Classical Stuff You Should Know

A literary foil is something in the story that exists to highlight the characteristics of the protagonists. COULD IT BE that literature is a foil for us!? I THINK YES.

The Trolley problem presents a perfect study case from which to look at different ethical viewpoints. But . . . come on. You know you'd pull the lever. It's just the right thing to do.

In 1848, a small group of social philosophers publish a little pamphlet with big wings: The Communist Manifesto. This podcast is about that thing.

In this episode we talk about the differences in theme and construction between the recent (pretty solid) film about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the poem by the same name.

Herodotus put together a pretty stellar history, and the Landmark version is a stellar translation of it. In this episode we discuss the book and several stories from it.

Arthur Brooks, a researcher of happiness at Harvard, has distilled his research about happiness into a simple equation. Want to know how to be happy? Turns out this is the way.

The Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid are all part of one story. That story was common knowledge for the Greeks, but mostly unknown to us moderns. This episode is that story, giving the context necessary for understanding the Iliad, which begins in the middle of things.

Thomas has recently left his position as the Dean of Student Life at Veritas. These are the things he's learned.

A.J. has always struggled with his views of poetry as a genre. He might have finally sorted it out with the help of John Donne.

Kierkegaard faced the absurdity of the universe, the absurdity of faith, and held both in tension. In this episode we explore his book "Fear and Trembling" as it traces the mystifying story of Abraham and Isaac.

Shakespeare's "The Tempest" is a bit of a mystery of a play, especially since nothing really happens.

The Book of Common Prayer is for those of us who don't always know what to say. So . . . all of us. Thomas gives us a little history, then a quick rundown of the book.

This is the second half of A.J.'s series on Machiavelli's "The Prince." It addresses how a prince can establish a reputation. We also chat about pie.

"The Great Divorce," by C.S. Lewis, recounts a bus trip to heaven. We discuss the Problem of Evil in the perspective of the book.

Euclid's "Elements" was the math text for over a thousand years. We all try to do a proof, and we end up with something looking like an Eiffel Tower.

Machiavelli was a statesman that wanted back into the good graces of the Medici. It half worked. This is a discussion of the work that was supposed to do the job of charming the prince. It's entitled, shockingly, "The Prince."

Jane Austen is a delight, and her novel Pride and Prejudice is no exception. In this episode, we review the book and talk about what it takes to change as drastically as Elizabeth and Darcy.

While "The Gates of Paradise" mark one of the first uses of perspective in sculpture, Rodin's "Gates of Hell," made much later in response, chronicle the existential despair of human suffering, so that's great!

"A Mathematician's Lament," by Paul Lockhart, mourns the way we teach math to children. In many ways, he's right. A.J. will probably still find something to complain about, though.

We all get depressed sometimes. We take a look at when Satan gets the feels in Milton's Paradise Lost.

Lorenzo Ghiberti sculpted what are perhaps the most famous doors of human history. You can see them in Florence (if you go to a museum), or you can listen to this podcast and see them in your mind's eye. If you want to view them online, we've included a link in the show-notes on our website.

Even smart people need a little direction sometimes (except for Graeme, who is perfect always), and The Intellectual Life by A.G. Sertillanges helps us all in the disciplines of intellectualism.

The rest of Goethe's Faust is flat bananas, and it ends with a devil flirting with Angels. I can't even. (Also, please don't miss my rhyming pun with "Tokyo Drift." I'm convinced puns are extra good if you have to explain them.)

Let's talk about gnosticism. Let's talk about heresy. Let's talk about Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's book, "Montaillou, Cathars and Catholics in a French village, 1294-1324." Let's talk about starting our own cult.

As the archangel Michael boots Adam and Eve from Paradise, he gives Adam a vision of the future to, you know, make him feel better. Adam then says that he knows what is right now, and that man only has to obey. Was Milton making a statement about the ways in which we should conduct ourselves in regard to curiosity? I mean, probs.