Thinkery & Verse present "DECAMERON 2020: Survival through Stories," a reading and discussion of Bocaccio’s Decameron as it relates to contemporary pandemic experiences. To reawaken the full sense of Boccaccio’s framing device, our podcast will offer, for the first time in English, Boccaccio's Decameron recorded with eleven different actors (as opposed to a single reader). Guest artists include Karen Alvarado, Erin Bogert, Ashley Bufkin, Celine Dirkes, Diana Guizado, Bob Jones, JM Meyer, Brady Marchand (Sound Engineer), Abishek Nair, Regan Sims, Reagan Tankersly, and Ania Upstill. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Hannah Lang.
18. What sparks political engagement? Boccaccio in 1358 and America in 2020.
Here in the United States we are at the center of a global pandemic and the greatest political turmoil in generations. What sparks political engagement? In Boccaccio's Decameron, Pampinea berates her peers for accepting second-class status, and demands that they reorganize their society to ensure their survival. In this bonus episode, J.M.Meyer interviews Karen Alvarado, Erin Bogert, and Cassandra Vaz about what sparked their political engagement, and how they can imagine a more just post-pan...
25 Sept 2020
17. Interview with the humanist Marianna Iannaccone on John Florio, Boccaccio's Early Modern translator
In this interview, J.M. Meyer and Ania Upstill talk to Marianna Iannaccone, a John Florio expert based in Boccaccio's native Italy. As you may remember, Italy was the center of the pandemic in Europe in February and March, and implemented some of the strictest control measures outside of China--but they did get the virus under control, a feat which the United States has so far failed to accomplish. John Florio was an Early Modern Englishman of Italian descent who revolutionized the Engl...
31 Aug 2020
16. Imagining a more just post-pandemic world, Part 2
Welcome back to Decameron 2020: Survival through Stories. In the second part of our segment on Black Lives Matter, we will continue our conversation with the artists James Edward Becton, Ashley Bufkin, and Justin Withers. Johnny Meyer will begin the conversation with a very brief chronology of the Black Lives Matter movement, especially as it has been experienced in the year 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Then our team will discuss what they want to see happen in or...
29 Aug 2020
15. Imagining a more Just Post-Pandemic World through Black Lives Matter, Part 1
In the next two bonus episodes, we are taking a step back from Boccaccio’s stories in order to bring more focus to the stories going on around us. Boccaccio’s ten young story-tellers are, in part, using narrative to elevate their minds above the plague that ravaged their home. They seek to point out the injustices and hypocrisies of their own time. 2020 is, of course, very different from 1348. We are not in medieval Italy. We live in a complicated, pluralistic, deeply damaged and deeply inspi...
24 Aug 2020
14. Discussion with Bob Jones, Ashley Bufkin, Erin Bogert, and Karen Alvarado
We've reached the third and final discussion episode for the last three stories in Day 1 of Bocaccio's Decameron. In this episode you will hear from actors Ashley Bufkin, Erin Bogert, myself Karen Alvarado as well as Bob Jones serving as host for our discussion. Enjoy! Translation by John Florio. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Ha...
22 Aug 2020
13. Pampinea tells a story wherein we learn why honest love agrees with people of all ages. (Day 1, Story 10)
In the 10th and final story of the first day, Pampinea tells the story of a young beautiful Widow who intends to shame an older yet dignified doctor. This story was narrated by Karen Alvarado. Translation by John Florio. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Hannah Lang. Music and SFX: http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/jsbach_bwv996_01 htt...
22 Aug 2020
12. Eliza tells a story about an aggrieved woman who uses wit to put a foolish king in his place (Day 1, Story 9)
In the 9th story of the first day Eliza tells the tale of how a courageous Gentlewomen changed the King of France from a meek coward to a just ruler. This story was narrated by Erin Bogert. Translation by John Florio. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Hannah Lang. Music and SFX: http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/jsbach_bwv996_01 http:/...
22 Aug 2020
11. Lauretta plainly declares that a covetous man is not worthy of any honor or respect. (Day 1, Story 8)
In the 8th story of the first day Loretta tells the story of a well-regarded court entertainer who, with a few clever words, checked the avarice of stingy rich man. This story was narrated by Ashley Bufkin. Translation by John Florio. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Hannah Lang. Music and SFX: http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/...
