Episode 17: Interpretation and Ecstasy

We have too many reviews and not enough interpretive criticism. At least, that’s what Nathan says, and it seems to hold water. A true critique engages your intellect and raises questions, while a review just says whether you should watch that movie/read that book/listen to that podcast.

In our second segment, we engage with Ivy Pochoda’s latest novel, Ecstasy, which itself engages with the classical play The Bacchae. We’re not saying a cult of drunken women who kill the men would solve all our problems, but maybe it’s a start.

Ecstasy by Ivy Pochoda is available now

Works cited this episode:

I Know What You Did Last Summer, dir. Jim Gillespie
Return of the Jedi, dir. Richard Marquand
The Empire Strikes Back, dir. Irvin KershnerFargo, dir. Joel Cohen
Siskel & Ebert
“Fargo Forum: Minnesota, Masculinity, Mike Yanagita, and more,” Noel Murray, Keith Phipps, Nathan Rabin, Tasha Robinson, Matt Singer, Scott Tobias, The Dissolve
“Against Interpretation,” Susan Sontag
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
“In Defense of the Traditional Review,” Richard Brody, The New Yorker
Volcano, dir. Mick Jackson
“It Lavas L.A.,” Richard Corliss, TIME
Capital, Karl Mark
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
Wonder Valley, Ivy Pochoda
Sing Her Down, Ivy Pochoda
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
The Bacchae, Euripides
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
Liar Liar, dir. Tom Shadyac
30 Rock, created by Tina Fey