Journey of an Aesthete Podcast https://www.jouneyofanaesthetepodcast.com/

Mitch Hampton
  • 4.8 (5)
  • Arts
  • Updated Biweekly

In our eight season we continue our comprehensive examination of all matters aesthetic, across all art forms & how creativity connects us to what it means to be human. Through the intimate lens of the creative process of different artists, makers and creators, we deep dive into all things arts & humanities. Your host, Mitch Hampton, is a journalist, world renown pianist & composer for films who is neurodivergent. We explore the rich stories of these artists, what inspired them to become creators as we also witness Mitch's own creative journey as he connects to the world through his podcast.

  1. 3d ago ·  Bonus

    S8: Elaine May, New Hollywood of the 70s and Mikey And Nicky: A Conversation With Todd Berliner

    #podcast #ElaineMay #ToddBerliner #MitchHampton #cinema #MikeyandNicky #HollywoodRenegade Inside this Episode with your host, Mitch Hampton With this exciting new publication of a book, Hollywood Renegade, Todd Berliner has for the first time in his career put the focus on one particular artist and one of her movies - Elaine May and Mikey And Nicky.  I have been a fan of the film for as long as I have known it; while not as fortunate to have seen the initial debut in 1975 I saw the more famous rerelease in the mid 1980s.  Berliner has been one of our leading scholars of film and I can't think of anybody better to write on this particular subject. Like the spirit of our podcast overall he sees movies as an art form more than anything else and accordingly gives that kind of care and attention to May's unique film, unique even for a decade that was and is defined for uniqueness.  I've seen thousands of movies, possibly hundreds of 70s movies and I have never seen a film like Mikey And Nicky and there are few movies in fact from any era as good as it is. It was a joy to discuss this with Berliner and his book and upcoming in person introductions for screenings in New York, North Carolina and elsewhere gives me hope for the future of film and art in general. About his new, wonderful book :   Hollywood Renegade Elaine May, Mikey and Nicky, and the Making of a Masterpiece Examines the career and unorthodox filmmaking practices of director Elaine May, whose Mikey and Nicky, over a span of fifty years, transformed from a fiasco to a masterpiece of seventies cinema. Elaine May’s Mikey and Nicky stands out in the history of Hollywood. After a troubled production, massive cost overruns, and lawsuits between May and the studio, the film received scathing reviews and failed at the box office. But the very qualities that initially alienated viewers and reviewers led later generations to regard the film as an overlooked masterpiece. Written and directed by the period’s only female New Hollywood filmmaker, Mikey and Nicky has not received the attention given to other unconventional films of the 1970s. But May worked for years to give each moment of the movie multiple areas of interest. She made every character, even peripheral ones, nuanced and memorable. And she designed every scene, even minor ones, as a performance event. Her lead actors, Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, thrived under her unorthodox directing style, earning acclaim even from reviewers who hated the movie.  Decades in the making—years of scriptwriting, a shoot that spanned ten months, and three years spent editing—Mikey and Nicky shows us what Hollywood cinema can accomplish when talented filmmakers challenge Hollywood’s limited notion of professionalism, rejecting the harsh time pressures of commercial filmmaking in order to get the most out of every scene. Links to his many amazing  books, socials *Books Linked Here More on Professor Berliner Todd Berliner is Professor of Film Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he teaches film aesthetics, narration, and style, and American film history. He is the author of HOLLYWOOD INCOHERENT: NARRATION IN SEVENTIES CINEMA (University of Texas Press, 2010), HOLLYWOOD AESTHETIC: PLEASURE IN AMERICAN CINEMA (Oxford University Press, 2017), and HOLLYWOOD RENEGADE: ELAINE MAY, MIKEY AND NICKY, AND THE MAKING OF A MASTERPIECE (University of Texas Press, 2026). Professor Berliner was the founding chair of UNCW’s Film Studies Department and the recipient of two Fulbright Scholar awards, including the prestigious Distinguished Chair Award, Fulbright's highest honor. He holds masters and doctorate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Education * Ph.D. in English, University of California at Berkeley, 1996. Dissertation: When Movies Grew Up: Hollywood Films of the 1970s* B.A. in Psychology and English, University of California at Berkeley, 1986

