Books, Ballads, and B-Roll

Witches, Worship, and Woe

HOPEWELL VALLEY STUDENT PODCASTING NETWORK  BOOKS, BALLADS, AND B-ROLL WITCHES, WORSHIP, AND WOE EPISODE #8 You are listening to Books, Ballads, and B-roll the podcast with your hosts Bee and Alastair. In this episode, we’re going to discuss: connections between media related to witchcraft, religion, and persecution. Also, we have some special guests on this episode: our friends Fox and Tommy! Trigger warning * Rape * Religious critique * Spoilers SEGMENT 1: GOOD OMENS The book Good Omens is a 1990 novel written collaboratively by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It’s a comedy about the birth of the Antichrist and the coming of Armageddon that centers around a demon named Crowley and an angel named Aziraphale who become unlikely friends and ultimately team up to try to prevent the end of the world. * Fox discusses the magic system used in Good Omens, and how it relates to the powers of the different characters * Alastair discusses the connection to historical depictions of witches and differences from more modern ones * We talk about the comedic plotlines, religious commentary, and different characters in the novel * We compare the novel to the show adaptation SEGMENT 2: HER GHOST IN THE FOG Her Ghost in the Fog was released in 2000 by Cradle of Filth, a metal band. The song tells a story from the perspective of a man whose love was killed and raped by a group of men while picking herbs. They excuse their actions by claiming she was a witch. When the narrator comes across his love, who is at this point barely alive, he is devastated. After they make a vow to each other and say their goodbyes, he burns down the church where the men have gone, killing them before then killing himself.  * Tommy talks about the history of church burnings in response to the Christian erasure of Pagan religions, a phenomenon that may have inspired this song * Tommy discusses the emotion of the vocals and explains the appeal of black metal, a uniquely raw genre SEGMENT 3: WANDAVISION WandaVision is a miniseries by Marvel featuring the characters Wanda Maximoff (aka the Scarlet Witch) and Vision. The show follows Wanda and Vision’s life together in the idyllic suburban town of Westview, New Jersey. As the episodes progress, it becomes clear that something is off. It seems that their life only exists inside a strange magical bubble, which is being observed from the outside by SWORD (Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division) by being broadcasted to television as a fictional sitcom. It seems like Wanda is semi-intentionally, semi-unconsciously using her magic to create an alternate reality in which Vision survived the conflict with Thanos. * One thing that makes the show so fun is that each episode pays homage to a different decade in sitcom history, starting in the 1950’s and continuing until the present day * The show also incorporates the 1600s, as one of Wanda’s neighbors turns out to have been a witch during the Salem Witch Trials. This is an interesting contrast to the futuristic technology that frequently appears * WandaVision is more nuanced than some Marvel films where there’s a heavy emphasis on “good” vs. “evil”; Wanda is both the hero and villain MUSIC CREDITS: * Flowers and Weeds (Acoustic Guitar & Penny Whistle) by Axletree * Marty Gots a Plan by Kevin MacLeod CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA * @theHVSPN [https://twitter.com/thehvspn?lang=en]

