Blooms & Barnacles

Leopold Bloom braves an awkward stop-and-chat.

Topics in this episode include: Leopold Bloom’s encounter with M’Coy, what Bloom has in common with Larry David, M’Coy as a character in “Grace”, M’Coy as an early prototype for Bloom, a quincunx, Bloom wrestles with his Shadow, Bloom trying to catch a glimpse of a woman’s leg, outsider jaunting cars, Hoppy Holohan, Bob Doran, Bantam Lyons, more lotuses, Ivy Day, Charles Stewart Parnell and Home Rule, foostering, the symbolism of Bloom’s interrupted ogling, the technic of narcissism, and the peri.

Plumtree’s Potted M’Coy

Facebook | Twitter

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

Mr. Bloom runs a mysterious errand at the Westland Row Post Office.

Topics include hidden lotuses, Corny Kelleher, Leopold Bloom’s missing hour, tooraloom tooraloom tay, Orientalism and Bloom’s fantasy of the Far East, stereotypes about climate’s affects the character of a culture, Tom Kernan, how Bloom succumbs to the Lotus Eaters, Henry Flower, what Bloom has hidden in his hat, Major Tweedy and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the Lotus Eaters of the British military, Maud Gonne’s awkward activism, Edward VII’s freemasonry.

Maud Gonne

Ground Control to Major Tweedy

Facebook | Twitter

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

We begin our foray into the languorous “Lotus Eaters” episode.

Topics in this episode include how Kelly is like the Terminator, Odysseus and his crew’s misadventure with the Lotus Eaters in The Odyssey, why forgetfulness is evil in Odysseus’ view, some peculiar tales from Westland Row, cultivating an appreciation for the mundane, the Lotus Eaters that Bloom encounters in Westland Row, whether or not the Lotus Eaters were really all that bad, bliss ninnies and how they are a diversion from true enlightenment, hologram utopia, a detour into tales of psychedelia, Leopold Bloom as a Lotus Eater, religion as anaesthetic, the alchemy of Sweny’s chemist, narcissism, a wounded male ego, a one-sided affair, coping with uncertainty, Bloom’s failure to connect with his acquaintances in “Lotus Eaters,” and avoiding intellectual lotuses.

Ulysses and The Odyssey: The Lotus Eaters

Facebook | Twitter

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher
 

We explore Leopold Bloom’s connection to the ancient Phoenicians.

Topic covered in this episode include: social hierarchies in Ireland, Dubliners v. culchies, Leopold Bloom’s fascination with the Orient, how imperial British culture informs Bloom’s worldview, whether or not some people in Irish society benefited from colonialism, the Celtic Revival movement, how the Revivalist applied an Orientalist worldview to the West of Ireland, the view that the first settlers of Ireland came from the Near East, The Book of Invasions, the adventures of the Milesians on their way to ancient Ireland, how DNA has changed the way we see ancient Ireland, the belief that the Irish descended from the ancient Phoenicians, the belief that Ireland was Calypso’s island in The Odyssey, Charles Vallancey’s belief that the Irish language came from Phoenicia, Irish Orientalism, the cultural function of an Irish connection to the East, Orientalism as a tool for nationalism, the inequality and racial purity of Revivalism, James Joyce’s view on Irish Orientalism, what an Irish-Phoenician connection adds to the character of Leopold Bloom, and how a connection to ancient Phoenicia allows for a more inclusive view of Ireland.

Sweny's Patreon helps keep this marvelous Dublin landmark alive. Please subscribe!

Is Leopold Bloom Phoenician?

Facebook | Twitter

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

Does Leopold Bloom seem a bit anal retentive to you?

Content Warning: We talk an awful lot about poo in this one. If that’s not your cup of tea, use your own discretion.

In this episode, Dermot and Kelly finish Ulysses’ fourth episode - “Calypso.” Topics include Ezra Pound’s sense of propriety, the number of toilets in the Bloom household, Titbits, using dung to clean kid gloves, James Stephens, Dlugacz’s mere enthusiasm, jakes v. jacks, cuckstools, Matcham’s Masterstroke and Mr. Philip Beaufoy, Bloom’s desire to write his own prize Titbits story, Joyce’s own failed attempt to be printed in Titbits, when Molly met Boylan, Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours, Westminster Quarters, overthinking Bloom’s “heigh-ho’s”, glorious hypostasis, filth, Leopold Bloom’s anal fixation, James Joyce and psychoanalysis, the power struggle of Freud’s anal stage, the anal retentive personality and whether it is an apt description of Bloom.

In the Jakes with Mr. Bloom

Facebook | Twitter

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

Is a picnic really just picnic?

