Calypso
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Ep. 73 – Titbits
Does Leopold Bloom seem a bit anal retentive to you? Content Warning: We talk an awful lot about poo in this one. If that’s not your cup of tea, use your own discretion. In this episode, Dermot and Kelly finish Ulysses’ fourth episode – “Calypso.” Topics include Ezra Pound’s sense of propriety, the number of…
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The Women of Ulysses: Milly Bloom
Part of an occasional series on the women of Ulysses. To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. Poor Milly Bloom. She’s the daughter of one of literature’s greatest heroes, but she’s been given short shrift. Joyce critics over the decades have largely ignored her or written her off…
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Ep. 72 – Dearest Papli
Is a picnic really just picnic? In this episode, Dermot and Kelly discuss Milly’s letter from Mullingar, those lovely seaside girls, Milly’s purpose in the narrative of Ulysses, the implication of a picnic, whether or not Milly is a poor substitute for Rudy, the significance of Milly’s fifteenth birthday, how Milly’s maturity has affected her…
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Ep. 71 – Agendath Netaim
Leopold Bloom contemplates the purchase of immense melonfields north of Jaffa. Topics covered in this episode include the Zionist movement of the early 20th century, how to pronounce Agendath Netaim, why Joyce might have changed Agudat to Agendath, hypostasis, the business sense (or nonsense) of buying farmland in Palestine, Bleibtreustrasse 34, morphic resonance, Dlugacz the…
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Ep. 70 – Bloomsday 2021
Happy Bloomsday, one and all! Enjoy a selection of readings from Ulysses by our talented listeners from across the globe. It’s a Bloomsday bash you can listen to anywhere. Just add gorgonzola and burgundy! Cool stuff to support: Sweny’s Patreon helps keep this marvelous Dublin landmark alive. Please subscribe! U22: The Centenary Ulysses Podcast Ulysses –…
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Ep. 69 – Met Him Pike Hoses
We do our best to take Molly’s advice and tell it in plain words – what is metempsychosis? Topics covered in this episode include Boylan’s bold hand, whether or not cats are kosher, moustache cups, secret letters, “La Ci Darem La Mano”, an orangekeyed chamberpot, how Molly can be both Calypso and Penelope, Joyce’s personal…
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Ep. 68 – The Orientalism Show
Why is Leopold Bloom so captivated by the “mysterious East”? In this episode we discuss the Orientalist motif in Ulysses, with a focus on “Calypso.” Topics include what is Orientalism?, how Orientalism manifests in Irish culture, the blurred continuum between Irish and British culture, Edward Said, why the “Orient” is really a dream, the Whig…
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Ep. 67 – The Ferreteyed Porkbutcher
This gland is your gland; this gland is my gland. Bloom finally makes it to the butcher to buy his kidney! In this episode, we discuss the geography (or joggerfry) of Bloom’s neighborhood, Larry O’Rourke’s, Bloom’s idea to build a tramline from the quays to the cattle market, bartenders who become rich, the art of…
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Ep. 66 – Potato I have.
This week, we’re talkin’ ‘bout ‘tatoes! Kelly and Dermot unpack the deeper symbolism behind Leopold Bloom’s idiosyncratic hobby of carrying a potato upon his person. Topics include Tayto crisps, Stephen and Bloom’s parallel lost keys, Bloom’s potato as a protective object, why the potato may actually possess magic powers, the potato as Odysseus’ moly, the…
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Ep. 65 – Old Tweedy’s Big Moustaches
Who was Molly Bloom’s father, Major Brian Cooper Tweedy? Far more than meets the eye. Topics in this episode include Michael Caine and Zulu, what the heck a footleaf is and other lovely minutiae, the origin of the Blooms’ jingly-jangly bed, Major Brian Cooper Tweedy and his military career, Molly’s time in Gibraltar and her…