Shows
The Wisdom OfBeckett's MolloyMolloy is a novel written by the Irish writer Samuel Beckett, published in 1951. It’s the first of a trilogy of novels, the other two being Malone Dies and The Unnamable. In this episode, we discuss the idea of being stuck inside your own mind, and the idea of the mid-life crisis. 2022-04-0226 minThe Wisdom OfAnthropocentrismIn this brief episode, I discuss the nature and the problem of our human-centered outlook. 2022-03-2909 minThe Wisdom OfZorba the GreekZorba the Greek is a novel written by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis and it was first published in 1946. The story is about a young English writer who meets Alexis Zorba, an older Greek man with a passion for life. As their friendship develops, the young writer is gradually transformed. In this episode, we discuss the contemplative life versus the life of action, and the importance of laughter and dance. 2022-03-2625 minThe Wisdom OfNarcissismIn this brief episode, I talk a little about the nature of narcissism through looking at the Greek myth of Narcissus and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. 2022-03-2011 minThe Wisdom OfPlato's RepublicPlato is considered to be one of the greatest philosophers in history. In this episode, we take a look at his great dialogue the Republic and discuss the important connection he makes between being a good person and happiness. 2022-03-1829 minThe Wisdom OfBuber and The Tyranny of the ITIn this brief episode, I discuss what Buber calls the I-Thou and I-It attitudes to life. 2022-03-1508 minThe Wisdom OfIbsen's A Doll's HouseA Doll’s House is a play written by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered in 1879. The play has as it central theme something like the fate of being a married woman in a male dominated world. In this episode, we explore Ibsen's feminism and the importance he places on self-realization. 2022-03-1424 minThe Wisdom OfSartre and the Creation of ValueIn this brief episode, I discuss Sartre and his view in Existentialism is a Humanism that values don't come from God but rather that they're created by us. 2022-03-0809 minThe Wisdom OfHesse's Journey to the EastJourney to the East is a novel written by the German author Herman Hesse, published in 1932. Journey to the East is about a man who becomes a member of what’s known as The League, a branch of which goes on a pilgrimage to "the East" in search of the ultimate Truth. In this episode, we discuss St. Francis of Assisi, Servant Leadership, and what going East really means. 2022-03-0624 minThe Wisdom OfNietzsche and the Tightrope WalkerIn this brief episode, I discuss the meaning of the tightrope walker in Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra. 2022-03-0108 minThe Wisdom OfLao Tzu and TaoismLao Tzu was an ancient Chinese philosopher, born sometime in the 6th century BC. He’s supposedly the founder of Taoism. Taoism emphasizes living in harmony with what’s called the Tao or the way, which is taken to be the underlying natural order of the universe. In this episode, we discuss Lao Tzu's view on language and his notion of inaction. 2022-02-2725 minThe Wisdom OfFree SpeechIn this brief episode, I talk about how it actually personally benefits us to not shy away from false or disagreeable ideas. 2022-02-2310 minThe Wisdom OfTolstoy's The Death of Ivan IlyichThe Death of Ivan Ilyich was written by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, and it was published in 1886. The story’s about Ivan, an inauthentic, upper class individual, who learns that he’s dying from a terminal disease. In this episode, we discuss the theme of insincerity and of death. 2022-02-2023 minThe Wisdom OfPainIn this brief episode, I talk about the importance of some discomfort and pain in life. 2022-02-1609 minThe Wisdom OfThe Fragility of GoodnessThe Fragility of Goodness was written by Martha Nussbaum, published in 1986. Nussbaum is an American philosopher who works at the University of Chicago. In this episode, we reflect on the question of how immune and how safe it is we should make ourselves, or conversely, how open we should be to life, in order to live in such a way that’s best and most valuable for a human being. 2022-02-1425 minThe Wisdom OfThinking in a Digital AgeIn this brief episode, I talk about the importance of thinking as a form of deep attention. 2022-02-1107 minThe Wisdom OfDostoevsky and The Problem of EvilIn this brief episode, I discuss the Problem of Evil in Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. 