Solomon & Smith

Napoleon (1927) - The Greatest Film Ever Made? | Cecily Carver

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:59:43 GMT

Please help us to keep having these conversations by supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/solomonsmith/membership Napoleon (1927), the monumental silent film directed by Abel Gance is frequently (and correctly) described as one of the most astonishing, awe-inspiring achievements in the history of cinema. Joined by small-handed essayist and fiction writer (and the sole inventor of Google Maps) Cecily Carver, Milo and Jack discuss why this five-and-a-half-hour epic about Napoleon Bonaparte (a Corsican man) remains insanely electrifying a century later. What makes Napoleon feel less like a historical drama and more like an operatic explosion of cinematic ecstasy? Is it fascist propaganda? Is it a prototype of the modern blockbuster? Is it the final, triumphant eruption of silent cinema before the apocalypse of sound, which murdered the medium forever? Topics include: Napoleon as “Great Man” and metaphysical force The French Revolution (what was all that about?) Abel Gance’s radical visual experimentation (polyvision, superimposition, handheld camerawork) Silent film acting and the magic of the human face The Coppola vs. Carl Davis scores and how music transforms silent cinema The Josephine interlude and romantic melodrama Unfinished art, and the beauty/tragedy of abandoned masterpieces Whether Napoleon belongs to the stolid 19th century, or the avant-garde 1920s, and how it anticipates directors like James Cameron We also plonk Napoleon within the broader arc of late silent film, alongside the theatrical inheritance of opera and vaudeville. For viewers interested in film history, aesthetics, political myth, and the philosophy of art, this discussion treats Napoleon (the film) as a heavenly spectacle, and as a majestic historical object. If you care about silent cinema, epic filmmaking, the French Revolution, or the enduring allure of charismatic power on screen, this conversation is for you.

Demon Possession, Neoliberalism, & Evangelical Spiritual Warfare | Sean McCleod

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:19:48 GMT

orbs and gems wedge here - https://www.patreon.com/cw/SolomonSmith/membership In this episode, we talk with Sean McCleod about the theological, cultural, and political logic behind contemporary belief in demon possession, spiritual warfare, and deliverance ministries within Third Wave Evangelicalism. How did demons return to the center of American religious life? What distinguishes Third Wave charismatic Demonology from earlier Pentecostal or Catholic demon-hunting? And how does the language of spiritual warfare intersect with neoliberal ideas about free will, agency, responsibility, and selfhood? Drawing from the sociology of religion, political theology, and cultural history, this conversation explores: The rise of Third Wave Evangelicalism and charismatic Christianity Deliverance ministry and modern exorcism practices Generational curses and the psychology of spiritual warfare The legacy of the 1980s Satanic Panic Prosperity gospel theology and market-oriented spirituality Neoliberalism and the construction of the “responsible” Christian self Conspiracy culture, apocalypticism, and American politics We also look at these developments in the context of a broader media history that includes films like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby, which helped reintroduce demonology into mainstream American imagination. From there, we trace how spiritual warfare theology became normalised within evangelical institutions and how it continues to shape contemporary political and religious discourse. Rather than dismissing belief in demons as irrational or fringe, this episode asks a deeper question: What social, economic, and theological conditions make demonology feel plausible—and even necessary—within late modern America? For scholars of religion, clergy, graduate students, and anyone interested in evangelical theology, charismatic Christianity, political theology, or the intersection of capitalism and spirituality, this episode offers a sustained, two-hour analysis of one of the most misunderstood features of modern American religion.

Killing Hitchcock: Harold Bloom and the Modern Filmmaker | Sam Jennings

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:42:06 GMT

Please consider supporting us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/SolomonSmith/membership In this long-form conversation, we look at how Harold Bloom’s Anxiety of Influence applies to cinema — and what it might reveal about modern filmmakers. Bloom argued that strong artists are “born in debt,” and must struggle against the overwhelming presence of their creative fathers. What happens when we apply this idea to movies? From Alfred Hitchcock to David Lynch, from Paul Thomas Anderson to Quentin Tarantino, we trace how directors wrestle with their influences — escaping them, misreading them, and sometimes swallowing them whole. We discuss: Bloom’s concept of “creative misprision” The idea of artistic “fathers” in film history Whether originality is still possible The 90s video store generation of directors The psychological burden of influence Cinema as an ongoing act of reinterpretation Is every filmmaker haunted? Is influence something to escape — or something to transform? If you’re interested in film theory, auteur studies, literary criticism, or the philosophy of art, this conversation dives deep into the anxiety at the heart of modern cinema.

