Episodes

  • Lolita Podcast Trailer

    Lolita Podcast Trailer
    Oct 21 2020

    Who is Lolita? The Nabokov literary classic has sparked infinite discussion in the 65 years since its release, but the cultural memory the book has left behind lives more in romance and fashion aesthetics than a cautionary tale about a deceptive predator and his young prey. Jamie Loftus wants to know how we got here, and this series traces Lolita -- the person, Dolores Haze -- from her literary origin to current status as a doomed icon.

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    2 mins
  • 1: Dolores, Not Lolita

    1: Dolores, Not Lolita
    Nov 23 2020

    Who is Dolores Haze? Since Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov was published in 1955, readers have formed strong opinions on the story’s narrator and his framing of the titular character. But Lolita and Dolores Haze are far from the same person. Jamie Loftus gets into her history with the book, and dives into the events of the book.


    Join our Discord for more discussion! https://discord.gg/Xkp2Yav7


    Featuring the voices of Aziz Vora as Humbert Humbert, Robert Evans as Vladimir Nabokov, additional voice work from Anna Hossnieh, Shereen Lani-Younes, Grace Thomas, Isaac Taylor, and Miles Gray. Produced by Sophie Lichterman, Miles Gray, Beth-Anne Macaluso and Jack O'Brien. Editing by Isaac Taylor, additional editing by Ben Loftus. Written and hosted by Jamie Loftus.


    In this episode we talked about:

    Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

    The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

    Lewis Carroll: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/lewis-carrolls-shifting-reputation-9432378/

    The Mann Act: https://www.history.com/news/white-slave-mann-act-jack-johnson-pardon

    The Enchanted Hunters and the Hunted Enchanters: https://thenabokovian.org/node/50399

    This interview with Nabokov from the Paris Review: https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/4310/the-art-of-fiction-no-40-vladimir-nabokov

    Men Explain Lolita to Me: https://lithub.com/men-explain-lolita-to-me/ 

    Reading Lolita in Tehran: https://azarnafisi.com/book/reading-lolita-in-tehran/ 

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    1 hr and 1 min
  • 2: Volodya Takes America

    2: Volodya Takes America
    Nov 30 2020

    Vladimir Nabokov is your favorite author? Name five of his short stories written in Berlin in the 1930s. This week we look into how the author of Lolita's attempts at writing around the book's themes pre-dated his masterwork by several decades, the endless saga of getting Lolita published, some of the story’s earliest critical misinterpretations and the life of one of the 20th century’s best-regarded authors. Jamie speaks with Nabokovian Dana Dragunoiu and Nabokov's all-time biographer Brian Boyd.


    Featuring the voices of Aziz Vora as Humbert Humbert, Robert Evans as Vladimir Nabokov, additional voice work from Anna Hossnieh, Shereen Lani-Younes, Grace Thomas, Isaac Taylor, and Miles Gray. Produced by Sophie Lichterman, Miles Gray, Beth-Anne Macaluso and Jack O'Brien. Editing by Isaac Taylor, additional editing by Ben Loftus. Written and hosted by Jamie Loftus.

    Join our Discord for more discussion! https://discord.com/invite/TrXc6BkfpN


    In this episode we talked about:

    Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

    Nabokov in Russia by Brian Boyd

    Nabokov in America by Brian Boyd

    The Magician's Doubts by Michael Wood

    Nabokov’s Women: The Silent Sisterhood of textual Nomads, edited by Elena Rakhimova-Sommers

    Maurice Girodias (we didn't have time to cover him in depth here but the man is a piece of WORK): https://evergreenreview.com/read/lolita-and-mr-girodias/

    Early reviews of Lolita: https://bookmarks.reviews/sick-scandalous-spectaular-the-first-reviews-of-lolita/

    The Showgirl Who Discovered Lolita by Sarah Weinman: https://lithub.com/the-showgirl-who-discovered-lolita/

    Vladimir Nabokov and the Poetics of Liberalism by Dana Dragunoiu: https://nupress.northwestern.edu/content/vladimir-nabokov-and-poetics-liberalism

