Shows
Finneran's WakeTo Photograph is to Learn How to Live | Ulrich BaerUlrich Baer is an author, editor, and a professor of photography at NYU. I wanted to chat with someone about photography in the “iPhone” age (along with a bunch of other things!), and Uli was kind enough to indulge me. I was dazzled by his breadth of learning and the expertise he has in so many different fields (poetry, philosophy, and literature, to name just a few). In this wide-ranging conversation, Uli and I discuss: Photography; Art; Nostalgia for Film; Th...
2025-03-271h 30Finneran's WakeArt, Wonder, and Oscar Wilde | Joseph PearceJoseph Pearce is an educator, essayist, and author of over two dozen books. I reached out to Joseph because I wanted to learn more about the great Irish playwright and wit, Oscar Wilde, about whom he has written extensively. Joseph’s excellent biography of Wilde, “Unmasking Oscar Wilde” is linked below. Using Wilde as a springboard, Joseph and I leapt into a variety of topics, including:The different forms of Tragedy: Pagan v. Christian; Oedipus; Macbeth; Shakespeare’s religion; Catholicism...
2025-03-2040 minFinneran's WakeKeju: The Ancient Test of China’s Strength | Yasheng HuangYasheng Huang is a professor at MIT and the author of many books, including his most recent work, “The Rise and Fall of the EAST”. I reached out to Professor Huang because, after reading his book, I wanted to learn more about Chinese history. In this episode, Yasheng and I discuss: Imperial China v. The Roman Empire; Keju; The origin of Civil Service Exams; Purges: Hard and Soft; Meritocracy v Aristocracy; Enlightenment Thinkers; The American Founding; Stalin and Mao; Xi Jinping; Autocratic “Stickiness”; Liberal Democracy...
2025-02-061h 50Finneran's WakeRun like a Philosopher | Sabrina LittleSabrina Little is an author, ultramarathoner, and a professor of philosophy. Her latest book, “The Examined Run” is suitable not only for competitive athletes, but for anyone who wants to: Strengthen his body, discipline his mind, learn the basics of philosophy, and, most importantly, cultivate long-lasting virtues. In this episode, Sabrina and I discuss: Ancient Greek Philosophy; Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; How a strong BODY makes for a strong MIND; Admiration v. Imitation v. Emulation; Envy: Benign and Malign; iPhones...
2025-01-301h 01Finneran's WakeThe Genius of Michelangelo | William WallaceWilliam Wallace is an author, a lecturer, and a professor of art history at the University of St. Louis. Professor Wallace is America’s expert on Michelangelo, the great Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and poet. In this episode, Professor Wallace and I discuss: Michelangelo’s upbringing; Florence and Rome in the 16th century; Italy before it was “Italy”; Competition between artists: Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Raphael; Powerful Popes; The Reformation; Getting old; Defying Retirement; Finding your Calling; Striving toward Greatness; Aesthetics; Beauty; The Sistine Cha...
2025-01-1653 minFinneran's WakeBlues Guitar, Communist China, SRV, and The Allman Brothers Band | Alan PaulAlan Paul is an author, a journalist, and a musician. He was the founding member of the Beijing-based blues group, Woodie Alan, for which he served as the frontman. Along with a delightful autobiography about his life as an expat living in China, Alan has written oral histories about Stevie Ray Vaughn and The Allman Brothers Band. His latest work, Brothers and Sisters, covers the release of the Allman Brothers Band best-selling album and the ways in which it impacted American politics and culture in...
2023-09-211h 09Finneran's WakeRockets, Race Cars, Cameras, and Extreme Weather | Scott SchilkeScott Schilke is a photographer who specializes in capturing breathtaking images of rocket ships, race cars, and extreme weather events.At the youthful age of sixty-two, after having worked in property management for four decades, Scott spurned retirement and embarked upon a new career. When all his buddies were slipping into the long-deferred idleness of their “golden years”, Scott became a professional photographer. Now, he spends his days (and most of his nights!) photographing rocket launches, NASCAR races, and high-voltage lightning storms. The fearlessness with which he set out upon this new journey, and the assid...
2023-09-071h 16Finneran's WakeExposing The MYTH of The Free Market | Naomi OreskesNaomi Oreskes is the Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. She is the author of many books, including Why Trust Science?, The Collapse of Western Civilization, Merchants of Doubt (upon which an acclaimed documentary was based), and, her most recent work, The Big Myth. Professor Oreskes is a veritable mine of information (forgive the pun!)After obtaining degrees in Geology and the History of Science, Professor Oreskes worked in the mining industry. She then entered the field of ac...
2023-09-0249 minFinneran's WakeJackie Kennedy: America’s Most Alluring Lady | J. Randy TaraborrelliJ. Randy Taraborrelli is an author, editor, reporter, journalist, and biographer whose latest work, “Jackie: Public, Private, Secret” is now available for purchase. (For what it’s worth, I strongly encourage you to get yourself a copy!) Some of Randy’s other popular works include, Madonna: An Intimate Biography; Jackie, Janet, and Lee; The Hiltons; Sinatra; Michael Jackson; Becoming Beyonce, Cher, Diana, and The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe. In this delightful conversation, Randy and I discuss…Plutarch (of all people!); Cleopatra; Jackie Kennedy’s je ne sais quois; the role of the First La...
2023-08-241h 18Finneran's WakeRaw Milk, Metaphysics, and Marxism: Nourishing the Mind and Body | Sally FallonSally Fallon Morell is an author, a farmer, a businesswoman, and the founder of multiple organizations dedicated to human flourishing.And how, as humans, do we flourish, you might ask? Simple: it all begins with our nutrition!Inspired by the under-acknowledged genius of Dr. Weston A. Price, Sally has popularized the “Wise Traditions” Diet, a natural, wholesome, elegant way of eating to which countless people subscribe. In this wide-ranging episode, Sally and I discuss…The fram...
2023-08-101h 03Finneran's WakeBecome a LION! Courageous, Carnivorous, and FREE | Dr. Robert KiltzDr. Robert Kiltz is a physician, businessman, YouTuber, potter, pilot, and poet. (I challenge you to repeat those last three words as quickly as you can without stumbling!) One of America’s leading experts on the Carnivore Diet (of which he’s been both an advocate and adherent for the past decade), Dr. Kiltz has bravely questioned the dietary guidelines we’ve been fed by our medical “establishment” for countless years. His intrepidity is truly inspirational–Like everything else about him!In this episode, Dr. Kiltz and I discuss: Courage; Li...
