Anne is a Man! - Podcast Reviews

We want Obama - Open Source and Economist

2008-07-25T06:12:00.004+03:00

My podcast source for the American elections, The Economist's blog Democracy in America, which is included in The Economist's podcast, is joined by the podcast Open Source with two issues. Somehow, it is all about Obama. It seems McCain is but a candidate; Obama is a phenomenon, not just a national phenomenon, he is a phenomenon of supranational proportions. He triggers fascination in all worlds and it's who he is and what his person stands for, rather than his politics that make him so.

On The Economist, Bill Barnard addresses this in the most straightforward way: Obama represents a minority and the chances a man from the minorities has in a great democracy to achieve the highest office. If you think this is about race, nobody agrees. This reaches further. On Open Source, Anthony Barnett and Kanishk Taroor, characterize Obama as 'metro-racial', a product of the endless intermingling that is so modern. No matter how you call it, Obama is attributed the magic of hope that appeals to everybody, all over the world, and by virtue of that alone is the most mesmerizing candidate, comparable to John F. Kennedy in 1960.

George Lakoff, continues on Open Source to analyze Obama's strength from the perspective of brain science. He basically explains in terms of the mechanics of our brain what is described in more emotional terms above. But to my taste he goes slightly over the top. I can't go along with his conjecture Obama finally does right what Reagan did right before him and what the Democrats have done wrong for decades. If it were so crude, you can not explain why the last elections were decided by tiny margins rather than land slide victories.

In any case, magic of Barack Obama is so strong, the podcasts cannot hide, even if they try, their profound preference for his election.

More Open Source:
The end of Hegemony,
Go for a walk with Open Source.

More from the Economist:
Getting comfortable with Obama,
Democracy in America - podcast review,
Issues of Race,
The primary system,
The Economist in New Hampshire.

Win, lose or draw - BTHP review

2008-07-24T06:36:00.003+03:00

The Binge Thinking History Podcast has reached the concluding episode about the Battle of Britain. After having recounted the history of the battle, host Tony Cocks takes on the compelling questions that come up with the battle. How pivotal was it after all? How much of a serious threat has it been and how much of an effect did it have on the rest of the Second World War?

BTHP shows a very intelligent quality in this episode. All of these questions are taken on and conclusions are drawn and well supported. This is a true history podcast and top notch at that.

So what about the battle? I would not want to give too much away of this podcast, I can only beg you to go and listen. I can disclose the bottom-line though. Even if the Battle of Britain was not too big of a battle and even if the Germans were not hell bent on actually defeating, let alone invade Britain, Cocks argues that the British victory had an important effect. Both tactically as well as symbolically, it kept the western front open and allowed an allied victory in Western Europe in the end. In addition, he makes a point how the importance stretched even beyond the Second World War.

Previously about BTHP:
Blitz on London,
Battle of Britain,
The American Constitution's British roots.

Through the Stomach - History podcast review

2008-07-23T18:54:00.001+03:00

The Podcast History of Cooking is a new and very promising history podcast (feed). Maker Jesse Browner takes on history with the subject that has been with us for ever: preparing our food. Even if not all food preparation is cooking, this history goes way back, much further than written history, as Browner makes a point. Sure, but how to find out what the cooking was? Another direction he takes, is even more ambitious: cooking as a measure of history; he assumes our cooking represents the direction our history takes, sometimes earlier and more accurately than for example politics, economy or war.

When speaking of food in earliest times, we have to rely on supposition. Browner criticizes a widely accepted assumption that the pre-historic diet was bland, monotonous and simple. I find his point very convincing. Man, throughout history, is no less smart, inventive and curious than today and consequently, there is no reason whatsoever to assume anything other than that early man applied all his technologies he had access to, and all the edible stuff he could find, in his cooking. In rich environments such as the Mediterranean and the Middle East, this would have resulted in a varied, tasty and rich diet.

Browner is a novelist and has attended well to his text. In addition he reads it out carefully with good intonation and tempo. The two episodes that are available thus far, take twenty minutes each. This is a very good length for a podcast that consists of a text that is read out. All of this results in a very professional and very effectively produced podcast. I am very excited to find out more about history through the stomach.

Maria Stuart - OVT's martelaren

2008-07-23T06:07:00.002+03:00

Maria (Mary) Stuart werd geboren op de troon van Schotland. Ze was de volgende in lijn om op de Engelse troon te komen. Maar ze was Katholiek. Op een wat rommelige wijze bespreekt OVT hoe het hoofd van Maria onder de bijl kwam.