2022-02-0809 minThe Wisdom OfThe Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by American author Mark Twain which was first published in 1884. The story is about Huck, who runs away from his abusive father and, with his friend, the runaway slave Jim, makes a long and frequently interrupted voyage down the Mississippi River on a raft. In this episode, we discuss Huck and Jim's relationship, and then we talk about what it means to be free on the river. 2022-02-0623 minThe Wisdom OfThe Cynic Diogenes and his Wine BarrelIn this brief episode, I discuss the Cynic Diogenes and his view on freedom. 2022-01-3107 minThe Wisdom OfGods - YahwehYahweh is the god of ancient Israel, who chooses a certain people, the Israelites, as his own. He’s viewed as the creator of the universe. In this episode, we discuss Yahweh's supposed moral perfection, and His distance from us. 2022-01-2925 minThe Wisdom OfAristotle and Character DevelopmentIn this brief episode, I discuss Aristotle's view on the development of character or virtue, especially as it concerns the importance of habit. 2022-01-2510 minThe Wisdom OfGods - ThorThor was the Norse god of thunder and lightning. And he was probably the most worshipped of any of the Heathen gods throughout pre-Christian Northern Europe. In this episode, we discuss his role as protector and his magical hammer. 2022-01-2226 minThe Wisdom OfThe Stoics on FateStoicism is a school of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. In this episode, I discuss the Stoics view on fate and on emotions. 2022-01-1817 minThe Wisdom OfGods - BuddhaSiddhartha Gautama, popularly known as the Buddha, was a teacher and religious leader who lived in Ancient India. His teachings form the basis of the Buddhist religion. In this episode, we discuss his notion of no-self, and we look at some later thinkers that were influenced by Buddhism. 2022-01-1627 minThe Wisdom OfGods - JesusJesus of Nazareth is the core figure of one of the world’s largest religions, Christianity. He’s regarded by most Christians as the incarnation or the son of God. In this episode, we discuss the importance he places on being like children. We also discuss Dostoevsky and Nietzsche within this context. 2022-01-0926 minThe Wisdom OfGods - GaiaThe god Gaia, in Greek mythology, is the personification of the earth. In this episode, we explore her significance in the creation myth. We also discuss the concept Gaia in today's context. 2021-12-3027 minThe Wisdom OfGrace2021-12-2708 minThe Wisdom OfBeauty - Camus' Lyrical EssaysAlbert Camus’ Lyrical Essays are a collection of essays Camus wrote between 1937 and 1958. They include his very earliest writings and some of his very last. In this episode we focus on those early ones, which mostly take the form of prose-poetry, and which are overflowing with a lyrical and rhapsodic love of the earth. 2021-12-1927 minThe Wisdom OfBeauty - The Song of SongsThe Song of Songs is one of the shortest books of the Bible. It's basically a collection of love poems spoken to each other by a young man and a young woman. The Song of Songs is undoubtably one of the greatest and most beautiful love poems ever written. In this episode, we try to tackle the meaning of this poem and we take a look at the beauty of the language used. 2021-12-1226 minThe Wisdom OfThe Ancient Greek countryside2021-12-0705 minThe Wisdom OfBeauty - SportsIn this episode, we discuss the artistry and beauty of sports. 2021-12-0528 minThe Wisdom OfBeauty - Baudelaire's The Flowers of EvilCharles Baudelaire was a french poet and art critic who was born in 1821. His most famous work, published in 1857, was The Flowers of Evil. The Flowers of Evil, explores, among other things, the good, the bad and the ugly of modern city life. In this episode, we explore themes like the connection between beauty and morality, and beauty as the commonplace. 2021-11-2827 minThe Wisdom OfThe Passionate Life! Something to Inspire Your Mornings With!A little something to get you going on those sluggish mornings! 2021-11-2306 minThe Wisdom OfBeauty - Nabokov's LolitaThe 1955 novel Lolita was written by the Russian American writer Vladimir Nabokov. The story’s about a European middle aged professor, Humbert, who’s obsessed with a 12 year old American girl, Dolores, whom he nicknames Lolita. In this episode we explore themes like beauty, desire and youth. 2021-11-2226 minThe Wisdom OfScience & Tech - The DispossessedThe Dispossessed is a science fiction novel written by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. It was published in 1974. The story is about radically different societies on two twin planets, Urras and Annares. Urras is in part a capitalist economy, while Annares is without a government and anarchistic. In this episode, we explore the themes of promise-keeping, beauty, and environmental degradation. 