Blooms & Barnacles
152 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 34 ratingsA blog and podcast that discuss James Joyce's Ulysses from a non-academic point of view. Less snooty, more movie references.
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Episodes
Worst Man in Dublin
October 26, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 43.6 MBThe Worst Man in Dublin. Topics in this episode include begrudgery, so much Dublin geography, mourning customs, buildings found on Great Brunswick (Pearse) St., jarvies and the hazard, the Invincibles, the Antient Concert Rooms, Joyce’s music career, John McCormack and J.C. Doyle, Dermot’s history with the erstwhile Antient Concert Rooms’ building, St. Mark’s Church, Bloom’s strange alibi, Blazes Boylan, Books Upstairs, St. Mark’s church on Pearse St., a tale of graverobbery, Sir Philip Cra...
Walking beside Molly in an Eton suit.
October 10, 2022 15:59 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MBWhat kind of person has a picnic party in a funeral carriage? Topics in this episode include a heartfelt thank you, cats that hate technology, the name Poldy, Eton suits, the Blooms’ middle class pretensions, Rudy’s conception, Raymond Terrace and the cease to do evil, Milly Bloom, crustcrumbs and picnic parties, Milly’s trip to Lough Owel, M’Coy, “Grace”, Joe Hynes, incubism, unpaid debts, the Grand Canal, cures for whooping cough, duchas.ie, Athos the dog, Rudolph Bloom’s suicide note, Ar...
A Fine Old Custom
September 14, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 44.2 MBI’ll tickle his catastrophe, believe you me! Topics include Ulysses tarot cards, incubism, the system of correspondences found in Ulysses, Martin Cunningham, Mr Power, Simon Dedalus, armstraps, caring for corpses, women’s role in caring for the dead, hats as identities, economic incubism, Bloom’s outsider status, Irish funeral customs, embalming, why Dignam’s widow doesn’t attend his funeral, keening, Rudy, 9 Newbridge Avenue, circulation and the heart, Dublin through a corpse-eye-view, fun...
As Decent a Little Man as Ever Wore a Hat
August 30, 2022 15:17 - 31 minutes - 21.5 MBShakespeare is in the eye of the beholder. Topics in this episode include the real-world inspiration for Paddy’s Dignam’s funeral, Matthew Kane, the funeral cortège to Glasnevin, attendees to Matthew Kane’s funeral, Martin Cunningham, Sisyphus, the short story “Grace,” the true story behind “Grace,” the Jesuits, Matthew Kane attending his own funeral, Matthew Kane’s appearance in “Ithaca,” Michael Hart, Tom Kernan, Matthew Kane’s appearance, Shakespeare in the eyes of his beholders, visitin...
Hades
August 07, 2022 16:51 - 52 minutes - 35.7 MBThe parallels between Bloom and Odysseus’ journeys to the Underworld. Topics include a summary of Chapter XI of The Odyssey, Bloom as sideways Odysseus, the neighborhoods of Glasnevin and Sandymount, Paddy Dignam and his “apoplexy,” Elpenor, Martin Cunningham the Sisyphus of Dublin, Dublin’s waterways, Dublin’s Charon, coins for the eyes, psychopomps, Reuben J. Dodd, Corny Kelleher, Cerberus, Father Coffey, simnel cakes, Dublin’s Hades and Persephone, the Nekuia, Joycean Hercules, Agamemnon...
Bantams and Bathtubs
July 20, 2022 15:47 - 42 minutes - 29.1 MB“Bantam” is an anagram of “Batman.” Coincidence? Topics include the state of Bantam Lyons’ hygiene, horseracing, Conway’s pub, cat wrangling, the Ascot Gold Cup, Throwaway, Bloom’s accidental racing tip, Dublin geography, Bloom’s disinterest in gambling, lotuses, the fleshpots of Egypt, Dermot’s dad’s betting tips, Orientalism, the Lincoln Place baths, sports as a lotus, Joyce’s love of cricket, Turkish hammams, the Victorians’ love of baths, the morality of baths, the precarity of the midd...
