Month: June 2021

243: The Algonquin Roundtable

Mark Podcast
The Marx Brothers pose inside a garbage can for this 1932 Time magazine cover.

During the Roaring Twenties, New York City grew to become the world’s largest city, and the center of American industry, finance, art, and culture.

This period saw the establishment of two new, influential magazines, Time and The New Yorker, and the wisecracking circle of writers at The Algonquin Roundtable influenced a generation.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“The Sidewalks of New York”
Composed in 1894 by Charles B. Lawlor and James W. Blake. Public domain.

Closing Theme 


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

242: Dos, Don’ts, and Be Carefuls

Mark Podcast
Theatrical poster for the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, France had the world’s largest motion picture industry, but it was soon overtaken by the USA, which had a larger population that was particularly enthusiastic about the new medium.

By the Roaring Twenties, 80% of the world’s films were being produced in the United States. The industry grew and film stars became rich and celebrated. But there was a backlash from those who believed the film industry was weakening the nation’s moral fiber.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Spanish Music” and “Hurry Music” from Sam Fox Moving Picture Music, Volume 1
Composed in 1913 by J.S. Zamecnik. Public domain.
Performed by Richard Frohlich and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license.
Source and Source.

Closing Theme 


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

241: I Am a Camera

Mark Podcast
The Bauhaus School. The building was designed by Walter Gropius.
Monument to those killed in the Kapp Putsch of 1920, designed by Walter Gropius. The Nazis called it “degenerate art” and destroyed it in 1936.

The German Republic guaranteed freedom of expression, in stark contrast to the authoritarian rule of Kaiser Wilhelm. Life in Germany became freer. Arts and culture flourished. Attitudes toward sex and sexuality became more liberal.

And Berlin filled with new ideas and avant-garde art in a way no one had never been before. For a few years, from roughly 1925-1933, Germany’s capital was one of the most important, perhaps the most important, center of culture in the Western world.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“At the Jazz Band Ball”
Composed in 1917 by Nick LaRocca and Larry Shields. Public domain.
Performed by the Dixieland Jazz Ensemble of the United States Coast Guard Band. Public domain recording. Source.

String Quartet No. 2 in F# minor
Composed in 1908 by Arnold Schönberg. Public domain.
Performed by The Carmel String Quartet and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing Theme 


Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.