The Wisdom Of

Listener Requests - Lord of the Flies 03.10.2021 27:48 ↓

Lord 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.

Listener Requests - Shakespeare's Hamlet 26.09.2021 28:02 ↓

William 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 lang...

Listener Requests - Dostoevsky's The Possessed 18.09.2021 31:49 ↓

The 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. 

Ancient Happiness 12.09.2021 24:21 ↓

In this episode we compare modern versus ancient conceptions of happiness.

Listener Requests - Emily Dickinson 06.09.2021 26:07 ↓

Emily 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. 

Tragedy - Moby Dick 21.08.2021 30:41 ↓

Moby Dick was written by the American writer Herman Melville, and it was published in 1851

Tragedy - Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents 15.08.2021 31:03 ↓

Civilization and its Discontents is a book by the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, published in 1930.

Tragedy - Euripides' Bacchae 08.08.2021 31:03 ↓

The 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.

Tragedy - Waiting For Godot 31.07.2021 30:05 ↓

Waiting for Godot is a play composed by the incomparable Irish writer Samuel Beckett, first written in French in 1948. 

Films - Rashomon 24.07.2021 28:03 ↓

Rashomon is a groundbreaking 1950 film directed by the master Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.

Films - The Tree of Life 17.07.2021 33:33 ↓

The Tree of Life is a 2011 film directed by the incomparable Terence Malick.

Q&A in the Deep Dark Forest! 13.07.2021 40:54 ↓

We finally try to answer listener questions in our first group discussion! 

Films - Fight Club 27.06.2021 32:43 ↓

Fight 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. 

Films - Fellini's 8 1/2 19.06.2021 32:13 ↓

8 1/2 is a 1963 Italian film directed by Federico Fellini. 

Films - Star Wars 11.06.2021 37:46 ↓

Star Wars is a science fiction movie from 1977. In this episode, we discuss Zoroastrianism, fairy tales, the Tao, and the character of Odysseus. 

Paintings - Van Gogh's Starry Night 29.05.2021 28:05 ↓

Vincent 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.

Paintings - Frida Kahlo 22.05.2021 27:02 ↓

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who has become one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. 

Paintings - Munch's The Scream 15.05.2021 30:01 ↓

The Scream is a painting by the Norwegian Edvard Munch. It's a forerunner of the Expressionist movement. 

Paintings - Picasso's The Young Ladies of Avignon 08.05.2021 31:28 ↓

Created in 1907, The Young Ladies of Avignon is the single most important turning point in the evolution of modern art.