Poetry, Perfidy, and Passion

HOPEWELL VALLEY STUDENT PODCASTING NETWORK  BOOKS, BALLADS, AND B-ROLL POETRY, PERFIDY, AND PASSION EPISODE #6 You are listening to Books, Ballads, and B-roll the podcast with your hosts Bee and Alastair. In this episode, we will discuss three different media that incorporate poetry. Just a warning: this episode will deal with themes of suicide, mental health struggles, and violence, as well as events that may be upsetting or fraught.  SEGMENT 1: THE DEAD POETS’ SOCIETY Another warning: this discussion contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the movie, we greatly recommend it, although it’s a heavy watch!!  The Dead Poets’ Society, directed by Peter Weir and written by Tom Shulman, came out in 1989, but the movie is set in 1959. It’s set at an all-male boarding school in Vermont called Welton Academy and centers around two students, Neil Perry and Todd Anderson, who have been assigned each other’s roommates. Neil is confident, outgoing, and charismatic, but hampered by an extremely strict father who seems more concerned with his son’s academic and financial success in life than his happiness and wellbeing. Todd is more shy and has trouble speaking in front of groups, but he starts coming out of his shell with the help of Neil’s firm friendship and the encouragement of their new English teacher, John Keating (played by the renowned Robin Williams). Keating surprises the class with unorthodox teaching methods that prioritize creativity and independent thinking over memorization of facts, and he instills a new appreciation for poetry in them that prompts Neil and several of his friends to found a group called the Dead Poets’ Society. Under the cover of night, the friends meet in a secluded cave in the woods beside the Welton campus, and read poems aloud. Keating and the club encourage them all to live their lives on their own terms. Todd starts writing poetry of his own, and Neil discovers his love of acting and successfully auditions for the role of Puck in a local production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. However, things take a turn for the worse when Neil is confronted by his father’s disapproval of his participation in the play, wanting him to prioritize the career in medicine already planned out for him. Mr. Keating advises Neil to convince his father how important acting is to him, and he successfully persuades his father to let him stay in the play. However, his father unexpectedly shows up to watch the performance and disapproves of it even more as a result; immediately after, he angrily tells Neil he’ll be disenrolled from Welton and put in a military academy, and will no longer be permitted to act. Neil is devastated, unable to express his feelings to his father, and receiving no support from his mother. That night, feeling extremely trapped and distraught, he ends up taking his life. * We talk about societal constraints and hierarchies, how they often crush the individuality of those they claim to uplift, and how this relates to the current meritocratic education system * We discuss how poetry and other creative forms of self-expression are made in response to and pose a threat to authority and oppressive social constructs * We explore the plausibility of a romantic interpretation of Neil and Todd’s relationship and discuss the role of heteronormativity in this movie SEGMENT 2: IVY Ivy is a song by Taylor Swift from her album, Evermore, which was released during the COVID-19 pandemic. We really like the ambiguous nature of this song, and there are many really interesting and in-depth theories on what it’s about. To us, it seems like it’s from the perspective of a woman, probably around the 1800s. It’s likely set in some time period where marriage was mostly seen as a business transaction, so the woman in the song feels imprisoned in a marriage she’s unhappy with. When she sings “And the old widow goes to the stone every day/but I don’t, I just sit here and wait/grieving for the living” it seems like she’s comparing herself to other women who grieve for their husbands after they die. She should feel lucky to not be in their situation, but some guilty part of her envies them, and she wishes she had some easy way to escape the marriage. Her situation is worsened because she’s in love with a woman. She compares this woman to ivy growing around her “house of stone”. The house in this situation may refer to her heart. For so long, she’s felt like there was a problem with her or that she was cold because she wasn’t able to give her husband the love other women could, and she blamed herself. This song is a love song, but it also overflows with an overwhelming sense of anxiety. Her urgency builds throughout the song. She is terrified of what her husband’s reaction will be if he finds out. She plans to run away with her lover, and she urges her to “Tell me to run/or dare to sit and watch what will become/and drink my husband’s wine”. * The reason why we selected this song for our poetry episode is that many people have theorized it to be about the secret relationship between Emily Dickinson and her brother’s wife, Sue. We examine some of the compelling evidence for this theory * Bee gushes over the poeticism of this song’s lyrics * We draw connections between the gay subtext and oppressive environment in this song and The Dead Poet’s Society SEGMENT 3: F*CK YOUR LECTURE ON CRAFT, MY PEOPLE ARE DYING This poem was written by Palestinian-American poet, Noor Hindi. It was written in 2020 and was a response to how overwhelmed she felt by a lot of different events, including the killing of George Floyd, the pandemic, and Israel threatening to evict families in Sheikh Jarrah.  The Poem: Colonizers write about flowers. I tell you about children throwing rocks at Israeli tanks seconds before becoming daisies. I want to be like those poets who care about the moon. Palestinians don't see the moon from jail cells and prisons. It's so beautiful, the moon. They're so beautiful, the flowers. I pick flowers for my dead father when I'm sad. He watches Al Jazeera all day. I wish Jessica would stop texting me Happy Ramadan. I know I'm American because when I walk into a room something dies. Metaphors about death are for poets who think ghosts care about sound. When I die, I promise to haunt you forever. One day, I'll write about the flowers like we own them. We feel that this poem is always quite relevant, but we thought it was especially important that we share it now because as we’re here watching movies and discussing poetry, Gaza is currently being bombarded, whole families are being wiped out, and buried under the rubble of their own homes, unable to hear the birds or see the flowers. Poets and writers are being killed and their voices are lost forever. But the poem is also a reminder that Palestinians have experienced violence and oppression for a long time before what we’ve been seeing in the news the past couple of months. * Alastair discusses the way some of the transcendentalist poetry referenced in The Dead Poets’ Society, and in Ivy and other Taylor Swift songs, often comes from a place of privilege because the people writing it can afford to talk about the beauty of nature without worrying about destruction and suffering that others might be experiencing. * Bee suggests that all poetry is a political statement (for example, how in The Dead Poets’ Society comparatively idyllic subjects of poems are used to subvert the standards of conformity imposed by Wellton) and that writing and art are often created in response to people feeling powerless. MUSIC CREDITS: * Flowers and Weeds (Acoustic Guitar & Penny Whistle) by Axletree * Marty Gots a Plan by Kevin MacLeod CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA * @theHVSPN [https://twitter.com/thehvspn?lang=en]

