Carl Freedman is the William A. Read Professor Emeritus of English Literature at Louisiana State University and the author of many books, including The Age of Nixon: A Study in Cultural Power; The Incomplete Projects: Marxism, Modernity, and the Politics of Culture; and Versions of Hollywood Crime Cinema: Studies in Ford, Wilder, Coppola, Scorsese, and Others. As you can see, his interests range widely but one of the main ones through the years has been science fiction. In addition to his book Critical Theory and Science Fiction, he has written many articles on the subject and edited collections of interviews with several sci-fi writers, including the subject of this episode, Samuel R. "Chip" Delany.

Delany was born in 1942 and started publishing at the age of 20. He is a prolific author in many genres, most frequently science fiction--and he was named a Grand Master of the form in 2013. Among his books mentioned in this episode are Babel-17; Dhalgren; Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand; Times Square Red, Times Square Blue; Sods and Surds; and Of Solids and Surds.

Delany's website. Delany's Facebook page.

Carl Freedman's website. His Facebook page.

Following up on a couple of points mentioned in the podcast, Delany's aunts Sadie (born 1889) and Bessie (born 1891) were first the subjects of a magazine article in 1991, then a book called Having Our Say in 1993, and then a Broadways play (also called Having Our Say) in 1995.

Green's Dictionary of Slang lists the first appearance in print of the following terms:

Horse opera: 1927
Soap opera: 1939
Space opera: 1949

Photo of Delany by Delany.

A former Life magazine correspondent and CBS 60 Minutes producer, Chris Whipple is the author of Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History' which was an instant top-ten New York Times bestseller. His previous best-selling books include The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency; The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future; and The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden's White House. His Vanity Fair cover story on the Trump White House created headlines worldwide.

His subject is the legendary photographer Harry Benson.

Harry Benson's website.

Harry Benson: Shoot First documentary.

Chris Whipple's website.

The image is Harry Benson's photograph of the Beatles pillow-fighting in a Paris hotel room in 1964. For information on licensing it and other Benson photos, visit his website.

Tom Reney was honored by the Jazz Journalists Association with the Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award for Career Excellence in Broadcasting in 2019. In addition to hosting Jazz à la Mode since 1984, Tom writes the Corner Pocket music blog at tomreney.com and hosts the Jazz Beat podcast at New England Public Media. He began working in jazz radio in 1977 at WCUW, a community-licensed radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts. Tom holds a bachelor's degree from UMass Amherst, where he majored in English and African American Studies.

Tom's website

Charlie Musselwhite's website

2022 profile of Charlie in Delta Magazine

"Moment of Charlie Musselwhite" is from the promotional video for his 2025 album "Look Out Highway"

The photo is of Charlie at age 18. You can definitely feel the Robert Mitchum vibe.