    The Enchanter by Vladimir Sirin (Nabokov)

    Still Intrigued with Lolita: Nabokov's Visionary Work on Child Sexual Abuse by Lucia Williams: https://thenabokovian.org/sites/default/files/2018-06/NABOKV-L-0027757___Williams_2016_StillIntriguedWithLol_Lolita.pdf

    Nabokov's Playboy Interview from 1964: http://reprints.longform.org/playboy-interview-vladimir-nabokov

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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • 3: How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Lolita? (1962)

    3: How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Lolita? (1962)
    Dec 7 2020

    Well, they didn't. This week, Jamie dives into the backstory to Stanley Kubrick's 1962 adaptation of Lolita, interviews one of the world's foremost Kubrick scholars, examines Vladimir Nabokov's involvement and how the first Lolita, Sue Lyon, was treated on set and in media.

    [Trigger warning: this podcast contains discussion of child sex abuse, pedophillia and the plot of the story Lolita.]

    Nabokov's script for Lolita: https://www.openculture.com/2014/06/vladimir-nabokovs-script-for-stanley-kubricks-lolita.html

    James B. Harris allegations: https://airmail.news/issues/2020-10-24/the-dark-side-of-lolita

    James Fenwick's Stanley Kubrick Produces: https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/stanley-kubrick-produces/9781978814875

    Haley Mills and Lolita: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hayley-mills_b_881441

    Chasing Lolita by Graham Vickers: https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/chasing-lolita-products-9781556526824.php

    Lucia Wiliams: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lucia_Williams

    Lindsay Ellis's "The Whole Plate: Framing Megan Fox": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKyrUMUervU

    Kubrick on Lolita as a love story: http://www.archiviokubrick.it/english/words/interviews/1962southern.html

    More Information on the Hays Code: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93301189#:

    Sue Lyon in 1962: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bHz-N6bJ3I

    Sue Lyon in the 1980s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOLtXhPYxoM

    Charlie Chaplin's history of CSA and abuse: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/06/07/chap-j07.html

    Errol Flynn and child sex abuse: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/09/errol-flynn-toronto-film-festival

    The poster for Baby Doll, 1956: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51I-84I48DL._AC_.jpg

    Carroll Baker interview from 2019: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristenlopez/2019/12/09/carroll-baker-on-not-being-hollywoods-baby-doll-63-years-later/?sh=2ead498f27d8

    Shelley Duvall and Stanley Kubrick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qRuo1lbEIU

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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • 4: Dolores, Psychology, and Survivors

