#29-A Mash-up of Topics Raised with me About Sondheim

It’s a mash-up! Producer Dennis Caouki weaves together audio from two recent interviews—one with mathematician Art Benjamin (via the National Museum of Mathematics’ Starring Math webinar series) and one from Shoshana Greenberg’s Scene to Song podcast—into a single conversation. The combined interview explores Sondheim’s connections to math, puzzles, and games; cryptic crosswords; design values like misdirection and accessibility; and how those ideas appear in Sondheim’s work (including Into the Woods, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Company, and Pacific Overtures). The discussion also touches on Schmigadoon! season two’s Sondheim-inspired mashups, Hadestown, The Last of Sheila, and the Knives Out films as modern homages.

00:00 Podcast Updates Ahead

00:27 Audiobook Booth Stories

03:05 Two Interviews One Episode

05:35 Meet Barry Joseph

08:49 Hadestown As Ritual

10:10 Sondheim And Math Roots

11:45 Math In A Little Night Music

15:28 Into The Woods London Take

19:50 CD-ROM Game That Never Was

22:58 Sondheim Puzzle Design Values

26:15 Treasure Hunt Phone Puzzle