Pynchon In Public Podcast

05.05: Bleeding Edge In this episode – doubly unprecedented! – we discuss chapters eleven through thirteen of Thomas Pynchon’s Bleeding Edge. For the next episode, we’ll look at chapters fourteen and fifteen.

05.04: Bleeding Edge In which we continue our discussion on Thomas Pynchon’s Bleeding Edge with a look at chapters nine and ten. We then do a short review session of the novel to this point. For the next episode, we’ll look at chapters eleven through thirteen.

05.03: Bleeding Edge In which we continue our look at Thomas Pynchon’s Bleeding Edge with a discussion on chapters six through eight. For the next episode, we’ll look at chapters nine and ten. Alan mentions a Hulu show titled The Looming Tower. You can check it out on IMDB here. He also mentions a movie called Voyage of […]

05.02: Bleeding Edge In which we continue our look at Thomas Pynchon’s Bleeding Edge with a discussion of chapters three, four and five. For the next episode, we’ll look at chapters six through eight. There’s a mention of the Horst Wessel song, the theme of the Nazi Party. If you’d like to listen to it, you […]

05.01: Bleeding Edge We kick off Season Five with an introduction to Thomas Pynchon’s most recent novel, Bleeding Edge. We then have a look at the first two chapters. Enjoy! For the next episode, we’ll look at chapters three through five. NB: This season’s outro music was composed by Bo and Aug. Paola mentions a […]

04.42: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we finally finish our examination of Gravity’s Rainbow. Thank you for joining us throughout this long season. We’ll be back with Season Five as soon as we’ve had a bit of a rest. The negative review Chris quotes from by Dan Schneider: http://www.cosmoetica.com/B1277-DES888.htm “A Suspension Forever at the Hinge of […]

04.40: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we wrap up the final section of Gravity’s Rainbow with a look back at The Counterforce. Chris said Slothrop was referred to as an “early Virgo.” Aug said that the phrase was “double Virgo.” In fact, both phrases are used. However, it’s unclear if “early Virgo” is referring to Slothrop […]

04.39: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we finally, after two years of work, get to the end of Gravity’s Rainbow, with a look at the last half of the last chapter. Chris reads from an article called “Coloring Gravity’s Rainbow” by N. Katherine Hayles and Mary B. Eiser. While the journal Pynchon Notes is no longer around, the […]

04.38: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we have a go at the first half of the last chapter of Gravity’s Rainbow. Bo mentions some early picture of Adolf Hitler wearing lederhosen. Here’s an example of why that maybe didn’t convey the authority he wanted it to. Chris brings up the SHAEF symbol. And lastly, you can […]

04.37: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we continue our discussion of The Counterforce section of Gravity’s Rainbow with a look at chapters nine through eleven. And stay tuned at the end of this episode for a special outro song created by a Pynchon fan! Chris references “rainbow gravity” theory, which you can read about here. Michael […]

04.36: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we continue our discussion of The Counterforce section of Gravity’s Rainbow with a look at chapters seven and eight. At one point, Bo mentions an idea that no one in the book sings songs all on his or her own. This turns out not to true when, later in the […]

04.35: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we continue discussing the final section of Gravity’s Rainbow with a look at the second half of chapter six – the first chapter with sub-sections. We talk a little bit about the David Foster Wallace podcast, The Great Concavity. If you’re interested, you can find it here. Author Michael Chabon […]

04.34: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we start out trying to cover chapter six of The Counterforce section of Gravity’s Rainbow…but only end up getting through half of it. This is the first chapter of the books that’s broken up into sub-sections. We’ll continue with the second half in two weeks! Alan thinks that there might […]

04.33: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we continue examining Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow with a look at chapters four and five of Book Four.

04.32: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we finally discuss the long-awaited story of Byron the Bulb, as featured in chapter 3 of Book Four of Gravity’s Rainbow. To hear Pavarotti sing “La Dona e Mobile,” here it is on YouTube. Chris mentions this rather famous picture of a Buddhist monk self-immolating in protest. Chris also mentions […]

04.31: Gravity’s Rainbow In which be begin the final section of Gravity’s Rainbow – The Counterforce! This episode covers the first two chapters of Book Four. Alan offers an explanation of the musical concept called the tone row here’s the Wikipedia article. If you would like a little more detail, . If you want to listen to […]

4.30: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we take a look back over all of Book Three, “In the Zone,” of Gravity’s Rainbow. We’re going to take a little break before we return with The Counterforce. Keep an eye our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates announcing our return. If you want to hear Das Racsit’s “You […]

04.29: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we continue our discussion of Gravity’s Rainbow with a look at the final two episodes of Book Three. Alan mentions “Esther Williams set pieces.” Here’s a pretty good example from The Million Dollar Mermaid (1952). Bo mentions a similar scene from Mel Brooks’s History of the World, Part 1 (1981). You can find it […]

04.28: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we have a look at chapters 28, 29 and 30 of Book Three of Gravity’s Rainbow.

04.27: Gravity’s Rainbow In which we continue looking at Gravity’s Rainbow with a discussion of chapters 26 and 27 of Book Three. For the curious, you can have a look at the lyrics to “San Antonio Rose”, Major Marvy’s favorite song. Alan mentions the inter-racial affair of staunchly segregationist U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond. You can […]