    4: Dolores, Psychology, and Survivors
    Dec 14 2020
    Content warning: this episode contains discussion of child sex abuse and pedophilia.What can survivors of abuse take away from the experiences of Nabokov's Dolores Haze? It depends on who you talk to. This week, Jamie examines the popular psychologies of Freud and Kinsey that Dolly would have been surrounded by, and with two prominent psychologists -- Lucia Williams and Michael Lamb -- about the value Dolores's story has to students of psychology today. We also speak with Sarah Weinman about "The Real Lolita," survivors Alisson Wood ("Being Lolita") and Bindu Bansinath ("How Lolita Freed Me From My Own Humbert") about the role of Lolita in their own processing and healing from childhood trauma. This is a tough one. Thanks for being here.If you are seeking resources about sexual assault: https://www.rainn.org/If you are seeking resources about MAPs: https://www.b4uact.org/Join our Discord: https://discord.com/invite/TrXc6BkfpNDISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:"Casting Aspersions" by Tashmica Torok: https://www.lovewithaccountability.com/lovewithaccountability-forum/2016/10/21/casting-aspersions-by-tashmica-torok'How Lolita Freed Me From My Own Humbert' by Bindu Bansinath: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/style/modern-love-how-lolita-freed-me-from-my-own-humbert.htmlBeing Lolita by Alisson Wood: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250217219The Real Lolita by Sarah Weinman: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-real-lolita-sarah-weinmanStill Intrigued with Lolita: Nabokov's Visionary Work on Childhood Abuse by Lucia Williams: https://thenabokovian.org/sites/default/files/2018-06/NABOKV-L-0027757___Williams_2016_StillIntriguedWithLol_Lolita.pdfThe Mann Act and Boxer Jack Johnson: https://www.history.com/news/white-slave-mann-act-jack-johnson-pardonInfantile bisexuality and the 'complete oedipal complex': Freudian views on heterosexuality and homosexuality: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22014366/Freud and LGBTQIA+ Issues: A 2020 Analysis: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychoanalysis-unplugged/202005/was-freud-gay-friendlyAnna Freud: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anna-FreudFreud and the Seduction Theory by Jeffrey Masson: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1984/02/freud-and-the-seduction-theory/376313/The Enduring, Pernicious Whiteness of True Crime by Elon Green: https://theappeal.org/whiteness-of-true-crime/Alfred Kinsey: Liberator or Pervert? by Caleb Crain: https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/movies/alfred-kinsey-liberator-or-pervert.htmlKaren Horney and womb envy: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karen-Horney#ref669884Race and Racism in Psychoanalytic Thought: The Ghosts in Our Nursery by Beverly Stoute: https://apsa.org/apsaa-publications/vol51no1-TOC/html/vol51no1_08.xhtmlConversations on Psychoanalysis and Race: Beverly J. Stoute: https://apsa.org/apsaa-publications/vol50no3-TOC/html/vol50no3_03.xhtmlSokhna Fall on Nabokov's Lolita: http://stopauxviolences.blogspot.com/2010/11/article-de-sokhna-fall-sur-lolita-de.htmlLolita in the Afterlife (essay collection coming in 2021): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lolita-in-the-afterlife-jenny-minton-quigley/1137210905Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi: https://azarnafisi.com/book/reading-lolita-in-tehran/ Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    1 hr and 36 mins
  • 5: Dolores Onstage

    5: Dolores Onstage
    Dec 21 2020
    Trigger warning: this episode contains discussion of child sex abuse and pedophilia. "Who is that viper that likes them post-diaper?" This is just one of the objectively terrifying lyrics in a botched Broadway musical of Lolita -- the first an expensive, campy musical from the writer of My Fair Lady in the 70s, and another gritty reboot from Edward Albee starring Edward Albee in the 80s. We speak to the actors who played Lolita about the public pressures put on by the productions and the public, look at the many stage failures from the inside and out, and listen to lighthearted Broadway tunes about the worst crime a human can commit.If you are seeking resources about sexual assault: https://www.rainn.org/Join our Discord: https://t.co/swAI8a6axO?amp=1 Discussed in today's episode:"Lolita My Love" -- a recording from 1971 in Boston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7GUnjiGtMoSarah Weinman's "Yes, They Once Tried to Make a Musical Out of Lolita", 2018: https://www.sarahweinman.com/writing/yes-they-once-tried-to-make-a-broadway-musical-out-of-lolita/"You're a Dum Dum": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ksh_DyW6MwBlood Pageant from Chris Gilmore: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7184122/"Thank Heaven For Little Girls": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTM40o3WgZoEdward Albee's Lolita (1981): https://www.themorgan.org/literary-historical/87221NYT Review of Albee's Lolita: https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/20/theater/stage-albee-s-adaptation-of-lolita-opens.html"Who's Afraid of White Fragility?" Hyperallergic, 2017: https://hyperallergic.com/381406/whos-afraid-of-white-fragility-edward-albee/"Albee Estate Clarifies Position of Casting Controversy of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Playbill, 2017: https://www.playbill.com/article/albee-estate-clarifies-position-on-casting-controversy-surrounding-whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolfThe Edward Albee Foundation: http://www.albeefoundation.org/"Jewishness as Literary Device in Nabokov's Fiction": https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/vladimir-nabokov-in-context/jewishness-as-literary-device-in-nabokovs-fiction/3782DCBACEA7BADFAE31A54F018565BE"Wrestling with a Lolita Opera and Losing" NYT, 2005: https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/arts/music/wrestling-with-a-lolita-opera-and-losing.htmlRodion Schedrin on his 'Lolita' opera: https://web.archive.org/web/20120329063800/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=100&story_id=27516Michael Walsh on Schedrin's Lolita opera: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982502,00.htmlCathy Marston 2015 Lolita ballet trailer (Denmark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7z5xRqma5kHiroko Mikami on Michael West's 2003 'Lolita' adaptation: https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=bluefox2000&logNo=221158934098&categoryNo=112&proxyReferer=&proxyReferer=https:%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2FVictor Sobchak's Lolita, 2003: http://www.theatrecollection.net/lolita.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20gWy7ALbcIDavide Bombana's Lolita ballet excerpt, 2003: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvNgIOIfF3Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FawPxiWoZuIBrian Cox as Humbert in Richard Nelson's 2009 one-man "Lolita": https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/theatre/lolita-the-perfect-approach-to-humbert-grotesquerie-7416446.htmlHumbert Humbert (Conjuring Nymphet), NYT 2009 (Michael Galante adaptation): https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/arts/music/08loli.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuJ8SkhlGDMJohn Harbison's "Darkbloom": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBIUEo_N5wI Lolita: An Imagined Opera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuJ8SkhlGDMRussian Ballet Excerpt "The Swimmer" from 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTwPr5FpF8Q'Lolita' by The Four Humors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWd3zuCZFEU"An Infamous 'Lolita' Musical Gets a Belated Broadway Debut" NYT 2019 (Emilly Maltby Production): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/theater/lolita-my-love-york-theater-company-alan-jay-lerner.html Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • 6: Lolita the Cover Girl, Lolita the Pop Star

