Moby Dick Energy: A Moby Dick Podcast

Talia talks with Beth Skwarecki, senior health editor at Lifehacker, about three fascinating chapters. That's right -- we're BACK! After 33 episodes last year, we're off on the second year of Moby Dick Energy, and with hellish strength we are taking another stab at this great book. This week, we examine Melville's glowing and romantic depictions of the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes; gam a lot; and go with Ishma...

Prefacing this episode is Talia's prank call to the Trump Voter Fraud hotline.

This episode Talia talks to the lovely, gentle-voiced and brilliant Lili Loofbourow, a staff writer at Slate, about THE FIRST TIME WE ENCOUNTER SOME REAL LIFE WHALES in the book and the racially fraught introduction of Ahab's mysterious, hitherto hidden companions,  Fedallah and his crew. The word "swart" recurs, as does our ...

Talia talks with Sarah Marshall, of the "You're Wrong About" and "Why Are Dads" podcasts, about 2 odd marooned mid-40s chapters of the book. It's Sarah's first experience with the book and we debunk some myths about Ahab -- as well as conveying that he's the ultimate Bad Dad of the Sea. "Man and whale must go down together, like Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty." -Sarah Marshall

Talia talks to Justin Scheck (@ScheckWSJ) about a short chapter and a longer chapter, which are also a comical chapter and a profound chapter. In "Hark!" we see a bit more of daily life on the Pequod, while "The Chart" attempts to map Ahab's madness. 

Justin Scheck is a Wall Street Journal reporter and author of the recent book "Blood and Oil," which is about Mohammad bin Salman, not whal...

Talia talks to vaunted Melville scholar Christopher Freeburg about an infamous, complex and fascinating episode, "The Whiteness of the Whale." We discuss the meaning of whiteness, filled with both sinister and holy connotations. Has the author/protagonist line completely blurred? Is Ishmael going slightly insane? What does whiteness mean? Also, check out Professor Freeburg's new book, "Counterlife: Slavery after...

Talia talks to James Beard Award nominated writer Rax King about Chapter 41, "Moby Dick." It's an encapsulation of the book in miniature: we talk about the feared whale himself, introduced to our antagonist at last; about the madness of Ahab; about the whaling industry; about sperm whales as the great terrors of the sea. With many thanks to producer Ilana Weinstein for rescuing some truly dreadful audio, and adding t...

A RADIO PLAY.

First, Talia talks to Akela Lacy, reporter at the Intercept, about the strange, drunken dream of this chapter; its racialized elements; and the feelings of Pip, the Black cabin-boy, about being alone on a ship of white madmen, threatening to knife each other.

In the second half, produced painstakingly by Ilana Weinstein, we have the fruits of much labor!! Fans of the show have sent in lines from...

Talia talks to Lisa Munger, a marine biologist specializing in marine biological acoustics, about the legendary Chapter 32, "Cetology," featuring Ishmael's frankly bizarre, wonderful and inaccurate taxonomy of whales. We go into detail about whales from the Sulphur-Bottom to the Huzza Porpoise, discuss why common names are useless, talk about Lisa's adventures tracking whales on the Bering Sea, and listen to the...

Talia talks with Manu Saadia, author of "Trekonomics," about 2020's protests, the rot at the heart of America, the moral core of the country being on the streets, racism from America to Paris, and the role of literature in times of revolution. We also discuss three short and remarkable chapters focusing on Ahab, his pipe, and dreams.

Sound art and production by Ilana Weinstein.
Theme song by Noam Hassenf...