History Podcast month - wrap up

March was the history podcast month. I have tried to pick up on as many new history podcasts as I could. There were 11 new podcasts I could catch up with. I'll list them below. I'll also list the podcasts I have written about before and that were remembered this month as well. Eventually there were 7 history podcasts, I tracked down, but managed to listen to only a small portion of the issues. Not enough for a complete review, but I'll give them a quick address below as well.

New reviews this month
History of Rome,
History 106B (Berkeley),
TudorCast,
Podcasts on Medieval Texts,
Ancient and Medieval History Podcast,
Medieval & Renaissance Studies Events,
Hank's History Hour,
American History before 1870,
Your History Podcast,
History of the International System,
GLAD Anniversary Podcasts.

Other history podcast reviews begins with my favorites history 5 and OVT, but there are more:
History 5 (Berkeley):
Absolutism and Science,
Enlightenment and French Revolution.

OVT:
1941 - Handlangers,
1943 - Stalingrad,
1943 - Polen.

In Our Time (BBC)
Historyzine
History according to Bob
Hannibal (Stanford)
History 4A (Berkeley)
12 Byzantine Rulers
The Missing Link
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

Quick review of the remaining history podcasts:

History 2311
The history of Western Civilization up to 1600, by Gretchen Ann Reilly, also known from the podcast American History before 1870. This is a quality monologue style podcast in 15 minute editions. The entry level is high school / college.

History 2312
Also by Ms. Reilly is the follow-up, Western Civilization from 1600 on. I would recommend this course for AP European History students, rather than Hank's History Hour.

Everything Lincoln
A history podcast that digs up anything that has to do with Abraham Lincoln. Much in the way of Tudorcast does for the Tudors. there is no didactic build in order to pass understanding of the person, but rather an unstructured stream of episodes. Charmingly done however. So far there are three podcasts in the feed.

Peopletalk's Podcast
An audiobook style podcast that delivers historical texts being read to the listener.

Redborne History Podcast
History podcast of a British school teacher in preparation of his students. Two issues in the feed.

Teaching American History
University lectures on various subjects of American History; a project of the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs at Ashland University.

We the People Stories
A podcast of the US National Constitution Center addressing constitutional issues with lectures and forum discussions on a very high level.

What to expect next:
- 118 podcasts reviewed
- new and improved set up of History podcast directory with links to reviews, sites and feeds
- migration of the other directories to the same structure

האוניברסיטה המשודרת בגלי צה"ל: ליבוביץ' על הרמב"ם

אוניברסיטת תל-אביב, ההוצאה לאור "משרד הביטחון" ו"האוניברסיטה המשודרת" חוגגים 30 שנה בסמסטר שידורים מיוחדים לאורך חמישה שבועות, החל מיום שני, 3 במרס 2008, ועד ליום חמישי, 3 באפריל. הרצאות משודרות מימי שני עד חמישי בשעה שמונה וחצי בערב בגלי צה"ל. ניתן להאזין להן מתוך אתר האינטרנט של גלי צה"ל. יש לקוות שיגיע היום ותכניות מצוינות אלה יועמדו לרשות הציבור במתכונת פודקסט. כלומר, שניתן יהיה להוריד את הקבצים של ההרצאות לנגני MP3 ולשמוע אותן תוך כדי פעילויות אחרות ולא בצמוד למחשב. הסמסטר המיוחד של האוניברסיטה המשודרת יביא בשידור חוזר 20 הרצאות מובחרות ששודרו לאורך השנים. בין ההרצאות, תהיינה הקלטות היסטוריות של שיחה בין פרופסור ישעיהו ליבוביץ ופרופסור יוסף אגסי על מדע, הרצאה של פרופ' שלמה גיורא שהם אודות המיתולוגיה של הרוע, והרצאה של פרופ' אבישי מרגלית המרצה אודות עולמו של ויטגינשטיין.

ההרצאה הראשונה היא הרצאה של הפרופסור ישעיהו ליבוביץ' מתוך הקורס: על אמונתו של הרמב"ם, הרצאה מספר 12 'שלילת ההגשמה ותורת התארים' ששודרה לראשונה ב 26-4-1979.

לקח לי מספר דקות על מנת להתרגל לצורת הדיבור המיוחדת לפרופ' ליבוביץ'. בנוסף, לא פשוט להכנס לעומק הדברים בהרצאה אחת מתוך קורס שלם על חומר שאינו פשוט, יחד עם זאת מדובר בהנאה אנטלקטואלית שממש לא כדאי לוותר עליה.

הסוגיה בה עוסק ליבוביץ' בהרצאה זו היא שאלת היחס בין 'הכל צפוי והרשות נתונה' או שאלת הקומפטיביליזם – שאלת היחס בין חירות האישיות האנושית לבין הדטרמיניזם הקוסמי. האם ידיעת אלוהים מרוקנת מתוכן או מאיינת את האפשרות או החובה של בחירה אנושית חופשית בין טוב לרע?

הרמב"ם מציג את השאלה על ידי דוגמה: אם ישאל השואל, זה האיש – ידע בו הבורא אם יהיה צדיק או רשע? אם תאמר ידע – מוכרח האיש להיות את מה שידע הבורא. אם תאמר לא ידע אלוהים – פגיעה בחומות האמונה.

