A Marital Affair Story: Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Little Dog”

On this episode we’re discussing Anton Chekhov’s marital affair themed short story, “The Lady with the Little Dog.” We’ve got the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments coming up and we invite you to join the Torg Stories Bracket Challenge. We’re doing that through the ESPN website, and I’ve got links on the post for this podcast at TheTorg.com. 

Anne, we have snow on the ground here in Boone. I heard you were in the 90’s today in Los Angeles. 

NCAA Bracket Challenges: Just for fun, we’d love to have you join our groups. If you are a leader in the pool, we will mention you on the podcast as we update each week through the end of the tournaments!

Anne, a lot of this story is about an affair. I asked you if you could think of any other affair stories whether that was in books, in the movies, or on television. Did you think of any? 

A few things about Anton Chekhov: 

  1. Chekhov was a physician. He said, Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress.” 
  2. A quote I have hung on to since graduate school around the year 2002: The role of an artist is to ask questions, not to answer them. 
  3. Tolstoy called Chekhov an impressionist, inventing a new kind of story, a slice of life kind of story. -from the Introduction to the book we read this story from: Anton Chekhov Stories. 
  4. Chekhov’s gun rule for telling stories: “Chekhov’s gun is a narrative principle in which every element introduced in a story should have a purpose that contributes to the plot, character development, or tone of the piece. The idea is that writers should not mislead the audience by including unnecessary details that are not a part of the story’s climax or conclusion.” from Backstage click here

What else was being written around the time this story was published? 

  • Paving the way for modernism, which explored disillusionment, fragmentation, alienation, and the chaotic inner workings of the human consciousness through innovative techniques.
  • 1898 War of the Worlds
  • 1899 Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”

Anne, I asked you to learn a little about this time period in Russia and anything if you could about these translators. 

Let’s talk our way through the story. 

Additional discussion questions besides what I wrote on the text: 

  1. Whose perspective is this story written from? 
  2. What seems of the 1900 time period and what seems like it fits in fine today? 
  3. Why is “little dog” the title? 
  4. What do we think happens after the end of the story? 
  5. The private vs the public life. Social media? s

Click here for an article by Chris Power titled “How Chekhov Invented the Modern Short Story.” 

Thanks for checking out this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Our Oscar Film Picks, Lees McRae to the NCAAs, and Helios Resort at Epic Universe

Our Academy Award Best Picture Oscar picks: One Battle After Another, Sinners, Sentimental Value, Helios, Epic Universe

We’re doing our Academy Awards Oscar picks for best film, talking about the Lees McRae Conference Tournament Champions, and my stay at the Helios Resort in Orlando at Universal Studios.

The Lees McRae women’s basketball team won the conference tournament and will play at Lincoln Memorial this Friday. Anne and I ready to rank the films nominated for Oscar Best Picture. Anne, this is not our usual podcasting circumstance. 

A women's basketball team celebrating a victory, posing together on the court with a trophy. The team is wearing matching uniforms and is surrounded by coaches and support staff.
Lees McRae Women’s Basketball Team Conference Tournament Champions

Explain the circumstances of Lees McRae win. 

What is the Helios Resort? What is Epic Universe? 

Two Things to Cover about the Oscars:

  1. We did the assignment of outlining our criteria for what an Oscar Best Film winner should be. 
  2. We’ll go over the nominated films. 

Bill’s Criteria for Evaluating an Oscar Nominated Film

  1. Entertaining: Level of Entertainment. 
  • To be entertained feels connected to captivating
  • Lots of way to entertain: suspense, laugh, be moved emotionally, to be made to think about something new, with gripping visuals 
  1. Thought provoking: (original “voice” or point of view to offer)
  • About being human: relationships, grief
  • About a time period past, current, future 
  • Helps us see or think something we didn’t see before
  1. Performance of the cast 
  2. Cinematography (production design goes where?)
  • Choice of shot, color
  1. Sound of the film 
  • Sound effects, music 

Anne, ten films are nominated. How many did you see? I’ll quickly just list the films nominated. Let’s start with our top picks and explain why we picked them. 

