Absolutely Nothing & All It Doesn’t Mean

Mackenzie Draney
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Philosophy

Hi, I’m Mackenzie Draney, and in this podcast I’ll be exploring some philosophical implications of literary works assigned as readings in HON-317V, my current honors class at NMSU. Part 1 episodes will begin with a brief retelling of the text, and then explore my own thoughts about what can be gathered from it. I will pose questions, discuss things I’m unclear about, and try to pick out themes and other literary devices. Part 2 episodes will be recorded after discussion of the text on Tuesday classes. In these episodes, I’ll briefly summarize what I had mentioned in the corresponding Part 1 episode and then explore those subjects with knew insight from my peers in mind. Any of my questions or uncertainties from Part 1 episodes will, with luck, be answered or cleared up in Part 2 episodes. Disclaimer: This podcast is a philosophical exploration of Holocaust literature; not a historically accurate retelling of events. I will add the book title, author, and full name of any of my peers whose ideas I refer to in the descriptions of each episode. Thanks for listening!

Episodes

  1. 04/17/2020

    Cole: Pt. 1

    Sorry for the gap in episodes. Anyway, here’s a disorganized attempt at thought at 4 am.

  2. 03/12/2020

    Art From the Ashes (Miklós Radnóti): Pt. 2

    In this episode, I try once again to tackle and unpack a couple of the major themes found throughout Miklós Radnóti’s poetry, as published in Lawrence Landry’s “Art From the Ashes.” My message is a little bit more organized and articulate in this episode, thanks to the input I received from my wonderful classmates, Sadie Odom and Allan Miles, among with support and guidance from Dr. Orzoff.

  3. 03/10/2020

    Art From the Ashes (Miklós Radnóti): Pt. 1

    In this episode, I helplessly flounder around some very difficult ideas woven into the poetry of Miklós Radnóti, as published in Lawrence Landry’s anthology “Art from the Ashes.” I did not have an easy time with this episode and was feeling rather inarticulate. I’m hoping to have a better grasp of some of these ideas by the time I get back from class today. Thanks for bearing with me.

  4. 03/04/2020

    Maus (And Here My Troubles Began): Pt. 2

    In this episode, I revisit two of the heaviest and most loaded pieces of dialogue from the second part of Maus by Art Spiegelman, with some added insight from one of my peers and from Dr. Orzoff herself. I also discuss some of the implications of terminology surrounding the holocaust. Also I’m not recording in my car today! Special thanks to my classmate Allan Miles, whose idea I mentioned in this episode.

  5. 03/03/2020

    Maus (And Here My Troubles Began): Pt. 1

    In this episode, I try to break down some of the most loaded quotes from the first couple chapters of Part II of Maus by Art Spiegelman. There are a lot of big ideas to unpack here, and my organization skills are slowly improving and allowing me to get a better grasp of these enormous and somewhat fuzzy ideas. Also, I’m recording in my car!

  6. 02/26/2020

    Maus (My Father Bleeds History): Pt. 2

    In this Episode, I revisit the possible animal metaphors used by Art Spiegelman in his comic book “Maus,” with the new insights I’ve gained from my peers. I then go on to explore Spiegelman’s use of other visual elements, and how he used the comic book medium to tell his and his father’s stories. Credit to the following peers whom I mentioned in this episode: Allan Miles Ben Jenkins Samantha Gonzalez Ana Maldonado Note: The ending of this might be a little shaky because my roommate came home and I had to abruptly stop the recording and then explain to her what I was doing and that I was gonna just record my closing. I was nervous, so I may have said something weird in my closing. My apologies.

  7. 02/25/2020

    Maus (My Father Bleeds History): Pt. 1

    In this episode, I explore the animal-related themes that I found intriguing and perplexing throughout “My Father Bleeds History,” which is part 1 of “Maus” by Art Spiegelman. I try to unravel the symbolism of each animal used to depict a group of people, and then I delve into some more philosophical topics, such as the defining line between humans and animals... or the lack thereof.

  8. 02/19/2020

    Fatelessness: Pt. 2

    In this episode, I discuss my thoughts on the book Fatelessness by Nobel Laureate: Imre Kertész after having discussed some of the themes and literary elements with my peers. “Finding a purpose in having no purpose,” was a quote from my classmate Ben Jenkins that I wrote down from the discussion to use in this episode. Thanks, Ben!

  9. 02/19/2020

    Absolutely Nothing & All it Doesn’t Mean... What Does it Mean?

    In this episode, I explain the thought process that went into coming up with the name of this podcast and the cover image to go with it.

  10. 02/19/2020

    Fatelessness: Pt. 1

    My own insight and questions after finishing “Fatelessness” by Nobel laureate: Imre Kertész

  11. 02/19/2020

    Here’s How It’s Gonna Go

    Hi, my name is Mackenzie Draney, and this is documentation of my personal philosophical interpretations of holocaust literature. This episode details the purpose and function of this podcast, and gives a general introduction.

  • 11 Episodes

About

Hi, I’m Mackenzie Draney, and in this podcast I’ll be exploring some philosophical implications of literary works assigned as readings in HON-317V, my current honors class at NMSU. Part 1 episodes will begin with a brief retelling of the text, and then explore my own thoughts about what can be gathered from it. I will pose questions, discuss things I’m unclear about, and try to pick out themes and other literary devices. Part 2 episodes will be recorded after discussion of the text on Tuesday classes. In these episodes, I’ll briefly summarize what I had mentioned in the corresponding Part 1 episode and then explore those subjects with knew insight from my peers in mind. Any of my questions or uncertainties from Part 1 episodes will, with luck, be answered or cleared up in Part 2 episodes. Disclaimer: This podcast is a philosophical exploration of Holocaust literature; not a historically accurate retelling of events. I will add the book title, author, and full name of any of my peers whose ideas I refer to in the descriptions of each episode. Thanks for listening!

Information