Shoga Speaks — First Person

Meet Doris Hale, the most intimate and important African American that my famlly knew and trusted, in her own words. Dr. Philipson conducted and transcribed the interview back in the early 90s. In anticipation of releasing the manuscript of the family memoir, we present certain chapters as podcasts performed by voice actors. "Skinny" was recorded and mixed by Joyce Licorish.Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.Connect With Us:Website: shogafilms.orgInstagram: @shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsSign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

"I have concluded from the melancholy nature of my subsequent development that the artifacts hung up on a child's wall can have a permanent effect on his life."So begins the essay on the role the Art played in my formation, an evolution spanning Southern California, France, the groovy Sixties, Africa. "Still Life" will reveal the malefic influence of "the original Joe Vogel," plumb the mysteries of “Ten Nights in a Barrel,” revel in the salvation of Dutch realism -- and picture this, so much more!If you didn't grow up in a family of visual artists or art collectors, the prints and paintings that adorned the walls of your house were probably reproductions of the Beautiful (landscapes! Impressionist paintings! photographs from that amazing trip to South America!). What effect might this art which you took in consciously or not every day have upon whatever taste you developed as you became your own person?  Welcome to the Philipson Museum of Eclectic and Accidental Art! Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.Music “What I’ll Do” - Chet Baker“Vincent” - Daniel Champagne “Lute Music - Netherlands: Courante” - Konrad Ragossnig “Magnetic Rag” - Scott Joplin"Pictures at an Exhibition" - Khatia Buniatishvili-Mussorgsky“Pictures at an Exhibition” The Piano GuysConnect With Us:Website: shogafilms.orgInstagram: @shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsSign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

What's in a bedtime story? More than you might imagine. As we were growing up, my father introduced his version of imaginary creatures, the goops, into our household and family life. Created as negative role models to teach manners to Victorian children, the goops first saw life in books of moralistic doggerel published in 1900 and after. "But it was their bad behavior that led my father to adopt them for his own." In this episode you will also be treated to one of my father's Prince Bagel stories, a world he invented whole cloth for his children as we piled on our parents' beds to listen in wonderment. "This was the mystery of the goops, and, in fact, the mystery that I never had understood about storytelling before.  The goops did not spring ex nihilo from my father's head.  They were an expression of his love.  The stories were told to somebody."Best to listen to this episode in your jammies. Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.Music“Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)” - Billy Joel“Gymnopédie No. 3” - Martin Hederos"My Blue Heaven" - Artie Shaw"Spiegel im Spiegel" - Arvo PärtConnect With Us:Website: shogafilms.orgInstagram: @shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsSign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

America 1968. Everything was up for grabs. All passion and creativity seemed to gush from the counterculture. "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive/But to be young was very heaven." I was young, 18, and enrolled as an undergraduate in the fourth year of the great experimental campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz. The spirit of the 60s was everywhere, in our music and our politics. and our firm belief that the Establishment promoting the war in Vietnam and threatening us with the coercion of the draft was so wrongheaded that it would have to collapse in its own excrement.Out of this oppositional stew of radical politics, how did I, a thoroughly assimilated Jew with an identity I could barely point to, end up in a slide towards Israel? In this first part of "A Salvage Job," you will meet the barefooted young man dancing the hora in the picture above. It's his fault. Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.Music"Am Yisrael Chai" - Eyal Golan"Hinei Ma Tov" - Canto Hebraico“For What It’s Worth” - Buffalo Springfield "Hatikvah(התקווה) Across the Globe - Acapella Israeli Anthem for Hope" - Various Artists"Am Yisrael Chai" - Shlomo Carlebach“Mama Told Me (Not To Come)” - Three Dog Night“The End” - The BeatlesConnect With Us:Website: shogafilms.orgInstagram: @shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsSign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

