) is one of the towering figures of 19th-century literature and is often credited with deeply influencing modern psychological fiction. Born in Moscow into a middle-class family, he faced hardship early: his mother died when he was young, and his father was reportedly a strict and harsh figure. Dostoyevsky originally trained as an engineer, but his passion for literature led him to the literary scene in St. Petersburg.
His life was marked by intense personal struggle. He was arrested in 1849 for involvement in a group promoting liberal ideas and was sentenced to death— On December 22, 1849, Fyodor Dostoyevsky stood on a frozen parade ground in St. Petersburg. He and his fellow prisoners were blindfolded, tied to stakes, and told they had only moments left to live. The firing squad raise d their rifles. - the prisoners realized they only had a few seconds to live …
And then—at the very last instant—the sentence was commuted. Death was postponed and his sentence was commuted at the last moment to imprisonment in a Siberian labor camp. Life returned, with an almost unbearable intensity.**
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Walt Whitman’s writing helped to capture and define the spirit of the growing United States during the challenging 1800s. He had a bold and unusual way of writing that created a new artistic style for America. Whitman's importance comes from three big changes that he led: a new way of writing poetry, a new way of thinking about democracy, and a new influence on American art.
Whitman called himself "an American, one of the roughs, a Kosmos,” and he carefully created this public image, which matched the bold and rebellious style of his writing. He presented himself as a "rough working man,” and this wasn't just a part of his life story. It was a key part of his art. It showed he was rejecting the old European rules for poetry to create a new, truly American style.
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**Within the past few days, this podcast has dealt with Victor Hugo, Jonathan Swift, and Edgar Allan Poe - all these individuals were giants who challenged the status quo, but in vastly different ways. Today I would like to add Henry David Thoreau to the mix for a hopefully a compelling contrast. He's often misunderstood, just like Poe, but his rebellion was one of quiet solitude rather than gothic excess or satirical fury.
Now when you think of a revolutionary, what comes to mind? A furious orator on a soapbox, a satirist wielding a pen like a sword, or a poet railing against the universe? We've talked about all of them: Jonathan Swift and his biting satire, Victor Hugo and his grand, sweeping social protests, and Edgar Allan Poe, the ultimate rebel of the interior self.
But what about the man who rebelled by simply walking away?**
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**First you might ask - why should I read Victor Hugo. Well I'm glad you asked. You see, Reading Victor Hugo is an immersive and profound experience. But before we deal into Les Miserables, I want to say a little bit about his earlier novels.
You see, before his masterwork Les Misérables (1862), Victor Hugo wrote several other significant works, including novels, plays, and poetry. Two of his most important earlier novels are The Last Day of a Condemned Man (1829) and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831). These works were crucial for his development as a writer and established the themes that he would later fully realize in Les Misérables.
The Last Day of a Condemned Man (1829)
This short but powerful novel is told entirely from the perspective of a man awaiting execution by the guillotine. It is a raw and unflinching look at the psychological torment of a person facing death. Hugo doesn't reveal the man's name or his crime, forcing the reader to focus on his humanity rather than his guilt. Abolition of the Death Penalty: The novel is a direct and passionate plea for the abolition of capital punishment. Hugo uses the condemned man's thoughts and fears to expose the brutality and inhumanity of the state-sanctioned killing. This was a core moral conviction for Hugo and became a lifelong crusade. This work is considered a precursor to the social consciousness of Les Misérables. It shows Hugo's early commitment to using literature to champion the cause of the oppressed and challenge a justice system he viewed as flawed. The book's central argument—that the act of killing a human being is fundamentally wrong, regardless of the crime—is a theme he would revisit.**
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**I can't believe it, but we are halfway through the list of writers. I have at least 13 of the 25 writers on the list finished - and today is Charles Dickens.
Now, Charles Dickens was a brilliant storyteller, a powerful voice for social justice, and a master of crafting unforgettable characters.
You could say that Charles Dickens was The Voice of the Common Person.
Dickens used his novels to expose the harsh realities of Victorian England, particularly for the poor and working class. His own childhood, which included a stint in a blacking factory after his father was imprisoned for debt, gave him a unique and empathetic perspective. He wrote about the brutal conditions in workhouses, the exploitation of child labor, and the hypocrisy of the justice system. Through his writing, he gave a voice to those who had none, forcing the public to confront the social injustices of their time. For example, in Oliver Twist, he vividly depicted the squalor of London's slums and the plight of orphaned children. His work was so effective it led to real-world social reforms.**
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Imagine this: William Wordsworth, in the early 1800s, walking the hills of England’s Lake District. He stops to watch a field of daffodils swaying in the breeze, and suddenly, the moment becomes eternal. For Wordsworth, nature is not just scenery — it is a teacher, a healer, even a kind of companion. The world outside reflects the life within. And it’s reflective moments like these that remind us: literature is never written in isolation… it’s a conversation that stretches across centuries. Wordsworth’s vision would echo far beyond his own time.” For Wordsworth, nature is not just scenery — it is a teacher, a healer, even a companion. The world outside reflects the life within.
Now, shift forward a century. Robert Frost, in rural New England, standing at a fork in a snowy path. His tone is different. Nature is still the stage, but here it is a testing ground. The woods are ‘lovely, dark and deep,’ but they are also a reminder of choices, obligations, even mortality.
But Frost’s world carried a sharper edge. If Wordsworth saw nature as a gentle teacher, Frost often saw it as a mirror of human struggle — full of choices, boundaries, and unanswered questions. Where Wordsworth sought transcendence, Frost leaned into ambiguity. Yet both, in their own ways, turned the soil of everyday life into poetry that still speaks to us today.
What ties these two poets together? Both reject lofty, artificial language. They wanted poetry in the voice of ordinary people — the farmer, the shepherd, the walker on a country road. Both believed that truth could be found in the quietest moments: a walk by a river, a stone wall between neighbors, a road not taken.
But here’s the tension. Wordsworth looks at nature and sees transcendence — a spiritual renewal. Frost looks at the same natural world and sees ambiguity, sometimes even danger. And yet, together, they teach us how a flower, or a snowfall, or even the silence of the woods can become a doorway to the deepest truths about human life.
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**What if I told you one of the most famous writers in history calmly suggested… eating babies?
Here's the situation: You’re sitting down with a brand-new pamphlet in Dublin, 1729. The author, Jonathan Swift, is proposing a solution to poverty in Ireland. And here’s the solution: the Irish poor should sell their babies as food to the wealthy.
Yes, you heard that right. Children — on the dinner plate.
Swift wrote,
“I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.” As well as I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled.**
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**Now, Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe, was a prolific and multi-talented English writer, journalist, and spy, whose life was as adventurous as his most famous characters. Born Daniel Foe around 1660 in London to a family of Dissenters (Protestants who did not conform to the Church of England), he later added the aristocratic-sounding "De" to his name.
Defoe's early career was far from literary. He was a merchant, dealing in a wide range of goods from hosiery to wine. His business ventures were often precarious, and he experienced several bankruptcies, which gave him a firsthand understanding of economic and social struggles. This period also saw him participate in the failed Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, a political uprising against King James II, which he narrowly escaped punishment for. Later, he became a close ally of King William III and worked as a government agent and spy, particularly during the lead-up to the 1707 Act of Union between England and Scotland. So you have Daniel Defoe going from jail to literary fame.
Defoe's outspoken political pamphlets frequently landed him in hot water. In 1703, he was arrested and sentenced to the pillory for publishing a satirical pamphlet titled The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters, which ironically mimicked the extreme views of those who wanted to persecute his own religious group. While in prison, he wrote "Hymn to the Pillory," a poem that mocked his punishment and gained him public sympathy. After his release, he began his career as a professional writer and journalist, founding and almost single-handedly writing a periodical called The Review for nine years.
Although he wrote hundreds of works on various topics—from politics and economics to crime and history—Defoe is best known today as one of the founders of the English novel. At the age of nearly 60, he published Robinson Crusoe (1719), which was an immediate sensation. Drawing on the real-life story of castaway Alexander Selkirk, Defoe's novel used a detailed, realistic narrative style that helped define a new g his goal was to expose their hypocrisy and bigotry by taking their arguments to the most absurd and logical conclusion that the only enre of fiction. He followed this success with other major works, including Moll Flanders and A Journal of the Plague Year (both 1722). His ability to create compelling, believable characters and stories from the perspective of ordinary, often marginalized, people cemented his place in literary history.**
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**"Darkness visible — a phrase that captures the paradox of John Milton’s life: eventual blindness in body, yet vision without bounds in the mind.”
"Imagine a world gone dark — yet in that darkness, a man named John Milton could see more clearly than anyone else."
John Milton grew up with privilege, expectation, and a mind hungry for knowledge. His father, a scrivener, provided tutors, music lessons, and an education that would prepare him for greatness. From an early age, Milton believed he was destined for immortality.
Yet life would test him. He faced political upheaval, personal loss, and eventually, blindness. By the early 1650s, at just forty-three, Milton could no longer see.
Blindness for Milton was more than a physical loss; it demanded dependence on others and challenged his sense of independence. And yet, in that darkness, he created some of the greatest works in English literature.
From the epic grandeur of Paradise Lost to the quiet triumph of Paradise Regained, Milton’s inner vision never dimmed. And in this episode, we’ll also explore how his phrase “darkness visible” has echoed across centuries, influencing writers and poets long after his time.**
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Well here no I don't wanna do this I don't wanna do this because when I start doing stuff like this screw up so I'm just showing you I've got a belt a few hundred more to hit how are your running since you changed your topic much much higher there's no comparison
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 458 - The Greatest of Them All, Part Two
“In Episode 1, we followed Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon to the bustling streets and theatres of London, watching him experiment with history, tragedy, and love. But the story doesn’t stop there. From these early works, Shakespeare climbed higher, perfecting his craft and tackling the deepest questions of humanity.
Take Hamlet, for instance. Here is a prince torn between revenge, morality, and his own inaction. With the simple, yet profound, words ‘To be, or not to be…,’ Shakespeare captures a question that has haunted humans for centuries: what does it mean to act, and what does it mean to live? In King Lear, he explores family, power, and madness, peeling back the layers of human pride and vulnerability. In Othello, we watch jealousy and manipulation destroy trust, while Macbeth examines ambition, guilt, and the blurred lines between fate and choice. In each play, characters are no longer symbols or types—they are fully human, with thoughts, fears, and contradictions that mirror our own.
That’s like a musician dropping three platinum albums in twelve months. Shakespeare wasn’t just producing — he was redefining what theater could be.
This is the run that still leaves critics gasping: the great tragedies. Between about 1600 and 1608, he wrote Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. It’s the Shakespeare equivalent of The Beatles going from Help! to Sgt. Pepper in a handful of years.**
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The Greatest of Them All - Part 1
**Now when I first decided to have a series of podcast episodes dealing with what I believe are the 25 most influential writers, it seemed easiest and most effective to have one episode for each writer. But I soon found that William Shakespeare easily deserved several episodes - so I'm going to devote two episodes to Shakespeare because of his importance to the English language and creativity -still fully realizing that's not enough.
Anyway, If you visit Stratford-upon-Avon today, the first thing you’ll hear is that William Shakespeare was born in 1564. We don’t actually know the exact day, but we do know he was baptized on April 26th at Holy Trinity Church. Since baptisms usually happened a few days after birth, tradition has settled on April 23rd — St. George’s Day — as Shakespeare’s birthday. A fitting coincidence, since St. George is England’s patron saint and Shakespeare would become its greatest poet.
He was the son of John Shakespeare, a glove maker and part-time wool dealer who rose to become an alderman in the town, and Mary Arden, who came from a well-off farming family. That gave young Will a household connected both to trade and to old Warwickshire landowners.
Like many boys of his station, he probably attended the King’s New School in Stratford. The curriculum would have been heavy on Latin, rhetoric, and the classics. Day after day, he would have been drilled in the works of Ovid, Seneca, and Plautus. Later, echoes of those schoolroom authors would resurface in his plays — Pyramus and Thisbe in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Roman senators in Julius Caesar.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Chaucer -Not Just Paperwork
Before Shakespeare, before Austen…even before Milton, there was Jeffrey Chaucer. Boldly writing in English when most of the literary world preferred Latin or French. Imagine that audacity!"
Cue pause: 1 second, let the audience absorb “audacity.”
“The English language just wasn’t considered worthy of literature, and here was, Jeffrey Chaucer giving the English language - life, color, and humor.”
Fireflies harp
"Chaucer didn’t just write stories—he invented a whole way of telling them. And the people he created? Funny, scandalous, and strangely familiar. Some things really don’t change."
"So, Chaucer wasn’t just funny—he was innovative. Let’s talk about his life and how he took English from everyday speech to literary gold.”**
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**Today I'd like to talk about a unique individual from the New Testament first known as Saul, and after his conversion, was known as Paul
Based on what we know, Paul’s voice and style can best be described as urgent, argumentative, and full of rhetorical questions and paradoxes. Compared to Moses and David, he’s much less about stories and much more about persuasion.
Genres he influenced: his letters basically create Christian epistolary literature, setting a pattern that has influenced writers from Augustine to Kierkegaard.
ats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”**
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**“Hello, friends, and welcome to Celebrate Creativity! My name is George Bartley, and today we turn to one of the most influential writers of the ancient world — David, the poet-king.
David is certainly famous as a king of Israel, but, as I am sure you most of you know, he is also remembered as a prolific writer of Psalms — songs and poems that explore the full range of human emotion and our relationship with the divine. Unlike Moses, whose writings often focus on law and history, David’s work is intensely personal, lyrical, and designed to be felt as much as read.
Before we dive into some of his most memorable Psalms, a quick clarification: you may have heard of the Song of Solomon. While it is part of the Hebrew Bible, it is traditionally attributed to Solomon, not David. David’s contribution lies in his Psalms, which became a template for lyrical, devotional, and confessional poetry for generations.”
I am sure that you are familiar with Psalm 23 - one of his most famous works
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.**
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**“Hello, friends, and welcome to Celebrate Creativity! My name is George Bartley, and today we begin an extraordinary journey into one of the most influential storytellers in human history — Moses.
Most listeners know the creation story, but did you know that tradition credits Moses as its author? That’s right — the words ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’ and all that follows in Genesis are part of what Moses transmitted to the world. Before we go any further, I want to emphasize that this podcast series called Voices Through Time is not a series whose purpose is to convert you to a certain belief, but an exploration of some of the greatest and most interesting writers who have ever lived. Now let’s take a moment to hear that story.”**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode 451 - only 49 more episodes to go until this podcast reaches 500 - anyway,
What you're hearing is not a full length episode - I'm close to going over my limit. But I want to let you know about an exciting series that will be released September 6 at 12 o'clock midnight EST
I'm launching a new series called "Voices Through Time," where I will explore the lives and works of some of the most influential writers in history. This isn't just about reading books; it's about understanding the people behind them and how their words have shaped our world.
After hundreds of hours of work, I have written the transcripts for all but three more writers to cover in the series. My original goal was to compile an admittedly subjective list of the top 25 most creative and influential writers and do an episode regarding each writer - in future months, I plan to have episodes devoted to the most creative and influential painters, religious leaders, classical musicians, popular artists, among others - but for the month of September, the episodes will deal with some of the greats of literature - from familiar writers to ones that might be completely new to you
We begin on September 6 with Moses — not often thought of as a writer, but his words still shape laws, stories, and the moral imagination thousands of years later. By the way, if you have ever read the words - and who hasn’t - in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth - you are reading words written by Moses. Most scholars believe that Moses wrote the creation story. In fact, it is generally agreed that Moses wrote the book of Genesis. But I digress.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Creativity- Episode 450 - Poe’s Words of Hope
When you hear the name of the 19th century writer, Edgar Allan Poe, what comes to mind? Perhaps you picture a somber, extremely unhappy man scribbling tales of madness and murder in a dimly lit room.
In this episode, originally written for the voices through time series, we look at a different - even life affirming aspect of Poe.
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**The final individual in this podcast miniseries about great literary figures who had a form of epilepsy deals with Truman Capote, and while he is listed among famous writers who had epilepsy, there's no indication that he depicted characters with epilepsy or seizures in his fictional works.
As I hope you know by now, writers such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, for example, are known to have integrated their experience with epilepsy into their characters and narratives. However, for Capote, the information primarily points to his personal health struggles, not literary creations.
Regarding the role of seizures/epilepsy in his later life, it's a significant and unfortunately tragic part of his story. Truman Capote suffered from seizures, and this health issue was compounded by his severe struggles with alcohol and drug abuse.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 447 - What the Dickens!
Today I want to look at Charles Dickens - and no I could not find any reliable information that said Charles Dickens suffered from epilepsy, but his connection to epilepsy and neurology is extremely notable because of his descriptions of some of his characters having epileptic episodes.
Again, there is no record of Charles Dickens have any form of epilepsy - at least none that I could find - and I really looked - but he was an excellent writer, and described characters of his works who suffered from seizure disorders objectively and in great detail - in fact many medical schools today use his descriptions in neurology classes.
Dickens an extremely keen eye for human behavior. While though there’s no evidence he personally experienced epilepsy, he was fascinated by the extremes of human emotion and physical reaction. He grew up in a time when epilepsy was stigmatized and often poorly understood, which may have made his detailed depictions both sensational and socially informative.
Dickens was part of the Victorian realist tradition, which emphasized detailed, psychologically rich portrayals of characters. When writing someone experiencing a seizure—like the character of Squeers’ son or other minor characters—he wasn’t just showing a medical condition; he was conveying inner terror, vulnerability, or moral weakness. His meticulous depictions helped readers visualize and emotionally connect with characters.
Dickens read widely, including medical journals of his time such as John Russell Reynolds’ Aids to the Diagnosis of Diseases of the Nervous System or other Victorian neurology texts that described seizures clinically. Dickens likely drew on these descriptions to give his fiction both realism and credibility.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 447 - The Perfect Word
Welcome to this podcast episode. Today, get ready to hear more meet a writer who took being a perfectionist to a whole new level - possibly hear about him for the very first time. His name is Gustave Flaubert, and he's not just another author from history—he's a rebel who changed how stories are told forever.
So, why should you care about him?
Imagine a writer who spent years on a single book. Gustave Flaubert was obsessed with finding the one perfect word for every sentence, often screaming his writing out loud to make sure it sounded just right. This crazy-intense effort is why his main accomplishment, a novel called Madame Bovary, is so famous. When it came out, it caused a massive scandal! People were so shocked by his story of a bored woman trying to find excitement in her life that he was actually put on trial.
But there’s another reason he's so interesting. Flaubert suffered from epilepsy. This illness made his life incredibly difficult and private, but it also gave him a unique view of the world. It’s a powerful and inspiring story of a person who took his own personal struggles and turned them into some of the most beautiful and honest writing the world has ever seen.
So, stick around as we continue our look into the life of Gustave Flaubert.**
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**Welcome to Episode 445 of Celebrate Creativity - Ultimate Freedom - This is the third and final episode devoted to characters with epilepsy from the writings of Fydor Dostoyevsky.
In addition to Prince Myskin and Smerdyakov, there was another major character who has a relationship with epilepsy called Kirillov from dostoyevsky’s novel by the name of Demons. You see, Dostoevsky never explicitly says Kirillov is epileptic, but there are strong echoes of the condition, and scholars often connect him to Dostoevsky’s own experiences of seizures.
In Demons, Kirillov is obsessed with ultimate freedom and the idea of overcoming the fear of death by committing suicide. At several points, he describes moments of sudden, radiant joy that come to him — a kind of ecstatic clarity just before unbearable suffering. Dostoevsky himself experienced something very similar with his own epilepsy. He wrote that just before some of his seizures, he would feel a sudden, luminous happiness, as though eternity were revealed to him in a single instant.
In Demons (Part II, Chapter 1), Kirillov says:
“There are moments, and it is only for a few seconds, when you feel the presence of eternal harmony … You feel it in all your being, and it is clear, it is undeniable. At such moments you would not exchange it for all the joys of earth.”
This is almost identical to Dostoevsky’s personal description of his epileptic aura. Many readers — and critics — have taken this as evidence that Kirillov is written as an epileptic character, even if Dostoevsky never uses the word.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity – Episode 444 – A Multitude of Ways
In this podcast series, I am delving into authors who had epilepsy. And there is probably no better example than Dostoyevsky. Now it is said that Fydor Dostoevsky's portrayal of epilepsy, especially in his character Prince Myshkin, is one of the most accurate and empathetic in literature largely because it goes beyond just describing the physical symptoms. He delves into the psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions of the condition. Having experienced epilepsy himself, Dostoevsky was able to portray the condition with an authenticity that was rare for his time.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity – Episode 444 - Fate, illness, or Deception?
This is the first podcast episode in a three part series dealing with a fascinating individual - the Russian writer Fydor Dostoevsky and his literary treatment of seizure disorders. His works are rich with recurring themes such as morality, free will, nihilism, faith, and the nature of good and evil.
Dostoevsky himself suffered from epilepsy - so it could be argued that his reaction to the condition it's quite different from most Siri set an alarm for five minutes writers - largely because he suffered so many seizures. He he even went out of his way to portray some of his characters - note that I said some of his characters - having seizure disorders and being exemplary people. Today they might be called role models. This is perhaps most true of one of the leading characters of his novel, The Idiot - a character known as Prince Myshkin.
Dostoevsky's Life and Historical Context
Dostoevsky's life was marked by extreme highs and lows, which directly influenced his writing.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 442 Was He Drunk?
I should hope that after you have listened to the preceding episode, the name of Dr. John Robertson should be familiar to you. In case it is not, Dr. John Robertson was a neurologist and an avid collector of Poe's works who, in his 1921 study "Edgar A. Poe: A Study," argued that Poe suffered from a form of epilepsy, specifically complex partial seizures. He contended that these seizures, rather than just substance abuse, were the underlying cause of Poe's erratic behavior and many of the "spells" or "fits" documented by his contemporaries.
Robertson's Main Points
Poe's "Spells" as Complex Partial Seizures: Robertson, writing from a 20th-century neurological perspective, reinterpreted the anecdotal descriptions of Poe's "spells" or "brain fever" as symptoms of complex partial seizures. These seizures, often originating in the temporal lobe, were not well understood in the 19th century and could be mistaken for insanity or drunkenness. Robertson argued that symptoms like staring, personality changes, mutism, and amnesia, which were described by Poe's acquaintances, were highly consistent with this diagnosis.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity Episode 441 - Did Poe Have Epilepsy?
As many of you know, I used to work at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond Virginia - my favorite room in the entire museum, and one of my favorite places in the entire world, is the Virginia Poe room name for the mother of Edgar Allan Poe. Now this building contains an excellent collection of the writers works - original editions of everything from Hans Pfall - for obvious reasons, the museum takes stringent security measures - security concerns and actions which I don't even begin to understand - nor would I want to. The reason that I am talking about this collection is that it was given to the museum by a Dr. John Robertson - he not only had deep pockets, but was a neurologist - a brain doctor - and a genuine expert on the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote a huge book about Poe’s life - especially from from a neurological standpoint - and in the following episodes I would like to address some of his findings regarding America’s Shakespeare - especially where Dr. John Robertson connected his medical expertise to his passion for Poe's works. And a look at Dr. Robertson's findings are especially relevant when looking at any possible connection of Edgar Allan Poe and seizure disorders.
As mentioned before, Dr. John W. Robertson's (1856-1934) was a neurologist and author who was a prominent Poe collector. His collection of Poe's works and memorabilia was substantial and is noted to have included original manuscripts and rare editions. He was a benefactor of the Poe Museum in Richmond and is also listed as having placed a plaque at a cemetery with the museum's founder, James H. Whitty. This deep interest in Poe's life and his writings went beyond simple collection; it fueled his professional endeavors.**
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**-Welcome to is Celebrate Creativity for episode 440 Crossing the Symbol -the second part of a look into Lord Byron.
Making swimming even more difficult historically and even today it's a vital strategic waterway which means it was and still is a busy maritime passageway
Now if you will excuse me, I wanna take a little aside and delve into the Hellespont - and hopefully in a few minutes you will understand it's importance to Lord Byron, his thinking, and where I'm trying to go with this.
So I asked Gemini for a little background about the Hellespont.
It answered - The Hellespont, now known as the Dardanelles, is a narrow, historically significant strait in northwestern Turkey that connects the Aegean Sea (part of the Mediterranean) to the Sea of Marmara, and ultimately, via the Bosphorus, to the Black Sea.
To Lord Byron, the Hellespont was what's like a bridge Between Continents and Civilizations - metaphorically. It famously marks a natural boundary between Europe (on the Gallipoli Peninsula side) and Asia (on the Troad, or mainland Turkey, side). Byron's swim was, in essence, a literal crossing between continents.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 439 - An Uneasy Mind
Let me start with an example of my creative - if if that is what you wanna call it - approach to Gemini - I figured out what I wanted to say, my situation, and give Gemini a place to start with. I knew that Gustav Flaubert and Lord Byron lived approximately at the same time, but I was not exactly sure which came first chronologically. So I looked them up Gemini and got
Lord Byron was Born: January 22, 1788 and died April 19, 1824 - while
Well now I guess you could say that I'm speaking as me here I guess you could say that is true with me personally I may have the tendency to have a seizure but I haven't had a seizure for decades but then I can take well anticonvulsants and the medication's seem to have Gustave Flaubert was born about 30 years later on December 12, 1821 and died may 8, 1880. So chronologically, this episode and the one afterwards will be about Lord Byron. I then typed the following prompt into Gemini
I am doing a podcast where I am planning several episodes about writers who it is believed suffered from epilepsy - such as Edgar Allan Poe, Dostoyevsky - definitely - Agatha Christie - of course there are other notable figures who are believed to have suffered from epilepsy. From what I understand there is not definite proof that dickens had epilepsy, but he did take great care en describing the symptoms and actions of people with epilepsy. First - and it may require several episodes to cover all the writers - could you describe the role of epilepsy in the life of Lord Byron?
And Gemini replied - The role of epilepsy in the life of Lord Byron is a fascinating and often debated topic. While some historical accounts and figures (like Nietzsche) suggested he suffered from epilepsy, modern interpretations of the available evidence tend to be more nuanced, suggesting that if he experienced seizures, they were likely occasional convulsions rather than chronic epilepsy.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 437 - Epilepsy and Famous Writers
Today, Celebrate Creativity is beginning a new series, one that peels back the layers on a topic rarely discussed in the hallowed halls of literature. We're going to talk about famous writers who lived with epilepsy.
Now I did not just randomly choose the topic of creativity and epilepsy. You see, as some of you may know, my family and I went to Washington DC when I was in the eighth grade, and saw Bob Dylan. The next day, I came back to my high school and had my first epileptic seizure while walking down the hall - I think I've said before, my dear mother always believed from that point on that Bob Dylan caused my seizure - his music may be powerful, but I doubt that it is that powerful. Anyway I spent several weeks at the University of Virginia Hospital, and was prescribed Dilantin - a drug that controlled my seizures for the most part. A few years later, the doctors changed my anticonvulsant medication to Depakote - a much newer drug that was ironically smuggled into the United States by a neurologist. It had been used with great success in Europe, and since I started taking Depakote, I have not had any seizures. No I don't wanna give anybody false hope and say that you might get the same results if you were in a similar situation, but I can say I know what it's like to go through years where I did not know if I would remain conscious or not - I didn’t particularly view epilepsy as a gift. So those experiences have led me to examine if creativity and epilepsy were related in various talented individuals from the past in this podcast. And to my surprise, there does seem to be some connection between creativity and epilepsy - this is still rather controversial. I found many great individuals who suffered from epilepsy - far more than I could deal with in a few episodes - so initially I am confining my exploration of individuals with epilepsy to only writers with a seizure disorder- I hope to get into some other areas - such as artists and musicians - in the future - but in this series, I am going to try and concentrate on writers although I know I'm gonna wander off into other disciplines now and then.**
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**Welcome to celebrate creativity - my name is George Bartley and this is episode 437 - the Second of a two part series - Poe’s Creativity - Part Two
Mr. Poe - you know I I'm very curious about your writing - and the effects you attempted to generate - Would you say that you were a stylist?
Indeed, Mr. Bartley, I would say that I am a stylist, and in the most deliberate and uncompromising sense of the word. Style, to me, is not a mere flourish or a decorative element to be draped over a story's frame. It is the very foundation of the work, the precise and calculated means by which a particular effect is achieved.
I am a stylist in my relentless pursuit of "Unity of Effect." I believe that a work of art, be it prose or poetry, must be a complete and coherent experience. Every word, every sentence, every rhythm and cadence is chosen not for its individual beauty, but for its contribution to the single, overarching mood I wish to evoke. When I write of a decaying mansion, the language itself must feel as if it is crumbling. When I write of a man's descent into madness, the very structure of the sentences must become a reflection of his unraveling mind.
My style is also a reflection of my belief in the power of sound and rhythm. I hold that the ear is as important as the eye in receiving a work of art. My poems, such as "The Raven," are meticulously crafted with assonance, alliteration, and internal rhyme, not as poetic tricks, but as a hypnotic drumbeat that lulls the reader into a state of profound melancholy. The repetition of "Nevermore" is not just a word; it is a tolling bell, a final, inescapable sound that echoes the narrator's despair.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - my name is George Bartley and this is episode 436 - the first of a two part series - Poe’s Creativity - Part One
First I have a confession to make - her somehow got the last two audio files, their titles, and numbers mixed up - it's very easy to do - I will definitely be sure to do all that I can to be sure that this doesn't happen again - and I hope I'm now back on track with this episode. I apologize for any inconvenience.
Now, this and the following episode deal with Edgar Allan poe and creativity - first his creativity and poetry, then his creativity in relation to prose. And here is the ghost of Mr. Poe right now - a character that listeners to this podcast might be familiar with from earlier episodes, and a writer who will certainly return for many other future podcast episodes.**
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**Welcome to celebrate creativity. My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 435 - Walt’s Cloak
It seems that the best way to get useful information from an ai is by using clear and thorough prompts. In other words, the best way to get an answer that is useful is to spend time thinking how to communicate clearly what you want to say - possibly writing down a list of the questions you want to ask - because it is easy to get off-topic. Sometimes, that might require that you spend a few sentences describing your situation. This will inevitably get you a better answer.
Here I am using perplexity - not my favorite AI - but one that is serviceable enough. To start with, I enter what might seem like a rather long prompt. Some people might feel that it even has unnecessary information, but I have found that's a more information you give the AI.bot the more information it has to go on and the better answer we can give you.
So without further ado, my prompt regarding Whitman and Peter Doyle is as follows:**
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**Welcome to Celebrate. Creativity - This is Episode 434 - A Fierce Undeniable Attraction
Walt Whitman’s words about the female form is the subject of the first section of this episode.
Section 4
This is the female form,
A divine nimbus exhales from it from head to foot,
It attracts with fierce undeniable attraction,
I am drawn by its breath as if I were no more than a helpless vapor, all falls aside but myself and it,
Books, art, religion, time, the visible and solid earth, and what was expected of heaven or fear’d of hell, are now consumed,
Mad filaments, ungovernable shoots play out of it, the response likewise ungovernable,
Hair, bosom, hips, bend of legs, negligent falling hands all diffused, mine too diffused,
Ebb stung by the flow and flow stung by the ebb, love-flesh swelling and deliciously aching,
Limitless limpid jets of love hot and enormous, quivering jelly of love, white-blow and delirious juice,
Bridegroom night of love working surely and softly into the dawn,
Undulating into the willing and yielding day,
Lost in the cleave of the clasping and sweet-flesh’d day.
And this episode continues with Walt Whitman's words and commentary about the female form.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 433 - Cataloging the Sensual
I left off talking about Whitman's use of free verse, and now I'd like to say a little bit more. about his technique of cataloging - away in which you might say that he glorified the common place. In his catalogues, such as the one in "I Hear America Singing," Whitman elevates the ordinary work of everyday people into something monumental. He lists the "mechanic," the "carpenter," the "mason," the "boatman," and the "ploughboy," giving each person their own song. By placing these working-class individuals at the center of his epic poem, he broke with the tradition of focusing on kings, gods, or mythic heroes. This was an act of courage that validated the lives of the American people.
Celebrating the Human Body: Whitman's courage was particularly evident in his treatment of the human body and sexuality. In "I Sing the Body Electric," he writes with a frankness that was shocking for his time, describing and celebrating the body in all its forms. He writes, "The press of my foot to the earth, it is as a contact with spirits." He goes on to praise not just beauty but also strength, age, and sexuality without shame. This was a direct challenge to the prudish, repressed social norms of the Victorian era.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - My name is George Bartley and this is episode 432 - Flowing and Swelling
This episode is the second in a series of podcast episodes about Walt Whitman’s unique approach to free verse.
Now a good example of Walt Whitman's free verse - one that celebrates the messy, vibrant, and expansive reality of the modern world is from "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry." In this poem, he captures the sensory experience of a daily commute, blending the sublime with the mundane.
"Flowing and swelling, swelling and flowing,"
"The current rushes on, the men and women crowd the deck,"
"The flags and pennants, the masts, the white gulls, the dark water,"
"The fine-pointed towers of the new city rise to the sky,"
"The steam-boats passing, the bell-tolls, the cries of the men, the girls' laughter."
This passage is a prime example of his free verse. It lacks a consistent meter or rhyme scheme. Instead, the lines flow with a natural, organic rhythm, much like the ferry's movement. He uses a long, sprawling line to fit in a multitude of images: the natural current, the diverse crowd, the man-made "towers," and the cacophony of modern city life. Whitman's democratic vision is also at play here, as he places the "men and women" alongside the "gulls" and "steam-boats," giving each element equal importance in this vibrant, modern scene.
Walt Whitman often blended everyday language with elevated language, creating a style that was both democratic and epic. This elevated language drew inspiration from sources such as the Bible, opera, and classical literature, giving his poems a sense of grandeur and timelessness. He used these high-flown words and phrases to elevate the common person and everyday American life to a heroic, almost spiritual, level.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 431 - A Patient Spider
From a week of Shakespeare to a series of podcast episodes about Walt Whitman - not as big jump as you might think.
You see, Walt Whitman and William Shakespeare are two of the most influential poets in the English language, and while they lived in different eras and had vastly different styles, they share some key commonalities. Both poets are renowned for their profound impact on literature, and their works are considered foundational to their respective traditions.
Both writers explored similar universal themes and used powerful literary techniques to do so. So much has been written about Walt Whitman's free verse - in other words - poetry that doesn't rhyme - that it would be impossible to do it justice in several episodes. But in this and the following episodes, I want to examine Walt Whitman’s use of free verse.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 431 - Yesterday and Tomorrow
I mentioned that it was necessary to have a list of name signs when signing a play by William Shakespeare in an earlier podcast episode. And I want to say a final note about that here. What I always did when interpreting a play at the black fires Playhouse, I printed a sheet on my computer with ready set go - I doubt that anybody remembers that - a page making program where I could have eight or 10 pictures of various cast members and the name sign that I had given to that character. Obviously there wouldn't be enough room to have name signs for all the characters, but I would definitely have name signs for say major characters like Romeo, Juliet, or Hamlet. I took about 10 minutes at the beginning of the play to introduce the name signs of the major characters, but found that you couldn't always depend on every member of the deaf audience to be there on time. So This was especially a big help for deaf people who might've come in late. And I always printed enough to give a copy of the name signs to members of the cast - they always appreciated it and said they would put it in their scrapbook. I have found - no outstanding observation here - but it is always a good idea to stay on good terms with the cast and director. I remember one time the director of a play was introducing me to a group - he said this is George Bartley - he is greatly beloved by our cast - I thought to myself, this is the first Time I have ever been called beloved - I've been called stubborn many many times - but never beloved.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity Episode 429 Playing with Language
Snce the auditory characteristics of a Shakespearean play (such as puns and meter) are outside the frame of reference of a Deaf audience, puns can be shown in “plays on signs,” instead of “plays on words.” Meter can be communicated though smooth and regular signs – the jerky interpreter who is searching for words cannot convey the inner stresses and beats in a line of text. Instead of “rhythm in spoken language over a period of time,” the concept of meter can be communicated through “grace in space.” Clear and flowing signing is the Deaf equivalent of articulate and smooth speaking in hearing actors.
Rhetorical Devices: Balancing Shakespeare
ASL lends itself well to the expression of certain rhetorical devices. While the interpreter and actors should never over emphasize the use of rhetoric, the principles involved in several of the classic figures of speech can inform an ASL translation and even make it clearer. Schemes of balance, for example, take on a new dimension in ASL. In parallelism with two elements, there is a similarity of structure in related words, phrases, or clauses. The elements can be visually expressed by signing the first item of a series on one side of the body, and the second on the other side of the body. ASL can use the concept of spatial relationships to show that the two elements are on the plane and balanced concepts. The eyes see “the whole picture,” so a signer can use more than one sign concurrently. For example, in Hamlet's “to be or not to be” (The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 3.1.17) soliloquy, the antithetical concepts of “life” and “death” can be signed at the same time – adding a new dimension to Hamlet's weighing two alternatives.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 429 _ How to Say No
Name Signs as Clarifiers: Which Side Is He On?
One common practice when interpreting a play is for t when mythological references are used the interpreter needs well needs to be able to be creative yes be creative add to avoid finger spelling and therefore breaking the meter the interpreter excuse me just a second here he interpreter to come up with a sign to signify a character - this is much faster - much faster - then finger spelling the name each time. And a name sign is also easier for a member of the death audience to see. Name signs can be introduced while the interpreter speaks with the Deaf audience a few minutes prior to the beginning of a play. This not only serves as a time to introduce the characters and helps the Deaf audience make the transition into Shakespeare's world, but gives the Deaf audience an opportunity to become accustomed to the signing style of the interpreter.
An interpreter should not “overload” the Deaf audience with name signs. In many cases, a character can be referred to by their relationship or role, such as “nurse” or “servant.” If the character is on stage, the interpreter can point to that person. If the character is offstage, and is referred to again, the interpreter may establish a position on stage, “assign” the location to a character, and when he quickly points to that area, the audience knows that specific character is being mentioned. Name signs can even be used to clarify relationships between characters in a Shakespearean play. In the Blackfriars production of The Life and Death of King Richard the Third, the characters who supported the House of York had name signs on the left side of the body, while the characters who supported of the House of Lancaster had name signs on the right side of the body. That night, the Deaf individuals were perhaps the only people in the audience unfamiliar with English history who were easily able to follow the political intrigues of the play!**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 427 - Yesterday and Tomorrow
Let's get back to a brief look at American Sign Language - remember American Sign Language or ASL is the natural language of the deaf.
It might be a good idea to review the five parameters of American Sign Language. Asl
They are Location: Where on the body the sign is made.
Movement: The way the sign moves.
Palm Orientation: Which way the hand is facing.
Non-Manual Markers: Facial expressions and body movements.
Handshape: The shape of the hand.
Let's look at a few examples:**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 427 - Hear the Hungry Lion
When we left the previous episode I was working with Gemini to make my Master thesis about interpreting Shakespeare's place for the deaf more understandable. And Gemini said -
Okay, here's the next section, revised for a seventh-grade reading level. I've broken down the longer paragraphs and used simpler language to explain the concepts of ASL grammar and the different styles of interpreting. And then Gemini continued with
ASL Grammar: A Different Way to Talk
ASL has a unique sentence structure that is sometimes called "topic/comment." This means you often say the main idea first, then add more details. By the way that is a very good way, of stating a rather complicated concept. For example, instead of "Is this a dagger I see before me?" from Shakespeare's Macbeth, a translation in ASL might be "dagger, do I see?"**
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**Welcome to celebrate creativity - episode 426 - Signing Shakespeare
In graduate school, I did a master thesis called Signing Shakespeare regarding interpreting the works of Shakespeare and Performance into American Sign Language for the deaf. Now the problem is that the language of the paper was certainly appropriate for graduate School, but way over the head of the normal, average person - in other words the language was far too high falutin and made up of words almost guarantee to put you to sleep. It did have some good ideas - but was far too boring.
I liked the content of the paper, so I asked Gemini if it could help me adapt my thesis for a seventh grade reading level to make it more understandable. I entered my request, and Gemini replied -**
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Welcome back to celebrate creativity - Episode 425 - From Stratford to London. **Today, we're going on a very special Elizabethan journey, not into one of Shakespeare's plays, but into the writer’s very own life - a life that was surprisingly simple. Who was the man who created all these amazing characters and stories? Where did he come from? And then we will look at his writings from using a fascinating form of communication.
But first I want to tell you - very briefly - how I became interested in Shakespeare in a big way!
One day - more years ago than I care to think - I got a telephone call to interpret for the recently built American Shakespeare Center - at that time the world's only exact replica of Shakespeare's original indoor theater, the Blackfriars. This theater was built in my hometown of Staunton, Virginia, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Now I had spent hundreds of hours doing rather tedious interpreting for the Deaf in the area, but this was the first time I had a chance to do something that was truly creative - and the pay was very good too. Well to make a long story short, I have interpreted all of Shakespeare's plays over the years in various cities and can now say that I have interpreted more Shakespearean plays into American Sign Language than any other person on the planet. And I am now working on an online course to teach other individuals the basics of interpreting a Shakespearean play.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 424 - Things to Come -
If you are listening to this podcast episode, that means I have a few more minutes on my podcasting hosting time - just enough for this episode. I am taking some time off from recording to concentrate on writing episodes that are more Direct, interesting, and just generally a better experience. One of the subjects that I know I will be delving into is Shakespeare because that was my major in graduate school - and covering his works on a direct level that gives you confidence that you understand what can sometimes be confusing material. Of course I also want to emphasize creativity and approaching Shakespeare, as well as how Shakespeare’s works or precursor to AI. Of course any examination of creativity includes a closer look at AI - especially in education - and I will be spending a great deal of time reading and delving into the subject matter.**
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**Welcome to celebrate creativity - pisode 423 - Poe the Swimmer
I am going to be taking some time off from this podcast - I think I have had almost 30 episodes in the past month - and devote the time to just doing podcasts and doing them right - with the sound effects and some really fascinating subjects.
As of today this podcast has had almost 23,000 downloads in nearly 100 countries and territories. Now for today - well, this episode is largely made up of content from an earlier podcast episode of celebrate Poe - and the information makes up the most downloaded episode by far in the series. When I started celebrate poe - now celebrate creativity - I expected maybe a handful of downloads at the most - but am amazed at how many people are interested in Edgar Alan Poe, his works, and his times - and now other areas of creativity.
Today’s podcast is about Poe’s swimming across the James River when he was just fifteen - some say sixteen - years old. We don’t have a great deal of documentation regarding that accomplishment, but the few sentences that were written regarding Poe’s accomplishment at the time show us a physical side of the writer - and even his character - that we very often overlook.
You know, when you do a podcast the subject stays on your mind, but you have to be careful - at least I do - that you don’t start talking about a subject in conversation that nobody else is interested in. I know I could talk about Poe all day, but I could just see - ok, I have experienced it - people tactfully changing the subject because I am the only person who is interested in some little seemingly insignificant detail about Poe. But I have never been with a group that is not fascinated - in some way - by Poe’s long distance swimming accomplishments. I mean, how many people can say they have swum 6 or 7 miles without stopping - all against the tide.**
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**Welcome to celebrate creativity episode 422 - Dickens and london, part two
Sure, Charles Dickens was a master at portraying the poor population of London, often with a mix of stark realism, deep pathos, and sometimes even a touch of grotesque caricature to highlight their plight. He didn't just describe their outward appearance; he delved into their living conditions, their desperation, and their often-fragile hopes.
Ah, here is the ghost of Mr. Dickens himself. Would you be so good as to read from some of your text examples that illustrate how you described the poor:
Certainly Mr. Bartley.
I must admit that I frequently linked the poverty of the people to the wretchedness of their surroundings, emphasizing the inescapable nature of their condition.**
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**Welcome to celebrate Poe episode 417 - Why Dickens Still Matters, Part One
This first quote is from a George Gissing in 1898 - he famously said -
I suppose that for at least five and 20 years of his life, there was not an English speaking household in the world where his name was not as familiar as that of any personal acquaintance, and where an illusion to characters of his creating could fail to be understood.
And that creative person was none other than Charles Dickens. So I felt that a a brief look into Charles Dickens might be a good place to start in an examination of major 19th century writers.
Therefore I gave the following prompt to Gemini:
I am doing a podcast about using AI, as well as writers from the 19th century - such as Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson. But one author that I have failed to include is Charles Dickens. Could you write me an introduction of why Charles Dickens is important, especially to the concept of creativity.
Why Charles Dickens Still Matters (Especially for Creativity)**
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**This is the third and final installment - for now - of my online conversation with Gemini concerning Charles Dickens the man.
Gemini began with
Let's zoom in on the very essence of our podcast's title: creativity, specifically in the context of Dickens's own development. How did this extraordinary mind first show signs of his unparalleled creative genius, and how did that creativity evolve and deepen throughout his prolific career?
To understand Dickens's creativity, we have to look beyond just his finished novels and consider the crucible of his early life and experiences.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity Episode 419 Why Does Dickens Matter, Part 2
We begin this podcast episode with a few more excerpt by Dickens that showcase his masterful description of the common person.