Bill’s Rankings of Best Picture Oscar Nominations:

  1. Sinners directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld and Delroy Lindo. 
  • Wildly entertaining and suspenseful story. 
  • The metaphor of the appropriated black culture 
  • Gorgeous look of the cotton fields, the town, the scenes in the juke joint 
  • The music of the vampires. 
  • Michael B Jordan’s performance of the cousins. 
  1. Sentimental Value directed by Joachim Trier and starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, and Elle Fanning 
  • Thought provoking about being human. Loneliness. Surviving trauma. 
  • Thought provoking about telling stories. Makes me want to write a story as good as the script the dad wrote. 
  • Writing can heal. 
  • Merging of the faces…
  • Often non linear. Layered history. 
  • Spoiler alert: didn’t the script change and she didn’t committ suicide at the end? 
  1. Bugonia directed by Yorgos Lanthimos staring Emma Stone and Jessie Plemons. 
  • Says something about the way human beings treat each other and take care of the earth 
  • The Emma Stone performance. Spoiler alert she does turn out to be an alien. 
  • Kept me guessing 
  1. One Battle After Another directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio del Toro. 
  • Suspenseful once the girl is abducted by the government. 
  • Beautiful landscape scenery 
  • Incredible in a good way villain crazy performance by Sean Penn. 
  • Says something about immigration situation 
  1. Marty Supreme directed by Josh Safdie and starring Timothee Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Tyler the Creator 
  • The performance of Chalamet as a nasty scheister. Paltrow good as the aging actress and the Creator as Chalamet’s friend. 
  • Got crazier and crazier with more intensity. Trying to get the dog back, getting paddled by the rich ink guy. Getting to Japan. 
  • The 1950s look of the film. Mixing contemporary music with an older time. Just achieving the look of the 1950s in NYC. 
  1. F1 directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, and Kerry Condon
  • Spectacle
  • Takes us into a world I don’t know very well 
  • Feel and sound of very fast cars Movie star Brad Pitt / performance of actors
  1. Frankenstein directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth  
  • Didn’t see all of it 
  • Entertained by the start with the ship trying to get to the North Pole 
  1. Train Dreams directed by Clint Bentley and starring Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones 
  • Didn’t see it all. 
  • Quiet beautiful film. About grief. 

Didn’t see it…

  1. Hamnet directed by Chloe Zhao and starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal 
  • Looked sad and interesting to dramatize Shakespeare’s fictional life 
  1. The Secret Agent directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho and starring Wagner Moura and Don Johnson. 
  • Don’t want to see it. Sorry guys. 

Are there any films you loved this year that weren’t nominated? 

  • Weapons, Song Sung Blue had other nominations 

Anne’s Criteria for Evaluating an Oscar Nominated Film

  1. Acting
  2. Story
  3. Direction 
  4. Cinematography 
  5. Score
  6. Humor in a drama 

Anne’s Rankings of Best Picture Oscar Nominations:

  1. One Battle After Another 
  • Direction, excitement 
  • Acting
  1. Sentimental Value
  • Story, sisters/daughters
  • Acting top tier
  1. Bugonia
  • Acting, Jesse and Emma
  • Twisty story 
  1. Sinners
  • Music sequences
  • Setting interesting 
  1. F1
  • Doesn’t see like a BP but normal action movie. Good action
  • Brad Pitt
  1. The Secret Agent
  • Intro to unfamiliar history of Brazil
  • Acting of Wagner
  1. Hamnet
  • Solid acting
  • People said it was a very emotional movie but I didn’t feel it too much 
  1. Train Dreams
  • Very pretty, main character is very subdued and a bit uninteresting 
  • Story is flimsy
  1. Marty Supreme
  • What’s so great about it?
  • Unlikeable character 
  1. Frankenstein- did not see it

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Our High School Season Comes to an End Podcast

The high school women’s basketball team I coach in Boone, North Carolina just had their season come to an end when we lost during the third round of the state playoffs. The game also marked the end of a thirteen year run where every year but one I coached one of my daughter’s on a team.

Click the player above to listen to the episode about the end of the basketball season for us.
A group of four people posing for a photo at a basketball event, including a girl in a blue sports jersey with the number 5, two women, and a man in a polo shirt.
my wife Megan, daughter Izzy, me, and daughter Charlotte after Izzy’s last game

I thought I was finished coaching in 2003 but when my daughter Charlotte was a second grader, I signed her up for 2nd grade basketball at the local YMCA in New Canaan, Connecticut. I distinctly remember carrying a bag of basketballs out to the car with little 2nd grade Charlotte wearing a black Puma sweatsuit as we went to our first practice together. This weekend, Sat Feb 28th, my daughter Izzy and I got in my truck, also with a bag of basketballs, so we could load up the Watauga High School bus and drive to what would be her last high school game.