Er mag iets meer nagedacht worden bij OVT hoe het gesprek geprepareerd en gestroomlijnd wordt. Ik wijs maar weer eens naar In Our Time, waar de BBC een prachtige standaard neerzet. Je kan je gespecialiseerde gasten vrijlaten en tegelijkertijd proberen naar een conclusie te werken. Of een aantal punten die aan het eind duidelijk moeten zijn. In het gesprek over Maria Stuart leek dat te ontbreken.

Natuurlijk wordt er zinvol over de geschiedenis gediscussieerd en er wordt wel wat duidelijk over de intriges, over het proces en de executie en over de persoon Mary Stuart. Maar er werd voor mijn gevoel niets afgerond. En hoewel het humoristisch was om een geluidsfragment van Monty Python te krijgen en het best aardig was om Fik Meijer de vergelijking met Romeinse koningsdrama's te horen trekken, aan de lijn van de discussie droeg het niet bij. OVT blijft een prachtig programma en de serie over beroemde executies is een heel origineel en prikkelend onderwerp, maar zo goed als de eerste uitzending over Socrates is het tot nu toe niet meer geworden.

Meer OVT:
Jeanne d'Arc,
Paulus,
Socrates,
Hoeren en Agenten,
Polen.

Hildegard von Bingen - Naxos podcast review

2008-07-22T18:28:00.003+03:00

Naxos Classical Music Spotlight Podcast is a promotional podcast from Naxos to pay attention to the Classical music albums they release. The podcasts bring great music with explanations on the side which touch upon music and the biographies of the musicians and composers. As a consequence, this can turn into a veritable history podcast, such as the issue about Hildegard von Bingen.

Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179) was what in the Middle Ages would go for 'well versed in the arts' and this meant not only that she composed music, as can be heard on the podcast and the promoted album, but also that she wrote extensively on whatever subject. She was engaged in medicine, science and literature, to name but a few. She turned into an influential spiritual woman in her time in Central Europe. The podcast tries to emphasize how exceptional this was for a woman, but by all means this was exceptional for any person of the time.

Neurologists (among others Oliver Sacks) suppose her 'visions' were actually bouts of migraine and in addition to the religious pertinence, she turned them into creativity. She wrote poetry, invented language and on. Eventually the podcast is not a history podcast and refrains from too much embedding in the history. In stead, the marvels of her life are narrated and must stand on their own. Nevertheless, as a snapshot of the Middle Ages, it serves quite well.

Bram de Swaan - Marathon Interview

2008-07-22T06:47:00.005+03:00

Bram (Abram) de Swaan was te gast in Het Gebouw in 1990. Het marathon interview met hem werd afgenomen door Geert Mak. De twee zijn voornamelijk politiek en maatschappelijk geinteresseerd en daardoor werd het een gesprek over grote onderwerpen, meer dan over het persoonlijke - al probeert de redactie er door middel van Cor Galis wel om te vragen.

We komen natuurlijk wel wat te weten. Bijvoorbeeld dat de familie De Swaan de oorlog overleefde in de onderduik. Kleine Bram werd in de oorlog geboren en als tien maanden oude baby in een gastgezin ondergebracht. Over zijn onderduikouders zegt hij niet al te veel, maar wel dit: 'waarschijnlijk konden ze op het kritieke moment geen smoes verzinnen waarom niet en dus toen zaten ze met die baby opgescheept.' Let op het woord waarschijnlijk. Hij heeft het ze niet gevraagd, of hij wil niets specifieks over hen zeggen.

Waar het hem om gaat is de banaliteit van het goede: goede mensen zijn niet degenen die het goede zoeken, of heldhaftig op zich nemen, maar die er niet onderuit konden komen en vooruit dan maar met de geit. Nee, als er al een held in het verhaal is, is het het achtjarige pleegzusje dat de hele oorlog met de grote mensen heeft moeten meeliegen en dat feilloos gedaan heeft.

Dit soort algemeenheden en veilig op afstand praten kenmerken het gesprek. Minder intiem dan andere interviews, maar door de thematiek wel heel interessant.

Meer Marathon Interviews:
Jan Vrijman,
Maarten van Rossem,
Louis Th. Lehmann,
Marita Mathijsen,
Ruud Lubbers.

