New podcasts in the directories and more

Today I have added a whole new directory to my list of podcast directories: Geography podcasts:

Geography of World Cultures (Stanford)
Enhanced podcast (maps are added to the audio) about the spread of languages and religions in the world. We see that the political and cultural boundaries are not the same as the boundaries of language and religion.

Geography 130 (Berkeley) Natural Resources and Population
Lecture series that explains how our earth is populated, why it is populated the way it is, how we use our resources and in the process we come to understand how the system is strained.

Africa Past and Present
A relatively new podcast from Michigan State University acquainting us by means of interviews with interesting people with the continent of Africa.

From Our Own Correspondent
Weekly podcast by the BBC. Correspondents from all over the world give a monologue about the place where they are stationed.

Africa (Stanford, Travel)
Lecture series preparing for a journey to various African countries. The first on the list: Morocco.

Asia (Stanford, Travel)
Lecture series preparing for a journey to South Asia. Insights about the cultures, languages and economy of the south of India.




New this month were:
Africa Past and Present added to the Geography directory
Biography Show added to the History directory
Celtic Myth Podshow added to the Arts and Culture directory (under construction)
Distillations to the Science and to the History directory
Engines of our Ingenuity added to the Science directory
Historypod added to the History directory

Podcast reviews still delayed

Dear readers,

I am still recovering with my ears. I can do a little listening over the speakers on my PC, but not much progress is made. Hence, I can't promise how much and when there will be more reviews, but still can give you some insight as to what is lined up.

- Open Source (Parag Khanna)
- UChannel Podcast
- Irvin Yalom (on KQED and Wise Counsel)
- Susan Yacoby (The Age of American Unreason)
- Shrink Rap Radio (Mindmentor and others)
- Simek interviews Jaap van der Zwan
- Speaking of Faith: No more taking sides
- OVT
- History 5
- Chronicles Radio Dispatches (review by guest author)
- History 106B (The Roman Empire)
- Historyzine
- The Missing Link
- In Our Time

On March 1st:
- A new podcast directory to be added, Geography Podcasts.
- 100 podcasts reviewed

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Engines Of Our Ingenuity

A podcast about the machines that make our civilization run and the people whose ingenuity created them. How does that sound? History? Technology? Very serious in any case. This is how the podcast Engines Of Our Ingenuity presents itself in the introduction to each episode.

This is about where the seriousness of this University of Houston podcast ends. Speaker John Lienhard delivers a monologue of two hundred and twenty seconds. Those seconds, though seriously filled with facts and provoking thoughts, are rife with wit and irony. The result is a very charming and very short program that sheds light on some aspect of human progress - not necessarily even technological. The program is broadcast on Houston Public Radio and various other stations. And published as a podcast - luckily for us.

There are more light science, technology and history podcasts, but I have yet to hear one that wraps them all in so little time with so huge a result. A real gem in the world of educational audio.

Celtic Myth Podshow

Here is a new podcast that recently started: Celtic Myth Podshow. The podcast intends to bring us a wide variety of stories from the Celtic traditions, that is Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish and from Brittany. The way the show intends to bring the tales is by telling them.

The way they phrase it themselves is: 'bringing the tales and stories of the ancient Celts to your fireplace.' Indeed they are brought home, close to the listener, by subtle dramatization. The text is read with a bardic tone of voice and the characters are featured with speaking voices. This is mixed with music in style and the odd sound effect, just the right blend to get you in the Celtic mood.

It may be hard, hopefully will become easier, to keep track of all the names, as they are many and they are very outlandish to the unaccustomed ear. Host Gary performs a pronunciation of the Celtic names that sounded very genuine to me, but at the end of the first show he throws a disclaimer and apologizes for possible mistakes in this respect. Well, we have had one show, I hope this is going to be continued in the splendid way it started.

Related content:
The Fisher King,
The art of coherence,
The Bitch, the Crone, and the Harlot,
Shrinkrapradio meets Curtiss Hoffman.