- The Hard-Working, Overwhelmed Clerk (from A Christmas Carol)
Here's Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's clerk, illustrates the quiet dignity and hardship of the working poor:
"The clerk's fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal; but he couldn't replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and if the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of strong imagination, he failed.
But he was a happy family-man, Bob Cratchit, and a good one; and though he earned but fifteen ‘bob’ a week, and a hard struggle it was to keep his five children (for Tiny Tim was a fifth) on that, yet he was content, and had a smile for every one of them."
What it shows: Empathy for the Daily Struggle: Dickens immediately draws sympathy for Bob through the stark contrast of his meager fire with Scrooge's control over the coal. This highlights the power imbalance and the quiet suffering of the employee.**
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**Welcome to celebrate Poe episode 417 - Why Dickens Still Matters, Part One
This first quote is from a George Gissing in 1898 - he famously said -
I suppose that for at least five and 20 years of his life, there was not an English speaking household in the world where his name was not as familiar as that of any personal acquaintance, and where an illusion to characters of his creating could fail to be understood.
And that creative person was none other than Charles Dickens. So I felt that a a brief look into Charles Dickens might be a good place to start in an examination of major 19th century writers.
Therefore I gave the following prompt to Gemini:
I am doing a podcast about using AI, as well as writers from the 19th century - such as Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson. But one author that I have failed to include is Charles Dickens. Could you write me an introduction of why Charles Dickens is important, especially to the concept of creativity.
Why Charles Dickens Still Matters (Especially for Creativity)**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 417 - Creativity for Dummies
In this episode, I want to go out of my way to keep things basic - to delve into the elements of human creativity.
I asked Gemini - could you use clear and basic language to explain what creativity is using simple and basic language.
Sure - Think of creativity not as some magical dust that automatically happens, but as a recipe. You need a few key ingredients to make it work.**
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**Welcome to celebrate creativity formally celebrate pro - Episode 416 Why Use Gemini - In this podcast, one of the areas I want to emphasize is writing an effective prompt, and the information that can be gained from it.
Now I had used Google Bard, Chat GPT, perplexity.ai, and Gemini (which I found out was originally Google bard and has become my favorite of the major AIs out there currently) and I wanted to ask Gemini which bot I should suggest for users of this podcast.
I wanted some rather specific information, so some people might consider the prompt to be rather long - it's not that long, but I wanted it to cover the subject and explain what I wanted.
Now I wrote to Gemini the following:
I do a podcast where I plan to get into historical and literary research using AI - the podcast was previously called celebratepoe and has had 399 episodes in 100 countries and territories. But now I want to open it up to more subjects and have changed the name to celebrate creativity. Anyway, one topic that I inevitably will have to deal with is the choice of AI bot - I have personally used ChatGPT a great deal, as well as perplexity and Gemini (I have also used Google bard and I'm not sure about the relationship to Gemini.). I know ChatGPT is the favorite of numerous individuals, but I am concerned about the way that they seem to draw you in by subscribing to their service. And I have found ChatGPT to make major, major, major hallucinations - far more on the same topic than any other AI bought that I have used. I know that all this is largely a personal preference, but I currently use Gemini and have found it sleek and ultimately more accurate. So I'm going to recommend that people listening to my podcast use Gemini. Could you give me some information about Gemini - what it does, it's benefits, and why a new user should utilize it from your standpoint.
Notice that by prompt I didn't mean a few words. Now this probably could've been done better in a sentence, but sometimes I tend to be worthy when I'm not sure about something. Note that I mentioned that I had had several hundred episodes and celebrate Poe, and a bit about my background regarding several Ai bots. - so it would know I'm not just starting out doing podcasts. I had a feeling that of course Gemini would naturally recommend Gemini - but I wanted to find out some reasons that another person might make that decision.**
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**Welcome to celebrate creativity - episode 415 - childhood creativity, part two
Well, let’s start off with a brief look at How Adults Can Cultivate More Flow in Their Lives:
Identify Your "Flow Activities": What are the tasks or hobbies where you already feel this sense of deep absorption? It could be anything from cooking, playing a sport, writing, painting, problem-solving at work, or even a meticulous cleaning project.
Set Clear, Achievable Goals: Before starting, define what you want to accomplish. Break larger tasks into smaller, manageable steps.
Match Challenge to Skill: If a task feels too easy, find ways to make it more challenging (e.g., set a time limit, try a new technique). If it's too hard, break it down or acquire new skills first.
Eliminate Distractions: Create a dedicated space, turn off notifications, silence your phone. Protect your focus fiercely.
Dedicate Uninterrupted Time: Flow takes time to enter (often 10-15 minutes of focused attention). Block out significant chunks of time for your chosen activity.
Embrace the Process: Shift your mindset from solely focusing on the outcome to appreciating the journey and the act of creation or problem-solving itself.
Practice Mindfulness: Training your mind to be present and focused, through practices like meditation, can make it easier to enter a flow state in other activities.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity, Episode 414 - Childhood Creativity, Part 1
First I'd like to say that I have a new cover art for this podcast series. It is of course the title, celebrate creativity, and an AI graphic rendition from some basic text prompt of a child whose face is full of wonderment and creativity. And I think his expression perfectly captures the wonderment of a child engrossed in creativeness and invention. And I also gave an AI graphics program some texts and it generated the two graphics for the cover art for the following episodes - actually the program generated far more than two graphics - the big problem was choosing the best ones.
I typed to Gemini - For this podcast episode I will simply give you a subject and and do a podcast episode based on your comments. I probably will be asking questions based on that output but it should be an interesting thought experiment
And Gemini said: Great! I'm ready. Please give me the title of your podcast episode, and I'll generate some content for you. I'm curious to see where this goes!
At that point I realized I hadn't even given Gemini the topic or subject.
And I replied Sure - I didn't even give you the topic! Sorry for that mistake. The title and subject is childhood creativity**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - This is Episode 413 - AI for a Heat Stroke
Now I know that up til now - I have basically been giving you fanciful examples of what might go into a prompt for some imaginary purposes - Edgar Poe applying for a job at a pet rental company or Edgar Poe 6th and Emily Dickinson 6th writing a book - that was DEFINITELY role playing with imaginary characters - I don’t know of any reliable source that said Poe had any children - not so sure about Emily Dickinson, but I doubt it - guess I need to check with Gemini.
Anyway, today I would like to deal with an all too real story that illustrates the use of a prompt in a real-life, health situation - no imaginary characters.
I am accustomed to being outside - used to be a Marathon runner, but yesterday I was walking the distance from the local McDonald’s. (about a half a mile) to my apartment. When I got home, I was covered with sweat and was having what appears to be a heat stroke. I was not experienced at all with this kind of thing, and my other half suggested that I simply ask my AI about the situation. It might be a good idea before and if I go to a doctor to find out any immediate suggestions.
Note the prompt that I gave Gemini. I admit that it is a bit wordy, but I wanted to give all the details because like any prompt the more information you give it, the better answer it can give you. And I apologize, if the prompt seems a bit crude, but I wanted to show the importance of being honest with an AI if you expect an appropriate answer. Besides this is a medical situation.
So I started with:**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 412 - Talking to Your Computer
I guess you could say, in some areas, I can be sort of an overachiever. All the research papers that I had to do for undergraduate school thesis - amounted to almost 1000 pages - and my thesis for my masters degree was over 200 pages - and I had to revise it thee times - and each of my podcasts is at least 10 pages (I always like to have a planned script) and as you probably know I have had over 400 episodes - so that would easily be over 4000 pages - no wonder that a few weeks ago I started feeling my fingertips tangling from overuse. Naturally I went to an AI and explained my situation. It told me to immediately go to my doctor and explain the situation because any problem with nerve endings in the fingers can become very serious.
In the meantime, I made an appointment and the first time I could get one was two weeks from then. I called a few days later to verify the appointment and they had no record of me calling - that was when I realized I needed to take matters into my own tingling hands! But I still got an appointment for the following week.
Anyway I started using Voice Control on the Macintosh computer to do my typing - or at least try to - I have not said anything about it earlier, because I didn't want to be one of those people who says I'm doing such and such when they give it up in a day or two - it was obvious that it was going to take some time to learn to use voice control comfortably - in other words, I want to be able to use it as fast or faster then I could type. And while I have not reached that point yet with all actions, there are certainly areas where I can use my voice and do things faster by saying them, and save that wear and tear on my fingers.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity episode 411 - poe and Emily
In this episode, I want to take another look at an AI prompt that is basically an example of role-playing - see if you can follow the ebb and flow of the concepts.
I do a podcast where I am introducing some AI principles - such as the purpose of a prompt. In this rather outlandish example, I want to do a faux prompt or example prompt to a publisher regarding Edgar Allan poe’s most popular work during his lifetime The Conchologist's First Book and that is a fact.
First, could you sum up the book in 200 words - and by the way - for purposes of this podcast episode, I am going to try and use my voice as George, and a voice with a southern accent to represent an artificial intelligence version of Edgar Poe- hopefully that will give you a chance to know which party is speaking -
It's interesting that you consider The Conchologist's First Book to be my most popular work during his lifetime. While it was indeed published under my name, it was largely a compilation and adaptation of Thomas Brown's work and was intended as a textbook. I admit that I most likely took on the project for financial reasons. My more enduring popular successes during my lifetime were my short stories and poems like "The Raven."**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 408 - Rent a Black Cat!
Hopefully this will be a really fun episode of Celebrate Creativity. I want to illustrate what constitutes an effective prompt in the most entertaining way, - probably your prompt will be for business, literary, and other educational purposes - but here I am using the imaginary situation of Edgar Allan Poe applying to a company that rents pets. I never really asked the AI to answer using Poe’s style - which I could have and probably should have - but it went ahead and answered as Poe might have. And note how the AI picked up on the use of Poe’s language and easily participated in the online role - I would like to thank technology educator Dave Birsss for the idea of writing to apply for a job with an imaginary pet store, although I don’t know if he was thinking about Edgar Allan Poe!
My prompt was:
Starting with episode 400 of my podcast about Edgar Allan Poe and other 19th century writers, I am broadening the emphasis of my podcast to include such areas as creativity and AI. Of course one of the things that I want to try and get across is what AI can do through an effective prompt. Would you imagine that you are Edgar Allan Poe and have come to the realization that you need a new job? You are applying to a company that rents black cats. Would you write a letter to the company of why you would be a good person for that position in their company?
Note that I am explaining my situation -
Unfortunately, I did explain the STYLE that I want Mr. Poe to answer the letter, but the AI seemed to automatically know to answer as Poe might have using his style by literally comparing the thousands of examples of Poe’s writings that it has access to, and answers using those examples - a task that would be humanly impossible. In a real world situation, it would be preferable for you to come out and explain the style that you want Mr. Poe - or whoever you are communicating with - to use. But note that without really prompting, the AI picks up on the style of Poe and replies to each situation cleverly and appropriately - without missing a beat. It would take me forever to even approach such a task - and I have read a lot of Poe. But back to AI Poe’s answer -**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 409 - Living with the Beast, Part Two
We begin this episode with a discussion of generative AI -
Now Generative AI models are trained on vast datasets of existing content (e.g., millions of images, billions of words of text, hours of music).
During this training, they learn the underlying patterns, structures, and relationships within that data. They essentially build an internal "understanding" of what makes a particular type of content what it is. For instance, a text-based generative AI learns grammar, syntax, common phrases, and even nuanced writing styles. An image-based one learns shapes, colors, textures, and how objects are typically composed.
This learning process often involves complex neural networks, which are inspired by the structure of the human brain.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - This is episode 408 - Living with the Beast, Part One
I'm gonna start with a prompt I gave Gemini that is really a bad example of a prompt because it is just so blooming short - it doesn't really say much. But, in my opinion, the AI did a very good job with its response.
My rather simple prompt was “Can AI truly be creative?”
And Gemini replied - The answer depends on how we define creativity.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 407 - Redefining Humanity
Let me start out by saying that I was using Gemini as a source for a podcast episode, and completely unexpectedly it gave me an audio clip called “redefining humanity - why AI can't replace consciousness.” It is really quite good, and you can hear it at the end of this episode. But I had no idea how it got there, so I did what I thought was the obvious thing and asked Gemini:
I do a podcast called celebrate creativity - I was doing an episode using some text from Gemini - by far my favorite AI bot - and at the end of the session it gave me a fascinating audio clip that it called Redefining humanity - why AI can't replicate consciousness - the audio clip is about five minutes obviously way too short for my podcast episodes - I like for them to be between 25 minutes and 30 minutes. So I was thinking of having some content dealing with the same subject before the audio clip. And I must admit I am somewhat confused at why the audio clip showed up, but I am not complaining because it is very good. First could you explain why that audio clip showed up?
And Gemini’s reply was quite articulate - and makes up the majority of this episode.**
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**Welcome to Episode 406 of Celebrate Creativity - the personal side of genealogy - I continued my discussion with Gemini AI regarding genealogy with the following question -
How would you suggest that a listener interested in his or her ancestors begin a journey in genealogy?
That's an excellent question, and here's how I'd suggest a listener begin their journey into genealogy, presented as if I were speaking directly to them:
Yes, I believe that learning about your family is not only important from a personal standpoint but it gives relatives a chance to talk about their past, and the realization that someone cares about their life and what they have experienced. And Gemini said
You're right, delving into the "why" of genealogy is just as crucial as the "how"! It's where the heart of the journey lies. Let's expand on the profound personal impact of genealogy, providing ample material for a powerful second episode, focusing on the human connection and the stories behind the names.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - episode 405 - The Practical Newside of Genealogy.
I recently spoke with my cousin - a brilliant lady who is really into genealogy - this lady could go on for hours talking about the family ancestors - and that conversation with her gave me the idea of having a podcast episode or two about the world of genealogy.
So, I began typing the following into Gemini, not realizing where it would lead - and to be honest, I think I am very satisfied with the results. I typed - and this is not exactly the best of prompts - but it did lead to good results. And by the end of next weeks continuation to today's podcast script, I was genuinely moved.**
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**Welcome to celebrate creativity - episode 404 - an insider pushing for integrity This episode will delve into the profound and often surprising role of the Catholic faith in the life and work of Stephen Colbert. I want to explore how his deeply personal spiritual journey, marked by both profound loss and a powerful conversion experience, has shaped his worldview, influenced his unique brand of satire, and positioned him as an unexpected but significant voice in contemporary discussions about faith and how we decide to govern ourselves.
Stephen Colbert is definitely a widely recognized person - he is a sharp-witted satirist, and a late night host with a quick mind and an even quicker wit.
But far less known is the less discussed, but arguably equally central aspect of his identity - his deep and abiding catholic faith. This is not just some nominal affiliation, but a foundational element that informs his very being.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - Episode 403 - Judicial Suits - this is the first of several episodes composed of a winding conversation that starts with information regarding judicial suits, what I thought was a hallucination on the part of Gemini, Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, and ending with a look at Stephen Colbert.
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**Welcome to Celebrate creativity - Episode 402 - The Future of History - My hope is that listeners get more out of their AI interactions - and I certainly will be helping you along the way. I also plan nothing less than for "Celebrate Creativity" to become a vibrant, intergenerational hub for exploring the enduring power of human imagination, supported by the exciting possibilities of modern technology.
You might "Use an AI bot (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity), and ask it to compare and contrast the poetic styles of Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman. Specifically, ask it to discuss their use of meter, imagery, and themes of nature/death. After you get the AI's response, read one poem by each author (e.g., Poe's 'Annabel Lee' and Whitman's 'O Captain! My Captain!'). Do you agree with the AI's analysis? Where does it align, and where does your own reading diverge? Of course you can obviously do a lot more, but we get into that later.
I'm just throwing out these ideas, and showing you what can be done - which is very important - not necessarily asking that you do these activities right now - but we certainly will get into that and a lot more later.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - previously celebrate poe - this is episode 401 - From Poe to AI, Part Two - In this podcast episode, I wanna be getting away from Poe for now and delving more into AI. And now when I talk about AI or AI bots, just think about websites that use AI can you can ask a question - more about that later.
Now, opening a play on Broadway certainly is a demanding undertaking. And I want to start today's podcast by briefly mentioning two people who helped open plays on Broadway in their 90s. First, Adrienne Kennedy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, born in 1931, is an American playwright known for her unique and surreal theatrical style. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and later attended Ohio State University, where she earned a B.A. in education in 1952. Her plays frequently center Black women and delve into the impact of racism and societal pressures. In 2022, at the age of 91, Adrienne Kennedy made her Broadway debut as a playwright with Ohio State Murders. This play, written decades earlier, draws on Kennedy's own experiences as a student at Ohio State University in the late 1940s and early 1950s, highlighting the systemic racism she encountered.
And John Harold Kander - born in 1927 - along with his partner lyricist Fred Ebb.) wrote the scores for 15 musicals, including Cabaret (1966) and Chicago (1975.), He and Ebb also wrote the standard "New York, New York" (officially known as "Theme from New York, New York"). When he was 94 he wrote the music for a Broadway musical version of New York New York - a play that received 11 Tony nominations and four wins.
Now I want to continue from last week and jump back to the subject of doing historical research with AI. And for the rest of this episode, I am largely going over comments from Gemini.
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Welcome to Celebrate Creativity - formerly Celebrate Poe. This is episode 400 - From Poe to AI, Part One - and I am especially excited at the new possibilities that this new direction allows. Let me explain:
A few days ago, I wrote a short note to my podcast host, buzz sprout, not really knowing what to expect - I wrote - I do a podcast called Celebrate Poe that has had 398 episodes, in 100 countries and territories. For episode 400, I would like to announce that the name of the podcast is being changed to Celebrate Creativity - that would give me more room to deal with other writers and creative people of the 19th century, such as Frederick Douglass, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson, as well as dealing with subjects as the use of AI and literary and historical research. My question is - can you change the name of an existing podcast - for example, from Celebrate Poe to Celebrate Creativity. BTW - if you can, at the beginning of each episode, I would say welcome to Celebrate Creativity (formerly Celebrate Poe). George Bartley
Secretly, I was very concerned that such a change in name would not be possible, because of all the connections that are involved in distributing a podcast but apparently buzzsprout or somebody else had already thought of that. And I was delighted to receive the following reply from my podcast host within a few minutes:
Hey George!
I'm happy to help you change your podcast name! That is really impressive to reach the 400 episode mark!!! I think that is a great idea to rebrand and open up new topics. When you release episode 400, you could change the name when that episode is released, and it will update on the directories!
Start by going to Settings > Podcast Settings, then you can change your name in the Podcast Title field. Please let us know if you have any questions during the rebrand and please let us know when you publish #400 so we can celebrate with you!
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**Hello - this is George Bartley - just wanted to let you know that starting with Episode 400, the name of this podcast will be changed from Celebrate Poe to Celebrate Creativity - this way, this podcast can really delve more into 19th century writers, as well as human creativity, and the use of AI in literary and historical research - a lot more fun than it might appear at first! So don’t miss episode 400 of Celebrate Poe - oh, I mean - Celebrate Creativity.
But as for now - Welcome to Celebrate Poe - episode 399 - The Controversial Cover
This episode is about the cover of the first edition of Walt Whitman's leaves of Grass - with one of the most controversial covers of its time - largely because of what it did not have. There was no picture on the front page of he book, just ornate an engraving of the title - leaves of grass. The book is a collection of 12 poems, and nothing like it had ever been published before. Let's talk to Mr. Whitman about that first edition.
Mr. Whitman, I want to talk with you about the first edition of leaves of grass - in fact more to the point, it's original cover. First, mr. Whitman, could you simply explain what the cover and frontspace looked like?**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 398 - Leaves of Music, Part Two
Well heIlo, Walt
Greetings, George.
Now In the previous episode, I began a conversation with Mr. Walter Whitman specifically about opera.
Well Mr. - I mean Walt - What would you say was the role of music in general in your works?
Music in general was a central metaphor in my life and work, both as a metaphysical mindset and as a practical reality. I was blessed with an extraordinary ear for inner rhythms which I then In articulated in radically free, rolling, thrusting verses which revitalized the entire world of poetic language. That same ear led me to to a strong appreciation of classical music. My musical journey was a largely self-taught quest in which I relied on both my innate musicality and my experience as a music journalist to formulate aesthetic principles that would carry over into my poet
Well. ultimately, what would you say about the importance of exposure to differing forms of music to the United States?
“George,I say no land or people or circumstances ever existed so needing a race of singers and poems differing from all others,” I wrote in “A Backward Glance o’er Travel’d Roads.” Yet, it was only by exposure to European opera and art song that I began to really discover and appreciate tI universality of classical music’s language. That exposure came during the 1840′s and 1850′s when I served as a member of New York City’s working press, reviewing musical performances at Casthee Garden, Palmo’s Opera House, the Astor Place Theater, and the Academy of Music. After enjoying a year of press seats for the Brooklyn Eagle, I admitted that foreign music was exercising an elevating influence on American taste. From the late 1840′s onward My critical posture gradually shifted from a stance of tolerance to one of sophisticated pleasure and finally to one of total passion for classical music, especially for opera.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 397- Leaves of Music - Part One
Before getting into Whitman’s literary output in earnest, I would like to have at least two episodes about Walt Whitman, and what is often seen as a controversial and sometimes even unfamiliar art form - Opera.
First I'd like to begin, with a recent incident that has stayed in my mind since it occurred. A kind friend - who I will call John - offered to take my other half and myself to an opera. We know that he was an opera buff, and we're very eager to see what we thought was a local production of the marriage of Figaro.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe for episode 396 Finding a Home, Part Two.
This will be the final episode before the Fourth of July - a day when we celebrate the birth of this country and hopefully are especially mindful of democracy and it's foundations. So out of necessity, this episode will be a few minutes longer to a deal with such areas ranging from at Edgar Allan Poe bohemian lifestyle, as well as another look at Whitman's first book of poetry, and some of his thoughts regarding democracy.
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - episode 395 - Finding a Home, Part One
Welcome back Walt. That's hard for me to get used to. I'd rather call you Mr. Whitman out of respect, but if you prefer the familiar Walt understand.
Thank you George. Remember that even my family even changed my name from Walter to Walt.
Then the name Walt it is. First let me ask about your writing - what style do you say you used?
Ah George, I would like to think that my writing is direct and even conversational. I consider my writing to be successful if I have addressed readers as if they are close friends, often using the first person and speaking with bold, unapologetic intimacy.
I have noted that your language stresses democratic ideals and is very inclusive.
Yes, George. I must admit that I saw myself as the voice of democracy, embracing all people and experiences. I attempted to construct language thatis inclusive, non-discriminatory, and celebrates diversity - to express my writing with a sense of openness and acceptance, inviting all listeners to feel part of the conversation.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - where - and who knows - maybe next month is also about Walt Whitman. This is episode 394 - Simplicity.
In the past few episodes, this podcast has dealt with some very complex issues such as slavery, but in this episode I would like to talk with Mr. Whitman about something that was central to his upbringing, and that quality was simplicity.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Whitman. My name is George Bartley. This is episode 393 - Schoolteaching Years
When we left Walt in the previous episode, it seemed that his future career seemed set in the newspaper and printing trades - he saw the ability to print text that brought about images and emotions in the minds of other people to be almost magical. This was finally a vocation that he wanted to pursue.
Unfortunately, two of New York City’s worst fires destroyed the major printing and business centers of the city. And New York, formerly a place of growth, suffered a dismal financial climate.
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Welcome to Celebrate Whitman. My name is George Bartley, and this episode 392 I Sing The Body Electric
In the previous episode, Celebrate Whitman dealt with the artist’s three months in New Orleans. I had planned to talk with Mr. Whitman about his perceptions of the slave markets there, but it turned our to be more than enough for an episode all itself. So in this episode, I would like to talk with the ghost of Mr. Whitman about some of the writer’s complex feelings about slavery.
But first - a little bit about slavery in New Orleans in the state of Louisiana.
Now slavery was introduced in Louisiana by French colonists in 1706. And Louisiana was to experience slavery under several colonial powers, including the French, Spanish, and briefly by the French again, before becoming part of the United States in 1803.
Greetings, Mr. Bartley.
Hello, Mr. Whitman.
In this episode, I want to talk about some of your observations regarding slavery in Louisiana.
Ah yes, Mr. Bartley - I had never experienced so much slavery around me until my three months in Louisiana. And I must admit that the proliferation of slavery all around me had a profound impact on my views and future writings about slavery. I witnessed slave auctions firsthand and kept an advertisement for one as a "reminder" and "warning" for decades after. The large presence of enslaved people and the realities of slavery focused my attention on the themes of slavery and freedom in a way that my previous environment in New York had not.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Whitman - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 391 Sojourn in the South.
Greetings,
Hello, Mr. Whitman.
As a Youth, you worked in the printing industry in New York at the Eagle - a connection that lasted throughout 1847. But, as I understand it, you made an extremely memorable shift. Could you tell us about it in your own words?
Certainly, - Now remember - I was the hard-working editor of a publication by the name of the Eagle and “for two yeas had one of the pleasantest sits of my life — a good owner, good pay, and easy work and hours - the workday ended about three every afternoon.. The troubles in the Democratic party broke forth about those times -
:And what time was that?
Ah, between 1848 and 1849. And I split off with the Radicals wing, which led to rows with the boss and 'the party’ and I lost my place. Being now out of a job, I was rather desolute and went to the theatre. It happened that I met a man at the theatre by the name of McClure. He planned to establish a newspaper called the Crescent in New Orleans. By the way, it is said that we met between acts one night in the lobby of the old Broadway Theatre near Pearl Street in New York.**
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Welcome to Celebrate poe - Episode 390 - The Quaker Preacher
Today I want to talk about Elias Hicks - a fascinating person who greatly influenced Walt Whitman.
Greetings, Mr. Bartley.
Hello, Mr. Whitman. Now today I want to talk about Elias Hicks.
Ah, Mr. Bartley - you mean the Quaker preacher.r
Yes, Mr. Whitman - the one and the same.
Yes, I find the subject of Elias Hicks to be a most fascinating one. And you know that I greatly enjoy learning about the ancestry of various individuals who were important to my life.
Yes, Mr. Whitman - it seems that family history was an integral part of one’s identity for individuals living during your lifetime.
Exactly, Mr. Bartley, in the case of Elias Hicks, his family was descended from Robert Hicks, who, in 1622 at 42 years of age, arrived on the ship Fortune in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 389 - What Did Whitman Read?
Ghost sound
Hello, Mr. Whitman.
Greetings, George.
Mr. Whitman - I mean Walt - we have been talking about your youth. And I understand that you were largely self-taught in many respects. It seems that you greatly enjoyed reading Shakespeare and the King James Version of the Bible.
I certainly was impressed by Mr. Shakespeare’s works during my youth - as well as later in life - and basked in the beauty of his words.
Yes, from what I understand, your view of Shakespeare’s works evolved - if that is the right word - during your life.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 388 - Celebrating Whitman
Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman are, arguably, the greatest writers of the 19th century. So last year, I decided to start a new podcast about Walt Whitman called celebrate whitman, as well as continuing celebrate Poe. Here is a 30 second promo for that new "Celebrate Whitman" podcast:
"From the creator of the acclaimed "Celebrate Poe" podcast comes a new audio journey into the life and revolutionary works of Walt Whitman. "Celebrate Whitman" immerses you in the bold, optimistic vision of America's quintessential poet. Discover Whitman's cosmic perspective and how he captured the spirit of democracy through his groundbreaking free verse. Join us as we explore "Leaves of Grass" and Whitman's enduring impact on literature and culture. Official premiere for Celebrate Whitman is July 4, 2024.”**
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Welcome to celebrate Poe - episode 387 - what did Whitman sound like part two - in the previous episode, my big concern was coming up with a voice for the imaginary ghost of Walt Whitman that sounded definitely distinct from my natural voice as George, as well as embodying the communication styles of Walt Whitman. And by the end of this episode, I hope you Will agree that I came up for a valid voice to represent the writer.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 386 - What Did Whitman Sound Like, 1
In previous years, I have always done episodes about Walt Whitman simply by talking about his life. I did not use the format of me talking in the first person, and asking questions from Walt Whitman because I simply didn't know where to start regarding the topic of what did Walt Whitman sound like. There is a controversial recording of what may have been Whitman's voice, but it is a very poor quality and isn't much help at all.
So I decided to use perplexity AI in finding out information about Walt Whitman's voice - what he may have sounded like and how I could get the spirit of that across and a podcast. So I started with this prompt - and note that - and this is something I will say over and over again - you need to give a lot of information in your prompt to an AI bot even if it doesn't seem necessary to get a good response.
This is my prompt regarding getting the qualities for Walt Whitman's voice, and I apologize for the length. - but you really need to try and be thorough.
I do a podcast called celebrate Poe about the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. It has had almost 400 episodes and downloads in more than 100 countries and territories. The format is that I interview the imaginary ghost of Edgar Allan Poe regarding his works and life. Of course I use my voice as the interviewer, and a Southern Voice as Edgar Poe. I used to be a historical re-enactor as Poe, and use a deep southern drawl - one that most authorities believe that Edgar Poe would've used, being from Richmond and not influenced by such sources as television, movies, and the Internet. And I am from Staunton Virginia, so a southern draw is not hard for me. Now fo pride month - june - and maybe longer - I am playing the part of an interviewer while interviewing the the imaginary ghost of Walt Whitman - using my natural voice and Walt Whitman responding in the first person. My question is do you have any advice on coming up with a voice to represent Walt Whitman for the podcast? Of course this is purely for audio, so I can contort my face all kinds of positions - but what qualities should I go for in coming up with a Voice for Walt Whitman**
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**They took each other's hands. Each gave way to the impulse of his manly love, rarer, alas! but as tender and true as the love of woman, and they drew nearer and kissed each other.
These words are from what is generally agreed to be America’s first gay novel. Stick with this podcast as we delve into the 1870 novel Joseph and His Friend, and this is Episode 385 - America’s First Gay Novel.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 384 Drake the Rake.
After devoting an episode to Fitz Green Halleck, I thought I would devote an episode to - well, I don’t think lover is exactly the right word - but the person who was an extremely close friend of Fitz Green Halleck.
And we have the ghost of Joseph Rodham Drake right here.
Ghost sound
Hello I am Mr. Bartley. And you may call me George. Hello, Mr. Drake - may I call you Joseph?
Certainly.
Joseph, could you tell me a little bit about your life?
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No name in the poetical world is more firmly established than that of Fitz-Green Halleck. (Ghost of Poe voice)
Edgar Allan Poe wrote these words about Fitz green Halik for Graham’s Magazine in 1843. This episode will take a look at Halleck as inspiration for some of America’s first homoerotic works.
My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode Episode 383 - to clasp thy hand in mine revisited. This is the first of a series of podcast episodes for Pride months dealing with some of the individuals in Poe’s literary circle - some of the I people who were responsible for some of the earliest homoerotic literature in the United States.
If you have been listening to past episodes of Celebrate Poe, you probably know by now that I really like memory aids - especially when introducing a new subject or individual. Probably the most important name to remember is Fitz-Greene Halleck. At first, I wasn’t sure if the name was pronounced HALeck or HAYeck - but think of the computer Hal in 2001 - A Space Odyssey - Hal - who has the famous line “I’m sorry Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Think Hal - for Halleck. And if I say HAYLeck instead of HALeck - which I probably will do - just chalk it up to me pronouncing the word wrong - it should be HALeck.
Fitz-Greene HALeck was born in 1790 - almost 20 years before Poe - in Guillford, Connecticut. Haleck and Guilford had an interesting relationship - it is said that the town never fully accepted Fitz Greene, and even though Halleck moved back to Guilford for the last two decades of his life, it appears that he never really felt at ease in his own hometown.
Now when Fitz-Greene was two years old, two drunken soldiers were passing by his father’s front door. The soldiers thdought it would be funny to discharge their rifles loaded only with powder right next to the side of the infant’s head. They thought it would be funny to watch the infant scream.
As a result, little Fitz-Greene had severe hearing problems in his left ear for the rest of his life - often appearing isolate in his relationships with other people because he just wasn’t able to hear what they said.
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Welcome to celebrate Poe this is episode 382 - Poe’s Pit and Pendulum.
Ghost sound
Glad you're there Mr. Poe. You know in the previous episode we discussed the Raven. I would like to take a similar look at what I personally feel is one of your Best stories - the pit and the pendulum - although the black cat, the mask of the red death, the fall of the house of usher, and especially the telltale heart have to be up there with it in terms of popularity today
I found that most interesting, Mr. Bartley
Well let's start out by simply asking what kind of literature would you call the pit and the pendulum?
My work The Pit and the Pendulum is a quintessential example of Gothic literature, employing several key elements of the genre to evoke fear, suspense, and psychological torment. The story takes place in a dark, oppressive dungeon during the Spanish Inquisition, a setting that is emblematic of Gothic literature. The dungeon is described as mysterious, claustrophobic, and perilous, with features like the yawning pit and the descending pendulum designed to instill dread. This setting creates an atmosphere of gloom and doom, heightening the reader's sense of unease.
Please continue Mr. Poe.
The narrative revolves around the protagonist's imminent death, with each torture device symbolizing different aspects of mortality. The pit represents an abyss of unknown horrors, while the pendulum symbolizes time's inexorable march toward death. These elements underscore Gothic literature's preoccupation with mortality, decay, and existential dread.
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Welcome to celebrate Poe - episode 381 - Edgar Poe Explains the Raven.
Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea in the previous episode, but in this episode I want to delve more into Poe’s most famous work.
GHOST SOUND
Hello Mr. Poe
Greetings Mr. Bartley
Very welcome to see you today Mr. Poe. I was just saying that I wanted to deal into your most famous work in today's podcast episode.
Oh Mr. Bartley that would have to be the Raven. We certainly talked about the poem in the previous episode, but I welcome another chance to deal to the work.
Maybe a good place to start Mr. Poe would be just for you to explain the importance of the raven
Ah Mr. Bartley, The Raven can best be described As a profound meditation on human suffering and mortality. The poem explores how grief can consume an individual’s rationality and sense of self. The poem’s haunting refrain, "Nevermore," encapsulates not just the narrator’s despair but also the universal finality of loss that all must confront. Through vivid imagery, Gothic symbolism, and psychological depth, I attempted to create an enduring work that resonates with readers' own experiences of sorrow and longing.
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 380 (getting on up there) called More Supernatural Elements.
Mr. Bartley: I have the Ghost of Mr. Poe here, and would like to dive right into Mr. Poe’ s basic belief about his character’s struggles.
Mr. Poe: Ah, Mr. Bartley - permit to emphasize that it was important to frequently examine the duality of human nature—the conflict between rationality and irrationality or good and evil—through my characters’ subconscious struggles: for example, In William Wilson, the protagonist is tormented by a doppelgänger who represents his conscience. This internal conflict aligns with Gothic themes of moral ambiguity and self-destruction. The duality in my works echoes earlier Gothic explorations of divided selves (e.g., Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) but with greater emphasis on psychological complexity.
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 379 - Supernatural Elements
Well How are you, Mr. Poe - and waiting to begin our conversation
Very tolerable, Mr. Bartley -and most eager to share our thoughts.
Mr Poe - It seems that you often employ eerie and decaying settings to create an atmosphere of dread and suspense. For example, in The Fall of the House of Usher, the crumbling mansion mirrors the psychological decay of its inhabitants. The house itself becomes a character, embodying themes of isolation and impending doom. Your settings often include elements like dungeons, vaults, and desolate landscapes, which are staples of Gothic literature.
Ah, yes, Mr. Bartley - I attempted to delve deeply into the human psyche, focusing on madness, guilt, and obsession. Stories such as The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat feature unreliable narrators whose deteriorating mental states drive the narrative. These characters' inner turmoil aligns with Gothic themes of psychological horror and moral ambiguity. And I would like to think that my use of first-person narration intensifies the sense of unease by immersing readers in the disturbed thoughts of my protagonists.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe. Episode 378 - Chilled Into Stone
Well, in the previous episode Mr.Poe and I were engaged in a vigorous - don’t know if that is the right word for it - a vigorous discussion about what many consider to the his best story - The Fall of the House of Usher - although to be honest, I prefer The Tell Tale Heart or possibly The Cask of Amontillado - but I better say that before Mr. Poe arrives.
Greetings, Mr. Bartley
Oh, Hello, Mr. Poe, I didn’t realize you were there.
Ah, Mr. Bartley - you are certainly entitled to your opinion - such as it is.
Ah, Mr Poe, I don’t know what to say - don’t want to offend the literary master.
Ah, Mr. Bartley - sometimes the best thing to say is nothin**g.
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 377 - The House is a Vampire!
My name is George Bartley, and for the rest of this series, I want to really look into a house that might not make it into Better Homes and Gardens - but is often classified as Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest work. The story is definitely Gothic in tone, complicated from a psychological standpoint, and a great example of how Poe dealt with vampiric characters and themes.
Madeline and Roderick Usher are both vampiric-like characters that seem to take the life out of each other. And even the house in which they live - with its eye-like windows - can be seen as a vampiric character.
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Mr. Bartley - plain font
Mr. Poe - italics font
Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 376 - A Crawling Shape
In this episode, I would like to slightly change the subject to early Gothic novels such as The Castle of Otrano - literature that most scholars believed influenced Edgar Poe’s works.
Ah, Mr. Bartley - I know that some scholars have said that I must have been familiar with the The Castle of Otranto from 1764, which many have said was the first Gothic novel,and influenced such individuals as Ann Radcliffe and Mary Shelley, whose works I greatly admired and even referenced. My own Gothic tales, such as The Fall of the House of Usher, share thematic and stylistic elements with Walpole’s work, including haunted settings, supernatural events, and psychological terror.
Ah yes, Mr. Poe - what about E.T.A. Hoffman?
Ah, Mr. Bartley, Mr. Hoffman definitely influenced my works - due to his
use of first-person narratives and exploration of madness, align with techniques pioneered in Otranto. And I must point out how Otranto’s Gothic tropes - —haunted castles, doomed aristocrats, and supernatural
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 375 - Tormented
I have the ghost of Mr. Poe here - and I would like to ask Mr. Poe a very basic question that many readers of your work have - Mr. Poe - why did you use so much gruesome imagery in your works - imagery that would be difficult for many readers in the mid19th century to handle.**
Ah, Mr. Bartley, my use of gruesome imagery often served as a metaphor for societal or existential concerns. For example, stories such as "The Masque of the Red Death" critique human arrogance in the face of mortality, while "The Fall of the House of Usher" symbolizes decay—both personal and societal. My works frequently challenge sentimental literature by presenting death not as a redemptive force but as an inevitable and horrifying reality.
Yes, Mr. Poe - I am finding out everyday that your works are incredibly complex.
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**Welcome to Celebrate. Poe. Episode 374 - PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES where the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe and myself continue our discussion of how the writer surpassed the boundaries of Gothic literature
We begin this episode by continuing our discussion on how the theater might've affected your writings.**
Mr. Poe: Ah, Mr. Bartley, Now the dramatic storytelling inherent in theater from parents and youth may have also contributed to my affinity for Gothic literature. My works often featured dark, mysterious settings and explored themes such as death, decay, and the supernatural.Furthermore, the artistic environment surrounding my parents’ careers could have nurtured my early interest in poetry and literature. Despite the hardships I faced after their deaths, my foundation may have laid the groundwork for my later literary achievements.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - What Is Gothic - Episode 373 - the first of a extended series of podcasts - at least 10 podcasts under the general subject title of Poe and Gothic literature.
This podcast episode begins with a few bars of “Come Rest in this Bosom.” Very calm, peaceful, and relaxing - and a medley that one of Edgar Poe’s beaus said was his favorite. You might say that such a relaxing melody is all the things that Gothic is not. And that leads me to one of the subjects of the next few episodes - What does Gothic mean?**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 372 - Dracula and Doubles
Before we go any further, I want to give you a basic definition of a double in literature or movies - first using some fairly recent examples.
Now a "double" refers to a character or figure that acts as a duplicate or counterpart to another, often embodying opposing traits or hidden aspects of the original character's personality. This motif explores duality, fragmented identity, and moral conflict, serving as a reflection of the protagonist's inner struggles or desires. Doubles can represent repressed qualities (e.g., evil impulses), moral opposites, or even societal anxieties, creating tension and conflict that drives the narrative.
Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987)
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the ghostly figure of Beloved acts as a double for Sethe’s guilt and trauma over her past actions. The motif highlights themes of memory, motherhood, and the haunting effects of slavery.
.
Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938)
While not a modern work in publication date, its influence persists in contemporary Gothic fiction. The unseen presence of Rebecca acts as a psychological double for the narrator, embodying her insecurities and fears about her identity in relation to her husband’s first wife.
These two modern examples demonstrate how the double motif remains a powerful literary tool for exploring complex psychological and social issues while maintaining its Gothic roots in creating tension and unease.**
Listen to this episode to hear a theory regarding how the theme of "the double" is used in Bram Stokers Dracula!
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**Welcome to Episode 371 - The Black Vampyre
In this episode I would like to delve into a literary work published by C. Wiley and Company on June 23, 1819 - The Black Vampyre. Unfortunately, the story has a lot of archaic words that we just don’t use any more - so I think a better way to look at The Black Vampyre is tell its overall story - rather ahead of its time for period in which it was written.’
The full title of the short story is The Black Vampyre, and was supposedly written under the name of Uriah Derick D’Arcy - although some later editions have attributed the story to other writers. The Black Vampire is not only considered the first black vampire story, but the first comedic vampire story, the first vampire story by an American author, and perhaps the first anti-slavery short story of any kind. The story is set against the conditions that set into motion the Revolution in Haiti. As you will soon realize, The Black Vampyre is full of all kinds of improbable plot changes and twists - strange over the top situations that allow it to come across as humorous while also subversive.Welcome to Episode 371 - The Black Vampyre**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is 370 - The Judge’s House, Part Two
If you have not heard the previous episode, I recommend that you listen to Episode 369. That episode has an interesting introduction to the tale, as well as the beginning of the slow-burn drama and eventual of Bram Stoker’ The Judge’s House.
Tonight the rats disturbed him more than they had done on the previous night. How they scampered up and down and under and over! How they squeaked, and scratched, and gnawed! How they, getting bolder by degrees, came to the mouths of their holes and to the chinks and cracks and crannies in the wainscoting till their eyes shone like tiny lamps as the firelight rose and fell. But to him, now doubtless accustomed to them, their eyes were not wicked; only their playfulness touched him. Sometimes the boldest of them made sallies out on the floor or along the mouldings of the wainscot. Now and again as they disturbed him Malcolmson made a sound to frighten them, smiting the table with his hand or giving a fierce “Hsh, hsh,” so that they fled straightway to their holes.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 369 The Judge’s House, Part One
But before we go any further, I want to announce that Celebrate Poe has now had downloads in 100 countries and territories.
Now I have another surprise for you from Bram Stoker’s 1914 Dracula’s Guest - a short story called The Judge’s House. I admit that I first thought about covering Dracula’s Guest in just one episode - but that made the episode way too long.
So I am splitting The Judge’s House into two sections. It is not Draculesque (if that is a word) and it may not seem like much is happening, but has a build-up to the climax in the second half that is really powerful and well worth the wait.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe. This is Episode 368 - Varney VS Dracula
This podcast has had episodes about Varney the Vampire, as well as Bram Stoker’s Dracula - but you might well be wondering - what are the realdifferences between the two vampires? Weren’t all vampires of the 19th century alike. Well, in this episode, I am going to try and compare Varney and Dracula - and there might be more differences than you think.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 367 The blood is the life!
Today I would like to start out by comparing Bram Stoker’s Dracula’s castle to Edgar Allan Poe’s decaying House of Usher.
Both Castle Dracula and the House of Usher are iconic Gothic settings that share several key characteristics, emphasizing decay, isolation, and a sense of foreboding. However, they also have distinct features that set them apart.
Castle Dracula is described as a vast, ruined structure with broken battlements and tall black windows. Its exterior shows signs of decay, with carvings worn by time and weather. The castle's imposing architecture and remote location on a great rock contribute to its air of impenetrability and isolation.
In contrast, the House of Usher is portrayed as a mansion rather than a castle, but it shares the theme of decay. The exterior of the House of Usher is covered in "minute fungi" and a "fine tangled web-work," creating a more organic form of deterioration.
Both structures evoke a sense of ancient history and faded grandeur. Castle Dracula is associated with Romanian aristocracy and contains valuable artifacts from centuries past. The House of Usher, while not explicitly tied to nobility, also carries an aura of long-standing family history.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 366 - Would You Like Some Sugar with Your Flies - In this episode, I would like to zero in for a look at my favorite character in Dracula - Renfield.
Now while Dracula operates in the shadows, Renfield's behavior acts as an overt "index" of the vampire's presence, making him a more visible and erratic counterpart to Dracula's subtle menace. Dracula's motivations and actions are complex and calculated, while Renfield's madness reduces him to more primal and straightforward desires - in other words eating mice and insects.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 365 - Vampire Brides
Let’s jump into Bram Stoker’s 1897 Gothic novel - Dracula. Now the character of Count Dracula draws from draws from historical figures, folklore, and literary innovation, and is widely believed to be inspired by Vlad III Dracula (Vlad the Impaler), a 15th-century Wallachian prince known for his brutal tactics against Ottoman invaders. The name "Dracula" derives from Vlad II Dracul, Vlad III’s father, who belonged to the Order of the Dragon (Dracul meaning "dragon" or "devil" in Romanian).