Winter, Wonders, and Whimsy

HOPEWELL VALLEY STUDENT PODCASTING NETWORK  BOOKS, BALLADS, AND B-ROLL WINTER, WONDERS, AND WHIMSY EPISODE #7 You are listening to Books, Ballads, and B-roll the podcast with your hosts Bee and Alastair. In this episode of Books, Ballads, and B-Roll the Podcast, we share our favorite winter-holiday-themed media! SEGMENT 1: ALASTAIR’S TOP 5 WINTER/HOLIDAY BOOKS/MOVIES 1. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy - Karen Foxlee 2. Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik 3. Girls Made of Snow and Glass - Melissa Bashardoust 4. The Nightmare Before Christmas - directed by Henry Selick and produced by Tim Burton 5. It’s a Wonderful Life - Produced by Frank Capra 6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the Muppets version SEGMENT 2: BEE’S TOP 5 WINTER/HOLIDAY BOOKS/MOVIES 1. Jingle All the Way - animated film (2011) directed by Chel White and written by Allan Neuwirth 2. Breadcrumbs - written by Anne Ursu 3. The Littlest Christmas Tree - by R.A. Herman and illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers 4. Rudolph The Rednosed Reindeer - 1964 film directed by Larry Roemer and Kizo Nagashima 5. The Little Drummer Boy - 1968 version directed by Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass 6.  Also the Little Drummer Mouse - by Mercer Mayer SEGMENT 3: WINTER/HOLIDAY PLAYLIST! The Spotify playlist can be found here [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3U6Yid5s5sQ5BIZQVybGFd?si=3e8a2da6f7764d53]! It includes: 1. Let it Go - Frozen 2. Into the Unknown - Frozen 3. Hark! The Harold Angels Sing - Choir of King’s College, Cambridge 4. tis’ the damn season - Taylor Swift 5. Christmas Tree Farm (Old Timey Version) - Taylor Swift 6. The Christians and the Pagans - Dar Williams 7. All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey 8. Christmases When You Were Mine - Taylor Swift 9. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes 10. Winter Song - Sara Bareilles 11. ALL the Nightmare before Christmas soundtrack 12. Basque Carol - Heavenly Angelic Light Orchestra 13. Basque Carol - Transcendental Light Orchestra 14. Ivy - Taylor Swift 15. Do You Hear What I Hear - Perry Como 16. The Little Drummer Boy - 1965 version; Harry Simeone Chorale 17. Carol of the Bells 18. Nutcracker soundtrack 19. Swan Lake soundtrack MUSIC CREDITS: * Flowers and Weeds (Acoustic Guitar & Penny Whistle) by Axletree * Marty Gots a Plan by Kevin MacLeod CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA * @theHVSPN [https://twitter.com/thehvspn?lang=en]

