Lolita Podcast

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Who is Lolita? The Nabokov literary classic has sparked infinite discussion in the 65 years since its release, but the cultural memory the book has left behind lives more in romance and fashion aesthetics than a cautionary tale about a deceptive predator and his young prey. Jamie Loftus wants to know how we got here, and this series traces Lolita -- the person, Dolores Haze -- from her literary origin to current status as a doomed icon.

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Episodes

10: Poems That Take 1000 Years to Die

On the finale of Lolita Podcast, we look at the legacy of Dolores Haze -- where she's been, and where she may be going. Carnal Knowledge by Zoe Ligon & Elizabeth Renstrom: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/646983/carnal-knowledge-by-zoe-ligon-elizabeth-renstrom/ Spectrum Boutique!: https://spectrumboutique.com/ Jess Murwin: https://jessmurwin.com/ Eva Vives's All About Nina: https://www.netflix.com/title/81019338 How Lolita Freed Me From My Own Humbert by Bindu Bansinath: https://www....

Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 58 min

9: The Four Lolitas

On the next to last episode of Lolita Podcast, Jamie takes a look at the lives and careers of the four women who played Dolores Haze in the four major adaptations to date. Natalie Portman Women's March Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXWHO14c88c&t=84s Mara Wilson on Millie Bobby Brown: https://www.indiewire.com/2017/11/matilda-mara-wilson-millie-bobby-brown-stranger-things-1201897682/ An Open Secret documentary: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/01/an-open-secret-hollywood-ch...

Jan 25, 2021•1 hr 23 min

8: Dolores Logs In

This week, Jamie dives down the rabbit hole of Lolita blogs and fan communities, beginning in the early 2000s and through now, and a look at the non-sexual nymphet fashion movement that Nabokov's book inspired. It's... complicated. Ms. Lola on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MsLola/videos Lolita in the Afterlife: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/612244/lolita-in-the-afterlife-by-edited-by-jenny-minton-quigley / Ways of Seeing, E1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk&t=3s T...

Jan 18, 2021•1 hr 14 min

7 (Part 2): Lolita In the 90s

In Part 2 of our episode on the Lolita 1997 movie adaptation, we dig into America in the 90s -- a wave of movies full of teen girls as sexual demon, how The Long Island Lolita redefined Dolores to a new generation, and dive into the complex production and release of Adrian Lyne's Lolita. The Crush (1993): https://variety.com/1993/film/reviews/the-crush-2-1200432089/ Jon Stewart interviews Alicia Silverstone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Ic3nRa1J8 Long Island Lolita News Coverage: https://ww...

Jan 13, 2021•1 hr 11 min

7 (Part 1): That Time David Mamet Wrote a Draft of Lolita (And Other Hollywood Tragedies)

It's high time we talk about the 1997 movie adaptation of Lolita by Adrian Lyne. Between Stanley Kubrick's adaptation in 1962 and Dominique Swain playing Lolita in the '90s. In part one of this two-parter, we take a look at knock-off Lolita productions, how the conversation around child sex abuse changes in Hollywood and America in the 80s and 90s, and how Stranger Danger misses the mark going into the '90s. Notes: Adrian Lyne talking Lolita in '98: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACi2JdJBM44&am...

Jan 11, 2021•59 min

6: Lolita the Cover Girl, Lolita the Pop Star

How long have we been judging Lolita by its cover? To be fair, they're not much help. This week, Jamie guides you through a crash course on Lolita/nymphet aesthetics -- when we say 'Lolita,' what are we really talking about? We take a look at the visual legacy of Lolita's book covers, persistence in advertising and how misreads of the text have been haunting pop music for generations. Join our Discord: https://t.co/swAI8a6axO?amp=1 Playlist of Music Discussed in today's episode: https://open.spo...

Jan 04, 2021•1 hr 13 min

5: Dolores Onstage

Trigger warning: this episode contains discussion of child sex abuse and pedophilia. "Who is that viper that likes them post-diaper?" This is just one of the objectively terrifying lyrics in a botched Broadway musical of Lolita -- the first an expensive, campy musical from the writer of My Fair Lady in the 70s, and another gritty reboot from Edward Albee starring Edward Albee in the 80s. We speak to the actors who played Lolita about the public pressures put on by the productions and the public,...

Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 18 min

4: Dolores, Psychology, and Survivors

Content warning: this episode contains discussion of child sex abuse and pedophilia. What can survivors of abuse take away from the experiences of Nabokov's Dolores Haze? It depends on who you talk to. This week, Jamie examines the popular psychologies of Freud and Kinsey that Dolly would have been surrounded by, and with two prominent psychologists -- Lucia Williams and Michael Lamb -- about the value Dolores's story has to students of psychology today. We also speak with Sarah Weinman about "T...

Dec 14, 2020•1 hr 36 min

3: How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Lolita? (1962)

Well, they didn't. This week, Jamie dives into the backstory to Stanley Kubrick's 1962 adaptation of Lolita, interviews one of the world's foremost Kubrick scholars, examines Vladimir Nabokov's involvement and how the first Lolita, Sue Lyon, was treated on set and in media. [Trigger warning: this podcast contains discussion of child sex abuse, pedophillia and the plot of the story Lolita.] Nabokov's script for Lolita: https://www.openculture.com/2014/06/vladimir-nabokovs-script-for-stanley-kubri...

Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 16 min

2: Volodya Takes America

Vladimir Nabokov is your favorite author? Name five of his short stories written in Berlin in the 1930s. This week we look into how the author of Lolita 's attempts at writing around the book's themes pre-dated his masterwork by several decades, the endless saga of getting Lolita published, some of the story’s earliest critical misinterpretations and the life of one of the 20th century’s best-regarded authors. Jamie speaks with Nabokovian Dana Dragunoiu and Nabokov's all-time biographer Brian Bo...

Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 5 min

1: Dolores, Not Lolita

Who is Dolores Haze? Since Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov was published in 1955, readers have formed strong opinions on the story’s narrator and his framing of the titular character. But Lolita and Dolores Haze are far from the same person. Jamie Loftus gets into her history with the book, and dives into the events of the book. Join our Discord for more discussion! https://discord.gg/Xkp2Yav7 Featuring the voices of Aziz Vora as Humbert Humbert, Robert Evans as Vladimir Nabokov, additional voice wor...

Nov 23, 2020•1 hr 1 min

Lolita Podcast Trailer

Oct 21, 2020•2 min

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