William Engels

History of Philosophy Audio Archive

Education EN ↓ 244 episodes

Curated lectures, interviews, and talks with philosophers, social scientists, and historians together in one place. Each week, we explore brand new research in history, economics, psychology, political science, philosophy, indigenous studies, and human rights while presenting the work of canonical scholars in a way that is accessible to newcomers while retaining interest for students and specialists. If you are an author in nonfiction or a scholar in the humanities/social sciences and are interested in being interviewed for the show please email me at williamengels@substack.com or @Bluesky.

Author

William Engels

Episodes

DD6 - 40 Years in Solitary: "Cruel and Unusual: The Story of the Angola 3", Solitary Confinement, Torture, Jim Crow, Black Radicalism, Private Prisons, Prison Labor, and Mass Incarceration 02.09.2025 1:15:52

Watch "Cruel and Unusual" on Kanopy! https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/cruel-and-unusual Follow Sabrina and I on Bluesky or Patreon: ⁠Note To Self // Patreon⁠ Sabrina Jennings // Bluesky Hemlock // Patreon William Engels // Bluesky Fundraisers, Palestine Support, and Good Programs: ⁠⁠Amjad Hamad and his Family⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Rulin and Family⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sammar and her Husband⁠⁠ ⁠⁠MSF (Doctors Without Borders)⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Pa...

DD5 Eichmann in Jerusalem: "Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt" Banality of Evil, Between Past and Future, Totalitarianism in Democracy, K. Jaspers, Martin Heidegger, the Third Reich, Fascism 02.09.2025 1:33:10

Watch Vita Activa on Kanopy! https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/vita-activa-spirit-hannah-arendt-1?vp=newschool Follow Sabrina on Bluesky or Patreon: Note To Self // Patreon Sabrina Jennings // Bluesky Fundraisers, Palestine Support, and Good Programs: ⁠Amjad Hamad and his Family⁠ ⁠Rulin and Family⁠ ⁠Sammar and her Husband⁠ ⁠MSF (Doctors Without Borders)⁠ ⁠Palestinian Youth Movement⁠ Books and Sour...

Consolatio #6: The Finest Threads that Bind the Truth - Book 5 of the Consolation of Philosophy on Free Will, Higher Intelligence, History and Eternity, Hope's Epitaph 25.08.2025 48:13

The final book in Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy, on the compatibility of divine omniscience and human free will, the eternal and the continual, and the rarefaction of intelligence. Cheers! Virginia Woolf is next... Music: Beethoven, String Quartet No 13, "Cavatina", Orion String Quartet. I also recommend the Lindsay String Quartet version, and the Takács Quartet on Decca. English translation...

Hemlock #31: McNamara's Cold War: Pulitzer Prize-Winner Bill Taubman on Vietnam, the Domino Theory, Khrushchev & Gorbachev, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Tokyo Firebombing, Nuclear Abolition 23.08.2025 1:37:55

McNamara at War is available September 23rd from Amazon! There's an audiobook as well for the audio-inclined... Summary (AI Generated, Model = NotebookLM) The podcast features an insightful conversation between host William Engels and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian William Taubman, co-author of the recent book "McNamara at War". Taubman, a distinguished Cold War expert, has also pe...

The Art Life: A Tribute to David Lynch (BRM #3, Explicit) with Mr. Richard - Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway, Blue Velvet, 50s Americana, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Mr. Eddy, Now It's Dark 17.08.2025 5:02:15

Now It's Dark. Explicit Advisory: This episode contains potentially upsetting discussions of child sexual abuse/violence as well as addiction, domestic abuse, and human trafficking. Music Credit: Twin Peaks Theme (Cover) by Dehli Musikk Correction: I said that Lynch married Rossellini. Actually they were just romantic partners and were never married. In this one Richard and I cover David Lynch...

