Episode #179: The Highs and the Lows with Stephen Colman!
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Alvina talks with her husband Stephen who is subbing in for Grace this week. They talk about everything highbrow and lowbrow, including books, movie, music, and food. Grace is resting because she has COVID and is feeling pretty tired from isolation.
How have you been?
Stephen has been busy writing a memoir of a two-week trip to Pakistan that he took with his identical brother in 1994 to go visit a college friends. It involves a fire on the plane, the Taliban, and heat stroke! It was a fun and adventurous time to put on paper. He also submitted the DNA test from Ancestry.com! He especially enjoyed the family tree feature on that website.
Alvina has been in the office for two days but she thinks that if it were up to her, she would give employees more freedom because freedom = happiness. However, she discovered that going into the office has brought more happiness. Now that she has a schedule, she feels at peace. It’s a nice balance.
Alvina and Stephen talk about Election Day results and all the bright spots.
High Brow and Low Brow
Stephen and Alvina talk about the cultural definitions of high brow and low brow. They talk about how it relates to their LOVE OF FOOD! What are the high brow foods and what are the low brown foods? Fancy wine and chocolate vs. Taco Bell and Pringles! Is Trader Joe’s Middlebrow? Can food be scholarly?
Stephen describes the high brow vs low brow debate in poetry. Stephen got into poetry through rap music. Spoken word, AKA “Street poetry” became categorized as low brow. Alvina talks about this in relation to publishing as well. What is considered high or low brow? She would say that more commercial books would be considered low brow. Alvina mentions The Snowy Day and why it was so popular.
Stephen and Alvina talk about the high brow and low brow in terms of music. Music may be the most racially divided when talk about these categories. They discuss Broadway musicals and Hamilton! Movies: Movies are a little more complicated. It’s harder to categorize them into high brow and low brow. Are foreign movies high brow in their own countries? They discuss Stephen Spielberg’s JAWS! What brow category is this? Who gets to decide these things anyway?
Fortune Cookie: What are we cooking?
Stephen is cooking thai food this evening as they are recording! His favorite go-to item is a nice curry dish. Stephen loves to make key lime pie!
Alvina’s favorite dish to make is avocado white bean dip. Alvina loves to make apple pie!
Gratefuls!
Alvina is thankful for the birdhouse that Stephen bought for their deck. Stephen is grateful for his new mounted side table! They have added lovely new little features to the apartment that have made their lives easier and more organized.
Thank you for tuning in! Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio for producing and editing this podcast. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)
If you’re a patron, don’t forget to check out this week’s Random Questions feed! Authors Meenal Patel and Grace Lin answer the random question If peanut butter wasn’t called peanut butter, what would it be called? Click here to listen! If you’re not a patron already, join today!
You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and TikTok and @Alvinaling on Instagram
You can find Grace @Pacylin on Twitter and Instagram and @gracelinauthor on TikTok and @authorgracelin on Facebook
You can find Stephen @Poetrypoppy on Instagram!
