Leopold Bloom
-
Ep. 82 – The Buddha in the Museum
What did James Joyce think of Buddhism? Topics in this episode include: All Hallows or St. Andrew’s Church?, why Bloom hangs out in a church, the very reverend John Conmee S.J., sectarian scorekeeping, prayers for Gladstone, St. Peter Claver, the Opium Wars, racist poetry, the reclining Buddha statue in the National Museum of Ireland, Leopold…
-
Ep. 81 – No rose without thorns.
Did James Joyce once covertly suggest a new Guinness slogan? Topics in this episode include Mary Lost the Pin of her Drawers, flat Dublin voices, the Coombe, Bloom’s preoccupation with correct pronoun-antecedent agreement, Jesus in the house of Martha and Mary, a famlus forgery, Ashtown and the trottingmatches, a famous hole in the wall, alcohol…
-
AND IT WAS THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER
Why is this Bloomsday different from all other Bloomsdays? To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. We continue our occasional investigation of all the things Leopold Bloom misunderstands about religion. We’ve already covered his unique views on Catholicism and Buddhism in “Lotus Eaters”, so today we’ll tackle Judaism,…
-
Ep. 80 – The Language of Flowers
“Angry tulips with you darling manflower punish your cactus if you don’t please poor forgetmenot how I long violets to dear roses when we soon anemone meet all naughty nightstalk wife Martha’s perfume.” Kelly and Dermot untangle the mysterious language of flowers. Topics include James Joyce’s affair with Marthe Fleischmann, the pitfalls of method acting,…
-
The House of Keyes
“Love laughs at locksmiths.” -Gerty MacDowell To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. There’s a parallel universe where, rather than becoming one of the great novelists, James Joyce became a master advertiser and propagandist on par with Edward Bernays. Consider the following tableau: “– a colored picture… representing…
-
Ep. 79 – Martha
Henry dear, do not deny my request before my patience are exhausted. In this episode, Kelly and Dermot try to figure out who Martha, Leopold Bloom’s saucy penpal, could really be. Topics include Dermot’s interest in Islam, Bloom’s missing hour, Leah the Forsaken, jugginses and guttapercha, castration anxiety, hopscotch and marbles, senior infants, Martha’s letter,…
-
Ep. 78 – An Abode of Bliss
The Blooms’ household is anything but an abode of bliss. In this episode, topics include: Plumtree’s Potted Meat, Joyce’s love for advertising, the narcotic effect of adspeak, why Plumtree’s Potted Meat is the perfect metaphor for a modern Odysseus, M’Coy’s various scams, Boylan’s metaphorically significant gifts to Molly, Bloom’s missing hour and how his cat…
-
Ep. 77 – M’Coy. Get rid of him quickly.
Leopold Bloom braves an awkward stop-and-chat. Topics in this episode include: Leopold Bloom’s encounter with M’Coy, what Bloom has in common with Larry David, M’Coy as a character in “Grace”, M’Coy as an early prototype for Bloom, a quincunx, Bloom wrestles with his Shadow, Bloom trying to catch a glimpse of a woman’s leg, outsider…
-
Ulysses & The Odyssey: Aeolus
“We mustn’t be led away by words, by sounds of words.” – “Professor” MacHugh Part of an occasional series on the Homeric parallels in James Joyce’s Ulysses. To listen to a discussion of this topic, check out the podcast episode here. The Odyssey, Book X: After escaping the Cyclops, Odysseus and his surviving crew find…
-
Ep. 76 – Henry Flower, Esq
Mr. Bloom runs a mysterious errand at the Westland Row Post Office. Topics include hidden lotuses, Corny Kelleher, Leopold Bloom’s missing hour, tooraloom tooraloom tay, Orientalism and Bloom’s fantasy of the Far East, stereotypes about climate’s affects the character of a culture, Tom Kernan, how Bloom succumbs to the Lotus Eaters, Henry Flower, what Bloom…