Michael Johnson is a Dylan adventurer. He was born in 1956 and grew up at the Jersey Shore. His first concerts were at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, NJ, starting with Black Sabbath in 1971. The next 3 plus years saw a huge shift largely as the result of him not filling out the selection cards from the Columbia Records Album Club and having to accept the album of the month, which transformed his musical horizons. He has had many jobs and started a career in teaching at age 42 in 2000. He has since transitioned from 8th-grade English teacher to school librarian, which was a survival move. Two major events in his life were sobriety in 1995 and marriage in 2015 at age 58.

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In this latest episode of the Million $ Bash roundtable, the gang goes at the surprise 2009 release of Christmas in the Heart, Bob Dylan’s first and perhaps only album of Christmas music, at least until there is a Bootleg Series box set of the session outtakes. The album is, unsurprisingly, contentious, and the M$B roundtable participants, despite their academic restraint, are not immune from that controversy. Enjoy this special holiday edition of the Million $ Bash!

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n this latest episode of the Million $ Bash roundtable, the gang talks about their contributions to the new collection, The Politics and Power of Bob Dylan’s Live Performances: Play a Song for Me, edited by our very own Erin Callahan and Court Carney and published by Routledge.

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Roberta Rakove is a partner in the firm of Rakove and Strassberger which advises and trains nonprofits and foundations on how to build effective advocacy. Prior to that she served for many years as the Senior Vice President for External Affairs for Sinai Health System in Chicago advocating on Medicaid(as in Shot of Love “Doctor can you hear me? I need some Medicaid”),immigration, and gun violence prevention. Since 1968 she has spent much of her free time obsessing about Bob Dylan and in 2022 coordinated an adult education class on Bob Dylan for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Northwestern University.

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Elizabeth Cantalamessa is currently a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of Miami and an instructor at the University of Houston-Downtown. She grew up in Houston, Texas, and has published on topics including political speech, disagreement, and copyright law. 

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In this latest episode of the Million Dollar Bash Roundtable, the gang takes on the Dylan songs they think deserve greater attention and recognition. Will sparks fly? Will inspiration flare? Well, there is only one way to find out!

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Laura Tenschert is a writer, podcaster, and musician living in London, UK. She is the creator of Definitely Dylan, a podcast about Bob Dylan’s work and creative process. The episodes on Rough and Rowdy Ways, Shadow Kingdom, and Dylan’s visual art have established her as a crucial voice on the artist’s recent work. Laura has presented and organised panels at the World of Bob Dylan conferences in Tulsa several times, and her work features regularly in books, zines, and other podcasts.

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Harold Lepidus is the author of Friends and Other Strangers - Bob Dylan Examined  He also hosts the Boston Harold Podcast.

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The Stoics taught us that the contemplation of the fleeting nature of life helps prepare us for the end, encourages us to appreciate and make the best of the present, and softens the blow when we lose those we care about. In that spirit, The Dylantantes presents a Million Dollar Bash Roundtable focused on Bob Dylan’s legacy now and forevermore even as he embarks on a new leg of his latest tour.

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Rebecca Slaman is a freelance writer and editor. She has a BA from Fordham University in English and Classics. Her writing specializes in fan communities on social media. She has been cited as a Bob Dylan expert in speaking engagements at University of Tulsa and Florida International University. You can find her on Twitter @ithrewtheglass, on the web at http://rslaman.wixsite.com/website, and on Substack.

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