Higgledy-Piggledy Whale Statements

We have returned from a long journey. Our skin is weathered by salt spray, our hair shaggy, our spirits subdued, but we bring an oily bounty to you, our listeners. We have drawn out Dave Malloy's 2019 musical version of Moby Dick with a fish-hook, taken it alongside for butchery, and now come to you with the first of four episodes rendered and stored for your consumption. The sea-beast was simply too large and full of sperm for less.Joining us in this titanic undertaking we have two redoubtable fellow whalers, Clay (@ClayDanteT) and Danny (@BerserkerDanDan), who had the greasy good luck of attending Moby Dick: A Musical Reckoning at the American Repertory Theater in person. With them on board, we had context and expertise in musical theater, the specific production, and a generally wider horizon. So sit back, follow us through the first part of this musical, and consider: Is it possible to make a Moby Dick musical? And specifically, would it be possible to make one that isn't this, please?You can find more of our guests Clay & Danny and their own work on Instagram @wastelandradioproductions!

90s-est things are ever the unmentionable; deep memories yield no epitaphs; this podcast episode is the stoneless grave of Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick.In this episode, we’re joined by special guest Rick (@combattlerRickV) to attempt to make sense of the utterly singular Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick, a 26-episode anime that is in theory an adaptation of Moby Dick set in space, in the 47th century. In practice, it’s a baffling saga full of androids and tonal whiplash, and we need all the help we can get. Hakugei has almost nothing in common with the original novel, but does have nearly every kind of anime guy from the 70s through the 90s, as well as some entirely unique ideas of its own, and a surprising enthusiasm for petrochemicals. There’s nothing like it, and we don’t recommend watching it, but we have a great time trying to wrap our heads around it for your entertainment.Next episode: We’ll be taking a few weeks’ hiatus over the holidays. But, when we come back, we’re intent on a musical reckoning...

In this episode we cover Orson Welles’ various efforts to produce, direct, and star in Moby Dick, covering a radio play (1946), a metafictional theater production, Moby Dick - Rehearsed (1955), and fragments of an incomplete film version (1971). Welles is clearly having a great time, and so are we, as he plays Ahab, Ahab, Father Mapple, and also Ahab. He also expresses, both in Moby Dick - Rehearsed and in his actions, an interest in the questions that run through Moby Dick, which gives our hosts a lot to chew on.Check out the Mercury Summer Theatre Moby Dick radio play here or here!Next episode: Moby Dick...as an anime... in space...in the 90s! In “Hakugei - Legend of the Moby Dick!”

In this episode, we take a break from the talkies, with the 1926 silent film The Sea Beast. This adaptation of Moby Dick, starring John Barrymore, takes it to strangely conventional new places with love-lorn hero Ahab Ceeley seeking the hand of his sweetheart in competition with his half-brother Derek. The ending may surprise you! So may a lot of things, including the occasional eruption of fidelity to the novel.Next episode: We had to put it off, but now we can put it back on: A look at Orson Welles' various and variably complete efforts to adapt Moby Dick.

This week, we watched The Whale God (1962), a gothic, black and white kaiju drama adaptation of a novel by the same name that adapted Moby Dick to the world of Japanese whaling in (we think) the later 19th century. It's an intense story of a village's reigning madness of revenge after generations of terror at the hands of a monstrous and unstoppable whale - the majority of the cast are Ahabs, which makes for a wild and sometimes harrowing ride. It's an adaptation that goes a lot further from Moby Dick than the 1956 movie, which means there's a lot to talk about!Next episode: We piece together a bunch of fragments from Orson Welles' long, frustrated effort to produce his own adaptation of Moby Dick.

