Online Great Books Podcast

This week, Scott and Karl discuss James Madison's Federalist No. 51, titled: "The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments." In this Federalist Paper, Madison explains and defends the checks and balances system in the Constitution. Of its effectiveness, Scott says, "He doesn't make any errors, he only makes oversights."  Each branch of government is framed so that its power checks the power of the other two branches; additionally, each branch of government is dependent on the people, who are the source of legitimate authority. For Karl, this is the most important part of this paper: "Government means that the rights of the minority must be preserved, or else it's not a government at all." Tune in to learn more about "the great difficulty” of founding, and Madison's core arguments for checks and balances in a federalist system of government.

This week, Scott and Karl talk about two, while unsuspecting, companion pieces: Thomas Gray’s poem “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” and Norman Rockwell's iconic painting Freedom from Want.  Scott says, "They are both about hearth and normal forgotten people." "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a 1751 poem about the buried inhabitants of a country churchyard and a meditation on the inevitability of death. This is considered the best example of elegiac poetry in English literature of the eighteenth century. Freedom from Want, also known as The Thanksgiving Picture or I'll Be Home for Christmas, is the third of the Four Freedoms series of four oil paintings by American artist Norman Rockwell.  Tune in to hear more about the connection between these two pieces, and the celebration of life found in both. 

This week, Scott and Karl read the classical epic, The Song of Roland, translated by Dorthy Sayers.  The Song of Roland is an 11th-century epic poem based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778, during the reign of Charlemagne. Although the poem was set in the Carolingian era, The Song of Roland was actually written later by an anonymous poet. Karl points out, "It's romantic, epic, thrilling, and it probably gets most of the details wrong."  The duo dives into the character of Roland, Charlemagne's campaign of vengeance, and the medieval code of chivalry.  Tune in to learn more about the oldest surviving major work of French literature. 

This week, Scott and Karl read Mark Twain's "The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut."   Don't let the long title misguide you, this Twain original is short and wonderfully mischievous.  As the story goes, Twain is expecting a visit from his dear, nagging Aunt Mary. Before her arrival, Twain has an unexpected visit from an ugly dwarf; an unwelcome guest he soon discovers to be his conscience. Lauded as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced" and "the father of American literature" by William Faulkner, Twain manages to tie in some heavy themes to a lighthearted scenario. Scott says, "Twain has no room for healthy conscience here. You either have a small conscience and you’re into being a mean man, or you have a large conscience and you’re a tortured soul for all of your days." “Or you nag everyone else,” Karl adds.  Tune in to enjoy this Twainish treat, and make sure to share with a friend. 

This week, Scott and Karl read a novella by Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Published in Russian as Smert Ivana Ilycha in 1886, this short story remains one of Tolstoy's most celebrated pieces of late fiction. As Scott puts it, "This is the smallest chunk of Tolstoy that could be had."  The story provides an examination of the nature of both life and death, and how man can come to terms with death's inevitability. Ivan Ilyich, a worldly careerist, has to realize he's dying before he starts to put any value on himself. By forcing Ivan to confront the prospect of his death, it brings him face to face with his own isolation. Before having to look death in the face, Scott says, "Ivan thought everything in his life was for someone else to observe and judge."  How does an unreflective man confront his moment of truth? Tune in to learn more about the slow degradation of Ivan, but also the possibility of finding spiritual salvation.

This week, Scott and Karl read Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener, one of America’s most beloved storytellers.  As the author of more than forty books of fiction and nonfiction, the majority of Michener's novels were lengthy family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales, incorporating solid history.  As a collection of related short stories, Tales of the South Pacific interweaves Michener's personal anecdotes from his time stationed as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy on the island of Espiritu Santo during the Pacific campaign in World War II. Karl says, "The book is trying to capture Mitchener's view of what humans are like that ought to be remembered." Written in 1946, Tales of the South Pacific goes on to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948. Tune in to hear more about Michener’s exploration of what happens when cultures connect, or fail to, in this classic wartime book. 

Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage has played a significant role in shaping the popular Western genre. First published in 1912, this novel is often referred to as "the most popular western novel of all time." But as Karl points out, "We've made Westerns for much longer than when there was a Wild West."  Set in Southern Utah canyon country in 1871, it tells the story of a woman, Jane Withersteen, trying to escape the control of her fundamentalist Mormon community with the aid of two cowboys, Bern Venters and Jim Lassiter. What ensures is horse-theft, kidnapping, gunfights, and lots of romance.  Scott summarizes, "This book is about salvation."  But what's the appeal to the Western genre?  You'll find that the lone cowboy heroes in this story are self-assured, with a strong sense of justice.  Scott adds, “Lassiter and Venters are complete within themselves. They’ve been alone enough that they know what they think." Even if Westerns aren't your favorite, you'll be intrigued by this piece of pulp fiction. "These are stories about the edge," Karl says, "the frontier is [a place] where things are possible and more is demanded of you."  Tune in to learn more about Grey's best-selling book that solidified him as the father of the western novel. 

This week, Scott and Karl read Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forester. Published in 1950, this novel is considered the first episode in the 11 volume set about the career of the young British Naval officer, Horatio Hornblower.  Hornblower commences his career in the Royal Navy as an inexperienced midshipman in January 1794. Through a series of adventures and hardships, Hornblower discovers he is actually talented as both seaman and a leader.  At the young age of 17, Hornblower is already an Aristotelian hero. Scott says, "He exibits the nuts and bolts way of how to become Aristotle's great-souled man." Karl adds, "This is the poetic image of virtue you would want your kids to have." The duo talks about the virtue of courage, ultimately being what allowed Hornblower to see the whole picture and do the right thing, according to the right measure, at the right time. Scott adds, "His fears put him right where he needed to be over and over again."  Scott and Karl agree: Horatio Hornblower is a character that always lives in the back of their minds. Tune in to hear more about one of the most renowned sailors in contemporary fiction.

This week, Scott and Karl read selections from Johann Gottlieb Fichte's Addresses to the German Nation. They focus on the Second Address, “The General Nature of the New Education,” and the Third Address, "Description of the New Education." As a series of polemical speeches delivered during 1807-8, Fichte detailed his plan for national revival, or rather “salvation,” for Prussia after falling to Napoleon at Jena in 1806.   In a time of national crisis, he believes a new kind of education is necessary to preserve the nation. Only with a total revision of the method of educating children could Germany hope to become immune from the Napoleons of the future. According to Fichte, this system would, "completely destroys freedom of will in the soil which it undertakes to cultivate, and produces on the contrary strict necessity in the decisions of the will, the opposite being impossible." Karl says, “He doesn’t want the product of an education to still be capable of choosing evil." Scott adds, "For Fichte, if you employ the right educational methods, every student will have a vision of what the state will be like, and it will be identical, and they will march forward on that vision." But why should we care about Prussian education? As it turns out, Fichte’s influential Addresses are at the heart of the universal compulsory schooling system we know in the United States today.  Tune in to learn more about how his ideals, while radical during his lifetime, have become the foundation for the American education system. 

This week, Scott and Karl read the first book in the James Bond series, Casino Royale. Written by British author Ian Fleming and published in 1953, you'll find traces of the rising tensions of the Cold War mixed in with this spy thriller.  The story opens with James Bond gambling at the casino in Royale-les-Eaux to bankrupt the treasurer of a French union and a member of the Russian secret service known as Le Chiffre. What ensues is a tense but effortlessly stylish story packed with intrigue (not to forget Bentleys and gorgeous women).  Scott warns, "This [James Bond] is not the debonair Roger Moore, Sean Connery character here. He's a blunt instrument."  Karl adds later, "He's not an action hero. This is about being clever."  Tune in to learn more about Fleming’s inaugural James Bond adventures that launched the lethal and dashing 007 into a pop icon for generations of readers and movie-watchers.