2 Comments

  1. Maia C

    I only discovered your podcast recently, and am trying desperately not to binge-listen. I love your perspectives on the stories.

    In Reaper Man, when Ben compares Bill Door Versus the Reaping Machine to Paul Bunyan, he might be thinking of another American folk hero, John Henry, who’s a navvy driving spikes for a railroad.

    There’s a folk song (of course there is):

    The captain said to John Henry
    “Gonna bring that steam drill ’round
    Gonna bring that sterm drill out on the job
    Gonna whop that steel on down, Lord, Lord
    Gonna whop that steel on down”

    John Henry told his captain
    “A man ain’t nothing but a man
    But before I let your steam drill beat me down
    I’d die with a hammer in my hand, Lord, Lord
    I’d die with a hammer in my hand”

    https://www.songsforteaching.com/folk/johnhenry.php

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