Entitled Opinions (about Life and Literature)

In this episode Werner Herzog speaks with Robert about the future of truth, which is the subject and title of Herzog’s new book, published in 2025. Songs in this episode: “Moby Dick” by Glass Wave, and “Balena” by Glass Wave.

Entitled Opinions is pleased to air Robert Harrison’s interview with Masud Gaziyev, which aired on the YouTube channel of “Philosophy Everyday” earlier this month. Inspired by Robert’s book “The Dominion of the Dead”, the interview centered around the meaning of death in our time.

In this show Robert Harrison and Ato Quayson discuss tragedy and postcolonial literature (the topic of Professor Quayson’s 2021 book of the same title). Ato Quayson is the Jean G. and Morris M. Dolye Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and English at Stanford University, and chair of the Department of African and African American Studies. Songs in […]

In this show Robert Harrison and Dr. Miles Osgood from The Ho Center For Buddhist Studies discuss the figure of Ulysses as he appears in Homer and many subsequent incarnations, especially in literary modernism. Songs in this episode: “Nausicaa” by Glass Wave, and “Calypso” by Suzanne Vega.

In this show Robert Harrison and Adrienne Corn discuss the biology, psychology, and sociology of aging. Adrienne Corn earned a Ph. D. from Vanderbilt University in Leadership, Policy and Organizational Behavior. She is the founder of HumanTalented, a software and services company located in Nashville. Songs in this episode: “From the Beginning” by Emerson, Lake & […]

Mark Gonnerman received his Ph. D. in Religious Studies at Stanford University, has taught the comparative philosophy of religions, and is the author of “A Sense of the Whole: Reading Gary Snyder’s Mountains and Rivers Without End”. Songs in this episode: “On the Edge of Uncertainty” by Steve Hunter, and “Bold as Love” by Jimi Hendrix.

In this episode we re-broadcast a show that aired on Abby Walthausen’s podcast “A Lovely Wallpaper” in which she engages Robert Harrison on the meaning of the winter solstice and the generative power of darkness.

In this show Robert Harrison and Crystal Cassidy discuss the biology, spirit, and outcomes of meditation. Crystal Cassidy is a meditation master and founder of SoulPod. Songs in this episode: “Silence Must be Heard” by Enigma, and “The Voice of Enigma” by Enigma.

This episode features Robert Harrison’s conversation with Christy Wampole about Zeitgeist and the spirit of planet Earth, which took place at Princeton University on October 23, 2025.

A conversation between Robert Harrison and Christy Wampole about the origins and history of Entitled Opinions.

In this monologue Robert Harrison reflects on the differences between human intelligence, animal intelligence, and artificial intelligence. Songs in this episode: “From the Beginning” by Emerson, Lake & Palmer; “La Nuit du Rat” by La Féline; and “If” by Pink Floyd.

In this show Robert Harrison and Michaela Hulstyn discuss various experiences of unselfing, focusing on the nature of its shapeshifting and the knowledge that unselfing delivers. Michaela Hulstyn is a Lecturer at Stanford and Associate Director of Stanford’s Structured Liberal Education program. She is the author of Unselfing: Global French Literature at the Limits of […]

A conversation about the uses and abuses of action in the history of philosophy and contemporary society with Grant Dowling. Songs in this episode: “Silence Must Be Heard” by Enigma, and “Easy Does It” by Supertramp.

A conversation about crystals and their mysterious quantum powers with Dr. Aaron Breidenbach. Songs in this episode: “From the Beginning” by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and “Crystalised” by The xx.

A monologue in which our host, Professor Robert Harrison, gets swept up by the spirit of the wind and carried toward some indeterminate destination. Songs in this episode: “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, “Annabelle Lee” by Glass Wave, and “The Wind Cries Mary” by Jimi Hendrix.

A conversation about David Jones’ “In Parenthesis” with Tim Noakes, Head of Public Services, Special Collections at Stanford University. Songs in this episode: “A Fool No More” by Peter Green, and “Machine Gun” by Jimi Hendrix.

A conversation about sex, intimacy, and human relations in the era of AI with Jeanne Proust, Vice President of the Public Philosophy Network. Songs in this episode: “Reckoner” by Radiohead, and “She’s Not There” by The Zombies.

A monologue in which our host, Professor Robert Harrison, performs a “cover” of Walter Benjamin’s essay titled “The Destructive Character,” first published in 1931.

A conversation about Carl Jung, the Red Book, and Jung’s descent into the unconscious with Laura Wittman, Associate Professor of French and Italian at Stanford University. Songs in this episode: “Into the Night” by Julee Cruise, and “End of the Night” by The Doors.

A conversation about the real, the actual, and the virtual with Jan Söffner, Visiting Professor in German Studies at Stanford University and Chair of Cultural Theory and Cultural Analysis at Zeppelin University. Songs in this episode: “Echo” by Glass Wave, and “Compared to What” by Ray Charles.

A conversation about the origins of language and everything in between with Julie Sedivy, a psycholinguist and author of Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love. Songs in this episode: “From the Beginning” by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and “Belly Button Window” by Jimi Hendrix.

A conversation about the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke with Alexander Sorenson, Assistant Professor of German Studies at Binghamton University and author of The Waiting Water: Order, Sacrifice and Submergence in German Realism. Songs in this episode: “The Trampled Rose” by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, and “New Age of the Earth” by Ash-Ra Temple.

A conversation about the work of Peter Kingsley, the thought of Parmenides, and everything in between, with Grant Bartolomé Dowling, a PhD Candidate in Philosophy at Stanford University, who is currently finishing his dissertation on elenchus in Plato’s Socratic dialogues. Songs in this episode: “La nuit du rat” by La Féline and “End Of The […]

A conversation about the intersection of Giambattista Vico’s philosophy, Roman history, and the recent rise of “American Fascism” with Julian Davis, a PhD Candidate in Philosophy at Stanford University, who is also a well-known activist and attorney in San Francisco. Songs in this episode: “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by The Rolling Stones and “Lotus Flower” by […]

A conversation about the creative peak of Nietzsche and van Gogh in 1888 with Brian Pines, Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco. Song in this episode: “The Ghost” by Fleetwood Mac.