William Blake and the Burden of Vision: Prophecy, and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell | Jodie Marley

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:24:56 GMT

If you’d like to support the channel (gold bars, gemstones, rare earth rocks accepted), check out the Patreon link: www.patreon.com/c/SolomonSmith/membership Welcome back to Solomon and Smith — keep it juicy, large boys. In this second part of our deep dive into William Blake, we’re joined by Jodie Marley for a rich, wide-ranging conversation on prophecy, vision, mysticism, and the strange, electric Blakeopantheon. Building on our earlier discussion with Mark Vernon, we explore Blake through the lens of innocence and experience, satire and sincerity, heaven and hell. What does it mean for Blake to “see” something? Did he believe his visions were literal? Or are they poetic frameworks for imagination and revelation? We dig into: Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell and its critique of Emanuel Swedenborg Biblical prophecy, including Isaiah’s vision in Book of Isaiah Millenarian movements of the 18th century Visionary experience vs prophetic authority The occult revival and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn W. B. Yeats, Theosophy, and esoteric symbolism Tarot, symbolism, and the language of spiritual correspondences We also touch on visionary figures like Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and the wider mystical tradition that influenced (and reacted to) Blake’s work. Is The Marriage of Heaven and Hell satire? Revelation? Both? Can everyone become a visionary — or does prophecy require terror, descent, and transformation? And what happens when imagination becomes indistinguishable from revelation? If you’re interested in Romanticism, mysticism, biblical symbolism, esotericism, the occult revival, or the philosophy of imagination — this episode is for you.

Was William Blake an Orthodox Christian? | Mark Vernon

Thu, 28 May 2026 13:11:03 GMT

👉 Support the channel on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/solomonsmith/membership William Blake still awes and unsettles us. In this long-form discussion, Mark Vernon — psychotherapist, author, and former Anglican priest — joins Milo and Jack for a deep exploration of Blake’s religious imagination, visionary cosmology, and misunderstood relationship to Christianity. Together we explore Blake’s prophetic works Milton and Jerusalem. We ask whether Blake changed his mind after the French Revolution, or whether a single spiritual vision runs through his entire oeuvre. We examine Blake’s critique of deism, mechanistic science, and moralism, his engagement with numbers and eternity, and his insistence that imagination is not fantasy but a mode of truth. This conversation moves through Blake’s theology, his rejection of the theological currents of his day, his fascination with prophecy (including failed prophecy), and his enduring relevance in a disenchanted modern world. Along the way, we touch on Newton, Milton, Jesus, revolutionary politics, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, Tolkien, and the strange power of beauty as a marker of truth. This is the first of two conversations on William Blake on the channel, with a contradictory companion discussion 'Was William Blake an Unorthodox Christian?' following soon. If you’re interested in Blake studies, Christian mysticism, Romantic poetry, prophecy, imagination, or the spiritual crisis of modernity, this conversation is for you. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:05:31 Conversation Begins 00:09:10 Blake and Christianity 00:29:33 Did Blake change over time? 00:40:00 Blake and Mormonism 00:52:26 True vs. False visions 01:01:25 Problem of Evil 01:11:35 Blake and Mathematics 01:22:19 Blake and the Enlightenment 01:29:02 Blake and the Body 01:37:49 Blake and Painting 01:47:59 Mark Vernon taken up in a whirlwind 01:50:04 Mark Vernon brought back down in a whirlwind 01:58:45 1,000,000,000 monkeys 02:00:44 Blake and Tolkein 02:07:30 Is sensation meaningless? 02:12:53 Conclusions

Did Shakespeare Actually Believe in Anything? | Emma Smith on Othello and Timon of Athens

Sun, 24 May 2026 09:58:42 GMT

If you’d like to support the channel (gold bars, gemstones, rare earth rocks accepted) 👉 www.patreon.com/c/SolomonSmith/membership In this long-form literary conversation, Emma Smith—Shakespeare scholar at Oxford (Hertford College)—joins us for a broad discussion of Shakespeare, with a special focus on Othello and Timon of Athens. The conversation explores why Iago has been imbued with such psychological complexity, how Othello is often denied the same interpretive generosity, and what race, rhetoric, and language do inside Shakespeare’s plays. We look at magic, words as world-making, jealousy, authorship, and power, and ask whether Othello might be read as a magician? We also turn to Timon of Athens: its survival through the First Folio, its collaborative authorship, its absence of women and family structures, and why the play has been neglected in England but embraced by Marx, Brecht, and German Romantic thinkers. Is Timon unfinished—or just radically experimental? What does it mean to imagine Shakespeare not as a solitary genius, but as a collaborative playwright working inside a theatrical system? Along the way, we discuss: Iago’s language, silence, and the meaning of “I am not what I am” The handkerchief, contradictory histories, and narrative instability in Othello Words as magic, rhetoric as spell-casting, and Shakespearean speech acts Race, identity, and the limits of character psychology Dual authorship, collaboration, and the myth of Shakespearean genius Why Timon of Athens still feels strange, unfinished, and modern How political, structural readings differ from psychological ones Shakespeare, biography, and why we want authors to “believe in something” Intro: 00:00 Opening general Shakespeare discussion: 18:29 Timon of Athens: 31:54 Othello: 1:06:30