2021-11-1429 minThe Wisdom OfScience & Tech - Brave New WorldBrave New World was written by the English writer Aldous Huxley. It’s a dystopian novel and it was published in 1932. The story is set in a London six hundred years in the future. In this episode, we explore the themes of consumerism, pleasure and happiness. 2021-11-0729 minThe Wisdom OfScience & Tech - Star TrekThe Next Generation is a TV series created by Gene Roddenberry, which first aired in 1987. The show follows the adventures of the ship the USS Enterprise, as it explores the Milky Way galaxy, with captain Jean Luc Picard at the helm. In this episode, we discuss how it is Star Trek tries to make us aware of the shortcomings of the values we hold today, specifically, values centered around work and the pursuit of wealth. 2021-10-3127 minThe Wisdom OfScience & Tech - NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher born in 1844. His most famous and probably greatest work is Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In this episode, we take a look at some of the things he has to say about science and truth. 2021-10-2431 minThe Wisdom OfScience & Tech - Dostoevsky's Notes from the UndergroundNotes from the Underground is a novella, written by the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was published in 1864. The novella presents itself as an excerpt from the meandering thoughts and memories of a stewing, secluded and unnamed narrator who’s a retired government bureaucrat living in St. Petersburg.2021-10-1828 minThe Wisdom OfListener Requests - Atwood's The Handmaid's TaleThe Handmaid’s Tale was written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It’s a dystopian novel, set in a patriarchal, religious totalitarian state known as the Gilead Republic. The protagonist is a woman named Offred, who’s belongs to the group of handmaids, a group of women who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the ruling class of men.2021-10-1127 minThe Wisdom OfListener Requests - Lord of the FliesLord of the Flies is a novel by the English author William Golding, published in 1954. It’s a book about a group of boys whose airplane crashes on an uninhabited island somewhere in the Pacific ocean. The story is about their attempt to govern themselves without any adults around.2021-10-0327 minThe Wisdom OfListener Requests - Shakespeare's HamletWilliam Shakespeare was an English playwright born in 1564. Some of his most famous works include Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Macbeth and Hamlet. His plays, which include tragedies, comedies and histories, have been translated into nearly every language and they’re performed more than any other playwright. He’s often considered to be the greatest writer in the English language. The play we look at today is Hamlet. 2021-09-2628 minThe Wisdom OfListener Requests - Dostoevsky's The PossessedThe Possessed, or Demons, is a novel written by the Russian writer Dostoevsky and it was first published in 1871. It’s a story concerned with the catastrophic consequences of the political and moral nihilism that were becoming more prevalent in Russia in the 1860s. 2021-09-1831 minThe Wisdom OfAncient HappinessIn this episode we compare modern versus ancient conceptions of happiness.2021-09-1224 minThe Wisdom OfListener Requests - Emily DickinsonEmily Dickinson was an American poet, born in Massachusetts, in 1830. In this episode, we explore her views on death, nature, the senses, and the affirmation of life. 2021-09-0626 minThe Wisdom OfA Thanks to the Listeners!2021-08-3114 minThe Wisdom OfTragedy - Orwell's 1984Send us a Text Message.1984 is a dystopian story written by George Orwell and it was published in 1949.2021-08-2929 minThe Wisdom OfTragedy - Moby DickMoby Dick was written by the American writer Herman Melville, and it was published in 18512021-08-2130 minThe Wisdom OfTragedy - Freud's Civilization and Its DiscontentsCivilization and its Discontents is a book by the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, published in 1930.2021-08-1531 minThe Wisdom OfTragedy - Euripides' BacchaeThe Bacchae was written by the Greek playwright and tragedian Euripides around 410 BC. It’s no doubt one of his most provocative and dreadful tragedies.2021-08-0831 minThe Wisdom OfTragedy - Waiting For GodotWaiting for Godot is a play composed by the incomparable Irish writer Samuel Beckett, first written in French in 1948. 