Questions to Ponder

plus some first-rate recommendations

My goal with each of my Musings is to introduce you to at least one product in the arts & culture space with which you are not familiar but about which you say, “Hmm, I think I’ll check that out.” Another of my goals, to this point unstated in my posts, is to avoid expressing a political point of view. There is certainly a time and a place for me (and for you) to get involved, to take a side, to support, to protest. But I fervently believe that most art worth your time has rewards for you, no matter your spot on the political spectrum, and that I can best convince you to spend time with that art by keeping my own spot on that spectrum sidelined while I muse with you.

One question that for me is outside of the political realm is: What do I do about an artistic product that becomes tainted due to the life or lives of one or more of its creators? A couple of posts ago, I listed without comment Annie Hall as one of my favorite films of all time. I’m a person who for whatever reason doesn’t laugh easily at movies or comedians who can leave almost an entire audience in stitches, but Alvy Singer’s intelligence combined with his neuroses struck me as consistently hilarious on a first viewing, and a second, and a third. That’s enough for me to enshrine it on a personal Top 25 list. Yet, ever since the earliest revelations of Woody Allen’s morally questionable deeds, I’ve not watched Annie Hall again. My feelings about the film re even more problematic since in effect Alvy Singer IS Woody Allen, slightly fictionalized.

Why all this came to mind this week is that the Boston Globe wrote at great length this Sunday on the fate of “Poetry In America",” the now former PBS series on poetry now no longer on the GBH Passport platform because of the relationship of host and creator Eliza New (spouse of someone else on the outs, former Harvard president Larry Summers) with Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein gave his own money to support the show, steered rich donors New’s way, and even facilitated interviews for New with many celebrity commentators, including, yes, Woody Allen.

I’ve promoted “Poetry in America” in this space as perhaps the most successful vehicle for close readings of poetry that I know of. Nothing about what happened behind the scenes with Epstein changes anything about the content of the shows. Yet, until GBH made the decision for me, I grappled with the question as to whether I would rewatch episodes on favorite poems, or whether the chain that connects to show to Epstein is too much for me. According to the Globe, Season 5 of “Poetry in America” was scheduled to air this spring, and the show’s producers are looking for another broadcast outlet to air the show. Should they come to light somewhere, I’ll have to grapple all over again.

Enough with the commentary and on to the recommendations:

Recommendation #1: Monsters, a Fan’s Dilemma

If the question of separating the art from the artist is of interest to you, you have to read Claire Dederer’s book, which examines that question from all possible angles. As is my wont, here is Dederer at a book talk following the book’s release in 2023:

Recommendation #2: Looking for the Gulf Motel

Recently, a poetry group I belong to explored a series of poems by Richard Blanco, who delivered a poem at the 2013 Obama inauguration. I was familiar with one of his poems, “Looking For the Gulf Motel” thanks to “Poetry in America” and in an alternative universe would have enthusiastically directed the group’’s members to the episode on GBH. Instead, all I can do for you is link you to the poem, a lovely look at how memories from youth, in this case of a family vacation on Florida’s west coast, persist over time. Here’s the link.

Recommendation #3: Ty Burr’s WatchCast

My next two recommendations are the works of critics on opposite ends of the political spectrum. While each of them is not shy in certain forums of expressing their political views, they each separate that side of themselves from their criticism. Ty Burr has had a long and varied career as a critic for, among other publications, Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post. Besides film, his interests range from bird watching to the novels of Karl Ove Knausgaard. He hosts a number of movie-going experiences at theaters around Boston, and has even spent a lovely half-hour on my front porch talking film with my son and me. In the past, I’ve subscribed for a fee to his Substack, “Ty Burr’s Watch List” very much worth your time and money if you’re a movie lover. His WatchCast on YouTube is a series of one-hour interviews with other film critics about classic 21st century movies, including, among others, Ocean’s 11, No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton, The Tree of Life, and Her. I watched them all, along with streaming or renting the films, thus creating a mini-course on contemporary cinema. I’ll link you to one episode, where I didn’t know the film under consideration, 2018’s Burning, from Korea, and based on a Haruki Murakami short story:

Recommendation #4: A Terry Teachout Reader

I love recommending books on criticism to others, because, if you read a good one, and The Terry Teachout Reader is a good one, you will be introduced to dozens of other works you might want to see or hear. Teachout died a few years back, which for me means that I’ll often experience something in the arts world and wonder, “What would Terry think?” His range of interests was extensive: music, dance, theater, literature, film, TV, and the visual arts, kinda like what I try to do here, but at a much higher level of craft. I’d love to have heard him talk either politics or arts with Ty Burr; I’m sure despite their differences, the conversation would have been witty, provocative, and civil.

Recommendation #5: Nancy LaMott

Thanks to Terry Teachout’s book, I learned about New York cabaret singer Nancy LaMott, who died too young at 43. Teachout’s heartfelt tribute to his friend Nancy led me to seek out the music. When I created the link today to YouTube and her version of “Moon River,” I was shocked to see that it had only one “like.” I added a second. Do me and yourself a favor and check the link above; if you like what you hear, like it on YouTube so that I know I’ll have done a good deed today.