What makes humans unique as opposed to animals. Look at this lecture by baboon researcher Robert Sapolsky. This is simultaneously informative, entertaining, thought provoking and inspiring.
More Robert Sapolsky:
What Baboons teach us about stress.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Israel's Nuclear Program - Rear Vision
Here is a quick recommendation to listen to Rear Vision. They have recently done a documentary about Israel and its, alleged, bomb. In 30 minutes you get to understand the ratio of its policy of ambiguity and the fundamental difference in what it means for Israel to have the bomb in comparison to what it means Iran, for example, has the bomb. As usual Rear Vision is very informative, but I felt that this time the program has exceeded itself in managing to be clear and concise and captivating in one fell swoop.More Rear Vision:
Kashmir,
UK Elections - recommended podcasts,
Two podcast issues on the history of Haiti
History of Yemen,
Freemasons.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Time travel is easy, history is hard - Ancient Rome Refocused
Ancient Rome Refocused is a new history podcast that deserves the highest acclaim. This podcast seems to be about Roman history, but in fact is about much more. This is because it is a podcast both of history narrative, which obviously is concentrated on Rome, and of history musings. On account of the last quality, already, the podcast has been widely compared with Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. I would also like to compare the show with Nate DiMeo's Memory Palace.
Host and maker of the podcast Rob Cain is off on a magnificent start with his series and even now, three episodes into the feed, we must grant him his own ground and assure that he is making something unique, something very good and in addition to that, I am absolutely sure, the history podcast audience is going to adore. The comparisons with Dan Carlin and Nate DiMeo serve here only as a characterization and not as some example of what Cain is trying to emulate. Cain combines the history musings, like Dan Carlin, with the astonishing narrative qualities of Nate DiMeo. Cain is telling Roman history with a quality of narrative immediacy that equals the impressive standard of DiMeo's Memory Palace and continues to engage in thoughts about that history in the compelling way of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Thus he establishes an impressive combination of styles that both work extremely well in podcast and he does so with his own voice, his own style that bears only comparison, but not similarity with the mentioned predecessors.
First of all, I'd simply urge you to go and listen without letting me spoil the surprises in particular and the fun in general (feed). Allow me to highlight just these three identifiers for the first three issues. The first makes excellent use of Monty Python's scene in Life of Brian 'What have the Romans ever done for us'. The second lays out the basics of the Roman reality by projecting time travel. The third delivers a subtle expose on slavery in Rome (that dwarfs Dan Carlin's adventure into slavery) which is both history, audio drama, a poignant contemporary critique of low wage labor and prostitution as well as the most balanced analysis of Spartacus' slave revolt I have encountered ever. With even more lines to current times.
Even if Rob Cain stops now, he has produced a podcast classic. The idea he is about to deliver a fourth, and likely more episodes has me both reel in anticipation and yet also a bit worried: can he keep up with the towering standard he has set off with?
Host and maker of the podcast Rob Cain is off on a magnificent start with his series and even now, three episodes into the feed, we must grant him his own ground and assure that he is making something unique, something very good and in addition to that, I am absolutely sure, the history podcast audience is going to adore. The comparisons with Dan Carlin and Nate DiMeo serve here only as a characterization and not as some example of what Cain is trying to emulate. Cain combines the history musings, like Dan Carlin, with the astonishing narrative qualities of Nate DiMeo. Cain is telling Roman history with a quality of narrative immediacy that equals the impressive standard of DiMeo's Memory Palace and continues to engage in thoughts about that history in the compelling way of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Thus he establishes an impressive combination of styles that both work extremely well in podcast and he does so with his own voice, his own style that bears only comparison, but not similarity with the mentioned predecessors.First of all, I'd simply urge you to go and listen without letting me spoil the surprises in particular and the fun in general (feed). Allow me to highlight just these three identifiers for the first three issues. The first makes excellent use of Monty Python's scene in Life of Brian 'What have the Romans ever done for us'. The second lays out the basics of the Roman reality by projecting time travel. The third delivers a subtle expose on slavery in Rome (that dwarfs Dan Carlin's adventure into slavery) which is both history, audio drama, a poignant contemporary critique of low wage labor and prostitution as well as the most balanced analysis of Spartacus' slave revolt I have encountered ever. With even more lines to current times.
Even if Rob Cain stops now, he has produced a podcast classic. The idea he is about to deliver a fourth, and likely more episodes has me both reel in anticipation and yet also a bit worried: can he keep up with the towering standard he has set off with?
Heidegger in podcast
One of the latest issues of Entitled Opinions had me captivated in spite of the fact that I couldn't follow a decent bit of what was being discussed. I wanted to and it sounded tremendously good and the occasional thing I did follow felt like a true gem, but Robert Harrison's conversation with Thomas Sheehan about Martin Heidegger really needs repeated listening and probably some serious preparation.
By the way, not only Robert Harrison we know from podcast, Thomas Sheehan is well known for his course on The Historical Jesus. And during the show Harrison quotes Hubert Dreyfus who delivers a number of philosophy course in podcast through Berkeley. Among those is also a course on Heidegger and so, while I am at it, I might as well direct you to more Heidegger material in podcast.
Another course is offered by J. Drabinsky and since his audio is not syndicated, I have used Huffduffer to put it in a feed for you.
In case you understand German, you can also turn to a lecture delivered on podcast by the university of Freiburg. Dichter und Denker in Freiburg (feed) has Günter Figal speak about Heidegger and his phenomenological predecessor Husserl.