Podcast review: Historypod

Do you want a five to ten minute history lesson? Would you like to know what was the famed warship Wasa? Or what was it with the Zimmermann telegram? The Historypod podcast delivers this material. Five to ten minute podcasts taking on interesting subjects of world history and effectively deal with them in such a short time.

Host Alan Joyce took on this podcast out of his own curiosity with what he calls 'some of the lesser known stories in history.' His disclaimer is he is not is historian, but to his credit, in podcasting this need not be a problem. With good reading he accomplishes this task and throws in some good podsafe music and sound effects for good measure. Light history lessons at their best.

So what was it with Wasa, and with Zimmermann? You can find this out by listening just as long as reading this review. Wasa was the Swedish warship that was going to be the most formidable battle ship in its time, but then something went wrong on the maiden voyage. And Zimmermann? Arthur Zimmermann was the German foreign minister during WW1, he sent a telegram to Mexico, which was intercepted by the British and carefully conveyed to the US Government, with considerable effect on the ongoing war.

Other short history podcasts:
British History 101,
History according to Bob,
History Podcast,
Matt's Today In History,
Parnell's History Podcast.

Podcast Review: Africa Past and Present

Africa is the great unknown. Not only for me I guess, for most in the West, or the rest of the world for that matter. The State University of Michigan supplies a podcast called Africa Past and Present. After having heard two issues, I am still not much smarter on the past, but at least a little more on the present. In any case a must listen for everybody.

It is not just heavy-handed serious stuff. The podcast also paid attention to the African soccer Cup, which was won by Egypt, even if the podcast predicted the Ivory Coast would win. But that is a mistake anyone could have made - I myself thought the Ivorians were really good. Other subjects that have been are the diversity of Islam in Africa, film in Africa and the new media.

I suppose the range of subjects will continue to be as wide and no matter how curious I am to find out about the history of Africa, even if this podcast will fill in the picture of contemporary Africa and its recent history, it is a podcast very much worthwhile.

More Africa on this blog:
The Missing Link on counting,
Apartheid and Environmental History,
Environmental History and South Africa,
Africa - Stanford Travel,
Africa - Counsel for Foreign Relations.

An unforeseen lapse in podcast reviews

Dear Readers,

We have hit a snag with this blog. I have come down with an ear infection. Not only does this keep me at home stuffed with antibiotics, it also means I cannot listen to podcasts. I have a couple of reviews lined up, of shows I have already listened to, but beyond that I cannot offer you new content until further notice.

My apologies,

Anne

Battle of Britain - BTHP podcast review

The Binge Thinking History podcast, after having concluded the series about the British roots in the American constitution, has started a new series about the Battle of Britain. Has the battle been won only by a hair? Was the battle as decisive to WW2 as we used to be taught? Recently we saw BBC history magazine shed some doubt to these widely accepted facts.

Whether Tony Cocks will reach different conclusions in the BTHP remains to be seen. After two issues he is first and foremost entrenched in getting the data in place. For me that is a taxing listening experience. I was glad he took the time to explain RADAR, but felt my terrible lack of understanding in military matters when he went about the details of the planes involved and the confrontations between them.

At least two more issues on this subject are to be expected and hopefully, once the data are sorted we will see some conclusions. I'd love to find out about the importance of the Battle of Britain in the perspective of BTHP. Was it nearly lost? Was it as decisive? Has an invasion of the British isles ever been a danger? Will Tony address these questions?

Previously reviewed podcast from BTHP:
The American Constitution's British roots.

Urban Air Pollution - Environmental History Podcast reviewed

The Environmental History Podcast took on the subject of air pollution in the last episode. Host Jan Oosthoek interviews Stephen Mosley of Leeds Metropolitan University who did research on the subject, most notably about the pollution in the city of London. However, what we would call pollution and look down upon, was not so perceived in London for a long time.

