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The Spouter-Inn

@TheSpouter

The Spouter-Inn; or, A Conversation with Great Books. A literary podcast. We're over at the other place now: https://nitter.cf/t.co/TqPjzXvy6i

 Toronto, Ontario
megaphonic.fm/spouter
Joined January 2019
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In our recent episode on the Etymologies, I mentioned the ancient theory that 1 didn’t count as a number, but I didn’t have time to get into why. And now YouTube recommends this video to me, which explains the history in the first few minutes. Nice! youtube.com/watch?v=R33RoMO6…
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And now, the episode that three of you were waiting for, the one where we read an encyclopedia! Oh, but Isidore's Etymologies are so much more than that — maybe we'll convince that this book is something special. megaphonic.fm/spouter/69
A cat curls up on a good book.

ALT A cat curls up on a good book.

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In our new episode, we look at Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy. It's got poetry, it's got prose, it's got autobiography, it's got neoplatonist philosophy. What more could you want? megaphonic.fm/spouter/68
A cat looks at you severely. Beside it, a copy of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy (the Loeb edition, with the Latin, which this cat has studied during long nights).

ALT A cat looks at you severely. Beside it, a copy of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy (the Loeb edition, with the Latin, which this cat has studied during long nights).

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New! We look at the erotic — and therefore devotional? — lyric poetry of The Song of Songs. And we also take a peek at some of the medieval commentaries on the poem, which also get spicy... megaphonic.fm/spouter/67
A cat demurely walks into a tableau with some wine, some milk, and some erotic poetry.

ALT A cat demurely walks into a tableau with some wine, some milk, and some erotic poetry.

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In the latest episode of The Spouter-Inn, we take a look at the classical Greek tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, in Anne Carson's translations. And we consider its exploration of what we owe each other, including what we owe the dead. megaphonic.fm/spouter/66
A black cat tries to cover Antigone's face on a copy of the play.

ALT A black cat tries to cover Antigone's face on a copy of the play.

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In our latest episode, we look at The Epic of Gilgamesh, a three thousand (or so) year old poem about Gilgamesh (a king who is two-thirds divine) and his beloved Enkidu. megaphonic.fm/spouter/65
A cat looks out, surely thinking of Enkidu's fate, near two translations of The Epic of Gilgamesh.

ALT A cat looks out, surely thinking of Enkidu's fate, near two translations of The Epic of Gilgamesh.

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Our episode on The Epic of Gilgamesh is coming soon. I'm curious: Is there anything (book, painting, whatever) inspired by or responding to the story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu that you particularly love?
Gilgamesh making an appearance in the video game Civilization VI.

ALT Gilgamesh making an appearance in the video game Civilization VI.

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Important follow-up!
Sassan Tabatabai's books, now with cat resting near them.

ALT Sassan Tabatabai's books, now with cat resting near them.

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We follow up our episode on Blind Owl with a special bonus episode with its translator, the poet and scholar Sassan Tabatabai (@TabatabaiSassan). We dig a little deeper into the book's many mysteries, as well as the mysterious art of translation. megaphonic.fm/spouter/64b
Three books by Sassan Tabatabai: Uzunburun: Poems; Sufi Haiku; and his translation of Sadeq Hedayat's Blind Owl.

ALT Three books by Sassan Tabatabai: Uzunburun: Poems; Sufi Haiku; and his translation of Sadeq Hedayat's Blind Owl.

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New! We read Sadeq Hedayat's classic novel Blind Owl (translated by @TabatabaiSassan, published by @PenguinClassics). It's a disquieting tale about a pen-case painter who is haunted by the image he paints again and again… Listen on your podcast app or at megaphonic.fm/spouter/64
A cat sleeps next to a copy of Sadeq Hedayat's Blind Owl; a similar looking cat sleeps behind it, like a sort of reflection of the first cat — a copy cat, perhaps?

ALT A cat sleeps next to a copy of Sadeq Hedayat's Blind Owl; a similar looking cat sleeps behind it, like a sort of reflection of the first cat — a copy cat, perhaps?

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And now, our belated end-of-2022 episode, on Bernadette Mayer's book-length poem, Midwinter Day. A poem which unexpectedly tied together several of the books we've looked at recently! megaphonic.fm/spouter/63
A cat examines a copy of Bernadette Mayer's Midwinter Day.

ALT A cat examines a copy of Bernadette Mayer's Midwinter Day.

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In our new episode, we look back at The Waste Land, which turned 100 last year, and think about what it means to read it today. Listen at megaphonic.fm/spouter/62 or on your favourite podcast app.
Cat falls asleep reading The Waste Land.

ALT Cat falls asleep reading The Waste Land.

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Time to once again round up the books we read and discussed in 2022. (A few of these episodes haven't come out yet, because 2022...) Anyway, we hope you read lots of interesting books and had some lovely conversations about them this year! Here's to 2023!
A montage of the books covered by the podcast The Spouter-Inn in 2022, namely: Black Skin, White Masks (Franz Fanon). Confessions (Augustine). The Rings of Saturn (W.G. Sebald). Paradiso (Dante). Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf). Ulysses (James Joyce). Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison). Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh). The Two Towers (J.R.R> Tolkien). Native Tongue (Suzette Haden Elgin). The Waste Land (T.S> Eliot). Midwinter Day (Bernadette Mayer).

ALT A montage of the books covered by the podcast The Spouter-Inn in 2022, namely: Black Skin, White Masks (Franz Fanon). Confessions (Augustine). The Rings of Saturn (W.G. Sebald). Paradiso (Dante). Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf). Ulysses (James Joyce). Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison). Harriet the Spy (Louise Fitzhugh). The Two Towers (J.R.R> Tolkien). Native Tongue (Suzette Haden Elgin). The Waste Land (T.S> Eliot). Midwinter Day (Bernadette Mayer).

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