Remembrance, Regrets, and Recovery

HOPEWELL VALLEY STUDENT PODCASTING NETWORK  BOOKS, BALLADS, AND B-ROLL REMEMBRANCE, REGRETS, AND RECOVERY EPISODE #5 You are listening to Books, Ballads, and B-roll the podcast with your hosts Bee and Alastair. In this episode of Books, Ballads, and B-Roll the Podcast we discuss media related to themes of remembering, recovering from, and dealing with the past. SEGMENT 1: BEHIND YOU In this fairly short yet incredibly touching book, a Black teenager named Jeremiah (or Miah) is shot by police in a case of mistaken identity. This happens in the first chapter, and the following chapters alternate between perspectives of different characters who were impacted. For example, his mother, a famous author, and his father, who left her for another woman, comb through memories of their son and the family they used to have. His friend Carlton, who struggles to come to terms with the death of the one person he felt understood him, ends up becoming friends with Ellie, Miah’s girlfriend whose house he had just left before he was killed. They form a deep bond due to their connection to Miah as well as a mutual feeling of being judged and misinterpreted. Ellie feels that her white parents never accepted her relationship with Miah or the depth of her sorrow. They continuously urge her to recover and move on, and don’t approve of her spending time with Miah’s friends and family, claiming this is a hindrance to her mental health. Carlton is just coming to terms with being gay and fears rejection of his father and certain friends, especially now that Miah is gone. Ultimately, a lot of the people whom Miah left behind form unexpected relationships with each other due to their shared grief and a desire to hold onto his memory.  What we found the most interesting is that some of the chapters are from the perspective of Miah’s ghost. In the afterlife, he spends his time with his dead grandmother, who encourages him to let go of the living world. But Miah was taken too soon, and he is not ready to let go, at least not until he knows his loved ones are going to be okay.  This book is by Jacqueline Woodson, author of Brown Girl Dreaming. This book is less well known, and it’s actually, we just realized, a sequel to the book If You Come Softly, which is about Ellie and Miah’s relationship, which starts when they meet at a private school in Manhattan, and the scrutiny they face from friends and family. We really wish we had read this book first since it would have given us a lot of context, but we had no idea Behind You was a sequel! SEGMENT 2: THE SECRET OF KELLS The Secret of Kells is a movie by the same animation studio as a movie we included in an earlier episode, Song of the Sea. It is a fictional tale but based on real events, as it involves the story behind the creation of the Book of Kells, a 9th-century illuminated manuscript from Ireland. It’s set in the Abbey of Kells during the age of Viking expansion, and centers around a boy named Brendan whose uncle is the abbott. Brendan is curious, animated, and cheerful, and is fascinated by the process of writing and illuminating books; apprenticed in the scriptorium, he wants to help finish the Book of Kells, which has been left unfinished there for many years. He also wants to explore the world beyond the abbey walls, but his uncle, named Cellach, is determined to keep him inside out of fear of viking attacks. Brendan ends up sneaking out into the forest outside the walls, encountering a fairy named Aisling who becomes his friend. His uncle repeatedly locks him in, only for him to escape again. However, Cellach’s efforts are ultimately not enough to protect Brendan or anyone else in the abbey. When a Viking raid does come, it knocks down the abbey gate and causes terrible death and destruction; Cellach is gravely injured, and Brendan only barely escapes.  While the majority of the movie actually occurs before the Viking raid, we chose The Secret of Kells for our theme of dealing with the past because of the profound nature of what Brendan goes through after fleeing the abbey. Despite being attacked while running through the forest, he is able to survive with Aisling’s help, and ultimately finds safety and shelter. Many years pass before he is able to return to the abbey, but during this time, he grows up and finally finishes the Book of Kells. When he finally does come back, he is amazed to discover that his uncle is still alive despite his injury. Cellach is filled with guilt at having restricted his nephew so much, and still ultimately having failed to protect him, but Brendan does not blame his uncle at all and is just happy he’s recovered. Their relationship was previously fraught with tension, but upon reuniting they both finish their recovery from physical and mental scars, and mend their relationship. SEGMENT 3: DAUGHTER OF THE HIGHLANDS Daughter of the Highlands is a song by a band called the Old Crow Medicine Show. It seems to be narrated by the ghost of a man who had to leave to fight in a war and died in battle, leaving behind his love, Hannah. Throughout the song, the narrator sings about and sometimes directly to this woman, assuring both her and himself that they will laugh and cry and dance together again.  However, in a sad moment of realization, he reflects on the passage of time. Hannah is no longer the young woman he left, meaning she’s lived much of her life without him. While he remains forever frozen at the age he left, she has changed and grown and moved on. Still, he seems to hope that someday, he’ll “get to town” and see Hannah again—possibly referring to when she dies and joins him in his conception of the afterlife? Or, it may just be he’s not willing to truly acknowledge he’s dead? Somewhat unclear. MUSIC CREDITS: * Flowers and Weeds (Acoustic Guitar & Penny Whistle) by Axletree * Marty Gots a Plan by Kevin MacLeod CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA * @theHVSPN [https://twitter.com/thehvspn?lang=en]