Forgotten Classics - podcast review

2008-07-21T18:14:00.003+03:00

I am not a good audience for audiobooks, I guess. I have tried my ears on a couple of stories and books read on podcast and it never really worked for me. It could be because of the fact I had to listen to prose read in a non-native language to me (I tried English and German), but it could also be, I am more a listener to lectures after all. I have a couple of good reasons to review a listen-to-prose podcast anyway: Forgotten Classics. (feed)

I think the reading was done quite well, so if you are in to this kind of podcast, here is one I can recommend. In addition, the podcast contains an introductory and closing section in which the host, Julie, addresses her audience with whatever is on her mind. This gives for a very warm, community feel to the podcast, just as David van Nuys establishes on Shrink Rap Radio. Like Dr. Dave, Julie is very good at creating the intimate atmosphere that makes you feel at home in her show.

The most important reason to attend to Forgotten Classics, is that Julie gives listening tips for the podcast addicts such as you and me. She picks from the widest range of podcasts possible and seems to fulfill the reviewer and advisory role, not just also for her listeners, but also for her family members. So, there is some to find for everyone. More than that, also on the blog that goes along with the podcast, she reports on her findings in podcasts. So, this podcast and blog is a treasure trove for new podcast finds, even if it points you back to Anne is a Man. (Thanks Julie!)

More listen to stories/books/poetry podcasts:
Celtic Myth Podshow,
Librivox,
Sonic Society,
Irving Poetry,
Peopletalk.

Brigitte Kaandorp - Simek podcast recensie

2008-07-21T06:46:00.002+03:00

Ik had mijn verwachtingen van Simeks interview met Sieto en Marijke Hoving (audio), de eminences grises van het Nederlandse Cabaret. Ik merk vrijwel altijd dat juist de oudere gasten in interview programma's het goed doen. Maar de Hovings spreken in algemeenheden en maken in Simek een drammer los, die bijna schreeuwt om anecdotes, maar ze in de eerste twintig minuten niet krijgt en langer dan dat kon ik het niet volhouden.

Leuker was dan het interview met Brigitte Kaandorp (audio) en dat juist tegen de verwachtingen in. Het gaat om een opname die gemaakt is voor publiek en daar gaat het met cabaretiers juist vaak mis, Kaandorp niet in de laatste plaats. Ook zonder publiek, maar zeker met publiek komt onverbiddelijk de komiek naar boven en ontaardt het interview in een conferance. Zo gaat het vaak althans.

Met Kaandorp gaat het eigenlijk ook die kant op, maar op de een of andere manier weet de Simek magie, met zijn intuitieve directheid er toch een luisterevenement van te maken. Hij is toch de enige Nederlandse interviewer die met openlijk flirten weg kan komen. En Kaandorp, ook al windt ze hem om haar vinger, laat toch ook wel het een en ander van zichzelf zien in dit ongebreidelde experiment op radiogebied.

Meer Simek op dit blog:
Heleen Mees, Maarten van Roozendaal,
Barbara van Beukering, Gert Dumbar,
Jaap van der Zwan,
Lucie Stepanova,
Olaf Tempelman.

Indus Valley Civ - Engines of Our Ingenuity

2008-07-20T18:33:00.003+03:00

The Engines of Our Ingenuity podcast usually touches upon technology. It looked rather strange and out of style it would pay attention to the Indus Valley Civilization. Nevertheless, I was inclined irresistibly to listen. The Indus Valley Civ is one of my favorite mysteries. One of those blind spots in my history knowledge I feel I must learn more about.

How much can you learn from a three minute podcast? It is a surprise how much indeed. And this befits the profound quality of this podcast series: every issue takes less than five minutes and every issue takes up a new subject, but every issue Lienhard and the other hosts prove again they can condense a subject into those three, four minutes and pass on a whole lot of knowledge and stir up some profound questions.

The Indus Valley Civ remains a mystery of course, but the EOI podcast manages to point out in three minutes why this is such a huge mystery and why there could be some very crucial information hidden from us in the soils of Pakistan and India and in the script of the Harappan and Mohenjo Daro cultures, that has not been cracked until today. So far, the civ looks like an extinct branch of humanity, but who knows what we may unveil how indirectly it has touched us, through Mesopotamia, maybe, Africa, China, Egypt, Crete or the steppes of Asia.

More:
EOI - Hebrew and Yiddish,
Engines of Our Ingenuity,
Indus Valley Civ on David Kalivas's podcast.