Sam and Daniel are in Israel, circa 1969. They are on a kibbutz, learning Hebrew in the morning and working for their room and board in the afternoon. Sam follows Daniel in his effort to deepen his Jewish identity. They go to Mount Tabor, site of a battle between the Israelites and the Canaanites, spend a weekend at a Chassidic yeshiva where Daniel is ardently proselytized by a recent convert. Finally they make pilgrimage to the Western Wall, the holiest shrine in Judaism, where Sam confronts his Jewish destiny. And still the revelations are not over because the first-person narrator -- me -- discovers the real motivation behind the writing. It may not be what you think. It certainly wasn't what I thought at the time. "Even the outpouring of my story had been an act of cowardice. I had written what green authors so often write about, a territory so worn and worked over that it could serve only as an apprenticeship." Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.Music“Theme of Exodus” Ernest Gold“He AIn’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” - The Hollies“Jerusalem of Gold” - Ofra Haza“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” - U2"Where is Love" - Acapella Arrangement from Oliver!Connect With Us:Website: shogafilms.orgInstagram: @shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsSign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

The phrase "HIV Negative" implies the diagnosis "HIV positive," a precursor to the AIDS epidemic which decimated the gay male population in the 1980s and beyond.  The stigma, still a force in some sectors of our society, delayed the mobilization for effective treatment when the epidemic first appeared in the early 80s. It took Ronald Reagan five years to even mention the word "AIDS," although the disease had been ravaging our community. His presidency set the tone of the national response: stigma and marginalization, insufficient funding, avoidance of public discussion, delays in research, funding, and education. As the epidemic conducted its scorched earth assault on gay America, the most at-risk population spun about in anger, despair, disbelief, and denial. The last of these, sanctioned by the federal attitude of indifference, was the deadliest. Victims participated not only in their own destruction but -- wittingly or no -- brought about the death of others. (Religious condemnation played its evil part as well.)You might think that being HIV negative during the awful years before retrovirals made the disease a manageable condition rather than a death sentence felt like a deliverance, but you'd be wrong. "HIV Negative" portrays the terrible toll the disease took on all of us through the lens of a prequel to our short, "The Knowing." It covers the span of time from the early 80s, the honeymoon of Adam and Peter in first love and ignorance of the disaster that was about to befall, to the end of the decade which saw the dissolution of their relationship, the descent of catastrophe on their community, and their differing responses.And yet, it is not a tale of unrelieved darkness. The bond between the two ex-lovers remains.Narrated by: Sanford E. GaylordWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

Host Dr. Robert Philipson guides listeners through a lyrical meditation on memory, identity, and the lasting imprint of Paris. Framed by a moment of reflection on the banks of the Oubangui River in the Central African Republic, Philipson recalls the two years of his childhood spent in Paris—an experience that profoundly shaped both him and his mother, despite their outward return to American life. The episode captures the sometimes bittersweet reality of living with beauty, displacement, and the “Baudelairean longing for ailleurs” (elsewhere). As Paris fades into the past, it emerges again—through memory, art, and the riverbank reverie—as a defining and indelible presence.Host Info: Dr. Robert Philipson Former professor of African-American studies and Harlem Renaissance scholar. Filmmaker and founder of Shoga Films, with a focus on the intersection of race, sexuality, and culture. Website: shogafilms.orgMusic"J'ai Deux Amours" - Josephine Baker"Easter" - Francis Bebey"À la claire fontaine" - Baby Petons"À La Tour Eiffel" - Melody Gardot & Philippe Powell"Les rues de Paris" - Nicolas Godin"Les Champs-Elysées" - Joe Dassin"Sous Le Ciel De Paris" - Karrin Allyson"Camille" - George Delerue"Flower Duet from Lakmé" - Leo Delibes"J'ai Deux Amours" - Dario Muller"Les Champs-Elysée" - Igor Baranovskiy"Sous le Ciel de Paris" - Rustem Mustafin"Sous le Ciel de Paris" - Yves MontandConnect With Us: Website: shogafilms.org Instagram: @shogafilms Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms Sign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

Dr. Robert Philipson reflects on the layered history and personal meaning of his childhood home in Southern California, weaving together Indigenous displacement, colonial conquest, and postwar suburban life. As he moves room by room through The Old House, Philipson unpacks memories of joy, loneliness, family ritual, and quiet grief, transforming the house into a central character in a story about belonging, loss, and the passage of time. A meditation on memory and change, this episode speaks to anyone who has tried to hold on to the past while facing the inevitability of letting go.Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.shogafilms.org/podcastsMusic:"A House is Not A Home" - Luther Vandross"Home in Pasadena" - Tony Martin"The Folks Who Live on the Hill" - Peggy Lee"This Ole House" - Bette Midler"El Rey" - Vicente FernándezConnect With Us:Website: shogafilms.orgInstagram: @shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsSign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