    6: Lolita the Cover Girl, Lolita the Pop Star
    Jan 4 2021
    How long have we been judging Lolita by its cover? To be fair, they're not much help. This week, Jamie guides you through a crash course on Lolita/nymphet aesthetics -- when we say 'Lolita,' what are we really talking about? We take a look at the visual legacy of Lolita's book covers, persistence in advertising and how misreads of the text have been haunting pop music for generations.Join our Discord: https://t.co/swAI8a6axO?amp=1 Playlist of Music Discussed in today's episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5wRWB0GKjMapop7HLeWA4Z?si=ax1y7kR4TMyuy7WR-D17HQMs. Lola's "we need to talk about Lolita": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPANXxV1iFo&t=2975sDakota Fanning in the 'Oh Lola!'https://www.businessinsider.com/dakota-fanning-marc-jacobs-lolita-daily-mail-2011-6Lolita Lempicka with Elle Fanning, 2012: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNmE9bCz-CwLove's Baby Soft: https://piimages.parfumo.de/9/6/10980_594cdc64d8d8c6e819dc7043c8dab1f6_love_s_baby_soft.jpgBradley Cooper and Suki Waterhouse Daily Mail story: www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2403281/Bradley-Cooper-38-reads-Lolita-Suki-Waterhouse-21-sprawls-Parisian-park.htmlLolicon: https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/25434Nerdymixedpan TikTok about Lolita, Lolicon and Lolita fashion: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJGPHvV5/Lolita: Story of a Cover Girl: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Lolita-The-Story-of-a-Cover-Girl/John-Bertram/9781440329883Moi, Lolita music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpbHdIrtpNo"Men Explain Fiona Apple to Me": https://www.nylon.com/fiona-appleRolling Stone: Britney Spears 1999 profile: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/britney-spears-teen-queen-rolling-stones-1999-cover-story-254871/Rolling Stone Reflecting on this profile, 2011: https://oneweekoneband.tumblr.com/post/70792509009/spears-and-lachapelle-both-say-they-knew-the-photoDave LaChapelle's celebrity photography: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/david-lachapelle-paris-hilton-grandma-hiltons-house"Surviving R. Kelly" Full Series: https://www.netflix.com/title/81069393 "Why Has R. Kelly Been in Jail for the Past Year?" 8/2020: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/legal-and-management/9430230/r-kelly-why-in-jail-for-year#:~:text=The%20singer%20was%20re%2Darrested,that%20included%20kidnapping%2C%20forced%20labor%2CR. Kelly: The History of Allegations Against Him 8/2020: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40635526Surviving R. Kelly': Threats and New Abuse Details: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/arts/television/surviving-r-kelly-2.htmlR. Kelly Girlfriend Joycelyn Savage Speaks Out, Saying She is a 'Victim': https://variety.com/2019/music/news/r-kelly-joycelyn-savage-speaks-out-victim-1203414308/The True Story of R. Kelly and Aaliyah's Relationship: https://www.biography.com/news/aaliyah-r-kelly-relationship-true-storyR. Kelly Paid Bribe So That He Could marry 15-Year-Old Aaliyah, Government Alleges: https://www.npr.org/2019/12/05/785356513/r-kelly-bribed-official-to-marry-15-year-old-aaliyah-government-allegesWhy Lana Del Rey Is Under Fire for Her Most Recent Comments About Women in Music: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/a32627332/lana-del-rey-number-one-controversy/Lana Del Rey's White Fragility Contextualized Within the United States' Anti-Blackness: https://thecovenmag.com/lol/lanaLana, don't use Black women to make your point.: https://medium.com/@jiananicole/lana-dont-use-black-women-to-prove-your-point-1590db61f52aLana Del Rey Has Lana Del LOST IT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEDAjw9LjrwLana Del Rey / Die Zeit Interview: https://unlovedmarmot.tumblr.com/post/104174687405/lana-del-rey-i-dont-play-the-role-of-a-lolita/ampLana Del Rey The Fader Interview 2014: https://www.thefader.com/2014/06/04/cover-story-lana-del-rey-is-anyone-she-wants-to-behttps://www.thefader.com/2014/06/04/cover-story-lana-del-rey-is-anyone-she-wants-to-be Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • 7 (Part 1): That Time David Mamet Wrote a Draft of Lolita (And Other Hollywood Tragedies)

