The Troubadour Podcast
298 episodes - English - Latest episode: 23 days ago -"It is the honourable characteristic of Poetry that its materials are to be found in every subject which can interest the human mind." William Wordsworth The Troubadour Podcast invites you into a world where art is conversation and conversation is art. The conversations on this show will be with some living people and some dead writers of our past. I aim to make both equally entertaining and educational.In 1798 William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads, which Wordsworth called an experiment to discover how far the language of everyday conversation is adapted to the purpose of poetic pleasure. With this publication, he set in motion the formal movement called "Romanticism." 220 years later the experiment is continued on this podcast. This podcast seeks to reach those of us who wish to improve our inner world, increase our stores of happiness, and yet not succumb to the mystical or the subjective.Here, in this place of the imagination, you will find many conversation with those humans creating things that interest the human mind.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Peering At Things: Ayn Rand and The Writer's Process
August 28, 2019 13:00 - 1 hour - 62 MBSend us a Text Message. @jJeff Britting and Kirk Barbera will be peering at a special page of a manuscript from the Ayn Rand's Archives. Jeff was instrumental in the building of the Ayn Rand archives. He worked with Rand's materials for over 25 years. And today we will be exploring her unique writing process and the writing process of many other famous (and some non-famous!) writers.
Metaphysical Mondays #3: Woman's Constancy by John Donne
August 26, 2019 12:00 - 21 minutes - 14.6 MBSend us a Text Message. Are women innately fickle? In episode 2 of Metaphysical Mondays we covered the poem The Good Morrow by Donne, where Donne waxes poetical about the eternality of romantic love. This is a very different poem. Here Donne speaks like an anxious teenager after a passionate night with a women he believes he is in love with. On this episode we'll talk about metaphysical conceit and more far fetched imagery.
SMP #17: We Are Seven by William Wordsworth
August 25, 2019 12:00 - 39 minutes - 26.8 MBSend us a Text Message. Who among the big six Romantic Poets was the greatest of all Romantic artists? To me this is like asking which part of the Pacific Ocean is wettest. However, in this discussion I explain some differences among all 6 and I discuss several advantages that William Wordsworth had over fellow poets like John Keats. Today's poem was based on an incident that Wordsworth experienced while on a walking tour in 1793. He had been forced to flee France after the country was he...
Waiting Around in Hollywood... With Jeff Britting
August 21, 2019 19:00 - 1 hour - 56.5 MBSend us a Text Message. On this special episode of Troubadour, I sat down in Hollywood with Jeff Britting. Jeff is an accomplished composer (including an Oscar nominated movie), play-wright, historian, author, and producer. He has lived in West Hollywood for the past 30 years. We chatted about Quentin Tarantino's most recent movie Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. We discussed the changing role of Hollywood in America, how the stars used to wait around for roles (and what they did while the...
Metaphysical Mondays #2: The Good Morrow by John Donne
August 19, 2019 12:00 - 34 minutes - 23.7 MBSend us a Text Message. Are we truly ALIVE before we fall in love? This is a question John Donne asks his girl one morning while waking up beside her. In this episode I explain the concept of "Metaphysical Conceit," which is often leveled at John Donne, and I also explain more about the differences in worldview between the Romantics and the Metaphysical Poets.
SMP #16 Anecdote for Fathers by William Wordsworth
August 18, 2019 12:00 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MBSend us a Text Message. A flaw in all parents, and one not easily rectified, is the inadvertent expectation of cohesion between your child's view of the world and the parents. In this poem by Wordsworth he gives you a hint as to how to identify and even rectify this mistake In the discussion of this poem I also explain an important principle regarding romantic literature and poetry. Hint: It has to do with the way we look at waterfalls!
Ballad #4 Thomas The Rhymer
August 14, 2019 12:00 - 16 minutes - 11.3 MBSend us a Text Message. Thomas the Rhymer, or True Thomas, was a real person -- Thomas of Ercildoune, who lived probably between 1210 and 1297. Thomas was supposed to have the power to see into the future. This power was given to him by the Fairy Queen, during his 7 year stay in the Fairy World. The story about his meeting with the Fairy Queen was believed by the Scottish peasants for many centuries.