2023-07-101h 35Finneran's WakeQuarks, the Cosmos, Carmina Burana, and the Big Bang | Dan LevittDan Levitt is a director, documentarian, and an author. His latest book, What’s Gotten Into You: The Story Of Your Body’s Atoms, From The Big Bang Through Last Night’s Dinner, is now available for purchase! For the promulgation of good science to the general public–in a format and a language that is accessible to all–we look, now more than ever, to trusted figures like Dan. As you can see, his passion for science is infectious. I learned a TON from (first) reading his fine book and then hosting him for this amaz...
2023-07-061h 28Finneran's WakeBulls, Booze, and Broken Bones: A Cowboy’s Story | Barry BrownBarry Brown is an author, cowboy, horse breaker, bull rider, and rodeo competitor to whom the nickname, “The Bionic Bull Rider” has been, I think, very fittingly applied. Barry began competing as a bull rider at the tender age of 15. Despite its perils, he fell in love with the sport, in which he continued to participate (either as a competitor or a judge) for the next four decades of his life. During the course of his long career, he broke just about every bone in his body.
2023-07-0352 minFinneran's WakePeter Freuchen, Arctic Exploration, Cartoons, Country Music, and Whiskey | Reid MitenbulerReid Mitenbuler is an author, a journalist, and an Air Force veteran. His latest book, Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, An Epic Journey, A Lost Age tells the untold story of the twentieth century’s most interesting man.Peter Freuchen was a Danish explorer, globetrotter, novelist, journalist, actor, and game show contestant. An imposingly large man (he stood over 6 '5”) with a wildly unkempt beard and a stiff wooden leg, the very image of Freuchen invites curiosity. Wanderlust, Reid’s latest excellent work, explores the life of...
2023-06-251h 51Finneran's WakeDominate Each Decade: How To Stay Fit In Every Stage Of Life | James FloodAlas...How quickly (and imperceptibly!) the years accrue! Before you know it, you're departing your second, and entering your third (or fourth, or fifth…) decade of life and wondering, as you pass another milestone, celebrate another birthday, and add another number to anno domini: "How should I tailor my fitness regimen to my (advancing) age?" In this episode, resident fitness guru and recurring guest, James Flood, outlines exactly what you should do in each decade of life to maximize your...
2023-06-2441 minFinneran's Wake5 Things To Do Outside The Gym To Optimize Your Time Inside The Gym | James FloodThe beard is back! Recurring (and undeniably burly) guest James Flood joins me to discuss the five most important things you can do outside the gym in order to optimize your performance once you re-enter. In brief, he advises you to focus on: 1. Hydration (with electrolytes)2. Nutrition3. Sun exposure4. Cold exposure5. SleepOr if, like me, you prefer alliteration: 1. Salt2. Sustenance3. Sun4. Shiver5. Sleep Focus, my friends, on these five simple things not only to improve your performance in the gym, but t...
2023-06-1457 minFinneran's WakeMovies and Madness, Through a Psychiatrist’s Eyes | James CharneyJames Charney is a psychiatrist, cinephile, professor, and author. His latest book, “Madness at the Movies” examines the mental disorders by which Hollywood’s most infamously deranged characters (Travis Bickle from Scorcese’s “Taxi Driver”; Norman Bates from Hitchcock’s “Psycho”) are afflicted. The book, written for a popular audience, is an extension of a beloved course (also entitled, “Madness at the Movies”) that he taught at Yale University for many years. A physician by training, Dr. Charney is not only a lover of movies, but a faithful student of their history and a discerning judge of the...
2023-06-072h 10Finneran's WakeWelcome to Finneran's Wake!Welcome to Finneran’s Wake – where the ART OF CONVERSATION lives. Here, no topic is untouchable, no idea inadmissible, and no one too heretical to be heard. As the great French essayist Montaigne once said, “To my taste, the most fruitful and natural exercise of our minds is CONVERSATION. I find the practice of it the most delightful activity in our lives”. It certainly is the most delightful activity in my life. I want it to be so in yours as well. To...
2023-05-3102 minFinneran's WakeThis Book Has Had the BIGGEST Impact On Me (So Far This Year!)I realized, while reflecting on the last few conversations of which I partook, that I twice made reference to one special book: “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera. Kundera, a Czech-French author who is (at the time of this posting) an incredible 94 years of age, is an extraordinary man. Twice expelled from the Czech Communist Party, he’s a reform-minded liberal bohemian (in the best sense of the word) to whom my friend and prior guest, Noah Charney, introduced me. In his 1984 masterpiece, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”, Kundera employed his capacious int...
2023-05-2925 minFinneran's WakeEscaping the Secret Police, Studying Ancient Greece, and Defending Human Rights | Svetlana SlapšakSvetlana Slapšak is an author, editor, anthropologist, philologist, expert in gender studies and the history of the Balkans. Born in Belgrade, Serbia in 1948, she now resides and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Svetlana is the type of person to whom I could talk for hours: the breadth of her experiences is exceeded only by the depth of her reading (which, I assure you, is unfathomably DEEP, indeed!)In this conversation, Svetlana and I discuss: Her upbringing in post-War, Soviet-controlled east...
2023-05-282h 13Finneran's WakeNietzsche, Shakespeare, Aristotle, And The Soul Of American Politics | Glenn EllmersGlenn Ellmers is an author, journalist, political scientist, and fellow at the Claremont Institute. The late Harry Jaffa–of whom Glenn was a student–is the subject of his excellent 2021 book, The Soul of Politics (of which I strongly urge you to buy a copy!) His forthcoming work, The Narrow Passage, will be released in the Summer of 2023. Glenn is a true renaissance man; he can write and speak as fluently about Aristotle and Machiavelli as he can Shakespeare and barbells. In this episode, Glenn and I discuss…What it means t...
2023-05-231h 38Finneran's WakeHow to Outsmart Your Brain, Procrastinate Less, Read More, and LEARN More! | Dan WillinghamDan Willingham is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author of many celebrated articles and books.His latest work, Outsmart Your Brain, offers invaluable advice for the student whose goal is to maximize his or her fullest learning potential.But you don’t have to be a student–enrolled at a prestigious university or an expensive high school–in order to benefit from his wisdom;We can ALL afford to become better learners, more discerning readers, and more intelligent people...
2023-05-2258 minFinneran's WakeCanada’s FUNNIEST Young Comedian! | Neema NazNeema Naz is a comedian, an actor, and the creator of The Estupid Club and NeemaNazTV. This conversation–my first with a REAL, card-carrying comedian–was an absolute delight! Of course, if you’re among his quarter-million followers on Instagram, this will come as no surprise; Neema is not only an immensely talented actor, but a refreshingly candid person. In this episode, Neema and I discuss: His origin story; the role of his parents (who immigrated to Canada from Iran) in his life; beginning and sustaining a successful business with his brother; t...