    S8: Elaine May, New Hollywood of the 70s and Mikey And Nicky: A Conversation With Todd Berliner

  2. Sep 24

    S8: Poetry and Education_ A Conversation with Patrick Hueller

    #PatrickHueller #author #poetry #education #podcast #FallingInLovewithTeaching #PoetoseInside this episode with your host, Mitch HamptonSometimes on the podcast we have a guest who literally speaks to where we happen to find ourselves today: they at times appear almost like an activist as much whatever else they might do or be. Patrick Hueller is one such guest and this episode is topical and relevant in the greatest senses of those well used words. Patrick's love for and respect for the book and the culture of the book and his commitment to transmitting that to his students made for the best discussion.  He speaks about his profession as educator with an urgency and love that match the importance in the world. An accomplished poet with a new book whose subject is teaching, Hueller gives me genuine hope and I relished the enthusiasm which he brought to the episode and I appreciated his generosity in reading his poems.  More about Patrick and his inspiring work! Patrick Hueller lives, writes, and teaches in Minnesota. He is the author of several books, many of them aimed at getting kids pumped about reading. These books have been selected for the American Library Association Rainbow Award and School Library Journal’s “Accessible Reads for Struggling and Reluctant Readers.” He has a forthcoming collection of short stories, Fake Tattoos (Cornerstone Press). Publicist: Paul Flagg paul@poetose.com Email address for anyone interested in bringing Patrick in to talk at their school: pwhueller@gmail.com More on Patrick’s new book: Falling, in Love with Teaching Falling, in Love with Teaching, by veteran high school English teacher Patrick Hueller, is necessary reading for all those who care about the state of education. At a time when the profession is undergoing an existential crisis, this singular book of narrative poems reminds us of what makes teaching so vital. It’s an honest and heartfelt love letter to the calling, a book that belongs in every classroom and on every teacher’s reading list. “You, perhaps, didn’t know you needed this collection of poems about teaching. But you will fall in and wish to stay here. Patrick Hueller delights in words. His playfulness invites you to linger, to lean in and listen. His economy of language moves at the speed of the school day; and yet, his wisdom keeps you turning over images long after you’ve closed the book. Buy this for colleagues; hand it to your principal. Share these poems as gifts. Then write your own.” —Penny Kittle, author of Book Love and 180 Days “In Falling, in Love with Teaching, Patrick Hueller demonstrates his remarkable ability to help teachers see ourselves and our students. This collection allowed me to eavesdrop on his classroom for a school year. I laughed, cried, doubted my abilities, wondered what to do when a difficult student was acting up, and ultimately, felt pride. Reading these poems, I remembered why I love teaching.” —Carolyn Holbrook, author of Tell Me Your Names & I Will Testify #teach #education #charterschool #publicschool #charlesdickens #dickens #bleakhouse #test #minnesota #poetry #politics #tolstoy #warandpeace #classics #brecht #childhood #immigration #ice #family #parenting #concentrationcamp #sciencefiction #thegirlwithallthegifts #mikecary #glennclose #zombie #zombieapocalypse #paulofreire #brasil #socialism #capitalism #highschool #college #literature #roalddahl #thewitches #nicholasroeg #angelicahuston #1700s #1800s #1980s #1990s #1970s #sports #thebrotherskaramazov #dostoevsky #democracy #dictatorship