Science Fiction and Edgar Allan Poe's "A Descent Into the Maelstrom"
August 13, 2019 12:00 - 1 hour - 47.3 MBSend us a Text Message. This short story is what Poe called a 'Tale of Ratiocianation;" one where we look for reasons to solve a mystery. It is also an early science fiction thriller. In previous podcasts I read and discussed Hawthorne and the birth of Sci-fi, now we turn to Edgar Allan Poe. Hawthorne wrote science fiction in a romantic style, with elevated even poetic language; Poe, on the other hand, wrote science fiction in the precise literature of empirical science. In this episode ...
Metaphysical Mondays #1 The Flea by John Donne
August 12, 2019 22:00 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBSend us a Text Message. How does a 17th century poet ask a woman for sex? Join in for episode 1 of Metaphysical Mondays where we explore Donne's most famous poem, The Flea, and we see him do just that. In this new series I'll be exploring a poetic school that preceded the Romantic Movement: The Metaphysical school. This refers to what Samuel Johnson called a "race of writers that may be terrmed the metaphysical poets," they were writers who were "rather as beholders than partakers of hum...
SMP #15 Simon Lee by William Wordsworth
August 11, 2019 12:00 - 51 minutes - 35.4 MBSend us a Text Message. How do we treat athletes after they have grown old and infirm? What does it feel like to once have been powerful and then to lose all power and strength? In Wordsworth's Ballad, published in the 1798 Lyrical Ballads, he explores an incident he had with an old, one-eyed man named Christopher Trickey. In his youth Trickey had been a strong huntsman with a wealthy family. Now they are all dead and he is impoverished and weak. One day he is attempting to upturn a roo...
Ballad #3 The WIfe Of Usher's Well
August 07, 2019 12:00 - 22 minutes - 15.6 MBSend us a Text Message. Today I explain why ballads are important for everyone to read. Our ballad today is a traditional one about an old peasant woman who sends her three sons all out to sea, and they all die. Then she curses the sea. The sons return for Martinmas (November 11th). Martinmas was a celebration of St Martin. On this day, the town would get together while they killed the animals needed to survive the winter. It was hard work and singing ballads made it more bearable. At thi...
SMP #14 Lines written a small distance from my house - William Wordsworth
August 04, 2019 12:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBSend us a Text Message. In the spring of 1798 William Wordsworth was going through a reckoning. His work on his elusive life project, The Recluse, was draining him. He had set out to study ALL knowledge up to that point in human history, and use it in an epic poem greater than The Iliad, Aeneid, Paradise Lost and all epics before it. But Wordsworth began to question the relevance of his project and his ability to accomplish it. In this poem, he challenges the idea of learning from books ...
Lines written a small distance from my house - William Wordsworth
August 04, 2019 12:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBIn the spring of 1798 William Wordsworth was going through a reckoning. His work on his elusive life project, The Recluse, was draining him. He had set out to study ALL knowledge up to that point in human history, and use it in an epic poem greater than The Iliad, Aeneid, Paradise Lost and all epics before it. But Wordsworth began to question the relevance of his project and his ability to accomplish it. In this poem, he challenges the idea of learning from books alone and advocates for p...
Ballad #2: Proud Lady Margaret
July 31, 2019 21:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MBSend us a Text Message. At the end of Game of Thrones, Tyrion Lannister tells the council that the stories we tell unite us. Is he correct? In this episode I argue that he is, and I give examples as to how stories we tell unite us as a country and they can unite us in our conception of our deepest values. In this traditional Scottish ballad, a knight comes to a wistful young woman in a castle. He is there to woo her. But she sees him as beneath her, due to the clothes he wears. After aski...
SMP #13: Goody Blake and Harry Gill: A True Story by William Wordsworth
July 28, 2019 12:00 - 41 minutes - 28.7 MBSend us a Text Message. Why do we cease to teach through the medium of verse? In children we happily sing songs and tell stories to convey moral tales and even astronomy, math, and economics. We know how effective this is in teaching young children ("My Very Evil Mother Just Swatted Uncle's Nose" -- for the planets) and yet why not teach the theory of evolution in metre and rhyme? Great poets, in fact, do teach in this manner. In this very simple ballad, Wordsworth conveys a complex theo...
