7308: Olivier Messiaen — The Theology of Joy from a Nazi Prison Camp | pplpod
Olivier Messiaen composed the Quartet for the End of Time in a German prisoner-of-war camp and premiered it for four hundred freezing inmates in January 1941. He found joy in birdsong, Catholic theolo...
17 Jun 22min
7307: Norman Mailer — Pulitzer Prizes, Penknives, and the Ego That Consumed American Letters | pplpod
Norman Mailer won two Pulitzer Prizes, ran for mayor of New York, stabbed his wife with a penknife at a party, and spent fifty years picking fights with every writer, critic, and feminist who crossed ...
17 Jun 20min
7306: Neil Young — The Deliberate Crash into the Ditch That Defined a Career | pplpod
Neil Young followed the massive commercial success of Harvest by recording three albums so raw and abrasive that critics called them the "Ditch Trilogy." He drove his career off a cliff on purpose, re...
17 Jun 19min
7305: Mark Rothko — The Seagram Rebellion and the Painter Who Refused to Decorate | pplpod
Mark Rothko accepted a commission to paint murals for the Four Seasons restaurant in the Seagram Building, then returned the money and kept the paintings. He refused to let his work become wallpaper f...
17 Jun 24min
7304: Marcel Duchamp — The Twenty-Five-Year Magic Trick That Fooled the Art World | pplpod
Marcel Duchamp submitted a urinal to an art exhibition in 1917, signed it "R. Mutt," and called it Fountain. Then he announced he had given up art to play chess. For twenty-five years everyone believe...
17 Jun 21min
7303: Mae West — The Woman Who Turned Censorship into a Fortune | pplpod
Mae West was arrested for obscenity, spent ten days in jail, and used the publicity to become the highest-paid woman in America. She wrote her own scripts, controlled her own image, and turned sexual ...
17 Jun 22min
7302: Leonard Bernstein — The Double Life of America's Most Famous Conductor | pplpod
Leonard Bernstein composed West Side Story, conducted the New York Philharmonic, taught millions about music on television, and spent his private life torn between his marriage to Felicia Montealegre ...
17 Jun 21min
7301: Joni Mitchell — Life from Both Sides Now and the Cost of Artistic Reinvention | pplpod
Joni Mitchell gave up her daughter for adoption, wrote the songs that defined a generation, and then abandoned the folk music that made her famous to pursue jazz, electronic experimentation, and paint...
17 Jun 19min
