Episode 84: Traveling Sohlo

It’s been more than a year, but Marxfest 2024 was so generously packed with momentous Marxian experiences that we’re still in the process of un-packing it. Even the epic “Marxfest Memories” episode of this podcast barely scratched the surface. Even the generous amount of official video from the festival is a drop in the bucket.

For more than a year now, I’ve been hoping to get Woollcott guru and friend of the show Brad Sohlo (who last appeared here in episode 49) to join us for a report on his Marxfest adventures — especially one that was not even part of Marxfest, but an extracurricular field trip taken by Brad and a few close associates.

Brad lives in the Land of Jay Hopkins, but traveled to New York for Marxfest, where he participated in events like “The Thrill of I’ll Say She Is,” where he gave voice to Woollcott’s words. But he also snuck off at some point to visit Neshobe Island, the fabled Lake Bomoseen, Vermont retreat where Woollcott and Harpo and many of their noteworthy friends would play in the sun, free of the strictures of an outside world rigidly intolerant of games like Murder, Pinchie Winchie, and naked croquet.

As explained in the episode, Neshobe Island is not a museum or a public place of any kind; it remains today what it was when Woollcott owned it: a private home. Woollcott and Harpo’s favorite playground is not a place many of us will ever have the opportunity to visit, so we’re especially grateful to Brad for taking us and our listeners there in this episode.

*Brad reads the immortal words of Alexander Woollcott at Marxfest, New York City, 2024*

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Official description: “Alexander Woollcott authority Brad Sohlo returns to explore the celebrated critic’s influence on Harpo’s life and career — and the equally vital role Harpo played in Woollcott’s. Brad also shares stories from his visit to Woollcott’s Neshobe Island retreat, where Harpo and fellow Algonquin Round Table regulars gathered to unwind, rough it, and battle it out over croquet.”

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Episode 85: That’s a Rodeo You’re Thinking Of

Bonus Episode: Horse Feathers Unredacted