Hemlock #30 - Kaila Yu: Orientalism (Old and New), WW2 Comfort Women, Disney Princesses, Imperialism and the Sex Trade, Okinawa Air Base, Asian Fetishization, Memoirs of a Geisha, Playboy, +New Book 14.08.2025 1:00:36

(Pre-) Order Kaila's new book, out August 19th: Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty Summary (AI Generated by Gemini 2.5 Pro): Author Kaila Yu joins the show to discuss her powerful new memoir, "Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty." The conversation unpacks the complex and often damaging ways Asian women are portrayed in Western...

Hemlock #29 - Welcome to the First Crusade Feat. American Prestige and We're Not So Different: Magic Spears, Starving Franks, Holy Massacres, Historical Himbos, and Why Only the First Crusade Worked 12.08.2025 1:21:16

Check out the premium podcast Welcome to the Crusades: The First Crusade and unlock all ten episodes now. Click here for the full first episode. I am joined by Eleanor Janega and Luke Waters of the We're Not So Different Podcast ( Patreon Page ) and the fellas over at American Prestige podcast (Website) Derek Davidson and Daniel Bessner. My Patreon , fwiw~ References, Citations, People, Assort...

#171a - John Brown: Susan Neiman on One Man's Terrorist is Another Man's Freedom Fighter, Radical Ethics and Activism, Violence and Nonviolence, Battle Hymn of the Republic, & Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural 10.08.2025 1:01:07

This episode is Lecture #3 of 6 in Susan Neiman's "Heroism for a Time of Victims" lecture series, part of the Gifford Lectures delivered in May 2022. The other 5 can be found in HoPAA #171. Read about ⁠Susan Neiman's⁠ May 2022 Gifford Lecture Series "Heroism for a Time of Victims" at the ⁠Gifford Lecture blog.⁠ View the original YouTube playlist with all six lectures (a...

#171 - Heroism for a Time of Victims: Susan Neiman on Modern Myths, Odysseus, Albert Einstein, Paul Robeson, Adorno, George Eliot, Circe, John Brown and the Civil War, and Why We Need Heroes Today 09.08.2025 6:41:11

Support me on Patreon ! Read about Susan Neiman's May 2022 Gifford Lecture Series "Heroism for a Time of Victims" at the Gifford Lecture blog. View the original YouTube playlist with all six lectures (and a Q&A which I did not include) here . Music Credits: -Schubert, Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat Major by Max John -Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major, Movement 2 Lecture Ta...

#169b - Death: Shelly Kagan on the Living in the Face of Death, the Problem of Immortality, Suicide and the Value of Life, Loneliness, Overcoming and Confronting the Fear of Death 06.08.2025 9:33:14

This is Part 2 of Shelly Kagan's course on YouTube/Yale Open Courseware. Part 1 is linked in the description, or you can just click here . You can support Professor Kagan by purchasing his book on Death. The original YouTube series can be found here . Support my work on Patreon and keep this stuff free and flowing for everyone: patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon Music is Fauré Requiem, Op. 48, perfo...

Hemlock #28 Watchmen: A Cold War Essay (Part One) Ozymandias, The Doomsday Clock, Rorschach, Nukes in Vietnam, Berlin Pop, Rilke, Thomas Merton & the Unspeakable, and Confronting the End of the World 04.08.2025 51:08

Support my work and get ad-free full episodes on Patreon: ⁠https://patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon⁠ Earlier episodes (#1-27) up now, ad-free on History of Philosophy Audio Archive / Spotify. Music Credit (Cover of 99 Luftballons by NENA, performed by /millibeep) ⁠https://youtu.be/gTss-rBgUl8⁠ What the song means ( ⁠Genius⁠ ): [Verse 1]If you have some time for me Then I will sing a song for you Of ni...

BRM #2b - Byron: Frankenstein's Monster, Ada Lovelace, Dodging Child Support, 19th Century Gossip Columns, the Greek War for Independence, Butt Issues, Hayao Miyazaki, de Sade, and David Lynch 04.08.2025 1:55:19

Patreon Support: ⁠patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon⁠ Podcast Sources (AI Generated, May Contain Errors): Ada Lovelace Source: ⁠Wikipedia: Ada Lovelace⁠ Summary: Ada Lovelace was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She is often regarded as the first to recognize the full potential of...

