Online Great Books Podcast

This week we're trying something new at Online Great Books: a new series of short episodes reflecting on one aspect of the Great Books. We're calling them Moments. We'll hear personal reflections from the seminar staff and from members.   One core tenet of Online Great Books is that seminar staff do NOT teach during seminars. They serve to moderate and guide discussion about the books, posing questions and digging into the participants arguments to help them better understand what they believe, and why they believe it. So the Moments are a way to hear some of the seminar leaders' own thoughts about the books we read. We'll hear from some of our members too.   This week Karl Schudt reflects on Medea and the uncomfortable -- even terrifying -- rationality of her decisions.     Use the discount OGBPODCAST to save 25% on enrollment at Online Great Books!  

Scott Hambrick and Karl Schudt discuss Friedrich Nietzsche's book The Joyful Wisdom, Book 3, which contains his infamous proclamation "God is dead." Nietzsche is perhaps best known for his writings about nihilism, the rejection of God and moral principles, or of any notion of meaning in life. From the nihilist's perspective, nothing in the world is real; it's merely a representation of the real, a concept that hearkens back to Plato's Allegory of the Cave.     Despite his systematic dismantling of God, religion, and the traditional moral codes of the West, Nietzsche was not an advocate for nihilism but rather viewed it as modern man's essential challenge: to overcome the sense of despair and meaninglessness.   Use the discount OGBPODCAST to save 25% on enrollment at Online Great Books!

Scott Hambrick and Online Great Books member Miles Marco Bennett -- in fact the very first member to join OGB -- discuss Michel de Montaigne's insightful, tongue-in-cheek, and occasionally droll essay Of Cannibals. Montaigne's essay, which appears in a larger collected work of his essays written in the 16th century, describes the author's experience with the native Tupi peoples of Brazil, a vibrant warrior culture that practiced ceremonial cannibalism of their enemies.   Montaigne draws comparisons between these strong, swarthy people and the barbarians of medieval Europe, praising their "natural" way of life and value system which prized strength and valor. He also notes how their loose governance -- led by people with the most strength and force of ams -- emerged naturally from their values and habits, as opposed to the contrived government and value systems proposed in Plato's Republic.   In this way Montaigne rebuts traditional Western philosophy and impugns its figureheads, showing disdain for philosophers who "know better" and would see their way of life imposed on society by an organized government. Montaigne is, in a sense, the people's philosopher, and shows a deference to the common man which is both charming, genuine, and more intellectually honest than most colonial accounts of the "noble savages."   Use the discount OGBPODCAST to save 25% on enrollment at Online Great Books.

Scott talks to Joe McCormack, author of Brief: Make Bigger Impact by Saying Less, about the importance of brevity in communication. Joe is an author, speaker, and consultant who has worked with executives, military personnel, and many others to hone their ability to communicate efficiently in critical situations.   With attention spans shrinking and ever-growing demand for that limited resource, communicating briefly is an essential skill for the modern human being. For some, communicating with brevity is a matter of life or death. For others, it may make the difference in nailing an interview, or securing an important contract with a client. Whatever your reason for communication, brevity should be your chief aim.   You can find Joe at The BRIEF Lab, where he offers online classes, bootcamps, and other resources to improve your communication skills. He also hosts a podcast called Just Saying where he reflects on various aspects of communication in short 10-15min episodes.

Psychiatrist Dr. David Puder joins the podcast to discuss Sigmund Freud's 1917 paper Melancholia and Mourning.   You can find Dr. Puder on Instagram @dr.davidpuder and you can subscribe and listen to his podcast at https://psychiatrypodcast.com.    Use the discount OGBPODCAST to save 25% on enrollment at Online Great Books.

Online Great Books founder Scott Hambrick and seminar leader Emmet Penney tackle the first scientific work on the podcast, Euclid's Elements. The Elements are a collection of treatises, postulates, and propositions that ultimately drive toward important mathematical concepts such as the Pythagorean theorem and the theory of numbers, i.e. integers, divisibility, prime numbers.   Everyone who has attended American public school has heard of these concepts, and their mention likely dredges up memories of endless, boring, rote work about triangles and algebra. Indeed school teaches the formulas, but it does not teach Euclid, who compiled numerous propositions form earlier mathematicians and weaved them into a thoughtful, cogently argued work about the nature of geometry and mathematics. Studying Euclid prompts the question: are these concepts discovered or invented? Does mathematics represent a fundamental truth of the universe, or does it merely describe the truth?   And that's why we study Euclid and other formative scientists and mathematicians at Online Great Books; they prompt us to consider the nature of truth and how the things we are taught in school came to be. It's quite a philosophical exercise. Yet philosophy and science exist in diametric opposition, at least in today's age. Emmet points out a difference between the practice of science (and the technological fruit it bears) and scientism, the faith in science as a diviner of absolute truth. Reading Euclid, he argues, shows us the deep interconnection between science and philosophy, and leads us to a deeper understanding of the truth.   You can find Emmet on Twitter as Emmet Martin Penney. You can read some of his written work at: Popula Paste Magazine

