Sunday, September 14, 2003

The most entertaining and informative half-hour in a long time. Harold Bloom talks to Chris Lydon about Emerson (and more Emerson), Melville, Charlie Parker, But Powell, current politics, the South, drowning in undigested information, and much more. For a listener born elsewhere, this mapping of the currents taking America from the 19th century to the 21st is fascinating. And I learned an Emerson quote that I can't resist sharing: As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect. Harsh, but when piety is resurgent as justification or cloak for exploitation and destruction, worth considering. 8:49:17 PM