Bloomsday 2022
June 28, 2022 11:12 - 1 hour - 53 MBDermot and Kelly take to the streets of Dublin on Bloomsday 2022 with the goal to talk to as many people celebrating the occasion as possible. They talk to revelers at the Sandycove Martello Tower, Kennedy’s Pub in Lincoln Place, outside Sweny’s Pharmacy, and on Duke St. in the general vicinity of Davy Byrne’s. Many, many thanks to all the delightful people that spoke to us! Sweny's Patreon helps keep this marvelous Dublin landmark alive. Please subscribe! Blooms & Barnacles Social Media:...
Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom (w/ Aedín Moloney)
June 21, 2022 14:11 - 42 minutes - 29.2 MBKelly speaks with actress Aedín Moloney about playing Molly Bloom in her one-woman show, Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom. Aedín Moloney: http://www.aedinmoloney.com/ Instagram | Twitter Blooms & Barnacles Social Media: Facebook | Twitter Subscribe to Blooms & Barnacles: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher
NIGHTTOWN (w/ Benjamin Wenzelberg)
June 08, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 51.9 MBBlooms & Barnacles chat with composer Benjamin Wenzeberg about his new, Ulysses-inspired opera NIGHTTTOWN. Topics include adapting Ulysses for the stage, the process of writing an opera during Covid, gender politics and #metoo in Ulysses, gender-inclusive casting, Molly as a force of nature, the proper use of Italian, the symbolic power of musical notation, and Stephen Dedalus’ vulnerability.
Chemists rarely move.
May 18, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutes - 32.9 MBIs a bar of soap just a bar of soap? Topics in this episode include Leopold Bloom’s visit to Sweny’s Pharmacy, how often chemists move, Dublin geography, Bloom’s forgetfulness, the shrunken skull of Sweny the pharmacist, lotuses in the chemist’s, the philosopher’s stone, doing drugs, distilled water prices, Bloom’s filthy bath plans, the lemon soap, the Victorian virtue of cleanliness, perpetual power through consumer goods, Victorian soap ads, the politics of soap advertising, Bloom’s judg...
How long since your last mass?
May 04, 2022 04:00 - 44 minutes - 30.2 MBHave you repented for the sin of reading this filthy book yet? Topics in this episode include the Spanish Inquisition, English v. Latin, the Leonine prayers, the similarity between Catholic Mass and Columbo, Dermot’s priest voice, praying for the conversion of godless Communists, the difficulty of leaving Dodger stadium, Joyce’s parody of the Leonine prayers, Mike Birbiglia’s parody of the Mass, the hypocrisy of Confession, Leopold Bloom’s pragmatic view of Catholic Mass, the power wielded ...
One Old Booser Worse than Another
April 21, 2022 11:50 - 47 minutes - 33 MBWhy can’t we use Guinness instead of wine at Mass? Topics include Leopold Bloom’s thoughts on Communion wine, lots of lotuses, why wine must be used in the Mass instead of Guinness, temperance, transubstantiation, shew wine, cadging wine at Mass, Old Glynn, sacred music, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, footdrill, sacred music as a lotus, how sacred music is a bit sexy, how sacred music helps put butts in seats, Mercadante, Mozart, Palestrina, Dermot’s love of 12th c. polyphony, the Liturgy of the H...
Iron Nails Ran In
January 21, 2022 03:49 - 56 minutes - 39 MBGive us this day our daily Bloom. Topics in this episode include: mazzoth, shewbread, matzo v. Communion wafer, what it feels like to consume the body of Christ in the Eucharist, more cannibals, the hokey pokey and whether or not it mocks the Catholic Mass, Leopold Bloom use of popular culture to connect with more complex issues, the feeling of religious community, how Holy Communion is like Plumtree’s Potted Meat, the spectacle of the Mass, Lourdes water, the Knock apparition, moving statu...