A young person walking away, wearing a blue tank top and gray sweatpants, carrying a pink backpack. The scene is set in a dimly lit parking lot with vehicles in the background.
my daughter Izzy in the parking lot after her last game

Notes for discussion for this episode:

  1. A feeling of numbness that works to hold off sadness
  2. The personally tricky spot of coaching a team that has my daughter as a player on it.
  3. A little about this year’s team
  4. A little about the loss to Alexander Central, how the game went
  5. The story of coaching my kids for thirteen years
  6. The decision to keep coaching for now
  7. The workflow of what it’s like to prepare for and coach 10 games in 21 days.
  8. Now that the season is over, what is there to do? Taxes, the big bees nest, trees in the yard, the problem of the mud, Megan and I went for a walk in the park
A coach guides two young girls playing basketball outdoors, with a hoop and trees in the background.
the girls and I in the driveway at our house in Asheville near the beginning of our time working together

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Places We Know Well

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and I try to bring to life for you some places we know well.

Bill’s Places He Knows Well 

  1. Riverbank behind the house on Plymouth Road in Winamac, Indiana 
  • Orient Geographically: Winamac is 100 miles southeast of Chicago and 90 miles straight north of Indianapolis. 
  • Give an image: the river bank was steep with concrete steps and broken stone spread around on the bank. We had a silver jon boat. 
  • Story from or connection to the place: Brent Herman shot Tank in the calf with a BB gun. We fished for sunfish with a cane pole. 
  1. Campus of St. John’s University in Queens, NY 
A sunny college campus scene featuring a large building with a cross on top, surrounded by green grass and blossoming trees. Students are sitting on benches and lounging on the lawn, enjoying the outdoors.
The Great Lawn and St. Augustine at St. John’s in Queens
  • Orient Geographically: Queens is across the East River from Manhattan, sits on top of Brooklyn and share the island with Long Island. St. John’s is 5 miles down the Grand Central Parkway from Flushing Meadow. 
  • Give an image: St. Augustine Hall sits at the end of a great lawn, is made from gray limestone, and evokes a cathedral feeling that matches the university Catholic’s mission. Built from Indiana Limestone also known as Bedford Limestone.  
  • Story from or connection to the place: I didn’t realize how much I would miss walking across a college campus. I remember walking across the lawn headed for Asheville. 
  1. Ledges Whitewater Park on the French Broad River in Asheville, NC
  • Orient Geographically: The park is north of Asheville, North Carolina that is in the mountains of Western Carolina. Asheville is a 5 hour drive from Myrtle Beach. 
  • Give an image: whitewater rushes over boulders with mountains rising up on both sides. 
  • Story from or connection to the place: our family rafted the length of the river and Anne did a section of it with us. 
  1. Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina 
Panoramic view of a college football stadium at sunset, surrounded by trees and mountains.
On the campus of App State University in Boone, NC
  • Orient Geographically: It’s 83 miles to the northeast running along the ridge line and the Blue Ridge Parkway. 
  • Give an image: Lots of red brick buildings, surrounded by mountains, and adjacent to King Street. 
  • Story from or connection to the place: It’s year 8 at App State! I visited twice: once fifteen years ago with Tank and Herb. Probably 5 years after that with Klop and always thought it would be an ideal place to live. 
  1. Valle Crucis Community Park in Valle Crucis, NC 
A sunny day at a river where people are playing, swimming, and relaxing near the water, surrounded by greenery and trees.
the Watauga River at Valle Crucis Park in NC
  • Orient Geographically: it’s 7 miles west of App State and sits on the Watauga River. It’s a little over a mile loop of unique flat land in the middle of the mountains. It’s Latin for Valley of the Cross. 
  • Give an image: It’s a valley in the mountains with long green grasses. The river is full of large boulders. A stream lines the side of the park near the Mast Store and the old Valle Crucis Store. 
  • Story from or connection to the place: There’s a big loop that’s about 1.2 miles. During the hurricane, I think the water probably reached 10 feet. There’s marks on the trees of the high water level. 