The politics of War - UCSD lecture podcast review

2008-07-20T06:15:00.002+03:00

Lectures do not always go well on podcast, but when the content is good enough, the drawbacks are sufficiently compensated for. The lectures UCSD puts in podcast come with additional disadvantages, that you have to take, in case you want to enjoy the quality of content. For one, get them quickly; as soon as the course is over, the podcasts will be discarded. Second: UCSD records the podcasts (apparently) automatically, which is maybe easy on the lecturer, but the system records if the lecturer doesn't speak, or starts and stops when programmed to do so, even if the lecturer operates in another window. You will find substantial pauses, sudden starts, empty podcasts and lengthy silences at the beginning and end of the podcast. So be it.

In spite of it all, I find myself persistently listening to the course Politics and Warfare by professor Victor Magagna (feed). This is a political science course which discusses various political theories of war and evaluates their strength in explaning how war starts, how it develops and what decides its outcome. Magagna distinguishes institutional theories on the one hand and structural, realist and neo-realist of the other. To put it very simply, institutional theories carry among their assumptions that war is basically never the best option whereas the other theories claim that there can be situations where war is the rational way to go.

I was drawn in, by the lengthy analysis of these theories adapted onto historic examples, most notably World War I (with the ever returning question who started it), but also the American War of Independence and the wars between the France of Louis XIV and the Dutch. This links in with the knowledge I acquired from history podcasts such as Berkeley's History 5, Stanford's The History of the International System, American History before 1870 and Historyzine. Because I felt familiar with the historic facts, I could get deeply engaged in the evaluation of political theory.

Relevant other posts:
History 5 on World War I,
The History of the International System,
A century of geopolitics - podcast review,
American History before 1870,
Historyzine.

Anne is a Man! - Small but growing

2008-07-19T18:01:00.002+03:00

Dear Readers,

There are not terribly many of you. A hundred on a good day, but from what I see, your numbers are gradually increasing and you generally seem to appreciate what I am doing. I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and satisfaction you keep coming here.

The below graph shows the visitor statistics for Anne is a Man! (thanks to Statcounter):

I'll keep on blogging and hope to keep you reading. Thanks,

Anne

Why Iceland - history podcast review

2008-07-18T06:09:00.001+03:00

The German Cultural History podcast (aka German Medieval Cultural History) has a short word for this blog, reporting I reviewed him and imperturbable goes on to his subject: Iceland. Why Iceland? This was supposed to be podcast about German Culture.

The point is that what we know about Germanic gods, culture and mythology of the pre-Christian age, has been reported in Iceland. Snorri Sturluson's writings about Norse mythology from the late middle ages are the closest approximation that we can get to the Gods the German tribes in the early Middle Ages may have worshiped, before they got turned into Christians. You cannot say that this IS the German Culture of the early Middle Ages, but it surely is related and it gives the best material for reconstruction.

I like this podcast and am very curious how it is going to proceed. This detour to Iceland was a surprise, though well understood and expected. I wonder what is going to come next.

Previously:
German Cultural History - Podcast Review.

Iran in 2009 - UC podcast review

2008-07-17T06:07:00.002+03:00

University Channel Podcast (aka UChannel podcast) had professor Bulliet to commemorate the third decade of the Islamist Republic of Iran. Bulliet is the one who also arranged the controversial visit of Ahmedinijad to Columbia University last year. So, this promised to be a podcast one must listen to.

Professor Richard W. Bulliet turns out to be not the gifted speaker we regularly meet in this series. With faltering sentences, he seems a lecturer lost for words and uncertain of what to say. The only reason I persisted in listening was because of the subject. It is not so easy to hear about Iran and get it from a westerner with an unconventional perspective such as Bulliet's.

The point to take home is this: the stability of Iran is possibly in question and the key moment is likely to become the elections in 2009.

More UChannel:
The denials of yesterday,
Nuts and bolts of empire,
Islam meets Europe,
The rise and demise of Palestine,
Alan Johnston.

Relive the Spanish war of succession - Historyzine

2008-07-16T06:27:00.002+03:00

Normally Historyzine is a podcast which publishes a new episode every two to six weeks, but just now, it delivered two issues within three days. The first contains a review of Marlborough: England's Fragile Genius, Richard Holmes' biography of the first Duke of Marlborough the commander of the allied forces in the Spanish War of Succession, which is the main subject in Historyzine. The second is actually also a review. Host Jim Mowatt traveled this summer to Oudenaarde in Belgium for the reenactment of the battle of Oudenaarde which in 1708 was the key battle in the Spanish War of Succession. Mowatt tells about his experiences over there.