The air in London was polluted, maybe as early as the middle ages, but as off the 17th century it is well documented. The amount of smoke hanging about the city may have bothered some, but was welcomed by many. Oosthoek's example of such is the French painter Monet who came to London because the smog gave such wonderful sky-views. In addition, the smoke, especially with the industrial revolution taking on, was a symbol of progress. Another assumed positive effect was on germs. As soon as understanding of contagious diseases started to spread, the idea smoke drove out the germs came along. And these attitudes persisted for a long time.

What brought about the change? Mosley discusses this at length, but the bottom line is that in spite of a larger amount of respiratory problems in polluted areas, only the smog disaster of 1952, when thousands of people died, made the balance shift. Finally the political efforts to regulate were strong enough and the Clean Air Act came into effect. This has been yet another very interesting issue of the Environmental History podcast. I can recommend this podcast to everybody.

More Environmental History podcast on this blog:
Apartheid and Environmental History,
Environmental History and South Africa,
Environmental History.

Podcast reviews till the end of February

Within 12 hours:
- Environmental History (Urban Air Pollution)

Within 36 hours:
- Binge Thinking History (Battle of Britain)
- Africa Past and Present
- Celtic Myth Podshow, Tales & Stories of the Ancient Celts


In the coming days
- Open Source (Parag Khanna)
- Historypod
- UChannel Podcast
- Irvin Yalom (on KQED and Wise Counsel)
- Susan Yacoby (The Age of American Unreason)
- Shrink Rap Radio (Mindmentor and others)
- Simek interviews Jaap van der Zwan
- Speaking of Faith: No more taking sides

This month: A new podcast directory to be added, Geography Podcasts.

New podcasts on trial:
History 106B (The Roman Empire)
Chronicles Radio Dispatches (review by guest author)
Engines Of Our Ingenuity

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Alexander the Great - Biography Show

The formula that works so well for the long show about Napoleon is repeated in TPN's (The Podcast Network) The Biography Show: Host Cameron Reilly presents the show and is accompanied by historian David Markham for the content. The natural mix of dialog, interview and conversation makes for a very effective formula.

The difference will be, the Biography show will take a new character to talk about every episode and not dig into the life of (for example) Napoleon and meticulously follow his chronology. More superficial from the get go, but aptly justified by Markham. He uses the movies about Alexander the Great (the first to be discussed in the Biography show) as an example. Anybody who has some understanding of history and especially of the era and the person of Alexander can be aggravated about the omissions, mistakes and simplifications of the movies. However, it is the accessibility of the movie to the wide public, that allows history to be enclosed to a wide audience and is more likely to entice people to investigate some more, than a well-founded work of an academic.

As superficial quickies go, I think the biography podcast has little to be bashful about. I am not especially knowledgeable about Alexander, but I have seen the movie, have followed the Alexander podcast of Bob Packett and Dan Carlin as well as the History of the Ancient Mediterranean by Isabelle Pafford (Berkeley). Enough ground for comparison and the result is rather good. One example, Reilly and Markham point out the merits of Alexander's father Philip whose success in uniting Greece gave the excellent starting point for his son to become truly great. Now that was original, in stead of the more usual buffoon, Philip is awarded the greatness due to him. Very refreshing.

More Alexander the Great:
The Funeral Game,
Alexander crippled by TV

More TPN:
TPN Napoleon 1O1.

An animated History of Evil

Thanks to Open Culture and its YouTube Playlist. I came by this charmingly funny piece claiming to show the History of Evil




Other video material on this blog:
Ben Dunlap at TED

Distillations - a chemistry podcast review

Sometimes it is not easy to categorize a podcast. I will put Distillations under science, as it is all about chemistry. This is a very original and fantastically performed podcast though one which takes many varying angles on chemistry. A historical one, a didactic one and more. With music and various items, among others the rubric, the element of the week. This can be an elelement of the periodic system (like Chromium) or an element such as 'fire', telling the historical sense of the show. I was fortunate to find this podcast thanks to a recommendation from The Missing Link, great science and history podcast in its own right.