Almost All Literature is Rubbish (Pope, Swift & Rochester) | Jane Cooper

Sat, 16 May 2026 14:10:25 GMT

If you’d like to support the channel (gold bars, gemstones, rare earth rocks accepted) 👉 www.patreon.com/c/SolomonSmith/membership What is satire for — laughter, outrage, moral attack? In this conversation, we explore the evolution of English satire from the 17th and 18th centuries, examining how writers like Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Dryden, and the Earl of Rochester used anger, wit, and self-induced misanthropy to critique politics, religion, art, and human nature itself. Opening with a powerful reading from Pope’s The Dunciad, the discussion moves into questions of righteous vs unrighteous anger (Aristotle’s ethics), the role of masks and persona in satire, and how satire shifted from vicious moral attack to modern comedy. We compare the biting invective of Restoration satire with the refined irony of Pope and Swift, and trace how censorship, politics, and religion shaped the genre. Topics covered include: 📜 The meaning of satire in the Renaissance and Restoration period ⚡ Righteous anger vs unrighteous anger in literature and philosophy ✒️ Alexander Pope’s The Dunciad, Essay on Man, and The Rape of the Lock 🌍 Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and political irony 👑 John Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel and political allegory 🍷 Rochester’s libertinism, misanthropy, and shocking satire 🧠 Hobbes, Epicureanism, moral philosophy, and pessimism 🎭 Masks, persona, irony, and cruelty in satirical writing 🔥 Why satire became associated with comedy in the modern era 📚 Connections to modern writers like Thomas Bernhard If you’re interested in classic literature, philosophy, literary criticism, political satire, or the history of ideas, this episode offers a thoughtful and sometimes hilarious exploration of how writers use anger and humor to tell uncomfortable truths. 👍 If you enjoyed this discussion, like the video, subscribe for more literary conversations, and share your thoughts in the comments.

Translating Goethe’s Faust, Hölderlin & the Meaning of Poetry | David Constantine

Fri, 15 May 2026 12:34:11 GMT

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In this wide-ranging literary conversation, Jack and Milo sit down with David Constantine — acclaimed poet, short story writer, and one of the leading English translators of German literature — to explore poetry, translation, Goethe’s Faust, Hölderlin, language, education, and the shaping power of reading. Constantine reflects on his childhood in post-war northern England, the transformative impact of the 1944 Education Act, and the moment he discovered poetry through the work of Wilfred Owen. From there, the discussion moves into his academic journey, learning German, studying at Oxford (Wadham College), and developing a lifelong engagement with German poetry and philosophy. A major focus of the conversation is Goethe’s Faust — its moral ambiguity, the contrast between Part I and Part II, irony, redemption, and why the second part remains less popular in the English-speaking world. Constantine offers deep insight into Faust as a character, challenging romanticized interpretations and examining questions of responsibility, power, and human contradiction. The interview also dives into the art of literary translation:

✔️ How to translate rhyme, meter, and musicality

✔️ When to prioritize meaning versus sound

✔️ Why “foreignness” in translation can be productive

✔️ Translating Hölderlin’s difficult syntax and estranged language

✔️ The creative limits and freedoms of poetic form Along the way, the conversation touches on Blake, Keats, German Romanticism, classical meters, modern language education, cultural change, AI, and the future of human creativity — making this a rich discussion for students, writers, translators, and lovers of literature. If you’re interested in poetry, philosophy, German literature, translation theory, or the enduring legacy of Goethe and Hölderlin, this episode offers rare depth and personal insight from one of today’s most respected literary translators.

🔔 Subscribe for more long-form conversations on literature, philosophy, poetry, and culture.

