Nelson and Jonathan continue their discussion of J. G. Ballard's novel 'Crash'. Pink Floyd get a mention, and Jonathan exposes for the whole world, one of Nelson's most closely guarded secrets. Now you're interested.

The music was composed and performed specially for these episodes by Jonathan Craig.

In 1973, J. G. Ballard published 'Crash', an orgy of a novel, which made an aesthetics of sex and violence. In what Ballard called an 'extreme metaphor', the car crash became the culmination of orgasm, celebrity worship, and nihilistic longing. Yes, well, quite. Who better to discuss this distasteful blemish on literature, than with writer and old friend, Jonathan Craig, with whom Nelson recorded the first episode of Counterturn, all those months ago.

The novel can be purchased here:

https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=crash+ballard&crid=3MTVTFDJNAB47&sprefix=crash+ballar%2Caps%2C464&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

Jonathan Craig's aside on Princess Diana was based on this article:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57189371

Music for synthesizers was composed by Jonathan Craig. The theme song 'Zaftik' was composed and performed by Nelson Rufatt.

Nelson discusses boredom, its causes and who they are. He reflects on the importance of furnishing your mind, and liking it.

The theme song 'Zaftik' was composed and performed by Nelson Rufatt.

Something slightly different.

The theme song 'Zaftik' was composed and performed by Nelson Rufatt.

This week, Nelson talks with Professor Kate Burridge. Prof Burridge has the Chair of Linguistics at Monash University. She has thoroughly researched changes in vocabulary and grammar, linguistic taboo, and the structure and history of English. She has written and edited more than twenty books on different aspects of language, has regular segments on ABC Radio and 3AW, and was a weekly pannelist on the ABC's television program 'Can We Help?'.

A selection of her books can be purchased here:

https://www.amazon.com/Books-Kate-Burridge/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AKate+Burridge

https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/kathryn-burridge

The theme song 'Zaftik' was composed and performed by Nelson Rufatt.

In this episode, Nelson recites two of his poems — 'Bellerophon' and 'For Bix Beiderbecke', both of which were published in the June issue of Quadrant.

The phrases 'a sequence of desolate exuberance' and 'playful grief', are taken from Clive James's essay on Beiderbecke, in 'Cultural Amnesia'. Bix, playing the song 'I'm Coming Virginia': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW7YYt0F-K4 Louis Armstrong Remembers Bix Beiderbecke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng20NdShee4 The theme song 'Zaftik', and the poems quoted in this episode, were composed and written by Nelson Rufatt.

Nelson speaks an impassioned essay about, for, in defence of, Salman Rushdie, his life, and his prose. And — it can never be argued for often enough — enlightenment, and freedom of expression. It is dedicated to Rushdie, and to his family. May he and they live long.

You can buy ‘The Satanic Verses’ here:

https://www.angusrobertson.com.au/books/the-satanic-verses-salman-rushdie/p/9780963270702?gclid=CjwKCAjwyaWZBhBGEiwACslQo22fy26-ZdDykLTR4maJcRj4-cwRBruKmwOd74DjqSDUj9eOUa6SixoCbuEQAvD_BwE

What Are the Satanic Verses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlalmIjDhr8

The Robertson-Islam Interview: 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-05-31/34730

This episode was produced by Johnathan Craig. The theme song is 'Zaftik' and was composed and performed by Nelson Rufatt.

Nelson reflects on the Sydney Theatre Company's production of 'A Picture of Dorian Gray', which he saw at the Playhouse in Melbourne in early August. Authenticity, art, myth, and music, are pampered, prodded, and inverted in this episode.

This episode was produced by Johnathan Craig. The theme song is 'Zaftik' and was composed and performed by Nelson Rufatt.

Intimacy is being abolished. Or so says Counterturn's host Nelson Rufatt, with his tongue in and around his cheek.

Nelson and Peter continue their discussion of poetry, and Jewishness. How do Jewish poetry and mysticism balance ironic scepticism with religious feeling? And what the hell's wrong with rhyme anyway?

This conversation took place between Nelson Rufatt, and poet, teacher, and translator of Hebrew and Arabic, Peter Cole. Cole's riveting books of poetry include 'Rift', 'Things On Which I've Stumbled', 'Hymns and Qualms', and 'The Invention of Influence'. He has written celebrated translations of medieval and Kabbalistic Hebrew poetry, as well as of works by Hebrew and Arabic-speaking poets such as Aharon Shabtai, Yoel Hoffman, and Taha Muhammad Ali. Among his many prizes are a MacArthur Fellowship, the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation, and an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He teaches Comparative Religion at Yale University, and lives sometimes in Jerusalem, sometimes in New Haven, Connecticut.

His books can be purchased at http://ibiseditions.com/petercole/

The theme song is 'Zaftik' was composed and performed by Nelson Rufatt.