What everyone gets wrong about Game of Thrones
July 27, 2019 12:00 - 2 hours - 93.6 MBSend us a Text Message. With special Guest Joe Tabor of www.advancethenarrative.com. There are of course spoilers! In this wide-ranging discussion of GoT Joe Tabor and Kirk Barbera discuss the 8 season arc of the show, the arcs of the major characters, and the themes in the show. We also discussed the backlash against the show and why the producers did the right thing in the end. Overall, our discuss was about the show as a total work of art, rather than a piecemeal discussion, which is...
Ballads 1: King John and the Abbott of Canterbury
July 24, 2019 12:00 - 14 minutes - 9.69 MBSend us a Text Message. A ballad is a song that tells a story. The oldest ballads, some say, are older than the alphabet even, having been composed and sung far, far back in man's history at old tribal dances for which they were the only music. In this series I will be reading a variety of traditional, modern and intellectual ballads. Some of these will be well known such as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and some, like today's ballad are lesser known. Ballads ...
SMP #12: The Nightingale by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
July 21, 2019 12:00 - 52 minutes - 35.8 MBSend us a Text Message. It is said that Coleridge's greatest achievement was William Wordsworth. There is some truth to this. But he was also a great poet in his own right. In Lyrical Ballads he and Wordsworth changed English sensibilities (and American) completely. While Wordsworth was the greater poet, Coleridge was the greater philosopher. It is Coleridge's insights as a critic which encapsulates English Romanticism. In this poem published in 1798, he not only conveys a new style of sen...
SMP #11 Lines Written Upon a Yew Tree by William Wordsworth
July 14, 2019 13:00 - 53 minutes - 36.6 MBSend us a Text Message. Great men can battle many things, jealousy, hate, scorn, dissolute tongues, but what about neglect? Can a great man or woman perservere in the face of utter lifelong neglect? What would Einstein be like in old age, had no one taken his theory of relativity seriously? What about Dostoevsky's novels? Galileo famously was locked in a tower. At least he was not neglected! Neglect it not scorn or hatred. It is to be ignored, unacknowledged, ghosted. This is something pr...
SMP #10 THE LUCY POEMS by William Wordsworth
July 07, 2019 12:00 - 1 hour - 46.5 MBSend us a Text Message. One element we miss in reading poetry today is context. We often read poems isolated and alone (the poems that is...) They were meant to be read as a totality. Wordsworth and Coleridge carefully selected the poems they would publish and in what order. To fully understand Wordsworth's haunting "Lucy" poems, we must explore them as they were meant to be read, in the context of "Lyrical Ballads." Lyrical Ballads was initially published in 1798 and it effectually launch...
4th of July Special: "The Building of the Ship" by Longfellow
July 04, 2019 22:00 - 33 minutes - 22.8 MBSend us a Text Message. Here is a special fourth of July poem. Longfellow, writing during the build-up to the civil war, is encouraging the north to remember that the ship of state is not fully built. It is up to the next generation to fully institute the vision of the founders: This means ending slavery. This is a poem that is primarily analogistic. It is a supremely patriotic and American poem. If you prefer to listen to the poem, go to www.troubadourmag.comwhere you can subscribe to th...
SMP #9 I wandered lonely as a cloud by William Wordsworth
June 30, 2019 11:00 - 31 minutes - 21.5 MBSend us a Text Message. I recorded this the day after a life altering two lectures by Lisa VanDamme at Objectivist Conference 2019 "Literature and the Quest for Meaning," and "John Keats Life and Poetry." They should be up on youtube soon, I'll get the links. In this Sunday Morning Poetry I compare one of the poems she taught us with a poem by William Wordsworth. There are several recommendations for other resources by Lisa and Dr. Leonard Peikoff that helped guide me in reading poetry. Ma...
SMP #9 Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower by William Wordsworth
June 23, 2019 05:00 - 58 minutes - 40 MBSend us a Text Message. This is the 4th of the "Lucy" poems by William Wordsworth. In this one we get another poem about Wordsworth's view of death. Wordsworth kicked off the English Romantic movement. He, like the romantics that proceeded him, was heavily focused on the internal world of humans. As the French Romanticist, Victor Hugo put it, "There is one thing grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one thing grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul." The lucy poe...