Now Bram Stoker - though we don’t have any solid proof of this - likely encountered the name of Vlad the impaler - the 15th century Wallachian prince known for his brutal tactics against Ottoman invaders - in his research for his novel, but there is no proof that Stoker’s modeled the Count directly on him. Scholars note Stoker’s notes mention neither Vlad nor Transylvanian history in depth. He may have just liked the sound of the name.
In fact, Stoker blended vampire folklore with Gothic tropes, possibly inspired by actors Sir Henry Irving (for Dracula’s aristocratic demeanor) and Jacques Damala. Many scholars believe he lesbian vampire tale Carmilla (1872) also influenced the novel’s tone.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 365 - Dracula’s Guest, Part Two
And welcome to the second part and conclusion of Bram Stoker’s Dracula Guest.
As I looked there came a cold shiver in the air, and the snow began to fall. I thought of the miles and miles of bleak country I had passed, and then hurried on to seek the shelter of the wood in front. Darker and darker grew the sky, and faster and heavier fell the snow, till the earth before and around me was a glistening white carpet the further edge of which was lost in misty vagueness. The road was here but crude, and when on the level its boundaries were not so marked, as when it passed through the cuttings; and in a little while I found that I must have strayed from it, for I missed underfoot the hard surface, and my feet sank deeper in the grass and moss. Then the wind grew stronger and blew with ever increasing force, till I was fain to run before it. The air became icy-cold, and in spite of my exercise I began to suffer. The snow was now falling so thickly and whirling around me in such rapid eddies that I could hardly keep my eyes open. Every now and then the heavens were torn asunder by vivid lightning, and in the flashes I could see ahead of me a great mass of trees, chiefly yew and cypress all heavily coated with snow.
I was soon amongst the shelter of the trees, and there, in comparative silence, I could hear the rush of the wind high overhead. Presently the blackness of the storm had become merged in the darkness of the night. By-and-by the storm seemed to be passing away: it now only came in fierce puffs or blasts. At such moments the weird sound of the wolf appeared to be echoed by many similar sounds around me.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 363 - Dracula’s Guest, Part One
Finally - this podcast is beginning a series of episodes about Bram Stoker’s Dracula. First, I am going to delve into - at some detail - what is often felt to be the first chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and was first published as "Dracula's Guest” in the short story collection Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories (1914). Again, It was believed to have been intended as the first chapter for novel Dracula, but was deleted prior to publication as the original publishers felt it was superfluous to the story. I will start with some commentary about Dracula’s Guest, the first part of the story, and then finish the story - or chapter - or whatever it is - in the following episode.
In the preface to the original edition of Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories, Stoker's widow Florence wrote, "To his original list of stories in this book, I have added an hitherto unpublished episode from Dracula. It was originally excised owing to the length of the book, and may prove of interest to the many readers of what is considered my husband's most remarkable work."**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 362 - Poetry and Dreams
I was looking through articles about Poe to find information for a future article regarding why do so many people read Edgar Allan Poe. And I found some great stuff and certainly will be writing an episode or two about that subject. But I found an article that said that more Americans - almost 3/4 - are familiar with Edgar Poe - more than any other poet. Shakespeare is second.
Now this was the episode where I wanted to start some episodes on Bram Stoker - but it turns out there is a poetry workshop that is rather time sensitive, so I better get this out now.
You see, on Thursday, April 24 there will be a free workshop from the Academy of American Poets online at YouTube - no charge at all, tho I doubt they would turn down donations. All you need to do is register, and again, it is free. I have the URL on my Buzzsprout transcript and show notes - but in case you can’t remember URLS - I can’t - it is https//poets.org/gala/2025 - - again, it is free - all you need to do is register in advance. The readers include people such as Christine Baranski, Stephen King, Tony Kusher, Fran Lebowitz, and Lawrence O’Donnell - among others.
Just wanted to be sure that you got the info about what is called Poetry and the Creative Mind - again, to be held on Thursday, April 24.
By the way, Meryl Streep is extremely active in Poetry and the Creative Mind, and has read works by Elizabeth Bishop, Sylvia Plath, and Walt Whitman in programs across multiple years.
By the way, poets.org.gala.2025 will take you to the registration page as well.
For the rest of this episode, I would like to delve into several of Edgar Poe’s poems that deal with dreams. The three poems are Dreams, A Dream, and A Dream Within a Dream, and Dreamland - and boy, are they easy to mix up. So take them in order considering the number of words in the title - I know it sounds simplistic but stay with me because it makes things soooo much easier. And I am not going to include the poem Dreamland until the end of this podcast - It is (in my opinion, a poem that is in a class by yourself.)
Think 1, 2, and 5 - words that is -
The title of Dreams is just one word, the title of A Dream is two words, and the title of the shortest and most mature work - A Dream Within a Dream is 5 words. Dreams and A Dream were both published in 1827 and A Dream Within a Dream was published in 1849 - the year of Edgar Poe’s earthly demise.
Let me say that again - The title of Dreams is just one word, the title of A Dream is two words, and the title of the most mature work - A Dream Within a Dream is 5 words. Dreams and A Dream were both published in 1827 and A Dream Within a Dream was published in 1849.**
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Welcome 361 Vampires and Religion
**Now I was planning to do some Easter theme episodes on Celebrate Poe - yes there is a connection - and looked at the calendar - assuming that Easter took place in March or early April - but I was really surprised to find out that this year Easter takes place on April 20 - one of the latest possible dates for the holiday. Now this is where it really gets into the weeds - tThe timing of Easter is determined by a combination of astronomical and ecclesiastical rules, specifically tied to the lunar calendar and the spring equinox.
Apparently, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox (March 21 in ecclesiastical calculations). This year, the spring equinox occurred on March 20, and the first full moon after that—the "Paschal Full Moon"—is on April 12-13. Since April 13 is a Sunday, Easter is pushed to the following Sunday, April 20 - got that?
The lunar cycle, which lasts approximately 29.5 days, can cause significant variation in Easter's date. The range for Easter is between March 22 and April 25, depending on when the Paschal Full Moon occurs relative to the equinox. In 2025, both the equinox and full moon align later than usual, making Easter nearly as late as it can be. So you have Maundy Thursday - the date when we celebrate The Last Supper on the preceding Thursday, and Christ’s crucifixion on Friday.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 360 - Dracula at Church
Welcome back to Dracula at Church - and if you have not listened to the previous episode, it might really help you to understand some fascinating ideas about the unintended role of vampires in religion.
Now the Church's depiction of vampires as demonic entities provided solace to believers by framing these creatures within a Christian moral and spiritual framework, offering both explanations for their - and remedies for protection. This approach reassured the faithful in the face of fears surrounding death, evil, and the supernatural. I guess the Church realized that there would always be a group of people who believed in vampires - so they basically designed a depiction that offered comfort.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 359 - Vampires and the Last Supper
When I started this podcast, I assumed the topics of the Last Supper and Easter would have nothing to do with anything related to Poe - oh sure, we do have evidence that the Allans attended the Anglican - or Episcopal Church in Richmond - but basically we don’t really thing of anything related to religion when we think of Edgar Poe.
I know I had said the we would soon delve into Bram Stoker’s Dracula - but reality has a way of causing you to change your plans, and so this podcast will be definitely delving into Bram Stoker’s Dracula for several episodes next week. For Easter this year, I did 3 episodes that tied the subject of vampires to the Christian church - and I feel the episodes are very respectful and not at all sacrilegious.
And when I first delved into the topic vampires - in preparation for Poe’s vampiric stories - I never thought that there would be any connection - however perverted - between, say, communion and vampires.
But the more research I did, the more I saw that there was a perverted comparison between the blood demands of a vampire and the truly sacred blood and love of Christ. Such a comparison offers a fascinating exploration of opposing spiritual and existential themes - of good and evil. Both concepts revolve around the symbolism of blood as a source of life, but they diverge in their purpose and moral implications. And let me apologize in advance - some of the ideas in this podcast might come across as a bit dense and even hard to take, but stick with me. So the next three podcast episodes will actually deal with Holy Week.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - my name is George Bartley, and this is episode 358 - Pre Dracula 2 or Calling Me By Your Name.
**The title of this episode - Calling Me By Your Name - is a variation on a phrase - Call Me By Your Name - taken from the text of a letter written to Walt Whitman by one of Whitman’s admirers - none other than Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula.
Now remember that Edgar Poe proceeded Bram Stoker, and never specifically used the word vampire in his works, but Poe wrote five stories between 1835 and 1842 that in many ways form the basis for many of his prose works - and all those works deal with the undead. Those stories are Berenice, Morella, Ligeia, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Oval Portrait. In all these tales, Poe writes about the essentially vampiric nature of human relationships - the love that persists beyond the grave.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 357 - Pre Dracula
I promise you that after this and the following episode, I will begin a series of episodes about the big one - at least the big one in the field of vampirism - Bram Stoker’s Dracula. You see, before there was the blood-drinking figure in a black cape, there were reanimated corpses (also known as the “undead”) who caused harm to the living. In Slavic and Germanic traditions, these beings were often blamed for disease, crop failure, or nocturnal attacks. For example, 14th-century chronicles from Bohemia describe an undead shepherd named Myslata who rose from the grave to kill villagers until his body was exhumed and burned. Similarly, various communities buried corpses with hawthorn stakes or steel needles to prevent them from returning. In a very real sense, belief in vampires - also called revenants - is strangely intertwined with Christianity.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 355 - Poe and Vampires
While Edgar Allan Poe didn't write about traditional vampires, his exploration of vampiric themes places his work within a broader context of vampiric literature, showcasing the versatility of the concept beyond just blood-drinking monsters. And hopefully within the next few minutes, Mr. Poe will make an appearance to address that very subject.
To begin with, Poe’s story "The Fall of the House of Usher," the relationship between Roderick and Madeline Usher has vampiric qualities, with their lives seemingly intertwined in a way that drains both.
"The Oval Portrait" - also by Poe - features an artist who seems to transfer his wife's life force into his painting, a vampiric act of creation.
Poe’s story "Morella" explores themes of identity transfer and rebirth, which can be interpreted as a form of vampiric continuation of life. And those are just three of Poe’s vampiric stories.
But before this podcast delves into those stories, Celebrate Poe will have several episodes dealing with Bram Stoker’s Dracula - and before we tackle the most well-known of all works of vampire literature - I thought it would be appropriate to talk with Mr. Edgar Allan Poe himself about the subject of vampires and briefly touch on their use in his work - and I do want to emphasize the word briefly - because after Easter I intend to - among other things - delve into the use of vampiric elements in more detail in Poe’s stories. By the way, I think I hear the ghost of Mr. Poe now . . .**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 355 - Why All the Fuss About Dracula
Episode 354 should be a relatively short episode - the subject is Stoker’s Dracula - and I want to briefly explore some reasons WHY Dracula is considered a great book.
But before I start, I am going to be talking about all kinds of aspects of Dracula - and I know some of them are completely new to you - stick with me, and in several episodes, hopefully all this will make sense.
The novel unfolds through journals, letters, and newspaper clippings, immersing readers in the characters’ perspectives. This epistolary style builds suspense—readers piece together clues alongside the protagonists, heightening tension. Jonathan Harker’s early journal entries, for instance, subtly foreshadow Dracula’s menace without explicit exposition.
Stoker synthesized Eastern European folklore into a cohesive mythos, defining modern vampire traits: aversion to sunlight, shape-shifting, and vulnerability to stakes and garlic. Unlike later romanticized vampires, Dracula is a chilling aristocrat who embodies Victorian fears of foreign invasion and sexual corruption.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 354, Encountering Poe’s Ghost Revisited
I looked at the time I have left for podcasts this month, and realized that I had just enough for one more episode - and this will not be a long episode at all. So I would like to revisit the first episode, and update it a little bit.
By the way, this first episode was one of the most listened-to of all 354 episodes of Celebrate Poe.
You see, there was a time when one of my favorite things to do was go to the massive Alderman Library at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. One night I was doing some research at the library using some books that I could not find anywhere else. Just being in that library was always a wonderful experience - seated with towering columns of books all around me- volumes brimming with the knowledge of the ages.**
I had no idea that in a few minutes I would encounter the Ghost of Edgar Allan Poe! And I could have never imagined that he would want me to do a podcast!
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - and this is episode 353 - Loathsome Mass of Detestable Putridity
Hello, my name is George Bartley, and the Ghost of Mr. Poe is here right beside me. I hope you have listened to the previous episode for sections from 5 of Poe’s six hoax stories. But there is one more - a story that is very much a hoax, - not an exploration story or trip to the moon - but a really creepy tale - and today Mr. Poe will read from that story. By the way, the two words that end the story - loathsome detestable putridity - mean deserving of strong hatred or the state of being putrid.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 352 - Poe’s Hoaxes, Part One
Being April Fool’s day, today I want to look at Poe’s six hoax stories - in fact, Edgar Allan Poe approvingly called his time the “epoch of the hoax.” Even though Poe’s motives in writing hoaxes may sometimes seem odd or obscure, his hoaxes live on as a quirky and fascinating part of literary history.
After a great deal of thought, I decided to deal with five of the hoax stories in this episode, and a hoax story that could also be classified as a tale of terror in the following episode. And I plan to release both episodes on April Fool’s day - then go much deeper into Poe’s hoax stories for the entire month of 2026 - they are some of Poe’s most influential writings. And that is no April Fool’s joke.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 351 - From Feast of Blood -
This is the final episode of Celebrate Poe - at least for now - devoted to Varney the Vampire. Now, as mentioned in a previous episode, the entire work spans 876 double-columned pages and 232 chapters, totaling nearly 66,000 words. And the author does a rather good job of holding your interest from issue to issue.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Be Content to Suffer - This is episode 350 of Celebrate Poe - a bit of a milestone for this podcast. And I must admit that when I started Celebrate Poe, I had no idea I would make it this far - and there is still so much of Poe’s life, his works, and the many influences on his writing to delve into - and I would be most honored if you take that journey with me.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - episode 349 - Varner (I mean, Varney) the Vampire
Hope you have listened to episode 348 about Varney the Vampire but you might be asking yourself, How does Varney's sympathetic portrayal differ from other vampire stories of the time?
Well, Varney the Vampire stands out as a pioneering sympathetic portrayal of vampires, differing significantly from other contemporary vampire stories. Unlike the purely evil vampires of his time, Varney is depicted as a complex character torn between his monstrous nature and his human desires. I originally planned to just do one episode on Varney, but for this and many other reasons, I found myself more and more intrigued by the character of Varney**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 348 Feast of Blood
Varney the Vampire is an extremely influential work in the vampire genre, first appearing as a serialized gothic horror story between 1845 and 1847. The was well before Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Varney was published as a series of weekly cheap pamphlets known as "penny dreadfuls," targeting a mass-market audience interested in fast-paced, suspenseful narratives. By the way, the story is often referred to as The Feast of Blood.
The story revolves around Sir Francis Varney, the vampire of the title, and his interactions with the Bannerworth family. Varney the Vampire was the first story to refer to sharpened teeth for a vampire, noting: "With a plunge he seizes her neck in his fang-like teeth".**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 347 - The Origins of Vampires -
Today I would like to delve into what is believed to be the beginnings of the vampire myth. So this specific episode will NOT be dealing with Dracula or Nosferatu, or any of the relatively recent names that we associate with vampires, and not specifically with Edgar Allan Poe - except in passing - although this podcast will heavily delve in the future into Poe's vampiric stories that deal the transfer of energy.
Now the origins of vampire myths are deeply rooted in ancient folklore and cultural beliefs, evolving over millennia into the modern concept of vampires.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 345 - Challenging Male Authority
**Well, I had planned for the previous episode to be the last one where I dealt with Carmilla - but I soon found out that the work was easy to get into, but hard to get out of. So what follows is another - and hopefully the last - episode regarding Carmilla.
You see, ”Carmilla" focuses more on psychological terror and emotional entanglement rather than physical violence, creating a more nuanced and unsettling atmosphere that can really stick with you.
As mentioned in the previous episode, the novella is notable for its portrayal of same-sex desire, with Carmilla expressing romantic and sexual interest in her female victims. This queer subtext was groundbreaking for its time.
Carmilla also exhibits some unique traits compared to other literary vampires. She can move about during daylight hours, though she has nocturnal habits. And unlike some vampires who prey indiscriminately, Carmilla becomes emotionally involved with a select few of her victims, adding depth to her character. The novella incorporates classic Gothic fiction elements, including a supernatural figure, a dark castle setting, and an ominous atmosphere.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 345 - Stirring **Sexual Desire
I was looking at the podcast episodes I have done, and realized that I had written three or more episodes for each subject. But I only did two for Carmilla, and have come to realize that the narrative does deserve more attention. You see, there is no question that Carmilla has lesbian/homoerotic undertones that were groundbreaking for its time. Being a gay male, I might not be the ideal person to speak to the lesbian subtext, but I can certainly give it a try.
The story features several scenes of physical closeness between a young woman named Laura and a female vampire named Carmilla, including embraces, caresses, and even Carmilla fondling Laura in bed. These interactions are described in sensual terms that suggest a romantic and sexual attraction. The relationship between the two women is characterized by intense emotions, possessiveness, and a deep, almost obsessive connection that goes beyond typical friendship.
Carmilla is one of the early works of vampire fiction, definitely predating Bram Stoker's “Dracula." The story is narrated by Laura, a young woman who becomes the target of a female vampire named Carmilla.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 344 - Leaving Me Trembling
Hope you are doing well, and I will just jump right into it -
One of the most explicit passages in Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla that hints at lesbian desire, within the constraints of Victorian Gothic literature, is as follows:
"Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardor of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet overpowering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, 'You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.' Then she has thrown herself back in her chair, with her small hands over her eyes, leaving me trembling”.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate 343 - The First Lesbian Vampire
After looking at some of the alleged crimes of Elizabeth - and by this time, I am ready to call her actions a part of folklore - I’d like to delve in a definitely fictional female character who helped shaped the Gothic tradition in literature. The novella by Sheridan Le Fan was called Carmilla (1872) and the work builds upon many Gothic elements that were to become central to Poe’s works.
Both Carmilla and Poe's works, such as "The Fall of the House of Usher," emphasize decaying and eerie settings that evoke dread. Carmilla features an old castle in Austria, shrouded in mystery and supernatural tension, much like Poe's use of ruined mansions and isolated landscapes to establish psychological terror.
Well, I might as get it out of the way first and address the elephant in the room ...**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 342 - Confined to a Castle
This episode is the fourth episode of Celebrate Poe dealing with Elizabeth Bathory, the Hungarian countess accused of serial murder. Now it was next to impossible for a person of her statue to be imprisoned, so it was said that she was confined to a Castle in Slovakia in until her death.
The nature of Báthory's confinement - like the exact nature of her crimes - has been subject to some debate. Initially, it was believed that she was bricked into a room in the castle. However, documents from a visits by local priests in suggest she could move freely within the castle, indicating it was more akin to house arrest.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 341 - Liz in Court
Well, today’s episode continues an examination of Elizabeth Nadasdy and what might be called her torture trial - probably full of half-truths and political lies.
First, the belief that Count Ferenc Nádasdy played a role in introducing his wife, Elizabeth Báthory to acts of violence and torture is rooted in historical accounts and speculation, though it remains a debated topic among historians. Some sources suggest that Nádasdy may have encouraged Elizabeth's violent tendencies by presenting her with instruments of torture as gifts - the ultimate in kink. For example, he is said to have gifted her spiked gloves to punish servants, and as mentioned in an earlier episode, restraining a young woman, covering her in honey, and leaving her to be attacked by insects for amusement.
Nádasdy was a military commander who fought against the Ottoman Empire, a role that exposed him to the brutal realities of war. It is plausible that his experiences and attitudes toward violence influenced the environment within their household. During their time together, Elizabeth managed estates in areas frequently under threat of attack, which may have normalized harsh measures for discipline and control.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 340 - Teaching Torture Techniques?
Elizabeth Bathory is certainly a fascinating figure. I guess that ultimately we will never know exactly what she did or did not do, but the reaction to her alleged crimes tells us a great deal about the times in which she lived - especially attitudes towards the supernatural, as well as attitudes towards woman.
First, the use of torture to extract confessions from Báthory's servants reflects the judicial norms of early modern Europe. Torture was considered an acceptable method for obtaining evidence at the time, even though it often led to unreliable testimony. Many of the accusations against Báthory were based on hearsay or coerced confessions, casting doubt on the fairness of the proceedings.
And often when a person would be tortured, they would say ANYTHING the torturer want to hear to stop the pain - an issue that continues to the present.**
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- Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 339 - “Blood is My Beauty Secret”
- I want to devote the next few episodes to Elizabeth Bathory -I read that she was a distant descendant of Vlad the Impaler - sounds interesting but like so many of the tales of the region - apparently was a fabrication.
- But - getting back to Elizabeth’s life - her existence (I am not sure how much of it is true) does qualify as a one that seems like it is from a very dark Gothic novel. Elizabeth Báthory, also known as the "Blood Countess," is a historical figure shrouded in both infamy and mystery. Born in 1560 into a powerful Hungarian noble family, she is alleged to have tortured and killed hundreds of young women between 1590 and 1610, earning her a reputation as one of history's most prolific female murderers. However, her story is complex, with elements of political intrigue, gender dynamics, and folklore.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 338 - The Haunted Palace
As you may know, The Castle of Otranto was written by Horace Walpole and first published on December 24, 1764. While the first edition was dated 1765, it was released at the end of 1764, making it the true publication year.
And I think it is especially interesting that Horace Walpole was inspired to write The Castle of Otranto through a combination of personal experiences, dreams, and his fascination with medieval history and Gothic architecture.
Walpole claimed that the idea for the novel came from a vivid nightmare he experienced while staying at his Gothic Revival home, Strawberry Hill House. The house’s secret passages, maze-like corridors, and dramatic design elements influenced the eerie and atmospheric setting of the novel.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 337, The First Gothic Novel
I’d like to begin this podcast episode with an excerpt from the opening chapter of The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole - an excerpt which captures the dramatic and supernatural tone of the novel. This passage describes the event that sets the story in motion: the mysterious death of Conrad, Manfred’s son, on his wedding day.
"Manfred, Prince of Otranto, had one son and one daughter: the latter, a most beautiful virgin, aged eighteen, was called Matilda. Conrad, the son, was three years younger, a homely youth, sickly, and of no promising disposition; yet he was the darling of his father, who never showed any symptoms of affection to Matilda. Manfred had contracted a marriage for his son with the Marquis of Vicenza's daughter, Isabella; and she had already been delivered by her guardians into the hands of Manfred, that he might celebrate the wedding as soon as Conrad's infirm state of health would permit.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 336 - A Medieval Soap Opera
Let’s jump right into The Castle of Otranto - a book that is widely regarded as the first Gothic novel and the foundation of all Gothic literature. Written by Horace Walpole, the book introduced many of the genre's defining elements, such as supernatural occurrences, medieval settings, and an atmosphere of suspense and terror. Walpole subtitled the novel "A Gothic Story," marking the first use of the term in a literary context and establishing a new genre that would influence countless works to come - including much of Edgar Allan Poe’s works.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 335- Meddling With Life and Death
This episode is a continuation of a discussion between Mr. Bartley and the Ghost of Edgar Allan Poe regarding Mary Shelley and Frankenstein.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 334 Poe and Frankenstein
Both Mary Shelley and Poe delve into Gothic themes such as monstrosity, isolation, guilt, and the boundaries of human experience. For example, in Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's creation of the monster explores the consequences of transgressing natural limits, as well as themes of guilt and alienation. Poe's works often feature characters grappling with madness, guilt, and confinement in a similar vein, such as in “The Tell-Tale Heart” or “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Both Mary Shelley and Poe depict monstrous or para-human figures. The creature in Frankenstein’is a literal embodiment of monstrosity, while Poe's characters often exhibit psychological or symbolic monstrosity, an example being Roderick Usher’s decayed humanity.**
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In this episode, I want to delve into what is generally viewed as the first vampire novel - the VAMPYRE by John William Polidori and published in 1819. This novella marked the beginning of modern vampire fiction and introduced the archetype of the aristocratic vampire through the character of Lord Ruthven. Polidori's work was inspired by a fragment of a story written by Lord Byron during a ghost story competition - and there was quite a bit of disagreement regarding who wrote what!
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 332 - Darkness
The Vampyre and Frankenstein are two liteary works that came out of the literary competition at the Villa Diadati - but another lesser known work is Lord George Gordon Byron’s Darkness. There is a lot of information in this episode - after an introduction, I am going to analyze the poem line by line - and then when you hopefully have more of an idea of what is about, I will read the entire poem without interruption.
Now Lord Byron's poem "Darkness" is a powerful and even apocalyptic vision of a world devoid of light, life, and hope. Written in 1816, it reflects the anxieties of its time, particularly the environmental and social upheavals caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815, which led to the "Year Without a Summer." This analysis will explore the poem's background and content, including a line-by-line breakdown. And let me apologize in advance, the subject matter of Darkness is very powerful, but can come across as a complete downer.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - episode 331 - The Year Without a Summer, Part Two
In the previous episode, I talked about the basic background behind the eruption of Mount Tamboro - but in this episode I would like to delve into not only the volcanic eruption, but the literary effects - especially the Gothic influences on Edgar Poe.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is Episode 330 - The Year Without a Summer, Part One - the 1815 explosion of Mount Tambora would have been much longer, and much louder, and become an ecological terror.
Now, In the past few episodes, Poe has delved into Ivan the Terrible and Vlad the Impaler - two historical figures, whether by sensibility or mythology, have played a role in the development of Poe’s approach to subject matter for writing - but an event occurred in 1815 that changed everything - an weather event that inspired literary works such as Lord Byron’s poem Darkness and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), reflecting themes of despair influenced by environmental catastrophe.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 355 - Vlad the Impaler, Part Two
In the previous episode, I talked excusively about the historical figure - Vlad the Impaler. But in this episode, I want to introduce a literary figure - Dracula - who is often confused with that historical figure - Vlad the Impaler.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 328 - Vlad the Impaler, Part One
Vlad the Impaler was a 15th-century ruler of Wallachia, a historical region in modern-day Romania. His life and reign were marked by political intrigue, military campaigns, and extreme cruelty, earning him a fearsome reputation that persists to this day. Vlad's legacy is deeply tied to his brutal methods of punishment, particularly impalement, which has made him both a national hero in Romania and he is said to be the inspiration for Bram Stoker's fictional vampire, Count Dracula.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 327 - How Terrible Was Ivan?
I hope that from the previous episode, you have come to the conclusion that Ivan the Terrible was a very formidable guy. But how did he get the name Ivan the Terrible?
Well, you see, Ivan IV Vasilyevich, commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, earned his most common name due to a combination of linguistic interpretation, his fearsome reputation as a ruler, and his actions during his reign. The nickname "Ivan the Terrible" is a translation of the Russian term Ivan Grozny. However, the word grozny does not directly mean "terrible" in the modern English sense of being evil or bad. Instead, it is better translated as "formidable," "awe-inspiring," or "fearsome." It conveyed a sense of power, majesty, and the ability to inspire fear and obedience among both enemies and subjects. You see, in 16th-century Russia, grozny was a term associated with strength and authority. It described someone who commanded respect and instilled fear—qualities seen as essential for a ruler in a turbulent era. The English translation "terrible" reflects an archaic meaning of the word, akin to "terrifying" or "impressive," rather than its modern connotation of moral failing or incompetence - basically communicating that “this is a guy you don’t want to fool around with.”**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 326 - Don’t Fool with Ivan
From Poe’s favorite melody to Russia’s darkest czar - now In this episode, I want to continue an exploration of Gothic works and the psychological complexities that resonate with Poe’s literary works - in other words, go back and explore the influences on Poe’s works - especially the dark and Gothic. Obviously, I won’t be able to look at all dark literature and relevant historical events, but I ended up thinking an interesting place to start was a look at Ivan the Terrible - He was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 and became the first Tsar of Russia in 1547, reigning until his death. His life and reign were marked by significant territorial expansion, cultural contributions such as the introduction of the printing press to Russia, and a reign of terror characterized by paranoia, violence, and the establishment of a massive, and brutal secret police called the oprichnina. Ivan’s legacy remains one of both remarkable achievements and infamous cruelty
Listen to this podcast episode for more details.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 325 - The Hero’s Journey
During the Christmas holidays, you may remember that I went over the the complete The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, written in 1900. And by the way, when I finished writing the transcript for this episode, I realized that, while it was meant as a temporary transition from Poe’s works to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, examining the similarities, and especially the differences between the literary works serves as a way to better understand Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, as well as L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Often we tend to try and learn more about the essence of a literary work by comparing it to a similar work - but I believe that you can learn a great deal about a literary work by comparing it to a work that is vastly different - and you can’t get much different than The Wizard of Oz and a story by Poe.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 325 - Translating Poe
Before Celebrate Poe goes any further, I want to admit that I am going back and dealing with some of the influences of Poe - emphasizing that they were part of Gothic literature or writing that employs dark and picturesque scenery, startling and melodramatic narrative devices, and an overall atmosphere of exoticism, mystery, fear, and dread.
But Edgar Allen Poe got later ahold of Gothic literature in the mid-1800s and succeeded like no one else. In Gothic literature, he found a place to explore psychological trauma, the evils of man, and mental illness. Any modern-day zombie story, detective story, or Stephen King novel owes a debt to Poe. There may have been successful Gothic writers before and after him, but no one perfected the genre quite like Poe.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 325 - Translating Poe
Before Celebrate Poe goes any further, I want to admit that I am going back and dealing with some of the influences of Poe - emphasizing that they were part of Gothic literature or writing that employs dark and picturesque scenery, startling and melodramatic narrative devices, and an overall atmosphere of exoticism, mystery, fear, and dread.
But Edgar Allen Poe got later ahold of Gothic literature in the mid-1800s and succeeded like no one else. In Gothic literature, he found a place to explore psychological trauma, the evils of man, and mental illness. Any modern-day zombie story, detective story, or Stephen King novel owes a debt to Poe. There may have been successful Gothic writers before and after him, but no one perfected the genre quite like Poe.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 321 - DeQuincy, Baudelaire, and Poe - Part Three)
I hope you listened to the previous episode that deals with Thomas De Quincy and his 1821 autobiographical work "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.
But before we go any further, I wan to try and clear something up. An opium-eater is not actually someone who eats opium, but rather a person who uses opium as a recreational drug or an opium addict. The term "opium-eater" was popularized by Thomas De Quincey in his work "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater”. In reality, De Quincey consumed opium in the form of laudanum, which is a tincture of opium dissolved in alcohol. This liquid preparation was widely used in the 19th century to treat various ailments and was easily available without a prescription. What could possibly go wrong?**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - my name is George Bartley and this is episode 321 - Answer to Listener
The intro music was Come Rest in This Bosom - said to be Edgar Poe’s favorite song.
I’d like to start with a whooper of an apology - last month - yes, last month - I got a kind message with my podcast episode on my iPhone - I was so elated that I did an entire episode in response to the individual’s comments - but I was moving some files around and promptly lost it - I had foolishly named it Attend to This - which of course made it impossible to find. Well, just a few minutes ago I was trying to clean up my Mac desktop, opened a file named Attend to This - and saw in was the podcast script I wrote in response to the message - So before I loose it again, this episode is a response to that message. And thanks for your patience.
The message read:
Thank you for this podcast, Mr. Bartley. It's a refreshing look at Poe’s life and times. I just now finished John Allen's will episode. I'm pro Poe and no matter what he did, I believe that Mr. Allan was wrong to not leave him anything in his will. perhaps he thought Poe would accomplish more if he had to do it on his own? Perhaps we would not have the soulful poems poe left us? I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this matter? 5 stars (For privacy purposes I am not going to say the person’s name - you never know.)
Well, thank you for writing. And the person gave me 5 stars. Thank you.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 320 - DeQuincy, Baudelaire, and Poe - Part Two
When I started this podcast, my plans are to delve more into Charles Baudelaire, but I ran into something that I did not expect. Oh sure, there was his great collection known as Flowers of Evil and his classic and highly influential translation of Poe’s works. And I began reading a book about the controversial topic of the use of opium by Baudelaire - but I soon found that much of Baudelaire’s interests were centered around a writer known as Thomas De Quincey. Baudelaire’s intended to translate Thomas De Quincey’s Confession of an English Opium Eater. So And in a strange way, I found that reading about Thomas De Quincey helped me understand Baudelaire much better, and gain insights into the personal and creative challenges that Baudelaire faced as someone addicted to an opium.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - episode 319 - Intolerable Leaders
This should be episode 319 - Baudelaire, De Quincey, and Poe - Part Two. But while I was looking through some past transcripts on my web site, I ran across one that addressed the invasion of the Capital in Washington. It was an issue that I strongly felt needed to be addressed 4 years ago when it happened, and our recent President has taken actions that just pour salt on the wounds.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 318 - DeQuincy, Baudelaire, and Poe - Part One
Recently, I ran across a book about Charles Baudelaire called A Portrait of the Artist as a Drug Addict. There is no question about it - According to the author - Charles Baudelaire, the translator of Edgar Allan Poe's works, was a heavy user of opium. Baudelaire wrote extensively about his experiences with opium and other drugs in his book (Artificial Paradises), published in 1860.
This episode is the first in a series of podcasts that examine the opium use of Baudelaire, De Quincey, and Poe.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 317 - Flowers of Evil
Today I want to look at some of Baudelaire’s masterpiece - Les Fleurs du Mal - or The Flowers of Evil. First published in 1857, the poems were extremely controversial upon publication, with six of its poems censored due to their immorality. Now it is now considered a major work of French poetry. The poems in The Flowers of Evil frequently break with tradition, using suggestive images and unusual forms. They deal with themes relating to decadence and eroticism, particularly focusing on suffering and its relationship to original sin, disgust toward evil and oneself, obsession with death, and aspiration toward an ideal world. The poems had a powerful influence on future French poetry. For the rest of this episode, I am going to read a portion of the poems - starting with a poem by Edgar Allan Poe that I am sure you are familiar with - Alone so you can compare it to Badelaire’s The Enemy. By the way, note how both poems use vivid imagery to describe the poet's tumultuous youth and the challenges faced in his later years, employing metaphors of storms to convey the respective poet’s emotional and creative struggles.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 316 - From Ecstasy to Anguish
Many years ago, when I was working at the Poe Museum in Richmond, I remember the brilliant curator, Chris Semptner talking about a French writer who was greatly influenced by Poe and translated Poe’s works into French. Chris seemed to be very excited at the connection, but to be honest, I forgot the writer’s name and basically did not give a second thought to this French writer until last week.
Anyway, I recently bought through Amazon the Bob Dylan Encyclopedia by Michael Gray. Some of the online copies were VERY expensive, and the one I got did have a mark on the back - but the book was huge - with over 700 pages - so I did mind spending 13.00 for a used copy when the other copies were going for well over 100 dollars. The book was about all things Bob Dylan - ever down to insignificant songs the he was planning to write - and a real pleasure to browse - from Paul McCartney to the Band to Highway 61 Revisited to The Times They Are a Changin’ - I could go on all day. It was like reliving my youth.
As you can imagine, I have spent a great deal of time just browsing the book’s entries - and am not even close to finishing - but I ran into a picture of that French writer that I was briefly exposed to years ago - the writer who is famous for his translation of Poe’s works into French. The man’s name was Charles Baudelaire, and the article said he was greatly influenced by Edgar Allan Poe, and that Bob Dylan, in turn, was greatly influenced by this Charles Baudelaire. So you could say that this Charles Baudelaire could be viewed as a missing link between Poe and Dylan. Baudelaire’s importance to the popularity of Poe in Europe cannot be underestimated.
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**I guess you could say I unconsciously (or maybe even consciously) devoted at least 11 or 12 of the previous episodes reading the complete version of the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - because the movie Wicked is currently popular. Then I considered the movie A Complete Unknown about the great Bob Dylan. But the problem was that I didn’t think there was ANY connection between Edgar Poe and Bob Dylan - none at all.
But I did some more research, and found out that WAS an amazing association between the two literary geniuses.**
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**Welcome to Episode 318 - Salad Days, the Beatles, Taylor Swift, and Poe.
And yes, this podcast has returned to the subject of Edgar Allan Poe - and I know you will enjoy the ride as this podcast delves deeper into the life and works of America’s Shakespeare.
I hope you had a great 2024, and have an even better 2025. This year, one of my New Year’s Resolutions (in addition thoroughly cleaning my apartment) is to try and release an episode of Celebrate Poe every Monday and Friday - starting with today - there is so much fascinating information out there. In a sense, Celebrate Poe has spent largely 300 episodes covering the first half of Poe’s life - his formative years. Now I hope to really take a deep dive into the exciting part - his incredible literary accomplishments in the midst of sometimes devastating challenges.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This should be episode 314 - Home Again
The four travelers passed through the rest of the forest in safety, and
when they came out from its gloom saw before them a steep hill, covered
from top to bottom with great pieces of rock.
“That will be a hard climb,” said the Scarecrow, “but we must get over
the hill, nevertheless.”**
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**Chapter XVI The Magic Art of the Great Humbug
Next morning the Scarecrow said to his friends:
“Congratulate me. I am going to Oz to get my brains at last. When I
return I shall be as other men are.”
“I have always liked you as you were,” said Dorothy simply.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 311 - Chapter XV The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible
The four travelers walked up to the great gate of Emerald City and rang
the bell. After ringing several times, it was opened by the same Guardian of the Gates they had met before.**
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**Chapter XIII The Rescue
The Cowardly Lion was much pleased to hear that the Wicked Witch had
been melted by a bucket of water, and Dorothy at once unlocked the gate
of his prison and set him free. They went in together to the castle,
where Dorothy’s first act was to call all the Winkies together and tell
them that they were no longer slaves.
There was great rejoicing among the yellow Winkies, for they had been
made to work hard during many years for the Wicked Witch, who had
always treated them with great cruelty. They kept this day as a
holiday, then and ever after, and spent the time in feasting and
dancing.**
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Chapter XII The Search for the Wicked Witch
The soldier with the green whiskers led them through the streets of theEmerald City until they reached the room where the Guardian of the Gates lived. This officer unlocked their spectacles to put them back in his great box, and then he politely opened the gate for our friends.
“Which road leads to the Wicked Witch of the West?” asked Dorothy.
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**Chapter XI. The (Emerald) Wonderful City of Oz
Even with eyes protected by the green spectacles, Dorothy and her
friends were at first dazzled by the brilliancy of the wonderful City.
The streets were lined with beautiful houses all built of green marble
and studded everywhere with sparkling emeralds. They walked over a
pavement of the same green marble, and where the blocks were joined
together were rows of emeralds, set closely, and glittering in the
brightness of the sun. The window panes were of green glass; even the
sky above the City had a green tint, and the rays of the sun were
green.
There were many people—men, women, and children—walking about, and
these were all dressed in green clothes and had greenish skins. They
looked at Dorothy and her strangely assorted company with wondering
eyes, and the children all ran away and hid behind their mothers when
they saw the Lion; but no one spoke to them. Many shops stood in the
street, and Dorothy saw that everything in them was green. Green candy
and green pop corn were offered for sale, as well as green shoes, green
hats, and green clothes of all sorts. At one place a man was selling
green lemonade, and when the children bought it Dorothy could see that
they paid for it with green pennies.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 306 - This is Chapter VII The Journey to the Great Oz from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
They were obliged to camp out that night under a large tree in the
forest, for there were no houses near. The tree made a good, thick
covering to protect them from the dew, and the Tin Woodman chopped a
great pile of wood with his axe and Dorothy built a splendid fire that
warmed her and made her feel less lonely. She and Toto ate the last of
their bread, and now she did not know what they would do for breakfast.
“If you wish,” said the Lion, “I will go into the forest and kill a
deer for you. You can roast it by the fire, since your tastes are so
peculiar that you prefer cooked food, and then you will have a very
good breakfast.”
“Don’t! Please don’t,” begged the Tin Woodman. “I should certainly weep
if you killed a poor deer, and then my jaws would rust again.”**
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**Chapter V The Rescue of the Tin Woodman
When Dorothy awoke the sun was shining through the trees and Toto had
long been out chasing birds around him and squirrels. She sat up and
looked around her. There was the Scarecrow, still standing patiently in
his corner, waiting for her.
This episode deals with Dorothy's and Toto's first encounter with the Tin Woodman.**
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**Welcome back to Celebrate Poe - This is Episode 304 - Chapter III. How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow
When Dorothy was left alone she began to feel hungry. So she went to
the cupboard and cut herself some bread, which she spread with butter.
She gave some to Toto, and taking a pail from the shelf she carried it
down to the little brook and filled it with clear, sparkling water.
Toto ran over to the trees and began to bark at the birds sitting
there. Dorothy went to get him, and saw such delicious fruit hanging
from the branches that she gathered some of it, finding it just what
she wanted to help out her breakfast.
Then she went back to the house, and having helped herself and Toto to
a good drink of the cool, clear water, she set about making ready for
the journey to the City of Emeralds.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 303 - Dorothy and the Cyclone
After the previous episode with its comparison of two great, but vastly different writers, I’d like to begin in earnest this podcasts episodes for the Twelve Days of Christmas. It’s a long story, but briefly I saw that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz might be a perfect choice - for one thing - it had 24 chapters - and I assumed that I could easily cover 2 chapters each episode for the 12 days of Christmas. I like to keep up episode approximately 30 minutes or less, so it turned out that some of the chapters take up an entire episode. But in any case, I should have the entire 1999 novel of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz easily finished in 12 episodes - so enjoy! And I can all but guarantee that some of the later chapters are new to you.
So let’s go ahead and begin with the complete version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.**
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**Welcome to Episode 302 - Usher and Oz
But before this podcast delves into the original version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I like to delve into the life and works of two very different writers - Edgar Allan Poe and, the author of the Oz series - L. Frank Baum. Both were highly influential authors, with distinct styles and thematic concerns that reflect their unique literary goals.
Poe is renowned for his exploration of melancholy, death, and the human psyche. His works often delve into the darker aspects of existence, reflecting his own life experiences. For instance, poems like "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee" convey a sense of tragic beauty, focusing on themes of loss and the haunting nature of memory. Poe's poetry is characterized by a rhythmic creation of beauty that often evokes feelings of despair and existential questioning.
In contrast, Baum's Oz series is fundamentally optimistic, emphasizing self-discovery, friendship, and the realization of one's potential. The characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz embark on journeys that lead them to understand their inner strengths—courage, intelligence, and heart—rather than seeking external validation or treasures. Baum’s world is one of wonder and adventure, aimed primarily at children but containing layers of social commentary about American society during his time.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 301 - Poe and the 12 days of Christmas. For the past several years in Celebrate Poe, I have talked about the 12 days of Christmas. I know I have talked about the period before in general but never actually talked about each specific day during the period and the significance of each religious holiday.
While there is no direct evidence that Edgar Allan Poe personally celebrated the 12 Days of Christmas in a detailed or unique way, we can infer some aspects based on his background and the traditions of his time.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 300 - “Poe's Legacy: 300 Episodes of Exploration”
Yes, this a point that I never thought the Ghost of Mr. Poe and myself would never reach - the 300th episode of this podcast. I like to think that the title of this episode reflects on the journey through Poe's life and works, celebrating the depth of content covered in the podcast - and this podcast has not even reached the half-way point of Poe’s life - a life that had so many creativity that this podcast hasn’t even touched - at least, yet.
For this episode I want to have a small, imaginary dinner party to celebrate the 300th episode of his podcast with an exclusive guest list consisting of the Ghost of Edgar Allan Poe - he is the man of the hour- as well as the imaginary ghost of William Shakespeare, as the ghost of Charles Dickens and the ghost of Walt Whitman - they all indirectly played a part in Poe’s life, and would be fascinating characters in their own right - then I realized that ghosts are formless and don’t require food - but I am looking forward, anyway, to have a gathering of these literary giants - or at least their ghosts to see how they all get along. Oh, I am sure they will make fun of each other, but secretly admire the artistry that each represents - I expect that will be a great deal of good-natured ribbing.**
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Where It All Began
**I begin the episode relaxing in a comfortable chair in a University of Virginia library when a bum? Panhandler? Apparition? Introduces himself as Edgar Allan Poe, and tells me that he wants to start a podcast. We talk, but I am doubtful, to say the least.
Then switch to a few months ago - this same apparition visits me again (knowing that I want to start a podcast.) This time I take him up on his offer (knowing that it is going to an unbelievable amount or work to do right.)
And he reminds me that “the boundaries between life and death are at best shadowy and vague. Who knows where one ends and the other begins?”
How can I argue with that?**
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**Poe’s reflections on decay within the Colosseum is a cautionary tale about civic engagement today. As many citizens become increasingly disengaged from political processes, there is a risk of societal decay reminiscent of the decline represented in Poe's poem. Encouraging active participation in democracy is essential to countering this trend.