לפי ליבוביץ' הרמב"ם לא רואה בסוגיה זו תכלית כשלעצמה. הרמב"ם נזהר מלהדביק תארים אנושיים של ידיעה לאלוהים ואף מוצא בכך במידה מסוימת בעיה אמונית עם ריח של עבודה זרה. הפתרון לפי הרמב"ם הוא על דרך השלילה, הוא גורס שבעצם מדובר כאן על קונפליקט מדומה. הקונפליקט נוצר מעירוב בין מושג אותו אנו מבינים, היינו הידיעה האנושית (ידיעת המציאות בעבר ובהווה) לבין מושג עליו אין לנו היגדים או יכולת הבנה - הידיעה במשמעות האלוהית. בדבר אחד אין ספק – על האדם חובה לבחור בין טוב לרע, זו מהותו וצלם אלוהים שבו.

לסיום מצטט ליבוביץ' מתוך פרשנות הרמב"ם על ספר איוב בשאלת ההשגחה והידיעה גם יחד. "זאת היתה כוונת ספר איוב כולו: שלא תטעה ותבקש בדמיונך שתהיה ידיעתו יתברך ידיעתנו, וכוונתו והנהגתו והשגחתו ככוונתנו והשגחתנו והנהגתנו. וכשידע האדם זה ייקל עליו כל מקרה אשר ייקרהו, ולא יוסיפו לו המקרים שאלות על השם אם הוא יודע או לא יודע, אם הוא משגיח או מזניח, אלא יוסיפו בו אהבה."

מטרת ההרצאה היתה להביא בפנינו את עמדת הרמב"ם וזה אכן נעשה. מבחינתי, תשובת הרמב"ם אינה מספקת ואמשיך ואלמד סוגיה פילוסופית מרתקת זו.

G. A. Wagner - Marathoninterview

Hoe zal het gaan als een top-industrieel en een man met conservatieve politieke opvattingen anno 1990 bij een marathoninterview van de VPRO verschijnt? Zal de gast schuchter en defensief zijn? Zal de ondervrager geforceerd kritisch zijn? Of overmatig beleefd? De mix lijkt ongelukkig en bij voorbaat te vol van spanningen om te kunnen slagen.

Het was nog vrijdag de dertiende ook! Op 13 juli 1990 kwam voormalig president-directeur van Shell, Gerrit Wagner naar Het Gebouw om vijf uur lang door Ronald van den Boogaard geinterviewd te worden. Ik heb ademloos zitten luisteren. Vijf uur is lang, niet in de laatste plaats voor de gast en de interviewer, maar ook vijf uur lang naar een podcast luisteren is geen kleinigheid. Ik heb zelden een marathoninterview in een stuk afgeluisterd. Het enige andere voorbeeld is het gesprek met Jan Wolkers.

Er zit een heel degelijke opbouw in het gesprek. Eerst is het ontspannen en informatief; we leren Wagner kennen. Pas dan, heel geleidelijk begint Van den Boogaard steeds kritischer vragen te stellen. Hij is heel erg goed voorbereid en dat helpt, maar wat nog meer helpt is dat de gast de vragen niet uit de weg gaat. Hij is zo openhartig als hij zijn kan, tot aan de grens van het noemen van namen. Geen personen, geen bedrijven, geen landen worden met name genoemd, als dat volgens Wagner niet gepast is. Het had de details wat pikanter kunnen, maken, maar het doet in het geheel geen afbreuk aan de belangwekkendheid van het gesprek.

De werkwijze van Shell komt aan de orde, waarbij omstandig wordt ingegaan op de vraag of het bedrijf nu wel of niet in Zuid-Afrika moet blijven en waarom. Verder komen Wagners bemoeienissen met het regeringsbeleid aan de orde. Van de open brief in 1976 tot en met de commissies Wagner begin jaren tachtig. Hoe zakelijk en beargumenteerd Wagner ook is, hij windt zich ook op. Vooral over moraliserende praatjes over wat een bedrijf wel en niet mag doen, gebrek aan economisch inzicht en beleid en Den Uyl. Een intelligente man, een goed econoom, maar een die zijn verstand heeft laten verduisteren door de ideologie en daardoor niet meer aanspreekbaar was. Aldus G. A. Wagner. En er is nog zoveel meer... luister, luister.

Meer marathoninterviews:
Rijk de Gooyer,
Hans Galjaard,
Bert ter Schegget,
De Gaay Fortman,
Ina Muller-Van Ast,
Albert Helman,
Lea Dasberg,
Rudi Kross,
Jan Wolkers (warm aanbevolen).

King Lear in podcast

When In Our Time issued a program about King Lear, I figured in advance, I could listen to it in conjunction with Berkeley's English 117S. The latter podcast is a lecture series about Shakespeare, taking on the more important plays one by one, dissecting them in three episodes which each take around 60 minutes.

The problems with English 117s that make it pretty inaccessible as a podcast are many and varied, but there are two that are in my eyes too big and too central and each ruin this series for the general public. One is that you have to have read each play that is being discussed pretty meticulously and would better have it at hand while listening, which is something I won't expect even the best listener can manage. The second problem is that the lecture is interactive, the professor (Charles Altieri) engages in dialog with the students, but on the podcast you cannot hear the students and Altieri doesn't repeat what they are saying. As a consequence, you are double shut out from the experience and only if you are totally dedicated to getting what can be had from the series and can put up with the way it is fragmented for you, there may be some point in listening.

The high level of the content is indisputable though and I was hoping In Our Time would prepare me sufficiently for listening. However, In Our Time hardly engaged in the content of the play (and assumed it known as well), but rather evolved around the reception and development. Still a very interesting podcast and still a very challenging listen. So how to take these two and listen to them with the greatest satisfaction, without spending hours of preparation?