    S8: Poetry and Education_ A Conversation with Patrick Hueller

  3. Sep 15 ·  Bonus

    S8: Mitch Hampton Trio Concert, Summer into Fall

    Inside this Episode with your host, Mitch Hampton With this exciting new publication of a book, Hollywood Renegade, Todd Berliner has for the first time in his career put the focus on one particular artist and one of her movies - Elaine May and Mikey And Nicky.  I have been a fan of the film for as long as I have known it; while not as fortunate to have seen the initial debut in 1975 I saw the more famous rerelease in the mid 1980s.  Berliner has been one of our leading scholars of film and I can't think of anybody better to write on this particular subject. Like the spirit of our podcast overall he sees movies as an art form more than anything else and accordingly gives that kind of care and attention to May's unique film, unique even for a decade that was and is defined for uniqueness.  I've seen thousands of movies, possibly hundreds of 70s movies and I have never seen a film like Mikey And Nicky and there are few movies in fact from any era as good as it is. It was a joy to discuss this with Berliner and his book and upcoming in person introductions for screenings in New York, North Carolina and elsewhere gives me hope for the future of film and art in general. About his new, wonderful book :   Hollywood Renegade Elaine May, Mikey and Nicky, and the Making of a Masterpiece Examines the career and unorthodox filmmaking practices of director Elaine May, whose Mikey and Nicky, over a span of fifty years, transformed from a fiasco to a masterpiece of seventies cinema. Elaine May’s Mikey and Nicky stands out in the history of Hollywood. After a troubled production, massive cost overruns, and lawsuits between May and the studio, the film received scathing reviews and failed at the box office. But the very qualities that initially alienated viewers and reviewers led later generations to regard the film as an overlooked masterpiece. Written and directed by the period’s only female New Hollywood filmmaker, Mikey and Nicky has not received the attention given to other unconventional films of the 1970s. But May worked for years to give each moment of the movie multiple areas of interest. She made every character, even peripheral ones, nuanced and memorable. And she designed every scene, even minor ones, as a performance event. Her lead actors, Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, thrived under her unorthodox directing style, earning acclaim even from reviewers who hated the movie.  Decades in the making—years of scriptwriting, a shoot that spanned ten months, and three years spent editing—Mikey and Nicky shows us what Hollywood cinema can accomplish when talented filmmakers challenge Hollywood’s limited notion of professionalism, rejecting the harsh time pressures of commercial filmmaking in order to get the most out of every scene. Links to his many amazing  books, socials *Books Linked Here More on Professor Berliner Todd Berliner is Professor of Film Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he teaches film aesthetics, narration, and style, and American film history. He is the author of HOLLYWOOD INCOHERENT: NARRATION IN SEVENTIES CINEMA (University of Texas Press, 2010), HOLLYWOOD AESTHETIC: PLEASURE IN AMERICAN CINEMA (Oxford University Press, 2017), and HOLLYWOOD RENEGADE: ELAINE MAY, MIKEY AND NICKY, AND THE MAKING OF A MASTERPIECE (University of Texas Press, 2026). Professor Berliner was the founding chair of UNCW’s Film Studies Department and the recipient of two Fulbright Scholar awards, including the prestigious Distinguished Chair Award, Fulbright's highest honor. He holds masters and doctorate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.

    S8: Mitch Hampton Trio Concert, Summer into Fall

  4. Aug 20

    Season 8: "Inside the Episode: A Conversation with Joann, Keith and Levi Freeburg of Freeburg Pianos on Pianos, Music and More"

