Infinity Goes Up On Trial

By: Erin Callahan
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  • Summary

  • “Infinity Goes Up on Trial” focuses on ideas central to the depth of Bob Dylan’s music, art, and writing in a broader social, cultural, and political context. Discussing these concepts with scholars, artists, educators, activists, and myriad experts, we explore how Dylan’s ideas reflect and encompass all aspects of human existence.
    © 2024 Erin C. Callahan
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Music
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Episodes
  • Plans Change, Pal: A Conversation with Henry Bernstein (IOT 10)

    Plans Change, Pal: A Conversation with Henry Bernstein (IOT 10)
    Jan 2 2025
    In Chronicles, Dylan writes of a mid-1950’s encounter with Gorgeous George, “Suddenly, the doors burst open and in came Gorgeous George himself. He roared in like the storm, didn’t go through the backstage area, he came right through the lobby of the building and he seemed like forty men. It was Gorgeous George, in all his magnificent glory with all the lightening and vitality you’d expect” (44). Dylan describes the troupe accompanying Gorgeous George – the coterie of wrestlers, valets, women with roses – and seems impressed with the spectacle and energy of the scene. He continues, “He brushed by the makeshift stage and glanced towards the sound of the music. He didn’t break stride, but he looked at me, eyes flashing with moonshine. He winked and seemed to mouth, “You’re making it come alive” (44). Real, fabricated, or imagined, this encounter reveals something about Dylan’s approach to performance. In this episode, my good friend, Dylanologist, and fellow January baby, Henry Bernstei
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • “I Contain Multitudes” A Conversation with Paul Haney (IOT 09)

    “I Contain Multitudes” A Conversation with Paul Haney (IOT 09)
    Dec 2 2024
    During a 1966 interview with Robert Shelton, Bob Dylan shared his thoughts on love and sex. Challenging heteronormative concepts, Dylan said, “Sex and love have nothing to do with female and male. It is just whatever two souls happen to be. It could be male and female, and it might not be male and female. It might be female and female or it might be male and male. You can try to pretend that it doesn’t happen, and you can make fun of it and be snide, but that’s not really the rightful thing. I know, I know.”[1] Since then, critics and scholars such as Rebecca Slaman, Andrew Warwick, and Charles Kaiser have explored Dylan’s support of the queer community. I have often thought Dylan’s January 16, 1993, performance of “Chimes of Freedom” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial signaled support of the incoming administration’s policies on AIDS and the queer community after a decade of absent, botched, or ineffective policies. In this episode, Paul Haney joins me to talk about his perso
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • John Radosta (IOT 08)

    John Radosta (IOT 08)
    Nov 2 2024
    Whether he’s lifting lines from old films for lyrics, crooning “The Night We Called it a Day” over the Nash Edgerton-directed video, or taking us to the Bon Bon club in Shadow Kingdom, Bob Dylan’s interest in and admiration of film noir has long been apparent. He seems drawn to the hard-scrabble, world-weary protagonists who travel through the seedy underworlds of big cities and end their stories unredeemed. In this episode, author, scholar, and educator, John Radosta and I talk about his scholarly work, his extraordinary short stories and novels, film noir, and, of course, how all of this relates to Bob Dylan and his work. A novelist and author of many short stories, John Radosta teaches high school English near Boston, Massachusetts. Under both a pseudonym and his real name, his fiction has appeared in many magazines, including Yellow Mama, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine,Wildside Black Cat, and Tough Crime. A veteran of more than 50 Bob Dylan concerts, he is the co-author with
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    1 hr and 7 mins

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