1. Maggie and Charly spent many hours today resting and sleeping. Late in the morning, Maggie had another spell of coughing/honking for about twenty minutes. It didn't happen again. I made a trip to the store, but, otherwise, I stayed home to make sure the dogs were doing all right. I think they've recovered from their dental visit. Aside from Maggie's single coughing spell, they had a comfortable day and slept peacefully close to me through the night.
2. I heard a piece today on NPR's Morning Edition about the history of conspiracy theories in the United States through excerpts from a new podcast called Throughline. The podcast takes on a contemporary story or situation and explores its history. I called up Throughline on Alexis and listened to the four episodes that have been produced so far, exploring U.S and Iran relations, black athlete activism, our country's history with the Korean peninsula, and the history and popularity of conspiracy theories in the USA.
The episode on Iran took me back to 1979. I was in England when the Shah of Iran went into exile, the Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran, and the royal reign was overthrown. I was in my first term of graduate school when Iranian students took over the U. S. Embassy and held fifty-two citizens and diplomats hostage for 444 days.
I already knew that the tensions that brought about revolution in Iran in the late 1970s were rooted, in large part, in events in 1953 when the USA helped overthrow Iran's prime minister and helped strengthen the power of the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. I also knew a little about the Shah's repressive rule over the next twenty-five years.
I listened to the episode on Iran this morning and listened again before I went to sleep this evening and I think I'll listen to it again.
If you'd like to check out this new podcast, just click here and you'll see a list of the podcasts Throughline has completed so far.
3. I have been aware of the jazz tenor saxophone player, Sonny Rollins, over the years, but have never spent time listening to him in any concentrated way. This evening, I watched Robert Mugge's documentary on Sonny Rollins entitled, Saxophone Colossus. It features lengthy live performances as well as interviews with Rollins, his wife, Lucille, three jazz critics, and orchestra conductor, Heikki Sarmanto. I don't possess a vocabulary to write knowingly about jazz, but I learned more about improvisation and the spiritual dimensions of Rollins work. I enjoyed the way this movie expanded my experience and understanding of jazz, something I'm always hungry for.
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