PZ's Podcast

Part II of The Moviegoer, in which our ten-year-old hero discovers Edgar Allan Poe via Roger Corman in the downtown movie palaces of Loew's Capital, Loew's Palace, and R.K.O. Keith's. He comes face to face with a strange new Glynis Johns before encountering "The Vampire and the Ballerina" exactly one block from the White House.

This is the story of a conversion. It happened in the Fall of 1959, and I've never looked back. It happened in connection with some mountaineering in the Swiss Alps. Like the man in "The Crawling Eye", I lost my head. Still haven't found it.

We're not finished yet. Cozzens cuts to the core of Anglo-Catholicism yet without throwing stones. He wants to understand. And his account of a hijacked P.E. funeral in "Eyes to See" is so close to home, well, that it makes you want to scream.

"P.E." is for Protestant Episcopal. 35 years I've been ordained and it took Cozzens to teach me some sore lessons. For me they came late. But, "For you the living/This Mash was meant, too." "When you get to my house, Tell them 'Jimmy' sent you."

What's the greatest rock 'n roll band of all time? Could a group sum up everything that has gone before and thus WRAP the genre? Yes, it could. They did. Their name was "Journey". But Wait! Hear me out.

Dan Curtis went straight from Gothic Horror soap operas to the greatest epic ever made for television. His heart was always in his work, from "Dark Shadows" to "The Night Stalker" to... "The Winds of War". When it comes to his 29-hour genius production "War and Remembrance, Can't Touch This! Here is the story of an undepressed man.

Did you know meditation can make you a better Protestant? Here's why.

New thoughts on 'the Gothic' in movies and literature -- from Irvin S. Cobb, whose Gothic story "Fishhead" was termed a "banefully effective tale" by H. P. Lovecraft; to Ray Russell, of "Sardonicus" fame; to Roger Corman, who brought the House down around Roderick Usher. Turns out it's all about bodily disintegration in an enclosed space, and the dead hand of the past upon the hopes of the present...

Hammer Horror is a beautiful thing -- everything movies should be, or almost everything. There is also this delightful religious dimension, in which the High Priest of Karnak prays in the language of the Book of Common Prayer and Peter Cushing is 'fighting evil every bit as much' as a Church of England etymologist/bishop in "Hound of the Baskervilles". Here is my little 'National Geographic Societ...

Irvin S. Cobb (1876-1944) was famous in his day, but is unread now. Ours is the loss! His "Judge Priest" stories are as parabolic of grace as it gets. They exude peace, love, and understanding. And what's so funny about that? Here's your chance to bone up on Irvin S. Cobb! By the way, John Ford liked Cobb so much that he made two movies out of his stories, and then put him in a third. In 1961 Ford...

The Jansenists never declined. They got wiped out good. Think "End of the Line" by the Traveling Wilburys. Pascal enters and exits, assisted by Roberto Rossellini's tv show (1971) and Jack Kerouac's bar game (1969). The 'Sun King' plays his cruel part, while Our Ladies of Port-Royal hold the line. They really hold the line! As Sainte-Beuve wrote of the Jansenists, "They were from Calvary".

Jansenism was a religious movement in Seventeenth-Century France that threatened Church and State. Its apologists, including Blaise Pascal and Jean Racine, thought their movement, based on its re-discovery of the teachings of St. Augustine, could save Christianity from the Protestants. Its detractors thought Jansenism WAS Protestantism, but a Fifth Column of it, burrowing away within the Catholic...

"By Love Possessed" was hailed at first as the great novel of its decade. A few months later it was traduced as a symbol of Eisenhower-era 'middle-brow' complacency. The second verdict stuck. The problem was its message: it praised acquiescence rather than transformation. It is indeed a 'novel of resignation'. Is that a good thing?

James Gould Cozzens (1903-1978) observed life accurately. in 1957 he told 'Time' Magazine that "most people get a raw deal from life, and life is what it is". His novels "By Love Possessed" and "Guard of Honor" are among the greatest of 20th Century novels.

In this amazing weekend bonus episode, our hero must claw his way through the history of giant-crab movies. Does he survive? You be the judge!

"Man Gave Names to all the Animals" (Bob Dylan), meaning Eric Burdon and The Animals. Thoughts on true greatness, thoughts on Fun.

From a perfect movie comes a Version of the 25th Chorus of "Mexico City Blues": Is my own, is your own, Is not Owned by Self-Owner but found by Self-Loser -- Old Ancient Teaching". This podcast is dedicated to David Browder.

The title of a song by the Go-Go's sets the stage for this second cast on the preaching art. Once again, it's the singer not the song. Or at least, that's where we start. Welcome to Beatnik Beach!

The subject is preaching, the Achilles Heel of American religion. We turn to Jack Kerouac's "List of Essentials" in spontaneous expression for help. Turns out it's the singer not the song.

Our hero, again incarnated as the Queen of Thessaly, heads south, only to still find happiness.

In which our hero introduces you to his search. "For you the living, this Mash was meant, too."

Our hero, incarnated as an ancient Greek princess, finds Love and Happiness, Thornton-Wilder style.