The last three episodes concentrate on Chemistry in the class room - an issue concentrated on the chemistry education with among others the use of Second Life for chemistry education. The chemistry of love; all you ever wanted to understand about the chemicals in attraction but were afraid to ask, along goes a history of aphrodisiacs. And color; that wonderful world of hues, how they work and how chemistry made it possible to dye.

Distillations is a rather new podcast and what it does very well is improve on the somewhat singular style of many older podcasts. What we see with, let's call it old style podcasts, is that there is a single podcaster that delivers a lesson on the subject at hand, possibly deals with some feedback and questions and that is that. Newer podcasts are much more varied, have sound effects, more voices on the cast, rubrics and such. In many ways, I suppose, podcasting is growing up and beginning to resemble more and more conventional, professional radio, with the added advantages of podcast.

More Science.
More History.

The Missing Link on this blog:
Time's Arrow,
On Time and on Counting - The Missing Link,
Strength in Numbers,
Constant Companions,
From Berlin,
History of Science.

A weekend of Podcast Reviews

My weekend is Friday and Saturday, as opposed to many others in the world. With the added time difference, my weekend is nearly over when it starts for my American friends...

Until Saturday:
- Distillations
- The Biography Show (Alexander the Great)

As of Sunday:
- Environmental History (Urban Air Pollution)

In the coming days
- Binge Thinking History (Battle of Britain)
- Open Source (Parag Khanna)
- UChannel Podcast
- Irvin Yalom (on KQED and Wise Counsel)
- Susan Yacoby (The Age of American Unreason)
- Shrink Rap Radio (Mindmentor and others)
- Simek interviews Jaap van der Zwan
- Speaking of Faith: No more taking sides

This month: A new podcast directory to be added, Geography Podcasts.

New podcasts on trial:
Historypod
History 106B (The Roman Empire)
Chronicles Radio Dispatches
Engines Of Our Ingenuity
Africa Past and Present
Celtic Myth Podshow, Tales & Stories of the Ancient Celts

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You can let your preferences (I'd love get new podcast recommendations) know by commenting on the blog or sending mail to The Man Called Anne at: Anne Frid de Vries (in one word) AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk

De Russische Kater - NRC FM

In ruim twintig jaar maakten de Russen de sovjetdictatuur, de perestrojka, de chaos onder Yeltsin en het regime van Putin mee. Steeds mocht er reden tot hoop zijn, maar vooral is er veel geleden. Onder de titel De Russische Kater spreekt NRC FM met Laura Starink die er een boek met dezelfde titel over schreef.

Volgens Starink zijn de meeste Russen nu beter af, maar niettemin is er (kennelijk) een kater. Aan de hand van onder meer haar eigen ervaringen worden de ontwikkelingen naverteld. Het resultaat is een van de meest fascinerende producties die NRC FM tot nu toe heeft kunnen brengen. Al blijft het knokken met de geluidskwaliteit en vond ik af en toe de vragen van de gastheren Paul Steenhuis en Daan Diederiks een storende onderbreking. Maar alles wat Laura Starink te vertellen heeft is zo onderhoudend en zo goed geformuleerd dat ik in minder dan 40 minuten helemaal ben bijgepraat. Alles wat ik over het veranderende Rusland wilde weten, maar niet wist te vragen.

Het belangrijkste kritiekpunt blijft bij de presentatie hangen. Steenhuis is er opnieuw niet in geslaagd zonder haperingen een vloeiende en effectieve inleiding te geven. Opnieuw is Daan Diederiks niet voorgesteld (al wordt vermeld dat hij aanwezig is) zodat je je eeuwig blijft afvragen waarom hij erbij zit. Sterker nog, als hij al aan het woordi s gekomen, dan heb ik het niet gemerkt. Zijn stem lijkt teveel op die van Steenhuis en zijn rol is niet duidelijk. Wat er moet gebeuren is, dat ofwel een van de twee de podcast alleen doet, of dat er een duidelijke rolverdeling komt, waarbij de een louter gespreksleider is en de lijn in de gaten houdt en de ander zorgt voor inhoud en reacties. En met namen, graag. Dankjewel Paul, alsjeblieft Daan.

