North London Ulysses

Bloom is trying to resist the intoxication swirling around him. Is he that stoic? A careful read of Martha's letter, then to church (to give his feet a rest), the chemist and if he's quick, he'd like to squeeze in a visit to the Turkish baths before the funeral at eleven. He' s not helped by Bantam Lyons. This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for c...

Bloom has wandered. We know this because we find him on Sir John Rogerson's quay. There's a whiff of narcotic temptation as though the city has imbibed the fruit of the lotus plant. His wandering takes him to the Post Office in Westland Row from which he'll receive a cryptically addressed letter. What is he up to? Is this James Joyce or Graham Green? This podcast forms part of an educa...

Bloom wanders the Dublin streets trying to avoid narcotic temptation in various guises. Or does he seek it out? Naughty Bloom. We expect our readers have greater resolve. Surely? This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and study. James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) is in the public domain in the UK. This recording includes commentary, interpretat...

This is a podcast version of an Extra Video Series video, so whilst inspired by the Calypso episode, it is broader in scope. Russell looks at Bloom's relationship with animals and what this tells us about Bloom and the book generally. We have cats, dogs, gulls, rats and a panther. The book also heavily features cattle and less so, a bat. Those may get their own episode. Whilst we will consider asp...

Our consideration of Calypso continues as does the formulation of our initial impressions of Leopold Bloom. What was that newspaper leaflet all about? What was revealed by the post delivered through the Blooms' unlocked front door? And, what the blazes is metempsychosis? This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and study. James Joyce’s...

Now that we've met our Odysseus, Leopold Bloom, arguably the greatest character in fiction (we may be a little biased..), we ought to consider him a little, and what he might bring to our novel. In the first of two analytical videos relating to Calypso, Russell does just that. But it's just the start, for we've many episodes ahead in the company of this gentle-man. This podcast forms p...

Good morning Mr. Bloom. We begin part two of the book, The Wanderings of Ulysses, with an introduction to our main protagonist, Leopold Bloom. It also begins Season 2 in our podcast series. We've re-wound the clock to 8.a.m to synchronise with Stephen. Here's the whole Calypso chapter. This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and st...

This podcast in the EVS series is inspired by Proteus in episode three and concerns the mythology of shapeshifting. Using the Tam Lin myth in the eponymous Fairport Convention track and the Norse mythology underling Wagner's Ring Cycle we look at shapeshifting and what if anything it tells us about Ulysses. This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism,...

We conclude our analysis with some final reflections, including those of Anthony Burgess. And with this, also Part 1 of the book, the realm of the Son and move to Part 2, and Season 2 of this podcast, The Wanderings of Ulysses to focus on the father. This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and study. James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) is in the...

Stephen's thoughts meander through Mulligan-like pretenders, live dogs, dead dogs and cockle pickers, as he continues his walk along Sandymount Strand. The genesis of a poem, stirs and he improvises to record it, before, like the slippery sea god Proteus, it slinks away. This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and study. James Joyce’s...

Russell reads the second part of Proteus as we conclude Stephen's stroll along Sandymount Strand and with that, The Telemachiad, Part One of the book. Of course we are not quite finished with it, as more analysis videos follow. This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and study. James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) is in the public domain in th...

For our first Proteus EVS video, Russell looks at Stephen's theory of art and beauty as he 'explained' it in A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. We consider how it may reveal more about Stephen than either art or beauty. This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and study. James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) is in the public domain...

After the not so sage advice of two false father figures, this episode, Stephen keeps his own counsel. Will that help? We analyse the first half of this most slippery of episodes. Can it be pinned down? This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and study. James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) is in the public domain in the UK. This recording includes...

Proteus is the third episode in Ulysses and like the sea god for whom it is named, one of the trickiest. Almost all interior monologue, we dwell in Stephen's head as he meanders along Sandymount Strand, returning from Dalkey to Dublin. Russell reads it in two parts, to follow the live pub schedule, and here's the first. PS. This was recorded on James Joyce's 144th birthday, so Happy Bi...

'History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake', says Stephen in the Nestor episode. Possibly the most well known line in the book. But what does he mean? Let's consider. This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and study. James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) is in the public domain in the UK. This recording includes commentary...

Russell concludes his analysis of the second episode of Ulysses where we meet Garett Deasy, a rather pompous man of a certain age and with forthright views. After the disappointment of Mulligan, might he be a second potential guide for Stephen? This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and study. James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922) is in the public...

Stephen Dedalus, our Telemachus, continues his search for a father/guide. Could it be his employer, the school headmaster? The second episode is quite short but deals with some more complex themes, which properly considered, will help us in future episodes. Here's part one of the analysis. This podcast forms part of an educational reading group and is intended for criticism, discussion, and st...

Russell reads the Nestor chapter of Ulysses. We wonder if Stephen has absorbed the message of Telemachus. In any event, he has left the Forty Foot and arrived at Dalkey where he's a part-time school teacher. He's something of a general factotum because the lesson entails history and poetry as well as checking a boy's extra algebra, reminding Stephen of his Hamlet theory. He'll meet...

This podcast in the Extra Video Series takes as its starting point, Joyce's oblique references in the opening episode Telemachus, to the philosophers Matthew Arnold and Friedrich Nietzsche. We explore why that may be and the concept of Hellenism and Hebraism. It is a fairly complex subject matter to dive into in the opening episode, and if its not your thing, that's fine; its absence will...

Russell concludes his analysis of Telemachus. After breakfast the three men head for the Forty Foot male bathing area, though only Mulligan will swim. Further themes are introduced in terms of Hamlet, antisemitism, Irish nationalism and usurpation, all amidst some fierce blasphemy from the Buck. And we conclude with an interesting Homeric comparison. This podcast forms part of an educational readi...

In this first of two analytical podcasts, Russell considers the Telemachus episode from the beginning up until Mulligan, Haines and Stephen Dedalus leave the Martello tower. Significant themes are established and explained as our scene is set. Mothers, Fathers, Holy Trinity and Consubstantiation. Not to mention a subtle reference to Irish politics. And all before breakfast! This podcast forms part...

So it begins. We embark on our journey at a Stately pace to read and understand Ulysses by James Joyce. It's 8 a.m. on a pleasant June morning in 1904. Three men awaken in a strange building in Sandycove, south of Dublin. One of them Stephen Dedalus, will be one of the book's main two protagonists. He is pretty grumpy. We may recognise him to be an autobiographical 22 year year old James Joyce. An...

If new to this podcast or the book Ulysses by James Joyce, then welcome to North London Ulysses! We are here to guide you through this wonderful book, if not line by line then pretty much every paragraph. We suggest, especially if fairly new to Ulysses, that you listen to this episode first in which your channel host Russell Raphael, presents an introductory lecture to the the Ulysses and this pod...