Mowatt has a lot of praise for Holmes' biography. In his opinion, this is not just a thorough work of history, it is also well written like a novel. As a result, Holmes allows the broad public to access Marlborough and with him the history of the Spanish War of Succession. The only thing that escapes Historyzine's host is why Holmes had to label the duke as fragile. There are various vulnarabilities that Marlborough bore with him, but none of them seem to be a major point in the biography. So what about Marlborough, after Mowatt has studied both Holmes and Winston Churchill's major work on the same, I wonder what he has to say about Marlborough, both as a leader as well as a person. The remains implicit and I hope we will get to see a little bit more of this in episodes to come.

Praise also befalls the reenactment in Oudenaarde and the town, for the way it hosted the event. Mowatt has had an utterly good time and his enthusiasm is contagious. The listener would have wanted to be there.

More Historyzine:
The year 1703,
On admirals and more,
18th Century Warfare,
Spanish Succession and History Podcasts.

Straight talk about stem cells - Stanford lecture series review

2008-07-15T18:15:00.001+03:00

Christopher Scott is a professor at Stanford and one of the very few in podcasts whom you can hear touch upon stem cell research and talk about both the technical as well as the legal and ethical side. Recently I reviewed his latest lecture series, which Stanford has put on line as an enhanced podcast. (Stem Cells: Policy and Ethics - feed)

Already in that review I wrote there is an earlier enhanced podcast, also by Chris Scott and also about stem cells called Straight Talk About Stem Cells (feed). I promised a review, which I give here, although it will be a short one. Straight Talk About Stem Cells is the predecessor of Stem Cells: Policy and Ethics and suffers from two traits that make it rapidly redundant. On the field of ethics and politics (law), there has not been much news and what little there is is added in the new series. The technical advances go very rapidly though. Here is where the two series are radically different.

For information on the techniques, I'd gladly point at Straight Talk as well, however, I wonder how much is still relevant. If I paid proper attention, which I did as much as my very limited biological skills allow, there was information in the first series that suggested certain lines of research to be with little chance of success, or facing too much of technical difficulties or any of such inhibitions that sort of suggested the conclusion that this was not a realistic prospect, whereas the second series comes after soem major breakthroughs and paints a radically different picture. Hence, if you want to know if for example so-called adult stem cells are a way to go, you may find conclusions differ. If next year there is going to be a third version, who knows what we will get by then.

And the law? And the ethics? Most of the slides are reused, and probably will be again. That alone tells us a whole lot.

More bioethics:
The Ethics of Stem Cell Research,
Human rights and the body,
Life and bio-engineering - podcast review,
Bioethics without Christ, please,
A useful map into Bio-Ethics,
Stem Cell Research: Science, Ethics, and Prospects,
Stem Cells - Biology and Politics.

Jeanne d'Arc - OVT podcast recensie

2008-07-15T06:35:00.003+03:00

BBC's In Our Time had ook een uitzending over Jeanne d'Arc en ook daar kwamen ze er niet goed uit. Klaarblijkelijk is de historie rondom de maagd van Orleans zo gecompliceerd dat je er niet even een half uurtje of drie kwartier radio aan kunt wijden. Zomin als het de BBC lukte, luke het de VPRO.

De feiten komen wel enigszins op een rijtje in OVT's derde deel over beroemde executies. Een meisje van negentien die stemmen hoort, steunt een van de Franse troonpretendenten in de honderdjarige oorlog en helpt hem op de troon. Maar in de volgende consolidatie-oorlog, weten zijn tegenstanders haar te grijpen en zorgen ervoor dat ze op de brandstapel komt. Wat al snel volgt is een rehabilitatieproces en vervolgens duurt het nog tot de negentiende eeuw voordat ze een heilige wordt.

Hoe kan dat nou allemaal? Met enige moeite haalt ook de VPRO het een en ander aan motieven, motivaties en politieke en kerkelijke machinaties boven tafel, maar net als de BBC, blijft ook hier de geschiedenis in raadselen gehuld. Het meest raadselachtig blijft de persoon van Jeanne bovenal. Het is bijna niet haalbaar om een realistisch midden tussen licht gestoorde boerentrien en gezante van God te vinden.

Meer OVT:
Paulus,
Socrates,
Hoeren en Agenten,
Polen,
Stalingrad.