While at first reading, the poem The Coliseum points at the decay of an ancient society - Rome - the poem also highlights the enduring relevance of Poe's work in analyzing contemporary society.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 297 - Poe’s Bread and Circuses
Today I would like to begin by talking about the Coliseum itself before getting into other areas. The actual poem by Poe - The Coliseum - was one of his first poems - and might need a bit of background. And while I was doing research for this and future episodes regarding The Coliseum - I ran into several sources who said that they thought the poem was the best that Poe ever wrote. I did not think that much about the poem the first time I read it, but after I learned more, I can see why Poe’s poem The Coliseum has so many fans.**
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**Episode 296 - Searching for a Family
Link to The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe 67 minuteshttps://archive.org/details/TheLovesOfEdgarAllanPoe
Link to clip or Jane Darwell in “The Grapes of Wrath”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJLvgWx-h54
Link to clip of Jane Darwell and Julie Andrews in “Mary Poppins”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Wb_sTdJV
William and Maria Clemm had three children together:
Henry (born September 10, 1818)
Virginia Marie (born August 22, 1820, who died in infancy)
Virginia Eliza (born August 13, 1822)
Now let me try and explain the connection to Edgar Allan Poe and his somewhat problematic marriage - at least by the standards of many people today.
This has got to be one of the most controversial subjects regarding Poe - the fact that he married his much younger cousin. Virginia Eliza Clemm. - I guess you could say that the relationship began as a familial bond. Poe first met Virginia when she was seven years old, and he was twenty. Over time, their relationship evolved into a romantic one, culminating in their marriage when Virginia was 13 and Poe was 27 - a relationship that many scholars believe was more like one between siblings that a romantic relationship.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Epidode 313 - this is episode Chapter XIX Attacked by the Fighting Trees
The next morning Dorothy kissed the pretty green girl good-bye, and
they all shook hands with the soldier with the green whiskers, who had
walked with them as far as the gate. When the Guardian of the Gate saw
them again he wondered greatly that they could leave the beautiful City
to get into new trouble. But he at once unlocked their spectacles,
which he put back into the green box, and gave them many good wishes to
carry with them.
“You are now our ruler,” he said to the Scarecrow; “so you must come
back to us as soon as possible.”**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 295 - John Allan’s Will
On March 27, 1834, John Allan died of a lingering illness of unknown origin. He was undoubtedly completely utterly ignorant that he would not be remembered for his money - but because of the cast-off ward he had despised. His business partner was Charles Ellis, and Ellis’s son Thomas (citing Louisa Allan as his source) wrote in 1881 that shortly before Allan’s death, Edgar had suddenly appeared at the Allan family home, demanding to see his former guardian. Thomas Ellis claimed Mrs. Allan tried to turn him away, but Poe desperately barged his way into Allan’s sickroom, only to have the ailing but still unforgiving man chase the unwelcome visitor out with his cane. The story cannot be totally confirmed, but it would be depressingly in character for both men to end their relationship with such a mixture of bitterness, melodrama and even farce.
I would also like to discuss the actual text of the will - not surprisingly, it is typical legalese for the 19th century - but is not that long - as far as wills go - about 1,000 words.**
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**Chapter XVI The Magic Art of the Great Humbug
Next morning the Scarecrow said to his friends:
“Congratulate me. I am going to Oz to get my brains at last. When I
return I shall be as other men are.”
“I have always liked you as you were,” said Dorothy simply.**
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In today's episode, I would like to deal with and emphasize the overall influence of John Allan on Poe’s life - and what might Poe's life have been like if John Allan had a more positive temperament. And even if some of this information is familiar to you, stay with the Ghost of Mr. Poe and myself for what ultimately is a very sad story.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 293 - Last Will and Testament of William Galt
While ideally, I would like to have all the episodes in this podcast in chronological order - for example, start with Poe’s birth and deal with his writings and then his death, followed by his influence on literature - that just isn’t always possible. Today is an example, for an examination of portions of the will of William Galt.
Galt was certainly important to Poe’s development, but if you are hazy regarding the name William Galt, stick with Mr. Poe and me, and become familiar with the role of Galt in Poe’s life.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 292 - Loss of Breath
Today, Mr. Poe and I will look at his short story “Loss of Breath.”Certainly, "Loss of Breath" is what one might call a lesser-known Poe short story,first published in 1832 in The Philadelphia Saturday Courier. I doubt that you would consider the story one of my more famous works of horror and mystery,
Such as The Tell Tale Heart or The Fall of the House of Usher or The Pit and the Pendulum …**Yes, Mr. Bartley - this story is primarily humorous and satirical in nature.
The story revolves around a man who literally loses his breath and goes through a series of absurd and increasingly outlandish situations as a result.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 291. Poe and the Outsider
In the previous episode the character of the ghost of Mr. Poe and I first discussed the Alien and Sedition Acts. First, I’d like to apologize I have a cold/flu, and just listened to my recorded voice - you will just have to bear with me. Of course, that gives the voice of the ghost of Mr. Poe - a Southern accent too
And here's the ghost of Mr. Poe -
Hello, Mr. Bartley - I believe you want to talk about the Alien and Sedition Acts, and how they indirectly affected my literary works. Now remember, while I was certainly born after the Alien and Sedition Acts were enacted and repealed, these laws quite possibly had an indirect influence on my writing and political views. Although they were no longer in effect during my Poe's lifetime, their legacy continued to shape political debates and attitudes towards government power.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 290 - Alien - or perhaps more accurately Poe and The Alien and Sedition Acts. And no, I am not going to talk about little creatures from outer space.
This podcast will deal with Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 - acts which very well may have affected Poe - but first I want to talk about those acts as they have recently been discussed by President-Elect Trump.**
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In the previous episode, the ghost of Mr. Poe and I began a discussion of the presidential election of 24 - 1824 that is - an election that the young Poe would have been familiar with. And if you have not heard that podcast episode, I encourage you to go back and listen to it. It only tells 1/4th of the story - keep listening and I think you will see what I mean.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 288 - Election Conflict, Part 1
You are probably sick and tired of hearing and reading about election conflicts and disagreements - I know that I am. But in this episode, the ghost of Mr. Poe and I would like to take you back to a rather dramatic and controversial Presidential election that most historians believe Edgar Poe would have known about.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 287 - Poe’s Views on Democracy and Donald Trump.
When I started this weekly podcast over 4 years ago, my original intentions were to keep Poecentric - meaning only about the works, times, and life of America’s Shakespeare - that grew to some of the literary influences on his works. Even though I have strong religious and political beliefs,, I wanted to concentrate on Edgar Poe as much as possible. But for this election season, I could not resist dealing with what Poe might have felt about American politics - utilizing how the writer felt about democracy and demagogues in the 19th century.
In this podcast, I would like to talk with Mr. Poe about his views of government - and especially about what he might have thought about the specter of Donald Trump. I had previously been under the impression that Edgar Allan Poe was somewhat reactionary in his political positions - coming from a wealthy and rather privileged background in the South - but after doing a great deal of research, I was surprised at how nuanced his views toward democracy actually were.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 286 - an examination from a contemporary standpoint of one of Edgar Poe’s most famous stories - The Pit and the Pendulum. And as you will hear very soon, this episode also marks the return of the Ghost of Mr. Poe.
Even tho The Pit and the Pendulum story was first published in 1842, the tale certainly has the elements of any great story - the dynamics of the tale are not necessarily confined to any specific historical period. Much of Greek and Roman mythology, Shakespeare, and any great literature deals with human emotions that could be found in any era. Poe’s works are no different.
So for this conclusion to episodes dealing with historical speeches and poems about democracy, I would like to look at The Pit and the Pendulum from a contemporary perspective. Edgar Poe obviously did not write the story specifically with a fascist government in mind - the rise of fascist and Nazi dictators did not occur until well after Poe’s death - but I hope to show in this interpretation how the torture that the narrator suffers in The Pit and the Pendulum can be viewed from the standpoint of a natural outgrowth of creeping fascism. And I won’t be changing a word in Poe’s original story.
But before Mr. Poe and I continue, I want to point out that I try for each episode to be around 30 minutes in length. However I believe the increasing suspense built by The Pit and the Pendulum calls for the story to be read or experienced at one sitting - so this Halloween episode will be closer to one hour, but I think you will find it worth it.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 286 - Clinton and Collins: The Language of God
Before we jump into this episode, I want to announce what is perhaps the most ambitious undertaking that Celebrate Poe has ever published - the 2024 Halloween episode - combining appropriate sound effects with Poe’s story. This Halloween episode combines The Pit and the Pendulum with some observations regarding contemporary politics, and I decided to go ahead and call it Politics and the the Pendulum. This episode will also mark the return of the Ghost of Edgar Allan Poe and a renewed emphasis regarding the life, times, and works of the writer. I plan to release Politics and the Pendulum on October 31 - the morning of Halloween
Now, as we get closer and closer to Election Day in the United States, I want to change the subject of the current series of Celebrate Poe - this podcast will be the final episode - at least for now - where I delve into great speeches by great Americans. In fact, parts of today’s podcast have a slight connection to Edgar Poe - but I will get into that later. As many of you may know, I am from the relatively small town of Staunton, Virginia - also the hometown of Dr. Francis Collins - the subject of today’s podcast. Dr. Collins just might be one of the greatest Americans who has ever lived, and by the time this episode is over, you just might agree with me.
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 284 - Continuity and Progress. This will mark the third and final episode - for now - dealing with President Obama - and I would like to look at Obama’s second Inaugural Address - a speech that covers a wide variety of issues - but first I want to make some comments regarding the speech in hope that they help clarify some of Obama’s ideas.
But before continuing, I wanted to announce what is perhaps the most ambitious undertaking that Celebrate Poe has ever published - the 2024 Halloween episode - combining appropriate sound effects with Poe’s story. This Halloween episode combines The Pit and the Pendulum with some observations regarding contemporary politics, and is called Politics and the the Pendulum. This episode will also mark the return of the Ghost of Edgar Allan Poe and a renewed emphasis regarding the life, times, and works of Edgar Poe. I plan to release Politics and the Pendulum on October 31 - the morning of Halloween
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I have been going over the speeches of Barack Obama, and found some real jewels. I started reading a speech given to Congress hesitant to use it in a podcast episode because it was almost 50 minutes long. But by the end of the address, I knew that I had read a masterpiece.
President Obama was offering a solution to the seemingly insurmountable problem of Health Care that was compassionate, intelligent, practical, and very moving. I originally intended to split the subject of healthcare into two podcast episodes - but I eventually realized that Obama covers most of the relevant information in his address to Congress. So I am asking you to stay with President Obama - one of the greatest orators of our time - for the next 50 minutes. Listen to how a government can meet the needs of its citizens when we all come together and support someone who is dedicated to serving the needs of his or her people.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 282 - Obama: Hope in Action
You know, I have found that President Obama’s addresses seem to speak for themselves - there might be a temptation to add comments but Obama is arguably one of the greatest orators of our time, and his word choice, pacing, and delivery cause the listener to realize that you are in the presence of a master communicator.
What follows is Barack Obama’s first inaugural address as President of the United States - delivered January 20, 2009.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 281- Let Us Continue! And just in case you are wondering, I am taking a break from episodes about Edgar Poe until election day, and devoting that time to great words from other notable Americans - especially in the political area.
Now in the previous episodes, I looked at John Kennedy’s 1960 Inaugural Address - followed by an episode devoted to his Civil Rights Address. And this episode is largely devoted to an address by his successor, Lyndon Baines Johnson regarding President’s Kennedy’s assassination.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 280 - The Power of Words: JFK and the Fight for Equality. This episode continues an examination of some of the outstanding addresses given by great Americans - in this case Presidents of the United States who were deeply concerned about the United States and use their talents to affect positive change that resulted in a more perfect union - not that the United States will ever be a perfect country - but should always aspire to be sincerely concerned with the rights of all persons and making life better for all its citizens.
This episode deals with an address given by President Kennedy on the 11th of June in 1963 in Washington D.C. regarding civil rights. And probably the best way to talk about the importance of this speech is to jump right into President’s Kennedy’s address.**
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This podcast episode deals with President Kennedy’s 1960 Inaugural address. On January 20, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK), a Democrat from Massachusetts, was inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States. Taking office at the age of 43, he remains the youngest person in the history of the United States to be elected to that role.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 278 - Whitman on Democracy - and This is the final episode - for now - about Walt Whitman.
Walt Whitman wrote many lengthy poems about democracy - in fact I found a great poem about Democracy that would take almost two hours to read — but I am going to try and confine the poems in this episode to some of those on the shorter side - starting with the three-line poem - To Foreign Lands. Here he simply states that he heard other countries want to know what the New World was and what America was, so he is giving them his poetry so they can find out exactly what his country is.**
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It is generally agreed that O Captain, My Captain is Walt Whitman’s masterpiece. But to understand this poem you need to look at the connections between Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, and Whitman’s love, Peter Doyle.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 276 - Beat! Beat! Drums!
After three episodes on President Abraham Lincoln, I would like to delve into arguably America’s greatest poet - a man whose entire outlook on life was intertwined with this positive views of and strong belief in democracy - Walt Whitman. Art historian Mary Berenson wrote, "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without his classic Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him."**
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On the fourth day of March, 1865, the President of the United States stood on the east steps of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. to deliver his second inaugural address. Now Four years earlier, Abraham Lincoln delivered his first inaugural address as disaster loomed. The divided nation had that sent him to the White House after the divided election of 1860 was slowly but surely headed to war against itself. Now, four years and approximately 600,000 casualties later, Abraham Lincoln was taking the oath of office again.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 274 - A Two-Minute Masterpiece: The Gettysburg Address Explained
This episode delves briefly into Edward Everett's two hour speech at Gettysburg prior to President Lincoln's two minute address, and breaks down Lincoln's words and concepts in his address.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 273 - The Better Angels of Our Nature
For the next three episodes, I would like to delve into three speeches by Abraham Lincoln - not only because of their excellence but because of how conditions in Lincoln’s time can be compared to many political challenges of today.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 272 where I look at Frederick Douglass, and yes, a little about Edgar Allan Poe. Now while Poe and Douglass came from vastly different backgrounds with fascinating writing styles, they both share a mastery of suspense in their respective works. In this episode, I want to concentrate on Douglass’s ideas and writing style in addition to some comments about Poe, ending with Douglass’s masterful “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery.”
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 270 - Life, Liberty, and Happiness.
The United States Declaration of Independence is an extremely important document in the history of the United States of America, and was ratified on July 4, 1776. It says that the Americans were no longer under British rule. Instead, the thirteen British colonies came together to become a union of free and independent states.
You see, before 1776, the United States of America was not a country. The individual states were colonies of the British Empire. And during this time, many American people were angry at Great Britain. Many Americans did not like paying taxes to Great Britain when they did not have anyone to speak for them in Parliament. The American people wanted to be treated like British citizens.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley - and this is episode 269 - Give Me Liberty.
Presidential elections in the United States only occur once every four years, and it could be argued that 2024 is the most important Presidential election of our lives. So after a great deal of thought and research, I decided to take a break from producing episodes about Poe, and take a deep dive into some of the important political documents that defined this country - now early voting begins in Pennsylvania on September 16, 2024, and I want to deal with some of the works that define us as a nation. Some of the episodes even touch on Edgar Allan Poe - tho he is far from the main topic - except for the last episodes where this podcast looks at one of Poe’s most famous stories - The Pit and the Pendulum - from a contemporary fascist interpretation.**
**Now, according to my stats, Celebrate Poe has had downloads in almost 90 countries, with 2/3 of those downloads coming from the United States. Of course, other countries are certainly affected by the results of our Presidential election - for good or ill - and I would like to spend the next few weeks looking into some of the great documents, speeches, and literary works that led to the passage of laws and acceptance of attitudes that make the United States such a great country.
I plan to delve into some of the important documents that define who we are as a people, as well as our rights and responsibilities - such as The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Gettysburg Address - right up to some recordings of and comments of present day political figures.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 269 - Marrying Your Cousin
Many people believe that one of the most controversial subjects regarding Poe is the fact that he married his much younger cousin. Virginia Eliza Clemm. - I guess you could say that the relationship began as a familial bond. Poe first met Virginia when she was seven years old, and he was twenty. Over time, their relationship evolved into a romantic one, culminating in their marriage when Virginia was 13 and Poe was 27 - a relationship that many scholars believe was more like one between siblings that a romantic relationship.
While marrying first cousins was not uncommon or particularly scandalous at the time, Virginia's young age was unusual even by 19th century standards. The average age of first marriage for women in the U.S. during that period was above 20 years old.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 266 - Poe’ First Story - Part Two
After all the background of the previous episode, I’d like to devote this episode to the actual story of Metzengerstein. After listening to this episode, you might like to go back and listen to Part One - even if you have already heard it - in fact the episode has some valuable information that should be with the story - I like to try and keep episodes under 30 minutes - and it really takes more than a half an hour to even begin to cover Metzengerstein properly.
So without further ado, what follows is what is generally agreed to be the first story written by Edgar Allan Poe that we know saw publication.**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 266 - Poe’ First Story - Part One
Most Poe scholars seem to believe that Poe’s first published story was Metzengerstein. Metzengerstein was published by The Philadelphia Saturday Courier on the 14 JANUARY in 1832. So today I would like to look at some background information regarding the story, and read the actual work in Part Two.**
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is Episode 265 - Celebrate Poe’s Most Important Episode Yet - This is the first episode of this podcast that is NOT Poecentric - an episode that a does not deal primarily with Poe or his writings - but a very personal account of my prostate cancer, the importance of early treatment, as well as the prostate cancer experiences of many famous personalities.
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 264 - Baltimore, Part Two - and let me emphasize that this and the previous episode are about the time that Poe spent in Baltimore after he left West Point - his final days in Baltimore shortly before his earthly demise.
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 263 - Baltimore, Part 1 - and let me emphasize that this and the following episode are about the time that Poe spent in Baltimore after he left West Point - not his final days in Baltimore shortly before his earthly demise.
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MerchantWelcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 262 - John Allan’s Death - In this episode I want to zero in on what I feel was one of the major influences on Poe’s work - John Allan. Although - to my knowledge - he never directly encouraged his son to be a writer - I believe that Poe was highly influenced - in a negative way - by the frequent conflicts with the man who called himself Poe’s father. So I’d like to talk about his life, as well as his death with some help from the Ghost of Edgar Poe.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - episode 261 - The War of 1812 Revisited. This is a look back at the highest rated - at least audience wise - podcast episode of Celebrate Poe so far - with almost 500 downloads.
Now, historian Alan Taylor, the author of The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, and Indian Allies, writes that America and Britain were incompletely separated by the American Revolution. The War of 1812 completed that separation.
And Mr. Bartley and Mr. Poe argue about the meaning of "Poecentric."**
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - this is episode 260 - the Wilmer Manuscript Collection.
When you think of Edgar Allan Poe, what works come to mind? Perhaps The Raven or Annabel Lee - or one of his many stories such as The Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart, Berenice, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Murders in the Rue Morgue or the Wilmer Manuscript Collection - well, maybe not the Wilmer Manuscript Collection - actually the Wilmer Manuscript Collection might be totally new to you - but hopefully not after this episode.**
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This the final episode of a series that looks at what might have happened if Edgar Allan Poe had chosen a different path - if he had decided to become a soldier after his time at West Point, and not one of the greatest of all American writers. And we invariably go off to discuss other subjects as well including the creative process and how Mr. Poe responded to the structured environment of the military.
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - my name is George Bartley, and this is episode 257 - Waking at 6 AM
This and the following podcast episodes are an alternate or what if history exercises. The episodes look at what might have happened if Edgar Allan Poe had chosen a different path - if he had decided to become a soldier after his time at West Point, and not one of the greatest of all American writers. And we invariably go off to discuss other subjects as well (including the vigorous schedule at West Point.)**
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This and the following podcast episodes in this series are an alternate or what if history exercises. The episodes look at what might have happened if Edgar Allan Poe had chosen a different path - if he had decided to become a soldier after his time at West Point, and not one of the greatest of all American writers. And we invariably go off to discuss other subjects as well such as the rigid schedule at West Point and the influence of military life upon Poe’s writing.
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This and the following three podcast episodes were begun as what if history exercises. These episodes look at what might have happened if Edgar Allan Poe had chosen a different path - if he had decided to become a soldier after his time at West Point, and not one of the greatest of all American writers. And we invariably go off to discuss other subjects as well such as observations regarding life at West Point, the book of poems that Poe put together at West Point, and some of Poe’s disappointments with the school.
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**Welcome back to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 254 - Poe’s Views on Democracy. Today I would like to talk with Mr. Poe about his views of government - and especially about what he might have thought about the specter of Donald Trump. I had previously been under the impression that Edgar Allan Poe was somewhat reactionary in his political views - coming from a wealthy and rather privileged background in the South - but after doing a great deal of research, I was surprised at how nuanced his views actually were.
Enjoy this pre-July 4th episode.**
This episode begins with a promo description for the new podcast Celebrate Whitman (to begin July 4, 2024.)
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This podcast episode deals with an address given by Robert G. Ingersoll - one of the individuals who spoke at Whitman’s funeral. He was the poet of Love. He was not ashamed of that divine passion that has built every home; that divine passion that has painted every picture and given us every real work of art; that divine passion that has made the world worth living in and has given some value to human life.
This episode begins with a promo description for the new podcast Celebrate Whitman (to begin July 4, 2024.)
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The main title of this episode, Call Me By Your Name, is taken from the text of a letter written to Whitman by one of Whitman’s admirers - none other than Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula.Trickle drops! my blue veins leaving!
O drops of me! trickle, slow drops,
Candid from me falling, drip, bleeding drops,
From wounds made to free you whence you were prison'd
From my face, from my forehead and lips,
From my breast, from within where I was conceal'd, press forth red drops, confession drops,
Stain every page, stain every song I sing, every word I say, bloody drops…
Let them know your scarlet heat—let them glisten;
Saturate them with yourself, all ashamed and wet;
Glow upon all I have written, or shall write, bleeding drops;
Let it all be seen in your light, blushing drops.
This episode begins with a promo description for the new podcast Celebrate Whitman (to begin July 4, 2024.)
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 251 - When Whitman Met Peter - this episode deals with an essential area of Walt Whitman’s life and creative spirit - in fact, you might even say that a twenty-something immigrant served as an inspiration and a muse for some of the poet’s greatest works. Of course, during Pride Month, this podcast concentrates on America’s poet - but today I want to look at a young man that Whitman deeply loved - a basically humble immigrant who became caught-up in some of America’s most creative expressions, and someone who has been referred to as the love of Whitman's life.
This episode begins with a promo description for the new podcast Celebrate Whitman (to begin July 4, 2024.)
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 250 Whitman and the Civil War.
Walt Whitman was forty-two years old when the Civil War started. Some critics would charge that he should have joined the Union Army, but anyone who knew him, like his friend and biographer John Burroughs, could hardly conceive of the mild and empathic poet as a soldier. "Could there be anything more shocking and incongruous than Whitman killing people?" Burroughs would write. "One would as soon expect Jesus Christ to go to war." Yet Whitman found another way to serve his country.
While in Washington, D.C., Whitman discovered that he DID have something to contribute to the war effort — this episode deals with that contribution.**
This episode begins with a promo description for the new podcast Celebrate Whitman (to begin July 4, 2024.)
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**This is episode 249 - America’s First Gay Bar
While the word gay certainly wasn’t used to connote same sex attraction during Walt Whitman’s lifetime, Whitman DID patronize an establishment at 647 Broadway that today might be considered a gay bar. And that drinking establishment was known as Pfaff’s - spelled PFAFFs. I have even heard a Whitman scholar compare Pfaff’s to the disco bar Studio 54.
In fact, Whitman even wrote a brief poem about the bar in his 1861 poem, The Two Vaults:
The vault at Pfaffs where the drinkers and laughers meet to eat and drink and carouse
While on the walk immediately overhead pass the myriad feet of Broadway
As the dead in their graves are underfoot hidden
And the living pass over them, recking not of them,
Laugh on laughers!
Drink on drinkers!
Bandy the jest!
Toss the theme from one to another!
Beam up—Brighten up, bright eyes of beautiful young men!
The important thing is that Pfaff's provided a welcoming and encouraging place where Whitman could grow in a creative manner when he needed it the most.**
This episode begins with a promo description for the new podcast Celebrate Whitman (to begin July 4, 2024.)
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 248 - America’s Poet - This is the first full episode of Pride Month dealing with Walt Whitman.
This episode emphasizes that Whitman continually revised and added new poems to his masterpiece "Leaves of Grass" over his lifetime to symbolize the organic, ever-changing nature of the work itself. This allowed the work to grow and evolve much like living grass. The different editions from 1855 to 1892 were almost entirely re-written collections rather than mere revisions.
The fact that the title is "Leaves of Grass" rather than something more conventionally poetic reflects Whitman's desire to create a uniquely American form of poetry drawn from common life and language - not a form of poetry that only expresses or upper class concerns - but a literature that can reflect the concerns of ALL people.
He was truly America's poet.**
This episode begins with a promo description for the new podcast Celebrate Whitman (to begin July 4, 2024.)
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**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode 247 - Same Sex Attraction in the 19th Century
As I write the script for this podcast episode, tomorrow is the first day of LGBTQ month - and similar to previous years, I decided to devote the entire month to individuals who are viewed as gay heroes. The month of June is an appropriate time to look at some of the voices and narratives - some hidden and some not so hidden - that challenged societal norms and shaped the course of literary expression.**
**Today I’d like to take a slight change of pace with a look at an area that is not often associated with Edgar Allan Poe, but an area in which the Allan family vacationed - White Sulphur Springs during the summers of 1812, 1813, and 1814. Prior to the Civil War, the White Sulphur Springs area was called western Virginia, but all that changed when West Virginia became a state in 1863.
Now it would have taken roughly three days for the Allans to travel from Richmond to Charlottesville, then two days (the way the schedules for carriages were structured) to travel the 30 miles from Charlottesville to Staunton, and at least three days to travel from Staunton to White Sulphur Springs. This podcast episode will concentrate on several events in the 19th century that occurred in Staunton - a town that means a great deal to me because it is where I was born, grew up, and lived over half my life.**
Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode 245 - Byron’s Influences on Poe. This episode is the third - and final - for now - episode about Lord Byron, and does not deal as much with Byron’s escapades in Europe, but how he influenced Edgar Poe. The episode delves into the young Edgar Poe as an imitator of Byron, and introduces the important concept of how Poe gradually developed his own voice.
**This is Episode 244 of Celebrate Poe - Darkness - the second of three episodes about Lord Byron
Where we left off, it is said that Lord Byron awoke one morning and found himself famous. The first run of his latest book of 500 copies sold out in three days. Pretty impressive for the time!
This episode also takes a deep dive into Byron's apocalyptic poem - Darkness, as well as a look at the concept of the Byronic hero.**
**Welcome to Celebrate Poe, Episode 243 ˜- Dangerous to Know. This My name is George Bartley, and this is the first of three episodes about Lord George Byron.
A few episodes ago, I talked about the love of Lord Byron and his dog - and hoped I got across the point that Lord Byron was a fascinating person. Then it struck me - it might be a good idea to talk a bit more about Lord Byron because he had such a strong influence on the young Poe. John Allan certainly did not like Byron and thought he was immoral - and Byron did seem to cultivate a bad boy image, but you can’t really understand Poe without having at least a basic knowledge of Byron. - perhaps the most influential of the English Romantics.
The young Poe often almost slavishly imitated Lord Byron in many of his early writings. For example, Mr. Poe’s first major poem was greatly influenced by Lord Byron. Poe’s story, Tamerlane, is about a leader who achieves power and forgets about his true love - for some reason - probably because of Poe’s admiration of Lord Byron - Poe calls Tamerlane’s love - Ada - the same name as Lord Byron’s daughter, Ada Lovelace. Poe seemed to treat Lord Byron almost like an idol at first - then later in his career, Poe found his own voice as a writer.**
Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 242 - Dreamland, Continued . Hopefully this should be the last episode regarding Edgar Allan Poe’s Dream Poems - at least for now. And, hopefully, by the end of this episode, you will have an firm understanding of what Ultima Thule means.
This podcast to takes a deeper dive into some of Poe’s so-called Dream Works - or your works that dealt with the experience of dreaming. This episode will revisit A Dream With a Dream (perhaps the work most associated with the movie Inception.). But the majority of the episode will introduce the concept of Ultima Thule, as well as Poe’s metaphysical masterpiece - Eureka.
This episode deals with the use of animal metaphors in Poe’s works - concentrating on The Conqueror Worm and perhaps the most well-known of all poetic metaphors - The Raven.
And imagine that (instead or a raven) Poe used an owl - or a parrot. What differences might that change in metaphors make?
Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 239.
This episode deals with arguably the two greatest writers of the 19th century - Mark Twain and Edgar Poe - and their fascination with (and love of) cats in their lives and literature.
Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 238 - Remains of a Friend. Now I admit that examining Poe’s life - while certainly interesting and informative - can be a bit tedious at times. For a complete change of pace, I thought I would look at the pets of several famous writers for the next an episode or two - naturally ending with Edgar Allan Poe.
This episode deals with the fascinating story of Lord Byron and his love for his dog, Boatswain, and compares it to the inhuman treatment of the governor of South Dakota towards a puppy - and George remarks on how studying the past can help us understand the present.
This episode looks at how Edgar Poe was directly influenced by the works of William Shakespeare. This episode deals with a list of quotes from Shakespeare in Poe’s handwriting that can be seen at the Poe Museum in Richmond (when the author of this podcast saw that list, he became as excited as a young girl at a Taylor Swift concert!). George points out that Poe (a definite admirer of Shakespeare) later began to concentrate on writing shorter stories to produce “a unified effect.”
Episode 236 - A Star is Born is the first of two episodes that deal with the influence of William Shakespeare (the anniversary of his birthday was earlier this week.). The first episode deals with the influence of Shakespeare's plays (and acting in general) on the marriage of David and Eliza Poe. Using some original information that I doubt you will find anywhere else, I would like to point out how Eliza Poe was the "star" of the family using the Shakespearean roles she played (compared to the roles that David played.)
This episode continues a series that compare’s elements of Christopher Nolan’s Inception with Poe’s dream works. The episode ends with Poe’s poem Dreams - a classic work that weaves a narrative transitioning from a sense of hope in dreams to a realization of their illusory nature. The speaker reminisces about reveling in dreams of light and loveliness, escaping into imagined realms apart from his own reality. However, as the poem progresses, the tone shifts to acknowledge the fleeting nature of dreams and the speaker's recognition that they are ultimately transient illusions
**Welcome to Celebrate Poe - episode 234 - Spinning Tops, Part Two
In this episode, Celebrate Poe continues its examination of some of Poe’s works against the background of Christopher Nolan’s movie - Inception.
First, it is important to remember that many of Poe's tales are narrated by characters with questionable sanity or motives. Stories like "The Tell-Tale Heart" leave readers unsure of what truly happened or if the narrator's perception can be trusted.
The majority of this episode deals with observations regarding Poe and Inception, and ends with the topic of motifs - a good example is the symbolic use of water in Inception, and the sea in Poe’s Annabel Lee.**
Spinning Top, Part One is a the first of five episodes devoted to an examination of Poe's "Dream Works" and Christopher Nolan's movie "Inception." This episode emphasizes that Poe's characters are often haunted by memories and past traumas, while Inception reflects this with Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) grappling with his deceased wife Mal, who manifests within his dreams. The film explores how unresolved issues and memories can shape our perception of reality, a theme also central to many of Poe's works.
This episode delves into (for the most part) some of the some shorter passages from Shakespeare dealing with dreams passages that are also among the most well known.
Sections vary from Julius Caesar to Henry IV, Part 1 to Romeo and Juliet to Hamlet to The Tempest, among others.
This episode takes a deep dive into the three dreams of Richard III - from a dream about falling off a ship to the admonitions of "Despair and Die" before the Battle of Bosworth in The Tragedy of Richard III.
Episode 230. To Be or Not
Episode 230 continues an examination of Chronos time and Kairos times through an examination of Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy from Shakespearae’s Hamlet. Special attention is paid to Hamlet’s decision NOT to act - that waiting for Kairos - or the right moment to make a decision - is a decision in itself - and Hamlet ends up being the story of a man who cannot make up his mind.
Episode 229 of Celebrate Poe is a continuation of an examination of the concepts or Chronos and Kairos - this time centered around the story of Easter - for example - how concept of kairos time is intricately related to the narrative of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. The use of kairos time in the Easter Story emphasizes that Jesus' death and resurrection were not just historical events (Chronos) but pivotal moments orchestrated by God for the redemption of humanity (Kairos.)
00:00 Musical Intro
00:23 Spoken Intro
01:40 Chronos/Kairos Review
08:10 Relevance to Easter
12:24 The Road to Emmaus Story
20:11 Other accounts and perspectives
28:31 Upcoming episode
29:01 Sources
29:26 Outro
**Episode 228 of Celebrate Poe is entitled “What Is a Day?” The podcast (and several episodes after it) were influenced by a sermon given by the Rev. Julia Wentworth at Trinity Episcopal Church in Indianapolis earlier this year. This episode deals with Chronos and Kairos time, and delves into the role of time in the Creation story, Mark’s gospel, and the famous “to everything there is a season” verses from Ecclesiastes.
00:00 Intro
01:51 Chronos and Kairos introduced
06:04 Future episodes dealing with time and dreams
09:24 Kairos in the Gospel of Mark
12:28 Chronos (or Kairos) in the Creation story
13:12 The Creation Story
17:23 Interpretation of Creation Story in Genesis 1
24:48 Chronos and Kairos in “to everything there is a season”
27:35.Next episode
27:55 Sources
28:15 Outro**
This episode deals with J. Robert Oppenheimer - the complex figure who is the subject of this year’s Best Picture.
This episode compares the figures of J. Robert Oppenheimer and Edgar Allan Poe. Obviously, from different centuries, the two figures share many common complexities because of their backgrounds, talents, accomplishments, and complicated personalities.
Episode 226 is the second part of a look at some of the high points of Celebrate Poe so far - from the Allans in England to Poe’s days at the University of Virginia, and at West Point. The episode takes a look at some secondary accounts of incidents of the time in the context of Poe’s life and career.
Episode 225 - Poe Review, 1 is a brief look (through a conversation with the ghost of Mr. Poe and George) regarding the 1st half of Mr. Poe’s life - his earliest years up to Stoke Newington. Originally, I called this episode Catchup!, but I later decided that a better title might be Poe Review, 1. The idea is for this podcast to relate events in Poe’s existence up to the half-way point in the story of his illustrious life.
Sources include: Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, and the Life of Edgar A. Poe by Eugene L. Didier.
In this episode, I talk about how I met the co-host of this podcast - the imaginary ghost of Edgar Allan Poe. Ok - I know it sounds strange - I still scarcely believe it myself - that this is the episode where Mr. Poe made his podcasting debut.
You could say this "sets the stage" for the rest of "Celebrate Poe" and the detailed look at Poe's life and works to follow. So this episode is a look at the very beginning of Celebrate Poe, and a brief look into future episodes. Currently I am working on several episodes about the Beatles, and how they developed their talents using principles that Edgar Allan Poe used. And I am very excited about several episodes regarding Chronos and Kairos time in the works of Shakespeare, Poe, and the King James Bible. - a subject I will try to clearly explain later, and one that is a lot more interesting than it might sound at first.
And if it took well over 200 episodes to cover the first 20 years of Poe’s existence, you can be sure that the second half of Poe’s life will be a long journey that I hope is well worth taking.
Well, thank you very much for making it this far, as we take a deep dive into learning about America’s Shakespeare, and how he has changed our world.
This is the final episode of a three part series dealing with Harriet Tubman. This episode begins with Tubman working for the Union forces, tending to newly liberated people, scouting into Confederate territory, and nursing wounded soldiers in Virginia. This episode ends with a comparison of the achievements of Tubman and Frederick Douglass, as well as a comparison of (surprise, surprise!) Tubman and Edgar Allan Poe.
Episode 222 is the second of a three part series dealing with Harriet Tubman, and her work with the Underground Railway.
The episode deals with some of the brave efforts towards liberation that Tubman led, and ends with this description of the assault on Fort Wagner: And then we saw the lightning, and that was the guns; and then we heard the thunder, and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling, and that was the drops of blood falling; and when we came to get the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.
Episode 221 is the first of a three part series for Black History Month dealing with Harriett Tubman - some of her ideas, philosophy, and earlier years.
Episode 220 deals with sections of an especially eloquent oration given by Frederick Douglas in honor of Abraham Lincoln.
Episode 219 deals with Frederick Douglas after his escape to the North, and his colorful and influential life as an abolitionist speaker and advocate.
While he gave thousands of speeches supporting freedom for all races, perhaps one of his most famous is What to the Slave is the Fourth of July:
"My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slave’s point of view. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery—the great sin and shame of America!
This episode is the first of a three part series about the great Frederick Douglass. This episode deals with the early life of Douglass - how he was kept from his mother, the moments he first realized the importance of education, and some examples of his eloquence.
Episode 217 takes a brief look at 4 of Poe’s works where many critics believe his complex perceptions of racial issues are explored - The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym, The Goldbug, and Eureka.
This episode deals with some of the complexities of manumission in 19th century United States. The main thrust of this episode is the time that Edgar Allan Poe actually sold a slave, Edwin, for his Aunt Maria Clemm using the process of manumission - not as beneficial as it might have seemed at first.
This episode is the third and final episode of an "interview" between George and AI Poe (via Google Bard) regarding his first published work,, his life with and love for Virginia Clemm, some of his other loves, and Edgar Poe as a macabre maestro. An aside here - this certainly wasn’t planned - but the third episode dealing with Poe’s 215th birthday is episode 215 of this podcast.
This podcast is the second part of three episodes - AI Poe talks in detail about his family, John and Francis Allan, Rosalie, and some of his works in a very moving account.
This podcast episode is the first part of an interview with the imaginary ghost of Edgar Allan Poe based on historical records - who is a running character throughout the podcast - using examples from his life and creative observations on the ghost’s part about what life and literature was like in the 19th century. Today I would like to start the first of several (if necessary) episodes regarding the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe. I would ask questions of the ghost of Poe and it would answer using the beautiful, flowing language of the 19th century - word structure and vocabulary that might be foreign to us today, but is how the real Edgar Allan Poe might have expressed himself (largely based on his writings.).
**In this first part of the “interview,” I talk about the prompt I used with AI Poe, how the ghost of Edgar Poe views popularity, success failure, and despair, and Mr. Poe’s thoughts about what it means to be human. I also ask Mr. Poe about some of his influences such as Lord Byron and Emily Dickinson, and end with a rather detailed look at some of AI Poe’s deep feelings regarding Shakespeare.
George Bartley**
Resources for Practicing Drinkers:
Self-Assessment and Support:
• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA): https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/
◦ Provides information on alcohol use disorders, interactive tools to assess drinking patterns, and links to treatment resources.
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): https://www.aa.org/
◦ Worldwide support group network for individuals struggling with alcohol problems. Offers meetings, sponsors, and resources for recovery.
• SMART Recovery: https://smartrecovery.org/
◦ Evidence-based, self-directed program for overcoming addiction and compulsive behaviors. Offers online tools, resources, and forums.
Professional Help:
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): https://www.samhsa.gov/
◦ Provides a national helpline (1-800-662-HELP) for finding treatment facilities and services near you.
• American Psychological Association: https://www.apa.org/
◦ Offers a directory of psychologists who specialize in alcohol dependence and addiction.
• National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD): https://ncadd.us/
◦ Provides information and resources on addiction treatment, prevention, and advocacy.
Resources for Family Members of Alcoholics:
Support and Education:
• Al-Anon: https://al-anon.org/
◦ Mutual support group program for friends and families of alcoholics. Offers meetings, literature, and resources for coping with the effects of alcoholism.
• Families Anonymous: https://familiesanonymous.org/
◦ Support group for families and friends of those struggling with any form of addiction. Offers resources and understanding for dealing with loved ones' addictive behaviors.
• National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD): https://ncadd.us/
◦ Provides information and resources on alcohol abuse and addiction, including resources for families and loved ones.
• The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): https://www.nami.org/Home
◦ Offers support and resources for families and friends of individuals with mental illness, which can often co-occur with addiction.
Boundaries and Advocacy:
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org/
◦ Provides resources and support for victims of domestic violence, which can be exacerbated by alcohol abuse.
• The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: https://ncadv.org/
◦ Offers information and resources on domestic violence and how to help those affected.
• The National Family Caregiver Support Program: http://acl.gov/programs/support-caregivers
Episode 211 - You Are Not Alone is definitely the most personal podcast episode I have ever done. It begins with the death this week of my sister - an extremely talented lady who had a substance abuse problem. The episode then briefly discusses Poe’s problems with alcohol - and his attempts to get help at the Shockoe Bottom Sons of Temperance. Covering a difficult topic for me to personally discuss, the overall purpose of this episode emphasizes the importance of getting help to deal with substance abuse problems, and ends with specific contact information regarding some the available resources.
Becoming Poe Again is basically a recap of most of Episode One of this podcast series - my background regarding Poe and how I became interested in the writer. One dynamic that seems to run through my interest is the factor of just "dumb luck," and a fascination with Poe that has resulted in over 200 podcast episodes regarding Poe - with that many more (at least) scheduled to come.
Episode 209 is a wide-ranging conversation with "AI Poe" regarding athletics, dualism, Poe's role in the Allan family, and Shakespeare.
Episode 208 (Instrument of Death) is the second part of the story Each Man Kills by Victoria Glad - the story develops until the characters are unquestionably involved in the “world of the undead”
Episode 207 (Pronounced Dead) is the first half of the story Each Man Kills by Victoria Glad. This is the first time in the story where well-meaning several characters find themselves involved in situations completely beyond their control.
Episode 206 of Celebrate. Poe is part two of Silent Snow, Secret Snow by Conrad Aiken. The story is an engaging story of a boy who lives in a world of his own - somewhat similar to many of Poe’s characters. I must admit that at first I thought the story might be Christmas (or at least winter) themed, but the story gradually builds up to show the hidden world of a very troubled youth. The episode ends with a brief discussion of anaphora in Aiken's works, as well as the use of anaphora by Poe.
Episode 205 of Celebrate. Poe is part one of Silent Snow, Secret Snow by Conrad Aiken. The story is an engaging story of a boy who lives in a world of his own - somewhat similar to many of Poe’s characters. I must admit that at first I thought the story might be Christmas (or at least winter) themed, but the story gradually builds up to show the hidden world of a very troubled youth.
After too long an absence, George returns to Celebrate Poe with probably the only CHRISTMAS short story about Edgar Allan Poe (or his works.). - The Pit and the Pendulum doesn't count! A Set of Poe was written by Indiana native, George Ade, and resembles in tone (and plot) O'Henry's classic The Gift of the Magi.
Episode 203 (The-Tell-Tale Verdict) continues an examination of The Tell-Tale Heart by first looking at an article that Poe wrote concerning a judicial trial he covered as a reporter. In his coverage of this trial (with information used by kind permission of the American Antiquarian Society) Poe writes about the verdict of “not guilty by reason of insanity.” And in the second part of this episode, AI Poe uses that verdict to produce an appropriate “sequel” to that work.
Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 202 - A Tell-Tale Confession? The previous episode of Celebrate Poe dealth with A Madman’s Manuscript as a possible influence on The Tell Tale Heart. The episode deals with another short story by Dickens also as a possible influence on Poe’s story.
Thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe.
Episode 201 deals with a story by Charles Dickens from The Pickwick Papers by the title of “A Madman’s Manuscript” that is often offered as an influence on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart. See if you can find some of the many similarities! (If you need to hear the contents of The Tell-Tale Heart, check out Episode 200.)
This is episode 200 of Celebrate Poe - kind of a milestone! This episode deals with the 1843 original version of George’s favorite Poe story - “The Tell Tale Heart,” as well as an AI version of a possible sequel that takes a fascinating twist on the original. So, join Celebrate Poe for "The Tell-Tale Sequel!"
This episode delves into 3 AI versions of “The Raven" with the AI versions using a dove instead of a raven, and the concept of "forevermore" or "evermore" instead of "nevermore" - probably not what Poe intended, but an interesting perspective regarding the structure of the work and how the poem stands up to a complete change in emphasis/meaning.
This episode deals with two long-distance swimmers - Diana Niad and her 121+ mile swim from Cuba to Key West, and a far lesser known (but also impressive) swim by Edgar Allan Poe across the James River for approximately 6 miles (when he was a teenager.) The episode ends with a conjecture on what Poe might have been from an athletic perspective.
This episode deals with three poems that are especially assocated with Poe and Halloween - including what has been called "the greatest Halloween poem ever written" (and it is NOT "The Raven"
Did you know that at one time, cats were considered divine symbols? And like women accused of witchcraft, cats were often seen as threats because they were viewed as independent. This episode deals with some of the many superstitions and customs surrounding Halloween.