Meer over NRC FM:
De economische crisis,
Vrijheid van Meningsuiting,
Amerikaanse verkiezingen,
Over mannen en over Rumi.

Ronald van den Boogaards kritiek op NRC FM.

Alan Johnston; out of Gaza

For four months BBC journalist Alan Johnston was held hostage in Gaza (we call it 'Aza). I was rather put off by the carnival around his release and felt it was a Hamas publicity stunt. (see blog) Nevertheless, the persona and the plight of Alan Johnston was and is very fascinating. It was very fortunate therefore, he has written a book about his experiences and was invited to talk with Jon Snow (Channel 4) and the public at the RSA. More so, that this conversation was recorded and published as a podcast episode by UChannel.

The talk turns very personal. Johnston relates how he managed to psychologically survive. How he worried about his parents. How he managed (or not) to maintain some kind of relationship with his main jailer. And about the feelings when released and about coming home. Allow me to paraphrase: I entered the kitchen. You probably enter the kitchen a million times in your life and it is the most ordinary experience, but this time I was so aware of it and so happy about it.

His words are not just about his own plight, they are also about Gaza. He claims to be one of the very very few outsiders who have actually lived in Gaza and who understand how life is over there. His sketch is grim, his outlook is pessimistic. He doesn't take sides with Fatah or Hamas or anybody else. It is a tough story and if not for Gaza, for Johnston it has a happy ending. If not complete, in any case the podcast is a delight to listen to.

More UChannel (aka University Channel podcast):
Nuclear Terrorism,
Attack Iran (or not),
Israel, Iran, terrorism,
Less Safe, Less Free (Losing the War on Terror),
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.

Upcoming podcast reviews on "Anne is a man!"

Within 24 hours:
- A conversation with Alan Johnston
- NRC FM (The New Russia)

Within 48 hours:
- Distillations
- The Biography Show (Alexander the Great)

In the coming days
- Open Source (After the Empire: Must Reading from Parag Khanna)
- UChannel Podcast
- Environmental History (Urban Air Pollution)
- Shrink Rap Radio (Mindmentor and others)
- More Simek
- Speaking of Faith: No more taking sides

This month: A new podcast directory to be added, Geography Podcasts.

New podcasts on trial:
Historypod
Chronicles Radio Dispatches
Africa Past and Present

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Democracy in America

What I need, as an outsider of American politics, is an explanation of what is going on right now - such as the pre-elections for the candidates to the presidency. In addition to that I need background exposes in order to get the general picture right. The blog Democracy in America on The Economist does exactly that. It also provides audio which is integrated in the general Economist Podcast. Alternately there is a review of the latest caucuses and their results and an interview with a specialist on a certain general topic in the US.

The latest to issues I listened to with great interest carried these two marks. One analyzing the latest results and evaluating the three most likely candidates as things stand right now: McCain, Obama and Clinton. McCain earned from the success of the surge in Iraq and seems to manage to overcome the hesitations Republicans have with him (as not being enough of a conservative). Obama is characterized as the one who may mobilize 60% of the electorate, yet can also drop to 40%. Clinton on the other hand is named a controversial figure who may hold 49% and has no chance on the opposing 49% and whose presidential campaign should mean to to win over the remaining 2%.

The other episode features an interview with Bradley Smith about the way campaign financing is regulated in the US. Should this be reformed? What ideas are about that. (Among others from McCain) Generally, financing is not coming from the government but from private organizations and individuals. To what extent does that lead to more corruption or less?

More from the Economist:
Issues of Race,
The primary system,
The Economist in New Hampshire,
A biography for Barack Obama and one for Hillary Clinton,
The Economist podcast.

Heesters, Petain, Leopold achteraf - OVT

Achteraf is het makkelijk praten, merkt de Belgische historicus Bruno de Wever op. OVT sprak afgelopen zondag niet alleen in het kader van In Europa over collaborateurs. Eerst ging het nog over Johan Heesters, waarna er naadloos aangesloten kon worden bij thema rondom het jaar 1940.