Bad Role Models #2a: Lord Byron with Richard, Earl of Sinex - European Grand Tours, Childhood Trauma, Crappy 18th century Dads, the Elgin Marbles, Bad Teenage Poetry, Dodging the Coppers Like a Dandy 31.07.2025 2:05:24

It's not easy being a gay brain-sex icon and a straight brain-sex icon at the same time but ya boi Byron did it. Part 1 of 2. Poll in the thing for the next topic. I will abide by the results. Come join the Patreon! https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon Also, I decided Richard and I's biographical series is gonna be called "Bad Role Models" since that seems to be the theme... Also "Behind the Basta...

DocDocs #4: The Riot Report: Lyndon Johnson, the Newark Riots, MLK/Malcolm X, the Kerner Commission, Redlining, Vietnam and Civil Rights, Militarized Police, Jimmy Baldwin, and the End of Jim Crow 31.07.2025 1:30:25

Get full, official episodes of Documentary Doctors on the Shiny New Spotify Feed (coming soon) - you can watch The Riot Report on Kanopy Support good causes: Please consider donating to Gaza relief through the Sameer Project: https://linktr.ee/thesameerproject Gaza Family Aid per Michael Scott Judge / Death Is Just Around the Corner Podcast: " Rulin and Amjad , and of course their families (includ...

Hemlock #27 - Alasdair MacIntyre (1929-2025): My Talk w/ Greg Sadler on Virtue Ethics, Zizek and Lacan, Modes of Rationality, Effective Altruism /Bentham, After Virtue, Thomism, Mill, & Heavy Metal 20.07.2025 2:41:06

Alasdair MacIntyre's book After Virtue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Virtue Patreon for Supporters/Fans: https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon Gregory Sadler: https://www.miad.edu/faculty/gregory-sadler

DocDocs #3 - Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat: Patrice Lumumba and the CIA, Dizzy Gillespie for President, Malcolm X, Fidel Castro, The Great Nina Simone, Frantz Fanon, Congo Liberation, Uranium, IMF, Jazz 14.07.2025 1:20:16

Check out the Documentary! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RwLdIiZk_8 Sabrina's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/notetoselfzine.bsky.social Will Patreon: https://patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon Books and Sources Mentioned: Black Skins, White Masks, and The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon (Algerian Revolutionary Psychoanalyst) The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Life of Frantz Fanon...

#170 - 2nd Biannual Report to the Shareholders: Roy Casagranda, Boethius, the American Terror Series, Virginia Woolf, Alasdair MacIntyre, Getting Emailed by Kn@tsies, Contrapoints, Gratitude 13.07.2025 55:01

Contact: williamengels@substack.com Sabrina's Stuff: https://bsky.app/profile/notetoselfzine.bsky.social Boethius Critical Edition I Used (Although not the Translation) https://a.co/d/7qpk2BV Music Credit: Schubert, Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat Major, performed by Max John https://youtu.be/icowasnkEqw Patreon: https://patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon

#169a - Death: Shelly Kagan on Plato, Immortality, Physicalism versus Dualism, Individual Continuity Across Time and Space, Arguing the Existence of the Soul, Phaedo and Socrates, Memento Mori 06.07.2025 9:04:58

Patreon/Tip Jar: ⁠https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon⁠ Table of Contents Below >>> Original Course Listing on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEA18FAF1AD9047B0⁠ Buy Prof. Kagan's Book on Death: https://a.co/d/8FnPcW1 About the Course (Yale) There is one thing I can be sure of: I am going to die. But what am I to make of that fact? This course will examine a number of...

Hemlock #26 - Targeting the Death Star with Guillermo Zapata: Palantir, ICE Camps, Peter Thiel & the Antichrist, Vaclav Havel, Star Wars and Rogue One, Maersk/BDS, Deporting Zohran, Melancholia, Gaza 04.07.2025 1:47:27

Support the Rebel Alliance: https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon People Mentioned: Mahmoud Khalil Maria Lugones Byung-Chul Han Lars von Trier (dir. Melancholia, 2011) Hannah Arendt Tyson Yunkaporta Concepts: Kenosis (self-emptying) Books: Putnam, Bowling Alone News/References: Zinc Mine in Georgia/ https://thecurrentga.org/2025/06/20/okefenokee-mine-sale-conservation-fund/ Minister of Loneliness U...

