Celebrate Creativity

Send us Fan Mail This episode examines the movie Young Frankenstein, the artistic concepts behind its filming, the cast, character development, and a surprising comparison with Edgar Poe’s double in William Wilson! 00:00 Introduction 02:11 Intro to Dr. Frankenstein 04:23 Background to writing movie 10:14 Artistic concepts (black and white, budget) 13:35 Gene Wilder 14:20 Peter Boyle 14:43 Mary Fel...

Send us Fan Mail Like to The Old Dark House (full movie) https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Old+Dark+House&docid=608031794270379980&mid=3BCB815D9F3082E13BF23BCB815D9F3082E13BF2&view=detail&FORM=VIRE Clip from The Bride of Frankenstein https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+bride+of+frankenstein+prologue&docid=608009958645441023&mid=DB9E0F06DA848E55B02FDB9E0F06DA848E...

Send us Fan Mail This episode describes the dramatic filming of the 1931 version Frankenstein - how the studio felt making it was a very risky move - and how the creature became a cultural icon.  This podcast also deals with the connection between Mary Shelley, Edgar Poe and Fuseli's The Nightmare! Link to 1910 Silent Version of Frankenstein from 1910 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67ENQibFW...

Send us Fan Mail National Theatre Frankenstein - Benedict Cumberbatch as the creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Dr. Frankenstein https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjJxpuPsrYs&t=6259s National Theatre Frankenstein - Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Frankenstein and Jonny Lee Miller as the creature https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ_s7h9PF2w What two men alternated playing Frankenstein and the creature f...

Send us Fan Mail Learn about the BBC production of Byron, and how accurate it is. Learn how Byron handled being an overnight success Learn the reasons given why Mary Shelley might have written Frankenstein Learn why Mary Shelley did not initially publish Frankenstein under her own name. Is it possible that David Booth as Shelley is TOO handsome? 00:00 Introduction 02:41 BBC Byron 04:01 Byron casti...

Send us Fan Mail Learn why Ken Russell’s Gothic is so over-the-top and ends up falling flat Learn about Hugh Grant as “mad, bad, and dangerous to know” Lord Byron Learn how Dr. Who’s time travel can illuminate the past (as well as the present) Learn how Lord Byron’s poem “Darkness” can be read as an ecological warning 00:00 Introduction 01:38 Ken Russell’s Gothic 10:45 Haunted Summer 12:50 Rowing...

Send us Fan Mail 00:00 Introduction 01:58 Mount Tambora effects in Europe 04:27 Gathering at Villa Diodati 06:23 Mary Shelley 10:06 Conversations and Ghost Stories 15:38 Byron and Darkness 16:45 Mary’s account  28:18 After Villa Diodati 31:13 Future topics 34:44 Using voice controls and keystrokes Learn how the idea of Frankenstein first came to a teenage girl Learn about the first literary accoun...

Send us Fan Mail  • Learn about Lord Byron’s many sexual scandals • Experience one of the darkest poems ever written • Learn why Lord Byron is often considered the first superstar 01:28 Ghost of Lord Byron enters 02:19 She Walks in Beauty 3:38 Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know (Life in England) 09:40 Darkness 19:35 Villa Diodati intro 20:39 The Dream 22:38 Life in Italy and Greece 24:46 On This Day...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is the first of two episodes devoted to the life and works of Lord Byron  - one of the greatest poets of all time.   As a youth, Edgar Poe frequently copied Lord Byron's style (and unique attitude) until Poe found his own voice. 00:00 Introduction  02:50 Byron and Poe’s styles 05:45 Women in Byron’s life 08:33 Byron’s’ early life 12:53 Becoming a Baron 13:59 Byro...

Send us Fan Mail This is the second and final part of two episodes regarding Percy Shelley - Mr. Poe also talks about his opinion of Shelley's work (based on Poe's actual words) and Shelley reads several of his most familiar works. 0:00 Introduction 1:26 Entrance of ghost of Mr. Shelley 1:44 Prometheus Unbound 2:53 To a Skylark 7:27 The Cloud 12:01 The Sensitive Plant 15:01 A Dream Withi...

Send us Fan Mail 0:00 Introduction 0:46 Shelley and Byron 3:06 Ghost of Shelley enters 3:50 Early life 5:02 Education at Syon and Eton 8:51 Expelled from Oxford 12:14 Further development of idealism 16:29 Political development  20:40 Queen Mab 24:02 Ozymandias 26:40 Ode to the West Wind 35:22 Sources and Outro Learn how Percy Shelley got kicked out of Oxford Learn how Shelley wanted a threesome in...

Send us Fan Mail Learn why Camden Town is so special! What was Mr. Keat’s sexual orientation? - His status as a gay icon. Learn about Keat’s painful and lingering death from consumption. What is the longest epitaph on a tombstone in literature?  the shortest? 0:00 Introduction 0:53 Over 1,000 downloads 1:31 Camden Town, London 4:07 Entrance of Ghost of Poe and  Keats 5:11 Ode to a Nightingale 13:1...

Send us Fan Mail Why is Keats “the sensuous poet” Learn about  the insecure youth that John Keats experienced Learn how Keats wanted to be a doctor, NOT a writer What words by Keats were Mary Poppins’s first lines when she pulled an umbrella out of her bag? 0:00 INTRODUCTION 0:45 ROMANTIC REFRESHER 5:05 WERE THEY ROCK STARS? 6:30 GHOSTS OF POE AND KEATS ENTER 7:00 EARLY LIFE OF KEATS 7:42 EDUCATIO...