And now, Moby Dick - in living color! We regret to inform you the whale is still white. For the first Whale Statements Appendix, we watched Moby Dick (1956), starring Gregory Peck, directed by John Huston, and with a screenplay by John Huston and Ray Bradbury. Yes, that Ray Bradbury, and you'll hear plenty more about him from Ben if you listen to this episode. Join us as we discuss the changes made to the movie, the decisions (some fun, some baffling) made in the adaptation, and the overall effect of our first film outing on the Pequod. There's some Orson Welles in there too!Next episode: We watch The Whale God (1962). Moby Dick tokusatsu? Don't mind if we do!

Cleaning up loose ends, we rank our favorite chapters with an infallible device, discuss the various characters, and talk a bit about the structure of the thing. Then, most importantly, we answer your questions! Including some thematic, some specific, and a few impish. Also, a bunch of theoretical rambling about science fiction, for some reason.Next episode: we watch Moby Dick (1956), in the first of the Appendices.

A dead whale or a stove boat.Next episode: We look back over the book, respond to listener questions, and generally clean up our loose ends. Please send your questions to whalestatements@gmail.com!

The chase enters the second day, and Ahab will not swerve.Next episode: Chapter 135, and the Epilogue. The whole act’s immutably decreed.

Omens and misgiving abound, and even Ahab almost turns aside... but too late. The White Whale is sighted, the doubloon is earned, and the chase has begun.Next episode: Chapter 134, The Chase – Second Day.

Update your logbooks, everyone. This week, we have the last episode of relatively normal chapters before the chase begins. But ‘relatively’ doesn’t mean much: Ahab’s intensity has reached fever pitch, and everyone on board has to deal with it. The carpenter shows up and Ben does hand gestures on a podcast again, Pip and Ahab have a series of moments, and we meet the saddest damn ship in the Pacific. Finally, Ahab receives an unsettling avian omen, but disregards augury.Next time: Chapters 131-133. The last chance to turn aside, and after that... there she blows– there she blows!

The Typhoon has arrived, and we now see Ahab in all his fatal pride. Next episode: We read chapters 125 through 130, through the intensity and omens of The Hat.

The Pequod has entered the Pacific, and Ishmael is delighted by the mild sea. Ahab’s deep and tempestuous thoughts, however, take up most of these chapters. We meet the blacksmith, who would be singularly unhappy if Ahab wasn’t right there, and witness the creation of a lance to slay God. From there, we dwell on the beauty of the ocean’s surface, and Stubb swears oaths, before crossing wakes with the luckiest damn ship in the Pacific. Whales are slain, and that night, Fedallah and Ahab discuss uncertain dreams. Finally, Ahab destroys an expensive piece of equipment for intense symbolic reasons.Next episode: Chapters 119-124, from The Candles to The Needle. When the typhoon comes, the veil of nature is torn.

In this episode, the material world of the Pequod looms large, as does its materials. Instead of getting a new friend, Ahab gets a new leg, and we meet the carpenter. He gets a whole chapter to himself, describing him more or less schematically. After that, we try something a bit different: Since Chapter 108 is entirely a dialogue between Ahab and the carpenter, your hosts read the whole thing, after flipping a coin for the parts. (If you want to skip this, it’s between 43:51 and 54:54.) Finally, we round out the episode with Starbuck not quite managing mutiny and Queequeg not quite managing to die.N.b.: Due to technical difficulties, the audio quality for the last section is a bit worse. Sorry about that.Next episode: We read chapters 111 through 118, and a weapon is forged. We are approaching the Season on the Line.

This week, we delve deep into the prehistory of whales, and from there, consider their most remote future. But first, an extended examination of Dutch and English whaleship supplies in a chapter Ben grades ‘passable.’ There’s 135 of them, they can’t all be winners. But after that, the whale’s skeleton beckons us through elaborate Gnostic imagery to the headwaters of infinity, as Ishmael more or less states that the whale predates the Book of Genesis, and that the species will continue throughout all ages, whale without end. It takes us a bit to unravel it all, with various elements of 19th century thought on prehistory and deep time being required to make sense of it.Next episode: We deal with carpentry, in chapters 106 through 110.