Solomon & Smith

Theo Rollason joins Milo and Jack to discuss Queer Edward II, their new film built from thirty hours of unseen footage shot during the making of Derek Jarman’s Edward II, and to trace Jarman’s film back through Christopher Marlowe to the medieval king himself. Along the way: Jarman turns Renaissance history into Thatcher-era queer politics, Marlowe makes class more scandalous than homosexuality, Tilda Swinton transforms...

00:00 Introduction

04:38 Lolita Summary

10:50 Did Epstein actually read/like Lolita?

14:32 Epstein's upbringing - boomer sexuality

19:51 Did male boomers create modern sexuality?

24:21 Differences between Epstein and Humbert

28:29 Do we all want to be children forever?

30:35 Our desires have been created for us

32:27 The modelling industry

34:55 Creation: of oneself, of others

36:30 Britney Spears, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina...

Please help us continue having these discussions on Patreon, or follow us on other Podcast channels here: https://linktr.ee/solomon_smith

Richard Barakat's *Faust the Magician* is available here: https://shorturl.at/CDWx0

See also the below discussions:

Richard Barakat: The Literary Collective (Spring 2025): https://youtu.be/rwecUdt0p28

Richard Barakat: Philosophic Dialogues from La Frontera (Spring 2024): https://youtu.be/...

Please help us continue having these discussions on Patreon, or follow us on other Podcast channels here: https://linktr.ee/solomon_smith

00:00:00 Intro

00:05:30 Ramon arrives - poetic epigraph

00:06:30 What does it mean for God to Speak?

00:09:47 Is Arabic Special? Is it older than Nature?

00:12:04 Is the Quran translated into Arabic from Transcendent Speech?

00:14:11 Could putting God's words in a human language degrade th...

Please help us continue having these discussions on Patreon, or follow us on other Podcast channels here: https://linktr.ee/solomon_smith

00:00:00 Intro

00:07:38 Why Does Consciousness Break Science

00:10:40 Is Life Special? Biophychism: Is Life Consciousness?

00:14:40 Are Observations (Quantum Physics) Dependent on Consciousness?

00:18:10 A Unique Element of Consciousness, distinguishing it from Life

00:21:25 Why is Conscio...

Please help us continue having these discussions on Patreon, or follow us on other Podcast channels here: https://linktr.ee/solomon_smith

Taylor returns to take Milo and Jack through ten great works of American "Gnostic" literature, beginning with Emerson’s Nature and ending, exactly a century later, with Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! Along the way: Jones Very believes himself to be Christ, Hawthorne discovers the stai...

Please help us continue having these discussions by supporting us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SolomonSmith

Solomon & Smith on Apple:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/solomon-smith/id6808681930

On Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/2DkVPzTS5lHkynSlHMyOL2?si=FsVpIakbR861Vg9jM3WZvQ&utm_source=copy-link

On Amazon:

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7ca1e4c1-2e5a-4691-9c32-35c05fc01f05

On iHeart...

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What is a view? What is attention? Does a number become more real if it is larger? Are advertisers being ushered into a hall of mirrors? And if every video, every creator, every athlete, every billionaire, and every man on earth can be given a bigger number, have we made the world better — or simply made...

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Thinkers mentioned: Richard Dawkins, Noam Chomsky, Jerry Fodor, Charles Darwin, Paul Grice, Fred Dretske, Gottlob Frege, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Saul Kripke, Richard Montague, Iain McGilchrist, Alfred Tarski

00:00:00 Introduction

00:04:49 Knife Throwing, Other Athletic Activities

00:11:57 Poetic Epigraph

00:...

Please help us continue having these discussions by supporting us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SolomonSmith

Kirwin's article on mathematics is available here: https://kirwinhampshire.substack.com/p/the-dark-night-of-mathematics

In this episode of Solomon and Smith, Jack and Milo speak with Kirwin Hampshire, mathematics PhD and author of the Substack Ossuray Lost at Sea.

Is mathematics discovered or invented? Is ...

*Emma's list is pasted below*

Please help us to continue having these conversations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/solomonsmith/membership

Emma's channel can be found at: https://youtube.com/@sarcastic_fish?si=J3bGM11vCKSxpt3p

1710s - Robinson Crusoe: Daniel Defoe

1720s - Roxana: Daniel Defoe

1730s - Manon Lescaut: Abbé Prévost

1740s - Pamela: Samuel Richardson

1750s - The Female Quixote: Charlotte Lennox

1760s - ...

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You can buy Igor's books directly from his publishing house here: https://songpublishing.org/?v=b6bb43df4525

In this wide-ranging conversation, artist and spiritual teacher Igor Kufayev talks with Jack and Milo about consciousness, meditation, Kashmir Shaivism (Trika Shaivism), aesthetics, creativity and the relat...

*- Cecily's list is pasted below -*

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Check out Cecily's Substack here: https://cecilycarver.substack.com/

Tremolo expertly demonstrated by Edson Lopes, who can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTBiNRT3GPM

1800s

The Earthquake in Chile - Heinrich von Kleist

1810s

Persuasion - Jane ...

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Karen Kilby is the Bede Professor of Catholic Theology at Durham University, and one of the most interesting contemporary thinkers on the Trinity, apophatic theology, and the limits of theological understanding.

In this conversation, Jack and Milo talk to Karen about whether Christians should expect to make ...

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00:00:00 Introduction

00:05:34 Jeff arrives

00:11:09 Footballers are the most complete human beings

0013:57 Do Aliens have human aesthetics? Evolution.

00:17:56 Poetic Epigraph - Goethean Darwinism

00:22:04 What is a Mind?

00:27:27 Hypnotism - Milton Erickson

00:33:34 Dreams and Time, Lucid Dreaming

00:44:50...

*- Adam's list is pasted below -*

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In this video Adam discusses his favourite works of fiction decade by decade, starting in 1800 and going 200 years, decade by decade, until they reach the borders of our present century. If you would like to be interviewed by us about your favourite books, please send...

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Elaine Hobby is one of the foremost experts in the work of Aphra Behn: the greatest playwright of the Restoration, and one of the greatest woman writers of all.

In this conversation, Jack and Milo talk to Elaine specifically about Aphra Behn's theatre: how did it differ from her contemporaries; what made it ...

Please help us continue having these discussions by supporting us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SolomonSmith

- Our full lists are pasted below -

1970-1974

Jack's Pick: Amarcord, dir. Federico Fellini

Milo's Pick: Aguirre, the Wrath of God, dir. Werner Herzog

1975-1979

Jack's Pick: Monty Python's Life of Brian, dir. Terry Jones

Milo's Pick: All That Jazz, dir. Bob Fosse

1980-1984

Jack's Pick: Koyaanisqat...

Oliver Ready is one of the world's greatest translators of Russian literature, most famous for his translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. In this conversation with Jack and Milo, he speaks about what makes Dostoevsky's prose so distinctive, direct, and contemporary, and why Vladimir Sharov may be the greatest Russian novelist you've never read.

The discussion covers Dostoevsky's literary reputation, Nabokov's f...