Entitled Opinions (about Life and Literature)
Oct 12, 2026 · 51 min · 9 segments
In this show, Robert Harrison and Chloe Summers Edmondson discuss the cultural history of Paris, from the Enlightenment to the present day. Dr. Edmondson is Assistant Professor of French in the…
Chloe Summers EdmondsonGuestRobert HarrisonHostWhen the train arrives at a platform, and the station master calls out, the entire carriage falls into a collective spellbound silence.
To the exhausted stateless passengers, the mere sound of the word conjures romance, freedom, peace, culture, and sanctuary.
I quote, The magic of this word, which had already lost its meaning for me, had retained all its old power for these people who had never seen the city.
For them, Paris was not a point on a map, not a city of stones and streets, but a word that meant peace, safety, life itself.
When the conductor called it out, they all sat up, their faces transfixed, as if they had just heard the name of the promised land.
The narrator of Transit has obviously been to Paris before, since he says that the word had already lost its meaning for him.
I mean the sentiment of disappointment and disenchantment that comes from the city's failure to correspond to its poetic or metaphysical truth.
When the train arrives at a platform, and the station master calls out, the entire carriage falls into a collective spellbound silence.
To the exhausted stateless passengers, the mere sound of the word conjures romance, freedom, peace, culture, and sanctuary.
I quote, The magic of this word, which had already lost its meaning for me, had retained all its old power for these people who had never seen the city.
For them, Paris was not a point on a map, not a city of stones and streets, but a word that meant peace, safety, life itself.
When the conductor called it out, they all sat up, their faces transfixed, as if they had just heard the name of the promised land.
The narrator of Transit has obviously been to Paris before, since he says that the word had already lost its meaning for him.
I mean the sentiment of disappointment and disenchantment that comes from the city's failure to correspond to its poetic or metaphysical truth.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
