On this ride, Mal and Steve visit the idea of the zeitgeist or, as they prefer to think of it, the Time Ghost. All while making listeners feel loved and held — hopefully.
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Show notes:
That quote from Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations (Maxwell Staniforth translation, Penguin edition):
In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his senses a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, and his fame doubtful. In short, all that is of the body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapours; life a warfare, a brief sojourning in an alien land; and after repute, oblivion. Where, then, can man find the power to guide and guard his steps? In one thing and one alone: Philosophy.
Ozymandius
by Percy Bysshe Shelley:
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Recitation from memory by Dusty Sklar (Steve’s mom and Mal’s grandmother) of part of “Ozymandias”:
Dusty’s memories of the teacher — Philip Horowitz — who introduced that poem to her over 80 years ago:
An article by his daughter about how Phil Horowitz was blacklisted in the McCarthy era:https://www.sunnysidestories.website/when-they-fired-my-father
Recitation from memory of “Ozymandias” by Nikki Pusin, Mal’s mom and Steve’s wife:
Photos of the late Libby Kwalbrun, Mal’s great-grandmother and Steve’s grandmother, and of Libby with Dusty Sklar and with the late Dave Sklar (Steve’s father)
Listeners, please consider answering this brief survey in the comments section below:
1. Would you recommend this to someone you’re meeting for the very first time?
2. If you were questioned by law enforcement, would you admit that you listen to this podcast?
3. Your estranged brother calls you while you’re listening to the podcast. Do you:
a. Take the call and not mention the podcast?
b. Take call, mention the podcast?
c. Take the call and play the podcast for him over the phone?
Feel free to comment below why you became estranged from your brother. As if we couldn’t guess.
4. Do you feel loved and held? And if not, why not? And if so, what made you feel that way? And if not, do you feel capable of feeling that way in other aspects of your life? Or are you merely deficient? Is there anything we can do to improve your loved-and-held statistics?
5. Have you ever met anyone that was so dull that by the time they died no one ever remembered anything they ever said? (We’re guessing not.)