What makes us most distinctively human, our reason or our emotions? How do we know when relationships with others are authentic, and when they’re just a matter of utility? Does civilization corrupt or improve us? Is honesty all it’s cracked up to be, or is lying a social inevitability? Which is more important to our happiness, love or work?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:32 — 30.8MB)
Wes Alwan is joined by Broadway veteran and previous PEL guest Bill Youmans to discuss Shakespeare's 1611 play about revenge, forgiveness, and authorship. Or maybe it's about exploitation, or how we react to changes in status, or perhaps how a liberal education can give you magical powers!
Note: This is only the first half; the second half will NOT be appearing on this feed. The full discussion is available only for PEL Citizens.
This is a new podcast format for Wes, where he is joined by a guest to discuss his philosophically and psychoanalytically informed analyses of film and literature. Should he make this its own wildly popular podcast?
The stuff of a wildly popular spin-off.
Alas, we don’t all have the spare change to pay for quality podcasts, so in the words of the bard: “Be free, and fare thou well!” (The Tempest: act 5, scene 1)
Call it Wes Side Stories
My lord! 🙂
GREAT title.
Wes Side Stories. Nice!
The solo projects are multiplying, which is welcome.. Just hope this doesn’t herald a break-up of the band.
What a great episode. You two have a great dynamic and this was so intriguing to listen to. Makes me want to read Shakespeare. Wes said in about three minutes what it took me 7 long years to formulate in therapy during his discussion of the existential problem that happens when one is not seen – the master/slave – Hegel part. Seriously – I tested up during that one. Thanks for this and please do more.
Really enjoyed this. Full steam ahead, I say.
I would be very excited about this if it were to happen, assuming Wes can generate enough of this content for a regular (or even semi-regular) podcast.
Enjoying it. I’d be interested in more episodes on literature and film. The PEL episodes on Mother, and No Country for Old Men were also good ones.
I particularly like the psychoanalytic theory of the creative process that Wes provides. Art criticism seems so politically motivated, I wonder what the field of the Arts could be if instead of only criticism, the same amount of efforts were put in through Wes’ approach in understanding the Arts and the experience of the viewers and culture. More, please.
Dear Wes,
Thank you Wes (and Bill), an awesome side step into new territory. I’ve always found The Tempest one of Shakespeare’s most difficult to get through, I had supposed the understanding may come with maturity in years – your different frameworks have really assisted in giving some direction.
An aside: The name Miranda holds a special place in Australian literature and film history, the name of the head girl in tale of schoolgirls lost to a place between reality / dream/ time in “Picnic at Hanging Rock” one of Oz’s most well known tales. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picnic_at_Hanging_Rock_(novel)
Love the actor readings Bill, it truly helps to express the live aspect of Shakespeare’s words, they were meant to be heard with a living voice.
p.s. a pop-up up Globe theatre has been installed in Sydney of late. Looking forward to seeing, hearing and experiencing the Shakespearean words and action as intended – a corporeal experience, in the flesh so to speak.
Thank you Angela! Very cool about the Globe in Sydney. And I’ll check out Picnic at Hanging Rock.