Eating Bits of a Corpse (w/ Russell Raphael)
January 05, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 51.7 MBIs the Eucharist tantamount to cannibalism? Let’s ask Thomas Aquinas. Topics in this episode include: Fr. Conmee, Martin Cunningham, why Molly wasn’t admitted to the choir, bluey specs, Jesuit rock stars, Bloom’s skepticism of priests, a story from James Joyce’s 50th birthday party, the Eucharist, transubstantiation, the romantic possibilities of Mass, scapulars, nuns, everything Leopold Bloom doesn’t know about Holy Communion, blasphemy galore, what the Mass has in common with Hogwarts, Va...
The Buddha in the Museum
December 22, 2021 20:58 - 1 hour - 46.4 MBWhat did James Joyce think of Buddhism? Topics in this episode include: All Hallows or St. Andrew’s Church?, why Bloom hangs out in a church, the very reverend John Conmee S.J., sectarian scorekeeping, prayers for Gladstone, St. Peter Claver, the Opium Wars, racist poetry, the reclining Buddha statue in the National Museum of Ireland, Leopold Bloom misconceptions about Buddhism, Walter White’s misconceptions about Buddhism, depictions of the Buddha in art, what Joyce did and didn’t know abo...
No rose without thorns.
December 11, 2021 23:27 - 46 minutes - 32 MBDid James Joyce once covertly suggest a new Guinness slogan? Topics in this episode include Mary Lost the Pin of her Drawers, flat Dublin voices, the Coombe, Bloom’s preoccupation with correct pronoun-antecedent agreement, Jesus in the house of Martha and Mary, a famlus forgery, Ashtown and the trottingmatches, a famous hole in the wall, alcohol has the ultimate lotus, Barons Iveagh and Ardilaun, whether or not Jeff Bezos’ skin produces lice and vermin, whether or not Joyce had a vendetta a...
The Language of Flowers
November 19, 2021 21:16 - 57 minutes - 39.7 MB“Angry tulips with you darling manflower punish your cactus if you don’t please poor forgetmenot how I long violets to dear roses when we soon anemone meet all naughty nightstalk wife Martha’s perfume.” Kelly and Dermot untangle the mysterious language of flowers. Topics include James Joyce’s affair with Marthe Fleischmann, the pitfalls of method acting, Kate Bush, the tonal shifts in Martha Clifford’s letter to Henry Flower, narcissism and self-gratification, Martha’s connection to the Oth...
Martha
November 04, 2021 02:49 - 1 hour - 43.8 MBHenry dear, do not deny my request before my patience are exhausted. In this episode, Kelly and Dermot try to figure out who Martha, Leopold Bloom’s saucy penpal, could really be. Topics include Dermot’s interest in Islam, Bloom’s missing hour, Leah the Forsaken, jugginses and guttapercha, castration anxiety, hopscotch and marbles, senior infants, Martha’s letter, Martha’s possible true identity, why Martha is interested in Molly’s perfume, Kelly harshly debunks popular theories about Marth...
An Abode of Bliss
October 25, 2021 18:33 - 53 minutes - 36.4 MBThe Blooms’ household is anything but an abode of bliss. In this episode, topics include: Plumtree’s Potted Meat, Joyce’s love for advertising, the narcotic effect of adspeak, why Plumtree’s Potted Meat is the perfect metaphor for a modern Odysseus, M’Coy’s various scams, Boylan’s metaphorically significant gifts to Molly, Bloom’s missing hour and how his cat helps solve this mystery, Love’s Old Sweet Song, why M’Coy doesn’t turn up at Dignam’s funeral, Mrs. M’Coy, smallpox in Belfast, M’Co...
M'Coy. Get rid of him quickly.
October 07, 2021 02:31 - 50 minutes - 34.3 MBLeopold 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 interr...
Henry Flower, Esq
September 23, 2021 02:59 - 55 minutes - 37.8 MBMr. 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 acti...
The Lotus Eaters
September 08, 2021 12:00 - 35 minutes - 24.6 MBWe 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 t...
Irish Orientalism
August 25, 2021 12:00 - 57 minutes - 39.5 MBWe 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 ...