    #FreeburgPianos #podcast #MitchHampton #steinway “A Conversation with Joann, Keith and Levi Freeburg of Freeburg Pianos on Pianos, Music and More”Inside this Episode with your host, Mitch HamptonThe inspiration for this particular episode came in the form of the charismatic master piano tuner Keith Freeburg when he swaggered into my home like a Cowboy Piano whisperer, with nothing but a beautiful, smallest of wooden tools, the clothes on his back, and powerful ears. Originally when I had the idea to have an episode on this marvel of a music store in the area in which I live it was going to be a single guest, Joann Freeburg who I was told was the outgoing talker of the business. We began this episode with the whole family or most of them and this was the most pleasurable surprise. Special thanks to Levi Freeburg for joining us!What the Freeburg family does for music in many respects makes possible the best kind of musical life for anybody who cares for and loves music. *Special note- there is much to know and enjoy about Freeburg Pianos and their journey, live events. Many services and more- for the full scope please visit their website, here: www.freeburgpianos.comMore about Freeburg Pianos:Welcome to Freeburg Pianos“A Grand Experience.”It is our pleasure and privilege to serve you.  Freeburg Pianos provides New and Pre-Owned pianos for sale and complete related Services.  For over 40 years, Keith Freeburg (RPT – The Piano Technicians Guild) has been serving thousands of discerning pianists: concert artists, church and home musicians, teachers, and students.   #music #classicalmusic #jazz #rock #gospel #pianolesson #pianotuning #tone #toneproduction #wood #steel #metal #transportation #yamaha #kawai #bosendorfer #steinway #baldwin #digital #mountains #south #midwest #minnesotta #minneapolis #northcarolina #beethovenfestiva #beethoven #choir #chorus #faith #newyorkcity #education #pianomover #concerthall #recitalhall #nightclub #church #temple #florida #southbeach #thehamptons #humidity #belly #engineer #technician #felt #acooustic #bass #doublebass #percussion #drums #strings

    Season 8: "Inside the Episode: A Conversation with Joann, Keith and Levi Freeburg of Freeburg Pianos on Pianos, Music and More"

  5. Aug 4 ·  Bonus

    Season 8: "Book Lunch": "3 Shades Of Blue" by James Kaplan & "Why Jazz Happened" by Mark Meyers Part Two

    #podcast #jazz #jazztubeIn the, the second and final Part of my discussion of two jazz books I go into more detail of the prose of both the authors and their reflections on the passage of time, changes of taste and the effects on America's art form.More on this stream ( part 2 of 2), here:For the second and final episode of my jazz book lunches I gave myself an impossible, maybe silly task: pick only one album for each of the three master musicians of Bill Evans John Coltrane and Miles Davis. One thing I will say notwithstanding it probably not having to be said is that all three albums here are great on their own merits but do not reflect the traditional or canonical view especially among the musicians themselves, never mind scholars or critics. For Miles Davis I did not pick Kind Of Blue, for example and for John Coltrane I did not pick A Love Supreme. Again those two albums may very well be greater than the ones I personally have chosen and prefer in some Platonic sense but my interest here is getting listeners interested in and excited about less famous but at least equally valuable releases.Bill Evans:Consecration: The Final Recordings (Note: not only is this album not one of the typical ones used to represent Evan's work; it didn't even come out until 1989 in Japan and then in the US in 2002)! For me it reflects Evan's triumph and is my favorite trio of his. This is Bill Evans at his most romantic, even wild, and I love the performances for that. (It is also from performances at the very end of his life).   • Bill Evans Trio - Re: Person I Knew (Offic...  John Coltrane: The 1961 Village Vanguard recordings   • John Coltrane - Live At The Village Vangua...  This selection is one with which so many musicians and critics alike would agree: an incredible document of Trane and his great quartet in performance at the greatest of jazz rooms. There is some additional Eric Dolphy on one selection too. You can also hear McCoy Tyner's harmonic and pianistic innovations in fullest display on this one.Miles Davis:Filles De Kilamanjaro (1969)   • Frelon brun  I so love this album of Miles: it is so many things. It has a lot of traditional jazz styles language in it from the great quartet of Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams and yet it is also funky, soulful sometimes like rock n roll at the same time. And then there are sections that are like classical or modern chamber music. A must.