This episode is a continuation of episode 194 - Usher Reimaged. In this episode, Mr. Poe and I plan to take each episode from Mike Flannagan’s version The Fall of the House of Usher and list some of the Poe references - some may be quite familiar and others rather obscure to all but a diehard Poe scholar.
This episode deals largely with the connections between the references to Poe characters in Mike Flannagan’s "The Fall of the House of Usher" on Netflix.
This episode deals with the Netflix series - Painkiller. The Sackler family has been called “the most evil family in America"- and this episode attempts to explain why. Painkiller on Netflix is a 6-part series of a real-life Usher family (Usher as in Mike Flannagan’s take on the story.)
- In advance of Mike Flannagan's reimagining of The Fall of the House of User on Oct. 12, 2023, this episode examines the first film in Roger Corman's Poe Cycle - House of Usher starring Vincent Price - often considered the best Poe film ever made.
This episode marks the first part of Poe's original version of The Fall of the House of Usher in preparation for Mike Flannagan's greatly anticipated version of The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix to be released on October 12, 2023.
This episode marks the second (and final) part of the original Poe version of The Fall of the House of Usher in preparation for Mike Flannagan's greatly anticipated version of The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix - to be released on October 12, 2023.
This episode is a reprise of what has been the most downloaded podcast of season 3 - Poe, The Stoned Teenager - a hopefully humorous, but admittedly historically inaccurate part of Celebrate Poe. Personally, my favorite part of the episode is when the “stoned teenager” persona of Edgar Allan Poe refers to “The Raven” as “The Stairway to Heaven” of poetry!
Enjoy the rebroadcast of this podcast - not as historically accurate - but in the light-hearted spirit in which it was intended.
This episode continues an examination of possible “reimagings” of some of Poe’s works. The nature of the murders in the first real detective story is examined, as well as the comparison of the effects of Covid-19 to the unamed disease in The Masque of the Red Death. Religious intolerance in The Pit and the Pendulum is examaned, as well as revisiting Annabel Lee. And be sure and join Celebrate Poe for the next two episodes - Poe, the Stoned Teenager.
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:16 Nature of the Murders in the Rue Morgue
- 04:29 “Updating” the disease in Red Death to Covid-19
- 09:33 Covid-19 and society
- 13:39 Updating The Pit and the Pendulum
- 17:30 Religious intolerance in “The Pit and the Pendulum”
- 19:54 Revisiting “Annabel Lee”
- 25:07 Future episodes
- 25:50 Sources
- 26:28 Outro
In Episode 187, Celebrate Poe uses ChatGPT to examine what it might be like to reimagine Poe - in this case, looking at the dynamics of “The Fall of the House of Usher.” One possible reimaging might involve an interior designer as Roderick Usher’s sidekick!
- How might you open a re-imaging of a film of the House of Usher?
- What elements might an “interior designer” add to the story?
- What sound might you use for The Fall of the House of Usher?
- How would you handle Lady Madeline?
-
What do you think the upcoming Netflix version of User might be like with today’s technology?
-
00:00 Intro
- 02:41 Adapting Poe’s works
- 6:55 The Fall of the House of Usher
- 07:30 Opening the Film?
- 10:21 Music and sound
- 11:32 Building up to a climax!
- 12:52 Introducing an interior designer?
- 19:32 Next episode
- 20:02 Source
- 20:37 Outro
In “Poe’s Day Off,” the writer discusses what he enjoys when he is NOT writing - the stuff that “clears his head.” Through ChatGPT, the character of Edgar Allan Poe comments on his wife Virginia, the benefits of a good stroll, and authors of his era, as well as such future writers as Stephen King.
00:00 Intro
00:49 Poe on his “day off”
03:35 Joys of reading
04:43 Chess, cryptography, cosmology, and cats
09:07 American writers
10:40 Walt Whitman
12:20 Recent writers
17:48 Walking
21:26 Life near Fordham
28:58 Sources
29:14 Outro
In this episode, George talks to AI Poe about the many plans and decisions connected with a “haunted house party.” Mr. Poe has lots of interesting ideas regarding possible guests, decorations, and food!
00:00 Intro
01:40 Mr. Poe speaks (guest list)
04:03 Mood and decorations for party
07:26 More comments regarding mood and decorations
10:27 Similarities to decor of The Masque of the Red Death
12:43 Planned games and activities
16:06 Cultural icons to invite
18:26 Possible movies or television shows
21:07 Possible foods
25:35 Next episode
25:53 Sources
This episode - “O Captain” deals with the relationship between Walt Whitman and Peter Doyle. “O Captain” describes how Walt and Peter met, their histories, and the possible influence of Peter Doyle on some of Whitman’s works - especially O Captain, My Captain. Peter Doyle was actually present at Lincoln’s murder, and the genesis of the use of “the captain steering a ship/country” is discussed. The episode ends with some sections of letters that Whitman and Doyle wrote to each other.
- Who was Peter Doyle?
- How did Peter Doyle and Walt Whitman meet?
- Where did they meet?
- What are some possible influences for “O Captain, My Captain”?
- What influenced “Beat! Beat! Drums”?
- Why was Lincoln’s assasination especially real to Peter Boyle?
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What is the subject of “Come Up From the Fields, Father”?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 01:44 When Walt Met Peter
- 05:45 Beat! Beat! Drums
- 08:44 Lincoln’s Assassination
- 13:06 O Captain, My Captain
- 19:19 Whitman’s Health aand his love for Doyle
- 23:24 Doyle writes about Walt
- 24:45 Next episode
- 25:13 Sources
- 25:41 Outro
This episode is baed on a very personal letter sent by Bram Stoker (the author of Dracula) to Walt Whitman. Stoker express (in almost homoerotic) tones his admiration for Whitman - and this episode points out that Walt Whitman has been suggested as a model for Dracula!
•Did Poe write any works about vampires or the undead? Explain.
•What was Poe;s final complete poem?
•What was Stoker;s life like as a young writer?
•On what day did Stoker send his first letter to Whitman?
•What do you think Stoker meant in his letter by “my kind?”
•What does “call me by your name” mean?
• Would “call me by your name” be appropriate in a business situation?
•What does “Tickle Drop” mean to you?
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:15 Intro to the subject of Poe and the undead
- 02:33 Annabel Lee
- 05:35 Continuation regarding inspiration for Dracula
- 05:53 Stoker’s childhood and youth
- 07:12 Life as a young writer
- 08:16 Letter to Whitman
- 21:57 Reply from Whitman
- 23:27 Whitman as main influence for Dracula
- 26:03 Whitman’s Tickle Drops poem
- 27:28 Future Episodes
- 28:06 Sources
- 29:18 Outro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG-wl2qqD7Y
This episode is about the many facets of America’s Poet - Walt Whitman. Despite the face that millions of words have been written about Walt Whitman, George attempts to take a deep dive (as much as possible in a single podcast episode) into the personal life of an individual who has been referred to as “America’s Poet.”
•Learn about the time that Whitman met Poe.
•Learn a VERY embarrassing (but hopefully enlightening) story about George.
•Learn about MAJOR differences between different editions of Leaves of Grass,
•Learn why the Calamus poems were so controversial.
•Learn about the time that Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde met.
•Learn how Rufus Griswold (yes, THAT Griswold) trashed Whitman.
•Learn how Whitman was considered undesirable and shocking for “decent ears.”
•Learn how lawyers of the time considered Whitman a homosexual because he never smoked, and did not enjoy war.
- 01:55 Whitman and Poe
- 07:31 “Shame” around the campfire
- 09:19 Whitman’s life
- 12:58 Comparison of versions from Leaves of Grass
- 09:19 Calamus Poems
- 23:02 Reflections on public perceptions
- 25:42 Walt Whitman’s Anomaly
- 29:44 Whitman and intimate relationships?
- 31:55 Rufus Griswold’s opinions
- 34:35 Meeting of Wilde and Whitman
- 36:42 Conclusion
- 40:38 Future Episodes
- 41:00 Sources
- Outro
This episode is about Joseph and His Friend - generally agreed to be the first novel about a same-sex relationship in the United States. Reactions to the novel are dealth with, as well as a section that borders on the steamy! (at least by 19th century standards)
- 00:00 Intro
- 03:03 Was Poe gay?
- 04:26 Intro to Bayard Taylor
- 08:27 Edgar Allan Poe on Bayard Taylor
- 09:00 Joseph and His Friend
- 12:20 Plot of novel
- 15:55 Reactions to novel
- 17:55 Excerpt from Joseph and His Friend
- 31:30 Sources
- 32:19 Outro
- EXPERIENCE the heart-wrenching story of Joseph and Phillip
- Learn about what is generally agreed to be the first American gay novel
- Learn about Bayard Taylor and why is not popular today
- Learn about the REAL Joseph and his “friend”
- Learn what Poe thought of Bayard Taylor
In this episode of Celebrate Poe, titled "Poe on Modern Horror Writers," we explore the world of contemporary horror literature and film through the perspective of Edgar Allan Poe. Mr. Bartley engages in a conversation with AI Poe, discussing the similarities and differences between horror in Poe's time and today. They delve into the works of notable modern horror writers and filmmakers, including Stephen King, Guillermo del Toro, Jordan Peele, and H.P. Lovecraft.
The episode highlights classic horror films such as the Boris Karloff versions of "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein," as well as the German Expressionist films "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "Nosferatu." They also recognize Clive Barker as one of Poe's literary descendants, exploring his contributions to the genre.
Throughout the episode, Edgar Allan Poe reflects on the influence of his own works on the horror genre and expresses his appreciation for the enduring legacy they have created. The episode concludes by inviting listeners to join the next episode of Celebrate Poe, where they will continue to delve into the life and works of the master of the macabre
- 00:00 Intro
- 02:12 The Current State of Horror Literature and Movies
- 03:37 Longing for Subtle, Psychological Terror
- 04:49 The Power and Impact of Modern Horror
- 05:58 Intriguing Modern Horror Writers and Filmmakers
- 06:41 Stephen King: Blending Supernatural with the Ordinary
- 07:21 Guillermo del Toro: Melding Fantastical and Macabre
- 07:55 Jordan Peele: Horror as a Vehicle for Societal Issues
- 08:37 H.P. Lovecraft: Cosmic Dread and the Unknown
- 09:28 Sir Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense
- 14:01 Discussing Other Classic Horror Films
- 25:47 Clive Barker: Master of the Macabre and Grotesque
- 28:00 Edgar Allan Poe's Influence on the Horror Genre
- 29:22 Conclusion and Farewell
- 30:47 Next Episode
- 31:18 Sources
- 31:38 Outro
- How did Edgar Allan Poe describe the current state of horror literature and movies? What are some differences between horror in Poe's time and modern horror?
- Which modern horror writers and filmmakers did Poe find intriguing?
- How did Stephen King blend the supernatural with the ordinary in his works?
- What is Guillermo del Toro known for in his films, and how does he combine fantastical and macabre elements?
- How does Jordan Peele use horror as a vehicle for exploring societal issues?
- What is the significance of H.P. Lovecraft's cosmic dread and the unknown in the horror genre?
- How did Sir Alfred Hitchcock contribute to the world of horror through his mastery of suspense?
- In what ways is Clive Barker considered a literary descendant of Edgar Allan Poe? What classic horror films were discussed in the episode, and what were their notable qualities?
- How did Edgar Allan Poe's works influence the horror genre over time?
- What is the lasting legacy of Edgar Allan Poe's stories in contemporary horror literature and film?
This is episode 178 of Celebrate Poe (also known as AI Poetalk.) In today’s episode, George “talks” with Mr. Poe on Google Bard - a rather disappointing experience from ChatGPT. George asked Mr. Poe about love (certainly not a difficult subject for Edgar Poe) but the Poe of Google Bard sounded like a Hallmark Card - and was never able to capture the language and tone of Edgar Poe. So it looks like it will be back to ChatGPT!
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:58 AI Poe regarding love (on Bard)
- 07:46 AI Poe gives another “non-answer”
- 10:07 AI Poe still refuses to answer!
- 12:46 Mr Bartley gives up!
- 15:00 Talking around the subject
- 22:45 Comparison of Chat Bots
- 23:07 Next episode
- 23:36 Sources
- 24:02 Outro
This is episode 177 (The Arrogant Coffee-Machine) of Celebrate Poe.
Unlike the more recent podcasts of Celebrate Poe (or AI Poetalk,) George does not use ChatGPT to “communicate” with the persona of Edgar Allan Poe, but uses Microsoft Bing - to very disappointing results. It is interesting to compare the user-friendly, knowledgeable style of ChatGPT to the “arrogant” and “user-unfriendly” output from Bing. So listen to this episode for a gradually frustrating (but very informative) experience regarding Poe.
- 00:00 Intro
- 05:53 Poe begins to make up supporting information
- 09:31 AI Poe makes up more “phony information” in “The Cask of Amontillado and "The Murderers in the Rue Morgue”
- 13:16 AI Poe on “The Conqueror Worm”
- 17:33 AI Poe (in Bing) balks
- 19:35 Imagined life at Stoke Newington
- 23:17 AI Poe “prefers not to continue this conversation”
- 24:40 Bing’s Poe refuses to list its sources and rambles
- Conclusions
- Sources
- Outro
This episode is 176 of Celebrate Poe - Poe on Writing, Part 3. AI Poe talks about such areas as alliteration, assonance, story structure, advice for young writers, and some very interesting about the possible threats and opportunities of AI/ChatGPT for writers.
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:16 Alliteration in writing
- 03:12 Assonance in writing
- 04:54 “The Power of Words”
- 07:20 Comments on “House of Usher”
- 09:25 Structure in “House of Usher”
- 12:18 Success of “The Raven”
- 15:58 “The Raven” as “Stairway to Heaven”
- 19:25 Turning point in Poe’s life
- 21:47 Advice for young writers
- 22:22 Poe’s comments on AI and ChatGPT
- 26:14 Possible competition from AI?
- 27:15 AI as a tool for writers
- 33:00 Future episode
- 33:21 Sources
- 35:55 Outro
This episode is part 2 of a 3 part series on Edgar Poe and the craft of writing. Mr. Poe discusses a wide range of subjects - ranging from why he should be read today, his influence on French Symbolists, and improving as a writer of stories or poetry
00:00 Intro
01:08 Why is Poe different?
01:38 Why should we study Poe in school?
05:06 Influence on French Symbolists08:08 Is Poe easy to read today?
10:53 Improving as a writer of stories
15:32 Improving as a writer of poetry
20:06 Future episode
20:35 Sources
21:06 Outro
This is episode 174 of Celebrate Poe (or AI Poetalk) - season 3. The episode is Part 1 of a 3-part series of the AI Edgar Allan Poe on Writing. Another way to think of this episode is Part 1 of Poe’s Thoughts on Literary Mastery.
- 00:00 Intro
- 02:36 Mr. Poe on Writing
- 04:47 Advice on story stucture
- 07:48 How long should a story be?
- 10:02 Thoughts on “one sitting rule”
- 14:57 Thoughts on story location
- 18:24 Thoughts on story climax
- 21:21 Theme and characterization of work
- 26:20 Character development from Poe’s works
- 28:49 Future episodes
- 29:35 Sources
- 36:01 Outro (Come Rest in This Bosom Outro)
Episode 173, AI Poe Hosts SNL, largely consists of a fanciful converstion with ChatGPT 4.0 speaking in the persona of Edgar Allan Poe as a standup comedian, and then as the host of Saturday Night Live. Today a successful
writer, he speaks about some of the adaptations that have been made from his works. Edgar Poe also examines the role of humor in his works, and his unique approach to dealing with the absurdities in life.
- 00:00 Intro
- 02:26 Poe as a standup comedian
- 06:27 Poe hosts Saturday Night Live
- 09:14 Poe comments on adaptations of his works
- 11:45 Poe as “observational” comedian
- 15:58 19th century parodies of “The Raven”
- 22:02 Edgar Poe’s philosophy of humor
- 25:56 More examples of humor from Poe’s works
- 31:58 Future episodes
- 32:13 Sources
- 33:33 Outro
This episode deals with the exchange between George and the imaginary character of Edgar Allan Poe the rapper on ChatGPT. George talks with Mr. Poe as a rapper (Mr. Poe is the rapper!) regarding “The Raven,” “The Tell Tale Heart,” “Annabel Lee,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and three moving revisions “The Bells.”
- 00:01 Intro and background
- 02:14 Initial prompt
- 02:49 Comments on “The Raven”
- 04:30 To Helen
- 07:55 Hip hop version of “The Tell Tale Heart”
- 09:57 Hip hop version of “Annabel Lee”
- 11:14 Hip hop version of “The Cask of Amontillado” as a poem
- 14:13 “The Bells” - version 1
- 16:40 “The Bells” - inner city version
- 19:09 “The Bells” - dealing with the problem of gun violence
- 22:31 Future episode
- 23:11 Sources
- 24:35 Outro
Episdoe 171 is called “Poe - the Stoned Teenager” - This episode is a fanciful conversation via ChatGPT where the character of Mr. Poe speaks as though he wa a “stoned teenager.” I like to think the episode is respectful to the historical facts, but also extremely funny where Mr. Poe refers to “The Raven” as the “Stairway to Heaven” of poetry. The character of Mr. Poe (again, as a stoned teenager) talks about life at Stoke Newington, West Point, and a modern version of “Spirits of the Dead”
- The conversation ends with Mr. Poe talking about his death.
- What does the “stoned teenager” version of Mr. Poe compare “The Raven” to?
- What did Mr. Poe think about the University of Virginia?
- What does Mr. Poe say about his alcohol use?
- What does Mr. Poe say about his use of laudunum?
- What does the character of Mr. Poe say about Elmyra Roster?
- What do you think about Mr. Poe’s rewrite of “Spirits of the Dead?”
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:19 First impressions of ChatGPT
- 05:28 Life at West Point
- 07:20 Poe as a “Stoned Teenager”?
- 11:08 Life at Stoke Newington and visiting the British Museum
- 18:00 Rhetorical devices
- 19:48 Life at West Point (spoken as a “stoned teenager”
- 21:29 First publication (including “Spirits of the Dead”)
- 24:15 “Rewrite” of “Spirits of the Dead”
- 26:00 Poe and John Allan
- 27:18 Life at the University of Virginia
- 30:05 Favorite works
- 33:28 The Raven
- 34:45 Drug use
- 37:10 Death
This episode of Celebrate Poe begins a new emphasis in Celebrate Poe - the use of ChatGPT. George uses AI to “communicate” with the imaginary character of the “ghost of Mr. Poe” - and ChatGPT does an excellent job! The AI version of Poe is quite articulate in its use of 19th century expressions, as well as an understanding of the life of Edgar Allan Poe. George begins this episode with some suggestions about effective AI prompts, and the majority of the episode is a free-wheeling discussion between George and Mr. Poe about the writer’s life through 1827.
- How does AI fit into the episode of Celebrate Poe?
- What is the most important thing regarding a prompt (such as in education?)
- What specifics might be used in a prompt?
- What does the AI Poe say was the turning point in his life?
- How does the online Poe feel that the army helped his writing?
- What subjects did the online Poe study at the University of Virginia?
- What problems did Poe have at UVA?
- What was the name of Poe’s first collection of poetry
- Why do you think that Poe spoke with a Southern accent?
- How did Poe’s works influence the works of Stephen KIng?
- 00:01 Introduction
- 01:01 AI, Chat GPT, prompts
- 06:57 Mr. Poe speaks about turning points
- 10:34 Discipline, the military, and writing
- 12:18 Relationship with John Allan
- 14:40 Life at the University of Virginia
- 17:13 Subjects studied
- 19:12 Artist or writer?
- 21:25 After leaving UVA
- 23:20 Sources for Tamerlane
- 25:38 Differences between real and literary Tamlerlane
- 27:43 Poe’s Southern accent
- 32:43 Conclusion
- 34:21 Future episode
- 36:13 Sources
- 36:13 Outro
This episode begins with a brief note of an upcoming endoscopy and how hungry Mr. Bartley is! Then the episode deals with Poe’s life in Richmond immediately after returning from England.
- Was Mr. Allan in a significanly better position financially when he returned from England?
- How did Mr. Allan become “super-wealthy/“
- Who is Thomas Ellis?
- Who is Joseph Clarke?
- Was Richmond an industrial city during this period?
- On what river is Richmond located?
- Why was Blackwood’s Magazine of interest to Poe?
- Who inspired “To Helen?”
- Who was Poe’s first adult love?
-
Why did Poe admire Lord Byron?
-
00:01 Introduction
- 01:02 Endoscopy
- 02:21 The Allan family return to Richmond
- 06:24 Poe’s position in Richmond society
- 08:33 Richmond as a city
- 15:23 John Allan as a merchant and father
- 18:17 European publications that influenced Poe
- 20:26 Impressions of Lord Byron
- 22:52 Future
- 23:09 Sources
- 23:44 Outro
From a Horror Movie deals with the Allan family (with Poe) living in England for 5 years. During a portion of this period, the young Poe lived near the British Museum, and one can only imagine how the ancient sculptures excited his imagination. This episode also deals with Stoke Newington and briefly with the Reverend John Bransby. The episode ends with a section of “William Wilson” that sounds like it could be from a modern-day horror movie!
- How long did it take to cross the Atlantic during the period?
- Where did the Allan family first land after they crossed the Atlantic?
- Who was the Reverend John Bransby?
- How is the setting for “William Wilson” like the setting of Stoke Newington?
- What caused John Allan to leave England?
- How does the “second William Wilson” intimidate the “first William Wilson”?
-
How does “William Wilson” use the theme of “the double?”
-
00:01 Introduction
- 01:50 Across the ocean to England
- 04:30 Time in Liverpool and Scotland
- 05:34 Life in London (with the British Museum)
- 08:06 Manor House School and Stoke Newington
- 12:28 John Allan decides to leave England
- 14:32 William Wilson
- 23:09 Next episode
- 23:26 Sources
- 23:47 Outro
This podcast begins a slightly off-topic look at repetitive strain injuries, and how George is using Voice Control on the Mac, as well as the Kensington Expert Trackball Mouse. The major sections of the episode deal with what happened to the young Edgar (and his brother and sister) immediately after his young mother died.
- What happened to Rosalie?
- Who founded Richmond?
- What do you think “Alone” is about?
- Where was the young Poe christened?
- How did the Allans feel about the young Poe at first?
- What is “The Lay of the Last Minstrel’?
-
Who is Thomas in the Allan household?
-
00:01 Introduction
- 01:50 Mouse overuse, voice control, and trackballs
- 06:33 Poe and Rosalie with their dying mother, Eliza
- 08:48 Richmond as a city
- 09:48 The Allan family
- 10:27 “Alone”
- 12:16 Monumental Episcopal Church.
- 13:35 Perceptions of Poe as a child
- 20:51 Next episode
- 21:14 Sources
- 22;00 Outro
Episode 166 is called Total Loneliness - the loneliness that Poe and his sister must have felt at the desertion of their father, as well as the tragic death of their mother. George and the character of the ghost of Mr. Poe discuss the nature of biography upon a writer - how his or her life influences that person’s literary works. The birth of Poe is discussed, as well as the career (and difficult life) of his mother.
- Where was Edgar Poe born?
- Why is Poe often referred to as “histionic”?
- Where was Eliza Poe from?
- Who did Eliza marry first?
- Who is John Howard Payne?
- Who was Poe’s older brother?
- Who was Poe’s younger sister?
- Who was “General” Poe?
-
Why is it suggested that Poe would later leave Richmond for Boston?
-
00:01 Introduction
- 00:45 Poe: A Life Cut Short by Peter Ackroyd
- 02:18 Discussion of how a writer’s life affects his works
- 04:47 Poe’s birth in Boston
- 05:38 The Histrionic Mr. Poe
- 06:56 Eliza Poe
- 11:52 Marriage to Charles Hopkins
- 12:07 Marriage to David Poe
- 13:36 Alcoholism and distress
- 16:19 Henry Poe
- 17:00 “General” Poe
- 19:05 Rosalie Poe
- 20:32 John Howard Payne
- 21:24 Death of Eliza
- 27:10 Future episode
- 27:20 Sources
- 27:45 Outro
“Poe in South Carolina” discusses some of Poe’s life in the Army while stationed in South Carolina. This episode has several passages regarding the geographic area in Poe’s story, “The Gold Bug” 10 significant partially because (with the exception of “Tales of the Ragged Mountain”) the story is one of the few pieces that Poe wrote that takes place in a specifically mentioned geographic region. This episode also touches on some possible sources for “The Cask of Amontillado.” The episode ends with a comparison between “The Mourner” and “Annabel Lee.”
- What is Sullivan Island?
- Who is the character Jupiter in “The Gold Bug?”
- Who is the character Legrand in “The Gold Bug?”
- Who is Gustavus Drane?
- What legend arose around Drane?
- What are some possible influences on “The Cask of Amontillado?”
- Who is Thomas Dunn English?
- How MIGHT Poe have run across “The Mourner?”
- What is significant about “The Mourner?”
- What are some similarities between “The Mourner” and “Annabel Lee?
- 00:02 Introduction
- 00:43 “The Gold Bug” and its geographical references
- 07:42 Possible sources for The Cask of Amontillado
- 12:14 Thomas Dunn English
- 16:51 Finding “The Mourner” in Charleston?
- 19:57 The Mourner
- 21:50 Similaries between “The Mourner” and “Annabel Lee”
- 23:24 “Annabel Lee” as a masterpiece
- 26:17 Next episode
- 27:10 Sources
- 27:41 Outro
Episode 164 - George begins this episode by reflecting on the composer Maurice Jarre and two memorable video transitions. Then the real subject of the episode begins - Poe’s initial period in the army in Boston.
- 00:01 Introduction
- 01:08 Reflections on movie transitions and structure
- 05:19 Poe in Boston and military service
- 09:08 More reflections on Tammerlane
- 16:56 Visit of the Dead
- 18:39 Future episode
- 19:08 Sources
-
19:25 Outro
-
Who wrote the soundtrack to Lawrence of Arabia?
- Why do you think the young Poe choose Boston for his first real independent venture?
- Was Poe relatively young to have published a work such as Tamerlane in comparison to other poets of the time?
- Why might Poe have lied about his age?
- What are some of the themes in Tamerlane?
- How old does Poe “claim” he was when he wrote some of the poems in Tamerlane?
This episode briefly discusses the nature of torture and cruelty in spoken media. The majority of the episode deals with two conquerors who have become a part of legend - Vlad the Impaler. Vlad is frequently viewed as a possible source for the character of Dracula. And Tammerlane is viewed as an influence on Edgar Allan Poe’s Tamerlane and Other Poems.
- What was Wallachia?
- What was the fictional Count Dracula’s “stomping grounds”?
- Who was the brother to Vlad III?
- What does the “a” ending in Dracula mean?
- Did Vlad the Impaler originate impalement?
- Was Vlad the Impaler a disturbed human being?
- What is a hippodrome?
-
How did Tammerlane conquest Delhi?
-
Introduction
- 05:10 A few facts about Vlad
- 07:30 “We will release you, but not your sons”
- 08:55 Impalements and other forms forms of torture
- 13:07 Legends and opinions about Vlad the Impaler
- 16:32 Historical Tamerlane and Poe (Introduction)
- 18:44 Genghis Khan background
- 20:22 Enter Tamerlane
- 22:59 Destruction of Baghdad and Delhi
- 25:30 Edgar Allan Poe Connection
- 25:55 What is a horse-spectacle?
- 28:22 Research and reproduction of script
- 30:53 Poe’s disregard of the historical Tamerlane
- 33:25 Sources
**Ash Wednesday - Motion Picture at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Z-gH24wn400:01 Introduction
This episode uses a variety of surprising sources to examine Ash Wednesday. First this episode looks briefly at what Ash Wednesday IS and asks was POE familiar with Ash Wednesday and its meaning? Then George looks at a rather forgettable movie starring the great Elizabeth Taylor called Ash Wednesday (which gives George a chance to talk about Elizabeth Taylor and her conntributions to the world.) The motion picture Ash Wednesday is about Taylor’s character undergoing plastic surgery, and this episode ends with the Ghost of Mr. Poe reading the last part of his story, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar - a fictional story about a man interfering with nature.**
- What is Ash Wednesday?
- Do we know what Poe and the Allan family thought about Ash Wednesday?
- What two actors played the lead in the movie Ash Wednesday?
- How did George see Elizabeth Taylor?
- What happened to Elizabeth Taylor’s diamonds after she died?
- What does The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar say about the human condition of mortality?
- 00:00 Introduction
- 00:45 Finding the subject of Ash Wednesday
- 02:15 Ash Wednesday
- 03:19 What is Ash Wednesday?
- 05:20 Ash Wednesday the movie and Elizabeth Taylor
- 14:23 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- 15:40 The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
- 29:37 Conclusion
- 29:58 Future episode
- 30:47 Sources
- 31:13 Outro
This episode is George’s subjective list of the best content currently on Netflix. Most of the titles are NOT miniseries made up of numerous episodes. And George feels that the two best videos on Netflix are traditional movies - well-planned stories with characters and situations the viewer really cares about.
- Which title on the list is from the BBC?
- Who is Ryan Murphy?
- In George’s opinion, what is the best episode of Dahmer?
- What are some of the shows he is associated with?
- Who is Tick, Tick … Boom about?
- What is The Queen’s Gambit about?
- What does Poe have in common with the lead character of Where the Crawdads sing?
- What is anaphora?
- How did Lincoln use anaphora?
- How did Poe use anaphora?
-
How did Churchill use anaphora?
-
00:01 Introduction
- 00:42 Apology and explanation
- 02:28 Number five - Dracula
- 04:13 Number four - a tie between, Dahmer, Episode Six, Ratched,
- and The Boys in the Band
- 07:51 Number three - Tick, Tick, Boom
- 09:50 Number two - The Queen’s Gambit
- 12:19 Number one - Where the Crawdads Sing
- 17:19 Poe’s Manual of Conchology
- 20:28 Darkest Hour
- 24:06 Anaphora
- 29:28 Future episode
- 30:26 Sources
- 30:45 Outro
This episode is a subjective list and discussion by George of what he views as the worst and/or most boring movies on Netflix. A totally subjective list, the discussion includes such disappointing titles as Love in a Villa, Dahmer, Glass Onion, Tales of the City, Dynasty. and The Pale Blue Eye.
- Why is Love in a Villa so tedious?
- How is Dahmer exploitive?
- Name two other mystery writers who have written about crimes in “closed areas?“
- Why are Dynasty and Tales of the City disappointing?
- Who plays Landor in The Pale Blue Eye?
-
According to George, what is the best thing about The Pale Blue Eye?
-
00:01 Introduction
- 01:32 Why I cancelled Netflix
- 04:23 Initial experience with Netflix
- 05:40 Amazon Prime
- 08:36 Quotation from Frank Capra about boring movies
- 09:53 Number Five - Love in a Villa
- 14:02 Number Four - Dahmer
- 16:35 Number Three - Glass Onion/a Knives Out Mystery
- 19:14 Number Two - Tales of the City/Dynasty
- 21:10 Number One - The Pale Blue Eye
- 23:44 Seizure disorders in The Pale Blue Eye
- 25:36 Conclusion
- 26:14 Future
- 26:33 Sources
- 25:57 Outro
Episode 159 is the second part of a comparison between The Cask of Amontillado and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. George first points out how Poe felt that a “unified effect” was essential to a story. Poe would feel that a shorter work like The Cask of Amontillado could express a unity of effect, while Dahmer (with its almost 10 hour length) is definitely overlong in comparison. George also points out why many people legitimately feel that the miniseries exploited the victims and their tragedies for corporate profit.
- In what ways is Dahmer similar to The Cask of Amontillado?
- How does Dahmer exploit the victims of a serial character and their families?
- It is generally felt that Episode Six (Silenced) was the best episode. Why?
- Which episode gave the victim a significant back story?
- How is Dahmer an insult to gay people?
00:01 Introduction
- 01:27 Success of Dahmer
- 02:47 A slow-moving miniseries compared with Poe’s tales
- 10:24 Excellence of episode six
- 18:32 Does Dahmer exploit the victims and their families?
- 20:41 Plot description after Episode Six
- 25:53 Was Dahmer gay?
After several weeks absence, the Ghost of Mr. Poe returns to read The Cask of Amontillado - this is done in prepration for the next episode of Celebrate Poe - an examination and critique of Dahmer on Netflix. Mr. Bartley points out that part of the horror communicated by The Cask of Amontillado is because of what we DON’T know - why the narrator felt it was so important to murder Fortunado.
- What is the significance of wine to the story?
- Why is the name Fortunado ironic?
- What does the narrator do to try and convince Fortunado to turn back?
- What significance does coughing have in the story?
- How does the narrator mock Fortunado?
-
How does the story exhibit a Gothic atmosphere?
-
00:01 Introduction
- 01.40 Entrance of the ghost of Mr. Poe
- 03:02 The Cask of Amontillado (with annotations)
- 28:01 Conclusion
- 29:11 Future episodes
- 29:44 Sources
- 30:00 Outro
This episode concentrates on Harry Melling - the potential problems he faced getting typecast as Dudley in Harry Potter. He had the chance to learn from some of the greatest living British actors in Harry Potter. The episode also discusses The Lost City of Z, and the black comedy, Say Your Prayers. The episode ends with an extensive look at The Queen’s Gambit and Harry Melling’s role in the miniseries.
- Why would a character like Dudley have less chance of being typecast?
- What are some of the actors that Harry Melling has worked with and learned from?
- Who was his grandfather?
- Why is his grandfather noted for?
- What was Harry Melling’s first movie after Harry Potter?
- Who did Melling star opposite in Say Your Prayers?
- What was unique about his performance in Macbeth?
- Who is Derek Jacobi?
-
Why is the first part of The Queen’s Gambit like something out of Dickens?
-
00:01 Introduction
- 01:16 The “Dudley-shaped shadow”
- 05:41 Life after Harry Potter
- 07:00 The Tragedy of Macbeth
- 08:40 British acting families
- 10:09 Say Your Prayers
- 13:45 Impressions of Netflix
- 15:25 The Queen’s Gambit
- 25:16 Harry Melling’s teeth!
- 27:02 Conclusion
- 28:12 Future episodes
- 28:39 Sources
This episode deals with the movie version of The Pale Blue Eye - currently on Netflix. George talks about both the movie’s weaknesses (largely its pace) and strengths (definitely Harry Melling’s performance.) George discusses some of the differences between the book and movie. This epsidode also deals with English actors (especially in the case of Gone With the Wind) being ideal for roles of Southern characters.
- When is The Pale Blue Eye set?
- Did Poe actually attend West Point?
- Is Landor a real character?
- What are some differences between the book and the movie?
- Comment on Harry Melling’s performance.
- What kind of character does Harry Melling play in “The Devil All the Time”?
- What kind of accent does he use?
-
Name some of the actresses who tried out for the movie version of “Gone with the Wind.”?
-
00:01 Introduction
- 01:57 Two monitors
- 03:26 Plot
- 05:52 Director’s impressions and problems
- 16:04 Harry Melling’s performamce as Poe
- 17:13 Southern accent and English actors
- 18:33 Search for Scarlett O’Hara
- 24:19 Harry Melling and “The Devil All the Time”
- 27:44 Future Episodes
- 28:33 Sources
- 29:10 Outro
Episode 155 - The Pale Blue Process
This episode is about some of the many aspects and talents involved in making movie version of The Pale Blue Eye - including the location where the story was filmed, the composer, Howard Shore, Gus Landor as played by Christian Bale, and most notably, the character of Edgar Allan Poe as played in the movie by Harry Melling.
- What is Google Alerts?
- Why was The Pale Blue Eye filmed in Pennslyvania?
- Was the movie filmed at West Point?
- Where is the director from? Why is that important?
- Scott Cooper says Harry Melling “favors” Poe. What does that mean?
-
What is unique about Harry Melling’s appearance in “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 04:42 The Pale Blue Eye as a hot property
- 09:18 Filming location in Pennslyvania
- 11:30 Christian Bale
- 15:39 Harry Melling
- 24:17 The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
This bonus episode deals with some factors that encouraged Poe to become fascinated with the military - especially in the person of General Lafayette. This episode deals with Lafayette’s background in France and time in the United States and his essential role in the American Revolution. His role in helping the United States become an independent nation led to him becoming a hero in the United States, and fifty years later he was invited back to the United States.It was during this time that the young Edgar Poe served with the a Junior Volunteer Rifleman group that greeted Lafayette on his visit to Richmond.
- 00:00 Introduction
- 02:14 Lafayette in France
- 05:01 Lafayette decides to help the United States?
- 06:33 Lafayette in America
- 11:11 Lafayette is invited back to the United States
- 14:28 Lafayette visits Baltimore
- 17:15 Lafayette visits Virginia
- 20:20 Poe as Junior Volunteer Rifleman
- 23:55 James and Lafayette
- 25:07 Summary
- 26:14 Future Episodes
- 27:10 Sources
- 28:36 Outro
- What was Lafayette’s background like?
- How did Lafayette help the United States?
- How long did it take Lafayette’s ship to reach the United States?
- Why was Lafayette first viewed with suspicion?
- Why was Lafayette invited back to the United States?
- What was the young Poe’s military connection to Lafayette?
- What did Lafayette do when he saw James in the parade through Richmond? Why was it unusual?
This episode deals primarily with Louis Bayard and his novel The Pale Blue Eye. This episode also discusses why Edgar Allan Poe might be a good subject for historical fiction, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of book versus movie version. George also lists several of the historical events and actual events in Poe’s life and how they are integrated into a fictional story. And this episode also has an explanation of the whys and wherefores of night mode on a device.
- Name two examples of historical fiction novels by Charles Dickens?
- Why might Poe be a good subject for historical fiction?
- What are advantages of the movie experience?
- Why is this episode concentrating on the book version of The Pale Blue Eye?
- What is the purpose of device night mode?
-
How does Bayard integrate historical facts with a fictional murder in The Pale Blue Eye?
-
01:36 Louis Bayard
- 02:39 Dickens and historical fiction
- 05:00 Poe as a subject for historical fiction
- 06:10 The movie experience
- 11:07 Digression to discussing night mode
- 21:05 Historical facts integrated with plot in A Pale Blue Eye
- 28:18 Concerns about final portion
- 29:21 Future episodes
- 30:00 Sources
- 30:32 Outro (Nobody Coming to Marry Me)
Episode 149 Show Notes
This episode is the final section a A Christmas Carol - The End of It. (Sorry for the snafu before.) In it, Scrooge makes a dramatic change in his life and thinking as a result of the “spirits of Christmas.” The final section includes such famous sections as the young lad being asked to procure a large turkey and Scrooge exhibiting a complete change in his attitude towards life.
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:42 The beginning of the end
- 05:35 Asking the young boy to buy a turkey
- 09:02 Meeting the portly gentleman
- 11:36 Visiting Fred
- 13:09 Joke on Bob
-
15:58 Conclusion and meaning of A Christmas Carol
-
What are some signs that Scrooge has really changed?
- What does Scrooge tell the young boy to buy for the Crachits?
- How does Scrooge apologize to Bob?
- What was Bob’s initial response?
- How does Dickens use the analogy of passengers on a train to convey our common journey through life?
“Bells and Books” deals with 4 Christmas-related literary works - the first is a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The second is listed as a Christmas poem (“The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe - but I have my doubts.) The third (and longest) section is “A Set of Poe” by Indiana writer George Ade. The episode concludes with several lines regarding the season written by non-other than a little-known author named William Shakespeare.
- What was Poe’s opinion of Longfellow?
- Why was Poe like a Kardashian?
- Which stanza of “The Bells” is the most Christmas-like?
- Who wrote “A Set of Poe”?
- What other author has the writer of “A Set of Poe” been compared to?
-
What play by Shakespeare has several Christmas themed lines
-
00:00 Intro
- 02:05 Longfellow Intro
- 04:22 I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
- 05:27 The Bells introduction
- 06:18 The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe
- 10:05 “A Set of Poe” by George Ade
- 21:37 Shakespearean lines about the season
- 22:13 Lines from Hamlet
- 22:36 Future episodes
- 23:22 Sources
- 23:47 Outro
This episode begins with a brief description of James Russell Lowell’s feelings about Edgar Allan Poe. Then George will read A Christmas Carol by Lowell, followed by The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore. The episode concludes with O’Henry’s classic The Gift of the Magi.
What did James Russell think of Edgar Allan Poe?
Did the first versions of “The Night Before Christmas” have the author’s name on it?
Who wrote The Night Before Christmas?
Who wrote “The Gift of the Magi”?
Name three similarities between O.Henry and Edgar A. Poe.
In the story, “The Gift of the Magi,” what did Della buy Jim?
In the story, “The Gift of the Magi,” what did Jim buy Della?
00:00 Intro
01:11 Lowell regarding Poe
02:26 A Chistmas Carol (Lowell)
03:44 The Night Before Christmas Introduction
04:20 The Night Before Christmas
07:48 The Gift of the Magi Introduction
08:32 The Gift of the Magi
23:4 Future episodes
24:45 Sources
24:57 Outro
Episode 149 Show Notes
This episode is the final section a A Christmas Carol - The End of It.
In it, Scrooge makes a dramatic change in his life and thinking as a result of the “spirits of Christmas.” The final section includes such famous sections as the young lad being asked to procure a large turkey and Scrooge exhibiting a complete change in his attitude towards life.
00:00 Intro
00:42 The beginning of the end
05:35 Asking the young boy to buy a turkey
09:02 Meeting the portly gentleman
11:36 Visiting Fred
13:09 Joke on Bob
15:58 Conclusion
What are some signs that Scrooge has really changed?
What does Scrooge tell the young boy to buy for the Crachits?
How does Scrooge apologize to Bob?
What was Bob’s initial response?
This episode of Celebrate Poe deals with the especially powerful section of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol relating to the Ghost of Christmas Future. Scrooge learns some powerful lessons regarding how his existence (and greediness) has affected others.
- How does Dickens show that many people feel that Scrooge’s life meant very little?
- What are some of the actions that characters take regarding Scrooge’s body after his death?
- What does the old woman steal?
- What are the mixed feelings felt by the couple when learning of how their debt might be handled?
- What has happened to Tiny Tim?
-
What seems to finally cause Scrooge to say that he will honor Christmas in his heart?
-
00:00 Intro
- 00:49 The Phantom approaches
- 02:45 Entering the city
- 06:53 The dirty, old den
- 13:20 Scrooge’s bedcurtains
- 17:26 How will this affect our debt?
- 20:42 Visiting the Crachit house
- 27:24 Scrooge looks into what was his office
- 29:12 Scrooge looks at his bed after death
This episode introduces the Ghost of Christmas Present from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The episode begins with a classic description of English foods, and Christmas meal with the Crachits. Scrooge (like most readers of the story) is especially moved by the plight of Tiny Tim. The episode/reading ends with personifications of Ignorance and Want.
- What do you think is the purpose of listing so many foods?
- What is London like at Christmas according to the story?
- How is the Crachit family described?
- Why did the Crachit family at first not want to honor Mr. Scrooge?
- How is Tiny Tim described?
-
How are the concepts of Ignorance and Want presented?
-
00:00 Intro
- 00:47 Preparing for the Spirit
- 02:32 Ghost of Christmas Present
- 06:32 A banquet of food
- 07:15 London town
- 08:14 Bob Crachit’s family
- 11:22 Tiny Tim
- 13:29 A Christmas feast!
- 18:13 Tiny Tim’s Future
- 20:04 More of the Crachit family
- 23:17 A happy family
- 25:23 Ignorance and Want
- 28:50 Future episodes
- 29:25 Sources
- 29:33 Outro
Episode 146 - Ghosts of the Past.
The episode largely consists of a reading regarding the visit of the Ghost of Christmas PAST from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The miserly Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past who takes Scrooge back to his boyood, the village in which he grew up, and is sister. The Ghost then shows Scrooge an entertainment/dance by Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig, and Scrooge’s young love.
- Where did the Ghost of Christmas Past take Scrooge?
- Describe the Fezziwiggs.
- Why did Fran say that Scrooge could go home now?
- What might Dickens be implying?
-
Why did Scrooge’s young love break up with him?
-
00:00 Intro
- 00:50 Thoughts about Marley’s Ghost
- 02:35 Ghost of Christmas Past appears
- 07:19 Scrooge enters his childhood village
- 08:57 Scrooge as a young lad reading
- 14:10 Scrooge and sister Fran
- 18:10 Scrooge and warehouse
- 19:18 Fezziwig’s celebration
- 26:25 Scrooge and his young love
- 31:39 Scrooge sleeps
- 31:57 Future episode
- 32:13 Sources
- 32:34 Outro
Today’s episode deals with the first section of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This section of the story is also known as Marley’s Ghost.
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:47 Marley was dead
- 03:46 Visit from nephew
- 09:12 Visit from gentlemen
- 15:14 Scrooge sees knocker/Marley’s face
- 16:30 Scrooge’s room
- 19:38 Marley’s ghost appears
- 30:05 Phantoms outside
- 32:23 Next episode
- 32: 33 Sources
- 32:39 Outro
The first part of this episode basically serves as an introduction to the Christmas/holidays works that will be a a part of Celebrate Poe every night until December 26. “Rare Christmas Books” deals with valuable holiday publications, and serves as a background to the works that will be read during this holiday season. The second part of this episode deals with the unreleased “Christmas with Edgar Allan Poe” - a bit about its history and several of its selections. George will read the linear notes to the CD because they (it is hoped) say a great deal about Poe’s complicated relationship to the religion, music, and the holidays.