Titbits
August 11, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 46.5 MBDoes 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...
Dearest Papli
July 28, 2021 12:00 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MBIs 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...
Agendath Netaim
July 14, 2021 12:00 - 1 hour - 41.2 MBLeopold 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 re...
Bloomsday 2021
June 16, 2021 12:00 - 3 hours - 136 MBHappy 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! Cool stuff to support: 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 ...
Met Him Pike Hoses
June 03, 2021 01:38 - 57 minutes - 39.4 MBWe 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 d...
The Orientalism Show
May 19, 2021 12:00 - 51 minutes - 35.6 MBWhy 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,...
The Ferreteyed Porkbutcher
May 05, 2021 21:14 - 1 hour - 44.8 MBThis gland is your gland; this gland is my gland. Bloom finally makes it to the butcher to buy his kidney! In this episode, we discuss the geography (or joggerfry) of Bloom’s neighborhood, Larry O’Rourke’s, Bloom’s idea to build a tramline from the quays to the cattle market, bartenders who become rich, the art of economics, Moses Dlugacz, why a Jewish butcher sells pork, the Woods family of 8 Eccles St., the stout “nextdoor girl,” whacking, Zionism, blurred cattle cropping, and Mr. Dlugacz...
Potato I have.
April 21, 2021 12:00 - 50 minutes - 34.3 MBThis week, we’re talkin’ ‘bout ‘tatoes! Kelly and Dermot unpack the deeper symbolism behind Leopold Bloom’s idiosyncratic hobby of carrying a potato upon his person. Topics include Tayto crisps, Stephen and Bloom’s parallel lost keys, Bloom’s potato as a protective object, why the potato may actually possess magic powers, the potato as Odysseus’ moly, the potato as a panacea, the potato as a remedy for rheumatism, spud guns, potatoes as a fertility symbol, the potato as a mezuzah, the blasp...
Old Tweedy's Big Moustaches
April 08, 2021 22:20 - 1 hour - 42.7 MBWho was Molly Bloom’s father, Major Brian Cooper Tweedy? Far more than meets the eye. Topics in this episode include Michael Caine and Zulu, what the heck a footleaf is and other lovely minutiae, the origin of the Blooms’ jingly-jangly bed, Major Brian Cooper Tweedy and his military career, Molly’s time in Gibraltar and her memories of her father, Rorke’s Drift, Plevna, cheating at auctions, philately, sparrowfarts, Wolseley and Gordon in Khartoum, deception and lies, classism in the Britis...
7 Eccles St.
March 24, 2021 12:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MBOrgan meats: the breakfast of champions. In this episode, we cover the opening pages of Ulysses’ fourth episode, “Calypso.” Topics include who eats organ meats, how Bloom’s thoughts are different from Stephen’s thoughts, the humbleness of “Calypso,” what mundane actions tell us about a character, kidneys as a correspondent organ in “Calypso”, art as the office of purgation, Joyce as an artistic kidney, the cyclical nature of waste, Bloom’s kidney as a burnt offering, Bloom’s cat, Bloom’s co...
Calypso
March 10, 2021 13:00 - 52 minutes - 35.9 MBThis week we cover the parallels to “Calypso,” the fourth episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses and Book V of Homer’s Odyssey. Topics include how Leopold Bloom and Odysseus are similar, how they’re different since Bloom is really a sideways Odysseus, Bloom as a feminine man, the danger of nostalgia, the Blooms’ many secrets, Molly as a character especially veiled in secrets, so much etymology, the location of Calypso’s island Ogygia, Gibraltar, the color yellow, the fate of the lost city of Atlan...
Altman the Saltman (w/ Vincent Altman O'Connor)
February 24, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 41.5 MBIn our last episode, we discussed people from James Joyce’s life who influenced the creation of Leopold Bloom. However, we left one question unanswered - why were none of these men from Dublin? Didn’t Joyce know any Jewish people in Dublin? Vincent Altman O’Connor’s research into this very question and the biography of his grandfather Albert Altman may very well be the answer to this riddle. Topics discussed in this episode include Glasnevin’s many Joycean connections, the story of Albert A...
