{"id":6545,"date":"2012-09-13T06:02:45","date_gmt":"2012-09-13T10:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=6545"},"modified":"2018-02-14T20:26:18","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T00:26:18","slug":"podcast-fire-and-bleak-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-fire-and-bleak-house","title":{"rendered":"Podcast: Fire and Bleak House"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories – season 2 episode 11
\nBoaz Roth – Fire and Bleak House<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_2_Episode_11_-_Fire_and_Bleak_House.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“I can’t be made to believe that they’re just things. Books are friends. And sometimes enemies.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s time for a new episode of The Virtual Memories Show<\/strong><\/em>!<\/p>\n

“I’m dumber now at 44 than I was at 24. But when I get to 74 I was hoping to see all the stupid things I thought I knew in my margin notes.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In this one, my brother Boaz Roth<\/strong> talks about rebuilding his library after a house fire, the joys of Bleak House,<\/em> the lasting influence of Orwell’s essay, Inside the Whale,<\/em> the Tolstoyan qualities of Lost<\/em>, and what he’s learned over 18 years of teaching literature. Oh, and I offer up The Key To Quentin Tarantino’s Movies.<\/p>\n

“The Heart of Darkness is the one book I hate the most to read, and it’s the one indispensable book I think everyone needs to read.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You’ll also find commentary on the recent spate of superhero movies, the wonders of Clive James’ Cultural Amnesia<\/em>, being a bad friend to your books, the shock of actually learning something from a David Brooks column, and\u00a0how Christopher Nolan ripped off his own movie for that new Batman flick, among a pretty wide range of topics.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_2_Episode_11_-_Fire_and_Bleak_House.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div>

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/p>

Subscribe: Spotify<\/a> | TuneIn<\/a> | RSS<\/a> | More<\/a><\/p>\n

“Is there an inflection point where we stop worrying about perfecting the things we do for ourselves and start thinking about how we can make things perfect for others? Not just the people we love, but the people we’re connected to by paycheck.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Enjoy the conversation!<\/a><\/p>\n

This is part 2 of\u00a0The Bat Mitzvah Tapes<\/em>, recorded during a trip to St. Louis in August for my niece’s bat mitzvah. Last week, I posted a conversation with Boaz’s mother-in-law, Lyn Ballard, about literary pilgrimages, what it’s like to read Huck Finn<\/em> at the age of 5, and the books that made her who she is.\u00a0Check that one out.<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow The Virtual Memories Show<\/em> on iTunes<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, Tumblr<\/a>, and RSS<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits: This episode\u2019s music is <\/em>Thunder Road by the Boss. I recorded the intro on a Blue Yeti mic into Audacity, and the conversation with was recorded on a pair of Blue Encore 100 mics, feeding into a Zoom H4N recorder. All editing was done in Garage Band. Have mics, will travel!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virtual Memories – season 2 episode 11 Boaz Roth – Fire and Bleak House “I can’t be made to believe that they’re just things. Books are friends. And sometimes enemies.” It\u2019s time for a new episode of The Virtual Memories Show! “I’m dumber now at 44 than I was at 24. But when I get … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Podcast: Fire and Bleak House”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,1183],"tags":[1442,2534,1445,1448,1443,1084,426,1447,1446,1070,154,85,156,1449,1444,391,1069,699,121,925,91],"class_list":["post-6545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literature","category-podcasts","tag-ayn-rand","tag-boaz-roth","tag-breaking-bad","tag-charles-dickens","tag-charles-portis","tag-christopher-nolan","tag-clive-james","tag-david-brooks","tag-dostoevsky","tag-emma-stone","tag-george-orwell","tag-hegel","tag-joseph-conrad","tag-kant","tag-lost","tag-mad-men","tag-plato","tag-quentin-tarantino","tag-shakespeare","tag-tolstoy","tag-tom-stoppard","post_format-post-format-audio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/4C0856B8-6C39-4D65-AA22-5DE38A3ADAAB.jpeg?fit=620%2C379","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-1Hz","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13065,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/covid-check-in-with-boaz-roth","url_meta":{"origin":6545,"position":0},"title":"COVID Check-In with Boaz Roth","author":"Gil","date":"April 3, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show COVID Check-In: Boaz Roth \"When you have a group of people in this country who only believe in math when it comes to tax rates, and don't believe in science, you can pretend all you want, but you're in denial; the math doesn't change.\" From St. Louis,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "COVID Check-In"","block_context":{"text":"COVID Check-In","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/covid-check-in"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2726086626_de184dd1b4_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2726086626_de184dd1b4_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2726086626_de184dd1b4_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2726086626_de184dd1b4_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2726086626_de184dd1b4_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12433,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-333-gil-roth","url_meta":{"origin":6545,"position":1},"title":"Episode 333 – Gil Roth","author":"Gil","date":"August 19, 2019","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 333: Gil Roth AMA Because of a last-minute guest cancellation, I had no show lined up for this week! Rather than take a second week off this summer, I decided it was time for another Gil Roth AMA episode, since the last one was almost 5 years\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/whygil.jpg?fit=1200%2C598&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/whygil.jpg?fit=1200%2C598&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/whygil.jpg?fit=1200%2C598&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/whygil.jpg?fit=1200%2C598&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/whygil.jpg?fit=1200%2C598&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7827,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/on-dying","url_meta":{"origin":6545,"position":2},"title":"On Dying","author":"Gil","date":"April 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week's podcast with DG Myers is one of my faves (he wrote a great piece spinning out of it on his site). As I mentioned in my intro, it's not the only episode I've recorded with a guest about illness, dying, or the impact of a near-death experience on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Podcasts"","block_context":{"text":"Podcasts","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/podcasts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14172,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-416-wendung","url_meta":{"origin":6545,"position":3},"title":"Episode 416 – Wendung","author":"Gil","date":"January 11, 2021","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 416: Wendung \"At 50, everyone has the face he deserves,\" said George Orwell, but he died at 47, so what does he know? To celebrate turning 50, I use an obscure Woody Allen movie to talk about why I can't take stock of my life. Then the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7283.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7283.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7283.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7283.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_7283.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8463,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-the-hollow-man","url_meta":{"origin":6545,"position":4},"title":"Podcast – The Hollow Man","author":"Gil","date":"December 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show: The Hollow Man It's the ONE-HUNDREDTH EPISODE\u00a0of The Virtual Memories Show!\u00a0And they said it would never last!\u00a0To celebrate hitting the century mark, I asked past guests, upcoming guests and friends of the show to interview me this time around! This special episode includes questions and recorded segments\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Podcasts"","block_context":{"text":"Podcasts","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/podcasts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&l=as2&o=1&a=B002SQJLA4","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15469,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-500-all-the-guests","url_meta":{"origin":6545,"position":5},"title":"Episode 500 – ALL The Guests","author":"Gil","date":"August 19, 2022","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 500: ALL The Guests FIVE-HUNDRED EPISODES of The Virtual Memories Show?! Let's celebrate this milestone episode with tributes, remembrances, jokes, congrats, non-sequiturs, and a couple of songs (!) from nearly 100 of my past guests, including Maria Alexander, Jonathan Ames, Glen Baxter, Jonathan Baylis, Zoe Beloff, Walter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6545"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11247,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6545\/revisions\/11247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}