An opera podcast where the sacred is subjective. Every other week, host Olivia Giovetti is joined by a guest who is just as obsessed with opera (including singers, composers, and critics) to discuss one work in-depth and ask the simple question: Is it actually great?
Decanonized
Claim This Podcastby Olivia Giovetti
5.0(3 reviews)
10 episodes
Updated Daily
Accepts GuestsHas Sponsors
Podcast Overview
An opera podcast where the sacred is subjective. Every other week, host Olivia Giovetti is joined by a guest who is just as obsessed with opera (including singers, composers, and critics) to discuss one work in-depth and ask the simple question: Is it actually great?
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
3/24/2026
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Recent Episodes
July 8, 2026
Andrea Chénier with Carmen Paddock
<p>It’s all fun and games until the guillotine gets weird. In honor of Bastille Day, critic Carmen Paddock joins us to talk about Umberto Giordano’s verismo (?) opera about a poet who negs a debutante at a party, and her subsequent ability to take ride-or-die to new extremes during the French Revolution. We also discuss the real hero or Andrea Chénier, who is (as in so many operas) actually the baritone.</p><p><br>Additional topics include: sopranos melting down on Instagram, John McWhorter melting down over John Cage, and Charlotte Corday melting down over Jean-Paul Marat.</p><p><br>Follow Carmen on <a href="http://carmenchloie.bsky.social/">Bluesky</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/carmenchloie/">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://carmencp.substack.com/">Substack</a>. </p><p>Full <a href="https://www.decanonized.com/episodes/giordano-andrea-chenier">episode page for Andrea Chénier</a> on Decanonized.com.</p><p>Follow Decanonized on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/decanonized">@decanonized</a> and on Patreon at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/c/Decanonized">https://www.patreon.com/c/Decanonized</a></p>
June 24, 2026
Turandot with Kevin Ng
<p>Happy Pride and World Cup month, here’s an unlikely football (soccer) anthem and the sapphic story behind it. Unfortunately, the composer who got ahold of this story doesn’t believe in lesbians, so the soprano marries the tenor at the end. Music and culture writer <a href="https://www.kevinwng.com/">Kevin Ng</a> joins us to dive head-first into Puccini’s final — and famously unfinishable — opera, Turandot, which had its posthumous premiere 100 years ago in 1926. </p><p>Additional topics include: Lorena Bobbitt, castration, Freud, fascism, and T-shirt cannons. </p><p>Follow Kevin on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/_kevinwng">@_kevinwng</a> and on Bluesky at <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/kevinng.bsky.social">@kevinng.bsky.social</a>.</p><p>Read Kevin’s NYT piece on the latest attempt at constructing ending for Turandot: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/arts/music/turandot-opera-revised-ending.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/arts/music/turandot-opera-revised-ending.html</a></p><p>Full episode page with recommended reading, recordings, and more at <a href="http://decanonized.com/episodes/puccini-turandot">http://decanonized.com/episodes/puccini-turandot </a></p>
June 11, 2026
Otello with Jerrell Jackson
<p>Is Iago one of opera’s greatest villains? Or just someone who listened to Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work” one too many times and decided to make it everyone’s problem. Bassist, lecturer, and writer <a href="https://www.jerrelljackson.com/">Jerrell Jackson</a> joins us to discuss Verdi’s penultimate opera, in which a storm wrecks Cyprus for five minutes and male insecurity wrecks everything else for the next three hours. </p><p>Additional topics include: Classical Music Twitter, the visual spectrum of Plácido Domingo’s blackface Otellos, the New York Times comments section, and the ’90s teen Shakespeare renaissance. </p><p>Follow Jerrell on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/datbassjawn/">@datbassjawn</a> and on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/datbassjawn/">@datbassjawn</a>.</p><p>Full episode notes, including a <a href="https://www.decanonized.com/episodes/verdi-otello">synopsis of Otello, recommended recordings, and a reading list</a>, at Decanonized.com.</p><p>Follow Decanonized on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/decanonized">@decanonized</a>.</p>
10 total episodes available
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- What is Decanonized?
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This podcast updates daily.
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Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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