Subtext: Conversations about Classic Books and Films

[https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/Yeats-Cover-Final-300x300.jpg] Yeats’s poem “Sailing to Byzantium” begins and ends with the concept of reproduction. In the first stanza, this reproduction is natural and sexual, and in the final stanza is entirely a matter of artifice. The living songbird is transformed into both product and producer, with a form of singing that is gilded by a consciousness of its departure from nature. Where natural reproduction replenishes entities that are neverthless always in the process of dying, art—the speaker seems to hope—is potentially eternal. And yet the poem’s final stanza also reminds us that art is ultimately for the living, and only as alive as its audience. Wes & Erin discuss Yeats’s meditation on whether creativity can help us transcend mortality, and how artists should conceive of their relationships to nature and posterity. Upcoming Episodes: Yeats’s “Leda and the Swan” and “The Indian to His Love,”; “Picnic at Hanging Rock”; Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” and “An Enemy of the People.” For bonus content, become a paid subscriber at Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/subtext] or directly on the Apple Podcasts app. Patreon subscribers also get early access to ad-free regular episodes. This podcast is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit AirwaveMedia.com [https://www.airwavemedia.com] to listen and subscribe to other Airwave shows like Good Job, Brain [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-job-brain/id507938401] and Big Picture Science [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-picture-science/id73329638?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4]. Email advertising@airwavemedia.com [advertising@airwavemedia.com] to enquire about advertising on the podcast. Follow: Twitter [https://twitter.com/enjoysubtext] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/subtextpodcast/] | Website [https://subtextpodcast.com/]

[https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/rosemarys-baby-final-300x300.jpg] Wes & Erin continue their discussion of Roman Polanski’s 1968 classic, and why it is that Satanic evil, when confronted with life’s very frightening realities—including pregnancy itself—turns out to be so banal. Upcoming Episodes: Yeats: “Sailing to Byzantium,” “Leda and the Swan,” “An Indian to His Love.” For bonus content, become a paid subscriber at Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/subtext] or directly on the Apple Podcasts app. Patreon subscribers also get early access to ad-free regular episodes. This podcast is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit AirwaveMedia.com [https://www.airwavemedia.com] to listen and subscribe to other Airwave shows like Good Job, Brain [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-job-brain/id507938401] and Big Picture Science [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-picture-science/id73329638?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4]. Email advertising@airwavemedia.com [advertising@airwavemedia.com] to enquire about advertising on the podcast. Follow: Twitter [https://twitter.com/enjoysubtext] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/subtextpodcast/] | Website [https://subtextpodcast.com/]

[https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/rosemarys-baby-final-300x300.jpg] On the surface, “Rosemary’s Baby” is a horror film about a woman who gets taken advantage of by a satanic cult and impregnated by the Devil. In the end, it seems to be a satire on the competing entrapments of domesticity and ambition, and the boring conventionality of people who hope that opposition to convention will allow them to retrieve their lost youth. Wes & Erin discuss Roman Polanski’s 1968 classic, and why it is that Satanic evil, when confronted with life’s very frightening realities—including pregnancy itself—turns out to be so banal. Upcoming Episodes: Yeats: “Sailing to Byzantium,” “Leda and the Swan,” “An Indian to His Love.” For bonus content, become a paid subscriber at Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/subtext] or directly on the Apple Podcasts app. Patreon subscribers also get early access to ad-free regular episodes. This podcast is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit AirwaveMedia.com [https://www.airwavemedia.com] to listen and subscribe to other Airwave shows like Good Job, Brain [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-job-brain/id507938401] and Big Picture Science [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-picture-science/id73329638?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4]. Email advertising@airwavemedia.com [advertising@airwavemedia.com] to enquire about advertising on the podcast. Follow: Twitter [https://twitter.com/enjoysubtext] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/subtextpodcast/] | Website [https://subtextpodcast.com/]

[https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/Dickinson-Cover-Final-300x300.jpg] Erin & Wes continue their discussion of four of Dickinson’s best-loved poems, whose little rooms contain some of the definitive poetic statements on grief, pain, violence, death, reason, identity, and encounters with the divine. Upcoming Episodes: “Rosemary’s Baby,” Yeats (“Sailing to Byzantium” and “Leda and the Swan”). For bonus content, become a paid subscriber at Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/subtext] or directly on the Apple Podcasts app. Patreon subscribers also get early access to ad-free regular episodes. This podcast is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit AirwaveMedia.com [https://www.airwavemedia.com] to listen and subscribe to other Airwave shows like Good Job, Brain [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-job-brain/id507938401] and Big Picture Science [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-picture-science/id73329638?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4]. Email advertising@airwavemedia.com [advertising@airwavemedia.com] to enquire about advertising on the podcast. Follow: Twitter [https://twitter.com/enjoysubtext] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/subtextpodcast/] | Website [https://subtextpodcast.com/]

[https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/Dickinson-Cover-Final-300x300.jpg] Erin & Wes continue their discussion of four of Dickinson’s best-loved poems, whose little rooms contain some of the definitive poetic statements on grief, pain, violence, death, reason, identity, and encounters with the divine. Upcoming Episodes: “Rosemary’s Baby,” Yeats (“Sailing to Byzantium” and “Leda and the Swan”). For bonus content, become a paid subscriber at Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/subtext] or directly on the Apple Podcasts app. Patreon subscribers also get early access to ad-free regular episodes. This podcast is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit AirwaveMedia.com [https://www.airwavemedia.com] to listen and subscribe to other Airwave shows like Good Job, Brain [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-job-brain/id507938401] and Big Picture Science [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-picture-science/id73329638?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4]. Email advertising@airwavemedia.com [advertising@airwavemedia.com] to enquire about advertising on the podcast. Follow: Twitter [https://twitter.com/enjoysubtext] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/subtextpodcast/] | Website [https://subtextpodcast.com/]