Our special guest is writer/scholar Yelena Furman, who guides us through the richness of today's Russian-language literature, with a particular look at women's literature both in Russia (and environs) and in the western diaspora. We talk about Elena Chizhova, Liudmila Petrushevskaia, Liudmila Ultskaia, Ksenia Buksha, Alisa Ganieva, Svetlana Alexievich, Olga Zilberbourg and more. Plus, the humor embedded in the Russian language and how Gary Shteyngart became the avatar of Russian-Jewish literature in America. For more Russian authors/titles, go here: https://puncturedlines.wordpress.com/2020/02/06/notable-books-russian-titles-in-english-translation-2009-2019/

Music attribution: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

Writers and thinkers such as Thomas Merton, Jack Kerouac, Raymond Smullyan, Gary Snyder, Alan Watts, Scott P. Bradley and Allen Ginsberg have been influenced by Zen and Taoism. We explore the effects Eastern Religions have had on western culture and writers, as well as their role on our life experiences. Roman talks about Chinese Taoist poets such as Du Fu, Su Tungpo, Li Po and Wang Wei. We also reference books by Seung Sahn, Natalie Goldberg and Shunyru Suzuki Roshi. Check out this article: "Aimless Wandering: Chuang Tzu's Chaos Linguistics" by Hakim Bey: http://www.strange-loops.com/philhakimchaoslinguistics.html

Music attribution: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

We speak with Dr. Pancho Savery of Reed College and explore the relevance of African-American literature during this unique moment. We ask who these books were written for and whether African-American literature still exists today. We talk about Black Panther, Thelonious Monk, Langston Hughes, Alexander's The New Jim Crow, racism in Boston, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, C. Vann Woodward, Ralph Ellison and the inner, "digging" work white Americans must do if we can expect any change. We reference this article: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Does-African-American/126483/

Music: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

Days of civil unrest in the U.S. over the death of George Floyd. We have a conversion. We talk RFK in '68, Edgar Allen Poe, Piketty's examination of economic inequality, James Baldwin, James Fenimore Copper, the political and spiritual path of Simone Weil and why Roman always returns to the humor of George Carlin. Please note: video of RFK speaking in Indianapolis the night MLK was killed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2kWIa8wSC0

Music: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

A wide-ranging discussion on the humor of Arno Schmidt, Jean Giono under Nazi occupation, the poetry of Harold Norse, the literary talents of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, our feelings about Thomas Mann and why Roman's Russian father always suspected German soldiers were hiding in the basement. Plus, the big picture of why COVID-19 is forcing readers and thinkers to search far and wide for the meaning during this crisis.

Music attribution: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

As readers we surround ourselves with books, but some of us fetishsize books while others don't. We talk about book collecting, marginalia, breaking the bindings [yes, it happens], bookshelf porn, e-books, and the books of novelist David Markson at the Strand. We also reference the late Christopher Hitchens and this lovely video tour of his D.C. house with impressive bookshelves and his philosophy of collecting (everything George Orwell ever wrote!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oojddCxCg_4

Music attribution:

Music: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

To conclude our reading of Robert Musil's "The Man Without Qualities," we talk with Musil scholar and translator Genese Grill. She helps us think through Musil's use of metaphor, the book's mysterious incompleteness, the nature of Musil's German prose and how he aimed to bring us to the edge of the unknowable. Please see Episode No. 22 for more on Musil: https://soundcloud.com/user-63759823/the-man-without-qualities-by-robert-musil-episode-no-22

Music attribution: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

We tackle Musil's big, modernist behemoth, but this episode isn't just for Musil readers, it's for anyone who has ever questioned what is modern life and what is it doing to us. We discuss fragmentation in the arts, the disappearance of the sense of a soul and the overriding sense that modern life is unreal, and there is little we can build a foundation on, except perhaps, to understand this singular, paradoxical truth.

Podcast Theme: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

"Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw9zXepzEzA&feature=emb_logo

Alban Berg (1885-1935): Fünf Orchesterlieder nach Ansichtskarten-Texten von Peter Altenberg, per soprano e grande orchestra op.4 (1912) --- Halina Lukomska, soprano --- Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks diretta da Ernest Bour

In preparation for our upcoming Robert Musil podcasts, we discuss the creative explosion in Vienna before World War I. We talk about Musil, Gustav Klimt, composer Alban Berg, and others. We also look at the parallels between U.S. decline and decadence and that of Habsburg Vienna. We also make curious references to Tim Leary's cosmos prophecy as well as the music of King Krule. Plus: don't forget to fill out your Tournament of Books bracket: https://themorningnews.org/article/the-2020-tournament-of-books-shortlist-and-judges

Music attribution: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

What is the role of the writer and intellectual in a culture of crass commodities and pop culture? Should we be thankful for the disappearance of the public intellectual in America? Can we be optimistic that a new literature and a new literary culture can come from our digital age? With special guest writer and translator Josh Calvo we examine these questions, along with multiple unplanned detours into Robert Musil's "The Man Without Qualities." Articles referenced in this podcast: 1.) https://hlo.hu/interview/mircea-cartarescu-interview.html 2.) https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/what-is-and-isnt-literature/

Music attribution: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.