    Season 8: "Book Lunch": "3 Shades Of Blue" by James Kaplan & "Why Jazz Happened" by Mark Meyers Part Two

  6. Jul 23

    Season 8: From the Netherlands to Boston and Beyond_ A Conversation with jazz vocalist and Singer-Songwriter

    In many ways this episode is one I really loved because it was like a homecoming of sorts as she had a journey into Boston as did I many decades earlier. Here was a woman who really knows jazz and how to sing it and has the deepest connections with some of the greats in the music. Hearing her stories about her many accomplishments (did I say she is also a therapist and psychologist?) and, above all, seeing and hearing the great achievement of her album, a simply beautiful work of art that literally appears to singlehandedly bring back the record album era made for an episode that was joyous.  This episode is what our podcast is all about.More about the magnificent Vivienne Aerts:Dutch New York-based vocalist, conductor, and composer with a focus on electronics, chocolate, and multi-sensory experience design, as well as a clinical psychologist and faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston. ( Extended bio available on her beautiful website -www.vivienneaerts.com )Social Links to Ms. Aerts and her new album: www.vivienneaerts.nl/links The story of her new album Current The journey of this album started a couple of years ago. When the world ground to a halt in 2020, I bought a small 1951 mahogany sailboat to disappear into for a while. I renamed it 'De Vouw' which is Dutch for 'The Fold'; a nod to origami, but also to folding the water when it moves. During our early outings, I quickly found out that there is a stillness on the water that could be used as a living studio. There is a natural reverb that I found appealing - it gave a very vivid signature to a recording.In the summer of 2025, we set out to record this album on that same little sailboat. I grew up in this region of the Netherlands, and water has always been around us. My husband grew up on these waters and is an avid sailor, so he knows them like the back of his hand. During this two-week process, I got to use that natural reverb that started it all, but I also learned about the wind, the sun, reeds and all the different birds around me. I learned about my own country by returning to its root: the water. And, I got to know myself a little bit better in the process; who I am, what I need, how my creativity flows, and how much of it I can actually control. Just the two of us on a tiny boat in the middle of the lake, surrounded by nature, feeling both free and strangely stuck at the same time.We traveled from our hometown Leiden, to Lake Braassem, all the way up to Amsterdam and back. Along the way, we met up with saxophonist Susanne Alt on the side of Beatrix Park, and we recorded harmonica player Hermine Deurloo in a secret spot on the canals in the oldest part of Amsterdam. We carried Adinda Meertins’ double bass onto De Vouw and drifted into the middle of the lake, where it also ended up serving as a wind blocker. We met friends and family at the small water lock in Roelofarendsveen, the mysterious photographer John Brussel, who lives hidden away in a little cabin on the shores of De Kaag, and we even found a few original Amsterdammers as well.I set out to make an album on the water, but in the end, I made an album with the water, guided by the current. Because when life becomes difficult, sometimes the only thing you can do is move with it. This album is a journey through where my music is right now, a love letter to Dutch waters, and the beginning of a new chapter in my artistry. This is me. This is Current.#jazz #vocalist #singing #kennywerner #piano #effortlessmastery #berkleecollegeofmusic #meditation #selfcompassion #selfesteem #selfcare #selfhelp #lifelonglearning #psychology #improvisation #sound #engineering #choir #chorus #women #feminism #music #alcohn #zootsims #joecohn #billieholiday #boston #nyc #digital #analog #album #shirleyhorne #dominiqueeade #ocean #sea #water #experiemental #belgium #netherlands #chocolate #bakery #baking #food #cuisine

    Season 8: From the Netherlands to Boston and Beyond_ A Conversation with jazz vocalist and Singer-Songwriter

  7. Jul 23

    S8:"All About Aesthetics":A Conversation with Filmmaker Sasha Waters on Mary Oliver Documentary Film