I suggest one starts with Wikipedia and reads first the short entry about the historic King Lear (Leir), then the entry about the reception and development (The History of King Lear). This will kick you off wonderfully for In Our Time (King Lear). Once you have enjoyed that, you have a great introduction in the history, importance and genius of the play and that is where you can enter it. Wikipedia's entry on the play (King Lear) contains a list of characters and a synopsis and after having read this, you can begin to follow English 117S (stream for the first hour, the second hour, the third and final).

This remains a rugged ride, but one of 4 hours of podcast with maybe 30 minutes of preparation and an outcome that gives deep insight in the play and a full enrichment that a great work of culture can deliver: a historical, aesthetic, philosophical, psychological and spiritual experience.

More In Our Time:
Ada Lovelace,
The Social Contract,
Plate Tectonics,
The Fisher King,
The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Previously on English 117S:
Berkeley Spring 2008 has kicked off.

Rijk de Gooijer - Marathoninterview

De VPRO heeft weer een reeks marathoninterviews in feed gestopt. Het gaat om de meest recente en de reeks uit 1990. De eerste die ik uit de nieuwe lading gepikt heb is een gesprek met Rijk de Gooijer. Niet met een speciale reden - het was gewoon de eerste in de rij.

Maar voor ik ging luisteren moest ik wel denken aan een verhaal dat ik in de jaren negentig in de krant had gelezen. Rijk was van het dak gevallen van zijn huis in het centrum van Amsterdam. Hij wilde de poes van het balkon pakken en kukelde van zes hoog naar beneden. Had alles gebroken, maar niets essentieels en kon het gezond en wel navertellen. Dat heeft indruk op me gemaakt. Ik denk niet dat het aan de orde kan komen in het interview uit 1990, want het is naar alle waarschijnlijkheid later gebeurd.

Toch bracht het interview wel wat licht in deze miraculeuze kwestie. Rijk vertelt namelijk dat hij parachutespringer is geweest. Tijdens de oorlog in het leger van de geallieerden en nadien nog als recreatieve springer. Kortom, hij heeft wel leren vallen en dat geeft je het idee dat hij bij zijn noodlottige ongeluk zichzelf, bewust of onbewust heeft kunnen behoeden voor meer schade dan nodig.

Meer marathoninterviews:
Hans Galjaard,
Bert ter Schegget,
De Gaay Fortman,
Ina Muller-Van Ast,
Albert Helman,
Lea Dasberg,
Rudi Kross,
Jan Wolkers (warm aanbevolen).

Glad and gay - Legal history podcast

GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders) is a legal rights organization in New England, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. On this occasion, they have started a monthly podcast which digs up the case history of GLAD, and made it into a monthly podcast. The plaintiffs and the lawyers are interviewed and the case is recounted from beginning to end. As much as one could call this a history podcast, in my humble opinion it is more of a Law podcast. Well, from the perspective of a former specialist in constitutional law it is.

By now, three episodes have been published. They are done very professionally and remind me of true radio programs. The history is of course very recent and the subject is less the development in society and much, much more in law and precedent. Many of the angles of the cases are quite elementary and needless to say, even though a tough fight is put up, the principles against discrimination in the end prevail.

I was alerted to this podcast by a comment left on this blog by Carisa Cunningham. I want to say thank you again to Carisa, for the reaction and request. I hope more people will turn to me and push the podcasts they like to see reviewed.

This weekend on Anne is a Man!

Friday:
- Glad and gay: on a legal history podcast

After Friday:
- Rijk: VPRO Marathoninterview
- King Lear: a guide to In Our Time and Berkeley's English 117S on this great play



In the coming week
- Shrink Rap Radio (Mindmentor and others)
- UChannel Podcast
- Getting Published with the Writing Show
- More than 100 podcasts reviewed

In New podcasts on trial:
Are we Alone?
Redborne History Podcast
Teaching American History Podcast
History 2311 Western Civilization until 1600
History 2312 Western Civilization from 1600
We the people stories

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History of the International System

Stanford on iTunes U has immensely interesting content, which is not always syndicated. I guess the university wants to wait and see if a course gets a certain amount of attention, before it opens a feed. The History of the International System is a lecture series that was conducted by professor James Sheehan earlier this year, but only put on-line after the course nearly finished. And then it took yet another couple of days, and some publications on the web (such as on Open Culture) to let the world know, before the input got into a feed. By now 9 out of the 29 lectures have become available. The rest, apparently is still in post-production. (feed)

This is a course, not just in history, but in a sense also in geopolitics and political science. Sheehan defines 'the international system' as the society of states. States need each other, however there is confrontation for each state to get its own way to find other states in its way. There are rules in order to make common life possible. Conventions, customs, laws etc. In the system of states there is no ultimate sovereign - no enforcement of the rules. There is however some kind of cohesion and dynamic, hence a system.

He starts off in the late nineteenth century. With the help of Verne's story In 80 days around the world, he attempts to convince his audience that the world has become a global unity. While he may need to continue his narration until the dynamics of the aftermath of the First World War, think of the League of Nations that emerges, in order to convince some people that indeed there is some international system, some order in the jungle of nations, for me his case was made. Stronger so, it seems to me, once one observes how the polities are intertwined and have a dynamic without a supreme power, one can even argue there has been an international system ever since the polities came in contact with each other. And if you consider that, although through intermediaries, the Romans traded with the Chinese, this system has always been nearly global. Globalization is certainly complete by the age of exploration.