Convertibles, Castles, and Cars

HOPEWELL VALLEY STUDENT PODCASTING NETWORK  BOOKS, BALLADS, AND B-ROLL CONVERTIBLES, CASTLES, AND CARS EPISODE #4 You are listening to Books, Ballads, and B-roll the podcast with your hosts Bee and Alastair. In this episode of Books, Ballads, and B-Roll the podcast we discuss the role of transportation in different media. SEGMENT 1: THE RED CONVERTIBLE The Red Convertible is a short story from Love Medicine, by Louis Erdrich. It’s narrated by a boy named Lyman and it revolves around his relationship with his older brother, Henry. The two are very close and bond over their shared red convertible, but when Henry returns from the Vietnam War, he is traumatized and closed off, something Lyman really struggles to understand. * Bee suggests that the changing setting at the beginning of the story creates a freeing and adventurous feeling, which contrasts with the limited and claustrophobic setting after Henry returns from war. This movement from a setting that is a literal blur to a setting that is extremely limited is one way in which transportation, particularly the red convertible, is central to the story. * Bee and Alastair discuss how the red convertible may represent the brothers’ relationship with one another or perhaps Henry himself.  * Bee and Alastair examine the symbolism of the red convertible’s fate. SEGMENT 2: HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE Howl’s Moving Castle is, like in our previous episode, a movie by Studio Ghibli. Are we going to apologize for our perhaps over-heavy focus on Miyasaki films? No, no we are not. We will shamelessly defend Studio Ghibli’s status as one of the best animation studios out there. Although, actually, this movie is based on a book of the same name by renowned fantasy author Diana Wynne Jones—which we strongly recommend as well. The movie changes some aspects or focuses on different things from the book, but I think this is what allows it to be equally as good even though it’s not an original story. The book is almost always better than the movie in my opinion, but this may be an exception. But anyway, the protagonist of Howl’s Moving Castle is Sophie, the eldest of three sisters and heiress to a hat shop. She feels resigned to a life of quiet drudgery and loneliness there, but then the feared Witch of the Waste comes to her shop in disguise. Sophie unknowingly stands up to the witch when the latter disapproves of her shop, and the witch casts a spell that turns her into an old lady. Sophie must leave home in search of a cure for the spell. She somewhat accidentally finds herself taking shelter in the castle of a notorious wizard named Howl, who supposedly eats young women’s hearts. (There are a lot of supposedly scary witches and wizards in this movie. Most of them turn out less scary than they originally seem though!). In fact, Howl seems rather welcoming. The thing about his castle, though, is that it can walk! Powered by a fire demon, the gargantuan and rather impossibly proportioned structure walks around the landscape on thin metal legs. And not only that, but the castle is also magically split between four different locations, so while it’s walking around the prairie, it also occupies stationery shops in nearby towns. * Alastair comments on the significance of the moving castle, especially in the context of war, as a way to shield the characters from various threats. * Alastair acknowledges that the castle can also limit the characters and its ability to protect them from the outside world becomes a detriment. * Alastair and Bee point out the various strange modes of transportation in this movie. Aside from the castle, each of the characters has a unique way of moving through the world–Turnip Head bounces, Howl can fly, Sophie must adjust to movement in her new elderly body, and Calcifer is unable to move on his own and has to be lifted. SEGMENT 3: FAST CAR Fast Car is a song by Tracy Chapman and I think it’s probably her best-known song in America. Fast Car is basically about a young couple and they both come from difficult backgrounds, or at least the narrator does. The narrator takes care of an alcoholic father after her mother leaves them, and also works a job as a checkout girl. The narrator dreams of escaping this environment in her lover’s fast car for a better life in the suburbs, but when this dream is finally achieved it’s also shattered. She creates a better life for both of them where she makes enough money to pay the bills, but the person she’s singing about ends up spending most of their time at the bar and neglecting the family they’ve built.  * Bee questions who the song might be about and notes possible factors in Tracy Chapman’s life that may have inspired her writing. * Bee notes the sense of longing and nostalgia this song evokes and suggests the car represents hope of escaping cycles of poverty. It also symbolizes the illusion of the American dream, similar to the car in The Great Gatsby. * Alastair draws a connection between Fast Car and the other transportation-themed media, noting how methods of transportation are used as a means of freedom and escape, which prove to be ultimately unsuccessful. * Bee offers a personal anecdote about her mom’s love for this song, and a sweet memory with her cousins she always associates with it. MUSIC CREDITS: * Flowers and Weeds (Acoustic Guitar & Penny Whistle) by Axletree * Marty Gots a Plan by Kevin MacLeod CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA * @theHVSPN [https://twitter.com/thehvspn?lang=en]