In this episode, Dermot and Kelly discuss Milly’s letter from Mullingar, those lovely seaside girls, Milly’s purpose in the narrative of Ulysses, the implication of a picnic, whether or not Milly is a poor substitute for Rudy, the significance of Milly’s fifteenth birthday, how Milly’s maturity has affected her parents’ marriage, Freud’s concepts of censorship and projection, Leopold and Molly projecting their insecurities onto Milly, Milly as a looking glass, whether or not Milly is nothing but a mini-Molly, whether or not incest is a major theme in Ulysses, Leopold and Milly’s jaunt on the Erin’s King, how concerned Bloom should be about Bannon, and Bloom’s knowledge that he can’t control Milly.

Leopold Bloom contemplates the purchase of immense melonfields north of Jaffa.

Topics covered in this episode include the Zionist movement of the early 20th century, how to pronounce Agendath Netaim, why Joyce might have changed Agudat to Agendath, hypostasis, the business sense (or nonsense) of buying farmland in Palestine, Bleibtreustrasse 34, morphic resonance, Dlugacz the porkbutcher as Hermes, whether or not Bloom is a Zionist, Citron, Mastiansky, and St. Kevin’s Parade, why Bloom’s rejection of Zion makes him more like Odysseus, James Joyce’s thoughts on Zionism, and toxic nostalgia.

Agendath Netaim

Facebook | Twitter

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

Happy Bloomsday, one and all!

Enjoy a selection of readings from Ulysses by our talented listeners from across the globe. It’s a Bloomsday bash you can listen to anywhere. Just add gorgonzola and burgundy!

Sweny's Patreon helps keep this marvelous Dublin landmark alive. Please subscribe!

U22: The Centenary Ulysses Podcast

Ulysses - for the Rest of Us!

A free book club hosted by the Museum of Literature Ireland and Conner Habib

Consider supporting Conner Habib’s Patreon

Friends of Joyce Tower Society

Oranbega Retreat Center

Facebook | Twitter

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

Ian Giles, Nestor, 08:37

Brendan Tannam, Nestor, 13:19

Linus Ignatius, Proteus, 21:47

Ilaria Susmel, Proteus, 36:20

Jenny Reece, Calypso, 40:15

Conor Farnan, Lotus Eaters, 49:01

Michael O’Shea, Hades, 56:52

Paul Ringo, Hades, 01:03:53

Tad Davis, Hades, 01:12:18

Andrew Basquille, Aeolus, 01:19:35

Mark Segall, Scylla and Charybdis, 01:28:00

Molly McLaughlin, Wandering Rocks, 01:34:54

Noah Chiles, Sirens, 01:40:16

Joe Gallagher, Sirens, 01:44:38

Jack Friary, Cyclops, 01:49:07

Senan Molony, Cyclops, 01:51:08

Margaret Harvey-O’Kelly, Nausicaa, 02:05:10

Allen Mahan, Nausicaa, 02:14:02

Philip de Bary, Oxen of the Sun, 02:19:54

Ted Morrissey, Oxen of the Sun, 02:28:51

Paul Creaner, Oxen of the Sun, 02:37:24

Russell Raphael, Circe, 02:43:47

Steve Carey, Circe, 02:51:34

Maddy Melnick, Ithaca, 02:55:43

Jinan Ashraf, Ithaca, 03:01:24

Caraid O’Brien, Penelope, 03:03:35

Ruth Thompson, Penelope, 03:07:26

“Myler Keogh and the Portobello Bruiser,” performed by Andrew Basquille, 03:14:58

We do our best to take Molly’s advice and tell it in plain words - what is metempsychosis?

Topics covered in this episode include Boylan’s bold hand, whether or not cats are kosher, moustache cups, secret letters, “La Ci Darem La Mano”, an orangekeyed chamberpot, how Molly can be both Calypso and Penelope, Joyce’s personal interest in metempsychosis, why understanding reincarnation is a key to understanding Ulysses as a whole, Molly’s quest for high quality erotica, the importance of Paul de Kock, nymphs, the truth about Photo Bits, Molly the nymph, metamorphosis v. metempsychosis, the importance of the body in Ulysses, and the union of body and mind.

Met Him Pike Hoses

Facebook | Twitter

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher

Why is Leopold Bloom so captivated by the “mysterious East”?

In this episode we discuss the Orientalist motif in Ulysses, with a focus on “Calypso.” Topics include what is Orientalism?, how Orientalism manifests in Irish culture, the blurred continuum between Irish and British culture, Edward Said, why the “Orient” is really a dream, the Whig interpretation of history, what Leopold Bloom has in common with Julia Roberts, Haroun al-Raschid, Turko the Terrible, Molly’s connection to the East, Disney’s Aladdin, hypostasis of Dedalus and Bloom, In the Track of the Sun, Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s “Kubla Khan”, dulcimers, and why Bloom’s heritage makes him “Oriental” in the eyes of some.

Leopold Bloom’s Journey Through the Orient

Facebook | Twitter

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher