Shows / The Whale Pod
The Whale Pod
A chapter-by-chapter run-through of Herman Melville's 1851 epic about a big fish: Moby-Dick.
Episodes
The Whale PodEpisode 34 - Cutting In
We learn how to cut into a whale. Health and safety gone mad, hoverboards, Melville's "libidinal charge", shark skin, eating your own entrails, a fabric of…
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Episode 33 - Whale Meat Again
As the famous Vera Lynn song goes, "Whale meat again", or whatever she said. David Icke, The Rest is Whale Meat, swapping tenses mid-sentence, aesthetic…
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Episode 32 - The Dart and The Crotch
An entire podcast episode from just three pages of Moby-Dick? You'd better believe it. How do you make killing a whale more efficient? Give the labourers the…
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Episode 31 - Body Horror and Marxist Analysis
The best chapter ever, making ropes, flow state, critical ice, Mazeppa, MARXIST ANALYSIS, false consciousness, Charlie Chaplin, proto-Modernism, Andrew…
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Episode 30 - Brit & Squid
What do whales eat? Brit and squid, of course. Whales stranding in Northumberland after seeing naked Geordies, brit, seafaring Brits, baleen whales, Melville…
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Episode 29 - Herman Melville's Art History (Part 2)
It's part two of our look at Herman Melville's art history of whales. Thomas Beale's dwarf whales, Melville Marginalia, the whole internet loves Ambrose Louis…
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Episode 28 - Herman Melville's Art History (Part 1)
We ended up doing a two-parter on Herman Melville's dive into art history without planning it as a two-parter. This is the first part. Colourblindness, what's…
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Episode 27 - The Town-Ho's Story
GAM. Noun—A social meeting of two (or more) Whale-ships, generally on a cruising-ground; when, after exchanging hails, they exchange visits by boats' crews…
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Episode 26 - The Spirit-Spout
Charting the course of the Pequod, the mechanics of sailing, Melville's ableist alliteration, Pete's cats, Melville's anxiety dream, the skeleton ship, Pete's…
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Episode 25 - Can you enjoy racist prose?
There's a baby seagull squeaking in the background all the way through this episode, that's how good the microphones we use are these days, and it's not at all…
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Episode 24 - There she blows!
A dog-eggs first sentence followed by a Melville masterclass, WHALE CHASE! Racism, WHALE CHASE! Reverie, WHALE CHASE! Plot twist! WHALE CHASE! Oh God, the…
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Episode 23 - The Affidavit
Happy birthday Melville, bronze whale bones, the whaling ports of Britain, the believability of The Salt Path, reading Marx, deconstructing fictional…
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Episode 22 - CARAMBA!
Twentieth century theatre, "CARAMBA!", cholos, the curse of knowledge, the best curse from Romania, stowaways, flavours of autism, normies, how to find a…
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Episode 21 - The Whiteness of the Whale
Herman Melville at his most subtle, 'Spooge', the magnificence and terror of Whiteness, Treaty of Paris, the Iroquois Confederacy, the creation of Whiteness…
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Episode 20 - Moby Dick
Dreaming of Dick, Garth Marenghi's 'Dickplace', "unbridled Melville going hogwild", whaling spirituality, the legend of Moby Dick, The Essex, Melville…
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Episode 19 - From Sunset to Midnight
The fallout from Ahab's declaration that their whaling mission, stage directions, Hamlet, the Iron Crown of Lombardy facts, Napoleon, Sex Pistols, men's mental…
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Episode 18 - The Quarter-Deck
"Art not game for Moby Dick?!" One of the big Ahab chapters. The aul' fella fully exploding into the story. Recording in a heatwave, Shakespeare, philosophy…
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Episode 17 - The Mast-Head
Thirty-five chapters in, and we've seen no whales, but we're about to learn a lot about looking for whales. Also, the all-important question: plop or splat?…
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Episode 16 - The Cabin-Table
Professional blunders, WhaleTok, the Dutch language is not real, discipline, Power, "who's the captain?", flattened hierarchies, the Titanic sinks, give us a…
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Episode 15 - Cetology
One of the most maligned chapters of Moby-Dick is the litany of whales and Ishmael's taxonomy thereof. Is it that bad? This episode is the discussion about…
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Episode 14 - Ahab
Whale news, endorsing baleen whales, whale cocktails, David's crack, the Grand Tour, "...or Ishmael, rather...", finally clapping eyes on Ahab (who then does…
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Episode 13 - Knights and Squires
The litany of sailors, rationing danger, enraged and mighty men, Columbo, Dick Van Dyke, Mission: Impossible, whale-based erotica, Protestantism (again), John…
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Episode 12 - Whale Sandwich
The two Ishmaels, whale journalism, Simon "whaler" Bolivar, whale diplomacy, Wales (not whales), squirting jets of spunk, the university of life, Modernism…
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Episode 11 - Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal
It's Christmas Day, we're 111 pages in, and we're finally going on a whaling voyage. This episode includes 'Jeeves and Wooster go whaling', pilots, blood and…
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Episode 10 - The Prophet etc
The ongoing book club chatting about Moby-Dick. Elijah, prophecy, "Ahab's canny good at huntin' whales", don't show the monster, Alexander Armstrong…
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Episode 9 - The Ramadan
Sperm whale birth, Miriam Margolyes, looking at burly lads, the sequestration of death, cannibals, Modernism, Sally Rooney, annihilation. This episode is the…
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Episode 8 - Clapping eyes on Ahab
It's time for an apology... In this episode we mention the character Billy Mitchell from Eastenders being played by numerous actors, when in fact - obviously -…
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Episode 7 - Say it, Frenchy!
Strap yourselves in for another chat about Herman Melville's Moby-Dick as we cover CLR James, medieval Welsh poetry, Melville writing Seinfeld, Ishmael being…
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Episode 6 - Biographical
The longest episode of The Whale Pod so far, as Leigh Jones and Peter Mitchell discuss Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. Covering only 14 pages of the novel, a lot…
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Episode 5 - The Sermon
Leigh and Pete discuss one of the most famous set-pieces of Herman Melville's novel, The Sermon. Finally, at long last, we talk about Jonah and the whale. We…
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Episode 4 - Is Ishmael annoying?
Who can we blame for bad writing in Moby-Dick? Is Ishmael a #FBPE? Leigh and Pete have a lovely time talking about death. Can you believe it's taken two white…
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Episode 3 - Enter Queequeg
Leigh Jones and Peter Mitchell discussing Herman Melville's 'Moby-Dick' chapter-by-chapter. If you're reading along, this episode covers chapters 3 and 4; The…
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Episode 2 - The Carpet-Bag
Was Herman Melville a failson? failson (plural failsons) (Internet slang, derogatory) An incompetent, unsuccessful middle- or upper-class man who is protected…
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Episode 1 - Loomings
The first episode of a new podcast all about Moby-Dick; or The Whale. Journalist Leigh Jones has never read a book. His friend Peter Mitchell writes them. The…
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What is The Whale Pod?
Leigh Jones is a journalist in the north east of England. He's never read a book in his life. Luckily, his mate Peter Mitchell is an author and an expert in…