Why are we so blind, why do we see so little, when there is much around us to see?
So asks philosopher Alva Noë in Strange Tools, an exploration of how art objects contain, persuade, envelop, and direct our attention. What happens when we love a song, poem, or a moment in a day? How do these works of art direct and misdirect our attention? What––physically, emotionally, actually––happens to us in these moments of transport? And how can we talk about any of this without poorly paraphrasing that direct experience?
These are the questions Podcast Editor Josh Wagner was left with at the end of our last episode of Poetism. So, in this week’s installment, Josh invited Mitch Therieau, a Stanford researcher working on contemporary literature, to unravel the interstices of Lisa Robertson’s R’s Boat (2010) and the Airborne Toxic Event’s 2011 hit “Numb” off of All at Once.
Robertson’s poetry captures fleeting moments of stillness and the everyday, placing them in complex and abstract forms, while Numb’s soundscape desensitizes listeners to the world around them. Over the course of their conversation, Mitch and Josh plumb the surface-level depths of Robertson’s avant-garde poetry and trace the music history at the core of the Airborne Toxic Event’s track.
Longtime listeners might be interested to compare Mitch’s idea of what America is with Josh’s––way back from his first episode with Back in America.
Stay tuned for next week’s episode with Los Angeles-based filmmaker and tap dancer Johnnie Hobbs, featuring Amiri Baraka and D’Angelo and The Vanguard.
Check out frontman for the Airborne Toxic Event Mikel Jollett’s 2020 memoir Hollywood Park.
Housing Assistance Series 2/2: Carol Golden - Housing Initiatives of Princeton - US Politics, Social Issues and Housing Situation
Housing Assistance Series 1/2: Louise Kekulah - From Liberia to Princeton
Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Price - Afghanistan, Counterterrorism, Seton Hall University... America will be (see episode note)
Cecilia Birge - Anti-Asian racism during the Pandemic - Growing-up in Chinese Labor Camp - Student on Tiananmen Square protests
Marina Ahun — A Princeton Painter — From the Collapse of the Soviet Union to The Hardship of COVID-19
Part 1 - Mark Charles - Native American 2020 candidate Asks does 'We The People' includes everybody?
Part 2 - Mark Charles - Native American 2020 candidate Wants 'We The People' to Mean 'All The people'
19 Year-Old Princeton Student: Being Black in the US is Like Suffocating
Update: A Native American Candidate to US Election - Subscribe to our Mailing list
John Michael Greer an American Druid on Americans Individualism, Societal Collapse, and the Values of the Frontier Period
Gil Lopez: Guerrilla Gardening in Queen, Resilient Communities and the Power of Radical Ideas
Share My Meals - Princeton Non-Profit Keeps Restaurants Open During the Pandemic to Feed Those in Need
Jessica Baxter - Princeton High School Principal - Adjusting to remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic
Richard Heinberg: on building resilient communities - transitioning away from fossil fuels - Coronavirus - Collapse (effondrement)
Ron Menapace - Homestead Princeton - From Pharma to business owner: Challenges and opportunities in America
Trailer - Back in America - A podcast questioning our understanding of America
Carole Jury - 'La femme de...' se réinvente aux Etats-Unis et devient artiste peintre | In French
Princeton University Janitor & Mailman Tommy Parker Talks of Reparations and Civil Rights
John Lam: Boston Ballet Principal Dancer a Gay Vietnamese-American Reflects on his life Leading to Coming out, Marrying and Having two Kids
Quick Up-Date: Gay, Dad & Principal Dancer Coming-up + Follow-up on Social Media
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