WAIM Podcast #022 - Jennifer Toms

I’ve introduced Jennifer Toms as my sister on more than one occasion. It’s not true, except that it is. Jenny is technically an only child in her birth family. I have one sister in my birth family. Jenny is, nonetheless, my sister. Our bond has been forged over a two decade long friendship built on a shared love for music, cinema, and the beauty of words. Culture is our shared love language.In each other we found kindred spirits willing to dive equally headlong into heady concepts and boilerplate b-movies alike. It’s rare for me to find someone so ravenous for cultural thinking, and in Jenny I have found a veritable soulmate.Throughout a career in academia, and as an independent musician, singer, and songwriter, Jenny has pursued her passions and curiosities with relentless discipline. She holds a PhD in English Literature but she’s also held her head aloft in the punk band trenches. Her varied viewpoint and unique life experience make Jenny a fascinating professor, and a terribly well educated bass player. In our chat, we discuss pulling Shakespeare down from his pedestal and deflating the idea of literature with a Capital L. From classism to colonialism, we look at how our art and culture help to propagate the idea of othering and the catastrophic consequences that can have on our society for centuries.We also look at how the openness of art and community is much like the openness we have in our youth. Through the eyes of Jenny’s students, we glimpse the beauty of naivete and the thoughtfulness of youth. There is even a fairly plausible argument made in here that the local music scene is a bit like the mafia. So, come on inside and meet my dear friend and sister, Dr. Jennifer Toms, though I am fairly certain that she would prefer it if you called her Jenny. Enjoy. Cheers,Matty C Get full access to What Am I Making at whatamimaking.substack.com/subscribe