The Greg Brownderville Dimension
This channel celebrates and investigates the magic of language in folklore, mysticism, music, poetry, and everyday life. Greg Brownderville—the host—is the lead singer of Beekeeper Spaceman, the creator of Fire Bones, the author of three books of poetry, Editor-in-Chief of Southwest Review, and Professor of English at SMU in Dallas.
Episodes
29 episodes
GBD28: A Crack in the Pavement
#ritaguerrero #sergioloo #mexicanpoetry #mexicanrock #mexicocity #cdmx #santasabina In this episode I explore the poignant story of how Mexican rock star Rita Guerrero's life intersected with that of Mexican poet Sergio Loo.
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1:18:16
GBD27: How I Became a Poet
In this episode I am interviewed by Robert Ehlert of the SMU Perspectives podcast.
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49:57
GBD26: Speaking in Tongues and Cultural Recovery
In this episode I discuss the connection between ecstatic worship practices in twelfth-century Wales and those of twentieth-century Wales. I show how Pentecostal worship in the early twentieth century brought Welsh worshippers closer to their o...
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29:03
GBD25: Mysterious Welsh Bread
In this episode I offer a new way of interpreting the fascinating and mysterious bread imagery in folktales about marriages between Welsh faery women and mortal men.
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12:21
GBD24: Let's Try This Again
A number of people in nineteenth-century Wales claimed faery ancestry. Specifically, they said a woman of the tylwyth teg (the "beautiful family," or Welsh faeries) had married a mortal Welshman, and that they were her descendants. In this epis...
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12:36
GBD23: Experience the 2024 Eclipse Through Poetry
In this episode my poetry students at SMU invite you into the experience of 2024's total eclipse in Dallas, Texas, which occurred last month. The students talk about what it was like to see the eclipse, and then they read poems they wrote only ...
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16:46
GBD22: Getting Married to Faeries, Magical Pigs, and Mike Tyson’s Beowulf Moment
In this episode I respond to questions from viewers, discussing (1) the faery blood running in Welsh veins, (2) the magical pigs in The Four Branches of the Mabinogi and the connection between dreams and myths, and (3), just for fun, the upcomi...
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31:10
GBD21: Welsh Magic
In this episode I discuss the meaning of the magical force of awen in Welsh culture and interpret a few stories about the tylwyth teg (the Welsh faeries).
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37:37
GBD20: The Magic of May Day
In this episode I talk with renowned British historian Ronald Hutton about May Eve and May Day. Ronald offers tips as to how we might celebrate this wondrous holiday and weave it into our lives.
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37:12
GBD19: Celebrating Hen Galan, the "Old New Year," in Wales
In this episode I tell about my recent experience celebrating a West Wales holiday called Hen Galan ("the Old New Year"). The centerpiece of the episode is my conversation with a young man named Carwyn, for whom Hen Galan and the historic pub w...
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53:29
GBD18: A Pumpkin Bend Christmas
For this special Christmas edition of GBD, I set up in my dad's shop in Pumpkin Bend, Arkansas, and talked with him about what Christmas has meant to him through the different stages of his life.
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45:32
GBD17: Working Men, Fighting Men (featuring Johnson, Dylan, Haggard, and Heidegger)
In this episode I discuss the personalities of professional fighters Alexander Volkanovski and Tyson Fury in connection with three songs by Robert Johnson, Merle Haggard, and Bob Dylan.Purchase Beekeeper Spaceman here:
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45:05
GBD16: How to Celebrate Michaelmas, a Forgotten Fall Holiday
In this episode I describe the forgotten fall holiday called Michaelmas, give my thoughts on its meaning, and offer some ideas about how to celebrate it.
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26:46
GBD15: Poems for Autumn
The scorching triple-digit heat in Texas (where I live) certainly isn't giving anyone a fall feeling, so I'm turning to autumnal poetry to change the emotional weather. In this episode I read and discuss seven poems that convey the enchantment ...
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11:06
GBD14: The Bead Spitter
This episode kicks off a special series on poetics, built around the idea of “wordhood.” I discuss a Dakota myth called "The Killing of Bead-Spitter" and why it matters to me.
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18:04
GBD13: The Case for Dylan Thomas
On March 12, 2015, I gave this interview and lecture on Welsh poet Dylan Thomas at the Allen Public Library (TX) for its Celtic Month.
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41:22
GBD12: Living the Lore (with Ronald Hutton)
In this episode I speak with Professor Ronald Hutton in his office at the University of Bristol, discussing the value of participatory, experiential folklore scholarship: living the lore rather than studying it aloofly. Afterward, by way of exa...
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26:15
GBD11: The Magic of May Day
In this episode I talk about a largely forgotten holiday called the May: May Eve (30 April) and May Day (1 May). I also discuss the mysterious May carols, which were traditionally sung this time of year.
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22:02
GBD10: Ronald Hutton
This episode is a conversation with the eminent historian Ronald Hutton. I wanted to talk with him partly because I’m fascinated by obscure British holidays and how they add color, meaning, enchantment, and fun to the calendar, a topic on which...
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46:50
GBD9: Rupert Sheldrake (Round 2)
This is my second audio episode featuring the English biologist Rupert Sheldrake, recorded during Christmastime in London. If you watched the short version of this episode (titled “The Logos and the Calendar”) on my YouTube channel, I still rec...
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1:09:56
GBD8: The Simples (with Eric Brownderville and Johnny Wink)
In this episode I return to my undergraduate alma mater, Ouachita Baptist University, to sit a spell with Johnny Wink and Eric Brownderville (my brother). This is one of the most joyous conversations I've ever been a part of.—Greg and E...
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1:52:05
GBD7: Rupert Sheldrake
In this episode I pay a visit to the London home of the brilliant English biologist Rupert Sheldrake. Trust me, you don't want to miss this one: Rupert says one profound, fascinating thing after another. Also, he is at times downright hilarious...
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Episode 7
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48:39
GBD6: Bart Weiss
In this episode recorded a few days before Christmas, I sit down with filmmaker Bart Weiss to talk about our experimental online project, Fire Bones (www.firebones.org). We also discuss imitation and originality, the relationship between head i...
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Episode 6
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1:42:29