This Moment of Rapid Change - Episode No. 44

02/21/22 • 70 min

We're in a moment of rapid, disorientating change: the fourth industrial revolution, Web 3.0, machine learning, unregulated capitalism, climate change--the list is long and challenging. Roman and Rob share some of their recent readings/investigations and how it's helping them think about technology, economics, and art in a world that seems to change by the week. They talk about George Dyson's "Darwin Among the Machines," Michael J. Sandel's "The Tyranny of Merit," and Benjamin's Labatut's "When We Cease to Understand the World," among other books. Music: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

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Discovering Sergio Pitol - Episode No. 43

We talk with Sergio Pitol translator George Henson, who is the first translator of the Mexican master's work into the English language. We discuss why Pitol is largely unknown in North America (something we hope to change!)and why you should love and treasure Pitol's "The Trilogy of Memory." In January 2022, Pitol's 1984 novel "The Love Parade" will be available from Deep Vellum Publishing. We've read it, and we recommend it highly. Order it here: https://tinyurl.com/mrxnsxv9 Music: “Sunday Smooth" by Scott Buckley, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License - www.scottbuckley.com.au.

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James Joyce in Russian Literature - Episode No. 45

Roman talks with José Vergara about Joyce's influence on Soviet and post-Soviet Russian literature. We talk literary heritage, the dangers of translating Ulysses under Stalin, the birth of Social Realism (and its ugly stepsister, Capitalist Primitivism), the schizophrenic nature of the late Soviet period, émigré writing, and Joyce's continued influence on contemporary Russian writers. A fascinating talk that sheds much light on both Joyce and Russian lit. Writers discussed include: Yury Olesha, Vladimir Nabokov, Andrei Bitov, Sasha Sokolov, and Mikhail Shishkin (cameos of sorts by Victor Pelevin and William Gaddis). José's book, "All future plunges to the past : James Joyce in Russian literature," was published by Cornell University Press in 2021. https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501759901/all-future-plunges-to-the-past/