Wilhelmina vluchtte naar London en liet Nederland aan de bezetters. Leopold bleef in Belgie achter en werd een krijgsgevangene in zijn paleis in Brussel. Charles de Gaulle week ook uit naar London, maar er bleef een Frans gezag, in handen van de blijvende Petain. Petain sprak een doodvonnis over De Gaulle uit en stichtte de nieuwe Franse staat.

Die Franse staat bestond binnen de kaders die de Duitsers stelden. Vichy Frankrijk heerste over een fractie van het Franse grondgebied. Een deel werd bezet, door Duitsers en Italianen en delen werden aan Belgie of Duitsland toegevoegd. Leopold had ook graag zo'n stukje soeverein gebeid gehad, maar kreeg dat van de Fuhrer niet gedaan. Iedereen dacht dat de Duitsers nog lang zouden heersen. Wilhelmina, De Gaulle en Churchill leken de gekken die de feiten niet onder ogen zagen. Maar achteraf is het makkelijk praten.

En Heesters? Ingo Schiweck, auteur van een artikel ‘Johannes Heesters –Ich bin Hollaender’ in het boek ‘Niederlaendische Unterhaltungskuenstler in Deutschland’, noemt hem vooral een profiteur. Er kan niet bewezen worden dat hij in Dachau gezongen heeft, of bij de SS kazerne ernaast. Hij heeft de Nazi-leiders nooit opgezocht, maar deze hielden van hem en gebruikten hem in de propaganda machine. Heesters kon als artiest blijven werken en een succesvolle carriere bouwen met de wind in de rug. En met de rug naar de actualiteit. Het doet me een beetje aan Herge denken. Er zijn er zoveel die zolang als het maar kon doorleefden tussen de brokken door. Wie kan er goed kiezen wanneer de toekomst onduidelijk is? Achteraf is het makkelijk praten.

Eerdere besprekingen van OVT in dit blog:
1929 - Goldene Zwanziger,
1933 - Fellow Travelers.
1936 - Spanje,
1938 - Hitler en Holocaust,
1939 - Patriotten tot landverraders.

New Podcast Reviews by Anne the Man

Within 24 hours:
- OVT (Vichy)
- The Economist: Democracy in America

Within 48 hours:
- Distillations
- The Biography Show (Alexander the Great)
- A conversation with Alan Johnston

In the coming days
- Open Source (After the Empire: Must Reading from Parag Khanna)
- UChannel Podcast
- Environmental History (Urban Air Pollution)
- Shrink Rap Radio (Mindmentor and others)
- More Simek

This month: A new podcast directory to be added, Geography Podcasts.

New podcasts on trial:
Historypod
Chronicles Radio Dispatches
Africa Past and Present

Subscribe in a reader

Paste the link
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You can let your preferences know by commenting on the blog or sending mail to The Man Called Anne at: Anne Frid de Vries (in one word) AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk

Witches, plague, war and Hobbes

In a way the fall of Constantinople was not so much of a low note in the making of Europe. It basically emancipated this backwater from the east even if it suddenly had to stand up on its own facing the Islamic invaders and also lost touch with the trade routes into India and China. That is 1453, where History 5 started. The next issues were the opening up of the New World and the Reformation which, even though enough ugly stories go along with it, first and foremost exemplify the vigor of emerging Europe. In the fourth week however, History 5 plunges us without any restraint in to the depth of ugliness and the many faces it wore during the 16th and 17th century.

Part of this is the immediate result of the Reformation and the political and military consequences it took. War tore the emerging area apart. Most notably the Thirty Year's war, which killed off, up to 50% of the population in certain parts of the German lands, but not just there. Also in France, England the Netherlands and the rest of Europe war raged.

