<p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="alignright size-medium"><img decoding="async" width="300" height="300" src="https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/withnail-cover-final-300x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-2182" srcset="https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/withnail-cover-final-300x300.jpg 300w, https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/withnail-cover-final-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/withnail-cover-final-150x150.jpg 150w, https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/withnail-cover-final-768x768.jpg 768w, https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/withnail-cover-final-75x75.jpg 75w, https://subtextpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/withnail-cover-final.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></figure> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s 1969, and as drug guru Danny tells us, “the greatest decade in the history of mankind is over.” There will, he says, be many refugees, and the film’s implication is that Withnail—who combines self-importance and lofty ambition with substance abuse and urban squalor—will not be one of them. Marwood, by contrast, has seen the writing on the wall, in the form of the salacious tabloid stories that, while they threaten to outcompete the world’s attention for the arts, ultimately can’t be used to excuse the pair’s failure to find work as actors. Countering this attentional collapse perhaps requires getting serious: leaving bohemian pretensions behind—and along with them, as Marwood finds out in their jaunt to the countryside—a backward-looking romanticism that can be used as a cover not just for artistic paralysis but upper class predations, both economic and sexual. Wes &amp; Erin discuss the cult classic “Withnail and I,” and whether our capacity for sublimation suffers less from the crisis of modernity than from our attempts to transcend it.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Upcoming Episodes</strong>: <em>Waiting for Godot</em>, <em>The Mummy</em></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Pre-order Erin&#8217;s forthcoming book &#8220;Avail&#8221; here: <a href="http://subtextpodcast.com/avail">http://subtextpodcast.com/avail</a></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">For bonus content, become a paid subscriber at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/subtext">Patreon</a> or directly on the Apple Podcasts app. Patreon subscribers also get early access to ad-free regular episodes. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This podcast is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Visit <a href="https://www.airwavemedia.com">AirwaveMedia.com</a> to listen and subscribe to other Airwave shows like <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-job-brain/id507938401" title="">Good Job, Brain</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-picture-science/id73329638?mt=2&amp;ign-mpt=uo%3D4" title="">Big Picture Science</a>.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&nbsp;to enquire about advertising on the podcast.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Follow:<strong> </strong><a href="https://twitter.com/enjoysubtext">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/subtextpodcast/">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://subtextpodcast.com/">Website</a></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p>