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Definitely Dylan

A show about Bob Dylan, his music, and anything else
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Bob Dylan's iPod (with Tim Swaddling)

June 21, 2025

Legend has it that Bob Dylan once left his iPod behind and someone copied the contents.

With Canadian musician and songwriter (and future Bob Dylan podcaster) Tim Swaddling).

Find the Spotify playlist “Bob Dylan’s iPod” here.

Get your Definitely Dylan baseball cap here.

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.

Fred Bals’ blog on Medium

Songs in this episode:

“Let Me Play With Your Poodle” - Hank Penny (Theme Time Radio Hour ep. Thanksgiving Leftovers. CORRECTION: Bob actually played the version by Tampa Red & Big Maceo, but he played several other songs by Hank Penny on the show)

“Smoking in the Boys Room” - Brownsville Station (Theme Time Radio Hour ep. Smoking)

“Mansion on the Hill” - Vernon Oxford

“You Hit Me Like an Atomic Bomb” - Fay Simmons

“Jumping at the Record Shop” - Slim Gaillard

“Whatcha Gonna Do” - George Jones

“It’s a Great, Great Pleasure” - Louis Jordan

“Dragnet For Jesus” - Sister Wynona Carr

“When I Stop Dreaming” - Louvin Brothers

“Killer Joe” - Toots Thielman

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"April is the cruelest month": Shipwrecks, Heartbreak & TS Eliot

April 17, 2025

Laura revisits a radio episode from the archives about April anniversaries, some good, many disastrous. And there’s a little side quest about Bob Dylan and Modernist poetry.

One note – I forgot to mention that the performance of “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” is by Betty Carter.

Get your Definitely Dylan baseball cap here.

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.

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A COMPLETE UNKNOWN II with Rebecca Slaman and Britt Eisnor

January 08, 2025

Laura is joined by Britt and Rebecca to talk about A Complete Unknown, the new Bob Dylan biopic directed by James Mangold, starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, and Monica Barbaro. 

We talk about letting go of the pressure to be chill about the film, biopics as acts of translation, and the sexual tension between Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash.

Rebecca would like to add that she realised that it was Al Kooper and not Bobby Neuwirth who put on Bob’s “clown shirt” at Newport.

You can watch our conversation here.

Follow Rebecca on Twitter and Britt on Instagram or Twitter.

Get your Definitely Dylan baseball cap here.

You can buy Rebecca’s “Twink” shirt here.

Theme music by Robert Chaney

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.

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A COMPLETE UNKNOWN with Michael Glover Smith

December 24, 2024

It’s taken over five years, but the new Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet) is finally hitting cinemas. So… is it good?

I called up Chicago-based filmmaker Michael Glover Smith to talk about the film, what it gets right, what it gets wrong, and how it compares to other films like I’m Not There.

You can watch Michael’s short film Handle With Care here. He’s also on Twitter.

If you are considering gifting a Patreon subscription to a friend, you can do that over here.

Theme music by Robert Chaney

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.

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Bob Dylan’s Tweets (with Rebecca Slaman and Britt Eisnor)

December 06, 2024

Bob Dylan has been tweeting and it’s high time we talk about it. In this conversation with Rebecca and Britt we cover what’s been going on the World of Bob, including his social media presence and the TWO biopics he’s involved in this year!

Follow Rebecca on Twitter and Britt on Instagram or Twitter.

Theme music by Robert Chaney

You can support Definitely Dylan on Patreon or with a one-off donation at buymeacoffee.com/definitelydylan.

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Definitely Dylan on Instagram

“You walk into the room
 With your pencil in your hand
 You see somebody naked
 And you say, “Who is that man?”
 You try so hard
 But you don’t understand
 Just what you’ll say
 When you get home
 
 Because something is
“You walk into the room With your pencil in your hand You see somebody naked And you say, “Who is that man?” You try so hard But you don’t understand Just what you’ll say When you get home Because something is happening here But you don’t know what it is Do you, Mister Jones?” #bobdylan #definitelydylan
New podcast episode on Bob Dylan’s Murder Ballads (Part 1) is out now! 🩸

When Bob Dylan began his career, murder ballads were having a bit of a moment. In this episode, we’ll look into the influence these songs had on the young artist,
New podcast episode on Bob Dylan’s Murder Ballads (Part 1) is out now! 🩸 When Bob Dylan began his career, murder ballads were having a bit of a moment. In this episode, we’ll look into the influence these songs had on the young artist, and how they inspired a particular subset of his own early songs. #bobdylan #murderballads #folksongs #folkmusic #podcast #musicanalysis #definitelydylan
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash backstage at Madison Square Garden, 1992

New podcast tomorrow 

📷: Alan Messer
#bobdylan #johnnycash #definitelydylan
Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash backstage at Madison Square Garden, 1992 New podcast tomorrow 📷: Alan Messer #bobdylan #johnnycash #definitelydylan

Definitely Dylan on Twitter

  • “Hey you’ve got something in your eye… oh my god is that BLOOD?!?” https://t.co/x9mRyqjLvH
    May 18, 2023, 2:28 PM
  • RT @DrLukeWalker: Laura Tenschert is one of the best contemporary Dylan scholars, with work like this perfectly suited to the podcast… https://t.co/Evnfotiipq
    May 18, 2023, 2:27 PM
  • In the last years I’ve been so busy playing catch up with Bob Dylan’s new releases, it occurred to me that I’ve NEV… https://t.co/vSsPaTgjRe
    May 18, 2023, 2:26 PM

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