2023-05-1644 minFinneran's WakeThe Tension Between LIBERTY & SLAVERY At America's Founding | Edward LarsonEdward Larson is a lawyer, historian, professor, and Pulitzer-Prize winning author. A distinguished professor at Pepperdine University, his most recent work, American Inheritance explores the tension between liberty and slavery in America’s founding era. In this episode, Professor Larson and I discuss: The importance of April 19th, the day on which the American Revolution formally began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord; The reasons why the American Revolutionary War was fought; If we’re deserving of our inheritance of freedom; The merits of the NYT’s 1619 Project; Did the colonists revolt in order...
2023-05-101h 09Finneran's WakeOpen the FLOOD Gates! James Flood’s Bio, Inspiration(s), and Diet | James FloodIn this inaugural episode of “Finn and Flood” (a segment focused on vitality, fitness, and wellbeing!), I sit down with my good pal, James Flood! Aside from being an all-around swell (*swole*) guy and a dear friend, James is one of the most knowledgeable trainers I know, with many years of experience in the gym upon which he never hesitates to draw.In this episode, James pulls back the curtain to reveal a bit about his past; how he discovered wellness and fitness; who his inspirations are; his current appro...
2023-05-0634 minFinneran's WakeAchieve RADICAL Physical Transformation! | Marty GallagherMarty Gallagher is an author, powerlifter, trainer, and coach. Bearing nicknames such as the “Iron Monk”, the “Carefree Psychotic”, and the “Hibernian Hulk” (okay…I just made that last one up!) Marty is one of those rare specimens around whom legends are formed. A champion powerlifter before the age of twenty, Marty has spent the entirety of his career (spanning over five decades) improving his technique, refining his philosophy, teaching the fundamentals, and making everyone around him not only dramatically stronger, but significantly smarter. He is the author...
2023-04-302h 02Finneran's WakeBecome an ART EXPERT in just 12-Hours! | Noah CharneyNoah Charney is an art historian, lecturer, author, and expert on art thievery. His latest book, The 12-Hour Art Expert, is the perfect entree for the layperson (like me!) who’s interested in learning more about art, but doesn’t quite know where to begin. It’s scholarly, but not abstruse; simple, but not condescending; thorough, but not tedious. Oh–and its pictures are absolutely stunning! Read this book, and you’ll be able to walk into any art museum with a breadth of knowledge and...
2023-04-251h 10Finneran's WakeHow Elite Ivy League Schools POISON Everything | Evan ManderyEvan Mandery is a professor, lawyer, (former standup comedian!) and the author of eight books. His latest work, Poison Ivy: How Elite Colleges Divide Us is available for purchase at all reputable (and even some disreputable) booksellers. I highly recommend you go out and pick up a copy of this important book. Evan is one of those rare polymathic types from whom you can learn just about anything. An expert on capital punishment, he can easily expound on law, fiction writing, comedy, mindfulness, running, higher education, poker, and politics. ...
2023-04-062h 04Finneran's WakeSouth Carolina, Secession, and the CIVIL WAR | Eric LagerEric Lager is an academic and entrepreneur who lives and teaches in South Carolina. A native of Illinois, Professor Lager obtained his Ph.D in antebellum American History from the University of Tennessee. He currently lectures at The Citadel–that famous Charleston military academy from which so many valiant rebels took their degrees! When outside the classroom, Professor Lager spends his time, well, outside! He is the founder and operator of a burgeoning little business, “Charleston History Walk, LLC”, to which you can find a link below.
2023-03-0447 minFinneran's WakeLife Lessons From The Internet's SLEEP Guru! | Jason StephensonJason Stephenson is the founder and host of the wildly popular YouTube channel, “Jason Stephenson: Sleep Meditation Music” to which some 3 million people (and counting!) are subscribed. Since joining the platform in 2011, Jason’s videos on sleep, mindfulness, meditation, music, nature, life, and breathing have amassed over 700 million views–a number to which I’m honored to say I’ve contributed!In this conversation, Jason and I discuss…His tumultuous background and how it led him to a life devoted to wellness; quitting his job in order to pursue his true passion; the prodigious grow...
2023-02-221h 37Finneran's WakeNikki Haley Announces Presidential Bid; Fetterman Hospitalization; Train Derailment in Ohio | Our Thought BubbleMy dad joins me to discuss Nikki Haley's announcement to run for President, John Fetterman's second admission to the hospital, and the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
2023-02-1854 minFinneran's WakeChina’s “Trial Balloon” Drifts Across the Country. Does Our Government Even Care?On a bright, sunny February day, a couple of curious Montanans happened to look up and notice a peculiar flying object. At a slow, leisurely pace, what appeared to be a massive balloon was traversing their picturesque and boundless sky. Word started to get around that it might belong to a hostile actor. Only then did the Biden administration announce that, with a high level of confidence, this was no ordinary balloon, but a special SPY balloon deployed by the Chinese government.
2023-02-0617 minFinneran's WakeVideos of Paul Pelosi's Beating and Tyre Nichols' Killing ReleasedLong withheld from public view, the video of Paul Pelosi's cudgeling by David DePape was finally released by authorities in San Francisco. The harrowing clip, widely accessible on YouTube, shows a flat-footed officer intervening to separate the two men. Pelosi, an elderly man in his 8th decade of life, suffered a fractured skull and was knocked unconscious for about 3 minutes. By all accounts, he has not yet, and perhaps never fully will recuperate from the injuries he sustained that night. DePape, a peculiar character of Canadian extraction, was apprehended and is facing many years in prison. ...
2023-01-2915 minFinneran's WakeDid Steven Crowder BETRAY Conservatives?The fourth realm of the the ninth circle of Dante's Inferno is reserved for those who betray their benefactors and are unfaithful to their friends. In the fallout of the Steven Crowder/Daily Wire controversy, some people are prepared to open up the gates of hell and toss Mr. Crowder into its fiery depths. In this video, I give my opinions and a little bit of commentary on the situation, as I understand it. Embarrassingly, the microphone failed to capture the music for the intro! Aside from that, comment below with your thoughts. With whom do...
2023-01-2619 minFinneran's WakeHey (Doctor) Jill!--Did Hunter Remember to Close the GARAGE door?In this episode of "Our Thought Bubble", my father and I discuss the shocking revelation that President Biden was in unlawful possession of classified documents dating back to his tenure as VP six years ago. This is the same infraction, a "strict liability" crime, over which the FBI raided former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. More importantly, it appeared to be one of a few crimes on which House Democrats and Biden's DOJ were hoping to indict him. That seems less likely to happen now. Some points on which we expand in this video: our...
