A rocket blast of a podcast exploring ideas, their ins-and-outs and subtle, suprising turns. Antony Rotunno is a one-person podcast dynamo whose arrival on the scene seems to have been due to some sort of profound epiphany or satori -- for he woke up one day from a dreary, caffeinated, tv-headed existence, quit his suffocating office job, smashed his tv to bits, joined a rock band and took to the road, both literally and spiritually, a wandering philosoper-king in rags. His podcasts leave me inspired, my mind a-buzz for the rest of the day. Antony has a deep gaze, yet retains a light touch -- he never preaches but invites you along. The episodes gleam with widsom, but also with humour, humility and a loving, kind heart that drives it all (for a mental-samurai-podcast-demon, he seems like a really good bloke you could enjoy a beer with). Life and Life Only is a generous smorgsabord of variety -- Antony must have some Ed Sullivan DNA in him: there's rich in-depth interviews, both penetrating and fun (full of the sorts of questions you'd always wished an interviewer would ask); live readings (he's a spell-binder with a perfect voice); the occasional wonderul guitar song he'll play and sing for us, live, without net; and, above all, there's his thought-provoking off-the-cuff solo musings, which for me are the dazzling star of the show (sometimes, while listening, I feel as shattered almost as 2001's Frank Bowman zooming through the starscape). ... Happily, the podisphere is graced with two other Rotunno productions: "Glass Onion, on John Lennon" and the Beatles (an underrated gem that bests the best of all the top-rated Beatle-themed podcasts, a true Toppermost of the Poppermost) and his "Film Gold" podcast, for a nifty take on films through the miracle of Rotunnovision. ... If you also like his work, please click the 4 stars in the "Ratings and Reviews" tab so we can spread the word out there. These works are a true gift!