- What two authors wrote versions of “A Christmas Carol”
- How many episodes will be required for “A Christmas Carol” in this podcast?
- Why might it be difficult to edit a work like “A Christmas Carol”s
- Who wrote “The Night Before Christmas”
- Who wrote “The Gift of the Magi?’
- What did Poe think of Longfellow and Lowell?
- Where is the author of “A Set of Poe” from?”
- Who IS the author of “A Set of Poe”
- What is “Christmas with Edgar Allan Poe?”
- Who wrote “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”
- Name a Poe story that was published in “The Gift”
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:40 Valuable Christmas books
- 3:40 A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
- 07:44 A Christmas Carol (James Russell Lowell)
- 09:22 The Night Before Christmas
- 09:49 The Gift of the Magi
- 10:18 I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
- 11:08 The Bells (Edgar Allan Poe)
- 11:55 A Set of Poe (George Ade)
- 12:13 The Pit and the Pendulum
- 13:59 Christmas with Edgar Allan Poe CD
- 16:33 Christmas with Edgar Allan Poe Linear Notes
- 19:59 The Holly and the Ivy
- 23:25 Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
- 26:13 Ave Maria
- 28:34 Future Episodes
- 28:44 Sources
- 29:03 Outro and The First Noel music
Episode 143 of Celebrate Poe deals with some of the most valuable books/documents ever published. This episode begins with George as a kid planning to “read every book in the library” and ends with his brief experience with an actual copy of Shakespeare’s 1523 First Folio. Rare Books also deals with some of the most valuable books written by Americans (the most expensive might surprise you) and some of the rarest books written by English writers.
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:05 All the books in the library
- 03:41 Guttenberg Bible
- 05:59 Mormon publications/daVinci’s notebook/documents
- 09:55 The Great Gatsby
- 10:52 In Our Time
- 13:20 The Catcher in The Rye
- 14:00 Tamerlane and Other Poems
- 16:28 Pride and Prejudice
- 17:28 Great Expectations
- 18:15 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
- 19:20 Ulysses
- 20:15 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
- 22:07 The Canterbury Tales
- 22:56 The Hobbit
- 24:44 William Shakespeare’s First Folio
- 26:21 Touching the First Folio
- What was the first book printed using moveable type?
- What was movable type important?
- What is the most expensive DOCUMENT ever sold?
- Who bought Leonardo daVinci’s notebook?
- Who wrote In Our Time?
- Who wrote The Catcher in the Rye?
- What is the most valuable book ever written by an American writer?
- How many volumes was Pride and Prejudice first released as?
- What is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone known as in England?
- How many stories are there in The Canterbury Tales?
- Why was difficult to print copies of The Hobbitt during World War II?
- How old will Shakespeare’s First Folio be next year?
- What did the Mills College copy of the First Folio sell for?
Missing!!! deals with the mysterious theft of a copy of Tamerlane and Other Poems from the Alderman Library at the University of Virginia. This episode relates the initial realization that something might be wrong with the collections at the Alderman Library - that something may have been stolen. The belated reaction of the staff is covered, as well as some of the reactions of the University of Virginia police department. This first portion of this episode ends with a brief description of the book’s current unknown whereabouts. The second portion of this episode deals with a copy of Tamerlane and Other Poems that was found by a New England farmer for $15.00
- What IS a daguerrotype?
- In which room at Alderman Library was the Stella daguerrotype kept?
- Why was the staff not concerned by the loss at first?
- Why did Staige Blackford need the letter by George Washington?
- What were some of the other items found to be missing?
- Describe the room housing the McGregor Library collection.
- Why was there no real evidence of a crime?
- What were some possibly theories of police?
- Who is George Brown Davis?
- How much did the New England farmer described pay for his copy of Tamerlane?
- Was his Tamerlane the same as the UVA copy?
- 00:00 Intro
- 03:00 “Showing” the Stella Daguerreotype
- 07:15 More valuable items are discovered missing
- 10:58 Tamerlane is missing!
- 14:32 The investigation continues
- 22:23 Possible theories and suspects
- 25:24 The plot thickens
- 29:38 Continuation of rare holdings at UVA
- 30:32 Copies of Tamerlane and find by New England farmer
- 32:52 Sotheby auctions Tamerlane
- 34:21 Future episodes
- 35:02 Sources
- 35:33 Outro
Episode 141 - Pyramids of Skulls
This episode begins with an apology for the lateness of this episode because of a medical bill snafu that was all consuming. The main part of Pyramids of Skulls is an imaginary interview with the ghost of the historical Tammerlane - highlighting his ruthlessness in battle, incredible cruelty to his enemies, and the destruction caused by what was the strongest army in the world at that time. Poe’s first published work was Tammerlane and Other Poems - but a look at the Tammerlane’s exploits shows that Poe’s work about the man was quite different.
- Who was Tammerlane?
- Describe his conquest of Baghdad and of Delhi.
- How did Tammerlane use fire when conquering Delhi?
- How did Tammerlane treat the head of the Ottomans?
-
What eventually happened to the head of Ottomans?
-
00:00 Intro
- 00:53 Apology
- 04:30 Entrance of the ghost of Tammerlane
- 06:25 Strongest and most brutal army in the world
- 13:53 Invasion of Baghdad
- 19:25 Invasion of Delhi
- 23:27 Return to Samarkand
- 25:30 Conflict with Ottoman Turks and sultan
- 33:42 Future episode
- 33:42 Sources
- 34:23 Outro
This episode deals with some of the possible sources for Tamerlane - the longest poem from his first published work. This episode touches on such varied subjects as Christopher Marlowe, Nicolas Rowe and the First Folio, the Richmond Theatre Fire, hippodrome plays, and why Tamerlane and Other Poems is important.
- What is the full name of Edgar Poe’s first published work?
- Which play by Christopher Marlowe might be an influence on Tamerlane?
- What is the importance of Marlowe’s hero?
- What is the importance of Nicholas Rowe regarding Shakespeare?
- What happened to the first Richmond Theatre?
- Why?
- What was the worst urban disaster in the United States as of 1812?
- What is a hippodrome play?
- Do we definitely know if Poe saw Timour the Tartar?
-
Name some ways that the historical Tamerlane was different from Poe’s Tamerlane.
-
00:00 Intro
- 02:11 Christopher Marlowe and Tamerlane
- 06:40 Nicolas Rowe and Monk Lewis
- 08:20 Disaster at the Richmond Theatre
- 17:38 Second Richmond Theatre and Hippodrome Plays
- 18:59 Timour the Tartar at Richmond Theatre
- 21:29 Ending and importance of Poe’s Tamerlane
- 24:59 Future episode
- 25:16 Sources
- 25:45 Outro
This episode deals with the most valuable book ever written by an American -Tamerlane and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe. The book was published in Boston. and was Poe’s first publication. George (and the ghost of Mr. Poe) read several poems from Tamerlane and Other Poems, including I Saw Thee on Thy Bridal Day, Visit of the Dad, and The Happiest Hour.
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:53 Entrance of the ghost of Mr. Poe
- 01:30 Life and publication in Boston
- 07:43 I saw thee on thy bridal day
- 08:43 Visit of the Dead
- 10:26 Evening Star
- 11:31 A Dream
- 12:54 The Happiest Day
- 14:17 The Lake
- 15:44 Tamerlane as a valuable book
- 19:36 Importance of Tammerlane and Other Poems
- 21:20 Future episodes
- 22:39 Sources
-
23:10 Outro
-
How was Tamerlane and Other Poems credited?
- Which poem could have referred to Elmyra Royster?
- What possible reasons were given for Poe;’s choice of Boston as a home?
- What is another name for Visit of the Dead?
- Name a poem that takes about happiness.that cannot be obtained.
- Approximately how many copies of Tamerlane and Other Poems exist today?
- Who donated a copy of Tamerlane and Other Poems to Indiana University?
This episode of Celebrate Poe delves into an extremely personal and influential time in the writer’s life - basically the end of his youth and decision to leave Richmond to become a writer. This episode also deals with his relationship with Elmira Royster (his first - and later his last - love.)
The relationship between John Allan and Edgar is explored, as well as some of Edgar’s frustrations about John Allan’s expectations (typical father and son stuff!)
00:00 Intro
01:58 Courting Elmyra
03:57 Reflections on education and schools
05:08 Acceptance by John Allan
11:32 Family status in the South
13:99 Feelings for Elmyra
16:03 Cause for complaint
17:50 Christmas holidays 1826
20:28 Reflections on education and alcohol use
25:48 Young Poe makes a crucial decision
26:40 Letter to John Allan regarding decision
33:07 Future episodes
33:28 Sources
33:50 Outro
Who was Elmyra Roster?
How did Elmyra and Poe “flirt?”
Why might John Allan have pondered the advantages of a professional career?
In reality, what did you think John Allan was most upset about regarding Edgar?
Was Poe particularly worried by his drinking habits at the University?
How would you describe the letter that Poe wrote to John Allan on March 19, 1827?
George begins this episode by talking a bit about the dynamics of performing “The Tell Tale Heart” - how it is so easy (and fun) to go “over the top” because the story is open to so many interpretations. The those of Mr. Poe reads the story, and the role of the unreliable narrator is compared in The Black Cat and The Tell Tale Heart. George also talks about a murder trial of the period (Daniel Webster was one of the attorneys) that could have served as inspiration for The Tell Tale Heart.
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:41 Performing The Tell Tale Heart
- 03:35 “Poe” reads The Tell Tale Heart
- 13:45 The murder of the old man
- 14:55 How does the narrator describe the way he hides the body?
- 16:08 The appearance of the officers
- 19:23 The narrator “confesses”
- 20:26 Unreliable narrators
- 22:09 How much is hallucination?
- 22:23 A Deaf The Tell Tale Heart?
- 24:37 Possible sources fot The Tale Heart
- 29:40 Quote from I Am Safe
- 31:12 Future episode
- 32:02 Sources
- 32:40 Outro
- How is the narrator of The Black Cat like the narrator of The Tell Tale Heart?
- How are they different?
- How might Poe as a journalist got the idea for The Tell Tale Heart?
- What famous personage was a lawyer in the murder trial?
- What does the narrator in The Tell Tale Heart imagine he hears at the end of the story?
- How are Webster’s words in a murder trial like the thoughts of the narrator in The Tell Tale Heart?
This episode has the ghost of Mr. Poe reading the complete version of the story, The Black Cat - setting the story up for a comparison of guilt and madness with The Tale Heart (in the following episode.) This episode with some observations by David Grantz regarding individual will in such stories as The Black Cat.
- What is the Black Dog Syndrome?
- What was the physical difference between the first and second black cats owned by the narrator?
- Why is narrator considered unreliable?
- How did the narrator kill his wife?
-
Where was the second black cat when the police arrived?
-
00:00 Intro
- 02:12 Black cats in history and society
- 03:30 Background for The Black Cat
- 05:02 The Black Cat (story)
- 10:26 The spirit of perverseness
- 25:00 “The darkest and most evil of thoughts”
- 27:40 Walling up the victim
- 31:05 The police arrive
- 35:14 Summary
- 36:18 Future episode
- 37:00 Sources
- 37:44 Outro
This episode delves into what are arguable the most famous Halloween poems of Edgar Allan Poe. While the word Halloween was not used in the poems “Spirits of the Dead,” “The Raven,” and “Ulalume,” the poems embody the Halloween spirit.
- Where was the first version of “Spirits of the Dead” published.
- What is usually considered the most famous poem ever written by an American (o.k. - I am prejudiced!)
- What one word does the bird in “The Raven” say?
-
Where does Poe end up in “Ulalume”?
-
00:00 Intro
- 01:24 George as Poe in West Virginia
- 03:24 Spirits of the Dead
- 05:22 The Raven
- 15:08 Ulalume
- 23:48 Future episode
- 24:16 Sources
- 24:32 Outro
134 Notes
This episode is a brief look at the development of what is now known as Halloween - starting with Samhain. The episode begins with a passage that Poe wrote about Stonehenge. It follows the development of Halloween as a holiday - from Samhain to All Souls day to “trick or treat.”
- What is Samhain?
- What Halloween custom was mentioned in a letter to John Allan?
- What is Feralia?
- What is Pomona?
- Who is Mary Fowlds?
- Wha do burning chestnuts have to do with Halloween?
- What was Halloween like in the 1920’s and 1930’s?
-
When did the Celtic people celebrate their new year?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 01:45 Samhain
- 04:02 Stonehenge and Poe
- 09:05 All Saints Day and other Roman influences
- 16:15 Halloween in America
- 18:13 Excerpt of letter from Mary Fowlds
- 19:45 Halloween develops as a holiday
- 22:10 Future episodes
- 22:47 Sources
- 22:47 Outro
This episode is the second part of a look at the book “Rot, Riot, and Rebellion” about the initial years of the University of Virginia. The focus is on (naturally) Edgar Allan Poe’s tumultuous times as one of the youngest students - his brillance in studies, as well as his gambling problems. The episode ends with a look at the death of Thomas Jeffersona and the reaction of the student body at the University.
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:59 Entrance of the ghost of Mr. Poe
- 01:48 Background
- 05:00 Paying for classes
- 06:02 Poe’s accomplishments at the University of Virginia
- 9:25 Forced to turn to gambling
- 10:40 Violence on campus
- 15:36 Mr. Jefferson’s illness
- 22:37 Mr. Jefferson’s death
- 26:21 Back to violence
- 27:51 Conclusion
- 28:31 Future episodes
- 29:28 Sources
- 29:43 Outro
- What were some of the initial problems of the University?
- What were Poe’s academic strengths at the University?
- John Allan gave Poe money to pay for how many professors?
- What were some of Poe’s academic achievements?
- Did Poe feel a complete lack of pressure when he was away from John Allan?
- How many students were on the “Sheriff’s list”?
- What said that the University “had descended into a state of “insubordination, lawlessness, and riot.”?
- Why did some of the students feel that they could resort to violence?
This episode is the first part of an two episodes dealing with the book Rot, Riot, abnd Rebellion Mr. Jefferson’s Struggle to Save the UniversityThat Changed America. This books not only deals with the young Poe at the University of Virginia, but the rough initial days of UVA.
- 00:00 Intro
- 02:06 Entrance of the ghost of Mr. Poe
- 04:15 Poe and Miss Elmira Shelton
- 10:12 Introduction of star gazing and Eureka
- 12:43 John Allan and money
- 14:01 Introduction to Rort, Riot, and Rebellion
- 17:47 Fights at the University of Virginia
- 20:25 University room 13 and lawn
- 23:44 Disgusting elements at UVA
- 26:12 Future episodes
-
27:00 Sources27:18 Outro
-
How long did it take to travel the approximately 60 miles from Charlottesville to Richmond?
- What did Poe buy in London that may have inspired him to write late Eureka?
- Did Poe see many fights at UVA?
- Why did the romance of Poe and Elmyra Roster end?
- What number was Poe’s room on the Range?
- What was the Rotunda modeled after?
- Which the University have problems with in Poe’s day? Flies? Garbage? Smoke? Reeking smells?
This episode continues looking at Poe’s time at the University of Virginia and compares that period with his time at Fordham University. This episode concentrates on Poe’s final days at UVA - especially his debts.
- What do Fordham University and the University of Virginia have in common in Poe’s life?
- Who was the librarian at the University?
- Which debts did John Allan REFUSE to pay?
- What did Poe do when he returned to Richmond?
- What does “The Bells” have to do with Fordham?
-
What did the monks at Forrdham think of Poe?
-
00:00 Intro
- 01:06 Poe andd Fordham University
- 03:34 Examinations at the University of Virginia
- 06:38 Last days at the University
- 14:21 Jeffersons looks back
- 15:53 Arthur Quinn on Poe’s education
- 17:32 Skipping ahead to Fordham
- 18:40 The Bells
- 22:48 Early years at Fordham
- 26:40 Next episode
- 27:12 Sources
- 28:12 Outro
Episode 130 The Real Thing
This episode deals with the actual experience of interpreting for an epic Shakespearean play - a combination of Richard III and hip-hop music in a fantastic production that (IMHO) is greater than the sum of its parts. The Real Thing touches on the actual process of theatrical interpreting, the importance of preparation, and the joy of the human element.
00:00 Intro
01:55 Awesome, not intense
03:24 Initial doubts
06:47 Comments by the artistic director and director
09:52 Just standing there with no Deaf audience?
11:30 Finally - an audience!
12:57 Importance of confidentiality
14:25 More about preparing for theatrical interpreting
19:20 Comparing interpreting to jazz improvising (feeling the signs)
21:13 Overall purpose of an informed ASL sign language interpreter
24:31 Conclusion
26:00 Sources
27:00 Outro
**Episode 129 Advil Can Be Deadly
This episode deals with what can be described as two detective stories - the first a true story that happened last month that could best be described as a medical detective story - that the “culprit” could not be found at first.The second is the generally viewed as the first literary detective story - Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”**
- What was the “culprit” in George’s medical detective story?
- What was the first modern day literary detective story?
- What conventions did that story establish?
-
Who or what were the murderers in Poe’s story?
-
00:00 Intro
- 01:25 A True Medical Detective Story
- 09:58 The First Detective Story
- 14:55 Enter Mr. Poe
- 24:15 Future Episodes
- 25L50 Sources
- 26:25 Outro
This episode deals with the three main dreams in Shakespeare’s Richard III - culminating with a “nightmare” the Richard experiences with the characters of twelve people who had killed who he felt were in his way. Ranging from his brother to loyal servants - Richard begins to realize that he lost important human relationships in his ruthless obtain power. This episode ends with a brief look at some of Shakespeare’s most famous lines regarding dreams.
Why did Elizabethan audiences look at dreams than we do today?
Why do the various characters mean by “despair and die?’
Who is involved in the first or “overboard: dream?
What animal is in Richard’s herald?
Who is in Richard’s dream the night before the Battle of Bosworth?
Who is Richard’s nemesis?
What are some of Shakespeare’s most famous lines regarding dreams?
00:00 Intro
02:00 Clarence’s dream
05:47 The Second Dream
08:00 Third Dream (before Battle of Bosworth)
16:04 Richard’s introspection
18:22 Most famous lines regarding dreams from other works
19:51 Future episodes
21:25 Sources
22:23 Outro
Episode 127
This episode examines the process of interpreting a play by Shakespeare, using Richard III (and other plays) as examples. George talks about such areas as the positioning of the interpreter, the advantages of ASL, the use of rhetorical devices, and the need for preparation. In conclusion, George describes how he began interpreting plays by Shakespeare, and now appears to hold the record of interpreting more plays by Shakespeare than any person in the English-speaking world.
00:00 Intro
02:30 ASL and interpreting
03:25 Views of deafness
06:13 History and structure of American Sign Language/Interpreting
10:35 Positioning of the interpreter
15:58 Hamlet at West Virginia University
19:18 Language and expressing concepts
22:43 Parallelism in ASL
28:01 Anaphora in American Sign Language
29:07 Director’s vision
30:55 Need for preparation
34:20 Personal experience
36:10 Preparation
40:45 Conclusion
42:22 Sources
44:15 Future episodes
44:45 Outro
Describe the medical versus cultural views of deafness.
Which view would view a Deaf person as someone who needs to be “fixed?”
What view sees Deaf persons as a distinct group with their own language?
What is the appropriate form of sign language to use with a play by Shakespeare?is there a commonly used universal sign language?
What are the three main forms of stage locations for interpreters?
Which is the most expensive for a theatrical company?
Can ASL show rhetorical devices?
What is the majority of the work done by an theatrical interpreter?How can a computer be used by an interpreter to prepare for a gig interpreting a Shakespearean play?
What book does George suggest as the best for learning Elizabethan terms?
This episode features a visit from the Ghost of Mr. Shakespeare as the Bard and George attend a rehearsal of Butler University’s rap version of Richard III - Ricky 3. Mr. Shakespeare proves himself to be a most agreeable chap, and George and the Bard attend a full rehearsal of an unconventional Richard III that is both innovative and respectful of the original. This is the final podcast episode before the full run of Ricky 3 - with performances on July 21, 22, and 23, as well as July 28, 29, and 30 at Taggart Ampitheatre in Riverside Park, Indianapolis. There is no charge for what should be an incredible experience!
00:00 Intro
02:18 Info about Richard III/Ricky 3
04:15 Mr. Shakespeare on Richard III11:46 “Now is the winter of our discontent”
15:12 Innovative additions
17:24 Info about attending performance
21:14 Future Episodes
22:15 Sources
23:07 Outro
- What is Original Pronunciation?
- What group of actors was Richard III written for?
- Who originally played Richard III?
- How does Richard/Ricky first address the audience?
- What is especially unique about the Battle of Bosworth in the Butler University production?
- What are the dates for the production (ok, this borders on a plug)
This episode starts by briefly looking at some of accounts of dreams in world literature. Then the episode specifically delves into Poe’s three major “Dream Poems” - A Dream, Dreamland, and the classic A Dream Within a Dream. The ghost of Mr. Poe also takes a look at “Imitation” - a poem that is said to highly influence “A Dream Within A Dream."
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:16 Interpreting Richard III
- 03:12 Dreams in Literature
- 9:56 A Dream
- 11:54 Dreamland
- 17:32 Imitation and A Dream Within a Dream
- 24:59 Future Episodes
- 26:43 Sources
-
27:03 Outro
-
What are some examples of dreams in word literature?
- Explain how the subject of dreams runs through Poe’s works.
- Which is darker - A Dream or Dreamland?
- What is Poe’s most famout “dream poem“
- How did ‘imitation” influence “A Dream Within a Dream”
This episode weaves an account of many of the basic concepts regarding the War of 1812 with the stories of two VERY different men - the kindly and aristocratic Francis Scott Key, and the rude, obnoxious, and arrogant John Randolph of Roanoke. The episode is based on am earlier episode called The War pf 1812 - an episode which has had more downloads than any other episode.
Some of the major causes of the conflict are discussed, as well as what the conflict did (and did not) accomplish.
- What does the War of 1812 have to do with “loose ends”?
- Were Americans in agreement regarding the conflict?
- What is Klinefelter’s Syndrome? What does
- it have to do with John Randolph of Roanoke?What was Francis Scott Key’s
- occupation?
What was especially unusual about t - e writing of The Star Spangled Banner?
Were Key and RAndolph friends? How do we know?
Compare the burning of the Capitol building in 1814 with the invasion of the Capitol in 2021. - 00:00 Intro
- 01:28 Understanding the War of 1812
- 05:28 John Randolph Intro
- 09:10 John Randolph and others
- 17::00 War of 1812
- 19:05 Francis Scott Key and David Poe and John Randolph
- 23:48 Comparison and Contrast of Capitol Invasions of 1814 and 2021
- 26:49 Future episodes
- 27’36 Sources
- 22:21 Outro
This episode is baed on a very personal letter sent by Bram Stoke (the author of Dracula) to Walt Whitman. Stoker express (in almost homoerotic) tones his admiration for Whitman - and the episode points out that Walt Whitman has been suggested as a model for Dracula!
- Did Poe write any works about vampires or the undead? Explain.
- What was Poe;s final complete poem?
- What was Stoker;s life like as a young writer?
- On what day did Stoker send his first letter to Whitman?
- What do you think Stoker meant in his letter by “my kind?”
- What does “call me by your name” mean?
-
What does “Tickle Drop” mean to you?
-
01:18 Intro to the subject of Poe and the undead
- 02:30 Annabel Lee
- 04:18 Continuation regarding inspiration for Dracula
- 05:23 Stoker’s childhood and youth
- 06:47 Life as a young writer
- 07:57 Letter to Whitman
- 19:31 Reply from Whitman
- 20:58 Whitman as main influence for Dracula
- 22:39 Whitman’s Tickle Drops poem
- 23:53 Future Episodes
- 25:48 Sources
- 26:07 Outro
This episode is about the many facets of America’s Poet - Walt Whitman. George attempts to take a deep dive (as much as possible in a single podcast episode) into the personal life of Walt Whitman, fully knowing that millions of words have been written about him.
- Learn about the time that Whitman met Poe.
- Learn a VERY embarrassing (but hopefully enlightening) story about George.
- Learn about MAJOR differences between different editions of Leaves of Grass,
- Learn why the Calamus poems were so controversial.
- Learn about the time that Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde met.
- Learn how Rufus Griswold (yes, THAT Griswold) trashed Whitman.
- Learn how Whitman was considered undesirable and shocking for “decent ears.”
- Learn how lawyers of the time considered Whitman a homosexual because he never smoked, and did not enjoy war.
00:00 Introduction
01:54 Whitman and Poe
07:22 “Shame” around the campfire
09:01 Whitman’s life
12:31 Comparison of versions from Leaves of Grass
16:53 Civil War and Beat! Beat! Drums!
18:40 O Captain, My Captain
21:04 from Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
22:14 Calamus poems
29:13 Reflections on public perceptions
30:49 Walt Whitman’s Anomaly
34:16 Whitman and intimate relationships?
36:01 Rufus Griswold’s opinions
38:30 Meeting of Wilde and Whitman
40:41 Conclusion
44:20 Future Episodes
44:52 Sources
45:54 Outro
This episode is about a very popular writer from the 19th century who is little known today - Fitz-Greene Halleck. This episode concentrates on his time in New York and relationship with the extremely handsome Joseph Rodham Drake.
- 00:00 Introduction
- 02:18 Early life
- 02:54 Discussion of Hearing Loss
- 07:02 Fitz-Greene goes to New York
- 11:17 Joseph Rodman Drake (and names)
- 13:22 Sir Francis Drake story
- 19:01 Halleck and Drake’s Relationship
- 27:52 Monuments erected to Halleck
- 31:12 Future Episodes
-
31:37 Sources
-
Learn about Halleck’s early life in a small town
- Learn about his membership in the Ugly Club
- Listen to Mr. Bartley’s childhood story about “Sir Francis” and marriage equality
- Learn where “to clasp thy hand in mine” comes from
- Learn about the love between Greene and Joseph Drake
- Learn about the statue of Halleck in Central Park
Welcome back! George has been off for several weeks, and is back in the saddle with more of the complexities of Edgar Poe, his works, his times, and his influences.
This episode is about Joseph and His Friend - generally agreed to be the first novel about a same-sex relationship in the United States. Reactions to the novel are dealth with, as well as a section that borders on the steamy!
- 00:00 Introduction
- 05:00 Was Poe gay?
- 06:52 Intro to Bayard Taylor
- 10:20 Edgar Allan Poe on Bayard Taylor
- 11:00 Joseph and His Friend
- 14:21 Plot of novel
- 17:25 Reactions to novel
- 19:22 Excerpt from Joseph and His Friend
- 32:25 Preview of Pride Month and Future Episodes
- 33:56 Sources
-
34:33 Outro
-
EXPERIENCE the heart-wrenching story of Joseph and Phillip
- Learn about what is generally agreed to be the first American gay novel
- Learn about Bayard Taylor and why is not popular today
- Learn about the REAL Joseph and his “friend”
- Learn what Poe thought of Bayard Taylor
The first part of this episode is an examination of the courses that Poe took at the University of Virginia, and the unique qualities of the instructors. This episode then deals specifically with the writer’s use of alcohol - especially at the University of Virginia.
00:01 Introduction
02:18 Similar courses at other universities
05:30 Classes at University of Virginia
06:25 Ancient Languages
09:31 Modern Languages
12:39 Use of alcohol at the University
13:24 Information from Harry Poe
20:07 Heredity and alcohol use
25:21 Poe and Sons of Temperance
27:48 Next episode
28:00 Sources
What courses did Poe take at the University of Virginia?
How much money did Poe receive from John Allan to pay for those courses?
Was it enough?
Did Poe seem to enjoy the taste of alcohol at the University of Virginia?
Describe Poe’s association with an early forerunner to Alcoholics Anonymous.
Podcast: The Thomas Jefferson Hour
Suggested online course (free!) at coursera from UVA - The Age of Jefferson
Episode number 118 Jefferson’s Dream
This episode of Celebrate Poe begins with a portion of a letter written by the aging Thomas Jefferson to John Adams about Jefferson’s dream - the establishment of what was to become the University of Virginia. Then this episode takes a brief look at the ideas and principles of Thomas Jefferson.
The episode shifts to the second year of UVA’s operation, and the entrance of young Edgar Allan Poe as a student. This episode also deals with the selection of the faculty, Poe’s residences at UVA, and Poe’s role in the Jefferson Literary Society.
00:01 Introduction
00:42 Letter from Jefferson to Adams
02:01 Thomas Jefferson
07:37 Founding the University of Virginia
10:57 Selecting the faculty
17:35 Poe becomes a student at UVA
23:00 Room on the Lawn (with Miles George)
25:01 Athletic achievements and physical appearance
26:46 Poe’s West Range Room
27:55 Jefferson Literary Society
31:28 Future Episodes
31:53 Sources
Episode number 116 Money, Part 2
The first part of this episode takes a deeper look into the portion of John Galt Sr.s estate that was left to John Allan. The purchase of Moldavia is introduced, as well as some of the disagreements that the young Poe had with John Allan.
The second part of this episode deals with the Molly of Moldavia - her life as a hostess to Federalists, opening a boarding house, and writing what is often referred to as “the first American cookbook.” Comparisons are drawn between Mary (Molly) Randolph and Martha Stewart!
- 00:01 Introduction
- 01:02 Scheduling of podcast
- 03:00 William Galt Sr.
- 08:40 Moldavia
- 11:54 Letter from Poe to John Allan
- 15:30 Randolph family
- 16:10 Mary Randolph
- 21:19 “Leaving her pedestal”
- 22:22 The Virginia Housewife
- 32:3 8 Future episodes
-
32:08 Sources
-
What home did John Allan purchase after John Galt’s death?
- What was the home called?
- What do you believe Edgar Poe’s relationship with John Allan was like?
- What is Moldavia a combination of?
- Who wrote “The Virginia Housewife?”
- Why is the cookbook important?
Episode number 116 Money, Part 1
The longer part of this episode repeats the basics of the first episodes about HOW the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe started this podcast - from Alderman Library to George’s apartment - the clincher for George is when he realized that Poe was reading George’s mind.
- 00:01 Introduction
- 00:12 Introduction to ghost of Poe
- 03:02 Encounter at the University of Virginia
- 04:19 Ghost of Poe enters
- 09:45 The ghost of Poe’s proposal
- 12:32 The ghost of Poe reappears
- 16:13 The ghost of Poe names a podcast
- 19:02 History of John Galt and relatives
- 21:06 Inheritance of John Galt to John Allan
-
21:56 Sources
-
Where did the ghost of Edgar Poe first appear to George?
- Why did the ghost of Poe want a podcast?
- What was the problem with Mr. Poe’s first idea for a podcast title?
- Did John Galt Sr. ever marry?
- How much did John Galt leave John Allan?
- How much is $750,000 worth today?
Episode number 115 - Is This Poe’s Greatest Work?
This episode delves into 3 poems by Edgar Poe -
- His first surviving poem.
- Fanny
- To Helen (one of this greatest)
What was Poe’s first surviving poem?
What is Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule?
How does it apply to the Beatles, Poe, or almost any artist?
Who inspired the poem “Fanny”?
Who inspired the poem “To Helen?”
What did James Russell Lowell think of “To Helen”?
What are the most famous lines of “To Helen?”
Name one reason those lines are so great.
This episode deals with 2 more chapters of The Home Life of Poe - Schoolboy Love Affairs and Rosalie Poe. Susan Archer Talley writes movingly about Poe’s first romantic attaction, its tragic conclusion, his sister Rosalie Poe, the strange effect of wine on both Edgar and Rosalie. Finally George looks into some of the dynamics of Deafness - why Susan Archer Talley’s deafness may have made her the ideal person to write a book about Poe, and how art starts in the heart (not the ear) and is meant to touch hearts.
- Who do most scholars believe was Poe’s first ideal love?
- What seemed to be the effects of wine on Rosalie and Edgar (even at a young age)?
- Who was the inspiration for “To Helen"?
- Was Susan Archer Talley adventitiously deaf?
-
What could Keats mean by “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard/Are sweeter”
-
02:00 Schoolboy Love Affairs
- 05:30 Devotion of and love for Mrs. Stannard
- 10:44 Rosalie Poe
- 12:42 Effects of wine
- 13:28 William Henry Poe
- 15:14 Dynamics of Deafness
- 16:30 Advantages of deafness?
- 21:37 Poets who happen to be deaf
- 25:32 Visual experiences and art’s purpose in touching hearts
- 29:23 Next week’s epsiode
- 29:33 Sources
This episode deals with 2 chapters of The Home Life of Poe - Poe’s Boyhood and Poe’s Boyhood. In her unique style, Susan Archer Talley describes Poe’s life from the standpoint of an extremely intelligent and observant Deaf lady from Richmond who knew Poe and was of the aristocratic class.
Why is Susan Archer Talley’s bio of Poe so unique?
According to Talley, how did the young Poe dress?
What scary events occured that could have colored Poe’s early imagination?
How many whippings did Poe get while at Burke’s?
What does Susan Archer Talley mean by Mr. Allan never alowed Poe to lose sight of the boy's dependence on Mr. Allan's charity?”
Did Poe go to dancing school?
Did the young Poe attend church?
What would be the effect of a “thimble full” of alcohol do to the young Poe?
00:01 Introduction
04:20 The Allan Home
07:42 Disciplining the young Poe
10:13 More stories about the young Poe
11:57 Poe as the product of Southern culture
18:44 Poe’s boyhood
20:10 Mr. Mackenzie as Poe’s friend
26:11 More stories about Poe by those who knew him
41:40 Correspondence with Hal Poe regarding Poe’s problems with alcohol
45:22 Poe’s disposition and the literary arts
Episode 112 Poe and Elton John
This episode deals with the surprisingly combination of a deaf lady from Richmond and Edgar Allan Poe’s home life. The difference between primary and secondary sources is discussed, as well as the importance of Susan Archer Talley. Then George reads (with an occasional comment or two) the first two chapters of Susan Archer Talley’s classic “The Home Life of Poe.” Those chapters go by the name of “A Glimpse of Edgar Allan Poe” and “Poe’s First Home.” The episode ends with some comments made by Elton John regarding Ryan White acting as the catalyst to cause the singer to stop abusing substances (comparing his drug use to that of Poe.)
- When is Women’s History Month?
- When is Deaf History Month?
- What does Susan Archer Talley have to do with Poe?
- What is the difference between a primary and secondary source?
- Is “The Home Life of Poe” a primary sources or secondary source?
- What trending remarks did Elton John make about Ryan White?
- What do Poe and Elton John have in common ???
- 00:01 Introduction
- 00:18 An apology and explanation
- 01:56 National Deaf History Month
- 04:16 Introduction to Susan Archer Talley
- 10:06 Primary and secondary sources
- 14:40 Introduction to The Home Life of Poe
- 18:36 Chapter 1 - First Glimpse of Poe
- 30:47 Chapter 2 - Poe’s First Home
- 37:02 Poe and Elton John
- 40:45 Future Episodes
- 41:15 Sources
Episode 111 Poe Encounters Lafayette
- Heart to Heart International
- MAP International
- Operation USA
- Catholic Relief Services
- Samaritan's Purse
- UNICEF USA
- Save the Children
- Matthew 25: Ministries
- Center for Disaster Philanthropy
- Water Mission
- Direct Relief
- Project HOPE
- GlobalGiving
- World Help
- Americares
- Mercy Corps
- International Medical Corps
This episode begins with a series of charities that allow you to help the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The main part of this episode concentrates on Lafayette's background, his years in the United States during the Revolutionary War, and his visit to the United States in 1824 - with emphasis on his connection to the young Poe.
Why was General Lafayette so widely celebrated?
Name one thing that Poe and Lafayette had in common.
How long did it take Lafayette to travel across the Atlantic?
How did Lafayette help the United States?
Describe Lafayette’s relationship to General David Poe.
How did young Poe encounter Lafayette?
What did General Lafayette say to the General Assembly in Richmond?
Describe the friendship between General Lafayette and James Armistead.
00:01 Introduction
00:45 Helping Ukraine
03:38 Lafayette in France
06:15 Lafayette decides to help the United States
07:58 Lafayette in America
12:59 Lafayette is invited back to the United States
15:54 Lafayette visits Baltimore
18:30 Lafayette visits Richmond
27:42 Future episode
28:14 Sources
Episode 110 - Helping Ukraine
Sources where you can help Ukraine
- GlobalGiving
- Heart to Heart International
- MAP International
- Operation USA
- Catholic Relief Services
- Samaritan's Purse
- UNICEF USA
- Save the Children
- Matthew 25: Ministries
- Center for Disaster Philanthropy
- Water Mission
- Direct Relief
- Project HOPE
- GlobalGiving
- World Help
- Americares
- Mercy Corps
- International Medical Corps
Episode 109 - Poe - the Long Distance Swimmer
Poe - the Long Distance Swimmer focuses on Poe’s swim (when he was a teenager) at least 6 miles across the James River against the tide. This episode also discusses George’s experiences with long-distance swimming, as well as those of Diana Niad’s 111 mile swim from Cuba to the United States. The episode concludes with an assesment by George Thomas Clark of what kind of athlete Edgar Poe might be today based on the poet’s physical size and abilities.
- 00:01 Introduction
- 04:21 Background to physical exercise
- 06:28 First attempts at running
- 07:08 Initial attempts at swimming
- 08:43 Runner’s (or swimmer’s) high
- 10:07 Diana Nyad’s Cuba Swim
- 11:11 To Helen
- 16:04 Contemporary comments about Poe’s swim
- 19:28 George Thomas Clark’s observations regarding Poe as athlete
- 26:48 Comparison of Poe’s swim to that of Lord Byron
- 27:49 Conclusion
- 28:41 Sources What is (are) the connections between George’s and Diana Niad’s long distance swimming efforts and that of Poe?
- Where did the young Poe swim 6 miles?
- According to Mr. Clark, would Poe be a good runner if alive today?
- According to Mr. Clark, how would Poe benefit from a daily run?
Heart to Heart International
- MAP International
- Operation USA
- Catholic Relief Services
- Samaritan's Purse
- UNICEF USA
- Save the Children
- Matthew 25: Ministries
- Center for Disaster Philanthropy
- Water Mission
- Direct Relief
- Project HOPE
- GlobalGiving
- World Help
- Americares
- Mercy Corps
- International Medical Corps
A Teenager in Richmond focuses on the time that Edgar Poe spent in Richmond after first returning from England - a fascinating period.
- What school did Poe attend when he returned from England?
- How was Poe as a student?
- Who were Poe’s best friends in his school?
- How long did it take for the Allan family to cross the Atlantic?
-
Was Poe whipped a great deal at school in Richmond?
-
00:01 Introduction
- 01:17 Review of voyage to England and return
- 06:55 Education in Richmond
- 08:17 Opinion of Poe by Richmond friends
- 12:42 Poe’s teenage character
- 18:19 Poe’s activities
- 23:38 Future episodes
- 25:44 Sources
This episode describes a recent experience prescribed by George’s doctor where George uses the words of Poe to help him through the ordeal - words that also made the ordeal much worse.
- 00:00 Introduction
- 00:19 Prostate cancer
- 02:32 MRI and comments
- 05:30 Using Poe’s words
- 07:52 Noise and the MRI
- 09:52 Words from The Tell Tale Heart
- 10:41 Words from The Bells
- 14:47 Intense stimuli and conclusion
- 18:58 Sources for this episode
This episode deals with tropes as rhetorical devices. George gives an absolutely groan inducing way to remember antomasia. The ghosts of Mr. Poe and Mr. Shakespeare give examples of antonomasia, metaphor, simile, synecdoche, onomatapeia from their works. (Some of the extended metaphors in this episode include Shakespeare’s All the World’s a Stage and Poe’s The Conqueror Worm.
- 00:01 Introduction
- 00:24 Tired, stereotypical tropes
- 04:54 Antonomasia
- 06:38 Metaphor
- 07:20 All the World’s a Stage as metaphor
- 09:44 The Conqueror Worm as metaphor
- 11:53 Metaphors and similes
- 14:29 Synecdoche
- 16:05 Metonomy
- 17:02 Paranomasia
- 18:58 Onomatapoeia
- 19:54 The Bells as onomatapoeia
- 24:00 Two special sources
- 26:35 Future episode
-
27:19 Sources
-
What is a trope as a rhetorical device?
- What is antomasia?
- Name a theatre metaphor from the works of Shakespeare.
- Name a theatre metaphor from the works of Poe.
- What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?
- Give an example of synecdoche by Shakespeare and Poe.
- What is paraomasia?
- How is The Bells an example of onomatapoia?
This episode deals with rhetorical devices - specifically schemes as used by William Shakespeare and Edgar Poe in their works. Obviously not ALL definitions and schemes could be covered (there are just too many) but this episode takes a basic look at this important use of language. Examples include parralelism in Hamlet, antithesis, chiasmus (such as in Macbeth), climax in Richard III and Poe’s Eureka, epizeuxis (pronounced epi ZUCK sus) in King Lear and The Bells, diacope in Othello, and many others.
Where did Mr. Poe go to grammar school (in England)?
Where did Mr. Shakespeare go to grammar school?
What is a scheme in rhetorical language?
How is “to be or not to be” more than one kind of rhetorical device?
What kind of scheme is Poe’s “half of horror and half of triumph”?
What is isocolon?
Why is “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” from The Tragedy of Macbeth an example of chiasmus?
What did Poe consider his masterpiece?
What is epizeuxis?
What is anadiplosis?
How can rhetorical devices make our world a better place?
00:01 Introduction
01:08 Lesson plans
03:44 Two resources
05:04 Remarks on rhetoric
06:19 Original pronunciation
07:58 Classical education and rhetorical devices
11:16 Parallelism
14:10 Isocolon
15:01 Antithesis
16:01 Chiasmus
17:09 Climax
18:30 Apposition
19:30 Epizeuxis
21:14 Diacope
22:40 Polyptoton
24:04 Anadiplosis
25:03 Rhetorical devices summary
27:31 Next episode
28:18 Sources
Episode 104 Rhetorical Triangle
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/rhetorical-triangle
This episode first deals with the distinction between seasons in a podcast, and George explains why he decided NOT to list the episodes in series format (even though there is a distinct chronological order) to the episodes.
Then this episode takes a look at Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle (of pathos, ethos, and logos) as necessary to understanding future episodes where the ghost of Mr. Poe and Mr. Shakepseare discuss rhetorical devices in their work. (Not a complex or weird as it might sound.)
- What are the three “angles” of Aristotle's rhetorical triangle?
- What is the difference between the rhetorical triangle and rhetorical devices?
- What angle of the triangle shows the credibility of the speaker?
- What angle of the triangle appeals to emotions?
- What angle of the triangle appeals with reasoning?
- How does a conspiracy theory NOT appeal to logos?
- How can you connect with your audience?
- What is the importance of revising a speech, presentation, etc.?
- How can rhetoric appeal to the BEST in its audience?
- How can rhetoric appeal to the WORST in its audience?
- 00:00 Intro
- 00:21 Arranging the episodes
- 06:38 Society and historical perceptions about rhetoric
- 10:15 Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle
- 16:04 Three appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos)
- 20:22 Making connections (purpose, tone, and style)
- 22:53 Using the rhetorical triangle
- 23:45 Ten steps for using rhetorical triangle
- 31:38 Examples of using ethos, pathos, and logos
- 34:46 Writing as a “vail of tears”
- 35:35 Kairos
- 37:26 Classical education and abuses of rhetoric
- 41:51 Sources
This episode is the first appearance of the ghost of Mr. Poe for the year.
Mr. Poe and Mr. Bartley do a brief recap of Mr. Poe’s life as a confused infant facing horrible tragedies and his life with John and Francis Allan of Richmond. Then Mr. Poe talks about his life in England as a student, and the Allans return across the Atlantic to Richmond. Sections discuss Poe as a young boy by contemporaries, and point to conflicts (in their infancy) between John Allan and Edgar Poe.
- Name some famous people who have studied in England?
- How is Poe studying at Stoke Newington like a Rhodes Scholarship?
- How was Poe influenced by studying at Stoke Newington?
- Who was Miss Nancy?
- Who was John Galt?
- Who was John Allan’s executor?
-
Where was it suggested that the Allans visit after their stay in England? Hint - it was country then, but is now a Virginia city.
-
00:00 Intro
- 00:32 Rhodes scholarship program (studying in England)
- 04:10 Recap of Poe’s life as a toddler
- 07:23 Life with the Allans
- 10:00 Voyage across the Atlantic
- 11:35 Initial conflicts with John Allan
- 13:57 Influence of life in England
- 15:48 Return to the United States
- 22:43 Future Episodes
- 23:59 Sources
This episode deals with the theme of the double in William Wilson, and compares it to the same theme as used by Oscar Wilde in Dorian Grey.
This episode also compares two characters hundreds of years apart who are both influenced by doubles - Spiderman and William Wilson.
