‘funny,’ not funny

Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and AI Music | topic: Symphony Four, Rite of Spring, Petrouska, Suno and Udio | with Lionel and Jim

Today we talk about the world of classical music, the creative process of composers like Stravinsky, and the impact of AI on music creation and authenticity. We dig into Stravinsky's use of folk themes in classical music, the orchestration and technical mastery of Rite of Spring and Petrushka, and then veer into the impact of AI on music creation, and the role of authenticity in an age of imitation.

Marcionite Fan Fiction | topic: Christ Before Jesus, The Historicity of the Gospels | with Lionel & Jim

This week we dive into a fascinating book by Jaaron Wingo and Matthew Britt titled Christ Before Jesus: Evidence for the Second Century Origins of Jesus [https://bookshop.org/p/books/christ-before-jesus-evidence-for-the-second-century-origins-of-jesus-jaaron-wingo/9d2de322c6cf4e77?ean=9798990235809&next=t&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%7Bcampaignname%7D&utm_content=6443417794&gad_source=5&gad_campaignid=16235479093&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI07GQ86PYlAMV1GZHAR0HjgCwEAQYASABEgKTNvD_BwE]. This is a dense historical refutation of the historicity of the gospels highlighting anachronisms and employing stylometry to conclude that neither Jesus nor Paul existed as historical figures. It points to the Evangelion of Marcion as the first gospel and dates the writings of all other stories as subsequent, beginning 90 years later than scholars have dated these writings. The book challenges many assumptions made by christians and non-christians alike, and although it is a difficult read, it made for fascinating conversation.Toward the end of this longer episode, we dove into the TV series The Patriot, and Lionel discussed the theory of humanity's relationship to music. We had a good time with this one. Enjoy.

The inexplicable Béla Tarr | topic: The Turin Horse, Werckmesiter Harmonies, religion in post Soviet film | with Lionel & Jim

Well, we did it. After years of swearing off the films of Béla Tarr; a director recommended to us by Bob Loy, we bit the bullet and watched two of his films: Werckmeister Harmonies, and The Turin Horse. These are not easy films. We definitely felt like we were missing some major cultural context in these films, but did our best to process them through our unsophisticated American perspectives. As always, Lionel is very attuned to the sounds of the film. He mentioned a couple of sonic elements that I missed. We compare this to Stravinsky, Straczynski, and Stargate SG1. Go figure.One note: the audio input of my mac seems to be all messed up, so I tried recording this episode with my AirPods, which was a mistake. I've done my best to equalize my voice, but the results are not what I would like.

Solaris & Stalker | topic: The films of Andre Tarkovsky | with Lionel & Jim

This conversation explores the depths of Andre Tarkovsky's films Solaris and Stalker, delving into their themes, production challenges, and philosophical insights. Spoiler: we really loved Stalker, and we really didn't love Solaris. It also touches on science fiction's portrayal of communication with extraterrestrial life and the influence of Soviet filmmaking constraints.

“The Forgotten People” | topic: Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life and Daughters of the Dust | with Sara Elkins

Sara joins the podcast again, and we discuss two documentary films Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life by Merion C. Cooper, and Daughters of The Dust by Julie Dash. Common themes are migrating peoples and disappearing cultures. We compare accounts of the migration of the Bakhtiari [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakhtiari_people] people in this documentary and the series The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski. For both films, we focus on the film making, story, and historical context of these two films and also the soundtrack.