2021-07-3130 minThe Wisdom OfFilms - RashomonRashomon is a groundbreaking 1950 film directed by the master Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.2021-07-2428 minThe Wisdom OfFilms - The Tree of LifeThe Tree of Life is a 2011 film directed by the incomparable Terence Malick.2021-07-1733 minThe Wisdom OfQ&A in the Deep Dark Forest!We finally try to answer listener questions in our first group discussion! 2021-07-1340 minThe Wisdom OfGreek Hospitality2021-07-0410 minThe Wisdom OfSchweitzer's Reverence For Life2021-07-0110 minThe Wisdom OfFilms - Fight ClubFight Club is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher. In this episode, we discuss the consumer life, Marcuse' s one-dimensional man, Nietzsche's death of God, and our tendency to submit to authority. 2021-06-2732 minThe Wisdom OfFilms - Fellini's 8 1/28 1/2 is a 1963 Italian film directed by Federico Fellini. 2021-06-2032 minThe Wisdom OfFilms - Star WarsStar Wars is a science fiction movie from 1977. In this episode, we discuss Zoroastrianism, fairy tales, the Tao, and the character of Odysseus. 2021-06-1137 minThe Wisdom OfEmpedocles' Cosmic Powers2021-05-3110 minThe Wisdom OfPaintings - Van Gogh's Starry NightVincent Van Gogh was a Dutch painter who was born in 1853 and died in 1890. In 1889, plagued by depression and illness, Van Gogh committed himself to a mental asylum in France. It’s there, in his lucid periods, where he painted, among other masterpieces, Starry Night.2021-05-2928 minThe Wisdom OfPaintings - Frida KahloFrida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who has become one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. 2021-05-2227 minThe Wisdom OfPaintings - Munch's The ScreamThe Scream is a painting by the Norwegian Edvard Munch. It's a forerunner of the Expressionist movement. 2021-05-1530 minThe Wisdom OfSeneca on the WIDE life!2021-05-1010 minThe Wisdom OfPaintings - Picasso's The Young Ladies of AvignonCreated in 1907, The Young Ladies of Avignon is the single most important turning point in the evolution of modern art.2021-05-0831 minThe Wisdom OfMasks2021-05-0210 minThe Wisdom OfPaintings - The Lascaux Cave PaintingsThe Lascaux Cave Paintings belong to the Paleolithic Age and are some of the oldest paintings in the world. 2021-05-0127 minThe Wisdom OfAuthenticity - Camus' The StrangerSeason 5 Authenticity - The Stranger is about a young man who commits a murder without motive or explanation.2021-04-2428 minThe Wisdom OfCarl Jung and Rollo May on the power of words and symbols!Oh my, how much of our horizon do we lose when we impoverish our language! 2021-04-1910 minThe Wisdom OfAuthenticity - Alice MunroSeason 5 Authenticity - Alice Munro is a Canadian short story writer. 2021-04-1725 minThe Wisdom OfAristotle on Friendship2021-04-1210 minThe Wisdom OfAuthenticity - Salinger's Catcher in the RyeSeason 5 Authenticity - Catcher in the Rye is about a young adolescent seeking authenticity.2021-04-1131 minThe Wisdom OfAn ode to Dogs!For you dog lovers! 2021-04-0410 minThe Wisdom OfAuthenticity - Joyce's Portrait of an Artist as a Young ManSeason 5 Authenticity - Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man is about a young man who leaves his religion and his family to try to become an artist.2021-04-0326 minThe Wisdom OfAuthenticity - Bob DylanSeason 5 Authenticity - Bob Dylan is an American singer song-writer born in 1941.2021-03-2827 minThe Wisdom OfAuthenticity - Kafka's MetamorphosisSeason 5 Authenticity - The Metamorphosis is about a traveling salesman who wakes up as an insect. 2021-03-2026 minThe Wisdom OfMorality - Rousseau's EmileSeason 4 Morality - Rousseau's Emile is about the education of a small child in nature.2021-03-1526 minThe Wisdom OfMorality - Conrad's Heart of DarknessSeason 4 Morality - In the Heart of Darkness the central character Marlow tells the story of his journey up the Congo River where he meets Kurtz, an ivory trader.2021-03-0628 minThe Wisdom OfMorality - Gide's The ImmoralistGide's The Immoralist describes a confessional account of a man seeking the truth about his own nature.2021-02-2828 minThe Wisdom OfMorality - Sophocles' Oedipus RexSophocles' Oedipus Rex is a Greek tragedy about Oedipus, who is fated to kill his father and marry his mother.2021-02-2029 minThe Wisdom OfMorality - The Story of Abraham and IsaacThe story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis is about God's command to Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac.2021-02-1427 minThe Wisdom OfMorality - Dostoevsky's Crime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's about a man who commits a murder and has to deal with his guilt.2021-02-0629 minThe Wisdom OfHappiness - John KeatsJohn Keats is a Romantic poet. In this episode, we discuss a letter he wrote in 1817 where he talked about something he called "Negative Capability".2021-01-3031 minThe Wisdom OfHappiness - F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, the novel depicts narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.2021-01-2431 minThe Wisdom OfHappiness - Camus' The Myth of SisyphusThe Myth of Sisyphus is a philosophical essay about the absurd, published in 1942. 