podcast #21: translating the untranslatable, and Mel Brooks and the Odessa link

Forget tough love, how about tough translation? We ask a translator of recently-deceased novelist David Foster Wallace how he rendered “Infinite Jest” into German. Then a segment on translating poetry, and the message seems to be: go ahead and mess with the meaning, but don’t rupture the rhythm. Then a take on war zone translators from Dexter Filkins of the New York Times. Finally, a trip to Odessa, alleged spiritual home of Jewish Humor. Listen on iTunes. Or here.