The Man Who Accidentally Translated the Entire Bible | Robert Alter on Language, Beauty & Meaning

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 07:28:04 GMT

If you’d like to support the channel (gold bars, gemstones, rare earth rocks accepted) 👉 www.patreon.com/c/SolomonSmith/membership What does it take to translate the entire Hebrew Bible — and what happens when it happens almost by accident? In this long-form conversation, we speak with Robert Alter, legendary literary scholar and translator of the Hebrew Bible, about language, beauty, storytelling, and the strange path that led him to complete one of the greatest translation projects of our time. Alter reflects on how he began translating Genesis as an experiment — never intending to translate the whole Bible — and how one book quietly led to another until the entire project was complete. Along the way, we explore how biblical narrative works as literature, why repetition in the Bible often carries deep artistic meaning, and how characters like King David evolve across time in ways that resemble the modern novel. We also discuss: • Why translation is a creative and literary act • What makes the Hebrew Bible one of the great works of world literature • How language shapes meaning and rhythm in translation • The relationship between the King James Bible and modern translations • Biblical poetry, sound, and alliteration • Nabokov’s Pale Fire and the role of commentary and interpretation • Why ancient texts still speak powerfully to modern readers Robert Alter is Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature and Hebrew at UC Berkeley and the acclaimed translator of The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. His work has reshaped how readers encounter the Bible as a literary masterpiece rather than only a religious text. If you’re interested in literature, philosophy, translation, biblical studies, or deep conversation, this episode offers a rare window into the mind of a remarkable scholar.

David Bentley Hart on Screens, Dreams, and the Gnostic Nightmare of Modern Life

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 10:51:31 GMT

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Philosopher and theologian David Bentley Hart joins Milo and Jack for a wide-ranging long-form conversation on screens, smartphones, cinema, dreams, Gnosticism, and the spiritual consequences of modern technology. We explore Hart’s latest fiction collection Prisms and Veils, the nature of illusion and reality, prophetic dreams, David Lynch, Kurosawa, memory palaces, and what it means to live in an increasingly virtual world.

In this discussion, David Bentley Hart reflects on how digital screens shape consciousness, attention, and the soul — comparing smartphones to “magic mirrors,” demonic distractions, and modern forms of Gnostic illusion.

Faust Explains Modernity Better Than Any Philosopher | Johannes Niederhauser

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 07:12:08 GMT

Please help up to keep these conversations going, and join our reading community, by supporting us over on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/solomonsmith/membership Modern civilisation: is it best explained by philosophy—or by myth? In this conversation we talk about Goethe’s Faust, Nietzsche’s Zarathustra, the everlasting crisis of Western civilization, and the philosophy doomscape of modern academia. Faust captures the restless drive that defines the modern world: the desire to know everything, experience everything, and reshape reality itself. Nietzsche interrogates the same drive at greater length, in greater depth. We discuss: • Faust and modernity • Goethe, Nietzsche, and nihilism • Why everyone thinks Nietzsche’s Übermensch is about them • Whether universities are still the right place for philosophy • The permanent, everlasting crisis of meaning in the Evening Lands • Technology and power • Is Nietzsche optimistic? If you enjoy conversations about dead German men, consider subscribing and supporting the channel. Here is a link to Johannes's in depth course on Faust Part II: https://halkyonacademy.teachable.com/p/goethe-faust-part-ii

The Artist’s Dilemma: Master One Style or Reinvent Yourself? | Samuel Andreyev

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:10:03 GMT

Please help us to keep having these conversations by supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/solomonsmith/membership A discussion with composer Samuel Andreyev about one of the central questions in creativity: Should artists refine one definitive style… or constantly try to reinvent themselves? The conversation introduces the idea of the mono-artist vs the poly-artist. A mono-artist finds a form and spends a lifetime refining it. A poly-artist evolves across styles, mediums, and artistic languages. We discuss composers like Stravinsky, Webern, Bach, Carter, and Messaien, as well as a host of examples from other forms, from film, painting, and literature. The discussion explores: • Why some artists need constant change to stay creative • Why others need to deepen a single artistic language • The pressures artists face from institutions, audiences, and markets • How commercial and institutional systems shape artistic production • Why many artists struggle with expectations and “branding” 00:00:00 Preview 00:01:47 Introduction 00:14:58 Bicycle 00:16:34 Samuel arrives 00:20:00 Outline of Mono vs. Poly 00:33:31 Messiaen 00:39:50 Outsider Artists 00:45:50 The Art Music Funding Problem 00:51:10 Should Artists be Subsidised 00:55:32 The Bureaucratic hellscape of funding 01:06:49 You must produce slop 01:10:30 AI and composition 01:16:40 Cultural alienation 01:24:16 Pachelbel, and the tragedy of being a one hit wonder 01:29:00 Love is the soul of art-making - J.S. Bach - Late Style 01:38:29 Being careful, vs. being pedantic - Webern