Bob Dylan Examined: A Discussion with Harold Lepidus (IOT 07)

10/03/24 • 86 min

Since Robert Shelton’s New York Times review of Bob Dylan was published almost exactly 63 years ago, on September 29, 1961, Dylan has been the subject of intense critical focus. Journalists, academics, and fans have created an expansive catalog chronicling the minutiae of Dylan’s seven-decades in the public sphere. From studio releases and live performances, through books and films, to personal relationships and shifts in identity, every aspect of Dylan’s life and career has been scrutinized to gain a greater understanding of his oeuvre. In this episode, journalist and podcaster, Harold Lepidus, and I further expand the catalog as we discuss Dylan through the lens of Harold’s work, his fandom, and the expectations the sustained focus has created, and how Dylan has defied them.

Harold Lepidus is the author of Friends and Other Strangers - Bob Dylan Examined, an anthology of writings from the Bob Dylan online column he wrote for Examiner.com. He is a prolific content creator across his social media platforms, sharing his experience and insight on Dylan, the Beatles, Robyn Hitchcock, and music more broadly. His most recent review is VIETNAM, WATERGATE, AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE: Bob Dylan/The Band - The 1974 Live Recordings (Linked below).

A Video Version of this Episode is Available at TheFM.Club

Links:

VIETNAM, WATERGATE, AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE: Bob Dylan/The Band - The 1974 Live Recordings.
Friends and Other Strangers: Bob Dylan Examined - Kindle edition by Lepidus, Harold.
Instagram: @hlepidus
Twitter: @dylanexaminer

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A Video Version of this Episode is Available at TheFM.Club

Links:

VIETNAM, WATERGATE, AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE: Bob Dylan/The Band - The 1974 Live Recordings.
Friends and Other Strangers: Bob Dylan Examined - Kindle edition by Lepidus, Harold.
Instagram: @hlepidus
Twitter: @dylanexaminer

MORE LINKS

Infinity Goes Up On Trial - Episode Directory
Search all of our podcasts by album, song, or topic.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Drop us a note at [email protected].

We're a proud member of The FM Podcast Network

Previous Episode

Myth, Memory, and Identity Construction with Court Carney (IOT 06)

From the beginning of his career, critics, scholars, and fans have attempted to define Bob Dylan’s identity. Countless interviews and biographies and even Dylan’s 2004 memoir Chronicles: Volume One include myths, half-truths, and obfuscations, leading to lingering questions. These questions are compounded by the public’s perception of him and public images of Dylan used to serve a particular agenda – most often associated with his early protest period. Indeed, public and historic figures’ identities have oft been altered, distilled, diluted, or corrupted through their representations in popular culture. In this episode, Court Carney and I discuss his forthcoming book on Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, identity construction and public memory, and how Bob Dylan’s identity has been constructed throughout his career.

Court is a cultural historian who writes on public memory. He is a full professor of history at Stephen F. Austin University where he teaches courses on Black history and American cultural history. He is the author of Cuttin Up: How Early Jazz Got America’s Ear and Reckoning with the Devil: Nathan Bedford Forrest in Myth and Memory will be released on September 17, 2024. He is the co-editor of The Politics and Power of Bob Dylan’s Live Performances, a collection of essayson Bob Dylan’s setlists and a forthcoming collection of essays reconsidering Dylan’s work in the 1980s.

A Video Version of this Episode is Available at TheFM.Club

Links:

Court Carney, Ph.D.
Reckoning with the Devil: Nathan Bedford Forrest in Myth and Memory: Carney, Court: 9780807171530: Amazon.com: Books
Instagram: @court_carney

Substack: A Song and a Mood | Court Carney | Substack

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Next Episode

John Radosta (IOT 08)

Whether he’s lifting lines from old films for lyrics, crooning “The Night We Called it a Day” over the Nash Edgerton-directed video, or taking us to the Bon Bon club in Shadow Kingdom, Bob Dylan’s interest in and admiration of film noir has long been apparent. He seems drawn to the hard-scrabble, world-weary protagonists who travel through the seedy underworlds of big cities and end their stories unredeemed. In this episode, author, scholar, and educator, John Radosta and I talk about his scholarly work, his extraordinary short stories and novels, film noir, and, of course, how all of this relates to Bob Dylan and his work.

A novelist and author of many short stories, John Radosta teaches high school English near Boston, Massachusetts. Under both a pseudonym and his real name, his fiction has appeared in many magazines, including Yellow Mama, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine,Wildside Black Cat, and Tough Crime. A veteran of more than 50 Bob Dylan concerts, he is the co-author with Keith Nainby of Bob Dylan in Performance: Song, Stage and Screen, as well as other Dylan and Woody Guthrie articles.

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