Videos and Podcasts
Videos and podÂcasts of variÂous disÂcusÂsions. Updated regularly.
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Blake and the Mad Crew: The Ranters and the Historians
While A L MorÂton thought Blake may have read the work of the Ranter, AbiezÂer Coppe, modÂern hisÂtorÂiÂans say there is no evidÂence of Blake being familÂiÂar with Ranter texts. How much do Blake’s ideas overÂlap with The Ranters? I look at the JusÂtiÂficÂaÂtion of the Mad Crew (1650) to compare.
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Iain Sinclair: Blake’s Mental Traveller and The Gold Machine, a Talk to the Blake Society
In Sept 2021, Iain SinÂclair gave an improÂvised talk to the Blake SociÂety about how Blake’s poem, The MenÂtal TravÂelÂler, became the map and modÂel for a lifeÂtime of jourÂneys and pilÂgrimÂage quests. The MenÂtal TravÂelÂler was an awakenÂing, to be experÂiÂenced but not yet underÂstood. The poem returned at variÂous points in the years that folÂlowed, until it was acknowÂledged as the secret code for SinÂclair’s most recent book, The Gold Machine, a late-life expedÂiÂtion to one of the sources of the Amazon, in the footÂsteps of his great-grandfather.
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Michael Tencer: Affirmisms
Fed up with the wholeÂsome goodÂness that pops magicÂally out of the negÂaÂtion of the negÂaÂtion every time you try it? Try Michael TenÂcerÂ’s affirmÂaÂtion of the affirmÂaÂtion instead to experÂiÂence a life crumÂbling like your teeth in dreams.
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Video Interview with Andy Wilson re. William Blake vs the World
John Higgs recently pubÂlished his book, WilÂliÂam Blake vs the World—a ‘counÂterÂculÂturÂal’ take on Blake’s work, writÂten for a non-acaÂdemÂic audiÂence. Here, ConÂor Kostick interÂviews Andy Wilson about his review of the book and more genÂerÂally about Blake’s relÂevÂance to the countrculture.
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Blake in Beulah: A Review of John Higgs’s ‘William Blake vs The World’
John HiggÂs’s new book promÂises a conÂtemÂporÂary take on the works of WilÂliÂam Blake, makÂing them relÂevÂant to a modÂern audiÂence genÂerÂally, and to the counÂterÂculÂture in parÂticÂuÂlar. So, how well does it live up to its promise?
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Conor Kostick: Art and Revolution — A Review of John Molyneux’s Dialectics of Art
The topÂic of art and revoluÂtion deserves a much betÂter book than John Molyneux’s The DiaÂlectics of Art. This critÂicÂal review explains why.
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The Fall and William Blake: Before the Moon Falls
The Fall’s Before the Moon Falls, W.B., JerÂuÂsÂalem and creÂatÂing a sysÂtem of your own
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Blake’s Annihilation by the Eye of Ra: On Snakes, Seraphim and the Solar YHWH
What did Blake meantby sayÂing that when he looked at the sun he saw a choir of angels singing ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’, and how does it relate to his depicÂtion of apocalypse.
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Blade Runner’s Fallen Angels
The film Blade RunÂner is hugely sucÂcessÂful, but what does it mean? As the makers hint, the key is to watch it through the eyes of WilÂliÂam Blake and his mythÂoÂlogy of liberation.
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William Blake as a Revolutionary Poet
Few could deny that WilÂliÂam Blake supÂporÂted the radÂicÂal politÂics of his time, yet revoluÂtionÂary ideas were not an adjunct to his visÂionÂary geniÂus, but the livÂing heart of it as a poet.
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Aleks McHugh: The Golem Returns
In the wake of the attempÂted QAnÂon putsch, and in the run-up to the inaugÂurÂaÂtion of Joe Biden, when Trump’s supÂportÂers are expecÂted to take to the streets again, Aleks McHugh conÂsiders QAnÂon hysÂteria and social media genÂerÂally as incarnÂaÂtions of Meyrink’s Golem, as porÂtrayed in the 1920 film by Paul Wegener.
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