A Hopeless Endeavor: A Joanna Newsom Podcast

We start our discussion on the last song from (what is probably) the greatest album of all time. We are sad about that, so you should email us (ahopelessendeavor@gmail.com) theories and questions about anything Ys related so that we can revisit it one more time. In the meantime, buckle in for some moth-talk. Thank you, as always, to David Pizarro for the beautiful Cosmia beat. Thank you also to th...

The final episode on Only Skin. What a trip. Thank you all for listening, and thank you to David Pizarro for his Cosmia beat. “All my bones, they are gone, gone, gone. Take my bones, I don’t need none.”

We get confused about lights, undiluted and weaving, babies out back, and anointing guns. Thank you so much to you all for listening. Thank you so much, too, to David Pizarro for the music. “Stay with me for a while. That’s an awfully real gun. I know life will lay you down, as the lightning has lately done.”

We continue our discussion on Only Skin! We talk about sex, drugs, birds, Sisyphus, and the Bible, hitting a bunch of the usual Joanna themes. Thank you so much to Blessing All the Birds, to David Pizarro for the Cosmia beat, and to Rachana for her absolutely gorgeous and impressive cover of Only Skin. Thanks also to everyone who contributed their theories. “I have got some business out at the edg...

We talk a lot about nurturing. Thank you so much to everyone for listening. Thank you, too, to David Pizarro, aka Peez, for his Cosmia beat (“Framed Your Eyes”). “Press on me, we are restless things. Webs of seaweed are swaddling. And you call upon the dusk of the musk of a squid: shot full of ink, until you sink into your crib.”

We’ve done it. We have attempted to tackle the enormity of Only Skin. It took us a long time, but come on, it *should* take a long time to talk about this modern, masterpiece of an epic. I don’t even know how to write this preamble. It’s all just too good. Thank you so much to Alexis and Av for their supportive and insightful contributions. Thank you as well to Rachel Hottle for her incredible (ov...

It’s the last episode on this gorgeous song. We finish up our discussion of Sawdust & Diamonds. Nikki goes on a wild tangent about Lolita. Thank you so much to everyone who listens! Thank you to David Pizarro for the music (this beat is called “Framed Your Eyes”, and you can find more here: https://m.soundcloud.com/peezismyname ). “Darling, we will be fine, but what was yours and mine appears to m...

The penultimate part of our discussion on the gorgeous, moving, earth-shattering Sawdust & Diamonds. Sam is completely brilliant on this episode (and always) so I just also want to thank her for her brains and her sweet heart. Thank you so much, too, to David Pizarro, aka Peez for his beat, “Framed Your Eyes”. Find more of his stuff at www. SoundCloud.com/peezismyname . Thank you, especially, so m...

In our first episode about Sawdust & Diamonds, we talk about big themes throughout the song, the myth of the city of Ys, and a bunch of other stuff. Thanks so much to Jack, Alexis, and Lise for their contributions to today’s episode, and thank you to David Pizarro, aka Peez, for the wonderful music (his beat is called “Framed Your Eyes”). You can check out the rest of his stuff at https://soundclo...

We finish up our discussion on Monkey & Bear, and our hearts break a little bit/a whole lot. Thank you so much to Dirick for their Monkey & Bear cover (which we play at the end of the episode) and to David Pizarro for his Cosmia beat (which is called “Framed Your Eyes”). Also, thank you, thank you, thank you to Zak for his really wonderful and insightful voice memo, to Cory and Jack for their writ...

Our second of three parts on Monkey & Bear! What a trip. Thank you all so much for listening. Thank you again to David Pizarro, aka Peez for the music. “When the blackbirds hear tea whistling, they rise and clap, and their applause caws the kettle black, and we can’t have none of that.”

This is the beginning of our long, long discussion (maybe 3 parts?) on Monkey & Bear. We want to thank M.M. Wright, Alexis, Zak, Cody, Av, and Dirick for their wonderful insights, and their apparently unconditional support. Thank you so much. For real. Thank you, too, to David Pizarro, aka Peez for his sick Cosmia beat. And thank you to actually everyone who listens to this. Lastly, thank you SO M...

In this episode we finish up our discussion on Emily. Thank you so much to Selene for their super insightful voice memo, and thank you to everyone who listens. Music by the super talented David Pizarro, aka Peez. “Peonies nod in the breeze, and while they wetly bow with hydrocephalitic listlessness, ants mop up their brow.”

The inaugural episode of A Hopeless Endeavor. We talk about the first half-ish of “Emily”, and say “totally” a lot. “Let us go though we know it’s a hopeless endeavor!” Music by Peez, aka David Pizarro.

A trailer for our new Joanna Newsom podcast! The first full episode comes out on December 5th. We’re looking forward to hearing all of your theories and interpretations. Music is by David Pizarro, aka Peez.