Tacitus - In Our Time review

2008-07-14T18:01:00.003+03:00

The widely acclaimed BBC radio program and podcast In Our Time is going to have its summer recess. Until the end of September we will have to make do with what can be cherished in the streams of the on-line archive. There is much to be found there.

What is left as a podcast, is the latest edition, which is about Tacitus. Host Melvyn Bragg writes in his newsletter: "I fear I’ll be accused of being the man who asked three women scholars to talk about the finer, or rather the grosser, details of Roman sexuality. I’m sure you’ll accept that I simply did it in the interests of a fuller description of what Tacitus was meaning! And that’s true (no exclamation mark)." However, this is a very minor detail in the program and the guests storm through it admirably.

What remains is the historian who delivers us the template for Gibbon's Decline and Fall, the first sources about the tribes in Central Europe and the intricacies of being a senator in Rome. Even if Rome is eternally in decline, it never seems to fade and stop standing as a measure for western civilization.

More In Our Time:
John Donne (The Metaphysical Poets),
The Arab Conquests,
BBC's In Our Time (podcast review),
General review of In Our Time,
Library of Nineveh.

Canada and New Zealand - EH podcast review

2008-07-14T06:05:00.003+03:00

The Environmental History Podcast has, in its 19th edition, two interviews about two more environments and how they were changed by man: New Zealand and Canada.

Once upon a time, New Zealand was covered by rain forest, but then came the Maori, who began to take down the forests and after them the Europeans (a lot of Scots and Irish among them) who continued with the deforestation. They turned the islands into pastures for especially sheep, acquiring a stronghold in the market for wool and mutton.

Also in Canada the Irish and Scots arrived to find forests to the size Europe had not had until centuries ago. The scale of for example forest fires was something they could hardly grasp. The podcast tells of the great forest fires in the 19th century and how they made headlines back in Britain. As a side note, there is also mention of the eruption of the Tambora in 1815 in Indonesia and its effect on the climate in Canada.

After this, host Jan Oosthoek projects what is ahead for the 20th edition and announces he is going to address the general question what environmental history is. It turns out that this choice of subject is a reaction to this blog, where it was stated that this definition remains somewhat unclear. In passing Oosthoek pays a compliment to Anne is a Man. You can hear it in the closing minutes of the podcast where he says this blog is

one of the sharpest and smartest podcast reviewers on the web.

More Environmental History:
Environmental history,
Climate Change in recent history,
Urban Air Pollution,
Apartheid and Environmental History,
Environmental History and South Africa.

Rousseau - Philosophy Bites

2008-07-13T06:23:00.002+03:00

Sometimes philosophers, culture bearers and educators make this assumption explicit: that there is progress in history. That the herders were better off than the hunter gatherers, the farmers better off than the herders and that urbanized society is basically a kind of evolutionary pinnacle. Implicitly, this belief is very strongly embedded in our view of the world. Yet, there has always been a counter position as well. Philosophy Bites pays attention to one philosopher of this nostalgia or this critique of civilization: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Hosts Nigel Walburton and David Edmonds invited Melissa Lane to speak on Rousseau in last week's issue of their podcast. He thinks our psychology and morals have been corrupted by civilization, because of both a dependence of others and a competition with others, not just materially, but also in pride, esteem and such. Once man is engaged in dealing with this dependence and competition, he loses his inner autarkic quality and his pure strive for personal survival deteriorates in an unbounded necessity for expansion. He did not idealize the toughness of the state of nature, but he deplores the unhealthy, unnatural development.

Even though we persist to think in terms of the superiority of civilization and persist to believe in progress, critics such as Rousseau have a profound effect and we see this return in thinkers such as Marx and Freud and in lines of thought in Feminism, Ecologism, Conservatism and on and on.

More Philosophy Bites:
Life on the Scales,
David Hume,
Several issues of Philosophy Bites,
Free rider problem,
Humanism.

Prosody -TWN podcast review

2008-07-12T06:54:00.003+03:00

For a long time I haven't paid attention to The Word Nerds, the language podcast. It doesn't come out so frequently, less than a month and I have been concentrating on history podcasts in the past months. The Word Nerds, however, is one of my all time favorite podcasts. The makers have turned really nerdy language subjects into wonderfully entertaining shows of radio quality.

This happened again in the last edition with the subject prosody. That word, to begin with, is for me a term I have to look up, but did not need to as it was so well explained on the show. Prosody is about how we 'sing' our language; how we make pauses, emphasis, intonations and all such methods that make natural language sound natural, as opposed to computer voices, for example, that even today, still, sound very artificial.