8 Aug 2020
10. Two monks, too many hens, a flood of soup, and four loaves of bread (Discussion of Day 1, Stories 4 through 7)
We've reached the second discussion episode. Here we will pause our recitation of Bocaccio's Decameron in order to hear from our storytellers. Bob Jones serves as today's host, and we will also hear from actors Regan Sims, Johnny Meyer, Diana Guizado and Reagan Tankersly, the readers of the previous four episodes.
8 Aug 2020
9. Philostratus tells the story of a troubadour whose wit aids his remuneration (Day 1, Story 7)
The seventh story of the first day: Philostratus tells the story of a poor troubadour who uses a parable to reveal the ways in which the casual hubris of the rich can hurt the less fortunate. This story was narrated by Reagan Tankersley. Translation by John Florio. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Hannah Lang. Music and SFX:...
8 Aug 2020
8. Emilia tells the story of a naive merchant who stumbles into the path of the inquisition (Day 1, Story 6)
In the 6th story of the first day, Emilia tells the story of a wealthy yet simple man who foolishly stumbles into the notice of the dangerous and powerful religious inquisition. As a consequence, a greedy inquisitor begins leeching the man's money, but the merchant uses just a few simple words from the Gospel to reveal the hypocrisy in the clergy. This story was narrated by Diana Guizado. Translation by John Florio. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Co...
8 Aug 2020
7. Fiametta tells us that there were too many hens for the one-eyed king (Day 1, Story 5)
In the 5th story of the first day Fiametta tells the story of a very beautiful (and very married) noblewoman who uses wit, cunning, and roasted hens to rebuff the not-so-subtle advances from the one-eyed King of France. This story was narrated by Regan Sims. Translation by John Florio. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Hannah L...
7 Aug 2020
6. Monks behaving badly (Day 1, Story 4)
The two previous stories appealed to virtue--the fourth, told by Dioneo appeals to vice. In this story, a young monk who commits an egregious offence with a young woman, and then how he frees himself from the pain of punishment by cunningly, and scandalously, reprehending his senior Abbot with the very same offence. Warning: This story describes a sexual assault, and may be deeply troubling to many listeners. This story was narrated by JM Meyer. Translation by John Florio. Podcast intr...
24 Jul 2020
5. Discussion episode: faith in storytelling
In this episode we will pause from telling Bocaccio's Decameron, and instead we are going to hear from our storytellers. You will hear from Bob Jones, Abishek Nair, Celine Dirkes and Ania Upstill our first four readers of the stories you just listened to. In the first of our discussions, the four voice actors portraying the Decameronians come together to discuss building a community in a pandemic, and how our access to information shapes our reaction to traumas of all stripes. We will uncover...
23 Jul 2020
4. Philomena tells the parable of the three rings (Day 1, Story 3)
In this episode of Decameron 2020, Ania Upstill reads for Philomena and tells the tale of the Three Rings: a parable in which King Saladin poses a tricky question: Which of the three Abrahamic religions is best? He receives a surprising answer. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Hannah Lang. Music and SFX: http://hebb.mit.edu/Fre...
22 Jul 2020
3. Nephilia introduces us to an unusual perspective on faith (Day 1, Story 2)
In the second story of the first day, Nephilia tells the tale of a virtuous man who is begged to convert from the Jewish faith to the Christian religion. After visiting the corrupt clergy of Rome, he makes a surprising decision. Building off of the previous episode, Neiphila concentrates on the themes of virtue, faith, and organized religion. A heads up and a bit of a warning: the premise of Boccaccio's story is that everyone knows that that Jews need saving by Christians. That is obvi...
22 Jul 2020
2. Panfilo tells the story of a sinful man mistakenly venerated as a saint (Day 1, Story 1)
In the first story of the first day Pamphilus tells the story of a very bad man who, thanks to a false deathbed confession, is forever venerated as the most holy of saints. This story was adapted and narrated by Abishek Nair (MFA, Rutgers Mason Gross). Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Hannah Lang. Music and SFX: http:...
21 Jul 2020
1. Giovanni Boccaccio's Introduction to 'The Decameron'
Bob Jones (MFA, Mary Baldwin) recites the introduction to Giovanni Boccaccio's influential, often cited, (and rarely read) The Decameron. Podcast intro: Karen Alvarado. Editing and Sound Design by Brady Marchand. Copy editing by Bob Jones, Ania Upstill, Karen Alvarado, and J.M. Meyer. Project manager: Celine Dirkes. Graphic design: Hannah Lang. Music and SFX: http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/jsbach_bwv996_01 http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/jsbach_bwv996_02 http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/j...
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