Sigmund Freud wrote: “every normal person, in fact, is only normal on the average. One’s ego approximates to that of the psychotic in some part or other and to a greater or lesser extent.” How are we complicit in dehumanizing others, and how are we in turn, dehumanized? How do we cope with the unsettling of our fears and the scars of our traumas — in our amusements, and in the casual conversations that we have?
In this edition of Liner Notes Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe helps us take a deeper look at how we interact with the world and ourselves.
How does music help us navigate both our civilizing presence and our raw emotions that run much deeper, beneath? How do the experiences of 20th century jazz musicians help to instruct us in the powerful lessons of difference, Othering, and perseverance?