Maybe the system is not purely international, since not all players are nation-states, but even in 1919, this is still not entirely the case. Those thoughts aside, we get in this course insight in the geopolitics of the last 150 years and how it alternately succeeded and failed to maintain a level of peace world wide. Recent history from a very exciting perspective. A podcast that will grant the listener insight in the quagmires of the Middle-East and other such persistently eluding issues.

Spring Heeled Jack - Your History Podcast

Your History Podcast is a new podcast to arrive at the history scene. The host, Dan Brown (a name to be blessed with), announces the aim with the podcast: to reveal those stories that so easily go lost.

The first episode, A Victorian Character, does exactly that: it tells a story (transcript). The story is of Spring Heeled Jack, a mysterious figure that roamed London in the nineteenth century. In confusing accounts Jack's victims describe how they are attacked by somebody more resembling a monster rather than a ring of the mill criminal. They were also not robbed, they were just scared out of their wits, sometimes groped, but nothing more.

The true identity of Jack, it was presumed, would be an upper class prankster, but he was never caught and he continued to roam even when some of the suspects had died. Jack has been reported well into the twentieth century and Dan concludes he might be roaming still, hence sticking to the story-telling quality of the podcast. This is entertainment mixed in with history and it is pulled off rather well. We will keep an eye on Dan Brown's progress.

Several issues of Philosophy Bites

Philosophy Bites allows me to pick up a short talk on philosophy week in week out. I listen to most of them. Here is a list of recent talks:

Time
Hugh Mellor: tense is not part of time. Tense indicates past, present and future, but whatever is indicated as (for example) future doesn't stay that way, though the event stays the same. Tense is the relation between a person and a point in time. The time itself is absolute. The present follows you around, while time ticks on. A certain time, and the occurrence at that time, stay the same occurrence at the same time even though once it was your future, it became you present and afterwards it is in the past.

Cogito Ergo Sum
Anthony Grayling: I think therefore I am. Descartes claims he has to exist in order to dream, think, doubt. Then there is a mind body problem. The thinking is there, hence the mind exist, but this doesn't imply the body is not an illusion. There is a lot of controversy. One of the ways to tackle the argument is that it is as much a truism as 'I exist' or 'I am here', which is always true as it is said. But the question needs always be addressed: epistemology, what can we know?

Cosmopolitanism
Anthony Appiah: recognize that people across societies have much in common and be tolerant of their differences. Negotiating the differences is hard when deeply held morals and beliefs are at stake. How to reach agreement? More important than assumptions about universal morality is to understand certain procedures of how to conduct the negotiations. Conversation will not resolve the differences, but is aimed at allowing to live together (and keep on conversing).

Free Will
Thomas Pink: The problem of free will starts with blame. We blame others or ourselves for a fault which we had the power to prevent. But do we have the power to do otherwise? Even if we do, what about the certainty about causality; are we sure about the outcome of exercising power or not? We do have an experience about free will; we are free to choose goals. The next step: the extent to which we can translate our goals into actions. As long as we cannot show our will has generally nothing to do with our actions, we might as well assume our will is free to determine our actions.

More Philosophy Bites:
Free rider problem,
Humanism,
Is war innate?,
Wittgenstein,
Friendship.

More history on Anne is a Man!

What podcast reviews to expect on this blog:

Within 24 hours:
- Philosophy Bites (time, free will and more)
- Your History Podcast (Spring Heeled Jack)

Within 48 hours:
- The History of the International System
An exhilarating lecture series by James Sheehan (Stanford) which spans some 29 lectures which have already been held, but not all of them published. I will review about as far as I can get.


In the coming days
- Shrink Rap Radio (Mindmentor and others)
- UChannel Podcast
- King Lear, as discussed in In Our Time and English 117S (Berkeley)
- Getting Published with the Writing Show

In New podcasts on trial we have March as a history podcast month and still a wide range of candidates:
Redborne History Podcast
Teaching American History Podcast
History 2311 Western Civilization until 1600
History 2312 Western Civilization from 1600
Glad 30th Anniversary podcasts
We the people stories

Subscribe in a reader

Paste the link
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Anne_Is_A_Man
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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

American History before 1870

One of the best sources for new history podcasts to try is one that discovered my blog before I discovered it. I was checking the referrals to my blog when I ran into a 'trailfire' on history podcasts. The maker of the trail keeps a close eye on my blog, as I can see from some of the podcast descriptions that are identical to mine, but he also finds new stuff, I hadn't heard of before. So I keep an eye on him as well. And dear creator of this trailfire, if you read this, please contact me.

One of the podcasts I have found though his trail is American History before 1870. The trail comment reads: "These podcasts coordinate with Hist 1301, offered by Dr. Gretchen Ann Reilly at Temple College, in Temple, TX. Dr. Reilly makes American History fascinating!" I can only agree. And I can add: not only does she make it fascinating, she also makes it accessible and yet maintains a high level of factuality and insight.

The secret to her success is a very simple and straightforward formula. In stead of recording her live lectures, she lectures privately, producing a monologue style podcast. She makes sure her issues are no longer than 15 minutes. Very little post-production is done. If the lecture takes more than 15 minutes, which usually is the case, she breaks them up in chunks. This is done almost mid sentence, which requires some adapting from the listener. However, the clarity of Ms. Reilly's voice and the careful structure of her monologue make the work mesmerizing.