2023-01-171h 03Finneran's WakeHow to think, journal, and live like a STOIC | Brittany PolatStoicism–named for the stoa (or covered walkway) under whose cooling shade Athenian citizens gathered and philosophers lectured–is a philosophy whose influence has stretched across the ages. It was, so many centuries ago, a philosophy to which much of the classical world subscribed. Today, despite our distaste for all things “old” (how boring!), it remains a school of thought from which we can derive many benefits. Brittany Polat, who’s devoted much of her life to studying and popularizing these benefits, is an author, mother, board member of multiple Stoic organizations, and creator of Stoicare...
2022-12-201h 50Finneran's WakeWarnock’s victory, the “Twitter Files”, and Trump’s (Unconstitutional) Proposal | Our Thought Bubble Ep. 3Hello there, friends! On this episode of “Our Thought Bubble”, my father and I discuss… The results of the Georgia Senate run-off election, of which the Democrat incumbent, Raphael Warnock, was declared the victor; the fulfillment of our prediction that this would, in fact, be the result; our opinions on the man whom everyone loves to hate, Elon Musk; Musk’s recruitment of Matt Taibbi to divulge the much-anticipated “Twitter Files”; Donald Trump’s response to their release; our opinion on Trump’s fitness for high office. Don’t for...
2022-12-181h 00Finneran's WakeHas America Gone Race Crazy? | Charles LoveCharles Love is the Executive Director of Seeking Educational Excellence, the host of The Charles Love Show, the co-host of the podcast, Cut the Bull, and the author of two books. Race, much more than class, persists in being the chief issue with which American society grapples–the timeless, contentious issue over which so many of our fights are still waged, and to which there appears to be no imminent resolution. In recent years, this struggle seems to have worsened, and one might be forgiven for thinking that racial harmony is a kind of imp...
2022-12-021h 07Finneran's WakeDonald Trump’s Announcement and Our Response | Patio Politics - Ep. #2The web’s most dynamic (and handsome) father and son duo are at it again! In this episode, we reflect on the huge, earthshaking, history-making announcement for which we’ve all been waiting: Donald Trump will seek the presidency in 2024. Should he succeed in escaping the Republican Primary with the Party’s nomination, he’ll likely face down the dotard of Delaware, Scranton’s senescent son, Joseph R. Biden–the unintelligible incumbent against whom Trump battled, and to whom he lost, in 2020. We ask, is Trump’s nomination preordained? Is there no one...
2022-11-271h 06Finneran's WakeBottom’s Up! A Tipsy History of Politics, Alcohol, and Prohibition | Mark SchradMark Schrad is a professor in the department of political science at Villanova University, over whose “Russian Area Studies” he presides as director. Professor Schrad is the author of three books: The Political Power of Bad Ideas; Vodka Politics; and, his latest work, Smashing the Liquor Machine (to which, if interested in their purchase, I’ll include links below). We sip our spirits, imbibe our beers, and become giddy over the prospect of tasting an evening’s dram of liquor, without ever really thinking about the history hidden behind these pote...
2022-11-201h 29Finneran's WakeReaction to the 2022 Midterm Elections, A Focus on Florida, and the Damage Done by Donald Trump | Patio Politics - Ep. #1In this (experimental) episode, my father and I sit down in the shady comfort of our back patio to discuss the shocking results of the 2022 midterm elections, in which the Republicans vastly underperformed even the most modest of expectations. At the time of this episode’s posting, it appears that the Democrats will have gained at least one seat in the Senate, secured a few contentious governor races (most notably in Arizona and Michigan), and totally avoided the “Red Wave” in the House by which their comfortable majority was predicted to be wiped away.
2022-11-161h 23Finneran's WakeLessons from a Lawyer turned Yoga Master | Ignacio ZuletaIgnacio Zuleta is a Colombian lawyer, writer, and yogi. Born into politics, raised in the capital, trained as a lawyer…Ignacio’s career path appeared, until the transformative age of thirty (that strange moment in the life of a man at which epiphanies most often occur–just ask the Buddha, Joseph Smith, and Jesus) somewhat predictable: he’d ascend the ladder of his profession and society, accumulate wealth, acquire status, maybe run for office, and luxuriate in the fruits of his labor. No sooner had he reached his third decade tha...
2022-11-0456 minFinneran's WakeThe Death of Boring History | The Pop HistorianThe Pop Historian is a general historian with an exciting, eclectic new channel on YouTube. “The historian must serve two masters: the past and the present”. In compliance with Fritz Stern, the late German-American professor of history at Columbia University by whom the above statement was issued, the Pop Historian has undergone to do just that. In a highly original, accessible, and entertaining way, he has packaged fascinating bits of history in a series of compelling videos, using the technology of today to tell great stories from the past.
2022-11-011h 06Finneran's WakeIs Libertarianism Alive in Florida? | Hector RoosHector Roos is a candidate representing the Libertarian Party in Florida’s gubernatorial race. For all intents and purposes, your choice of political party in America is binary: Republican or Democratic, or so you’re told. Doubtless, this preserves us from the pitfalls of a parliamentary system, but isn’t it frustrating to know that, in this freest of lands, your options are so narrowly constrained? Libertarianism offers a much-desired alternative. Hector Roos is here to offer exactly that. From this episode, you’ll learn…
2022-09-201h 42Finneran's WakeDiscovering the Truth About America's Past | Carrie GibsonCarrie Gibson is an American-born, Cambridge-trained historian, journalist, and author. America, a wild outpost for British Puritans, speculators, merchants, and malcontents began in the year 1776, no? And it wasn’t until the year 1863, on whose dawn Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, that we all began thinking about slavery, right? While these are, no doubt, important dates to remember, the real history of America (what we might call, Spanish America!) stretches much further back in time. From this episode, you’ll learn…The historical significance of the B...
2022-09-161h 21Finneran's WakeA Cuban Immigrant Answers: Is America Worth It? | Ernesto CrespoMil gracias to my brother and friend, Ernesto Crespo, for accompanying me on my first recorded and filmed interview/conversation (of which, in the coming weeks, I hope to have many more!)
His remarkable story, to which hundreds of thousands of Americans can doubtless relate, will always be a source of inspiration to me.
From him, you'll learn what it was like to grow up in Cuba in the 1980s under the regime of Fidel Castro; how the island struggled during the "Periodo Especial" when the Soviet Union fell; how he assuaged his hunger with a filling concoction (water mixed...