Anne’s Places She Knows Well 

  1. Place 1: Point Dume Malibu
  • Orient Geographically: Malibu, north of main part of town, just south of Zuma Beach
  • Give an image: point that juts a bit out from line of shore, cliff top above beach 
  • Story from or connection to the place: laid back beach, drive is fun 
  1. Place 2: Griffith Observatory
  • Orient Geographically: Griffith Observatory view and hike in Los Feliz
  • Give an image: high above LA in SM mtns
  • Story from or connection to the place: first neighborhood, city at your feet and huge part up high blocks from apt 
  1. Place 3: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland 
  • Orient Geographically: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland 
  • Give an image: spectacular valley surrounded by mtns/waterfalls
  • Story from or connection to the place: hike with cows and bells etc
  1. Place 4: Yosemite
  • Orient Geographically: Yosemite 
  • Give an image: best NP I’ve been too, lush and spectacular
  • Story from or connection to the place: steps never ending, crowded start and then became very solo
  1. Place 5: Melrose 
  • Orient Geographically: a street in LA a block away from my apt
  • Give an image: weekend days are crowded with street vendors in front of vintage clothing stores, restaurants, designer stores, sneaker stores, coffee shops
  • Story from or connection to the place: walk west and watch as gets more high end

Honorable Mention: 

  • Zermatt, Switzerland, Signs, Matterhorn 
  • Heavenly Ski Resort, Lake Tahoe view
  • Aspen Buttermilk powder
  • Lake Como town on hike

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

5 Things We Know A Lot About

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. Today, Anne and I are talking about 5 things we know a lot about. Anne, when I pitched you this idea, you sounded like you weren’t sure there were 5 things you know a lot about. How did it go? 

In my courses at App State, we do an activity we call “Creating Our Writing Territories.” This “Things I Know A lot About,” is one of the prompts I use to help students get ideas about what they want to read and write about. 

The prompt has worked better after I shifted it to Things I Know Something About.

Bill’s Things:

  1. Building Community
  • I chose this more as a reflection. How does it work? On my teams? In my classes at App State? 
  • Sounds silly: finding ways we can talk to each other. 
  • Using Donald Murray’s concept of the daybook. 
  • The really specific and personal note to each student. 
  • With the team, it’s more difficult. Within the high school context, time is much tighter. I think I get buy with a really positive attitude, smiles, fun and competitive practices. 
  1. Final Cut Pro X Editing 
  • LOL, that might actually out me as not being much of a video editor. I took 4 free courses at the Apple Store in SOHO. 
  • The workflow of this podcast is probably pretty strange: Zoom video conference, record the meeting, put the video file in Final Cut Pro X, edit, export, and then drag into the WordPress editor. 
  1. Teaching Basketball
  • I believe in the concept that players need three exposures to begin to understand a concept.
  • I think reps are overrated. For example, I think six jump hooks five days a week for a couple weeks will transfer. 
  • Guided finishes or live over “on zero.” 
  1. Books by Nick Hornby:
  • I’ve read 13 of his books. 
  • My favorites ranked: High Fidelity, Fever Pitch, Juliet Naked, About a Boy, and Dickens and Prince 
  • The voice. The lists. 
  1. Teaching Writing 
  • It’s about building and sensing an audience in class and not about finding error. 

Some honorable mentions: 

  • James Paul Gee and Discourse Communities, Activity Systems, Coming up with original offensive and defensive basketball schemes, trip planning, moving, applying for jobs, and replacing Simplicity mower belts. I can send you a mower belt video if you need one. 

Anne’s Five Things She Knows Something About

  1. Russian/Soviet History
  • Vikings played a part in ruling what is now known as Belarus/Ukraine/Russia. Vikings were also known as “Rus”. Ruled around 840. Rus “men who row” Kievan Rus is a federation of principalities that survived for 400 years before the 13th century Mongolian invasion. Orgin of the the word Russia. Russian scholars disagree and consider the rus to be a slavic tribe.
  • Stalin killed over 6 million of his own people thru gulags/famine engineered by state/political repression
  1. Construction
  • Do I know a lot? I would say no, but I do know more than you. You didn’t know what a bollard was (when I crashed my car against it). Spec houses, spec suites, city codes. I can do minor electrical work with book assistance lol even  though I am extremely low in craftmanship abilities.
  1. Swedish pop groups ABBA & Ace of Base
  • Both groups lead singers had a fear of flying and a general fear/anxiety about the spotlight. Ace of Base lead singer eventually dropped out due to  it. Ace of Base 2 sisters, 1 bro, 1 extra guy; ABBA 2 married couples who would both get divorced from each other.
  1. The La Brea to Vine and Sunset Blvd to Wilshire square
  2. Sports
  • Basketball, Football, Baseball, Golf, Track & Field, Figure Skating, Cross Country Skiing, Alpine Skiing, Soccer

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!