    7 (Part 1): That Time David Mamet Wrote a Draft of Lolita (And Other Hollywood Tragedies)
    Jan 11 2021

    It's high time we talk about the 1997 movie adaptation of Lolita by Adrian Lyne. Between Stanley Kubrick's adaptation in 1962 and Dominique Swain playing Lolita in the '90s. In part one of this two-parter, we take a look at knock-off Lolita productions, how the conversation around child sex abuse changes in Hollywood and America in the 80s and 90s, and how Stranger Danger misses the mark going into the '90s.


    Notes:

    Adrian Lyne talking Lolita in '98: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACi2JdJBM44&t=1s

    Lolita Comes Again (Esquire '98): https://classic.esquire.com/article/1997/2/1/lolita-comes-again

    Natalie Portman talks Lolita: https://www.themarysue.com/natalie-portman-talks-about-lolita-label/

    That Roman Polanski Petition: https://www.indiewire.com/2009/09/over-100-in-film-community-sign-polanski-petition-55821/

    Lolita Behind the Scenes Featurette '97: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYJFRnaYyMQ&t=2s

    Lolita Screen Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4hAOuXWxyc

    Twinky (1970): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG9-C3EW6zo

    Jodie Foster and Taxi Driver: https://www.wmagazine.com/story/forty-years-after-taxi-driver-and-her-first-oscar-nomination-jodie-foster-recalls-the-making-of-a-classic/

    Polly Platt: The Invisible Woman (YMRT): http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2020/7/pollyplattarchive28

    Brooke Shields reflects on Pretty Baby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTSSBJ6xyi4

    Samantha Geimer on 60 Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5dIdoaDgN8&feature=youtu.be

    Milk Carton Kids: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/when-bad-news-was-printed-on-milk-cartons/516675/

    Stranger Danger & Mass Incarceration: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/05/stranger-danger-mass-incarceration-paul-renfro

    RAINN Statistics: https://www.rainn.org/statistics/children-and-teens

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    59 mins