Celebrate Poe

This episode continues a series that compare’s elements of Christopher Nolan’s Inception with Poe’s dream works. The episode ends with Poe’s poem Dreams - a classic work that  weaves a narrative transitioning from a sense of hope in dreams to a realization of their illusory nature. The speaker reminisces about reveling in dreams of light and loveliness, escaping into imagined realms apart from his own reality. However, as the poem progresses, the tone shifts to acknowledge the fleeting nature of dreams and the speaker's recognition that they are ultimately transient illusions

 Spinning Top, Part One is a the first of five episodes devoted to an examination of Poe's "Dream Works" and Christopher Nolan's movie "Inception."  This episode emphasizes that Poe's characters are often haunted by memories and past traumas, while Inception reflects this with Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) grappling with his deceased wife Mal, who manifests within his dreams.  The film explores how unresolved issues and memories can shape our perception of reality, a theme also central to many of Poe's works.

This episode delves into (for the  most part) some of the some shorter passages from Shakespeare dealing with dreams  passages that are also among the most well known.Sections vary from Julius Caesar to Henry IV, Part 1 to Romeo and Juliet to Hamlet to The Tempest, among others.

This episode takes a deep dive into the three dreams of Richard III - from a dream about falling off a ship to the admonitions of "Despair and Die" before the Battle of Bosworth in The Tragedy of Richard III.

Episode 230.  To Be or Not Episode 230 continues an examination of Chronos time and Kairos times through an examination of Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy from Shakespearae’s Hamlet.  Special attention is paid to Hamlet’s decision NOT to act - that waiting for Kairos - or the right moment to make a decision - is a decision in itself - and Hamlet ends up being the story of a man who cannot make up his mind.

Episode 229 of Celebrate Poe is a continuation of an examination of the concepts or Chronos and Kairos - this time centered around the story of Easter - for example - how concept of kairos time is intricately related to the narrative of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. The use of kairos time in the Easter Story emphasizes that Jesus' death and resurrection were not just historical events (Chronos) but pivotal moments orchestrated by God for the redemption of humanity (Kairos.)00:00 Musical Intro00:23 Spoken Intro 01:40 Chronos/Kairos Review08:10 Relevance to Easter12:24 The Road to Emmaus Story20:11 Other accounts and perspectives28:31 Upcoming episode29:01 Sources29:26 Outro

Episode 228 of Celebrate Poe is entitled “What Is a Day?”  The podcast (and several episodes after it) were influenced by a sermon given by the Rev. Julia Wentworth at Trinity Episcopal Church in Indianapolis earlier this year.    This episode deals with Chronos and Kairos time, and delves into the role of time in the Creation story, Mark’s gospel, and the famous “to everything there is a season” verses from Ecclesiastes.00:00 Intro01:51 Chronos and Kairos introduced06:04 Future episodes dealing with time and dreams09:24 Kairos in the Gospel of Mark12:28 Chronos (or Kairos) in the Creation story13:12 The Creation Story17:23 Interpretation of Creation Story in Genesis 124:48 Chronos and Kairos in “to everything there is a season”27:35.Next episode27:55 Sources28:15  Outro

This episode deals with J. Robert Oppenheimer - the complex figure who is the subject of this year’s Best Picture.This episode compares the figures of J. Robert Oppenheimer and Edgar Allan Poe.   Obviously, from different centuries, the two figures share many common complexities because of their backgrounds, talents, accomplishments, and complicated personalities.

Episode 226 is the second part of a look at some of the high points of Celebrate Poe so far - from the Allans in England to Poe’s days at the University of Virginia, and at West Point.  The episode takes a look at some secondary accounts of incidents of the time in the context of Poe’s life and career.

Episode 225 - Poe Review, 1 is a brief look (through a conversation with the ghost of Mr. Poe and George) regarding the 1st half of Mr. Poe’s life - his earliest years up to Stoke Newington.  Originally, I called this episode Catchup!, but I later decided that a better title might be Poe Review, 1.  The idea is for this podcast to relate events in Poe’s existence up to the half-way point in the story of his illustrious life. Sources include: Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, and the Life of Edgar A. Poe by Eugene L. Didier.

In this episode, I talk about how I met the co-host of this podcast - the imaginary ghost of Edgar Allan Poe.   Ok - I know it sounds strange - I still scarcely believe it myself - that this is the episode where Mr. Poe made his podcasting debut.You could say this "sets the stage" for the rest of "Celebrate Poe" and the detailed look at Poe's life and works to follow.  So this episode is a look at the very beginning of Celebrate Poe, and a brief look into future episodes. Currently I am working on several episodes about the Beatles, and how they developed their talents using principles that Edgar Allan Poe used.   And I am very excited about several episodes regarding Chronos and Kairos time in the works of Shakespeare, Poe, and the King James Bible. - a subject I will try to clearly explain later, and one that is a lot more interesting than it might sound at first. And if it took well over 200 episodes to cover the first 20 years of Poe’s existence, you can be sure that the second half of Poe’s life will be a long journey that I hope is well worth taking.Well, thank you very much for making it this far, as we take a deep dive into learning about America’s Shakespeare, and how he has changed our world.

This is the final episode of a three part series dealing with Harriet Tubman.  This episode begins with Tubman working for the Union forces, tending to newly liberated people, scouting into Confederate territory, and nursing wounded soldiers in Virginia.  This episode ends with a comparison of the achievements of Tubman and Frederick Douglass, as well as a comparison of (surprise, surprise!) Tubman and Edgar Allan Poe.

Episode 222 is the second of a three part series dealing with Harriet Tubman, and her work with the Underground Railway.The episode deals with some of the brave efforts towards liberation that Tubman led, and ends with this description of the assault on Fort Wagner:  And then we saw the lightning, and that was the guns; and then we heard the thunder, and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling, and that was the drops of blood falling; and when we came to get the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.

Episode 221 is the first of  a three part series for Black History Month dealing with Harriett Tubman - some of her ideas, philosophy, and earlier years.

Episode 220 deals with sections of an especially eloquent oration given by Frederick Douglas in honor of Abraham Lincoln.   

Episode 219 deals with Frederick Douglas after his escape to the North, and his colorful and influential life as an abolitionist speaker and advocate.While he gave thousands of speeches supporting freedom for all races, perhaps one of his most famous is What to the Slave is the Fourth of July:"My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see, this day, and its popular characteristics, from the slave’s point of view. Standing, there, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery—the great sin and shame of America!

This episode is the first of a three part series about the great Frederick Douglass.  This episode deals with the early life of Douglass - how he was kept from his mother, the moments he first realized the importance of education, and some examples of his eloquence.

Episode 217 takes a brief look at 4 of Poe’s works where many critics believe his complex perceptions of racial issues are explored - The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym, The Goldbug, and Eureka.

This episode deals with some of the complexities of manumission in 19th century United States.  The main thrust of this episode is the time that Edgar Allan Poe actually sold a slave, Edwin, for his Aunt Maria Clemm using the process of manumission - not as beneficial as it might have seemed at first.

This episode is the third and final episode of an "interview" between George and AI Poe (via Google Bard) regarding his first published work,, his life with and love for Virginia Clemm, some of his other loves, and Edgar Poe as a macabre maestro.  An aside here - this certainly wasn’t planned - but the third episode dealing with Poe’s 215th birthday is episode 215 of this podcast.