- 00:00 Intro
- 01:26 Spiderman and symbiote
- 02:55 Meaning of doppelganger
- 04:06 William Wilson at boarding school
- 06:32 Wilson becomes more intimidated
- 12:18 Wilson meets his double at a masquerade
- 16:23 Dorian Grey as a double
- 17:57 The Three Faces of Eve, Sybll, and Split
- 20:44 Childhood trauma?
- 25:15 Future episodes
-
25:55 Sources
-
How is a Spiderman and the symbiote like a double?
- What does doppelganger mean?
- Where does William Wilson attend school?
- What does William Wilson do to escape his double?
- Does Poe really ever say what the double wants?
- How is Dorian Grey like William Wilson?
- How are Eve and Sybl like William Wilson?
- Is the movie Split fictional?
- What role COULD repressed memories play in William Wilson?
Episode 101 - Was Poe Abused?
This episode is a cursory examination of some of the abusive conditions at English boarding schools when the young Poe attended Stoke Newington.
While Poe never wrote a great deal about those experiences, much can be learned by examining OTHER similar individuals in similar circumstances.
- 00:01 Introduction
- 00:19 “Orientation” as Mild Torture
- 02:30 Fagging
- 03:15 Sir Richard Branson’s perceptions
- 05:33 Dickens and Nicholas Nickelby
- 14:53 E.L. Hartley and boarding school
- 16:12 Gathotne-Hardy and boarding school
- 17:48 Alex Renton and boarding school
- 22:40 Boarding School Syndrome
- 25:01 Conclusion
-
27:19 Sources
-
What is fagging?
- What did Sir Richard Branson write about boarding school?
- How was E.L. Hartley affected?
- What did Poe write about abuse at Stoke Newington?
- What is Boarding School Syndrome?
This episode is an examination of the uncanny - what it means and specifically how the concept of the uncanny can be seen in The Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell Tale Heart.
- 00:01 Introduction
- 00:50 Learning language
- 01:30 Meaning of uncanny
- 03:00 Into to uncanny in Poe
- 05:02 Freud on the uncanny
- 07:08 Gothic stories and beliefs
- 08:48 The uncanny in the Fall of the House of User
- 13:42 The uncanny in The Tell Tale Heart
- 23:45 Summary
- 24:52 Future episodes
- 25:39 Sources
What does uncanny mean?
What are some uncanny elements in User?
What are some uncanny elements in The Tell Tale Heart?
What are some of the interpretations or re-imaginings of The Tell Tale Heart?
What words of The Tell Tale Heart did Mel Brooks use in High Anxiety?
How does the narrator of The Tell Tale Heart show that he is mad?
How could the old man's eye be interpreted?
What are some elements of Gothic stories?
Some of the topics for Celebrate Poe in 2022
00:08 An apology
03.01 Podcast reflections
06:27 Poe and the uncanny
07:35 Was Poe abused in boarding school?
08:21 The ghost of Mr. Shakespeare meets the ghost of Mr. Poe
09:33 Life at the University of Virginia
12:29 Life at West Point
14:43 The Pale Blue Eye
16:09 Comments regarding podcast guests
17:58 Pulling teeth (Berenice and Les Miserables)
21:04 Best name ever from a really bad play
25:03 The Fall of the House of Usher
27:01 Reflections on pandemics
Future Episodes and Sources
The episode ends with a plea for obtaining vaccination and booster shots - and remembering - If we are to survive, we must remember that we are all interconnected, and our actions affect our very well-being, as well as that of others.
In this episode, George reads The Festival by H.P. Lovecraft with some comments about the story and the writer’s “unique” perspective.
George reads the classic story A Set of Poe, followed by a timely poem that was posted to reddit and called A Covid Christmas - originally written by Dr Tom Macdonald of Ottawa, Canada
George reads what is arguably the most famous short story ever written -
The Gift of the Magi.
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Dinner is served!
02:18 The Christmas meal
03:43 The people at the meal
04:44 Loaded with good cheer, conversation, and music
14:58 Supernatural monument
19:03 Author’s hopes in writing
19:50 Influence of Old Christmas
20:58 Criticism of emphasis on the past
22:35 Class conflict versus harmony and peace at Christmas
24:26 Future episodes
20:02 Sources
What was the meaning of the thacking sound?
Who said grace at the Christmas dinner?
What strange things was the deceased knight said to do at nightWhat does Irving say was his reason for writing Old Christmas?
Why Old Christmas important from a historical standpoint?
How did Irving change Christmas from SOLELY a religious holiday?
How is the world of the Squire’s England like today?
Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America’s First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night by John Tresch.
Episode Ninety Four - Generous and Happy Feelings
- 00:00 Introduction
- 00:54 Waking Up
- 02:43 Invitation to family prayers
- 04:01 Breakfast
- 04:38 Observations regarding the grounds
- 08:26 Liturgical concerns
- 15:58 Emotional effects of sermon
- 18:30 Future episodes
- What was the first thing the narrator heard from outside door when he awoke on Christmas morning?
- To what did the servant invite the narrator?
- Why does the Squire not like “modern” breakfasts?
- Does the local church have an organ?
- What is the subject of the Squire’s sermon?
- Who believes the Chistmas is a day when “the whole world is thrown open to you?”
- Why is Washington Irving’s Old Christmas important?
Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America’s First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night by John Tresch.
- 00:00 Introduction
- 01:16 Ride to Bracebridge Manor
- 03:21 Arrival at Bracebridge
- 04:36 Description of the Manor House
- 10:10 Description of the interior
- 17:26 Description of the narrator’s room
- 19:27 Future episodes
-
22:01 Sources
-
What has been the emphasis in the first two portions of Old Christmas?
- How does the son in the carriage describe his father?
- Who are the father’s favorite authors?
- Where did the carriage stop?
- What memories did the wall engender?
- What did the father feel was “the happiest place in the world’ (hint - NOT Disneyland)
- What did the dogs do when they heard Bracebridge’s voice?
- How was the narrator’s room paneled?
- Why was Mr. Simon Bracebridge so popular?
Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America’s First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night by John Tresch.
Episode 92 - Santa Claus Establishes New York
- 00:01 Introduction
- 00:36 More about Washington Irving
- 02:43 The Pompous Senator and Santa
- 05:39 The Stage Coach
- 07:11 Anticipating Bantam
- 12:06 Shouts of joy!
- 16:00 Meeting Bracebridge
- 17:54 Future episodes
-
22:39 Sources
-
What were Washington Irving’s best known works?
- How did Irving “invent” Santa Claus?
- Where did the Knicks get their name?
- What is The Stage Coach about?
- Who is Bantam?
- Who is Bracebridge?
- Who wrote about Christmas first - Dickens or Irving?
Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America’s First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night. by John Tresch.
- What is a way of remember the name Washington Irving (and not confusing him with other names!)
- Where do we get the legend of Santa Claus in America?
- What was Christmas like during medieval England?
- How was Christmas celebrated in America before the 1800’s?
-
What is the first section of Old Christmas about in tone?
-
00:10 Introduction
- 01:15 Remembering Poe and other writers
- 02:52 Remembering Irving
- 06:49 Festive (and non-festive) Christmas
- 10:15 Irving and Santa Claus
- 12:00 Christmas (first section of Old Christmas)
- 21:02 Future episodes
- 26:02 Sources
Sources for this episode include “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon” by Washington Irving, Complete Fictional Works of Washington Irving by Washington Irving, Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America’s First Bestselling Author by Brian Jay Jones, The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness, Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving by Andrew Burstein, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, and The Reason for the Darkness of the Night. by John Tresch.
Ninety - The Raven and the Eye
- This episode takes a deep dive into two of Dickens’ greatest works A Tale of Two Cities and Barnaby Rudge as great examples of historical fiction.
- In Barnaby Rudge, a raven is one of the characters. Poe and Dickens were friends, and could this be where Poe got the idea for his most famous work?
- What historical fiction did Dickens write?
- What did Sydney Carton give to Charles Darney?
- How many talking ravens did Dickens have?
- Why is The Pale Blue Eye great historical fiction?
- Where does most of The Pale Blue Eye take place?
- Who stars in the Netflix version of The Pale Blue Eye?
- Who is slated to star in the proposed “The Fall of the House of Usher”?
- 00:01 Introduction to podcast
- 00:53 Introduction to A Tale of Two Cities
- 03:02 Conclusion of A Tale of Two Cities
- 07:47 Info and Preface to Barnaby Rudge
- 9:06 Talking raven
- 11:24 Dickens writes further about Grip the Raven
- 16:22 Father Time from Barnaby Rudge
- 18:31 The Pale Blue Eye (Netflix)
- 21:27 The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix)
- 22:06 Outro
- 22:29 Future episodes
- 24:01 Sources
Sources for this episode include A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens, The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Reason for the Darkness of the Night. by John Tresch, Poe and Place by Phillip Edward Phillips, and the Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Thomas Ollive Mabbott.
Plagues, Witches, and Wars online course at the University of Virginia
https://www.coursera.org/learn/historical-fiction
The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore web site
https://www.eapoe.org/index.htm
- What IS historical fiction?
- Name three historical fiction novels involving Edgar Poe.
- What is central of ANY historical fiction?
- What is the difference between primary and secondary sources?
-
What just might be the best single research source for info about Poe on the web?
-
00:00 Intro
- 00:17 Story about Poe’s name
- 02:55 Introduction to Plagues, Witches, and Wars
- 05:53 What IS Historical Fiction?
- 07:25 Introduction to The Pale Blue Eye
- 10:43 Some other examples of historical fiction about Poe
- 15:48 Research as a basis for historical fiction
- 17:27 Best Poe resource source on web
- 20:38 Outro
- 21:02 Future episodes for year and recap
- 27:20 Sources
Episode Eighty Eight - This SOUNDS like Poe’s School?
- Why do you think Stoke Newington IS the school in William Wilson?
- Why do you think Stoke Newington IS NOT the school in William Wilson?
- Do you think William Wilson (the narrator) sounds bitter?
- Was Poe taught by a Rev. Bransby?
- Was William Wilson DEFINITELY written about Stoke Newington?
- How will Washington Irving fit into this podcast?
- What story by H.P. Lovecraft will George read this year?
-
How can I “get up to speed” concerning past episodes?
-
00:00 Intro
- 00:36 Podcast remarks
- 02:24 Speaking from deathbed?
- 06:06 Life at boarding school
- 17:52 Future epsiodes
- 20:29 Recap series
- 23:15 Release time
- 23:59 Sources
- Where does “The Man of the Crowd” specifically take place?
- How could the tale be considered a “stalking story?”
- How could the tale NOT be considered a “stalking story?”
- Why do YOU think the narrator is following the stranger?
- What is a dopppelganger?
-
Could the story take place in almost ANY large city?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 01:25 The ghost of Poe reads The Man of the Crowd
- 13:39 Poe encounters the stranger
- 20:24 “Climax” of the story
- 30:27 Sources
- 31:07 Outro
This podcast returns to the life of Poe with the Allans. In this episode, the Allans go to the United Kingdom (Scotland, Ireland, and especially England) for Mr. Allan's business. At one time, Poe lives just a few minutes from the British Museum!
Then Mr. Poe and Mr. Bartley begin a discussion of Mr. Poe's hesitancy to write about social issues and not have many of his works take place in specific geographical locations. London, however, proves to be a bit of a exception!
https://archive.org/details/TheLovesOfEdgarAllanPoe
Why did Poe live in England for 5 years?
Did Poe live near the British Museum?
How big was London during Poe’s lifetime?
What are some works by Poe that were set in London?
Was King Pest set in London?
Was The Tell-Tale Heart set in London?
What boarding school has a connection to Stoke Newington?
00:00 Intro and URL note
02:04 Background (review of early life)
04:10 Embargo is lifted and Allans journey abroad
09:54 Life in London
12:48 Poe and British Museum
18:16 Poe’s “non-interest” in social issues and writing works with geographical locations
20:15 Cabs
22:24 Peter Snook
25:17 Other London works set in London
26:42 Future episodes
28:36 Sources
30:17 Outro
Link to The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe 67 minutes
https://archive.org/details/TheLovesOfEdgarAllanPoe
Link to clip or Jane Darwell in “The Grapes of Wrath”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJLvgWx-h54
Link to clip of Jane Darwell and Julie Andrews in “Mary Poppins”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Wb_sTdJV
In this episode, George talks briefly about the joys (and problems) in doing a comparative look at two great minds - Edgar Poe and C.S. Lewis.
The majority of the episode is dedicated to a look at the classic 1941 film - The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe - while not 100 percent historically accurate in all respects (Poe never met with Jefferson in his office) the movie does a really good job in getting across a tremendous amount of information in an entertaining manner in a little over an hour. The episode with special kudos for Shepperd Strudwick (who plays Edgar Poe) and the great Jane Darwell (who IS Muddy)
Episode Eighty Five - The Best Poe Movie Ever (Kinda)
What traumas did Edgar Poe and C.S. Lewis both experience?
What did C.S. Lewis think of boarding school?
What are some of the historical inaccuracies in The Loves of
Edgar Allan Poe?
What are some of the good things about The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe?
Who is Harry Morgan?
Did Poe ever meet Jefferson in his office at UVA?
Did Elmyra Roster ever encounter Virginia Clemm on Virginia’s deathbed?
What are believed to be Poe’s last words?
Who is the standout performer in The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe/
00:11 Introduction
00:38 Two Traumas
04:41 Libraries
04:55 “The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe” introduction
10:19 Movie background and early life of Poe
13:00 Colonel Potter from MASH and Poe!
13:50 Poe’s youth, the University of Virginia, and West Point
19:57 Baltimore, Dickens, and The Raven23:20 Poe’s Death
24:04 Overall view of The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe
25:31 Shepperd Strudwick as Poe
26:13 Jane Darwell as Muddy
28:30 Future podcasts
29:00 Sources
31:11 Outro
This episode uses some great information from Dr. Harry Lee Poe (a distant descendant of Edgar Allan Poe) to deal with one of the most controversial aspects surroundning the writer - his substance abuse. Dr. Poe is head of the Poe Foundation, and is certainly in a position to know. In this podcast, George uses personal experiences to touch on some of the dynamics surrounding Poe's alcoholism, what scholars believe was his first use of liquor, and Poe's membership in the Sons of Temperance (a precursor of Alcoholics Anonymous.)
- Was Poe an alcoholic?
- What kind of reaction do we believe Poe had to alcohol?
- Was Poe a problem binge drinker?
- Who is Dr. Harry Lee Poe?
- Who is William Poe?
- Did Poe drink at the University of Virginia?
- Do we think Poe drank at West Point?
- What is eap.org?
- What is the Sons of Temperance?
- Did alcoholism run in Poe’s family?
- Did Poe require a great deal of alcohol to become wasted?
- 00:00 Intro and shoutout
- 00:41 Personal (backgroud) story
- 07:48 Poe’s alcoholism
- 09:47 Communication with Dr. Poe
- 15:18 James Russell Lowell
- 17:37 Poe and alcoholism as an infant and child
- 19:01 Drinking at the University of Virginia and Army
- 22:50 eap.org
- 25:28 Letters to and from William Poe
- 27:50 Future episodes on Poe and alcoholism
- 30:00 Poe, Sons of Temperance, and his personal insight
- 34:02 Conclusion
- 35:25 Future podcasts on Poe's substance abuse
- 35:48 Sources
Episode Eighty Three - Poe’s Vampires - Part Two
-
This episode has a brief introduction regarding Dr. Harry Lee Poe - and sections from two vampiric stories by Edgar Poe. Berenice is the story of a man suffering from monomania - he is obsessed with his cousins teeth. (And the story has more teeth than Dracula!) Then Mr. Poe reads a section of The Fall of the House of Usher.) George concludes the episode with the ending of the destruction of the House of Usher with the (very similar) destruction of the Castle of Dracula.
-
Who is Dr. Harry Lee Poe?
- What justifications does Poe try to give to his editor for the “unpleasantness” of Berenice?
- How are Berenice and the narrator of the story related?
- On what does the narrator have an unusual fixation?
- Why does the narrator of “Usher” visit the house?
- Who is Usher? (not the singer!)
-
How is the ending of The Fall of the House of Usher similar to the proposed ending for Bram Stoker's Dracula?
-
00:00 Intro
- 00:45 Remarks about Dr. Henry Lee Poe
- 01:13 Letter regarding Berenice
- 03:31 from Berenice
- 16:35 from The Fall of the House of Usher
- 26:04 Destruction in Usher versus Dracula
- 29:52 Future Episodes
- 30:44 Sources
- 32:01 Outro
- Why are some of Poe’s works called vampiric (even though there are no vampires?)
- What do you think Spirits of the Dead about?
- Why is The Raven considered vampiric?
- Why is Ullalme almost (but not quite) about Halloween?
- What was Poe’s last complete poem?
-
How is the narrator of The Tell-Tale Heart unreliable?
-
00:00 Intro
- 00:41 Notes about script and language
- 04:13 Spirits of the Dead
- 06:46 The Raven
- 16:41 from Ullalme
- 20:07 Annabelle Lee
- 22:39 The Tell-Tale Heart
- 39:34 Future episodes
- 40:20 Sources
- 41:03 Outro
This episode deals with rats - in Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum - and the possibly anti-Jewish rat-like vampire in Nosferatu. The Nosferatu vampire is especially portrayed as vermin, and some scholars believe this was subtle propaganda towards viewing Jewish people as "less than human" - and rationalizing their extermination. All in all - a very dark (and important) episode.
- Do you think Nosferatu is anti-Semitic?
- Why is dehumanization so dangerous?
- In which story does Edgar Allan Poe write about rats?
- What are some of the reasons that pre-Hitler Germany was in turmoil?
- Why is it highly unlikely that F.W. Murnau intended Nosferatu to be anti-Jewish?
- Did Murnau die in a German death camp?
- How did Hitler use propaganda?
-
According to Ken Burns, what is the role of the artist?
-
00:00 Intro
- 01:37 Comparison of Dracula protrayals
- 02:38 Rats in The Pit and the Pendulum
- 09:15 Historical background in Germany
- 14:36 F.W. Murnau’s intentions and actions
- 20:32 The Eternal Jew "review"
- 26:35 Dehumanization
- 30:14 Concluding story
- 33:52 Halloween episode
- 34:32 Sources
- 36:52 Outro
Episode Eighty Rats, Rats, Rats, Part One
- What are some of the differences between Dracula and Nosferatu?
- How does Nosferatu look repulsive?
- What changes did Nosferatu make to avoid copyright infrigement?
- How did it work out?
- How is Nosferatu thought of today?
- Who did Herzog want for Nosferatu?
-
How is Nosfertu one of the (if not THE) greatest vampire movie?
-
00:00 Intro and podcast planning
- 02:37 Differences between Dracula and Nosferatu
- 04:08 Plot of Nosferatu
- 12:06 Nosferatu sued for copyright infringement
- 21:10 Werner Herzog’s remake of Nosferatu
- 24:59 Evaluation of Nosferatu
- 25:46 Summary
- 27:02 Future episodes
- 27:44 Sources
- 28:26 Outro
This episode is a summary and review of the 1931 motion picture of Dracula. The episode talks about some of the dynamics and film history surrounding the filming, and offers some opinion from a current viewpoint. The episode ends with a section from Bram Stoker’s book - pointing out that Stoker (like Poe) could create vivid images in your mind - images that would be all but impossible for a film to convey.
- What two actors seem to “steal the show?”
- What effect did the Depression have on the filming of “Dracula?”
- Who was the first choice for Dracula?
- What does a cinematographer do?
- What is the Dracula connection to I Love Lucy and Friends?
- How did Alice Cooper play tribute to Dracula?
- What changes does the movie make to the Renfield character?
-
What changes does the movie make to the three sinister women?
-
00:00 Intro
- 04:16 A debanoir Dracula?
- 07:04 Movie premiere
- 10:42 Director Todd Browning
- 12:46 Karl Freund as cinematographer
- 16:04 Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye
- 19:12 Conveying images verus language
- 30:46 Summary
- 34:07 Sources
- 34:50 Future episodes
- 36:07 Outro
This episode deals with the accepted copy of Bram Stoker's 1897 horror classic - Dracula. The book is rather lengthy, so George talks about the main characters and the unique epistolary style (a style that uses letters, journals, newspaper articles, etc. instead of a narrative to tell the story.) George reads some of those entries (associating them with specific characters.) Especially interesting (and hot!) is an entry about three ladies (?) trying to make love to the leading man.
What is an epistolary style?
Why is it suited for mystery and suspense?
What does an epistolary style add to Dracula?
Why do the women come across as “mousy” in Dracula at first?
Who is the “leading man” in Dracula? (Hint - it is not the vampire.)
How can Renfield call thousands of rats?
How long is Stoker’s Dracula?
How does Stoker write a scene involving Harker and three “ladies” that comes across as “Victorian porn?”
00:00 Introduction
04:45 What is epistolary style?
06:43 Some examples of epistolary literature
08:35 Rationale for character and entry divisions in episode
10:43 Jonathan Harker and journey to meet Dracula
16:30 Children of the night
17:40 Three seductive women?
26:22 Mina, Lucy, and innocence
29:40 Arthur Holmwood
30:42 Dr. John Seward’s entries on Renfield
35:12 Dr. Helsing
37:47 Rats, rats, rats!
40:13 Future episodes
41:03 Sources
42:01 Outro
This podcast episode deals with "Dracula's Guest" - a work that was NOT published with Bram Stoker's novel (but after his death.) While the work is surrounded by controversy, Bram Stoker's widow at the time pointed out some pretty convincing arguments that the work was actually a part of Bram Stoker's masterpiece.
- Could the content of today’s episode be the “lost” chapter of Dracula?
- In which book was the story first published?
- What was the Mrs. Stoker’s opinion of the story’s authenticity?
- How often does the name “Dracula” occur in “Dracula’s Guest?”
- What night is the narrator of the story traveling through the mountains?
- What animal does he find in the tomb?
-
Who sends the narrator a note?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 04:19 Drive through country
- 6:55 Where does road lead?
- 9:44 Cold and darkness
- 19:43 Narrator and graveyard
- 26:01 Narrator and wolf
- 27:01 Saved by soldiers
- 34:43 Telegram from Dracula
- 37:28 Conclusion
- 37:59 Future episodes
- 38:20 Sources
- 40:04 Outro
This episode deals with the "dominant/slave" - relationship between Sir Henry Irving and Bram Stoker. Irving acts as the autocratic figure while the submissive Stoker obeys him without question. (sounds creepy!) Many scholars believe (with good reason) that Irving served as the model for Dracula. Listen to this podcast, and decide for yourself!
Episode Seventy Six - The Manipulative “Lover”
- Who was Sir Henry Irving?
- Why is Irving called the “other” man in Stoker’s life?
- How is Henry Irving like Dracula?
- How was Irving an autocrat?
- How could Irving be a real SOB?
- How is Thomas Dunn English the model for Fortunado?
- How is Fortunado NOT fortunate?
- How did Poe bury Thomas Dunn English alive - over and over?
- 00:00 Introduction
- 02:00 First meeting between Stoker and Irving
- 03:45 Irving’s wife
- 04:50 1898 Recording of Irving’s voice
- 05:57 Stoker’s position
- 07:49 Stoker and Oscar Wilde
- 09:20 Stoker’s feelings
- 11:06 Irving’s knighthood
- 12:21 Primary sources about Irving
- 15:30 Metaphorically a vampire
- 17:30 Dracula's similarity to Irving
- 18:21 Dreadful!
- 20:33 Life after Irving
- 22:25 Thomas Dunn English and West Virginia
- 20:26 Cask of Amontillado and character motive
- 26:41 Conclusion
- 28:13 Sources
- 30:34 Future Episodes
- 31:23 Outro
This episode deals with two American heroes separated by almost 200 years.
- 1. Gilbert Hunt - a former member of the enslaved population who is famous because of his bravery at the Richmond Theatre Fire.
-
2. Father Mychal (Father Mike) - a charismatic priest who was the first official fatality of 9/11
-
What was America’s first major disaster?
- What did Gilbert Hunt do at the Richmond Theatre Fire?
- What did Gilbert Hunt do at the Virginia Penitentiary Fire?
- Who is Father Mychal Judge?
- What makes him so special?
- Why is Father Mychal called the Saint of 9/11?
- What has been referred to as the American Pieta?
This episode continues a look at the possible inspirations for Bram Stocker’s Dracula. Surprisingly, many scholars feel the best candidate is poet Walt Whitman. George takes a look at the rather nervy “love letter” that Stoker send out of the blue to Whitman, and their interesting friendship - with their written communication that actually includes a variation on “call me by your name” (19th century style)
- Did Poe ever write any vampire/undead stories?
- Where did Bram Stoker FIRST learn horror stories?
- Why did Stoker feel Whitman was a kindred spirit?
- Why was Stocker's letter a little creepy?
- What does Stoker mean by “my kind?”
- Did he actually use the phrase “call me by your name?”
- How does Dracula resemble Whitman?
0:00 Introduction
01:29 Intro to the subject of Poe and the undead
04:25 Continuation regarding inspiration for Dracula
06:18 Stoker’s childhood and youth
07:39 Life as a young writer
08:11 Affinity for Whitman
08:48 Letter to Whitman
17:25 Comments on “call me by your name”
19:55 Comments on “my kind”
20:55 Reply from Whitman
22:25 Whitman as main influence for Dracula
23:35 Whitman’s Tickle Drops poem
24:50 Sources
25:56 Future episodes
27:06 Outro
WARNING! Not for weak stomachs! You may be grossed out!
This episode is about two military characters of history who may have served as inspiration for two famous pieces of literature - Vlad the Impaler for Dracula by Bram Stoker, and the historical character of Tamerlane for Tamerlane by Edgar Allan Poe.
- Why is this episode so gross?
- Where did Stoker get the name “Dracula”
- What was Vlad’s favorite means of torture?
- How was Vlad the Impaler a champion of a certain kind of “law and order?”
- Approximately how many people did Genghis Khan kill?
- Approximately how many people did Tamerlane kill?
- How does Poe change the historical Tamerlane?
- What is a hippodrama? Does it use hippos?
0:00 Introduction
02:55 Vlad the Impaler and Count Dracula
03:59 Romania
05:10 A few facts about Vlad
07:30 “We will release you, but not your sons"
08:55 Impalements and other forms of torture
13: 07 Legends and opinions about Vlad the Impaler
16:32 Historical Tamerlane and Poe (Introduction)
18:44 Genghis Khan background
20:22 Enter Timur (Tamerlane)
22:59 Destruction of Bagdad and Delhi
25:30 Edgar Allan Poe Connection
25:55 Horse-spectacles and hippodramas
28:22 Research and reproduction of script
30:53 Poe and his disregard of the historical Tamerlane
33:25 Sources
34:43 Future episodes
35:19 Outro
Episode Seventy Two - Carmilla and Countess Dracula
This episode deals with two female vampires - one literary and the other a historical “monster.” Carmilla, by Sheridan LaFanu, is frequently cited as the first lesbian vampire story. And Elizabeth Bathory (largely because of her habit of bathing in the blood of young girls) has been suggested as a possible source for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
- Why is Carmilla called “the first lesbian vampire story?”
- How is the story of Carmilla like Dracula?
- Who is the most prolifice female mass murderer in history?
- Why did Elizabeth Bathory bathe in the blood of young girls?
-
Why are some of the stories surrounding Elizabeth Bathory questionable?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 00:34 Request for email
- 01:04 Carmilla (Introduction and Plot)
- 03:50 Section from Carmilla
- 06:31 Comparison of Carmilla and Dracula
- 08:15 Countess Catherine Bathory
- 10:02 Stoker’s notes on Bathory
- 11:17 Some very “gruesome” exploits
- 14:54 Questionable stories and summary?
- 16:20 Sources
- 17:09 Future episodes
- 18:33 Outro
- What is generally agreed to be the oldest known story of a vampire?
- What happened to Sekhmet when her beer (which she thought was blood) was dyed red?
- Who is Lilith, and what does she have to do with feisty ladies?
- When does the manananggal drink the blood of pregnant women?
-
How did George keep his pants from falling when he was interpreting for a Shakespearean play? And was the audience REALLY laughing at the comedy or at his pants falling? Or both? Or was it just his imagination?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 00:51 S/M aspects of previous story
- 02:00 Explanation of Stoker/vampire background
- 03:33 Oldest known story of vampire
- 04:27 Lilith the feisty lady
- 05:51 The blood sucker who could separate its body
- 07:50 Chinese story (“The Blood Sucking Corpse”)
- 16:06 Translation notes
- 19:20 Creeping pants
- 23:42 Sources
- 24:27 Future episodes
- 25:02 Outro
This episode deals with one of Bram Stoker’s best short stories - The Squaw. This is a story about a black cat that definitely gives Poe's The Black Cat a run for its money!
George will read the story (with a few sound effects) and hope you are not too grossed out.
- What is The Squaw and why is it considered offensive today in its original form?
- What is an Iron Maiden? (not the metal group)
- How was Bram Stoker influenced by Edgar Allan Poe?
- Why is the cat angry at the humans?
- What does the boorish “American” do to the mother cat?
-
What does the mother cat do to the boorish “American” in return?
-
00:00 Introduction and shoutout
- 01:31 Background to story
- 6:20 The story begins
- 09:30 Encounter with mother cat and her kitten
- 18:27 Entering torture chamber
- 32:04 Mother cat’s revenge
- 35:46 Sources
- 36:24 Future episodes
- 37:00 Outro
- What three “biggies” were published the same day by the same publisher?
- What makes Rip Van Winkle one of the first time travel stories?
- How was The Vampyre written? And who was the REAL author?
- What was the first comedic vampire story? (And it wasn’t “Love at First Bite”)
- Why is The Black Vampyre important? Why is it confusing?
-
And why does the fact that it is confusing make it important?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 00:46 Publication of three influential works on June 23, 1819
- 02:21 The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon
- 03:10 Rip Van Winkle
- 20:41 The Vampyre
- 22:41 The Giaor
- 23:13 Introduction to The Vampyre
- 27:10 Introduction to The Black Vampyre
- 28:48 Story of The Black Vampyre
- 34:30 Significance of The Black Vampyre
- 35:29 Sources
- 36:17 Future Episodes
- 38:55 Outro
Free tickets to a cool production of A Midsummer Night's Dream!
https://www.indyshakes.com/2021-a-midsummer-nights-dream
Link to recording of all 38 of Shakespeare's plays!
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Arkangel-Shakespeare-Fully-Dramatized-Plays/dp/1932219005/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=archangel+shakespeare&qid=1626755205&sr=8-1
- How can I get free tickets to an awesome, new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream?What kind of stuff do you need to know to sign Shakespeare?
- How do you show the dif between “thee” and “you”?
- What role do computers play in the signing process?
- What did Poe and Shakespeare BOTH study?
- How is Shakespeare relevant to ALL people?
- 00:48 Indianapolis Shakespeare Company
- 01:48 Free tickets to A Midsummer Night’s Dream!
- 04:06 Brief history of ASL interpretation/translation and accessibility
- 08:10 Views of deafness
- 12:34 Positioning of interpreter
- 16:00 The “zombie” interpreter
- 17:56 Hamlet at West Virginia University
- 21:22 Thee, thou, and other pronouns
- 26:18 Classical rhetoric
- 31:59 Director’s vision
- 33:34 Need for preparation
- 40:50 How I began signing Shakespeare
- 42:09 Using computers
- 44:07 Shakespeare as relevant to ALL people
- 46:06 Sources
- 47:20 Future episodes
- 49:23 Outro
This episode deals with translating poetry using the example of Baudelaire’s “The Vampire” - and ends with a preview of the next episode - an examination of the process of interpreting/signing a Shakespeare comedy into American Sign Language.
Who was the most famous translator of Poe?
Are all translations of the same poem identical?
How can you translate/sign 10 words using two words?
00:00 Introduction
00:25 Apology
01:35 Introduction to translation
03:16 The most famous translator of Poe’s works
05:36 Translating poetry
06:30 “The Vampire” (four different translations)
15:11 Preview of following episode
15:23 Classical rhetorical with JFK and John Barrymore
17:10 Parallelism in American Sign Language
20:30 Anaphora in American Sign Language
20:30 Sources
- 00:00 Introduction to Bram Stoker
- 01:45 Student goes to judge’s house
- 05:20 Student learns about house’s past - the plot thickens!
- 12:20 Student encounters giant rats
- 33:40 Student encounters Ghost of Judge
- 46:38 The hate-filled smile
- 47:10 Sources
-
48:06 Future episodes
-
Who is Bram Stoker?
- Do you think “The Judge’s House” is more about the judge or giant rats?
- Do you think the student is an “innocent” or just plain stupid?
- Did you see the gruesome climax coming?
- Learn how George chooses vampire stories for this podcast
- Increase your “perception” of vampires
- What is so strange about Mrs. Amworth?
- How is Mrs. Amworth like Count Dracula?
- How is Mrs. Amworth different from Count Dracula?
-
Would you like a neighbor like Mrs. Amworth?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 01:05 Poe and Vampire Stories (introduction)
- 02:25 Mrs. Amworth
- 05:33 Enter Urcombe
- 08:08 Enter the character Mrs. Amworth
- 19:37 A mysterious illness in the village
- 24:31 Intense nightmares!
- 28:59 Attempts at explanation
- 34:30 Urcombe confronts Mrs. Amworth
- 35:07 Mrs. Amworth becomes a vampire after death
- 38:26 Destruction of Mrs. Amworth as a vampire
- 47: 08 Future Episodes
- 49:44 Outro
- Learn about Oscar Wilde’s life
- How is The Oval Portrait like A Picture of Dorian Gray?
- How did Wilde meet Bosie?
- What was the father’s reaction to Wilde’s relationship with his son?
- What is DeProfundis?
- What were Wilde’s last years like?
-
Why do we remember Wilde?
-
00:00 Introduction
- 01:05 Oscar Wilde’s life
- 03:15 Meeting of Wilde and Whitman (part 2)
- 04:09 The Oval Portrait
- 7:08 A Picture of Dorian Gray
- 15:02 Meeting Bosie!
- 16:11 Enter the brutish father
- 17:18 Dame Judi Dench “recollections”
- 19:29 More brutish father
- 20:56 The court trials of Oscar Wilde
- 22:23 Out of the Depths (De Profundis)
- 30:53 Wilde’s last years
- 32:10 Importance of Wilde
- 34:00 Sources
- 35:09 Future episodes
- 37:29 Outro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG-wl2qqD7Y
BTW - this should be over 2,000 downloads for Celebrate Poe, with listeners in 46 countries. Thank you for your support - you have no idea how much it means to me!
This specific episode is about the many facets of America’s Poet - Walt Whitman. For Pride Month, George pays homage to Whitman and attempts to take a deep dive into some of Whitman's greatest works, personal life, and ability to create positive change.
- Learn about the meeting between Whitman met Poe.
- Learn about VERY embarrassing (but hopefully enlightening) story about George.
- Learn about MAJOR differences between different editions of Leaves of Grass,
- Learn why the Calamus poems were so controversial.
- Learn about the meeting between Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde.
- Learn how Rufus Griswold (yes, THAT Griswold) trashed Whitman.
- Learn how Whitman was considered undesirable and shocking for “decent ears.”
- Learn how lawyers of the time considered Whitman a homosexual because he never smoked, and did not enjoy war.
This episode is about the tragic relationship between Fitz-Greene Halleck and Joseph Rodman Drake (two of America's greatest 19th century poets. ) The first American novel to deal with same sex attraction (Joseph and His Friend) is largely based on their love for each other.
00:00 Introduction
02:30 Fitz-Greene Halleck early life
04:39 Discussion of Hearing Loss
07:55 Fitz-Greene goes to New York
11:52 Joseph Rodman Drake (and names)
13:22 Sir Francis Drake story
19:33 Halleck and Drake’s Relationship
28:47 Monuments erected to Halleck
30:23 Entrance of the ghost of Mr. Poe
32:41 Sources
33:26 Future Episodes
Learn about Halleck’s early life in a small town
Learn about his membership in the Ugly Club
Listen to George’s childhood story about “Sir Francis” and marriage equality
Learn where “to clasp thy hand in mine” comes from
Learn about the love between Greene and Joseph Drake
Learn about the statue of Halleck in Central Park
00:00 Introduction
02:46 Was Poe gay?
06:07 Intro to Bayard Taylor
08:18 Edgar Allan Poe on Bayard Taylor
08:56 Joseph and His Friend
12:16 Plot of novel
15:40 Reactions to novel
17:41 Excerpt from Joseph and His Friend
30:59 Sources
31:55 Preview of episodes after June
35:50 Preview of Pride Month Episodes
34:57 Outro
- Learn about what is generally agreed to be the first American gay novel.
- Learn about Bayard Taylor and why he is not popular today.
- Learn about the REAL Joseph and his “friend.”
- Learn what Poe thought of Bayard Taylor.
- EXPERIENCE the heart-wrenching story of Joseph and Phillip.
This episode is a reprise of Becoming Poe - the Celebrate Poe episode with the second highest number of downloads.
I make some opening remarks, and a preview for 1st episode of this podcast, followed by a brief preview of the next episode (The First American Gay Novel)
REPRISE OF EPISODE ONE
This episode basically explains where I am coming from regarding this podcast - my (almost) journey from working at a computer store to being a guide at the Poe Museum in Richmond - generally believed to be the largest collection of Poe-related memorabilia in the world. (and a REALLY AWESOME place)
Then I explain how I became (more or less) Edgar Allan Poe for the West Virginia Humanities Council History Alive program (what a mouthful) My job was to travel through the state doing programs as Poe for schools, libraries, book fairs, etc. And I was surprised to find that Poe was treated like a rock star!
Episode 59 Anastasia and Other Imposters
Vortigern (Shakespeare’s Lost Play)
https://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/ireland-vortigern
Inspired’ by Mary Shelley’s “The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck,” this episodes examines 4 fascinating imposters - Perkin Warbeck, Thomas Chatterton, Henry Ireland, and Anna Alexander (Anastasia)
00:00 Introduction
00:39 Perkin Warbeck, School, and Poe
04:14 Historical account of Warbeck
08:22 Thomas Chatterton
11:46 Henry Ireland (“lost” Shakespeare play?)
14:57 Background and life in Europe
17:49 Life and marriage in Virginia
23:21 Mystery of Anastasia solved
25:59 Sources
26:57 Future Episodes
- Learn about Perkin Warbeck - a major pretender to the throne of England
- Learn about Thomas Chatterton and his counterfeits
- Learn about Henry Ireland and “Shakespeare’s Lost Play”
- Learn about Anna Alexander and her attempts to prove she was a Russian princess
- Learn how the identity of Anastasia was determined
This episode examines The Rocky Horror Show, and compares it with three of Poe’s works - The Fall of the House of Usher, Enchanted Palace, and Dreamland.
00:00 Introduction
01:30 Beginnings of Rocky Horror
04:02 Movie Adaptation
06:01 Rocky (Horror) as longest-running movie
06:40 Importance of movie
09:40 Personal reaction to movie
11:58 Ghost of Poe enters
13:40 Comparison with Usher
16:20 The Haunted Palace
20:34 Dreamland
25:55 Out of space, out of time (time warp?)
27:13 Sources
28:12 Future episodes for Pride Month
29:48 Outro
- Learn about concepts that are in BOTH Rocky Horror and Fall of the House of Usher
- What do Rocky Horror and Dreamland BOTH say about a “time warp” (out of space, out of time)
- Learn about the role of “innocents” in Rocky Horror and House of Usher
- What does “don’t dream it, be it” mean?
- Learn what’s on the schedule for LGBTQ Pride Month.
This episode examines the movie Young Frankenstein, the artistic concepts behind its filming, the cast, character development, and a surprising comparison with Edgar Poe’s double in William Wilson!
- 00:00 Introduction
- 02:11 Intro to Dr. Frankenstein
- 04:23 Background to writing movie
- 10:14 Artistic concepts (black and white, budget)
- 13:35 Gene Wilder
- 14:20 Peter Boyle
- 14:43 Mary Feldman
- 15:44 Teri Garr
- 16:31 Madeline Khan
- 18:29 Gene Hackman
- 18:56 Set
- 19:44 Character development
- 21:41 Poe’s William Wilson and “the double”
- 29:33 Summary
- 31:24 Sources and outro
Learn about the best horror movie parody ever!
Learn how Mel Brooks made Young Frankenstein to deal with his childhood fears (and make a lot of money!)
What does it mean to have an “enormous schwanzschtucker”?
Where did the filmmakers get the set for the movie?
Learn how Young Frankenstein is like Edgar Allan Poe’s “William Wilson”
What do Aerosmith and Rum D.M.C. have to do with Young Frankenstein?
How and why do Dr. Frankenstein and the creature give parts of their bodies to each other?
Like to The Old Dark House (full movie)https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Old+Dark+House&docid=608031794270379980∣=3BCB815D9F3082E13BF23BCB815D9F3082E13BF2&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Clip from The Bride of Frankensteinhttps://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+bride+of+frankenstein+prologue&docid=608009958645441023∣=DB9E0F06DA848E55B02FDB9E0F06DA848E55B02F&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
- Learn about the success of Frankenstein as a movie
- What could the Profumo scandal POSSIBLY have to do with Frankenstein (and who is Profumo?)
- Learn about the theological concepts expressed in The Bride of Frankenstein
- Learn about what the censors did to the movie
- Learn about gay interpretations of the film
- What did Will and Grace say about Frankenstein?
- How was Clive Barker involved in Gods and Monsters?
- How was Clive Barker influenced by Poe?
00:00 Introduction
02:22 The Old Dark House
07:13 Thoughts on sequels
10:58 Prologue and cast
14:47 John Profumo scandal (off-topic)
21:25 Differences and effects in Bride of Frankenstein
25:11 Frankenstein, blind hermit, and religious imagery
29:50 Final epic scene
32:57 The Bride of Frankenstein from a gay perspective
35:10 Gods and Monsters
44:55 Sources and outro
This episode describes the dramatic filming of the 1931 version Frankenstein - how the studio felt making it was a very risky move - and how the creature became a cultural icon. This podcast also deals with the connection between Mary Shelley, Edgar Poe and Fuseli's The Nightmare!
Link to 1910 Silent Version of Frankenstein from 1910
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67ENQibFW9w
Link to The Magician - In Hell clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DAgnvcSwLw
Link to The Magician - Entire movie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl0dc5cB-8w
Clips from James Whale’s 1931 Frankenstein
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Ntv7DJURM&list=PLZbXA4lyCtqo54KKGUtHDmD98-musuj6l&index=1
- Using Frankenstein to illustrate medical concepts?
- How do you pronounce Laemmie?
- Why is the creature sometimes called Frankenstein?
- What other films influenced director James Whale in making Frankenstein?
- How was Dracula responsible for the production of Frankenstein?
- How did they come up with the creature’s makeup?
- How were Frankenstein (and Poe) influenced by a painting called “The Nightmare?”
00:00 Introduction
02:14 Health issues
04:30 Frankenstein invades the theatre/cartoons
08:34 1910 Silent version of Frankenstein
10:05 Concerns from Universal Studios
15:27 Director James Whale and his background
17:55 Movie influences
20:50 Casting for Frankenstein
24:05 Boris Karloff and Frankenstein
27:53 Look and makeup for the monster
32:59 Creation scene
34:41 Notorious or censored sections
36:52 More problems with the movie
39:23 Similarity to The Nightmare and dreams
42:02 Poe and incubus
44:31 Frankenstein’s first screening
47:42 Success of the movie
50:11 Conclusion
52:01 Sources and Outro
National Theatre Frankenstein - Benedict Cumberbatch as the creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Dr. Frankenstein
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjJxpuPsrYs&t=6259s
National Theatre Frankenstein - Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Frankenstein and Jonny Lee Miller as the creature
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ_s7h9PF2w
- What two men alternated playing Frankenstein and the creature for the National Theatre?
- Who is Fritz?
-
How is Mary Shelley like a female version of Edgar Allan Poe?
-
00:00 Opening
- 00:30 Introduction
- 01:46 Presumption: The Natural Order of Things
- 5:10 Presumption: The Fate of Frankenstein
- 9:15 Frankenstein at National Theatre
- 14:17 Reading the novel on podcast?
- 15:45 The plot thickens
- 19:75 Kenneth Branagh and cast
- 21:15 Opinions of the movie
- 29:57 Medicine and vaccine
- 32:24 Mary Shelley and Edgar Poe
Learn about the BBC production of Byron, and how accurate it is.
Learn how Byron handled being an overnight success
Learn the reasons given why Mary Shelley might have written Frankenstein
Learn why Mary Shelley did not initially publish Frankenstein under her own name.
Is it possible that David Booth as Shelley is TOO handsome?