It is also with prosody, that show hosts Dave and Barbara discussed the metrum and various rhythmic schemes in poetry. I remember this stuff from high school and at the time it sounded all so artificial, over the top and far out. I have grown up by now and I got the sympathetic and less threatening introduction by Dave, and this allowed me to open up and not only get stuff like iambic verse, but also recognize and appreciate it. Now that is The Word Nerds for you!

Previous reviews of TWN on this blog:
Rhetoric,
Silence and Speechlessness,
Religious Words,
Nicknames,
Public Speaking.

The bad news about good work

2008-07-11T18:51:00.003+03:00

Big Ideas is a TVO lectures program that is accessible through the internet in video as well as audio. The audio is published as podcast and thus I get to pick various lectures. What I have found is that most of the time, one is not missing out on too many visuals and the podcast works quite well.

The lecture by Howard Gardner has a few visuals at the beginning which may make you feel shut out a bit, but from what I have seen in TVO's video stream, it is not so visible on there either and eventually, the visuals are abandoned altogether and we are presented an excellent lecture about the mind set we need for the future. (This lecture build largely on a recent book by Gardner: Five minds for the Future.)

Gardner calls them five minds, I am inclined to call the five principles, but no matter how you call it, the proposal is to have an integrated mind which succeeds in balancing these five qualities: The Disciplinary Mind (a honed, crafty mind), The Synthesizing Mind (a mind that understands and combines ideas), The Creating Mind (a mind of renewal), The Respectful Mind (a mind appreciative of the other) and The Ethical Mind (a mind inclined to the good). Gardner has done a lot of research on how people work and hence he applies these principles on work, calling it good work. It is in many ways an optimistic lecture, thinking in terms of what we can achieve, but there is one element I'd like to pick up and that is, unfortunately, the negative finding. The bad news about good work as it were.

In the bad news we see how those five principles, are not as easily balanced as we might think. This is shown in research when you ask people whether they want to work (live) ethically and ask why they don't even if they want to. The problem they perceive is that ethics gives them a disadvantage and will give their peers the edge in the rat race within society. And that piece of bad news is a very big problem for our culture to solve.

Previously on Big Ideas:
History.

Wise Counsel - psychology podcast review

2008-07-10T18:28:00.004+03:00

A great podcaster is Dr. David van Nuys. He makes two psychology podcasts (Shrink Rap Radio and Wise Counsel) that rank among the best of podcasts by all accounts. They are of great educational value in the realm of psychology. They are a great form of information and entertainment for a wider public on account of their accessibility. And last but not least, they are great podcasts in general with a good balance of the right music, a phenomenal radio voice and all such elements that mark professional radio quality.

Here I would like to draw your attention to two recent issues of Wise Counsel that I can warmly recommend.

1- An interview with Natalie Rogers, on expressive arts therapy. Rogers very effectively explains the quality of creative energy, as opposed to rational energy. The advantage in therapy is that the client is not just met on the rational, verbal level, but in a more complete way that allows more healing effect. An interesting dimension to Natalie's career is that she is the daughter of the famous psychologist Carl Rogers and even if there are differences in her approach, she still feels she elaborated on her father's work.

2- An interview with Marc Kern about various approaches in therapy for addiction. Notably Kern proposes alternatives to twelve step programs which are the dominant stream in specifically the US. He sees a couple of disadvantages in these programs in that that they instill guilt upon relapse. Relapse, however is perfectly normal in the way out of addiction and one needs not feel so bad about that. In addition, twelve step programs aim at abstinence, whereas Kern claims people can lead a normal life with moderate intake of substances, also those that have a history of excess. In that respect he thinks it to be more realistic and healthier to aim for damage reduction than elimination altogether.

More Wise Counsel:
Irvin Yalom,
David H. Barlow,
Richard Heimberg,
Tony Madrid,
Francine Shapiro.

Verzonnen martelaar - OVT recensie

2008-07-10T06:04:00.001+03:00

In OVT's serie over beroemde executies kwamen de apostelen Petrus en Paulus aan de beurt. Het gaat voornamelijk over Paulus en van hem is het niet eens zeker of hij wel terechtgesteld is. Het bijbelboek Handelingen der Apostelen, wat toch voornamelijk Lucas' versie van het leven van Paulus is, laat het einde open. In een apocriefe bron, wordt in Rome een heldhaftige, mystieke martelaarsdood van Paulus daarentegen wel beschreven.