2022-09-0853 minFinneran's WakeWhat President Biden (And All Of Us) Can Learn From Lincoln"With malice toward none; with charity for all".
It was with magnanimity, solemnity, and humility that President Abraham Lincoln addressed a wearied nation divided in two. He was careful not to cover his political opponents (of whom he had many) in opprobrium. He sought, instead, a higher, nobler road toward unity and reconciliation.
President Biden, in his speech on the "Soul of America" chose a different, lower path. In the process, he succeeded in inverting Lincoln's precept: "With charity for none; with malice toward all".
2022-09-0616 minFinneran's WakeIs Government Necessary?Given all the dysfunction, ineptitude, profligacy, venality, shortsightedness, and unscrupulousness with which our political institutions are rife, we have to ask ourselves: is government necessary? Can we get along just as well without it?
In this episode, the first in a series on the “Great Ideas”, we address the question in a dispassionate, philosophical way.
This series is inspired by the work of Mortimer Adler, one of America’s foremost public intellectuals and educators with whose countless works, you’d do well to spend some time.
What do you think? Is government necessary? Comment below or email me at finneranswake@gmail.co...
2022-08-3019 minFinneran's WakeUp From Liberalism by William F. Buckley Jr. | Book ReviewA book review of "Up From Liberalism" by famed Conservative thinker, William F. Buckley Jr. I spend a few minutes tracing my political inspirations: Aristotle, Cicero, Tocqueville, Jefferson, Hitchens and, yes, Buckley.
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2022-08-1128 minFinneran's WakeConcise Recap Ep. 9 - Al Qaeda Emir Killed; Pelosi Visits Taiwan; Kansas Abortion Proposition Fails; Inflation Reduction Act PassesQuite a week!
Ayman Al Zawahiri, the Egyptian physician-terrorist by whom Osama Bin Laden was succeded, was killed by an American drone strike. He was living large at the time in the heart of Kabul. Nancy Pelosi, undeterred by warnings from both the White House and the CCP, visited Taiwan. In Kansas, a ballot initiative to move the issue of abortion from the judicial to the legislative branch fails, while, in the Senate, the "Inflation Reduction" Act passes.
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2022-08-0833 minFinneran's WakeThomas Jefferson and Joe Biden - A Contrast Of Two Presidents at 79While reading Thomas Jefferson's collected writings, I realized that, until the very end of his life, his mental acuity never suffered. The same brilliance with which he dazzled the Continental Congress in 1776 sustained itself (and perhaps grew even brighter) until the first quarter of the next century when, on the Fourth of July in 1826, he died. I contrast, in this recorded essay, Jefferson's eloquence at the age of 79 years with the inarticulacy of our current president, Joe Biden, by whom the English language is, each time he opens his mouth, severely abused. The examples I provide are shocking.
Be sure...
2022-08-0322 minFinneran's WakeConcise Recap: Ep. 8 - We've Entered a Recession; Army Recruitment Misses Its MarkWe've witnessed two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth--a trend to which most honest economists once affixed the word, "recession". But honesty, it seems, no longer has currency, so long as a certain Party is in charge. And the army achieves only 40% of its recruitment goal. Why did this happen, and what does it portend?
2022-07-3123 minFinneran's WakeDismantling "White Supremacy Mythology" | Jill NagleJill Nagle, with whom I had the great pleasure to talk, is the founder of Evolutionary Workplace, a company based in California whose aim it is to “dismantle white supremacy” mythology. In her approach to “Anti-Racism”, she employs some fascinating techniques, about which you’ll want to learn much more.
In this episode, Jill Nagle and I discuss definitions of fundamental words (Racism, Anti-Racism, White Supremacy, etc) around which, as of late, there seems to be a lot confusion; the idea that racism is an outgrowth of white supremacy, exclusively (an idea on which I gently push back); the depiction of black c...
2022-07-151h 06Finneran's WakeConcise Recap - Ep. 7: Unrest in Akron; A Mass Shooting Carried Out in Highland Park (and Averted in Richmond); Boris Johnson Steps Down, While Shinzo Abe is Shot downOn this week’s Concise Recap, we cover the following:
1.) Unrest in Akron after the release of police footage (of Jayland Walker’s Death)
2.) A mass shooting carried out in Highland Park, and a mass shooting averted in Richmond
3.) Boris Johnson steps down, and Shinzo Abe is shot down.
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2022-07-1026 minFinneran's WakeWhy We Should Celebrate the SECOND of July!“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty.”
- John Adams
Today, the 2nd of July 2022, we commemorate this festival of Liberty as Adams envisioned.
2022-07-0328 minFinneran's WakeConcise Recap - Ep. 6: 53 Migrants Die in a Semi Truck in Texas; January 6th Committee Welcomes a New Witness; Religious Freedom Prevails AgainAn extraordinary week! The three items you must know:
1. 53 Migrants Die in a Semi Truck in San Antonio Texas
2. The January 6th Committee Welcomes a New Witness
3. Religious Freedom Prevails (Again) in the Supreme Court
Visit my new podcast, "Finneran's Wake, For Kid's" for wonderful family-friendly content and my wellness podcast, "Pneuma".
2022-07-0332 minFinneran's WakeConcise Recap | Ep. 5 - Uvalde Shooting Update; The Supreme Court Sluice Gates Open, Decisions Pour Out; Biden Falls off His Bike, As the Economy Falls of a Cliff | NewsWow...what a week! Here are its three most important news items of which you MUST be aware!
1. Uvalde shooting update (plus, the passage of Gun legislation)
2. The Supreme Court sluice gates open, three monumental decisions pour out
3. President Biden falls off his bicycle...as the economy falls off a cliff
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Visit my sister podcast, Pneuma Wellness for more content in the health, mindfulness, and wellness sphere
2022-06-2731 minFinneran's WakeGraduating high school in Moscow as the Soviet Union collapsed; Arriving in America; De-propagandizing herself; Reflecting on the conflict in Ukraine today | My interview with Olga, Part IIPart II to my fascinating interview with Olga. Here, Olga reflects on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a humanitarian crisis about which, sadly, the western world is quickly forgetting. As an American born in Russia, her perspective is invaluable. You'll not want to miss what she has to say.
2022-06-2517 minFinneran's WakeGraduating high school in Moscow as the Soviet Union collapsed; Arriving in America; De-propagandizing herself; Reflecting on the conflict in Ukraine today | My interview with Olga, Part-IUpon her graduation from high school, when, with unalloyed excitement, most young men and women look hopefully toward the future, Olga’s home country of Russia—in whose greatness and infallibility she was, from a very young age, propagandized to believe—collapsed. All that she’d known, every doctrine whose truth she’d been conditioned to accept, disintegrated before her eyes. She immigrated to America at the age of twenty. She reflects now on the state of Russia and its aggression toward Ukraine, What follows is her story.