2021-01-1636 minThe Wisdom OfHappiness - Tolstoy's Anna KareninaAnna Karenina is a story of love and adultery set against the background of aristocratic society in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.2021-01-1033 minThe Wisdom OfHappiness - Epicurus' Letter to MenoeceusEpicurus’ Letter to Menoeceus is a brief summary of his philosophy of happiness, to his friend and disciple of the letter’s name. 2021-01-0340 minThe Wisdom OfHappiness - HerodotusIn The Histories, Herodotus tells the story of the encounter between King Croesus and Solon. They discuss what it means to be happy. 2020-12-2932 minThe Wisdom OfLove - Thomas Mann's Death in VeniceMann's Death in Venice is about a great writer who visits Venice and becomes obsessed with a beautiful youth.2020-12-2330 minThe Wisdom OfLove - Dostoevsky's The Brothers KaramazovDostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov is a story of patricide, and it centers around the clashes of values and world views of the Karamazov family.2020-12-1927 minThe Wisdom OfLove - Mary Shelley's FrankensteinIn Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Frankenstein sets out to create a person in what is one of the most unusual scientific experiments ever conceived. 2020-12-0927 minThe Wisdom OfLove - Homer's OdysseyHomer's Odyssey is about the Greek hero Odysseus and his long journey home after the Trojan War where his wife Penelope and son Telemachus await him.2020-12-0631 minThe Wisdom OfLove - SapphoSappho was a greek poet from the island of Lesbos in the Aegean sea. Sappho's sensual poetry often centred around the overwhelming power of love and it was often directed towards other women. In this episode, we talk about how intimate, physical, and personal her view of love was! 2020-11-2933 minThe Wisdom OfLove - Plato's SymposiumThe Symposium is one of Plato's greatest dialogues. It's one of the most influential texts on love in the western world. In this episode, we discuss his idea of the ladder of love, and how it is love can completely transform our life! 2020-11-2834 minThe Wisdom OfMeaning - Cervantes' Don QuixoteDon Quixote is a book written by Miguel de Cervantes published in 1605. It's about an everyday man who one day turns into a knight errant and decides to right the wrongs of this world.2020-11-1527 minThe Wisdom OfMeaning - Hemingway's A Clean Well Lighted PlaceA Clean, Well-Lighted Place is a five page short story written by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1933. It’s about three people and their individual confrontation with nothingness or nada. 2020-11-1431 minThe Wisdom OfMeaning - Camus' The PlagueThe Plague is a book written by Albert Camus, published in 1947. The story is about a deadly plague that ravages the town of Oran, and the people who try to fight against it. They do the best they can, even though they know that there is no cure and that their attempts are ultimately futile.2020-11-0332 minThe Wisdom OfMeaning - Nietzsche's Thus Spoke ZarathustraThus Spoke Zarathustra is a book written by Friedrich Nietzsche, published in 1883. The story chronicles the sayings and the travels of the sage Zarathustra. Zarathustra teaches that God is dead and that we must remain faithful to the earth. 2020-10-3132 minThe Wisdom OfMeaning - The Book of JobThe Book of Job is a book from the Old Testament. It was written around the 6th century BC. The story is about Job, a completely innocent and upright man, who is made to suffer terribly as a result of a bet made between God and Satan. Initially, Job can’t understand why God would allow for his to happen to him. Eventually he comes to realize that God’s creation is much bigger, and so less about him personally, than he had assumed. 2020-10-3030 minThe Wisdom OfMeaning - The Epic Of GilgameshThe Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known story we have. It’s from Mesopotamia and it dates back all the way to around 1800 BC. The story is about Gilgamesh, the ruler of Uruk, and his quest for immortality. What he eventually realizes is that immortality is not what the aim of life is all about, but rather, in everyday projects and good deeds, in the concerns of this life. 2020-10-2540 min