A podcast about the agonizing questions of existence and the shit we watch, read, and listen to to try to make sense of it.
Currently handcuffed to a bank vault. Send cheap wine, expensive cigarettes, or unpublished biographies of David Berman.
Updated bi-weekly.
Contact Us: candyjailpod@gmail.com
Consider this the end of Season 1. Thanks and stay tuned!
15 Dec 2023
17. The Natural Bridge (Part 3)
The final installment of our deep dive into the second Silver Jews album.
David Berman recorded on Drag City records.
1 Dec 2023
16. The Natural Bridge (Part 2)
The second part of our deep dive into the 1996 Silver Jews album The Natural Bridge.
Silver Jews recorded on Drag City records.
16 Nov 2023
15. The Natural Bridge (Part 1)
Part one of our deep dive into the 1996 Silver Jews album The Natural Bridge.
Silver Jews recorded on Drag City records.
2 Nov 2023
14. Phoenix (and Vertigo)
We discuss Christian Petzold's 2014 film, Phoenix, in all of its preposterously implausible and emotionally poignant glory. We also explore the film's explicit connections to Alfred Hitchcock's legendary 1958 film, Vertigo.
Intro and outro music: Candy Jail, by Silver Jews
19 Oct 2023
13. Silver Jews Exegesis Part I: Starlite Walker
This episode marks our first deep dive into Silver Jews' first studio album, Starlite Walker.
Note: Due to technical issues (and apparently the fact that it's no one's favorite SJ song) there is no audio snippet for Tide to the Oceans.
Silver Jews recorded on Drag City records.
5 Oct 2023
12. Rattle & Hum
Ahead of our first Silver Jews album breakdown, we turn our attention to the most un-Berman of bands.
We discuss Phil Joanou's 1988 documentary Rattle and Hum, and ponder superstardom, super fandom, and the role our favorite bands play in shaping identity.
Come for the love, stay for the hate.
Also mentioned: David Berman (holy shit didn't see that coming), Naomi Klein, Phil Elverum, Drive-By Truckers, The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bernardine Dohrn, Jesse Helms, Karl Marx (whoa, slow down with the surprises there, Candy Jail!).
Intro music: Silver Jews, Candy Jail
Outro speechifying: Bono, McNichols Arena, Denver, CO, 11/8/87
22 Sept 2023
11. Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography (with Helen Miller)
What happens when a French philosopher writes about photography while grieving for his mother? Did you think that was the setup to a Freudian joke? What's wrong with you? You people make us sick.
The wonderful Helen Miller joins us to discuss Roland Barthes' seminal photography text Camera Lucida.
Also mentioned: John Berger, Giorgio Agamben, Aristotle, Georges Perec, Geoffrey Batchen, La Jetée, Walter Benjamin, Arnold Toynbee.
Intro music: Candy Jail by Silver Jews
Outro music: Broken Front Teeth by Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Contact us at candyjailpod@gmail.com
8 Sept 2023
10. What's the Deal with David Berman?
After much procrastinating and shoegazing we peel ourselves away from the punch bowl to ask if you'd like to hear us talk about a man named David Berman.
Also mentioned: U2, Guns n Roses, Tori Amos, Father John Misty, Lana Del Rey, Doseone, The Microphones, Dan Bejar
David Berman recorded on Drag City Records.
25 Aug 2023
9. Room 237
Mr. Hallorann, what's in Room 237?
We watch Rodney Ascher's 2012 documentary and ponder whether there really is such a thing as a harmless conspiracy theory.
Also mentioned: The X-Files, NXIVM, When Prophecy Fails, Kurt Vonnegut, Inglourious Basterds, Vic Chesnutt.
The pastor Brendan mentioned is Dan Barker. The cult expert is Stephen Hassan.
Opening and closing theme: Silver Jews, Candy Jail
10 Aug 2023
8. The Shining
One of us reads Stephen King for the first time and we both revisit the familiar haunts of Stanley Kubrick's film.
27 Jul 2023
7. Indiana Jones and the Denial of Death
You may not be able to be neutral on a moving train, but you can certainly punch Nazis on one.
Why don't franchises know when to die? Why, in spite of our trenchant trash talk, do we keep watching these movies? Is America's unique denial of death expressing itself through these films? Also, Nazi punching.
Also mentioned: Steven Spielberg, Siegfried Kracauer, James Bond, Black Panther, Norman Rockwell
Note: High Priest would've been a more accurate term than Rabbi.
13 Jul 2023
6. Do We Need a Weatherman After All?
Can reflecting upon the legacy of the Weather Underground help us today to develop strategies to change the world for the better?
Book: Dan Berger's Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity. (Available here [https://www.akpress.org/outlawsofamericaak.html].)
Also mentioned: Underground (1976), The Weather Underground (2002), Jean Amery, CS Lewis, an imaginary version of King Lear
Intro and Outro Music: Candy Jail by Silver Jews
29 Jun 2023
5. I Consent to Feeling Moved by Sunsets
Are all autobiographies bullshit? Can anyone really truly know themselves? Is there a "self" at all?
We fumble for answers to these questions during our discussion of Edouard Levé's experimental (anti) memoir, Autoportrait.
Also mentioned: Jean Amery, Georges Perec, Fernando Pessoa, Ulysses
Also existentially disturbing: the audio glitch around 8:05. Apologies.
15 Jun 2023
4. Up Against the Wall, Motherf***er
Who were the Symbionese Liberation Army, what did they want, and how do they fit into the histories (and legacies) of Leftist movements?
Film: Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (2004) available here [https://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Taking-Hearst-Russ-Little/dp/B01LP2BMV2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=17NL4M0WXUUQO&keywords=guerrilla+the+taking+of+patty+hearst&qid=1687998142&s=instant-video&sprefix=guerri%2Cinstant-video%2C103&sr=1-1].
Also mentioned: The Weather Underground, A Raisin in the Sun
Intro music: Silver Jews, Candy Jail
Outro music: Jefferson Airplane, We Can Be Together
31 May 2023
3. No One Wants to Read Your Catharsis
Why does inspiration arrive, where does it go when it leaves, and how do you get it to come back?
We discuss Vladimir Nabokov's 1972 essay "On Inspiration [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~shanesq/EOTW/Supplementary_Readings/Literary_Process_and_Inspiration/NABKOV_Inspiration.pdf]."
Also mentioned: JD Salinger, Walt Whitman, Charles Bukowski, David Lynch, Keith Jarrett, Lana Del Rey, Saul Friedlander
21 May 2023
2. Speak No Evil
One of us is shaken by, and the other skeptical of, Christian Tafdrup's 2022 film Speak No Evil.
Speak No Evil is available here [https://www.amazon.com/Speak-No-Evil-Morten-Burian/dp/B0B75M1SGF/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1SOW8QGA0SHDJ&keywords=speak+no+evil&qid=1687997631&sprefix=speak+no+%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1]. Also mentioned: Ikiru, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kafka, Raul Hillberg
17 May 2023
1. Walter Benjamin and A.O. Scott
What makes movies so special? Can art be "political" without being didactic? Are superhero movies fundamentally fascist?
We discuss Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" and A.O. Scott's decision to leave film criticism.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
4.8 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
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