Hemlock #25 - Maturity: Taoism, Confucianism, Epicureanism, Kierkegaard's Aesthetic/Hedonistic Way of Life, the Origins of Evil, Ahimsa/Nonviolence, and Disputing the Tao 03.07.2025 49:38

Patreon: https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon Photo Credit: Morning Tai Chi by Shuolong Ma Music Credit: Music Copyright Kevin MacLeod https://youtu.be/qGAcClayOqk Coconut Tree Meme Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7_5nHIbsjo Books/Sources Hans-Georg Moeller Daoism Explained https://www.amazon.com/Daoism-Explained-Butterfly-Fishnet-Allegory/dp/0812695631 Oliver Sacks, the Man Who Mistook His...

Hemlock #24 - Countdown: Journalist Sarah Scoles on Nuclear Weapons Safety, Jill Tarter and SETI, Nuclear LARPing, the Golden Dome and Missile Defense, and What Really Happens at Los Alamos 24.06.2025 1:12:23

Buy Sarah's Book: https://a.co/d/6zROOvV Sarah's Socials: Website: https://www.sarahscoles.com/books.html Bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/sarahscoles.bsky.social Patreon: https://patreon.com/c/HemlockPatreon REFERENCES: Trump Golden Dome Cost Projection SDI / Star Wars in the 1980s with Reagan Costs associated with SENTINEL and ICBM Upgrades Fallout and Downwinders, Thyroid Cancer, Nevada T...

Consolatio #5 - For the Evil, Show Your Pity: Book 4 of the Consolation of Philosophy, All Things Depend Upon Will and Power, Virtue is the Health of the Soul, Our Aim Is To Be Unlike Those We Hate 23.06.2025 59:22

At long last, Book 4 of the 5-book masterpiece, De Consolatione de Philosophiae by Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius. Translated by W. V. Cooper, critical edition by Goins and Wyman. I would describe this one as "a comfy doozy slightly too close to home." Enjoy~

Hemlock #22 - Congratulations to the Neocons: We're Now At War with Iran - Also the Effective Altruist/AI Grifters, Because That's What I Wanted To Talk About Before The Bombing Began 22.06.2025 46:00

Patreon: https://patreon.com/c/hemlockpatreon Breaking News..... America has bombed 3 Iranian nuclear reactors. Happy summer solstice. References Iraq 1981 Nuclear Reactor Bombing by Israel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera?wprov=sfla1 Kissinger's Flip-Flop on the Iran Deal "Today, the standard claim is that Iran has no need for nuclear power, so it must be pursuing a secret weapons pr...

Hemlock #21 - Iran in the Modern World: Five Sideways Reflections, Operation AJAX, FDR and the Yalta Pact with Saudi Arabia, Oil and the AIOC, Mossadegh, Israel, Nuclear Blackmail, and the Great Satan 15.06.2025 1:01:21

Come check out the Patreon, where this episode was held in special quarantine for a few months... https://patreon.com/hemlockpatreon Nuclear weapons in Iran, Middle East environmental crisis, Israeli grand strategy, US covert action skullduggery, and a healthy reminder that it's all just oil at the end of the day. References FDR and Saudi King Abdul Aziz https://www.history.com/articles/fdr-sa...

DocDocs #2 - The Act of Killing: Musical Theater, Politicide, Death Squads, Suharto/Sukarno, East Timor, Interviews with Mass Murderers, American Gangster Movies, and the Aesthetics of Violence 15.06.2025 1:05:19

Sabrina is back for the second installment of the Documentary Doctors! As a reminder, you can sign up for her class on Palestine here. If you can't attend you can also donate! And if you can't donate you can still attend! This time we are watching (and curling up in a ball after viewing) The Act of Killing , a 2012 documentary about the massacre of the Indonesian PKI (communist party) in 1...