00:00 Introduction
02:41 BBC Byron
04:01 Byron casting
07:08 Jonny Lee Miller as Byron
10:11 Description of the plot and cast
18:50 Mary Shelley (the movie)
20:21 Douglas Booth
21:48 Mary and Shelley
24:09 Mary writes Frankenstein
26:31 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein - A Documentary
29:29 Prologue to Bride of Frankenstein
31:40 Sources and Outro
Byron (BBC)
on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t3xHPn2JH0&t=161s
on amazon prime
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Byron&i=instant-video&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein - A Documentary
on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbG3OEPO5H0
on amazon prime
https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Shelleys-Frankenstein-Jack-Roberts/dp/B00LM5LGP0/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=mary+shelley%27s+frankenstein+a+documentary&qid=1618793487&s=instant-video&sr=1-1
Clip from The Bride of Frankenstein
on youtube
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+bride+of+frankenstein+prologue&docid=608009958645441023∣=DB9E0F06DA848E55B02FDB9E0F06DA848E55B02F&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Learn why Ken Russell’s Gothic is so over-the-top and ends up falling flat
Learn about Hugh Grant as “mad, bad, and dangerous to know” Lord Byron
Learn how Dr. Who’s time travel can illuminate the past (as well as the present)
Learn how Lord Byron’s poem “Darkness” can be read as an ecological warning
00:00 Introduction
01:38 Ken Russell’s Gothic
10:45 Haunted Summer
12:50 Rowing with the Wind
17:01 Doctor Who and The Haunting of the Villa Diodati
18:01 Use (or non use) of audio clips
21:19 More Doctor Who at the Villa
27:46 Darkness (and ecology)
29:52 Time travel as a genre
35:07 Podcast structure (time travel versus ghost)
38:41 Sources and outro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo_g4Iuo5DQ&list=PLLTplfD7l2HyUBQNO8WpocustNvKpWcw0&index=4
- 00:00 Introduction
- 01:58 Mount Tambora effects in Europe
- 04:27 Gathering at Villa Diodati
- 06:23 Mary Shelley
- 10:06 Conversations and Ghost Stories
- 15:38 Byron and Darkness
- 16:45 Mary’s account
- 28:18 After Villa Diodati
- 31:13 Future topics
- 34:44 Using voice controls and keystrokes
Learn how the idea of Frankenstein first came to a teenage girl
Learn about the first literary account of a vampire
Learn how you can avoid “mice destroying your hands”
Learn about the woman who had eyes on her breasts
• Learn about Lord Byron’s many sexual scandals
• Experience one of the darkest poems ever written
• Learn why Lord Byron is often considered the first superstar
01:28 Ghost of Lord Byron enters
02:19 She Walks in Beauty
3:38 Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know (Life in England)
09:40 Darkness
19:35 Villa Diodati intro
20:39 The Dream
22:38 Life in Italy and Greece
24:46 On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixty Year
26:50 Death and Memory
28:15 Further reflections and scandals
32:30 Fame and Byronic hero
35:05 Sources and Outro
This episode is the first of two episodes devoted to the life and works of Lord Byron - one of the greatest poets of all time. As a youth, Edgar Poe frequently copied Lord Byron's style (and unique attitude) until Poe found his own voice.
00:00 Introduction
02:50 Byron and Poe’s styles
05:45 Women in Byron’s life
08:33 Byron’s’ early life
12:53 Becoming a Baron
13:59 Byron’s opinions
17:25 Life at Harrow
18:17 Poe and Chaworth
20:34 Life and loves at Cambridge
23:57 Byron’s characteristics
26:05 Epitaph to a Dog
30:40 To a Lady, On Being Asked My Resons for Quitting England
31:45 Life in Turkey
33:45 Poe and The Doom (long distance swimming)
35:33 Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and instant fame
38:38 Sources and Outro
- Learn about Lord Byron’s love of animals
- Learn about the horrifying abuse of Lord Byron while a child.
- Learn about how Lord Byron got around college rules
- Decide if you think Lord Byron was a nice person!
This is the second and final part of two episodes regarding Percy Shelley - Mr. Poe also talks about his opinion of Shelley's work (based on Poe's actual words) and Shelley reads several of his most familiar works.
- 0:00 Introduction
- 1:26 Entrance of ghost of Mr. Shelley
- 1:44 Prometheus Unbound
- 2:53 To a Skylark
- 7:27 The Cloud
- 12:01 The Sensitive Plant
- 15:01 A Dream Within a Dream
- 15:56 Poe speaks of Shelley
- 22:07 Shelley’s death
- 23:32 Of Time Long Past (Memories of my dog)
- 26:55 Sources and Outro
- Learn what Poe thought of Shelley (you might be surprised)
Learn the meaning of To a Skylark and The Cloud
Learn why Shelley’s heart was preserved
- 0:00 Introduction
- 0:46 Shelley and Byron
- 3:06 Ghost of Shelley enters
- 3:50 Early life
- 5:02 Education at Syon and Eton
- 8:51 Expelled from Oxford
- 12:14 Further development of idealism
- 16:29 Political development
- 20:40 Queen Mab
- 24:02 Ozymandias
- 26:40 Ode to the West Wind
-
35:22 Sources and Outro
-
Learn how Percy Shelley got kicked out of Oxford
- Learn how Shelley wanted a threesome in his marriage
- Learn how Shelley was big on free love and not eating meat
- Learn how Shelley combined his very liberal politics with his poetry
- Learn why Camden Town is so special!
- What was Mr. Keat’s sexual orientation? - His status as a gay icon.
- Learn about Keat’s painful and lingering death from consumption.
-
What is the longest epitaph on a tombstone in literature? the shortest?
-
0:00 Introduction
- 0:53 Over 1,000 downloads
- 1:31 Camden Town, London
- 4:07 Entrance of Ghost of Poe and Keats
- 5:11 Ode to a Nightingale
- 13:12 Sexual Orientation vs. Gay Icon
- 17:16 Suffering and Consumption
- 20:02 Final trip to Italy
- 22:00 Death
- 23:40 Grave
- 24:37 Visit and Sonnet from Oscar Wilde
- 27:40 Poetry of the Earth
- 28:40 Negative Capability and COVID
- 30:33 Sources and Outro
- Why is Keats “the sensuous poet”
- Learn about the insecure youth that John Keats experienced
- Learn how Keats wanted to be a doctor, NOT a writer
-
What words by Keats were Mary Poppins’s first lines when she pulled an umbrella out of her bag?
-
0:00 INTRODUCTION
- 0:45 ROMANTIC REFRESHER
- 5:05 WERE THEY ROCK STARS?
- 6:30 GHOSTS OF POE AND KEATS ENTER
- 7:00 EARLY LIFE OF KEATS
- 7:42 EDUCATION
- 11:18 INTEREST IN MEDICINE
- 12:30 CHANGE TO WRITING
- 13:25 SONNETS (DONNE, BROWNING, SHAKESPEARE, KEATS)
- 20:59 ENDYMION
- 23:01 MRS. REYNOLD’S CAT
- 24:52 SENSUOUSNESS IN KEAT’S POETRY
- 30:38 GROWTH AS A WRITER
- 31:56 CARE OF BROTHER
- 32:55 NEW ENERGY AND FUTURE
- 33:34 SOURCES AND OUTRO
URL for The Lakes - Taylor Swift
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=taylor+swift+%22the+lakes%22
- Learn about why Tintern Abbey is such a big deal
- Follow Lucy Gray
-
Learn what Taylor Swift has to do with the English Romantic poets
-
0:00 Introduction
- 0:50 Podcast host attack (Nothing to worry about)
- 02:27 Ghost enters
- 02:40 Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey (and analysis)
- 09:39 “Thoughtless youth”
- 14:00 Lines Written in Early Spring
- 16:43 Lucy Gray
- 19:11 Poet Laurete
- 20:16 Religious beliefs
- 20:49 My Heart Leaps Up
- 20:14 Taylor Swift and the Lakes
-
24:23 Sources and conclusion
-
Credits: Taylor Swift at the 2019 American Music Awards, 24 November 2019, Source
YouTube: The Best Outfits At The 2019 American Music Awards |
- Learn more about the English Romantic poet who got it all started!
- Learn how Mr. Wordsworth made the Romantic movement come alive!
-
Learn about the best of William Wordsworth’s 915 poems!
-
00:00 Introduction
- 00:40 Apology and Content Explanation
- 07:23 Ghost of Mr. Wordsworth Enters
- 08:03 Lyrical Ballads
- 09:31 Background of Mr. Wordsworth
- 10:10 Father and Grandfather
- 11:36 Wordsworth, France, and Lake Area
- 17:04 Expostulation and Reply
- 19:02 The Tables Turned; An Evening Scene
- 20:30 We Are Seven
- 26:09 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
- 29:27 Sources and Outro
- Mr. Samuel Coleridge reads his poem? vision? dream? Kubla Khan, and vividly relates the physical terrors and psychological horrors of his all-consuming drug abuse.
- Did Coleridge ever kick his drug habit?
- By the way, Mr. Bartley makes a WHOOPER of a pronunciation mistake (more than usual) and did not edit it out. Can you find it?
-
Answer in next episode - I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
-
:00 Introduction
- 1:04 Ghost of Mr. Poe enters
- 2:30 The Haunted Palace
- 5:29 Ghost of Mr. Coleridge enters
- 6:19 Kubla Khan
- 15:18 Was Coleridge tripping?
- 18:40 First use of laudanum/opium
- 20:15 Dependency develops
- 23:48 Complications
- 25:40 Treatment of self and family
- 28:34 Restlessness and The Pain of Sleep
- 33:33 Final Years
- 35:38 Sources and Outro
In the episode, the ghost of Samuel Coleridge will read from (and explain) The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
- 0:00 Introduction
- 1:00 Ghosts Enters
- 2:58 Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- 5:52 Ship Sails South
- 7:05 Influence of the Albatross
- 9:30 Death and Death-in-life
- 11:22 Solitude
- 12:56 Creatures
- 13:14 Sleep
- 15:10 Dead Men Come to Life
- 19:16 Redemption Begins
- 21:03 Confession Continues
- 22:15 Sweet Prayer
- 24:17 Poe's Comments
- 25:11 Dore and The Black Cat
- 26:05 Familar Lines
-
28:09 Sources and Closing
-
Hear “Mr Coleridge” read and explain The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- Listen to how Mr. Poe read the Ancient Mariner as a young boy in England
- Find out if Mr Coleridge will talk about his drug use.
http://www.blakearchive.org/
- 0:00 Introduction
- 0:08 Accents (English and Gone with the Wind)
- 3:06 Blake Ghost Entrance
- 4:31 Marriage of Heaven and Hell
- 8:45 Idea for Title of Heaven and Hell
- 9:46 Concepts Behind Blake’s Heaven and Hell
- 11:21 Proverbs of Hell
- 12:37 Other Concepts
- 15:02 Jerusalem (The Enamation of the Giant Albion)
- 18:33 An Attempt at the (Totally Confusing) Plot
- 21:44 Later Life
- 22:59 Blake Archive at http://www.blakearchive.org/
- 24:05 “And did these feet in ancient time”
- 25:41 Mythopoeia
- 26:59 J.R.R.Tolkein
- 27:24 C.S. Lewis
- 27:51 George R R. Martin
- 20:09 Sources and Outro
WARNING - THIS IS WIERD STUFF!!!
- Learn where Blake got the title for The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
-
Learn some of the Proverbs of Hell
-
Learn about animals
- who change into men, then
- change into lakes, then
- change into concepts, then
- change into countries, then
- change into ideas, then
- change into angels, then
- change into thoughts, then
- change into women, then …
Got that?
London read by Idris Elba 123
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAIbkA4NRGQ
0:00 INTRODUCTION
1:14 GHOSTS ENTER
2:47 BLAKE - BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE
7:52 EVENING STAR
10:30 MORE OF BLAKE’S LIFE
12:32 TYGER, TYGER
14:28 TYGER AND PIT
16:16 LONDON
19:06 THE SICK ROSE
20:36 HOLY THURSDAY
21:57 LITTLE LAMB
23:27 THE HUMAN ABSTRACT
25:50 THE LITTLE BLACK BOY
30:41 JERUSALEM
31:57 PLANS FOR FOLLOWING EPISODE
Learn about Mr. William Blake - and what a nice guy he was! (Maybe a little bit crazy, but brilliant.)
Learn about some of his many poems - from Tyger, Tyger to Little Lamb to London
Learn about what he had in common with Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Sir Paul McCartney
EPISODE THIRTY EIGHT - HEAVEN IN A WILDFLOWER
- Learn how the Romantic Movement has nothing to do with dim lights and soft music
- Learn why if you are interested at all in Edgar Allan Poe, you should learn about the English Romantic poets
- Learn how Poe is the flip side of the English Romantics as the leading member of the DARK ROMANTIC movement.
- Learn about George’s unrequited first love in “Hollywood Love Story"
0:00 INTRODUCTION
1:36 MEANING OF ROMANTICISM
2:25 GHOST ENTERS
4:26 MEMORY AIDS
5:45 COMPARISONS INTRO
8:24 BEAUTY OF THE SUPERNATURAL
11:37 THE INDIVIDUAL IN SOCIETY
11:58 NATURE AS THE ULTIMATE TEACHER
14:00 TO ONE IN PARADISE
15:46 CONCEPT OF THE SUBLIME
17:39 REACTION AGAINST SET STANDARDS
18:03 IMPORTANCE OF IMAGINATION
19:47 EMPHASIS ON SADNESS
22:34 EMPHASIS ON EMOTIONS
24:30 SHOUTOUT TO NEWTOWNABBEY
25:55 “HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORY
30:40 SOURCES AND OUTRO
Sources for this episode include Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson,, Edgar Allan Poe by George E. Woodberry from the American Men of Letters series, The Cambridge Companion to British Romantic Poetry by Mauree N. McLane, The Roots of Romanticism by Isaiah Berline, and The Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry
- Learn how “The Masque of the Red Death” IS and IS NOT about cholera.
- Learn a bit about the horrible mob violence that occurred in Paris as a result of cholera.
- Listen to an absolutely horrible account of a typical 19th century operation done before painkillers were used!
- Learn how John Snow (not the Game of Thrones guy!) found the connection between contaminated water and cholera.
- A shoutout to Blackheath, England!
- Learn how to make the somewhat tedious (but necessary) step of washing your hands a lot easier with Poe and Shakespeare - or anyone else you choose.
0:00 INTRODUCTION
1:08 REVISITING “MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH” AND CHOLERA
2:50 REPORTS OF HEINRICH HEINE REGARDING PARIS, CROWDS, AND MOB VIOLENCE
9:02 GHOST OF MR. POE EXITS
9:28 SURGERY WITHOUT PAINKILLERS!
10:29 ACCOUNT OF AN OPERATION WITHOUT PAINKILERS
12:10 ETHER AS A PAINKILLER
12:21 JOHN SNOW (AND ETHER)
13:35 SNOW TRIES TO FIND OUT CAUSE OF CHOLERA
14:16 STUDYING WATER IN SOHO
17:01 HEINRICH KLEIN SOLVES TUBERCULOSIS AND CHOLERA
17:46 SHOUTOUT TO BLACKHEATH, ENGLAND
18:27 “ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH” (HENRY V)
18:55 MORE BLACKHEATH (FRANKENSTEIN TO BOY GEORGE)
20:08 INTRO TO COVID PRECAUTIONS
20:48 CATHOLIC HYMN
21:55 HOW DO I LEARN TO RECITE?
24:13 ALONE
25:10 A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM
26:08 ANNABEL LEE
28:02 THE RAVEN
36:25 THE BELLS INTRO
37:12 THE BELLS
41:24 SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO A SUMMER’S DAY?
44:15 LIFE IS FINE
44:49 SOURCES, OUTRO
SOURCES
Sources for this episode include Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography and by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe: The Man by Mary E. Phillips, Edgar Allan Poe by George E. Woodberry from the American Men of Letters series, The Year Without a Summer by William K. Klingman and Nicholas P. Klingman, Cholera: A Worldwide History by S.L. Kotar and J.E. Gessler, Cholera: The Victorian Plague by Thomas Amanda, Global Climate and Infectious Disease: The Cholera Paradigm by Rita R. Colwell, and The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson.
Memory aids to help you remember some of the major diseases of the 19th century
MR. T Malaria, Rabies, Tuberculosis
SYSTEMIC Syphilis, Yellow (Fever), Smallpox, Typhoid, (skip the vowel E,) Malaria, Influenza, Cholera
Warning - Part One of two episodes about cholera - some really nauseating stuff - info that may gross you out.
- Learn more about the importance of illness to understanding Poe’s life and works.
- Learn what cholera is, and why it is so deadly - and gross.
- Learn how British soldiers died from cholera in mid-sentence.
Sources for this episode include Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography and by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe: The Man by Mary E. Phillips, Edgar Allan Poe by George E. Woodberry from the American Men of Letters series, The Year Without a Summer by William K. Klingman and Nicholas P. Klingman, Cholera: A Worldwide History by S.L. Kotar and J.E. Gessler, Cholera: The Victorian Plague by Thomas Amanda, Global Climate and Infectious Disease: The Cholera Paradigm by Rita R. Colwell, Effects of Local Climate Variability on Transmission Dynamics of Cholera in Bangladesh by M.S. Islam, et. al, and an interview with Sean Munger.
Learn how the environmental effects of the explosion of Mount Tambora in 1815 caused world-wide devastation.
Because of an explosion in Indonesia, much of the world was hungry.
This episode deals with the year without a summer - when temperatures were much colder than usual (with devastating results.)
Learn about Thomas Jefferson’s financial struggles with debt - a very sad story, and how a volcano in Indonesia made his financial situation hopeless.
For two songs dealing with The Year Without a Summer, check out:
Hungrytown - Year Without a Summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_rYv9uy9Cw
Rasputina - 1816: The Year Without A Summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxeXHMHOcqQ
Mr. Poe and I talk about his journey across the Atlantic in 1815, and school in Scotland.
Then the podcast focuses on the 1815 explosion of Mount Tambora, and how it very well may have affected Poe (more about that in future episodes.)
Learn how Tambora had lava flows of 1000 degree temperatures!
This episodes ends with an extensive “shout out” to Plainfield, Indiana, and how exPresident Martin Van Buren visited the town. Road conditions were terrible so the town arranged for Van Buren to fall out of his carriage into a mud hole.
Learn how the National Road was really a strip of dirt!
Sources for this episode include Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography and A History of the American Theatre, Volume 1 by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe: The Man by Mary E. Phillips, Edgar Allan Poe by George E. Woodberry from the American Men of Letters series, The Year Without a Summer by William K. Klingman and Nicholas P. Klingman.
- a very short look at the history of the early Episcopal Church in America
- the Richmond Theatre Fire of 1811
- some of our country’s earliest architects
All leading up to the return of the ghost of Mr. Poe and a brief examination of Mr. Poe’s relationship to religion while he was growing up.
- What happens when two architects (unknown to each other) are chosen to design the same church? Hint: Start with “awkward”
- Learn why the first house of worship that Poe attended had “bodies under the church.”
- Is Poe a “spokesman for those dwelling in the shadow” and marginalized individuals?
Video of Monumental Episcopal Church (where Poe attended church as a child)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qLH2KYgRH8
Cover Art: Robert Mills, Architect
In The Better Angels of Our Nature, George goes off topic to examine three former Presidents (Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Obama) and how they were faced with what seemed like insurmountable economic challenges. This episode briefly deals with how they addressed they addressed their challenges in their respective inaugural addresses. Then George examines a short section of President Biden’s inaugural address, and how its unique structure is a model of communication.
The episode ends with a brief section of a great article by Kevin Fallon from The Daily Beast - “Lady Gaga: The Gayest Thing to Ever Happen at an Inauguration”
You can read more of Mr. Fallon’s work at https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/kevin-fallon
And check out this video of Gaga’s rendition of the National Anthem at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HezPdHTwdGA
This episode continues with some additional travel literature that focuses on White Sulphur Springs. Then George talks about how the springs allowed southern visitors to be “acceptedly” concerned about their bodies. Perhaps the most important concept behind this series is that “the Virginia Springs were both a stage and a school” (Listen to this episode to see what I mean.) And finally the episode ends with the story of the huge secret bunker built at White Sulphur Springs to be used in case of nuclear attack. “Hotel Armageddon” ends with a sound that - WARNING - is not real.
Sources for this episode include White Sulphur Papers, or Life at the Springs of Western Virginia published by Samuel Colman in 1839, History of the Roads of Virginia: 1607-1840 by Nathaniel Mason Pawlett. Letters Descriptive of the Virginia Springs, the Roads Taken Leading Thereto, and the Doings Therein, Peregrine Pollix, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe: The Man by Mary E. Phillips, Edgar Allan Poe by George E. Woodberry from the American Men of Letters series, and Highways to Health and Pleasure: The Antebellum Turnpikes and Trade of the Mineral Springs in Greenbrier and Monroe Counties by Lana Martindale, Ladies and Gentlemen on Display by Charlene M. Boyer Lewis, and The History of the Greenbrier by Robert S.Conte
Nuclear Explosion Copyright 2013 Iwan Gabovitch, CC-BY3 license.
No, this has nothing to do with Pink Floyd. This episode deals with the genre of travel literature - a genre that we don’t often associate with Poe.
George’s top 5 favorite works of travel literature are
- The Travel of Marco Polo by Marco Polo
- The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- American Notes by Charles Dickens
Note: A very nervous ghost of Charles Dickens makes a brief appearance to read from American Notes.
The episode concludes with a great example of travel literature - a letter written about a traveler to Warm and Hot Springs (on the way to White Sulphur Spring.s.
Sources include White Sulphur Papers, or Life at the Springs of Western Virginia published by Samuel Colman in 1839, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, and Highways to Health and Pleasure: The Antebellum Turnpikes and Trade of the Mineral Springs in Greenbrier and Monroe Counties by Lana Martindale, American Notes by Charles Dickens, and Charles Dickens by Michael Slater.
The first of three episodes about the Virginia Springs, this episode uses fascinating accounts from the early 19th century to describe the wonder that is White Sulphur Springs. Mr. Poe returns for this episode, and "Paradise Row" lays the groundwork for a discussion of how the Springs influenced Poe’s later works.
Sources:
Springs of Western Virginia published by Samuel Colman in 1839, History of the Roads of Virginia: 1607-1840 by Nathaniel Mason Pawlett. Letters Descriptive of the Virginia Springs, the Roads Taken Leading Thereto, and the Doings Therein, Peregrine Pollix, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe: The Man by Mary E. Phillips, Edgar Allan Poe by George E. Woodberry from the American Men of Letters series, and Highways to Health and Pleasure
The final of four episodes about the podcaster’s hometown, Staunton, this episode covers a variety of personal experiences that led to this podcast. George talks about the miniature railroad in the Staunton city park, how he was initially left totally unimpressed by Poe, his education, growing up closeted in a conservative area of the South, becoming immersed in Shakespeare, and his years of interpreting for the Deaf - from interpreting the Who’s Tommy to interpreting more plays by Shakespeare than any person on the planet.
Gypsy Hill Park Railway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bDwxmisgfo
Rachel Zegler - Shallow (from A Star is Born)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypjwEj1mxY4
Entertainment Tonight on West Side Story remake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phDQgEToF54
George compares the invasion of the Capitol Building during Poe’s life (the War of 1812) with the reprehensible invasion of the Capitol Building by a group of thugs incited by Mr. Trump.
This also includes Mr. Bartley’s thoughts about the social responsibilities of a podcaster in making the world a better place.
And Celebrate Poe starts a new series featuring the locations of listeners (based on buzz sprout stats.) We begin this series with some podcast listeners located just outside Paris who have listened to Celebrate Poe since its first episode.
Sources include , History of the United States Capitol : A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics by William C. Allen, The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, and Indian Allies by Alan Taylor, The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict by Donald R Hickey, A Spiritual Heritage Tour of the Capitol by David Barton, Donald Trump Is An Urgent Threat To American Democracy. Congress Has 13 Days To Act, an article by Paul Blemenfied in the Huffington Post, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, and The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson
In the opinion of this podcaster, Dr. Francis Collins is one of the greatest Americans who has ever lived. He is director of the National Institutes of Health, and is Dr. Anthony Fauci’s boss! This episode briefly traces his birth in Staunton, education, and growth as a scientist. The majority of the podcast is made up of the actual voices of President Clinton and Dr. Collins speaking at the White House regarding game-changing findings from the Human Genome Project. (We’re talking potential cures for cancer and Alzheimers here!)
Sources include The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief and The Language of Life: DNA and the Revolution in Personalized Medicine by Dr. Francis Frances Collins,
Today George looks at one of the most famous persons from Staunton - President Woodrow Wilson. This episode concentrates on his reaction - and non reaction - to the Influenza pandemic of 1918 - a reaction which is all too similar to that of leadership today. Vicks Vapor Rub purported to be one of the “cures” for the deadly pandemic of 1918 - a dubious “cure”, at best - but at least it is not a deadly “cure” - like bleach.
And yes, there is even a connection between Poe and Wilson.
In the next podcast in this series, George takes a look at a geneticist from Staunton who just might possibly be the most outstanding American who has ever lived!
Tonight is the final holiday episode, and the first of three episodes regarding Staunton, Virginia - a place not often associated with Edgar Allan Poe, but definitely one that the Allans visited at least 3 times from 1812-1813 (most likely much more.) Coincidently, Mr. Bartley is also from Staunton. Mr. Poe and Mr. Bartley tell some tales about the Washington Inn - a haunted tavern where the Allans stayed (but before there was blood on the floor.) - Mr. Poe also talks about a fist-fight at the Washington between the governors of Maryland and Virginia. This episode ends with (and what an ending,) a complex true story that occurred in Staunton that combines the death of a beautiful woman with mayhem, dishonesty, greed, and “murder most foul.”
Below is a complete list of all this year’s eight holiday episodes (past and future) with dates:
Wednesday, December 23 - Episode 16 - A Set of Poe - a charming Christmas story about giving
Thursday December 24 - Episode 17 - The Gift of the Magi - also about giving - and sacrifice.
Friday December 25 - Episode 18 - a regular episode of Celebrate Poe. This episode is called Christmas with Poe, with some of the Christmas music we believe Poe enjoyed, and the Christmas that Poe learned that the love of his life was going to marry another man.
Then I will skip the weekend to get ready for -
Monday December 28 - Episode 19 - The Phantom Coach, Part One - a gripping tale of the supernatural from England
Tuesday December 29 - Episode 20 - The Phantom Coach, Part Two
Wednesday December 30 - Episode 21 - Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft - a man who said he never wrote a story within thinking of Poe.
Thursday December 31 - Episode 22 - “The Outsider” also by H. P. Lovecraft - This episode ends with some New Years thoughts.
Friday, January 1 - Episode 23 - Another regular episode of Celebrate Poe with a fascinating look at Mr. Bartley’s hometown, Staunton, Virginia, and some of the occasions the Allans visited Staunton with little Edgar.
Then next week Celebrate Poe will begin its regular schedule —each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:00 midnight EST (how very Poe-like) with Episode Twenty Four - Staunton (The Greatest Man on Earth?)
This episode is the seventh of eight episodes (all less than 30 minutes) in a Celebrate Poe holiday series. Mr. Poe returns to read H.P. Lovecraft’s classic “tale of the weird” - The Outsider. H.P. Lovecraft said that Edgar Allan Poe was his “God of Fiction”
Below is a complete list of all this year’s eight holiday episodes (past and future) with dates:
Wednesday, December 23 - Episode 16 - A Set of Poe - a charming Christmas story about giving
Thursday December 24 - Episode 17 - The Gift of the Magi - also about giving - and sacrifice.
Friday December 25 - Episode 18 - a regular episode of Celebrate Poe. This episode is called Christmas with Poe, with some of the Christmas music we believe Poe enjoyed, and the Christmas that Poe learned that the love of his life was going to marry another man.
Then I will skip the weekend to get ready for -
Monday December 28 - Episode 19 - The Phantom Coach, Part One - a gripping tale of the supernatural from England
Tuesday December 29 - Episode 20 - The Phantom Coach, Part Two
Wednesday December 30 - Episode 21 - Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft - a man who said he never wrote a story within thinking of Poe.
Thursday December 31 - Episode 22 - “The Outsider” also by H. P. Lovecraft - This episode ends with some New Years thoughts.
Friday, January 1 - Episode 23 - Another regular episode of Celebrate Poe with a fascinating look at Mr. Bartley’s hometown, Staunton, Virginia, and some of the occasions the Allans visited Staunton with little Edgar.
Then the following week Celebrate Poe will begin its regular schedule —each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:00 midnight EST (how very Poe-like) with Episode Twenty Four - Staunton 2 (The Greatest Man on Earth?)
Episode Twenty One - Dagon
This episode is the sixth of eight episodes (all less than 30 minutes) in a Celebrate Poe holiday series. Mr. Poe returns to read H.P. Lovecraft’s classic “tale of the weird” - Dagon.
Below is a complete list of all this year’s eight holiday episodes (past and future) with dates:
Wednesday, December 23 - Episode 16 - A Set of Poe - a charming Christmas story about giving
Thursday December 24 - Episode 17 - The Gift of the Magi - also about giving - and sacrifice.
Friday December 25 - Episode 18 - a regular episode of Celebrate Poe. This episode is called Christmas with Poe, with some of the Christmas music we believe Poe enjoyed, and the Christmas that Poe learned that the love of his life was going to marry another man.
Then I will skip the weekend to get ready for -
Monday December 28 - Episode 19 - The Phantom Coach, Part One - a gripping tale of the supernatural from England
Tuesday December 29 - Episode 20 - The Phantom Coach, Part Two
Wednesday December 30 - Episode 21 - Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft - a man who said he never wrote a story within thinking of Poe.
Thursday December 31 - Episode 22 - “The Outsider” also by H. P. Lovecraft - This episode ends with some New Years thoughts.
Friday, January 1 - Episode 23 - Another regular episode of Celebrate Poe with a fascinating look at Mr. Bartley’s hometown, Staunton, Virginia, and some of the occasions the Allans visited Staunton with little Edgar.
Then the following week Celebrate Poe will begin its regular schedule (each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:00 midnight EST (how very Poe-like)
This episode is the fifth of eight episodes (all less than 30 minutes) in a Celebrate Poe holiday series. Mr. Bartley reads The Phantom Coach, Part Two - this is where the story really gets good. I am not going to say anything more, just listen to the story and let it creep up on you!
The cover art for this episode (if your podcatcher supports it) is a bust of the story's author, Amelia Edwards.
Below is a complete list of all this year’s eight holiday episodes (past and future) with dates:
Wednesday, December 23 - Episode 16 - A Set of Poe - a charming Christmas story about giving
Thursday December 24 - Episode 17 - The Gift of the Magi - also about giving - and sacrifice.
Friday December 25 - Episode 18 - a regular episode of Celebrate Poe. This episode is called Christmas with Poe, with some of the Christmas music we believe Poe enjoyed, and the Christmas that Poe learned that the love of his life was going to marry another man.
Then I will skip the weekend to get ready for -
Monday December 28 - Episode 19 - The Phantom Coach, Part One - a gripping tale of the supernatural from England
Tuesday December 29 - Episode 20 - The Phantom Coach, Part Two
Wednesday December 30 - Episode 21 - Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft - a man who said he never wrote a story within thinking of Poe.
Thursday December 31 - Episode 22 - “The Outsider” also by H. P. Lovecraft - This episode ends with some New Years thoughts.
Friday, January 1 - Episode 23 - Another regular episode of Celebrate Poe with a fascinating look at Mr. Bartley’s hometown, Staunton, Virginia, and some of the occasions the Allans visited Staunton with little Edgar.
Episode Nineteen -The Phantom Coach, Part One
This episode is the fourth of eight episodes (all less than 30 minutes) in a Celebrate Poe holiday series. Mr. Bartley reads The Phantom Coach, Part One - a highly engaging British ghost story.
Below is a complete list of all this year’s eight holiday episodes (past and future) with dates:
Wednesday, December 23 - Episode 16 - A Set of Poe - a charming Christmas story about giving (a story about Poe's works that can be described as charming)
Thursday December 24 - Episode 17 - The Gift of the Magi - also about giving - and sacrifice.
Friday December 25 - Episode 18 - a regular episode of Celebrate Poe. This episode is called Christmas with Poe, with some of the Christmas music we believe Poe enjoyed, and the Christmas that Poe learned that the love of his life was going to marry another man.
Then I will skip the weekend to get ready for -
Monday December 28 - Episode 19 - The Phantom Coach, Part One - a gripping tale of the supernatural from England
Tuesday December 29 - Episode 20 - The Phantom Coach, Part Two
Wednesday December 30 - Episode 21 - Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft - a man who said he never wrote a story within thinking of Poe. I am still trying to figure out what this story means
Thursday December 31 - Episode 22 - “The Outsider” also by H. P. Lovecraft - I haven’t figured this one out either, but it is an extremely creepy tale. This episode ends with some New Years thoughts.
Friday, January 1 - Episode 23 - Another regular episode of Celebrate Poe with a fascinating look at Mr. Bartley’s hometown, Staunton, Virginia, and some of the occasions the Allans visited Staunton with little Edgar.
Then the following week Celebrate Poe will begin its regular schedule (each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:00 midnight EST (how very Poe-ish)
https://archive.org/details/giftchristmasnew00poee/page/n17/mode/2up
Episode Eighteen - Christmas with Poe
This episode is the third of eight episodes (all less than 30 minutes) in a Celebrate Poe holiday series. Christmas with Poe is a “regular” episode of the podcast, and covers how many scholars believe Edgar Allan Poe (and the Allan family) celebrated Christmas - from Victorian festivities on Turkey Island to the terrible Christmas when Poe learns that the woman of this dreams is marrying another man. This episode also features some Christmas music of the period. At one point Mr. Poe breaks down when describing his past, but bounces back when he gives Mr. Bartley a Christmas gift.
Below is a complete list of all this year’s eight holiday episodes (past and future) with dates:
Wednesday, December 23 - Episode 16 - A Set of Poe - a charming Christmas story about giving.
Thursday December 24 - Episode 17 - The Gift of the Magi - also about giving - and sacrifice.
Friday December 25 - Episode 18 - a regular episode of Celebrate Poe. This episode is called Christmas with Poe, with some of the Christmas music we believe Poe enjoyed, and the Christmas that Poe learned that the love of his life was going to marry another man.
Then I will skip the weekend to get ready for -
Monday December 28 - Episode 19 - The Phantom Coach, Part One - a gripping tale of the supernatural from England
Tuesday December 29 - Episode 20 - The Phantom Coach, Part Two
Wednesday December 30 - Episode 21 - Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft - a man who said he never wrote a story within thinking of Poe. I am still trying to figure out what this story means
Thursday December 31 - Episode 22 - “The Outsider” also by H. P. Lovecraft - I haven’t figured this one out either, but it is an extremely creepy tale. This episode ends with some New Years thoughts.
Friday, January 1 - Episode 23 - Another regular episode of Celebrate Poe with a fascinating look at Mr. Bartley’s hometown, Staunton, Virginia, and some of the occasions the Allans visited Staunton with little Edgar.
Episode Seventeen - Gift of the Magi
This episode is the second of eight episodes (all less than 30 minutes) in a Celebrate Poe holiday series. Mr. Bartley reads (again at Mr. Poe’s urging) O Henry’s classic Christmas story, The Gift of the Magi.
BTW - Mr. Poe prefers to read the stories next week by H.P. Lovecraft.
No surprise there.
Below is a complete list of all eight holiday episodes (past and future) with dates:
Wednesday, December 23 - Episode 16 - A Set of Poe - a charming Christmas story about giving
Thursday December 24 - Episode 17 - The Gift of the Magi
Friday December 25 - Episode 18 - a regular episode of Celebrate Poe. This episode is called Christmas with Poe, with some of the Christmas music we believe Poe enjoyed, and the Christmas that Poe learned that the love of his life was going to marry another man. This could quite possibly be the best episode of Celebrate Poe yet.
Then I will skip the weekend to get ready for -
Monday December 28 - Episode 19 - The Phantom Coach, Part One - a gripping tale of the supernatural from England
Tuesday December 29 - Episode 20 - The Phantom Coach, Part Two
Wednesday December 30 - Episode 21 - Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft - a man who said he never wrote a story within thinking of Poe. I am still trying to figure out what this story means
Thursday December 31 - Episode 22 - “The Outsider” also by H. P. Lovecraft - I haven’t figured this one out either, but it is an extremely creepy tale. This episode ends with some New Years thoughts.
Friday, January 1 - Episode 23 - Another regular episode of Celebrate Poe with a fascinating look at Mr. Bartley’s hometown, Staunton, Virginia, and some of the occasions the Allans visited Staunton with little Edgar.
**This episode is the first of eight episodes (all less than 30 minutes) in a Celebrate Poe holiday series. Mr. Bartley reads (at Mr. Poe’s urging) a charming short story about a gentleman who hopes his wife will give him a 10-volume set of Poe’s works for Christmas.
Note the cover art above of Indiana author George Ade taken shortly after he wrote
"A Set of Poe"**
Below is a complete list of all eight episodes (past and future) with dates:
Wednesday, December 23 - Episode 16 - A Set of Poe - a charming Christmas story about giving
Thursday December 24 - Episode 17 - The Gift of the Magi - O’Henry’s classic story (also about giving)
Friday December 25 - Episode 18 - a regular episode of Celebrate Poe. This episode is called Christmas with Poe, with some of the Christmas music we believe Poe enjoyed, and the Christmas that Poe learned that the love of his life was going to marry another man.
Then I will skip the weekend to get ready for -
Monday December 28 - Episode 19 - The Phantom Coach, Part One - a gripping tale of the supernatural from England
Tuesday December 29 - Episode 20 - The Phantom Coach, Part Two
Wednesday December 30 - Episode 21 - Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft - a man who said he never wrote a story within thinking of Poe. I am still trying to figure out what this story means
Thursday December 31 - Episode 22 - “The Outsider” also by H. P. Lovecraft - I haven’t figured this one out either, but it is an extremely creepy tale. This episode ends with some New Years thoughts.
Friday, January 1 - Episode 23 - Another regular episode of Celebrate Poe with a fascinating look at Mr. Bartley’s hometown, Staunton, Virginia, and some of the occasions the Allans visited Staunton with little Edgar.
This episode deals with the War of 1812 - weaving an account of many of the basic concepts regarding the war with the stories of two VERY different men - the kindly, aristocratic Francis Scott Key, and the rude, obnoxious, arrogant John Randolph of Roanoke.
Dolley Madison and David Poe Sr. (Poe's grandfather) are part of the narrative of the conflict too!
Some of the major causes of the conflict are discussed, as well as what the conflict did (and did not) accomplish.
The episode ends with some remarks about Winter Solstice (the darkest day of the year,) and celebrating a time of lighter days in the future - both literally and figuratively.
Episode Fourteen: Red Death (Part Two)
This is the second and final episode (for now) regarding The Masque of the Red Death - The story ends with a deadly confrontation between the Red Death and Prince Prospero (guess who comes out the victor?)
Mr. Bartley gets all excited about the use of the number “seven.”
The episode ends with some comments about COVID, leaders with empathy, the darkness of the story as it relates today, and some words of hope
Link to Benedict Cumberbatch's version of "The Seven Ages of Man" for a BBC promo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0niBGnNcTc
Episode Thirteen: Red Death (Part One)
After an explanation of why Celebrate Poe is abandoning its chronological format (for only a week or two) this episode delves into what many scholars believe is Poe’s most horrifying story - The Masque of the Red Death - a story that is especially relevant today.
We discuss various possible sources for the story - medieval, Shakespeare, and Nathaniel P. Willis’s report about a cholera party in Paris. And we point out the pestilence in the story is not specifically identified - making the story more universal. Mr. Poe begins the story of the Red Death and the ruler in the story who does not care about his people’s deaths during a pandemic - Donald Trump
(I mean Prince Prospero)
Episode Twelve: Two Heroes (A Blacksmith and the Gay Priest)
In this episode, Mr. Poe and George discuss two American Heroes:
- Gilbert Hunt - an African American blacksmith who saved several lives in the Richmond Theatre Fire of 1811 (and later the Va. State Penitentiary)
- Father Mychal Judge - a life-affirming, dynamic priest who happened to be gay. He died at 9/11 while giving last rites, and was the first official victim of the disaster.
***This could quite possibly be the most moving podcast you will ever hear.
Links to Michael Daly articles for The Daily Beast***https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/michael-daly
Links for Pieta comparison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0#/media/File:Michelangelo's_Pieta_5450_cropncleaned_edit.jpg
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/for-five-men-tragedy-remains-over-photo-of-911s-first-casualty/article592945/#c-image-0
Episode Eleven America’s First Major Disaster
In this episode, Mr. Poe and George discuss America’s First Major Disaster - the Richmond Fire of 1811 in which over 70 of the most influential people (in a town of less than 10,000) died. Warning: The podcast's description of the fire is a bit intense.
For example: The fire caused theatre goers to scream in agony. Some of them felt there was no foreseeable way out, and leaped out of the high windows. Initially some of the jumpers suffered broken bones almost instantaneously as they hit the hard ground, while others were crushed to death when other jumpers fell on them.
In this episode, Mr. Poe and Mr. Bartley discuss the tragic life of his mother, Eliza, as well as his brother and sister.
Mr. Poe poignantly relates the horrible illness of his mother. He then talks about her death from tuberculosis when the writer was only two years old
https://www.openlettersmonthlyarchive.com/olm/appearing-as-edgars-father
https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/michael-daly
This episode begins with an apology, and story about a rowdy group of students (from Lady Gaga’s mother’s high school) and their refusal to be quiet until I feigned madness!
A majority of this episode covers the question of the identity of Poe’s father. Most scholars believe he was David Poe, Jr,. but a professor at Duke has made an interesting case regarding John Howard Payne - one of the leading actors of the period, and the author of the first Broadway hit- Home Sweet Home.
And then there is the matter of Poe’s sister. How could David have been her father if he had already deserted the family? And does it really matter?
This episode covers the “story of who was Poe’s father?” as an example of a tendency of people interested in Poe to “fill in” the gaps when there might be a question - is this a “historical conspiracy theory.”
It is 1809, and Mr. Poe is born in Boston on January 9 in the cold of winter (naturally.)
And Mr. Poe talks about the fact that his mother often played classic roles where she died on stage. Could this be why Poe wrote so many stories about beautiful young woman dying (and often coming back to life?)
Being a research heavy podcast, I am indebted to the Indianapolis Public Library - without whom this podcast would be impossible.
This episode deals with
- the conflicts between Eliza (Poe's mother) and David (Poe's father) as stage actors
- a comparison of Eliza and David to Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born
- a discussion of the size and importance of the couple’s Shakespearean roles (possibly the nerdiest thing you will ever hear!)
Cover Art: File from Wikipedia :Star Is Born 04 (44027219335).jpg cropped 64 % horizontally, 68 % vertically using CropTool with precise mode.
Episode Seven
This episode begins a look at Poe’s ancestors - the people who made him who he became.
Mr. Poe talks about his grandfather - David Poe, Sr. - definitely a strong and decisive man who gave a great deal of money to the cause of the colonial independence. Mr. Poe then talks about his grandfather’s children - especially David Poe Jr. (the writer’s father.)
Mr. Poe then lovingly talks about his mother, her strong acting background, and success in America.
Encapsulating the American Revolution in the story of two men both named Lafayette
- General Lafayette from France
- James Lafayette - American member of the enslaved population
Mr. Poe's opinion of the musical Hamilton
This brief episode deals with
- My birthday (and some personal notes)
- Alfred Hitchcock and Poe
- The movie Marnie, its Poe references, and Sean Connery
- Sean Connery in Finding Forrester and the joy of writing
Theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents (as Poe might have heard it)
Thanks for the podcast response
Just in time for Halloween, this podcast features the ghost of Mr. Poe reading from 8 of his works (including The Tell Tale Heart, The Bells, Visit of the Dead, The Lake, and what might be the best version of The Raven you will ever hear.)
Episode Two Encountering Poe’s Ghost
I begin the episode relaxing in a comfortable chair in a University of Virginia library when a bum? Panhandler? Apparition? Introduces himself as Edgar Allan Poe, and tells me that he wants to start a podcast. We talk, but I am doubtful, to say the least.
Then switch to a few months ago - this same apparition visits me again (knowing that I want to start a podcast.) This time I take him up on his offer (knowing that it is going to an unbelievable amount or work to do right.)
And he reminds me that “the boundaries between life and death are at best shadowy and vague. Who knows where one ends and the other begins?”
How can I argue with that?
Episode One Becoming Poe
This episode basically explains where I am coming from regarding this podcast - my (almost) journey from working at a computer store to being a guide at the Poe Museum in Richmond - generally believed to be the largest collection of Poe-related memorabilia in the world. (and a REALLY AWESOME place)
Then I explain how I become (more or less) Edgar Allan Poe for the West Virginia Humanities Council History Alive program (what a mouthful) My job was to travel through the state doing programs as Poe for schools, libraries, book fairs, etc. And I was surprised to find that Poe was treated like a rock star!
So this podcast is about George, but future episodes will introduce the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe, and mark his transition to a regular podcast. And Mr. Poe has a lot to say!
Once upon a midnight dreary -
What would it be like if the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe did a podcast.
Join Mr. Poe and George Bartley, a historical reenact and independent researcher, for a deep dive into the life, times, and works of one of America’s greatest writers, Edgar Allan Poe.
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