Celebrate Creativity

George Bartley

This podcast is a deep dive into the world of creativity  - from Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman to understanding the use of basic AI principles in a fun and practical way.

  1. Rhetoric Gym

    2D AGO

    Rhetoric Gym

    Send us a text GEORGE (to mic, playful): All right. Confession  Some people hear the phrase “rhetorical devices” and immediately reach for the nearest exit sign. But over the years I have learned that rhetorical devices are not decorations. They’re not lace on the edge of language. They’re engines. They’re how a speaker makes an audience feel the truth— even when the truth is… being negotiated. And Shakespeare? Shakespeare wasn’t born with a quill in his hand. He was trained. Today we walk into the rhetoric gym. GEORGE: And we’re going to meet the young Shakespeare as he learns the craft of making words do things. But first GEORGE: This is Celebrate Creativity. I’m George Bartley. This series blends historical research with fiction and imagined conversations. Not a documentary, not advice. Today: the schooling that made Shakespeare’s language possible—and how those rhetorical “moves” show up in the plays like fingerprints. Now Picture it: a grammar school. from at least six o'clock in the morning to 6 o'clock at night Monday through Saturday. Repetition that drills itself into the mind. Latin. Translation. Memorization. Imitation. Not because the world is kind, but because the world is competitive. A boy learns to hold language in his mouth like a tool—and to sharpen it. GEORGE: Master Shakespeare—be honest. Was Learning about rhetoric miserable? SHAKESPEARE (pleasant, sardonic): It was character-building. GEORGE: That’s what people say when it was miserable. Support the show Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

    22 min
  2. Transitions

    4D AGO

    Transitions

    Send us a text Welcome to Celebrate Creativity. I’m George Bartley.  For the next section of this podcast, I’m beginning a new series I’m calling Conversations with Shakespeare.  And tonight's episode is called get here anyone who ever try to do the right thing    Transition to Shakespeare. I want to start with something simple—something honest. I’m doing this now because I’m seventy-five years old, and I have finally stopped worrying about whether I’m doing Shakespeare the “right” way. When you’re younger, you spend a surprising amount of energy trying to prove you belong in the room. You want to sound smart enough. You imagine that it is important to stay ahead of critics you will never even meet. You worry about being corrected. You worry about being dismissed. At this age, I’m less interested in proving anything. I’m more interested in telling the truth—about what Shakespeare has meant in my life, and why I think he can mean something in yours, even if you’ve never read a play, even if high school made you hate the whole idea, even if the word “Shakespeare” makes you feel like someone just assigned you a term paper and forgot to ask if you’re alive. Because I’m going to argue something gently but firmly in this series: Shakespeare does not belong only to scholars. He does not belong only to actors. He does not belong only to English teachers. He belongs to anyone who has ever lived long enough to look back on a moment and think, If I could do that again, I might choose differently. He belongs to anyone who has ever watched a family argument turn into something much bigger than it started as. Anyone who has ever wanted something so badly they could taste it—only to realize the wanting itself was dangerous. Anyone who has ever loved someone and thought, How did I get here? Anyone who has ever tried to do the right thing—and somehow made it worse. Support the show Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

    30 min
  3. The Patio Rebellion

    6D AGO

    The Patio Rebellion

    Send us a text NARRATOR: The Night Watchman rises from his desk and follows the sound—past the exhibits, past the quiet corridors, toward the patio doors. Outside, the winter air holds that New Year’s feeling: cold, sharp, expectant. And inside the museum… something is celebrating like it has a permit. SFX: Door latch. Soft squeak. Patio door opens. SCENE 1 — THE PATIO REVEAL SFX: Outdoor patio ambience: faint wind; distant city fireworks; then—very close—party pops, tiny whistles, and toy-sized cheering. NIGHT WATCHMAN (stunned): Oh. Oh, no. NARRATOR: The Watchman steps onto the patio and sees it: toys everywhere, arranged like a gala. A “stage” made from stacked display risers. A “VIP area” behind a velvet rope they have somehow… acquired. And at the center: a very earnest planning committee. BARBIE (bright, authoritative): Okay! Everyone! Remember: we are doing this with taste. KEN (trying to sound official): Taste. With… also excitement. Tasteful excitement. SLINKY (bouncy, nervous): Taste is good! Taste is safe! Taste does not summon the fire department! ETCH A SKETCH (grand, French-leaning, dramatic): Non, non, non—taste is not enough! We require… symmetry. We require… balance. We require… a finale that is like… how you say… a ballet of the stars. RUBIK’S CUBE (dry): A ballet of the stars. On a patio. In December. FURBY (1998-ish, with a little furbish sparkle): Doo-ay! Tee-kah! PARTY-PAHTY! NIGHT WATCHMAN (calling out): Okay—okay—everybody freeze. SFX: A chorus of little “Eep!” “Oh!” “Gasp!” A springy boing. NIGHT WATCHMAN (trying to sound calm): What… is going on out here? BARBIE (as if this is obvious): It’s New Year’s Eve. NIGHT WATCHMAN: Yes. I’m aware. I have a calendar. A very judgmental calendar. KEN: We’re doing a midnight celebration. Support the show Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.

    21 min
4.8
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

This podcast is a deep dive into the world of creativity  - from Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman to understanding the use of basic AI principles in a fun and practical way.