talking about grief, fear, and chuck berry + sum poems & a song by me (phc)

much of this episode's music is highlighted in my occasional music newsletter https://delete.substack.com/p/004

Jeremy Boyd is the author of Split. He joined me on the Petroleum Boogie podcast to discuss how play informs creativity, finding confidence as an artist, why he likes to go on walks, and much more. Honestly it's just a chill conversation where we talk about all kinds of shit. This is also the first episode where I ask listeners for money. If you like what I'm doing any support you can throw my way is deeply appreciated. Hit me on venmo @paulhansonclark or via https://ko-fi.com/gasdance ... I've been talking to more and more people about doing episodes and hope to start ""doing the petroleum boogie"" on a weekly basis. Episode features sounds from the following sources... XXXTentacion, Rihanna, Kanye West, Kurt Cobain, Krist Novaselic, Bob Marley, "The Price Is RIght", The O'Jays, Cult Mind, Lucille Clifton, Soundscape Versions, Fahmi Mursyid, Sacred Mirrors, JR Chaparro & Lucas Dillon, América Analógica, Shaky Handz, Crystal Sh4derz, and Tough Boy.

Lana’s cover of “Doin’ Time”, Super Mario Theme, brief clip from “Nolia Clap” by UTP, “I Hate The Capitalist System” by Barbara Dane, the beautiful piano stylings of legendary Ethiopian nun Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbro, a reversed clip from Kanye’s “Wolves” makes its 2nd appearance on the Petroleum Boogie, anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist wisdom from Zack de la Rocha, I read my poem “RIP James Gandolfini”, audio from a documentary about Pat Tillman, a Nils Lofgren song that was used beautifully in a Sopranos episode, the final rap battle from 8 Mile, and Eamon’s iconic Bush Era heartbreak jam, “Fuck It”

I beg MUBI to sponsor The Petroleum Boogie. I riff about Ignatiy Vishnevetsky’s essay “Letter to Abel Ferrara on His 59th Birthday.” I tease my upcoming ALT LIT BRACKET. I talk about my grandma throwing a party for JFK and writing an elegy for her when she died. I also discuss songs by Iván Muela and Warm Human. Music from Renjā, Angelo Badalamenti, Why?, Golden Earring, audio clips from the film The Way We Were, The Sopranos, + a snippet from an interview with David Lynch.

My interview with Todd Robinson concludes. We discuss two more poems from his collection MASS FOR SHUT-INS (this book, btw, is out in the world, so buy it!). One thing about Todd is he’s very real, and I think all these interviews show that, but here he goes into his experience being there for a friend who had tried to commit suicide. It’s harrowing stuff, but it’s also beautiful. Some additional highlights: Todd breaks down how he generates writing prompts, I rant about Ted Kooser, and we both ruminate on the impossibility of always being the “best” version of yourself. Later in the episode I go on a solo riff about war criminality and read an essay by Christopher Hitchens… a gifted polemicist who also happens to be a rather dubious dude. Music in this episode is from a golf video game, a song called “A shiver through the”, a snippet from Kanye West, some Post Malone, and a clip from an Amy Goodman-moderated debate between Hitchens and George Galloway.

Todd and I’s conversation continues. More discussion of some of our fav poets… this round it’s Matthew Yeager, Joyce Monsour, Bill Cassidy, and N.H. Pritchard. Later we talk about being young in the 80s/90s, experiencing the era’s surreal omnipresent homophobia. We riff about Robin Williams as a weirdness role model, as well as the way humor and tragedy are often linked. Todd unveils his concept of The Noem… aka… writing a poem, that isn’t a poem? Here’s Todd: “I was just writing a noem. It wasn’t a poem. It was like a journal entry that moved a little deeper than a journal entry normally might.” Listen for a full unfurling of this delightful (and useful!) concept. Music from Jocko, Conor Oberst, some unknown ambient, found audio from Curb Your Enthusiasm, + audio from Matthew Yeager reading poems at Music Millennium in Portland.

Todd Robinson, a badass poet and a true beacon of mirth, joins me for a conversation. We talk about doing whippits, loving Pink Floyd, writing poems, and being motherfuckn addicts!!! Todd gets very real about a terrifying drug-related health struggle he had, but also paints a beautiful picture of what it's like to leave that shit in the dust. One of my fav moments: "When I was sober maybe six months or so, I noticed that the colors of the world were a lot brighter. Greens were greener, blues were bluer, purples were purpler. I'm not kidding dude, like, the world was more vivid. And that wasn't some bullshit illusion, I've heard other people say that, too, that your senses kind of power back up." We also talk about a couple of our favorite poets who don't get a ton of hype... Mag Gabbert and Lauren Ireland. Later in the pod I do a deep dive into an awesome Ireland poem from her book FEELINGS, which is available from Trembling Pillow Press. I highly recommend checking it out. Todd was the first person I talked to for PETROLEUM BOOGIE and basically the conversation was ridiculously long and I had to split it up into a few episodes. So, look forward to the rest of the TODDFATHER TRILOGY in coming days. Music in this episode is Jai Paul, Pink Floyd, Molly Drake, and Kids See Ghosts. There's also some red carpet audio vérité from 1) the wonderful A$AP Rocky and 2) Shitheel hasbeen Topher Grace. Enjoi!

discussions re: tomaz salamun, goals w this podcast, and more