Dear subscribers,
Did I mention that I was starting a new podcast with the Moscow-based writer Tomek? It’s called Texting and its tagline is “a podcast for textual deviants.” Tomek and I believe, along with Fernando Pessoa, that “all art is a form of literature” and may be analyzed as such. Each week, we will be guided by this principle as we explore a different text—poem, essay, short story, novel, drama, song, album, film, painting, drawing, sculpture, or some other cultural artefact. Each episode will be about an hour in length and will feature our lively and wide-ranging discussion. I plan to post new episodes here on my Substack every Monday night (Taipei time), and I hope you’ll join us every week for a bit of textual deviance!
For our inaugural episode, we revisited Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129. In addition to discussing technical matters such as rhyme scheme and meter, we examine the diction—including the phrase “lust in action”—in an attempt to determine whether the poem is “transgressive” or “puritanical.” I perform a dramatic reading of the featured text and quote lines from King Lear. Tomek mentions a Zulu production of Macbeth and explains what he likes about Shakespeare’s sexuality. We consider the Bard’s influence on songwriters like Sting and we investigate the various theories questioning Shakespeare’s identity and his authorship of the plays and sonnets. At one point, the topic of semen retention is raised in relation to the Chinese concept of qi. What more could you want? Press play on the player above to hear the full episode!
Tune in next week for episode 2, when Tomek and I will discuss a scene from Richard Linklater’s Waking Life!
MW
"Lust in Action"