SMP #8: "Strange fits of passion I have known" by William Wordsworth.
June 16, 2019 13:00 - 52 minutes - 35.8 MBSend us a Text Message. Of the 5 Lucy poems this one is the prime example of the Wordsworthian endeavor to trace the associations we make in a state of excitement. Doubtless, there has been a time when you were passionately in love with someone and they you. In the height of your love, while you made your way to your lovers house, you had a moment's terror that they wouldn't be there or that they would leave you. Maybe, they have lost interest in you or found someone else to love. Or poss...
Sunday Morning Poetry #7: I Travelled Among Unknown Men - Wordsworth
June 09, 2019 13:00 - 39 minutes - 18 MBSend us a Text Message. Sunday Morning Poetry: "I Travelled Among Unknown Men" by William Wordsworth. This is our next "lucy" poem. The lucy poems deal with death and the emotions surrounding death. In this poem, Wordsworth connects his homesick feeling about England to his love for a woman who died. As Wordsworth put it in a letter to a friend "... a great poet out... to a certain degree to rectify men's feelings, to give them new compositions of feeling, to render their feelings more ...
Sunday Morning Poetry #6 'She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways' - William Wordsworth
June 02, 2019 13:00 - 54 minutes - 25.1 MBSend us a Text Message. Wordsworth was a poet worthy of being uttered in the same breath as Shakespeare. His ballads and sonnets are both simple and profound in a way that even transcends the bard. More, his manner of stirring the imagination of his reader is unprecedented. Our poem today is the first of the FIVE Lucy poems. (note: some people believe there are more than 5 LUCY poems, but, alas, they are wrong.) :) In the show I explain why. These five poems should be experienced and unde...
Making Art Personal with Linda Cordair
May 29, 2019 20:00 - 1 hour - 33.9 MBSend us a Text Message. Whether or not you are a lover of fine art, Linda Cordair can help you discover personal pieces that will change your life. Linda is the co-owner of Cordair Fine Art Gallery in Napa Valley, California. https://cordair.com/ The Cordair's have a special showing of over 100 pieces this summer for Objectivist http://ocon.aynrand.org/ We talked about some of the pieces they will be bringing, as well as ways to make art more personal in your life, even if you don't belie...
Sunday Morning Poetry #5: Nutting by William Wordsworth.
May 26, 2019 12:00 - 58 minutes - 26.6 MBSend us a Text Message. For those familiar with Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, imagine for a moment what Roark's childhood might have been like. He talked a great deal about his love of the material world and, equally, his love of his own ability to transform that material as he saw fit. I believe some of Wordsworth's poetry, particularly Nutting, illustrates a similar view. In this simple poem, a young boy enters an unvisited nook in the woods. After appreciating and reveling in his own po...
Objectivist Conference 2019 and Art W/Anu Seppala
May 22, 2019 22:00 - 53 minutes - 24.5 MBSend us a Text Message. This year is a very special Objectivist Conference. It's the 50th anniversary of Ayn Rand's The Romantic Manifesto! This work of nonfiction has not had the loud cultural impact of her political and economic work, but I believe it has impacted many artists in very personal ways. More importantly, it has impacted many individuals in helping to bring to life the art around them. This is a conference not to be missed. And I was able to chat with Anu Seppala of the Ayn...
Sunday Morning Poetry #4 The Fountain by William Wordsworth
May 19, 2019 13:00 - 46 minutes - 21.5 MBSend us a Text Message. Sunday Morning Poetry: The Fountain by William Wordsworth This is a follow up to the previous poem "The Two April Mornings." Here Wordsworth is exploring character that we tend to spend very little time thinking about. In other words, they are on the edge of our consciousness. How can a young person learn from an old person? It seems paradoxical that you have to experience something in order to understand it and yet elders are constantly giving advice based on thei...