Scott and Producer Trent wrap up their discussion of Shakespeare's Hamlet, close-reading Hamlet's soliloquies and dissecting the structure of Shakespeare's verse. They reflect on Shakespeare's impact on modern literature, the curiously secular perspective of the play in a highly religious time period, and whether Shakespeare sought to moralize or draw conclusions (spoiler: we don't think he does).   You can't read Hamlet and not talk about the most famous of his soliloquies, the "To Be or Not to Be?" speech at the heart of the play, both literally and figuratively. A surface level reading suggests that Hamlet is contemplating suicide at this moment of the play, having come to no certain conclusions about the best way to resolve his dilemma -- his father murdered, his mother's loyalty in doubt, and many of his friends suspect. It's an understandable position, but perhaps Hamlet is also touching on something deeper, a question of existence; whether humans would be better off having never existed, rather than face the "whips and scorns of time." It's an existential reflection, which Hamlet sums up beautifully elsewhere in the play: "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." In this soliloquy and the ones that follow, Hamlet arrives at an unpleasant truth: that we are all dealt different hands in life, yet we all must play them (or not be living at all). Sometimes the optimal play for that hand predicts no good outcomes, yet play we must. The notion of a "good life," therefore, rests on the manner in which one plays their hand, rather than the outcome or influence their play has on their circumstances. Even if the optimal play is a poor one, "nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." In one sense, Shakespeare draws a rather modern conclusion -- an existential conclusion -- about life, centuries before existentialism would be formally developed. He also cleverly avoids moralizing, leaving any sense of justice, revenge, or morality ambiguous. In the end, nearly every major character dies. The inevitability of death, and the way the it annuls the virtue (or vice) of ostensibly good and evil characters, is the only firm conclusion the play seems to make: "sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

Producer Trent returns to the podcast to discuss the first modern piece of literature to appear on the podcast: Shakespeare's Hamlet. A dark, introspective, sprawling drama, Hamlet is arguably Shakespeare's masterpiece, and certainly one of the best of the twelve tragedies he penned. Scott and Trent discuss how Hamlet remains vital and relevant even in contemporary culture, and how Shakespeare's incisive wit and rhetorical devices permeate the English language.   Despite his dense, layered verse and immense vocabulary -- scholars estimate Shakespeare used over 25,000 words -- Shakespeare wrote for a wide variety of people, commoners and kings alike, and found a way to weave language and story into plays that are accessible regardless of one's education or background. Many readers encountering Shakespeare for the first time are intimidated by the complexity of the language. However, as Trent argues, Shakespeare's plays are first and foremost meant to be seen, and good actors bring life and context to the language that help the audience understand the direction of the plot, the comportment of the characters, and their internal motivations. Any person attempting to read a play for the first time should see a good theatrical production, or, if that is not possible, watch an unabridged film adaptation. Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996) is a must-watch, full of excellent Shakespearean actors and popular film actors.

Brett Venoitte of the School Sucks Project returns for Part 2 of our interview discussing the problems with college admissions and the persistent myth that college is a sure path to financial success and career fulfillment. In the second half of the interview, Scott and Brett argue that the value of the college is on the decline, and that young people should pursue marketable skills rather than diplomas (or at least, in addition to diplomas).   Follow Brett Venoitte at the School Sucks Project and make sure to subscribe to his School Sucks Podcast while you're there!   Use the discount OGBPODCAST to save 25% on enrollment at Online Great Books.

Scott Hambrick interviews podcaster, author, former test prep educator, and education contrarian Brett Veinoitte about the rapidly changing role of school and, particularly, secondary school. As the recent scandal involving celebrities paying bribes to obtain university admissions for their children has revealed, college has become so ingrained as a symbol of status and opportunity that an entire industry has sprung up to facilitate the admission of subpar students. Meanwhile, the costs of college steadily rise, in both dollars and time.   Brett offers a history of schooling, tracing the modern public school system we are familiar with back to the Prussian educational reforms in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The Prussian system groomed common-born children for military service by establishing free, taxpayer-supported schools with a basic curriculum of technical skills needed in a modernizing world (such as reading and writing). The curriculum attempted to impose a strong sense of national identity and a strict ethos of duty, sobriety and discipline. These traits linger in our contemporary school system -- the bells dividing class times into regular schedules, the teachers reprimanding students to remain silent until called upon. Even the hierarchy of the school resembles something militaristic, with approximately platoon-sized classrooms, led by teachers, grouped under assistant principals, themselves guided by a principal and her staff of advisors.   None of these features was implemented to develop critical thinkers possessed of the skills to challenge authorities, status quo, or paradigms. Yet, for a time the system worked, and produced a workforce more suitable to the factories, assembly lines, and schedules of the new industrial world. Now that this industrial world is undergoing rapid change once again, graduates find themselves without the skills to find meaningful work. This disconnect has extended to secondary education as well, and with the cost of college education rising to astronomical levels, the value of a degree has plummeted.   Nevertheless, the myth that college is a golden ticket to opportunity and prosperity persists, with very real costs to the young people that acquire debt and delay families in search of the golden ticket. Brett and Scott hope to change that through their businesses.   Follow Brett Venoitte at the School Sucks Project and make sure to subscribe to his School Sucks Podcast while you're there!   Use the discount OGBPODCAST to save 25% on enrollment at Online Great Books.