I will be going through the whole series and am excited to have discovered two more podcasts she has done: History 2311 and 2312, which address western civilization, the first till 1600 and the second after 1600. Those are the next on my list.

Nog is Polen niet verloren - OVT

Andermaal 1943 en de serie In Europa op TV en bij OVT is afgelopen. Op 9 maart ging het over Polen (naar aanleiding van het jaar 1943) en op 16 maart werd de gehele serie nabeschouwd.

Polen wordt neergezet als de tragische natie. Het verhaal van een volk en een land dat beurtelings verscheurd wordt door Zweden, Pruisen, Russen, Oostenrijkers en zo meer. Te gast zijn Sasza Malko en Hans Citroen, die er maar ternauwernood in slagen om aan te geven dat Polen ook nog wel eens de agressoers waren. Het defaitisme van de Polen wordt geillustreerd aan de hand van het volkslied dat kennelijk de volzin met zich draagt (of daar zelfs mee aanheft) 'Nog is Polen niet verloren.'

Nog is ook Europa niet verloren evenmin de serie. Na een pauze zal de televisiebewerking van Geert Maks boek verdergaan en de tweede helft van de twintigste eeuw voor het voetlicht brengen. Naar alle waarschijnlijkheid kunnen we via radio en internet en podcast ook weer meegenieten, al hebben de nabeschouwers daar nauwelijks oog voor. De TV is het medium waar de historie gepopulariseerd ontsloten wordt. Maar wij blijven bij de podcast - ik heb buitengewoon genoten van de serie.

OVT's In Europa op dit blog:
1943 - Stalingrad,
1941 - Handlangers,
1940 - Heesters, Petain, Leopold achteraf,
1939 - Patriotten tot landverraders,
1938 - Hitler en Holocaust,
1936 - Spanje,
1933 - Fellow Travelers,
1929 - Goldene Zwanziger,
1925 - Mussolini,
1922 - Walther Rathenau,
1917 - Russische Revoluties,
1917 - Het oostfront,
1916 - Neutraal in de grote oorlog,
1915 - verliezen en doorgaan,
1914 - De derde Balkanoorlog,
1906 - Monarchen, Duitsland, revolutie en ballingschap,
Het begin (1900? 1901?).

Enlightenment and French Revolution

History 5 has proceeded past the mid-term exam and still I haven't caught up. so I'll give you a quick pointer to three lectures.

Lecture 11: The Enlightenment (audio, video)
The enlightenment as I recall it from my school times, was all about the shift in the philosophical and scientific outlook on life. This lecture adds to it how during the same time economic and political strength of Europe have increased to a level it changes outlook on the world no less. And where I thought Enlightenment was directly leading to democracy by means of the French revolution, this lecture shows the enlightened absolute monarchs Frederick of Prussia and Peter and Catherine in Russia.

Lecture 12: French revolution (audio, video)
France of course had already its absolutism with Louis XIV and his successors, but France inherited from this line also a deficit it couldn't handle without opening itself up to political change. Once the powers started shifting, it never stopped and the revolution spun right into the next.

Lecture 13: Napoleon (audio, video)
The chaos of the French revolution allowed the rise to power of a man, who would normally not even have been a Frenchman: Napoleone Buonoparte. Pictures of Napoleon, not only this one, but also in other podcasts, are always mixed. There is the tale on the heroic achievements, but there are also the failures and possibly the built in downfall. No matter what, Napoleon left a lasting mark on Europe.

More History 5:
Absolutism and Science,
Witches, plague, war and Hobbes,
Reformation,
Europe and 1492,
The making of Europe in 1453.

Happy Purim

This weekend we have been going about the neighborhood to celebrate Purim. The weather was hot, a sweltering hot befitting summer. In other years we were fighting cold and the occasional shower, but Purim is late this year.

The Celtic Myth Podshow #3

Bres the Beautiful figures in the third edition of the Celtic Myth Podshow. Unfortunately I cannot link to their site right now, as maintenance is being done. However, the show is still available through iTunes.

The tale of Bres the Beautiful is the third tale in the series that will deliver the whole Irish mythological cycle. After the gods and wars tales we have had so far, the story of Bres will touch upon another motif in story telling, the 'Vatersucher'. Why do I know this only in German? My Babylon dictionary couldn't hep me out here. Literally this is a fatherseeker. Bres doesn't know who his father is and at some point he is forced to find this out. And this may not be the kind of thing he wants to know. As goes with Vatersuchers until recent times. I was thinking of the character Johnny in a Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.

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An additional thought on myths. It was a remark made on another podcast. In Our Time spoke of the Greek Myths and from that issue I took the understanding that myths were man's way of getting a grip on life, the world, the universe and so on. A thought experiment that doesn't draw explicit boundaries to divide science from metaphysics, philosophy from belief, history from fiction and religion from fantasy. A holistic, heuristic tool.

Previously on the Celtic Myth Podshow:
Let Battle Commence! - Celtic Myth Podshow #2,
The Celtic Myth Podshow - first review

Planned podcast reviews on "Anne is a man!"