De gasten trekken de geloofwaardigheid hiervan in twijfel. Niet alleen is de beschrijving (waarbij er melk uit de aderen van de martelaar komt) als zodanig niet aannemelijk, het tijdstip waarop een en ander moet hebben plaatsgevonden, maakt het niet waarschijnlijk dat Paulus omwille van zijn geloof zou zijn omgebracht. Zo groot was de Christelijke beweging in die tijd nog niet en daarom ook niet als gevaarlijk aangemerkt door de Romeinen.

Niet dat de Romeinen erg beschroomd waren om iemand terecht te stellen die enigszins de orde bedreigde. Dus het gepraat over een messias door christenen en hun aanvaringen met de gevestigde joodse orde, zullen in heel wat gevallen ertoe geleid hebben dat Romeinse machthebbers er eens een paar het zwijgen hebben opgelegd uit pragmatische overwegingen. Maar Paulus? Dat was een Romeins staatsburger; daar gaat dat toch ietsje minder gemakkelijk. Het zou dus ook kunnen dat de apostel een pensioentje aan de Costa Brava heeft genoten, in plaats van terechtstelling.

Meer OVT:
Socrates,
Hoeren en Agenten,
Polen,
Stalingrad,
Handlangers.

The Writing Show podcast review

2008-07-09T18:54:00.008+03:00

In the Getting Published series of The Writing Show Podcast we have returned for the eighth time to writer Jean Tennant. Her novel Karaoke Nights at the Twilight Lounge is still waiting to be picked up by a publisher, or even an agent. It has been so long since Jean started, she is beginning to give up on her hopes of getting published the old-fashioned way. In spite of her misgivings about self-publishing, she is beginning to consider it.

Apart from the fact that self-publishing becomes easier, more widely accepted and respected, she also takes into consideration the regional character of her novel. Should she have to take up the publicizing on her own, she still has the advantage of living close to her market. Host Paula B. adds that regional sells well these days, as far as she has been told.

One self-publishing experience Tennant has acquired with the children book she has put out. It was a tough learning experience, but the result is there. Olivia's Birthday Puppy.

More Writing Show on this blog:
Getting Published with Janice Ballenger,
Getting Published with Mark Leslie,
Psychological Aspects of Writing,
Getting published with Jean Tennant,
Self-publishing.

Intuitive understanding - Zander gives music to all on TED

2008-07-09T11:00:00.000+03:00

All my life, in a way, I have been wondering about the understanding of great truths and great values. How can we acquire understanding of, for example, the ethical, or the arts, or proper logic, rationality and reasoning? Is that an elite quality? Does it take great intellect, arduous study and plenty experience in order to reach that understanding? If so, we are in a way lost. Great qualities are basically hidden from us and only once reach the proper level, these will be revealed to us. Until then, we either do not know, do not care or worse even, are under the impression there is nothing worthy to aspire. Understanding in this case is not true understanding but rather mystic, revealed, initiated; an object of grace not of virtue.

If on the other hand, it doesn't take elite qualities, what makes great qualities great as opposed to whatever else we are impressed by if we do not put in effort? Applied to for example classical music, this means that either classical music is for an exceptional elite to discern and the rest of us just do not care or even listen in derision. Either that, or we basically have no way of deciding Johann Sebastian Bach is a great composer and Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (of ABBA) are not so, since both their music is appreciated by millions. Understanding in this case is rather plain, non-discriminatory, pragmatic; an object of establishment and not of virtue either.

My way around this problem is to introduce levels of understanding, or a gradual continuum of understanding. In that approach there is complete understanding, which is elitist, but there is a lower level of understanding, which I call intuitive, which is something we all have and is fine tuned and activated by learning, but when not developed, still passively is there. Intuitive understanding allows us to recognize quality when we see it. It allows us to feel Bach is more than ABBA, even if we can't actively explain why. It allows us to identify the ethical, even if we can not actively explain why it is better than plain selfishness. It also allows us to seek, to persevere in study towards the qualities, because we recognized something and carry with us an unfulfilled promise. This makes understanding a virtue.

In the following TED video, conductor Benjamin Zander undertakes an elegant and effective test with the audience, the discerning of classical music and the various sorts of unacquired alike and shows how they are all touched by great classical music. Here we see understanding as a virtue, both at the acquired as well as on the lower levels.

More TED
Jill Bolte Taylor,
Karen Armstrong,
Ben Dunlap. (highly recommended)