2022-06-251h 33Finneran's WakeMajor Works | Christopher Marlowe | An Honest Book ReviewThe one writer under whose influence William Shakespeare squirmed: Christopher Marlowe. Born in the same year, Marlowe and Shakespeare were two of history's greatest geniuses. Of Shakespeare's genius, we need never be reminded. But that of Marlowe too often escapes our approbation. We will assess him, and praise him, in this book review.
Enjoy!
If there's a book of which you'd like me to produce a review, send its title to finneranswake@gmail.com. I'll happily oblige.
2022-06-1317 minFinneran's WakeThe Truth and Beauty | Andrew Klavan | An Honest Book ReviewAn honest book review of Andrew Klavan's latest work, "The Truth and Beauty", in which the quick-witted, bald-headed conservative satirist marries the Romantic poets and the sacred Gospels--a union worthy of your consideration.
If there are any books of which you'd like me to do a review, hesitate not! Send me their titles. E-mail me at finneranswake@gmail.com, or (once it's finished), visit my website, finneranswake.com
2022-06-1215 minFinneran's WakeConcise Recap | Ep. 4 - A California Man Threatens to Kill Kavanaugh; January 6th Goes Prime Time; Gun Legislation Moves Through the House | NewsA concise recap of this week's news!
The three most important news items of which you should be aware, with which you should be fluent, all brought to you in a half-hour's time:
1.) A California man threatens to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh
2.) January 6th goes prime time
3.) Gun Legislation moves through the House (To be stymied by the Senate)
Subscribe to this channel and leave on it a 5-star rating!
Visit my sister podcast, Pneuma Meditations
2022-06-1230 minFinneran's WakeRed Handed | Peter Schweizer | An Honest Book ReviewGone are those optimistic days of youth when the glasses through which we viewed the world were "rose"-tinged. Now, it seems, everything is colored red. The red of communist China, that is. Into every institution that color has bled: from finance, to tech, to politics, to sports, to entertainment, it suffuses them all. Schweizer's book examines, with a fearless eye, how deeply entangled our venal, purchasable American elites are with the opportunistic Chinese Communist Party. A quick and distressing read.
If there's a book of which you'd like me to compose a review, email me its title at finneranswake...
2022-06-1109 minFinneran's WakeConcise Recap | Ep. 3 - Tulsa Shooting Leaves 4 Dead; The "Depp-Heard" Dénouement; The Commencement of Pride Month; BONUS item | NewsThis week's "Concise Recap" on Finneran's Wake!
For those short on time, but on long on curiosity; for those to whom news and politics are an interest, but whose time is limited.
The three most important news items of which you should be aware, with which you should be fluent, all brought to you in a half-hour's time:
1.) A shooting in Tulsa leaves four people dead, of whom two were orthopaedic physicians. How the media covered this and previous shootings.
2.) The "Depp-Heard" Dénouement: The Trial of the Year Concludes.
3.) Pride Month Begins And, With It, The Commencement of June
4.) B...
2022-06-0525 minFinneran's WakeWhite Fragility | Robin DiAngelo | An Honest Book ReviewA candid book review of Robin DiAngelo's best-selling work, "White Fragility". Disclaimer: I am a white person. Worse still--a white man! And I'm not infrequently fragile. And yet, despite that, I'll review this hugely influential book critically and fairly. You'll hear DiAngelo's most salient points, and how they might be examined.
If there's a book of which you'd like me to compose a review, email me at finneranswake@gmail.com.
2022-06-0414 minFinneran's WakeHow To Be an Anti-Racist | Ibram X. Kendi | An Honest Book ReviewAn honest book review of Ibram X. Kendi's 2019 best-seller, "How To Be An Anti-Racist". Dare I treat it critically?
Yes.
If there's a book of which you'd like me to write and record a review, email me at finneranswake@gmail.com, or send a message through social media.
2022-06-0208 minFinneran's WakeTicklish Topics | Ep. 2 - The Two Strongest Arguments AGAINST Abortion, Part IIWelcome to Part II of my first "Ticklish Topic": Abortion
In this, part two of a two-part series, I'll list for you the two strongest arguments against abortion--arguments by which you might be repulsed, persuaded, enflamed, or unmoved. You'll have to e-mail me and let me your response...
I should say, the goal isn't to win you, my dear listener, to one side or to the other of this debate, but to the elucidate the issue for you. I want you to see through it more clearly than ever before, to penetrate all the dense political jargon, the misleading euphemisms...
2022-06-0130 minFinneran's WakeConcise Recap | Ep. 2 - Uvalde, Texas Elementary School Massacre; Political Responses to the Aforementioned; Biden's Commitment To Defend Taiwan | NewsThis week's "Concise Recap" on Finneran's Wake!
For those short on time, but on long on curiosity; for those to whom news and politics are an interest, but whose time is limited.
The three most important news items of which you should be aware, with which you should be fluent, all brought to you in a half-hour's time:
1.) A mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas left 21 people dead, of whom 19 were children. This is the second mass shooting in as many weeks.
2.) Political responses to the aforementioned.
3.) President Biden asserts America’s commitment to defend the island of...
2022-05-3023 minFinneran's WakeConcise Recap | Ep. 1 - Buffalo Shooting, Stock Market Suffers, Disinformation Governance Board Suspended | NewsThe inaugural "Concise Recap" on Finneran's Wake! For those short on time, but on long on curiosity; for those to whom news and politics are an interest, but whose time is limited.
The three most important news items of which you should be aware, with which you should be fluent, all brought to you in a half-hour's time:
1.) A racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo claimed the lives of 10 people, whom the assailant–a young white supremacist–deliberately targeted.
2.) The stock market suffered its worst week since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. The financial future of the country appears to be, at b...
2022-05-2322 minFinneran's WakeTicklish Topics | Ep. 1 - The Three Strongest Arguments FOR Abortion, Part IWelcome to my first "Ticklish Topic": Abortion
In this, part one of a two-part series, I'll list for you the three strongest arguments in favor of abortion--arguments by which you might be repulsed, persuaded, enflamed, or unmoved. You'll have to e-mail me and let me your response...
I should say, the goal isn't to win you, my dear listener, to one side or to the other of this debate, but to the elucidate the issue for you. I want you to see through it more clearly than ever before, to penetrate all the dense political jargon, the misleading euphemisms, and...