I have listened to a number of podcasts and begun to write the next review, but I have not yet decided in which order to publish them. It depends on a couple of factors, among others when I will get ready to finish the reviews. But here is a list of what you can expect in the coming days:

History 5: enlightenment and French revolution
OVT: Nog is Polen niet verloren
Getting Published with the Writing Show
American History before 1870
King Lear (On BBC and Berkeley)
Shrink Rap Radio
Philosophy Bites

In New podcasts on trial we have March as a history podcast month with a wide range of candidates:
History of the international system
Redborne History Podcast
Teaching American History Podcast
History 2311
Your History Podcast
We the people stories

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Hank's History Hour

"Hi, I’m Hank Nelson, and I love history." This is how an American high school kid introduces you to himself and his podcast - Hank's History Hour. He guides the listener through the course material of AP European History. He tells what the student must know (or so he thinks), what questions to expect, what the hurdles in reading and studying the book are and so on. In short this should be an effective study guide, from an excellent student, for all those peers who need to pass the exam as well. One must assume no school kid will do this kind of thing unless he really, really loves the subject, will pass the test with straight A's and is by all means the most ideal student of history in general and this course in particular.

AP, so I learn on the net, stands for Advanced Placement, hence, this is the top level in secondary school. As an absolute outsider, I can not begin to fathom whether this podcast is in any way helpful to the struggling peers of Hank Nelson. I assume it is and tentatively I would recommend the podcast to them. But first of all I would like to recommend the podcast to everybody involved in History education, in the US and elsewhere.

Assuming this course is the top of the line and this student is as good as they get and what he is able to tell represents the highest the textbook and the course can pass on to the students - you professional listeners are in for a shock. And you may not even be expecting too much. But here are a couple of points that made me cringe dearly during the couple of hours I compelled myself to listen.

For one, Hank is consistently apologetic as to how boring the course is. He complains about certain chapters they are boring, certain subjects to be dull and is openly (and understandably) annoyed by the politically correct, but seemingly unrelated themes that are interjected in the course such as the position of women in renaissance Europe and the question whether William Shakespeare actually wrote the works of Shakespeare. So this is the state of the course: it managed to bore even the best motivated student and failed to bring coherence into the material.

Another element that made me gasp was the presented picture of European History. It is incoherent, it lacks both facts and understanding. Where there are facts they are unrelated and where there is some attempt to analysis and explanation, the construction is filled with crude, incredible and dumb stereotypes. 'if you wanna know why the age of exploration occurred, well it was all because of religion. Ferdinand and Isabelle, you know, wanted to convert everybody in Africa and Asia to catholicism.' 'What really did the Indians in, was disease. You know, before the Spanish came, they had no disease apart from syphilis.'

I could go on and maybe my standards are just too high. But I fear that if this incomprehensible, unhistorical and frankly, Hank is so right, utterly boring hotchpotch is the best kind of history education the best secondary school students get, you teach nothing. And I can't blame anybody for hating History. Hank is all right. If he can stand all this junk, and still loves history, he has so much innate historic sense, he will find his way and improve his knowledge and insight all the time, but his schoolmates will have dropped out by now and form a generation without knowledge and without meaningful connection to the past.

Dan Carlin's view of Anne is a Man!

Here is a mail I received from podcaster Dan Carlin, who produces the podcasts Hardcore History and Common Sense.

Anne,

It is always a fine thing to get a positive review from you. You are, in my mind, the most elite of the podcast reviewers (and most especially in the History genre). Your reviewing style reminds me more of a film critic...you are NOT the general public reviewing a piece of art, you are on a different level. You absorb all the subtle little nuances in the podcast. Any little thing we do that we wonder: "Will the audience pick up on this?" you always notice.

We also use you as a sort of barometer for how we are doing. You see, by the time we release one of our history podcasts we have heard it so many times (during the editing process) that we lose all perspective of what it sounds like to the first-time listener. So, we are never sure if it is balanced enough, or entertaining enough, or educational enough, etc. when we actually release it. Then, no matter what, we get good and bad emails about it (on this Apache show certainly!). It becomes hard for us to get a good perspective on how good the podcast episode actually was.

Until we read your review.

We know that, whether the review is good or bad, you will at least understand what we were trying to do and can judge the work on THAT standard. We really respect that and use your reviews to get a feel for what sort of product we are leaving behind in "digital stone" (strange concept, eh? That these silly little shows we do will outlive us probably?). Thanks so much for that.

And keep up what you are doing. I see no reason why you can't be the THE podcast reviewer online. No one has really assumed that role, and no one, it seems to me, does it as well as you do (and believe me, I look!).

Take care and stay safe...

-Dan

More Dan Carlin:
Assyrians,
Depression,
Succession in Macedon,
The Plague,
Dan Carlin's common sense.

Thinking Outside the European Box

Virginia Tech started publishing a podcast series named Medieval & Renaissance Studies Events (Med-Ren Events). Currently there is one lecture recording in the feed, which is a lecture by history professor Joseph Miller, titled: "Medieval" & "Early Modern" Africa? Thinking Outside the European Box. I rushed to listen to this lecture on my quest to learn more about Africa.

See also:
Podcast Review: Africa Past and Present,
Africa - Stanford Travel,
Africa - Counsel for Foreign Relations.

Even though I learned little about Africa, the lecture was an elevating experience out of which I have taken a tremendous lesson and loads of food for thought. Professor Miller spends the first half of his lecture entirely to the subtitle of the lecture: Thinking outside the European box. He makes a very strong point against the 'European', more regular constructions of history which have three (as I can recount) major flaws.
1) It emphasizes continuities (such as civilizations or nations), whereas realities are those of constant change. For example, speaking of China as a supposed continuum of 3000 years is blissfully ignoring the profound differences between China today and the China of any previous era.
2) It projects development in History. Thus one takes a contemporary notion and reconstructs history, selecting whatever phenomena match the notion, completely stripping it of its context and thus of its original meaning. Eventually such history creates an anachronism.
3) It assumes some purpose-driven element, which he calls the teleological flaw. This approach assumes the rationality and utilitarian drive in historic events and developments, whereas the reality is that people are deeply irrational, strategies are misconceived and consequences are by and large inadvertent.