Dr. Robert Philipson reflects on the emotional limbo of post-college life in 1970s Pasadena, where returning home sparks a spiral of depression, existential doubt, and a search for meaning. Amid the decay of suburban sprawl and family disconnection, a psychedelic night with friends offers a vision of communal living rooted in shared purpose and simplicity. Philipson explores internal disillusionment with the external collapse of American ideals, crafting a powerful meditation on adulthood, authenticity, and the yearning to build a life beyond inherited expectations.Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.Music“Yesterday Once More” - The Carpenter“Time (Darkside)” - Pink Floyd & Tom Stoppard“I’m Fixing a Hole” - The London Starlight Orchestra“Sunshine Superman” - Donovan“Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B.178: III Scherzo” - London Symphony Orchestra“Aubrey” - Bread“Big Yellow Taxi” - Joni MitchellConnect With Us:Website: shogafilms.orgInstagram: @shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsSign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

In the conclusion of The Artificial Grandma, Dr. Robert Philipson continues his journey through post-college drift, emotional illness, and the disillusionment of returning home. Set against the backdrop of a failed commune dream, an acid-laced revelation, and the oppressive weight of family history, Philipson navigates his internal crisis from the smoggy mountaintops of Southern California back to the bedroom of his childhood home in Pasadena. Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.Music“Fun Fun Fun” - Beach Boys“Four Strong Winds” - Ian & Sylvia"Nuvole Bianche" - Ludovico Einaudi"New World Symphony Scherzo" - Antonin DvorakConnect With Us:Website: shogafilms.orgInstagram: @shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsSign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

In this deeply personal and thought-provoking episode, Robert Philipson traces the intertwined threads of family, faith, and identity, beginning with his great-uncle, Reform Judaism leader Rabbi David Philipson, and winding through his own complex upbringing in mid-century America. From the unlikely honor of portraying Shylock in a high school English class to confronting assimilation, antisemitism, and inherited legacies, Philipson reflects on what it means to be Jewish in a world that often demands forgetting. At once humorous, poignant, and historically rich, this episode explores the weight of ancestry, the power of literature, and the unfinished work of defining oneself.Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.RESOURCESLiterature:The Jewish Encyclopedia (Vol. X, 1905) Philipson, David. My Life as an American Jew Philipson, David. The Reform Movement in Judaism Philipson, David. The Jew in English Fiction Philipson, David. Max Lilienthal, American RabbiEncyclopedia JudaicaThe Pittsburgh Platform (1885) Shakespeare, William. The Merchant of VeniceDr. Seuss. Horton Hears a Who! Music: A Gesang Fun’m Berditchever Rebbe - Mordechay HersmanOboe Concerto In D Minor: 1. Andante e Spiccato - Marcel Ponseele & Il GardellinoLa Rosa Enflorece - The Jewish Starlight OrchestraMisirlou & The Flatbush Waltz - Budapest Cafe OrchestraDue Tramonti - Ludovico EinaudiFollow Shoga Speaks shogafilms.org/podcastsSign up for our newsletter at our website shogafilms.comInstagram: @shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

Host Dr. Robert Philipson reflects on the life of his maternal grandmother, Jeanette, tracing a family legacy shaped by mismatched love, unspoken expectations, and the emotional weight of generational silence. From her immigrant roots and ill-fated marriage to her slow decline into senility, Jeanette’s story becomes a lens through which Dr. Philipson explores maternal power, cultural identity, social aspiration, and the personal cost of dreams deferred. With wit, sorrow, and deep insight, he unpacks how the stories we inherit shape who we become.Host InfoHosted by Dr. Robert PhilipsonRobert is a former professor of African-American studies with a passion for jazz and art. A published author and Harlem Renaissance historian, he has produced multiple films about the intersectionality of race, music, and sexuality.shogafilms.org/podcastsMusic:"21 Hungarian Dances, WoO 1: No. 11 in D Minor" – Johannes Brahms / Budapest Symphony Orchestra"Symphony No. 7" – Ludwig van Beethoven / Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra"Fantaisie-Impromptu in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66" – Frédéric Chopin / Nikita Magaloff"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows (Instrumental Version)" –Ivy Ravenwood"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" – Karrin Allyson"Old Folks" – John Denver"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" – Judy Garland"Les Vieux" – Karaoké Playback Français"When You Are In Love" – Mario Lanza"Stouthearted Men" - Mila MagnoConnect With Us:Website: shogafilms.orgInstagram:@shogafilmsFacebook: facebook.com/shogafilmsTwitter: twitter.com/shogafilmsSign up for our newsletter at shogafilms.orgWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

