The Troubadour Podcast

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Send us a textThis is a talk I gave at an event in Austin with a group of Ayn Rand Fans. I first read Homer when I was 9 years old. I understood none of it. After re-reading it many times, and later creating The Literary Canon Club, I have come to the conclusion that everyone should read Homer. In this talk I'll explain why and give you some insights from an amateur on how to approach the two epic poems of Homer. "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey."

Send us a textWith the call from some "futurists" like Elon Musk to pause development of AI, I explore two poems. One written by an Artificial Intelligence app, and another written by Robert Frost. The hypothesis: The chasm between Artificial Intelligence and the miraculous Human Consciousness is infinitely deep and unsurpassable. This does not diminish AI, but rather puts it in it's place as a tool of the human mind.Experiment: take three abstract human emotions "isolation, sorrow, despair" and implement the most basic universal English poetic forms "Sonnet Iambic Pentameter" and explore both poems as a poetry critic.

Send us a textA discussion of the Poem:Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798By William Wordsworth

Send us a textOn this episode of Ted Lasso Luc Travers and Kirk Barbera are joined by Ted Lasso expert and creator of the biggest Ted Lasso fan group on Facebook, Joel Marquez.We discussed the show Ted Lasso and its relation to today's topics "Infectious Optimism" or "Infectious Benevolence." Luc then surprised both Kirk and Joel with a fascinating painting and Kirk surprised Luc and Joel with an inspiring poem. You won't want to miss the episode!Joel's facebook group is called "Ted Lasso Talk." If you have an optimists attitude, or you'd like one, join up!Joel's wife, Deanna, runs an etsy shop called Dlifeful, where she sells Ted Lasso inspired mugs, tshirts and more!

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Send us a textShortly after the recording of this episode, Luc Travers posted this to the facebook group: "Oh man, that episode recording was a wild, emotional ride!I went from warm nostalgia, to eager hope, to anxiety, to confused anger, to relief, to relative serenity in the space of 45 minutes!"Kirk agrees. This was an intense episode that dealt with a very heavy topic. What is social harmony? On this episode, you'll hear a variety of different answers, including two radically different approaches by two different artists.Special thanks to our voice recording volunteers: Alexandra HartlineHeather SchwarzMike Dartt

Send us a textThis week Luc and Kirk delve into the religious concept of revelation. Does revelation refer solely to the divine? How can revelation be brought down to earth? How is it relevant to our day-to-day lives? In painting, revelation is a very popular concept. The same is true in literature and poetry. What do you think? Does revelation have to be divine? Can we attain secular revelation? And what would that mean?Special thanks to our voice recordersKelly Bowers & Sean Doherty.

Send us a textToday Luc and Kirk are joined by sculptor Kelsy Landin. Make sure to follow her on Tiktok @landinart where she has become very popular creating videos of the sculpting process. Instagram she is @landinofficial and youtube Landin Art.Luc chose a spectacular statue to surprise us with. All three of us discussed various aspects of the sculpture as well as its artistic meaning. At first, it was not obvious how it fit into the topic of "Self-creation" but after exploring the work with Luc, we saw a very unique and important aspect of creating the self that many of us do not consider.The poem showed a contrary view to the idea of Self-creation, which gave the three of us much to contemplate.Enjoy this special episode of Surprised by Art, and visit https://www.troubadourmag.com/post/surprised-by-art-8-self-creation to view all the of artworks from different angles, and to read the poem.