Reconceived

Dear Joel, This isn’t just any old thing reconceived. This is You reconceived. Because you’re graduating. It’s been a hot minute since we’ve touched this podcast. I hope it’s not costing you too much to host…I recorded this with my laptop microphone (yikes!) but I hope it gets the point across. Graduation may be exciting or terrifying, a big change or a small one, but it is a change, and I wanted to give one small piece of encouragement. Best, Ben

Ben and Joel finally return together to share what they have discovered about each of their subjects. Ben shares what has transformed in pottery and what has stood the test of time, while Joel explains how America was almost one of the firsts to adopt the Metric system.

Ben and Joel change things up a little this week. They’re talking about the stuff they’re going to be researching, but haven’t quite yet. Join us for the ride.

Joel takes Ben down a cinematic memory lane to discover why DreamWorks Trolls: World Tour may be the most influential movie from the past century. Links: Account of the 1948 case U.S. v. Paramount Pictures, et al. The Wall Street Journal’s take on Trolls: World Tour’s impact

Ben and Joel talk about being late for work, a first amendment lawsuit, and municipal corruption, all in the pursuit of understanding traffic lights. Links: MIT Research Mats Järlström, The Engineering Underdog Yellow Light Corruption Music by The Dominican Jazz Project

In this final episode of the Writing and Music series, Ben and Joel finally reunite to discuss what they have learned about their topics, about each other’s topics, and where writing and music come together to reveal greater truth. Music The Dominican Jazz Project Guru Gruff

Hey Joel, What makes a good ending? I’ve been bouncing ideas around in my head for a while now, and I think piano provides a good avenue for that sort of thing. Sincerely, Ben P.S. Although I didn’t put it in the letter, Erik Satie wrote a piece making fun of overly dramatic endings to songs, which were common at the time. I think you’d enjoy it.

Well Ben, we’re almost to the end of our journey. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way as far as writing goes; I hope you got the same. Sincerely, Joel Links Music from https://filmmusic.io By Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Hey Joel, I stumbled across some ideas about what distinguishes poetry from other things like music and prose. I thought I’d share them with you. Cheers, Ben Links: Encyclopedia Britannica Article The emotional power of poetry (study)

Hey Ben, I have now officially hijacked your topic; I hope you don’t mind. So, here are my thoughts on something you, nor the piano itself, has addressed yet. Sincerely, Joel Links Adam Neely’s video on microtonal lofi hip-hop as well as his Christmas follow-up Blues example (John Lee Hooker - Boom boom) Greek Mode African idiophones Balinese Gamelan Music Tradional Arabic Music (I forgot to specifically mention this one verbally, but I still put it in) Meditación - Julián Carrillo Droplet - Sevish

Hey Joel, I had some thoughts about non-Western music, trying to answer the question: why twelve notes? I didn’t get a complete answer, but I have the beginnings of one. Cheers, Ben Links: Shakuhachi music courtesy of Rodrigo Rodriguez Adam Neely interview

Dear Ben, I wanted to make sure that I let you know what I thought of your question from last time, but I wanted to expand on the idea of fonts. Why are there so many of them, and how important are they really? Sincerely, Joel

Dear Ben, I wanted to make sure that I let you know what I thought of your question from last time, but I wanted to expand on the idea of fonts. Why are there so many of them, and how important are they really? Sincerely, Joel

Dear Joel, I don’t have any links for this episode, but I still have thoughts. I don’t have anyone to interview, though. I should get on that… —Ben

Hey Ben, You had me stumped after last week’s episode. So, I went to someone who I knew could help me answer your question of what is the lasting value of writing well. I hope this summary of our conversation will be enough to suffice.

Hey Joel, I hope this scratches a little at the itch you had. I’ll be thinking about that in the back of my head (i.e., why is music so cross-cultural) for the rest of this conversation. And who knows? It might just pop back up. Music by Kimiko Ishizaka

It’s funny that you bring up piano Ben, because my experience with the instrument correlates perfectly with my fears of people misunderstanding college writing centers. Sincerely, Joel Links Music from https://filmmusic.io By Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Hey Joel, I’ve been learning piano recently. It’s been a slow process, but I think it’s been a great object lesson in the truth that beauty can contain. Also it sounds nice. One of my favorite channels is Nahre Sol. She’s a trained concert pianist whose playing is an absolute delight to watch. I highly recommend anything she does, but I especially enjoyed her video "How to Sound Like Chopin.”

College Writing Centers can be very help spaces, but are they misunderstood? Is there a chance that the way that Writing Centers are used and even thought of is fundamentally flawed? I certainly think that. Sincerely, Joel Links Essay “The Idea of a Writing Center” By Stephen M. North Music from https://filmmusic.io By Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Ben and Joel have covered a wide range of topics in the past, each time with a slightly different flavor. This time, though, they plan not only to change minds, but to change the podcast. It's time to reconceive Reconceived. Music by The Dominican Jazz Project