Sunday Morning Poetry #3: THE MAD MOTHER by William Wordsworth
May 12, 2019 12:00 - 39 minutes - 18 MBSend us a Text Message. A #Mothersday challenge! This poem by William Wordsworth, THE MAD MOTHER, is not your typical lovey-dovey mom poem. Rather, it focuses on a woman, whose husband abandoned her and her newborn, as she copes with this new reality and her own apparent insanity. One way art causes serious contemplation in the mind of an active observer is by "the pleasure which the mind derives from the perception of similitude and dissimilitude." In other words, the mind find pleasure...
Sunday Morning Poetry #2: "The Two April Mornings" by William Wordsworth
May 05, 2019 12:00 - 57 minutes - 26.2 MBSend us a Text Message. In this discussion and reading of the famous piece of romantic poetry, I will explain the importance of metaphors, simile, and analogies; important to the poem and more important in your everyday life. HINT: Thinking requires comparisons.
Sunday Morning Poetry #1: To a Butterfly by William Wordsworth
April 21, 2019 12:00 - 43 minutes - 20 MBSend us a Text Message. A weekly reading and discussion of great poetry. Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness By Alexander Pope I AM his Highness’ dog at Kew; Pray tell me, Sir, whose dog are you? To A Butterfly William Wordsworth I'VE watched you now a full half-hour; Self-poised upon that yellow flower And, little Butterfly! indeed I know not if you sleep or feed. How motionless!--not frozen seas More motionless! and then What joy await...
Comics, Literature and GoT W/Daniel Sherrier
April 18, 2019 13:00 - 1 hour - 27.9 MBSend us a Text Message. If you could have any superpower what would it be? Daniel Sherrier is the author of a comic book novel called The Flying Woman. We chatted about the role of comics in our culture, ancient myths and the purpose of superpowers. The Flying Woman by Daniel Sherrier is available for sale on Amazon, Books-a-million and Indibound.
Art and Sex: A Conversation W/Stewart Wade
April 16, 2019 12:00 - 1 hour - 28 MBSend us a Text Message. Let's talk about sex baby! We've got on the show writer/director Stewart Wade Margolis. We talked about his latest movie Say Yes. It's about a woman who plans her husband's romantic life for after she dies...with her bisexual brother. Quite a unique logline. We discussed sexuality and how sexuality is presented in our culture. There are a not a few controversial topics we broached in this discussion. Check out the movie, available on Amazon and tell us what you ...
The Changing Medium of Media W/Chris De Pretis
April 11, 2019 07:00 - 1 hour - 46.8 MBSend us a Text Message. WHO WILL SIT ON THE IRON THRONE? Chris and I had a great conversation about film, art, making movies, the changing medium of media and of course who will sit on the iron throne. Check out this conversation between two film production majors about the art, craft and culture of moviemaking. Follow the making of Chris' movie Death Blood 4 on Instagram @deathblood4
The Nature of an Artist with Maryam Khawar
March 27, 2019 13:00 - 1 hour - 34.3 MBSend us a Text Message. In the first of a series of conversations I am planning to have in the Bay Area, I had a great chat with a local poet Maryam Khawar. We discussed some of her short poetry, where she is inspired, why art is important in our lives, and how to become GREAT at anything. Here is a very short poem of hers we discussed: How beautiful, was your mind and the ability to see the essence of the universe I see it through you As you pass from artist to artist We also re...
How to read great literature when you are busy W/Marco Romero
March 22, 2019 07:00 - 57 minutes - 26.3 MBSend us a Text Message. Marco Romero is a real estate investor in Central Texas. He came on the podcast to talk about fiction books! It is important to read non-fiction books of course, but often as we get busy in our careers we neglect literature. In this conversation Marco and I discussed how to select good fiction books and how reading fiction can make you a better person and give you an edge at work. Enjoy!
Part 4 of Why and How to Watch Netflix's "The Titan"
March 16, 2019 07:00 - 32 minutes - 14.8 MBSend us a Text Message.
Netflix's The Titan Part 3 -- The Mad Scientist!
March 15, 2019 07:00 - 53 minutes - 24.3 MBSend us a Text Message.
Help me Save Netflix's The Titan (part 2) - Who is The Hero?