Who Was the Real Leopold Bloom?
February 10, 2021 23:16 - 56 minutes - 38.6 MBJames Joyce based many characters in Ulysses on friends, family, acquaintances, and enemies, but what about Leopold Bloom? Who were the real people in Joyce’s life who inspired the creation of one of literature’s greatest protagonists? Topics in this episode include people who Joyce thought looked like Leopold Bloom, the story of Alfred Hunter, why Joyce chose the address 7 Eccles St., how many pounds are in a stone, the inspiration for Bloom’s kindly-curious personality, Ettore Schmitz (It...
The Holy Office
January 27, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 47.9 MBThey both lived in a Martello Tower, sure, but what else do James Joyce and Bono have in common? We take a short break from analyzing Ulysses to take a look at one of Joyce’s early poems - “The Holy Office.” If you love 100+ year old gossip, strap in! This one gets dishy. Topics include the significance of the year 1904 in James Joyce’s life, the Irish Literary Revival, a young Joyce’s penchant for writing angry poetry, Joyce’s desire for artistic Truth rather than mere aesthetics, why you ...
Rere Regardant
January 13, 2021 13:00 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MBThis episode’s passage comes from p. 50-51 in my edition of Ulysses (1990 Vintage International), and covers the passage beginning “Come. I thirst.” and ending “…a silent ship.” We did it!!! We finally finished “Proteus”! We’re covering the last page of Ulysses’ third episode this week. Topics include Dermot’s love of tall ships and the Master and Commander novels, why a ship isn’t always a ship, Biblical allusions galore, why Stephen invokes Lucifer, cockle hats and sandal shoon, how St...
Barnacle Goose and Featherbed Mountain
December 30, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 42.7 MBHow exactly does God become a featherbed mountain? What the heck is a featherbed mountain? We answer these questions and more in this episode of Blooms & Barnacles! Topics covered in this episode include Dermot’s hot take on Richard Dawkins, Renaissance magic, theosophy, metempsychosis, Dublin seagulls, linear v. cyclical world-views, Dermot takes on Jared Diamond, consubstantiality, the Stephen seeks freedom from his father, the ichthys symbol, minnows eating spongy titbits, Hamlet, the le...
Full fathom five thy father lies.
December 16, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 44.1 MBThe end is nigh. Kelly and Dermot discuss in the depth the drowning motif of “Proteus”. Other topics include The Tempest and Ariel’s Song, the wily nature of the sea, Stephen’s estrangement from his father Simon, the role of alcohol in the lives of Ulysses characters, quitting alcohol, rising corpses, sea change, porpoises, the ancient Egyptian Book of Thoth, spongy titbits, Stephen’s connection to a corpse, looking for a way out of a suffocating home life, why Buck Mulligan is a terrible f...
Fourworded Wavespeech
December 02, 2020 13:00 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MB**If you’re unfamiliar with the peeing Calvin decal (or if you are), here’s the story. The divine and the profane live side by side in Ulysses. In this episode, we discuss what the heck Cock Lake is, why Stephen pees on the strand at the end of “Proteus”, the themes of generation and corruption in “Proteus”, the artistic merits of excrement, urination as an expression of freedom and creativity, Mother Grogan and her teapot, endowing waves with speech and animating the natural world, onomato...
Cranly's Arm
November 18, 2020 23:37 - 1 hour - 41.5 MBKelly helps Dermot remember why he drew James Joyce wearing red, killer heels. Topics include subtle Homeric correspondences, Dermot’s allegiance to Mr. Kipling’s cakes, Stéphane Mallarmé’s ‘L'après-midi d'un faune’ (The afternoon of a faun), more ire directed at that mocker Buck Mulligan, Stephen’s tiny feet, Stephen’s erstwhile friendship with Cranly, Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas, John Francis Byrne, Cranly’s feelings for Stephen, Wilde’s love that dare not speak its name, themes of...