2022-05-2021 minFinneran's WakeTwitter Has Tweeted, Whose Board Has Now Spoken; Musk Owns The Site, And All The World's Broken! | A Political PoemA political Poem
2022-05-1809 min2022-05-1807 minFinneran's WakeOur New Justice Supreme, Ms Ketanji Brown-Jackson (A Jurist, Not A Biologist) | A Political PoemA political poem
2022-05-1807 minFinneran's WakeTwo Saviors In Two Weeks: The Return Of Christ And Obama | A Political PoemA political poem
2022-05-1806 minFinneran's WakeI Wish I Might, I Wish I May, Never Again In This State Say, "Gay" | A Political PoemA political poem.
2022-05-1805 minFinneran's WakeFull of Faux Sincerity, Lacking (all) Intelligibility, Kamala Harris Can't Speak | A Political PoemA political poem
2022-05-1805 minFinneran's WakeOf We Go!--To WWIII, Led By Joe Biden's Inarticulacy | A Political PoemA political poem.
2022-05-1804 minFinneran's WakeThe Five Greatest Christmas Poems You MUST Read!Season's Greetings, one and all! Around this joyous time of year, we're inundated by lists proclaiming absolute knowledge of the best Christmas films and songs, but little mention is ever made of the best Christmas poems...
Until now!
Listen along, and learn about the five greatest Christmas poems written by Virgil, Milton, Tennyson, Eliot, and Hardy.
Happy Holidays, my learned friends!
2021-12-2424 minFinneran's WakeVirgil, The Pagan Poet Who Predicted The Birth of Christ"Ours is the crowning era foretold in prophecy: born of time, a great new cycle of centuries begins. Justice returns to earth, the Golden Age returns, and its first-born comes down from heaven above..."
And just who might this heavenly "first-born" child be? From what royal eminence does he descend? From what divine seed is he made? To whom shall he return, when his hour on this earthy stage is through?
We leave it to Virgil, the pagan saint of Dante's dream, to answer these great questions. I could think of no better passage than the Mantuan's "Fourth Eclogue" to...
2021-12-1725 minFinneran's WakeHaving Difficulty Understanding Aristotle? Here's His ENTIRE Philosophy, Simplified"One swallow does not a summer make, nor one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy”. Does this apply to podcasts as well? Does one episode not a wise man make? Can you not comprehend all of Aristotle in twenty minutes? You'll have to listen to find out...
2021-12-0821 minFinneran's WakeThe "Poetess" from Lesbos | Sappho“Some there are who say that the fairest thing seen on the black earth is an array of horsemen; some, men marching; some would say ships; but I say she whom one loves best is the loveliest". She bats her eyes and smiles at the competition, secure in the knowledge that there is no thing, and doubtless no person, by whom her radiant beauty and unutterable loveliness will ever be surpassed. She is, we well know, the fairest thing of all--the immortal object of Sapphic adoration and rhyme, the fully-formed Venus emerging from the frothy, misty sea.
2021-12-0142 minFinneran's WakeThe History Of The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides | A Reading“Our institutions do not emulate the laws of others. We do not copy our neighbors: rather, we are an example to them. Our system is called a democracy, for it respects the majority and not the few”. To this day, some two and a half millennia hence, Athens still remains an example to its neighbors. Mounted high above us, she enjoys the lonely summit of grandeur and refinement to which every civilization hopes to ascend. She alone breathes this thin air to which we’ll never be fully acclimatized. The greatness of any age, the perfection of any epoch, shines less b...
2021-11-281h 11Finneran's WakeThe Lives Of The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius | A Reading"He had a desire to secure eternal and perpetual fame, but his method was ill-advised. For he abolished the old names of many things and places and gave them new ones based on his own, so that he termed the month of April, 'Neroneus' and he had a plan to give Rome the name of 'Neropolis'". Can you guess the emperor about whom Suetonius is speaking? Matricide, fratricide, the attempted genocide of the Christians, the burning of his own imperial city--only one figure in history has such a lengthy laundry list of crimes. In this episode, we'll cover the Roman...
2021-11-1428 minFinneran's WakeCorrespondence With The Emperor Trajan by Pliny The Younger | A Reading"This contagious superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has spread its infection among the neighboring villages and country. Nevertheless, it still seems possible to restrain its progress..." Emphasis on the word "seems", for, as we know, this virulent superstition of which Pliny the Younger speaks, to which we now attach the innocent name of "Christianity", would not be stymied. Pliny, disquieted by the rapid spread of this zealous and alien creed, sought the advice of his regal employer, Emperor Trajan, who, back at Rome, grappled with the news of this movement's waxing popularity and unanticipated growth. The...
2021-11-0132 minFinneran's WakeOn War by Carl Von Clausewitz | A Reading"War is simply a continuation of political intercourse, with the addition of other means". Those last two words, "other means", have always left me feeling somewhat uneasy. Is it not, after all, a kind of euphemism, a gentle phrase more agreeable to sensitive ears, behind which all the horrors of war--all the carnage, bloodshed, conquest, death, and loss--are too neatly concealed? Perhaps. But we mustn't forget, war is nothing more than a instrument of policy. An especially lethal one, it may well be, but it's an instrument nonetheless.
2021-10-1141 minFinneran's WakeThe History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | A Reading“The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their subjects. The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.”
2021-09-2040 minFinneran's WakeDiscourses On Davila by John Adams | A Reading“Every individual is seen to be strongly actuated by a desire to be seen, heard, talked of, approved and respected, by the people about him, and within his knowledge”. This is the fundamental, universal impulse by which every single person is animated—a passion for distinction, and a desire to be loved. We all feel it—from our life’s beginning, till its end—and to its satisfaction, we apply ourselves incessantly. It’s the government’s role, then, to check this mighty passion, and to restrain our ambition before it gets out of hand.
2021-09-1350 minFinneran's WakeParadise Lost by John Milton | A Reading“Me miserable! Which way shall I fly—Infinite wrath, and infinite despair? Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell; And in the lowest deep a lower deep still threatening to devour me opens wide, to which the hell I suffer seems a heaven”. The question, then, fiend Satan, is wither goest thou? Quo vadis, king of the infernal depth? Directionless and vanquished, fallen and condemned, what home remains to you, arch apostate, that is not also hell? As you admit, yours is a mind “not to be changed by place or time”. What matter where, then, if thou be still t
2021-09-0549 minFinneran's WakeThe Golden Bough by James George Frazer | A Reading“Thus it appears that the Christian Church chose to celebrate the birthday of its Founder on the twenty-fifth of December in order to transfer the devotion of the heathen from the Sun to him who was called the Sun of Righteousness”. The Nativity of Christ, then, is observed not at some divinely-sanctioned date, an hour of which the singing angels in heaven alone foreknew, but at a time of the year in strict conformity with the rather mundane renewal of the sun. The Winter Solstice was simply appropriated for the Christian doctors’ use.
