The Troubadour Podcast

Send us a textOn this wide ranging conversation, Tal and I chatted about the role of art in cognition, The Romantic Manifesto and a special ARI announcement for this summer's event! 

Send us a textPatrick is partner at Just Add Firewater https://justaddfirewater.com/ and co-founder/president of Taliesun Nexus http://talnexus.com/Patrick is working to change the culture. Today we talked about how to do that and why literary art is essential to that end.

Send us a textOn this episode I have the world famous doctor of all things comedy and Youtube star Rucka Rucka ALI! His parody videos get millions of views on youtube. Make sure to watch his video on The History of Philosophy! https://youtu.be/39Em6t0G7FcSubscribe on Youtube or visit him at ruckasworld.comWe began our conversation on the nature of Comedy and Tragedy and quickly moved into how our minds work, what is naturally innate in humans, how to think about literature and philosophy and much much more.We discussed:Jordan PetersonThe IDWTragedyObjectivismHow to Change the WorldColumbine KillersPostmodernismThe French RevolutionAnd much much moreEnjoy this fascinating and wide ranging conversation with Rucka Rucka ALLLIIIII

Send us a textOn this episode I'll be reading the short story "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne.A scientists deepest desire and motivation is to master nature in the same way that the artist represents nature.In this episode we will explore the deeper motivations of Hawthorne's character creation: The Mad Scientist.We will explore the nature of art and science, literature as an artform, science fiction as a genre, and how all of these ideas converge within Hawthornes short story.The four short stories we are covering are:1) Dr. Heidegger's Experiment2) The Birthmark3) Rappaccini's Daughter4) The Artist of the BeautifulThis is science fiction not as it is, but as it should be!

Send us a textA reading of the poem by Keats.I STOOD tip-toe upon a little hill, | The air was cooling, and so very still, | That the sweet buds which with a modest pride | Pull droopingly, in slanting curve aside, | Their scantly leaved, and finely tapering stems, |         5Had not yet lost those starry diadems | Caught from the early sobbing of the morn. | The clouds were pure and white as flocks new shorn, | And fresh from the clear brook; sweetly they slept | On the blue fields of heaven, and then there crept |         10A little noiseless noise among the leaves, | Born of the very sigh that silence heaves: | For not the faintest motion could be seen | Of all the shades that slanted o’er the green. | There was wide wand’ring for the greediest eye, |         15To peer about upon variety; | Far round the horizon’s crystal air to skim, | And trace the dwindled edgings of its brim; | To picture out the quaint, and curious bending | Of a fresh woodland alley, never ending; |         20Or by the bowery clefts, and leafy shelves, | Guess where the jaunty streams refresh themselves. | I gazed awhile, and felt as light, and free | As though the fanning wings of Mercury | Had played upon my heels: I was light-hearted, |         25And many pleasures to my vision started; | So I straightway began to pluck a posey | Of luxuries bright, milky, soft and rosy. | A bush of May flowers with the bees about them; | Ah, sure no tasteful nook would be without them; |         30And let a lush laburnum oversweep them, | And let long grass grow round the roots to keep them | Moist, cool and green; and shade the violets, | That they may bind the moss in leafy nets. | A filbert hedge with wildbriar overtwined, |         35And clumps of woodbine taking the soft wind | Upon their summer thrones; there too should be | The frequent chequer of a youngling tree, | That with a score of light green breth[r]en shoots | From the quaint mossiness of aged roots: |         40Round which is heard a spring-head of clear waters | Babbling so wildly of its lovely daughters | The spreading blue bells: it may haply mourn | That such fair clusters should be rudely torn | From their fresh beds, and scattered thoughtlessly |         45By infant hands, left on the path to die. | Open afresh your round of starry folds, | Ye ardent marigolds! | Dry up the moisture from your golden lids, | For great Apollo bids |         50That in these days your praises should be sung | On many harps, which he has lately strung; | And when again your dewiness he kisses, | Tell him, I have you in my world of blisses: | So haply when I rove in some far vale, |         55His mighty voice may come upon the gale. | Here are sweet peas, on tip-toe for a flight: | With wings of gentle flush o’er delicate white, | And taper fingers catching at all things, | To bind them all about with tiny rings. |         60 Linger awhile upon some bending planks | That lean against a streamlet’s rushy banks, | And watch intently Nature’s gentle doings: | They will be found softer than ring-dove’s cooings. | How silent comes the water round that bend; |         65Not the minutest whisper does it send | To the o’erhanging sallows: blades of grass | Slowly across the chequer’d shadows pass. | Why, you might read two sonnets, ere they reach |&n

Explore the profound meanings behind symbols like butterflies and apples in literature and art. Delve into the power of metaphors to convey abstract concepts vividly. Follow the mythical trials of a mortal woman in proving her love to a god. Unpack the symbolism of butterflies in mythology and literature, hinting at a deeper understanding of creation and the human soul. Reflect on John Keats' impact on poetry and daily life, and the revival of the Titanic for adventure and romanticism.

Delving into the boundaries of human achievement and ethical implications of scientific advancements, the podcast explores the evolution of scientists in literature. Through the mysterious encounter in a house and Dr. Heidegger's experiment with the Fountain of Youth, themes of age, wisdom, and character are vividly portrayed. The guests' pursuit of superficial rejuvenation and youthful folly reveals deeper themes of vanity, greed, and the consequences of tampering with nature.

Send us a textThis episode is best watched on youtube: https://youtu.be/pWwjMHGNu6w

Send us a textOften to understand poetry, it helps to compare two poems of a similar subject. On this episode I will be comparing a new poet to an old one. The new: Jeremiah Cobra is a writer and poet living in Souther California. He recently published his first book of short stories and poems in a compilation, "Beauty and Perspective." I'll be reading and discussing his poem A Flower's Bloom. The old: William Blake (1757-1827). Blake is one of the great Romantic poets of the 18th and 19th century. Considered a visionary in his own time, his series Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience commonly portray a deceptively simplistic scene, but hide a beautifully dark vision of the world.I'll be reading and discussing his poem The Blossom.Read these poems here: https://www.kirkbarbera.com/single-post/2018/10/31/BLOOM-poetry

Exploring the eerie atmosphere of the House of Usher, the narrator encounters unsettling family history and drastic changes in his friend, Usher. Delving into troubled psychological states and cryptic vaults reveal chilling secrets and escalating fear, culminating in haunting poetry hinting at impending mental instability.