What is that word known to all men?
November 05, 2020 05:16 - 47 minutes - 32.9 MBKelly and Dermot take on a deceptively simple passage in “Proteus” as they attempt to answer that ultimate question - what is the word known to all men? Topics covered in this episode include Stephen’s loneliness and why Joyce felt it was necessary for him to be totally alone, a mysterious discrepancy in Ulysses’ various editions, the 1984 Gabler edition of Ulysses, the universal Truth of a mother’s love, the universal Truth of death, how to escape from a troublesome duality, Rawhead and Bl...
The Virgin at Hodges Figgis' Window
October 21, 2020 12:00 - 59 minutes - 40.5 MBDermot and Kelly carry on discussing “Proteus” in their flutiest voices! Topics in this episode include: yet more discussion of the philosophy of the good bishop of Cloyne, George Berkeley, shovel hats, the fluttering of the veil between the material world and the metaphysical world, Dermot’s grudge against Bertrand Russell, how language obscures one’s perception of the material world, the heraldic system of hatching, Stephen playing with his stereoscopic vision, Stephen’s ideal woman, Hodg...
A Reign of Uncouth Stars
October 07, 2020 12:00 - 53 minutes - 36.8 MBForm of my form! Who watches me here? Kelly and Dermot wade into the final pages of “Proteus” to spend some time with old faves like Aristotle, Bishop Berkeley and Giordano Bruno. We dig deeper into Stephen Dedalus’ internal monologue while discussing Stephen’s concern for his future legacy, Stephen’s shadow, darkness shining in the brightness, the squid people of Procyon 5, the Delta of Cassiopeia, Roman augury, Giordano Bruno’s belief that the constellations were morally corrupt, and the ...
A Break for Jelly Donuts
September 23, 2020 12:00 - 8 minutes - 3.91 MBWe're taking a week off! See you in October!
Omnis Caro Ad Te Veniet
September 09, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 41.2 MBKelly and Dermot discuss one of the most metal passages in all of Ulysses! You can find it at the end of “Proteus” beginning with “A side eye at my Hamlet hat.” Topics include Hamlet (so much Hamlet), Stephen’s creative spark, more resent for Buck Mulligan, more grief for Stephen’s mother, the shifting protean nature of language and tides, various Biblical allusions, Stephen’s poem, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Hellas, Dermot’s grudge against Galileo, the philology of colors, did the sea really lo...
The Birth of Ulysses (w/ Phil Holden)
August 26, 2020 12:00 - 1 hour - 59 MBWe welcome Phil Holden to the podcast to talk about the early publishing of history of Ulysses. Phil is a collector of early Ulysses editions, so he shares his collection while telling the arduous tale of getting a book like Ulysses published in the first place, the role played by Sylvia Beach and Shakespeare and Company in publishing Ulysses, concerns about obscenity, pirate editions of Ulysses, books as art objects, the complications caused by Joyce’s early manuscripts, and who should play...
O, My Dimber Wapping Dell
August 12, 2020 19:07 - 1 hour - 41.2 MBWhite thy fambles, Red thy gan! Wait, what? Find out what this phrase and much more means in this episode as we continue our discussion of "Proteus," the third episode in James Joyce's Ulysses. Topics covered in this show include: what Stephen means by "red Egyptians," background on the Romani and Irish Travellers, Stephen's class insecurity, Terry Pratchett's Mort, strolling morts more generally, the distinct language of Romani and the Travellers, The Our Father in Shelta, the secret lan...
Haroun al-Raschid's Melons
July 29, 2020 18:58 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MBKelly and Dermot take a look at Stephen Dedalus' prophetic dream in "Proteus." Topics discussed include James Joyce's fascination with dream analysis, Stephen's connection to the mysterious Akasic record, Dermot's own experience with slippery time, the location of the "street of harlots" in Dublin, how Leopold Bloom and Haroun al-Raschid are connected, Orientalism, almosting, and prolonged provocative melonsmellonous osculation. You can hear our episode about translating Finnegans Wake into...