I am surprised I cannot find an issue of Philosophy Bites about Heidegger. Maybe it is hard to wrap your mind around him.
More Entitled Opinions:
Pink Floyd,
Alexander the Great,
Athanasius Kircher (Giordano Bruno),
King Lear,
Albert Camus.
By the way, not only Robert Harrison we know from podcast, Thomas Sheehan is well known for his course on The Historical Jesus. And during the show Harrison quotes Hubert Dreyfus who delivers a number of philosophy course in podcast through Berkeley. Among those is also a course on Heidegger and so, while I am at it, I might as well direct you to more Heidegger material in podcast.Another course is offered by J. Drabinsky and since his audio is not syndicated, I have used Huffduffer to put it in a feed for you.
In case you understand German, you can also turn to a lecture delivered on podcast by the university of Freiburg. Dichter und Denker in Freiburg (feed) has Günter Figal speak about Heidegger and his phenomenological predecessor Husserl.
I am surprised I cannot find an issue of Philosophy Bites about Heidegger. Maybe it is hard to wrap your mind around him.
More Entitled Opinions:
Pink Floyd,
Alexander the Great,
Athanasius Kircher (Giordano Bruno),
King Lear,
Albert Camus.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sir Ken Robinson - TED talks
On Open Culture, this TED video from 2006 was chosen as one of the best TED has to offer.
Ken Robinson argues in a very simple and straightforward way how frightfully lopsided education systems are and how this is actually as bad as the climate crisis.
And here is the 2010 follow up.
More TED:
Photos that changed the world - Jonathan Klein,
Karen Armstrong on The Golden Rule,
Media revolution and the effect on power - Clay Shirky,
Shay Agassi's visionary plan to bring electric cars to the world,
Elizabeth Gilbert.
Ken Robinson argues in a very simple and straightforward way how frightfully lopsided education systems are and how this is actually as bad as the climate crisis.
And here is the 2010 follow up.
More TED:
Photos that changed the world - Jonathan Klein,
Karen Armstrong on The Golden Rule,
Media revolution and the effect on power - Clay Shirky,
Shay Agassi's visionary plan to bring electric cars to the world,
Elizabeth Gilbert.
Operation Mincemeat - OVT podcast
Amazon offers a charming promotional video for Operation Mincemeat, the new book by Ben Macintyre. The book was reviewed on the Dutch history podcast OVT on the first hour of last Sunday's issue that also had fascinating items on Charlemagne and Why German Women Love Dutch Men (with the unlikely example of Louis van Gaal). The retelling of Ben Macintyre's book turns into the most hilarious, captivating and highly informative section. (feed)
For the non-Dutch readers of the blog, I simply have to deliver my own, faulty, version of the story, because it is too good to miss out on.
Macintyre, by chance, happened upon the papers of a former MI-6 agent, who set up Operation Mincemeat, a ploy by which in 1943 a corpse was played into the hands of the Nazis, with a letter on the body that made them believe the Allies would attack Greece and not Sicily. The idea came from Ian Fleming (of 007 renown) which he had from a spy novel. The problem was, to get a convincing corpse, build a convincing story and get it into the hands of German intelligence. None of this was easy.
Most corpses are no good and most of those that are, have relatives that bury it, but somehow MI-6 managed to come up with a Welsh alcoholic who had taken rat poison. Then a story had to be made up. Part of the deal was to supply him with a love life, which had to be roleplayed by one agent and his secretary in order to conjure up love letters, which raised some eyebrows with the agent's in-laws. And eventually the corpse was to wash up the shores of Spain - a neutral country as not to raise the suspicion of the Germans. There were enough Spanish officials friendly towards the Nazis, yet by accident the body ended up with one of the few who sympathized with the British and they offered the find back. The Brits in turn managed to politely force the procedure through official channels and there the Nazi sympathizers hijacked the information and the plan went to work.
More OVT
Van Iran tot Spa,
Mata Hari en andere executies,
Hoeren en Agenten,
1943 en meer In Europa.
For the non-Dutch readers of the blog, I simply have to deliver my own, faulty, version of the story, because it is too good to miss out on.Macintyre, by chance, happened upon the papers of a former MI-6 agent, who set up Operation Mincemeat, a ploy by which in 1943 a corpse was played into the hands of the Nazis, with a letter on the body that made them believe the Allies would attack Greece and not Sicily. The idea came from Ian Fleming (of 007 renown) which he had from a spy novel. The problem was, to get a convincing corpse, build a convincing story and get it into the hands of German intelligence. None of this was easy.
Most corpses are no good and most of those that are, have relatives that bury it, but somehow MI-6 managed to come up with a Welsh alcoholic who had taken rat poison. Then a story had to be made up. Part of the deal was to supply him with a love life, which had to be roleplayed by one agent and his secretary in order to conjure up love letters, which raised some eyebrows with the agent's in-laws. And eventually the corpse was to wash up the shores of Spain - a neutral country as not to raise the suspicion of the Germans. There were enough Spanish officials friendly towards the Nazis, yet by accident the body ended up with one of the few who sympathized with the British and they offered the find back. The Brits in turn managed to politely force the procedure through official channels and there the Nazi sympathizers hijacked the information and the plan went to work.
More OVT
Van Iran tot Spa,
Mata Hari en andere executies,
Hoeren en Agenten,
1943 en meer In Europa.
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