2021-08-2635 minFinneran's WakeEndymion by John Keats | A Reading“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness; but still will keep a bower quiet for us, and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing”. Indeed, forever joyous is that beautiful thing—its fair image upon the Grecian urn so fitly stamped. For beauty knows not death, nor feels the whips and scorns of time. It fears not the slings and shocks to which flesh is heir, nor the pangs of love denied. It cannot fade; it cannot be but young, for “beauty is truth, truth beauty—t...
2021-08-2042 minFinneran's WakeThe Rime Of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge | A Reading“Ah! Well a-day! What evil looks had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross about my neck was hung.” And thus, in death, the image of the bird was born. Had the trigger-happy Mariner not shot this helpful fowl, this airy guide upon whom the wayward crew was dependent, we’d not have the great expression—an “Albatross to bear”. Pinions of ebony, body of creamy white, this guileless bird was killed in mid-flight. The neck of its assassin bore the corpse’s heavy weight, endured the frigid Antarctic, and his colleagues’ cooler hate.
2021-08-021h 00Finneran's WakeCrime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky | A Reading“You see, I wanted to become a Napoleon…that’s why I killed. Well, is it clear now? Would Napoleon have gone ahead or not?” Doubtless, he would have. The Corsican artilleryman, that great general upon whom, in the rubble of the Revolution, the dazzling title of “First Consul” was bestowed, was little encumbered by his conscience, and seldom dissuaded by the scruples of his Christian faith. Indeed, he was subject to no higher moral law, no Decalogue issued at Sinai’s misty peak. He cast himself, instead, quite beyond the realm of good and evil--that same meek, pallid, wretched world from whi...
2021-07-1854 minFinneran's WakeSong Of The Open Road by Walt Whitman | A Reading“Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good-fortune. Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms. Strong and content, I travel the open road”. Might we, having now seen the “long brown path” before us, and nodded “yes” to its meanders---to the many bends along which our intrepid feet amble---join you on so enticing a walk? Might we, having now pressed our soles to the leaf-strewn soil, and felt the supple spring of the grass atop which the morning dew lingers, accompany a spirit so unencumbered, strong, and free? Let us gather, the...
2021-06-2843 minFinneran's WakeFathers And Sons by Ivan Turgenev | A Reading“A nihilist—that’s from the Latin "nihil", nothing, so far as I can judge. Therefore, the word denotes a man who doesn’t recognize anything?” Sadly, it does. The word’s etymology, should you be so fearless as to trace it to its root, shan’t lead you astray. It will, however, lead you to dark, morbid, and unnatural places, to a chthonic world out of which you’ll not easily climb. It’ll lead you to a realm emptied of meaning, and an existence stripped of life. The materialist, utilitarian, unpoetic, brooding Bazarov will welcome you to this ghastly terrain.
...
2021-06-2146 minFinneran's WakeMetamorphoses by Ovid | A Reading“To the music of his strings he sang, and all the bloodless spirits wept to hear; and Tantalus forgot the fleeing water, Ixion’s wheel was tranced; Sisyphus sat rapt upon his stone and the Furies’ cheeks, it’s said, were wet with tears; And Hades’ queen and He whose scepter rules the Underworld could not deny the prayer, and called Eurydice.” Such is the power of Orpheus’ melodious persuasion. With lyre in hand, and a song in his heart, the troubled troubadour is able to convince his every listener—inanimate or divine—with an eloquence by which not only god and Titan, but...
2021-06-141h 20Finneran's WakeThe Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann | A Reading“The days began to fly now, and yet each one of them was stretched by renewed expectations and swollen with silent, private experiences. Yes, time is a puzzling thing, there is something about it that is hard to explain”. It’s positively bewildering. Indeed, the difficulty in explaining it is only increased as one reaches the heights of the Magic Mountain, that strange Alpine crag in which the famed sanatorium is nestled, and the confederacy of the tubercular confined. There, so many miles above the unexalted flatlands of the continent below, and so far beyond the stunted reach of our human...
2021-06-0751 minFinneran's WakeThe Prelude by William Wordsworth | A Reading“The earth is all before me: with a heart joyous, nor scared at its own liberty, I look about, and should the guide I choose be nothing better than a wandering cloud, I cannot miss my way”. Let us mount that wayward nimbus, upon whose broad back we leap to climb, if only to seek the sunrise of a fresh and glorious day. Let us follow that venturesome spirit, by which, in heat, the verdant land is shaded, and, in solitude, the quiet empyrean conveyed. This much we know—we shall not be led astray. We shall not find ourselves on pat...
2021-05-301h 04
Finneran's WakeEp. 16 - On The Art Of Conversation, Part II | Michel De Montaigne“I welcome truth, I fondle it, in whosesoever hand I find it; I surrender to it cheerfully, welcoming it with my vanquished arms as soon as I see it approaching from afar”. With the exception of love, and perhaps beauty, truth is the only power to which, once beaten, we can’t but gladly submit. We smile as we bow our heads in its royal presence, and cheer the conquest of its arrival. It’s the supreme force, greater than any other, before which we unhesitatingly genuflect, and to which we happily commit our lightsome fate. Truth, steady in its march to...
2021-05-2351 minFinneran's WakeOn The Art Of Conversation by Michel De Montaigne | A Reading“To my taste, the most fruitful and most natural exercise of our minds is conversation. I find the practice of it the most delightful activity in our lives. In their academies, the Athenians, and even more the Romans, maintained this exercise in great honor”. In our own times, however, we’ve all but forgotten this delightful art—this melodious exchange of ideas, and interplay of opinions, in which classical tongues were so fluent. We no longer feel the spark by which it once tickled our nerves, nor the heat with which it once warmed our lagging spirits. It was, once, the acti...
2021-05-231h 03Finneran's WakeThe History Of Rasselas, Prince Of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson | A Reading‘The Europeans,’ answered Imlac, ‘are less unhappy than we, but they are not happy. Human life is everywhere a state in which much is to be endured, and little to be enjoyed’. Alas, is this not the divine punishment for our original transgression?—the terrible consequence of our old, Edenic sin? Were our first parents not warned against tasting of the fruit with which that tempting tree was laden? Were they not then told, having eaten it, and having satisfied both hunger and curiosity in a single bite, to expect sorrow, pain, and a joyless life of toil? That much is to be e...
2021-05-091h 07