The relation with Africa is, so it seems, that this European construction of how the discipline history can be exercised, is that maybe for Europe in modern times, the fictitious assumptions can somewhat be maintained, but for Africa, they are so bluntly inapplicable, that it makes building history of Africa, along the traditional methodology near impossible. Consequently, traditional history largely ignores Africa.

As an alternative and coherent with his determination of how flawed main stream approach is, he proposes the following assumptions as starting points: History is a flow of constant change, where the agents of change are acting incrementally, irrationally, they are delusional (as to their efficacy) and the results are inadvertent. What man and what society does, in Miller's mind is to act as he acts and when circumstances change or when the perceived goal is not reached, is to increment, emphasize, increase whatever set of actions, whatever strategy was deemed applicable (at the expense of other such activities) assuming a certain result, but in almost all cases creating a whole different outcome.

He uses a charmingly recognizable example to show the increment as well as the illusion about efficacy as the inadvertent result. When you speak little French and attempt with all that you can master to buy a metro ticket in Paris, you will nevertheless fail. What ensues, is that you raise your voice and in a louder fashion, in probably even worse French repeat your effort, with obviously far from the intended effect.

The second half of the lecture embarks on a history of Africa, but it is at this point, the already poor audio quality deteriorates to a level where the lecture is barely audible and in spite of repeated efforts, I could not extract any real insight. A lecture of this outstanding quality, would have deserved better. Current state of technology and the amount of podcasting experience that is around in US academia (Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton to name but a few) also demanded a better result from Virginia Tech. So be it. We can only hope they will make amends immediately.

Khandro Rinpoche on Chronicles Radio by Ans K. de Vries

This post was written by Ans K. de Vries. Thank you Ans for your contribution.

I recently listened to a podcast (Chronicles Radio Dispatches) on the Chronicleproject.com website, devoted to the life, work and legacy of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1940-1987), a Tibetan lama who escaped Tibet and became known as the unconventional Tibetan Buddhist teacher during the 70’s and 80’s in North America and Europe.

It is an interview with Khandro Rinpoche, one of the few female Tibetan lamas. She is the head of a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery in northern India and a retreat center in Virginia, USA. This coming June she will be teaching a program in the Amsterdam Shambhala Meditation Center, which I hope to attend. She was a young lama in India when Trungpa Rinpoche started teaching in the West. Some of my fellow Shambhala Amsterdam members have met her and are very impressed by her sharpness and directness. In this interview she describes herself as "A needle in the cushion", to prevent complacency among her students. Therefore, I was very eager to hear her voice and listen to what she had to say about Trungpa Rinpoche, who is the founder of Shambhala meditation centers around the world, and who is also the father of my teacher and present leader of the worldwide Shambhala community, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

Khandro Rinpoche discusses many aspects of Trungpa Rinpoche and some aspects of Tibetan Buddhism in general. Here I would like to choose two important points from the interview. She recounts in a crystal clear and friendly way how amazing the way was in which Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was able to teach in English (a very rare thing for a Tibetan lama at the time) and teach it in a western style choice of words. The example she gives about the seed syllable hrih is remarkable, even if you (and I) don’t know what hrih is about. Trungpa Rinpoche supposedly explained it (according to a student of his) as follows:

“docking into the humor of the sky.”

Another remarkable thing that Trungpa Rinpoche did, was to create forms within the daily life of the Shambhala community. It was and still is predominantly a lay community. As Khandro Rinpoche put it: Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche created ways for the sangha members to be in his presence and to be useful, otherwise the students would be glued to the teacher. I will give some examples, because these forms are still practiced today.

Whenever you visit a Shambhala center anywhere, when you enter the shrine room (or meditation hall) you will find a flower arrangement, done in an Ikebana way, the Japanese flower arrangement tradition, introduced by Chögyam Trungpa as a practice and as an expression of elegance and basic goodness. Also, a public talk is a form that was initiated by him, and totally different from the monastic tradition that Tibetan Buddhism until then used to present the dharma. His very direct and sharp way of teaching the dharma is still an inspiration today-- he lives on in his books, which are all available in English, and some of them also in other modern languages. Two of the most well-known titles are: Shambhala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior and Cutting through Spiritual Materialism. His successor, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, particularly recommends the latter one as a eye-opener for spiritually inclined readers and meditation practitioners.

More Buddhism on this blog:
Engaging in the path - zencast,
Gil Fronsdal on speech,
Zencast - Right Effort,
Intermediate mindfulness,
Not knowing - Zencast 102.

Ancient and Medieval history podcast

Just when I thought I had found a charming new podcast, it looks as if this one has been faded. It turns out to be rather hard to find podcasts that delve into the middle ages and the two that did quite a good job have not seen new episodes for a long time.

My latest find in this respect is Ancient and Medieval history podcast, which has produced 7 charming episodes with befitting music, travel tips (accounts of relevant excursions the hosts did themselves) and more. I especially liked the issues about Robin Hood (Robyn Hode), Charlemagne and Beowulf. I never knew about the roots of Robin Hood and was enthralled to be introduced in the attempted reconstructions. Similarly, with Beowulf, I had some idea of the story, but much appreciated the analysis of the Christian versus the non-Christian elements. And the revelation J.R.R. Tolkien was involved in the research as a scholar - it showed! In Charlemagne, the show didn't bring much news, just the stories bringing me back to history classes in elementary school.