Send us Fan Mail URL for The Lakes - Taylor Swift https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=taylor+swift+%22the+lakes%22 Learn about why Tintern Abbey is such a big deal Follow Lucy Gray Learn what Taylor Swift has to do with the English Romantic poets 0:00 Introduction 0:50 Podcast host attack (Nothing to worry about) 02:27 Ghost enters 02:40 Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey (and...

Send us Fan Mail Learn more about the English Romantic poet who got it all started! Learn how Mr. Wordsworth made the Romantic movement come alive! Learn about the best of William Wordsworth’s 915 poems! 00:00 Introduction 00:40 Apology and Content Explanation 07:23 Ghost of Mr. Wordsworth Enters 08:03 Lyrical Ballads 09:31 Background of Mr. Wordsworth 10:10 Father and Grandfather 11:36 Wordsworth...

Send us Fan Mail Mr. Samuel Coleridge reads his poem? vision? dream? Kubla Khan, and vividly relates the physical terrors and psychological horrors of his all-consuming drug abuse. Did Coleridge ever kick his drug habit? By the way, Mr. Bartley makes a WHOOPER of a pronunciation mistake (more than usual) and did not edit it out.  Can you find it?   Answer in next episode - I Wandered Lonely as a C...

Send us Fan Mail In the episode, the ghost of Samuel Coleridge will read from (and explain) The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  0:00 Introduction 1:00  Ghosts Enters 2:58  Rime of the Ancient Mariner 5:52  Ship Sails South 7:05  Influence of the Albatross 9:30  Death and Death-in-life 11:22 Solitude  12:56 Creatures 13:14 Sleep 15:10 Dead Men Come to Life 19:16 Redemption Begins 21:03 Confession Con...

Send us Fan Mail http://www.blakearchive.org/   0:00 Introduction 0:08 Accents (English and Gone with the Wind) 3:06 Blake Ghost Entrance 4:31 Marriage of Heaven and Hell 8:45 Idea for Title of Heaven and Hell 9:46 Concepts Behind Blake’s Heaven and Hell 11:21 Proverbs of Hell 12:37 Other Concepts  15:02 Jerusalem (The Enamation of the Giant Albion)  18:33 An Attempt at the (Totally Confusing) Plo...

Send us Fan Mail London read by Idris Elba 123 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAIbkA4NRGQ 0:00 INTRODUCTION 1:14 GHOSTS ENTER 2:47 BLAKE - BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE 7:52 EVENING STAR 10:30 MORE OF BLAKE’S LIFE 12:32 TYGER, TYGER 14:28 TYGER AND PIT 16:16 LONDON 19:06 THE SICK ROSE 20:36 HOLY THURSDAY 21:57 LITTLE LAMB 23:27 THE HUMAN ABSTRACT 25:50 THE LITTLE BLACK BOY 30:41 JERUSALEM 31:57 PLANS FOR...

Send us Fan Mail EPISODE THIRTY EIGHT - HEAVEN IN A WILDFLOWER Learn how the Romantic Movement has nothing to do with dim lights and soft music Learn why if you are interested at all in Edgar Allan Poe, you should learn about the English Romantic poets Learn how Poe is the flip side of the English Romantics as the leading member of the DARK ROMANTIC movement. Learn about George’s unrequited first...

Send us Fan Mail Learn how “The Masque of the Red Death” IS and IS NOT about cholera. Learn a bit about the horrible mob violence that occurred in Paris as a result of cholera. Listen to an absolutely horrible account of a typical 19th century operation done before painkillers were used!  Learn how John Snow (not the Game of Thrones guy!) found the connection between contaminated water and cholera...

Send us Fan Mail Memory aids to help you remember some of the major diseases of the 19th century MR . T   Malaria, Rabies, Tuberculosis SYSTEMIC   Syphilis, Yellow (Fever), Smallpox, Typhoid, (skip the vowel E,) Malaria, Influenza, Cholera Warning - Part One of two episodes about cholera -  some really nauseating stuff - info that may gross you out. Learn more about the importance of illness to un...

Send us Fan Mail Learn how the environmental effects of the explosion of Mount Tambora in 1815 caused world-wide devastation. Because of an explosion in Indonesia, much of the world was hungry. This episode deals with the year without a summer - when temperatures were much colder than usual (with devastating results.) Learn about Thomas Jefferson’s financial struggles with debt - a very sad story,...

Send us Fan Mail Mr. Poe and I talk about his journey across the Atlantic in 1815, and school in Scotland. Then the podcast focuses on the 1815 explosion of Mount Tambora, and how it very well may have affected Poe (more about that in future episodes.) Learn how Tambora had lava flows of 1000 degree temperatures!  This episodes ends with an extensive “shout out” to Plainfield, Indiana, and how exP...

Send us Fan Mail a  very short look at the history of the early Episcopal Church in America  the Richmond Theatre Fire of 1811  some of our country’s earliest architects  A ll leading up to the return of the ghost of Mr. Poe and a brief examination of Mr. Poe’s relationship to religion while he was growing up. What happens when two architects (unknown to each other) are chosen to design the same c...