March 14, 2019 07:00 - 57 minutes - 26.2 MBSend us a Text Message. You can watch part 1 on youtube or facebook: https://youtu.be/o0xJXslb7TA?list=PLg0eBZyxdlFmlTBWlwMj5aCMkz9UjcJm5 https://www.facebook.com/troubadourmag/videos/985670661821812/ In part 2 I give a thorough analysis and explanation as to who the real hero is of the story, why this is one of the most ancient plot structure, how that effects your experience of the story and I also teach you how to "read" a movie. This includes a look at elements of this film that were ...
Netflix's The Titan is Worth Saving and How to Do It (part 1)
March 13, 2019 07:00 - 34 minutes - 15.6 MBSend us a Text Message. The purpose of a critic is not to find funny way to bash a movie, but to find good movies and teach their audience to see better. The Titan (with Sam Worthington) is a movie that has been given horrible reviews by both the audience and critics. In this series I will not only argue its merits but also teach how this movie uses literary elements to tell a good science fiction story in cinematic fashion. You will learn *how science fiction and art impact actual views...
Hanz's Muse by Georgia L. Bell
March 08, 2019 08:00 - 1 hour - 50 MBSend us a Text Message. A tale of how to invent the perfect woman.
Sci Fi as Analogy W/Amy J. Murphy
February 06, 2019 08:00 - 1 hour - 38.1 MBSend us a Text Message. On this episode I chat with the wonderful Amy J. Murphy, Sci-fi novelist and Nurse you don't wanna meet professionally. Check out her fiction https://amyjmurphy.com/ We discussed Science fiction as legit literature Military versus warrior stories Space operas versus hard science Joseph Campbell Why scifi is more popular today than historical fiction Health as analogy to capital L literature Why literature is as important as the medical or scientific fields And more
The Artist of the Beautiful by Nathaniel Hawthorne
February 01, 2019 08:00 - 1 hour - 32.4 MBSend us a Text Message. This is the reading for part 4 of the four part series on Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Birth of Sci Fi. I have decided to record the commentary separately. For now, enjoy the reading of the Artist of the Beautiful. Here is one question to ask yourself before entering the world of Hawthorne's artist. Does the artist solve a problem that Hawthorne established was the flaw of the scientist in his former stories, Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, The Birthmark, Rappaccini's ...
Band of Gold by Maddox Herring
January 28, 2019 08:00 - 12 minutes - 5.55 MBSend us a Text Message. You can read this story here: https://www.troubadourmag.com/home/band-of-gold
Artful Convo: Wicca, Sci-Fi and more w/Diane Morrison
January 25, 2019 13:00 - 1 hour - 39.9 MBSend us a Text Message. You can find DIane's work at Dianemorrisonfiction.com We had a great conversation that began with a scan of her room and the Witch's broom she has! Ever wonder what a Wiccan Priestess does? We chatted about Wicca, Pagan and Greek Mythology, Jordan Peterson, Literature and modern writing. Enjoy this wide ranging conversation with Sci-Fi author and musician Diane Morrison.
A Promethean Liver By Maddox Herring
January 22, 2019 08:00 - 15 minutes - 7.02 MBSend us a Text Message. A short story about Prometheus and his bird. Read the story at Troubadour Magazine https://www.troubadourmag.com/home/a-promethean-liver
O. Henry's The Proof of the Pudding
January 19, 2019 13:00 - 39 minutes - 18 MBSend us a Text Message. O. Henry is a modern Troubadour in every sense of the term. Romantic. Whimsical. Imaginative. Ingenious. Enlightening. Entertaining. In this short story, O. Henry chooses as his characters an editor of a literary magazine and a fledgling writer. They each have their own theories on language in art and in "real life." The story is the epitome of what Troubadour Magazine seeks to bring out in each of us.
The Poetry of Walls: Donald Trump and Robert Forst
January 18, 2019 12:00 - 11 minutes - 5.18 MBSend us a Text Message. Robert Frost and Donald Trump would have been great friends. They have so much in common: They were both born in big American cities, both have wide appeal in rural America and both speak with poetic fervor about walls. “I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me… I will build a great, great wall on our southern border…mark my words,” said President Trump. Indeed, Robert Frost, too, has marked some words about walls in his poem, Me...