An early find is an even older one, the Medieval Podcast, with very promising installments about the early history of Britain and about monasticism. It is great these episodes can still be downloaded, but such a pity there isn't more. This is a real niche in history podcasts.

Dan Carlin on the Apaches

The Apache were the last native Americans to surrender to the US government. Packed up in their reserves, their story wasn't heard until Eve Ball came along. Dan Carlin's hardcore history's last episode was inspired by Eve Ball's book and other sources about the struggle between the Apache, the Mexicans and the Americans. Dan takes us on his train of thought in a an exceptionally long issue of the podcast.

Dan does what few history podcasts dare to take on: analyze the facts and engage in thoughts on the meaning and implication of history. There is much to say and think around the sad history of the fading Indian Nation in front of the ongoing European expansion into their habitat. On this lost battle the Apaches took on the battle with horrifying means, but Dan shows how one man's terrorist is the other's freedom fighter. And he does more, he depicts the crucial incident where the Apache and the new Americans hit it off to a bad start and a violent struggle, triggered by misunderstanding.

I am not sure whether Dan believes this incident could have been prevented. In my ears the culture clash sounded like an accident waiting to happen. The interests of both sides were pitted and the understanding was minimal. In any case Dan leaves room for the listener to draw his own conclusions, his job is well done, by taking us on his own thought trip and making us think along. This podcast shows him at his best and I know from reactions to my blog this is a very popular podcast that stands out among history podcasts for many listeners, including those that have an average interest in history. Therefore a very warm recommendation, not just from Anne is a Man!

More Dan Carlin's Hardcore History:
Assyrians,
Nazis,
Depression,
Succession in Macedon,
The Plague.

Rise and Demise of Palestine

The University Channel Podcast (also known as UChannel) had an issue under the title The Rise and the Demise of the Palestinian Option. (site, download) Efraim Inbar, a Professor in Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University in Israel and the Director of its Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies spoke about historic development of the idea for a Palestinian state. How the idea came into existence, was rejected in various forms and has become unworkable.

During the British Mandate the idea of dividing the area between the Jordan and the see into a Jewish and an Arabic autonomy was proposed for the first time. It was rejected by the Arab community. By today, the idea of having two states, one Israel and one Palestine is still alive and many people in the world are awaiting it to become reality. In Inbar's mind this is currently an impossibility. He claims the Palestinians have no political infrastructure that could rule such a state. Palestine is a failed state before even coming into being.

One needs not to agree with Professor Inbar and still learn a lot from this talk. For example the analysis of the stages in the Arab-Zionist conflict from a community conflict to a conflict of states and back to a community conflict. It can also not be denied that there is little Palestine Authority to take control and this involves a serious problem for all doves who believe in a two-state solution. Inbar's proposal is not to engage in such high minded goals, but rather engage in 'conflict management'. Conflict Management, in my ears sounds not really like a solution, but rather a 'let's muddle along until the balances shift again,' which is more of the same, with the continuous suffering involved.

Other posts on Israel:
The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy,
5 Lessons for Peace,
The greatest threat to Zionism,
Israel, Iran and Terrorism,
The US and the New Middle East.

Matthew Gabriele's history podcasts

I was drawn to the Podcasts on Medieval Texts, because of a number of titles in the list. Beowulf, Malleus Maleficarum, Bartolomeo de las Casas; these are three out of a series of twenty one. Some research shows that the same series is on iTunes U, Virginia Tech, under the title HUM 1214 - Spring 2008. This is the product of assistant professor Matthew Gabriele, coordinator of Medieval & Renaissance Studies in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at Virginia Tech.

The first impression is really good. We get a three to four minute introduction to the historical text and a couple of pointers how to read them. This is the kind of stuff I like. Obviously, this is the prologue of the course and an instruction for the students. The question is what we can do with it, us, the podcast listeners on the side-line.

We can only hope, there will be a follow-up where Gabriele is going to give some insight as to how he takes on the questions he shot at the students himself. If hie is going to do that, then this will be one of the best podcasts around. If not, it will be a genius standing on one leg, looking out of one eye and speaking with half a mind.

NB: One find leads to another. Virginia Tech offers also a podcast reflecting events on The Medieval & Renaissance Studies in the Department. Currently there is one lecture in the feed by Professor Joseph Miller about medieval and early modern Africa.

Tudorcast (history podcast review)

The Tudors were the royals of England from the end of the fifteenth century until 1603 and include the famous Henry VIII who broke with the church of Rome and founded the Anglican Church. Tudorcast is a history podcast dedicated to this dynasty and its contemporaries. The podcast does not teach this part of history in any organized way, for this one must visit the website to which the podcast is part.

The approach host Lara Eakins takes, is to bring out a monthly podcast and relate to the listener various tidbits of the history connected to the specific month we are in. She takes from original sources and brings us to the finest details of the history. It is told in last month's podcast for example, what New year's gifts the royals received in the year 1562. For example from Lawrence Shref, grocer – a sugar loaf, a box of ginger, a box of nutmegs and a pound of cinnamon.

This is very lively and probably exciting for those who are very much into this particular corner of history. I am not sure the wider public would be so moved. It could be if there would be some analysis. In the above example I'd love to have explained why sugar, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon are such a royal gift.

Tudorcast was also reviewed by That Podcast Show and got a rating of 3.5 out of 5 - which is quite good.