A Hopeless Endeavor: A Joanna Newsom Podcast

Latest Episodes:

19. Colleen, Part 2 Apr 10, 2021

Show notes

We continue our discussion on this utterly captivating song. Thank you so much again to Melissa of Blessing All the Birds. The blog post that she wrote up in conjunction with last week’s episode can be found here: https://allthebirds.tumblr.com/post/647478743591436288/divers-colleen-and-monkey-bear-and-a. Thank you, too, to everyone who listens. And as always, thank you to David Pizarro for the gorgeous beat.

18. Colleen, Part 1 Apr 03, 2021

Show notes

In this super special collaborative episode with the brilliant Melissa Marturano from Blessing All the Birds, we start our dive into the endlessly fascinating Colleen. Melissa has a post on Blessing All the Birds in which she discusses what she brought up in this episode (which you can find here: https://allthebirds.tumblr.com/post/647478743591436288/divers-colleen-and-monkey-bear-and-a ). Thank you so much, Melissa. For the rest of the episode, your fin-wife hags discuss selkies, naming, identity, seducing, and more! We hope you enjoy. Thank you so much for listening, and thank you to David Pizarro for his sick beat.

17. Ys Album Artwork, Part 2 Mar 27, 2021

Show notes

Part 2 of the gong show that is this discussion. We talk about syphilis finger, harpsicles (harp-sickles?), more flowers, monkey chair-arms... who even knows. Thank you so much to all of you who have been with us throughout our whole Ys adventure. Thank you too, to David Pizarro, for his magical Cosmia beat.

16. Ys Album Artwork, Part 1 Mar 20, 2021

Show notes

Okay, listen. This episode is a bit off the rails. We don’t know how to analyze fine art, but we gave it a go, and here is what we came up with. We dive into (and possibly drown in) Benjamin Vierling’s gorgeous, intricate masterpiece that is the Ys album art. I am pretty sure we mispronounce something several times a minute. WE TRIED. Please let us know if you have any thoughts or theories. We need your help, especially on this stuff. Good luck with this one. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you to David Pizarro for the lovely music.

15. Cosmia, Part 2 Mar 13, 2021

Show notes

The last part of the last episode of the last song on Ys. (Except we’re doing an episode on the album art next week so as to cling to this album as long as possible.) We hope you all enjoy! Special thanks to Av for his ridiculously helpful and informative video on Ys and music. Thank you, as always, to David Pizarro for the beautiful beat. Send us your thoughts on literally any Joanna song (ahopelessendeavor@gmail.com). We would love to hear them. After the album art episode next week, we are going to cover Colleen before diving into Have One On Me. Thank you so much for listening. “Wild Cosmia, what have you seen?”

14. Cosmia, Part 1 Mar 06, 2021

Show notes

We start our discussion on the last song from (what is probably) the greatest album of all time. We are sad about that, so you should email us (ahopelessendeavor@gmail.com) theories and questions about anything Ys related so that we can revisit it one more time. In the meantime, buckle in for some moth-talk. Thank you, as always, to David Pizarro for the beautiful Cosmia beat. Thank you also to the people who contributed to this episode! We appreciate you so much.

13. Only Skin, Part 5 Feb 27, 2021

Show notes

The final episode on Only Skin. What a trip. Thank you all for listening, and thank you to David Pizarro for his Cosmia beat. “All my bones, they are gone, gone, gone. Take my bones, I don’t need none.”

12. Only Skin, Part 4 Feb 20, 2021

Show notes

We get confused about lights, undiluted and weaving, babies out back, and anointing guns. Thank you so much to you all for listening. Thank you so much, too, to David Pizarro for the music. “Stay with me for a while. That’s an awfully real gun. I know life will lay you down, as the lightning has lately done.”

11. Only Skin, Part 3 Feb 13, 2021

Show notes

We continue our discussion on Only Skin! We talk about sex, drugs, birds, Sisyphus, and the Bible, hitting a bunch of the usual Joanna themes. Thank you so much to Blessing All the Birds, to David Pizarro for the Cosmia beat, and to Rachana for her absolutely gorgeous and impressive cover of Only Skin. Thanks also to everyone who contributed their theories. “I have got some business out at the edge of town, candy weighing both of my pockets down till I can hardly stay afloat from the weight of them (and knowing how the common folk condemn what it is I do to you to keep you warm: Being a woman).”

10. Only Skin, Part 2 Feb 06, 2021

Show notes

We talk a lot about nurturing. Thank you so much to everyone for listening. Thank you, too, to David Pizarro, aka Peez, for his Cosmia beat (“Framed Your Eyes”). “Press on me, we are restless things. Webs of seaweed are swaddling. And you call upon the dusk of the musk of a squid: shot full of ink, until you sink into your crib.”

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