In addition to all this upheaval we have the prosecution of witches which rises to enormous heights in this era and fortunately also subsides by the end. Also there is plague, ever since the end of the Middle Ages, the black death continues to break out. Lectures 7 (Things Fall Apart: Persecution, Plague, and War) and 8 (Hobbes's World and the Emergence of Constitutional Government) of History 5 take us through these upheavals and make the connection to Hobbes's reaction in the form of a political theory asking for absolute power to the state. What is especially challenging is Professor Anderson's effort to explain the witch hunt; evaluate the various popular and scientific explanations and outline the beginning of an explanation of her own.

More History 5:
Reformation,
Europe and 1492,
The making of Europe in 1453,
From the Renaissance Until Today,
The genitals of Christ: Anne asks and then Anderson replies.

Simpleology blogging course - is it on blogging at all?

I didn't like the first 30 minutes I spent with Simpleology, so why bother at all? I blog about podcasts and loathe to engage you with thoughts on blogging at all. It just so happened Simpleology was offering this "multi-media course on blogging" which I could obtain for free if I'd announce it the way I did in the post below. I was tipped off by a blogger whom shall remain nameless, but who I highly respect. On account of my trust in him, I took over the advert, without additional investigation. And I regret it now. This post is to warn others who consider doing the same.

Immediately after I posted my embedded ad, I was allowed access to the so-called course. Before however being able to embark, I had to sign up and go through a couple of pages of account set-up which step by step made me feel worse about the direction it was taking.

On the first page, before getting anywhere, I am treated with unsolicited health advice which is summed up in two rules: chew well and drink enough water. In the process you are invited to say some of the sentences aloud (!). The rest involves a old sales trick: this is your one time opportunity to save $97 dollars and apply for a free trial of 6 more courses by Simpleology. Are they about blogging? Are they even remotely about blogging and the web? No, no, no. This is all para-medicine. How to lose fat, how to stop hair loss and stuff like that and then it is on to the next page.

The second and third pages urge me to download and install all sorts of applications and to turn the Simpleology page into my homepage. Do I want that? Do I need that? I wanted a course about blogging. Get me some content, get me some ideas first. As many other heavy PC users I have bad feelings about downloading and installing applications. This is by all standards a big no-no. And so I skipped these steps and peeked at the pdf that gave the course outline. This at face value contained lots of psychology exercises and nothing about writing, blogging, attracting traffic, keeping your readers at the site and that kind of stuff I want to know all about.

In stead, it looked like the DIY's in psychology that are so inevitable these days. That look so similar even if they claim to be utterly different and not be spawned of Scientology AT ALL. I do not care if it is Avatar, or Landmark, or Forum, or NLP, or the Purpose Centered Life (podcast), or what have you. It is all the same in my eyes: train your mind to think the right thoughts and your life will change into one sensational feast of happy successes. I am no vessel of negativity but I do not believe this for a moment and find it utterly untrustworthy, bordering on dangerous.

In short, I was seriously put off by Simpleology and stand to be corrected on my initial impression: no actual, practical course on blogging is offered at all. And as such this is a scam.

The man behind this all is Mark Joyner. He is no psychologist, no philosopher, no teacher, master, rabbi, guru of any kind. He is a marketeer. A web search on his name or on his Simpleology, will hit you nearly exclusively with shouting, singing and swinging exclamations. Well, yeah...

What can be expected on Anne is a Man, blog

Within 12 hours: History 5 (Witches, plague, war and Hobbes)

Within 24 hours:
- OVT
- The Economist: Democracy in America



In the coming days
- Open Source (After the Empire: Must Reading from Parag Khanna)
- UChannel Podcast (one of three: A Conversation with Alan Johnston; The Encounter of Islam with Europe; The Economics of Climate Change: Risk, Ethics, and a Global Deal.
Do you readers have a preference? Comment or send mail...)
- The Biography Show (Alexander the Great)
- More Simek

This month: A new podcast directory to be added, Geography Podcasts.

