One True Podcast

Welcome to the fifth of our eighteen shows celebrating the centenary of the Paris edition of Hemingway’s book of vignettes, in our time.This scene of a barricade and a retreat continues Hemingway's brilliant depictions of Battle of Mons. In this episode, we explore some historical aspects of that retreat, compare the narrative voice and point of view to chapter four, and much more. As always, we examine how these first five vignettes are cohering into a larger project. Join us as we explore in our time before it became In Our Time!

The two great titans of twentieth-century American literature – Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner – never met. They corresponded only a time or two; however, they were always on each other’s minds. Their hyper-awareness of the other’s recent work led sometimes to envy, sometimes to awe, and frequently to catty comments.To help us learn more about these two men and their fraught relationship, we invite Prof. Ahmed Honeini of Royal Holloway, University of London, to the program. Honeini is the founder of Faulkner Studies in the UK and has written the superb book, William Faulkner and Mortality: A Fine Dead Sound. Honeini expertly guides us through Hemingway and Faulkner’s lives, works, and relationship as One True Podcast continues its investigation of Hemingway’s many rivalries.

This episode will focus on the Spanish Civil War and how one particular incident – the murder of accused Fascist spy José Robles – ruptured the relationship between Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos.To sort out the many moving parts to this chapter of Hemingway’s life, we welcome Stephen Koch, the author of The Breaking Point: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and the Murder of José Robles. Koch takes us through the complicated relationship between Hemingway and Dos Passos, what ended it, and how it ended. Koch also explores Robles’s role in Spain, Martha Gellhorn’s presence, and the legacy of this intricate web of relationships.Join us as we discuss Hemingway, Dos Passos, and the Robles Affair!

Welcome to the fourth of our eighteen shows celebrating the centenary of the Paris edition of Hemingway’s book of vignettes, in our time.At 75 words, this short scene describes the Battle of Mons. To Ezra Pound, Hemingway would refer to this conflict (from August 1914 at the very beginning of the First World War) as "clear and noble." In this episode, we discuss the historical aspects of the battle, Hemingway's friendship with the British soldier Eric Edward “Chink” Dorman-Smith, and the mixture of nobility, naivety, and absurdity that form the atmosphere of this vignette. We also examine how these first four vignettes are beginning to cohere into a larger project. Join us as we explore in our time before it became In Our Time!

Welcome to the third of our eighteen shows celebrating the centenary of the Paris edition of Hemingway’s book of vignettes, in our time.In this scene, Hemingway describes the minarets rising over the landscape overlooking the harrowing evacuation at the Greco-Turkish War in 1922. Hemingway distills the vast scope of inhumanity into the expression of one scared child. We discuss how this scene intersects with his biographical experiences, his journalism, and how the first three vignettes are beginning to cohere into a larger project. Join us as we explore in our time before it became In Our Time!

American modernism is a concept that is so slippery that even scholars don’t always agree on its definition. Is it a historical era, or a literary technique? Was Ernest Hemingway even a modernist? If so, which of his works are most modernistic?For this discussion, we turn to Mark Whalan, editor of the compendious new volume, Cambridge History of American Modernism, and Karen Leick, one of its contributors, who places Hemingway in a conversation with other American modernists including Stein, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald. We discuss his work, his celebrity, the difference between the myth and the man, and the modern world in which he lived and wrote.Join us for this fascinating conversation that tackles Hemingway and his place in the tradition of American literature!

Mark Kurlansky, the author of dozens of books of fiction, nonfiction, and children's literature (including Cod, Salt, and The Importance of Not Being Ernest), shares his one true sentence from Hemingway's story "In Another Country."

Welcome to the second of our eighteen shows celebrating the centenary of the Paris edition of Hemingway’s book of vignettes, in our time.In this scene, Hemingway puts us into a chaotic bullfighting scene, with gorings, hooting crowds, and a kid who tries to save the day. We discuss how this early sketch prefigures Hemingway’s career-long fascination with the bullfight and the problem of depicting it. Just two chapters into this year-long read of in our time, patterns are beginning to emerge. Join us as we explore in our time before it became In Our Time!

One True Podcast reads in our time! Welcome to the first of our eighteen shows celebrating the centenary of Hemingway’s book of vignettes.Starting with the unforgettable opening salvo -- “Everybody was drunk” -- chapter one describes a kitchen corporal in a chaotic battery on the way to the Champagne during World War I.  We explore these 112 words and what they reveal about Hemingway’s experimentation, his challenging style, and his attitude about war as a young man. As Hemingway writes, “It was funny going along that road.”Join us as we explore in our time before it became In Our Time! 

What was Ernest Hemingway doing in 1924? Where was he? What were his important relationships? What were his challenges? What was he writing? The excellent Verna Kale  -- Hemingway biographer and Associate Editor of the Hemingway Letters Project -- joins us to trace Hemingway’s experiences one hundred years ago, walking us through his biography, his letters, his finances, and even some of his poetry. According to Kale, Hemingway wasn’t quite Hemingway yet, but he was right on the cusp.We hope you enjoy one of our favorite traditions, spending our first show of the new year by going back one hundred years to explore Hemingway’s life, work, and world. Happy New Year!