    #maryoliver #podcast #poetry #mitchhampton #film #documentary Inside this episode: An American Poet: A Conversation with filmmaker Sasha Waters on Mary Oliver, Documentary Film and the ArtsWhen the subject of a film is no less a figure than Mary Oliver, not only one of the greatest of 20th Century American Poets but also one who wrote of and from the natural world as much as the human and cultural world, it might seem that the visual dimension is as important as the spoken or written word. Sasha Waters has, incredibly, accomplished this in her film Mary Oliver: Saved By The Beauty Of The World, a film that approaches in image some of what Oliver did in her words. I enjoyed speaking with Sasha about her process in making her film as its universality and particularity speaks to us now in 2026 in ways that feel most relevant. Sasha Waters Bio:Sasha Waters is an American documentary and experimental filmmaker, feminist and educator. She has produced and directed twenty films, most of which were shot on her 16mm Bolex. Her films have screened at the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of the Moving Image, the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival and DOC NYC. She is a Professor of Photography and Film at VCU School of the Arts in Richmond, Virginia. She has been a Fellow in residence at MacDowell, Yaddo, and at Millay Arts.Synopsis of Mary Oliver: Saved By The Beauty Of The World:If poetry had a pop icon, Mary Oliver would be it. Celebrated bestseller, Pulitzer Prize winner, lover of dogs and long walks in the woods, openly queer but intensely private, Oliver was America’s unlikely contemporary mystic, stalking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod for nearly 50 years in order to open herself – and her readers – to the known and unknowable world. From a lonely childhood to literary fame, Oliver’s life was shaped by devotion to nature, paying attention, and the long journey toward learning to love and to be loved. Her poems inspire liberals and conservatives, atheists and believers, naturalists and urbanites, speaking directly to contemporary anxieties about attention, presence, and the human relationship with the natural world – issues that feel especially pressing in an era of climate crisis, digital distraction, and social fragmentation. Featuring interviews with her close friends, including John Waters, never-before-seen personal photos, notebooks, and correspondence from her archive, and recitations of her work by Stephen Colbert, Lucy Dacus, Steve Buscemi, and Oprah Winfrey, Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World considers the poet’s long lifetime of work in context, capturing the uniqueness of her world and the natural beauty that inspired her. #poetry #queer #nature #massachusetts  #newengland #documentary #pbs #healing #spirituality #recovery #trauma #wilderness #botany #biology #family #conservation #literature #sharonolds #elizabethbishop #Emerson #thoreau #robertfrost #transcendentalism #religion #faith #boston #virginia #iowa #writer #garywinogrand #normanmailer #newyork #romanticism #robertlowell #biography #america #feminism #lesbian #gay #bookstore #johnwaters #stephencolbert #oprahwinfrey #bookclub #youth #education #pinkflamingos #multiplemaniacs #baltimore #maryland #ptown #provincetown #divine #drag #lucydacus #stevebuscemi #helenabonhamcarter #season #summer #winter #spring #fall #jessewelles #1950s #1960s #1870s #1980s #1990s #2000s #dogs #dogmom #animals #modernism #postmodernism #1800s #20thcentury #1700s #tseliot #annesexton #maysarton #sylviaplath #ornithology #birds #forest #woods #bear #sufriedrich #lynnesachs #fredwiseman  More about us:Our podcast is a comprehensive examination of all matters aesthetic, all the arts and humanities, how they connect us, a celebration of the creative process across all of the arts and most of all, what it means to be human. Mitch Hampton is a neurodivergent journalist and pianist who composes for film, television, commercials, live concerts.

  8. Jul 20 ·  Bonus

    Season 8 Kickoff : "An Informal Talk on the Words Aesthetic and Aesthete "

    In this inauguration of Season 8 (!) I reflect upon this work aesthetic and my nominal identity as an "aesthete", diving into some classic - and not so classic - texts on the subject.

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In our eight season we continue our comprehensive examination of all matters aesthetic, across all art forms & how creativity connects us to what it means to be human. Through the intimate lens of the creative process of different artists, makers and creators, we deep dive into all things arts & humanities. Your host, Mitch Hampton, is a journalist, world renown pianist & composer for films who is neurodivergent. We explore the rich stories of these artists, what inspired them to become creators as we also witness Mitch's own creative journey as he connects to the world through his podcast.

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