New podcasts on trial:
Historypod
Chronicles Radio Dispatches
Distillations
Africa Past and Present

More:

I am evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

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Lucie Stepanova (Lucie Štěpánová)

Simek had zijn reserves toen hem werd aanbevolen om de celliste Lucie Stepanova te interviewen. Een Tsjechische? Gaan dan twee Tsjechen Nederlands met elkaar spreken, omdat het radio is? Uit beleefdheid? Ondanks de terughoudendheid heeft hij de uitdaging gelukkig toch aangenomen. (stream)

Voor de podcast editie van Simek 's Nachts wordt de muziek weggeknipt, maar dat geldt alleen voor de opnames. In deze editie met Stepanova, kunnen we haar live horen spelen op de cello, en ook zingen. Zingen in het Tsjechisch en voeg daarbij ook wat woorden uit het Tsjechisch. Als het dan toch gebeurt, dan laat Martin de kans niet voorbijgaan om zijn moedertaal aan te raken. Het zorgt voor een heel persoonlijke toon van het gesprek.

Stepanova zelf maakt ook indruk. Hoewel ik meestal niet zo enthousiast wordt van de jongere gasten (ze is nog maar 30), is deze keer een uitzondering. In haar bescheidenheid vindt ze haar kracht. Bovendien wil bescheidenheid nog niet zeggen dat ze niet uitgesproken zou zijn. Dat is ze wel. Ze laat zich dus ook niet door Simek en zijn nostalgie overvleugelen. Het resultaat is een heel fijn gesprek.

Meer Simek op dit blog:
Olaf Tempelman,
Paul Gelderloos,
Bas Heijne,
Herman Finkers,
Tijs Goldschmidt.

Komende gasten bij Simek (en wellicht op dit blog):
Nico ten Berge,
Jaap van der Zwan,
Antonie Kamerling.

Free riders - Philosophy Bites

The latest issue of Philosophy Bites addresses the philosophical problem of free riding. The problem is defined as: Why should anyone contribute to a joint enterprise if their contribution is tiny and they can just as easily 'free ride' (i.e. get the benefit without making the sacrifice)? For example: why should I vote, if my vote dissolves in the sea of votes. Why should I not pollute, if my contribution is inconsequential to the environment?

I remember we discussed a similar problem when I studied philosophy of law. The example we took was about a polluted river. The question was: what justifies the prohibition to throw waste in this river, when it is so severely polluted that any addition doesn't make it worse? If justifications are only related to consequences we can't. Ethical thinking that is consequential will see here a dilemma, but if we assume value can be inherent, there is no problem. Throwing waste is in itself worng and therefore it is justified to prohibit it.

It seems to me, the free rider problem also gets entangled in consequentialism. If however we evaluate our actions also on their inherent qualities, we are capable of rationally deciding against taking a free ride. That is, as far as we can. Aren't we all free riders on the planet? Aren't we profiting left and right in our lives from the past, from the environment without making contribution?

Richard Tuck is invited to present his solution to the problem, which, according to the introduction by David Edmonds, is regarded by some as insolvable, and therefore a true dilemma. Tuck is not particularly easy to follow, so the listener be prepared. He tends to mumble a bit. Otherwise his explanations are thought provoking and take a whole different direction than my idea.

More Philosophy Bites:
Humanism,
Is war innate?
Wittgenstein,
Friendship,
Egalitarianism.

More 'Ann is a Man' - Podcast Reviews

A web search on 'Anne is a Man' should by and large lead to this blog only. 'Ann is a Man' is different though. There are some people who like to say this of Ann Coulter. But that is just a side step. Here is what you can expect on Anne is a Man over the weekend:

Within 24 hours: Philosophy Bites (Free Riders)

Within 48 hours: Simek interviews Lucie Stepanova

- Open Source (After the Empire: Must Reading from Parag Khanna)
- UChannel Podcast (one of three: A Conversation with Alan Johnston; The Encounter of Islam with Europe; The Economics of Climate Change: Risk, Ethics, and a Global Deal.
Do you readers have a preference? Comment or send mail...)
- The Economist: Democracy in America
- The Biography Show (Alexander the Great)

This month: A new podcast directory to be added, Geography Podcasts.

New podcasts on trial:
Historypod
Chronicles Radio Dispatches
Distillations
Africa Past and Present

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