Our choice of pets says a lot about who we are … and we are all very different. There are cat people; there are dog people; there are bird people; there are reptile people and on and on. The famlly pet can mark a child’s development for better or worse, but if a dog or cat lives out the full term of its life, it is a part of that family for 12 or 14 or 19 years. These days most marriages don’t last that long. Growing up in the relative innocence of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the Philipson family dog — a female basset named Hamlet — progressed through the same stages of life as we did — puppyhood, socialization, taking place in the family constellation, motherhood … death. She even accompanied us on our two-year Paris sojourn.And since we find ourselves in France, let us heed the wisdom of Anatole France. “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” Music"Gnossienne No. 1" - Satie "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window" - Patti Page"(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window" - Patti Broussard"I Ride an Old Paint" - Van Dyke Parks"It Must Be Jelly ('Cause Jam Don't Shake Like That)" - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra"Little Boys Grow Up And Dogs Get Old" - Luke Bryan"Mon Chien" - Claude Chichon"Old Paint" - Linda Ronstadt"Promenade (Walking the Dog)" - George GerswhinWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

Dr. Philipson looks back at the life of his cousin Marion, a fiercely independent anti-colonialist and socialist documentary filmmaker, known for her work with Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens. Philipson explores how, from an unpromising bourgeois Jewish background in Cleveland, she lived in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and beyond, surrounding herself with artists and progressive intellectuals, how her relationship with Ivens led her across the globe to Asia and Europe. As he weaves the story of her career and love life, Philipson also reflects not only on his relationship with her, but on his beloved time in Paris, a time they shared as family, and, by that token, a time of closeness and keeping secrets.Music“Bali Bali” – Doug Maxwell and Jimmy Fontanez“Die lustige Witwe, Act 2: Vilja-Lied. "Es lebt' eine Vilja, ein Waldmägdelein" (Hanna)” – Karita Mattila“I Had The Craziest Dream” – Harry James & His Orchestra“I Had The Craziest Dream” – Les Elgart“I Love Paris” – Ella Fitzgerald“I Love Paris” – Instrumental 101 Orchestra“Internationale” – A Magyar Rádió és Televízió Szimfonikus Zenekara“Poliushko Polie” – André Rieu"Song of the Plains” – Paul Robeson“The Internationale” – Utah Phillips & AniDiFranco“The Last Time I Saw Paris” – Dame Kiri Te Kanawa“The Last Time I Saw Paris” – Dénes Dosztán“Vilja” – Franz LehárWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms

Part Two continues the story of Marion's unbroken involvement with the Philipson family, maintained over the next four decades in spite of the distance that separated Paris from Pasadena. Dr. Philipson, whose development through French culture and language was the deepest and most sustained, reunited with Marion at age 27 and formed a relationship that lasted the rest of her life, one the witnessed the traumatic scene of his coming out, the heartbroken condolence note he wrote upon the occasion of his mother's early death, the sad and joyful bonds of family, and the French side of his personality that luxuriated in the food, bonhomie and intellectual stimulation that Marion's city never failed to provide. "I had always looked upon Marion with the eyes of a child, even after I had supposedly become a man.  She had no age, no sex life, no inner turmoil that I was privy to.  She was my mother's cousin, my surrogate parent, my French family when I was in Paris, an essential fixture in my life but with no affective existence outside my needs and perceptions.  I was forty, and Marion was my only Adult left." This was to change by the end of the story.Music"An American in Paris (2017 Remastered Version)" - Leonard Bernstein"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye" - Patty Loveless"How Can I Help You Say Goodbye (Instrumental Version)" - Hit Co. Masters"Kaokokokorobo" - Papa Wemba"A Theme From 'A Summer Place'" - Percy Faith & His OrchestraWebsite: www.shogafilms.com;Instagram: shogafilms;Facebook: facebook.com/shogafilms;Twitter: twitter.com/shogafilms