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.

Irvin Yalom on Wise Counsel and KQED

The philosopher Rochefoucauld stated you cannot stare straight into the face of the sun, or death. Psychiatrist Irvin Yalom took te first part as title to his book about facing death: Staring at the Sun. Yalom gave two wonderful interviews about his findings to Wise Counsel and to KQED Forum.

Even though Yalom is an existentialist and personally doesn't cherish a religious belief, he respects his patients' inclinations, because their wellness is central. But his own inspiration is largely taken from the Greek philosopher Epicurus. Just as Epicurus, Yalom proposes that death is not to be feared. At least, death should not be feared that it takes over life - in the way of an anxiety.

He hopes to show, the face of death can even trigger an inclination to life; life in the Epicurean sense: a life that is as much as possible free from fear and pain and as much happy and tranquil. He emphasizes also that even though life doesn't go on, we pass on our traits and not just through our off-spring.

Other guests on Wise Counsel were a.o.:
David H. Barlow,
Richard Heimberg,
Tony Madrid,
Francine Shapiro,
Amy Baker.

More KQED Forum:
Susan Jacoby,
Christopher Hitchins.

Questions to my readers

Dear Readers,

This blog is full of podcast reviews and hopes to direct you to the podcasts you like. What is implicitly assumed, is that you all know where to find the podcast (once I have directed you to its source on the web), how to dowload it and how to listen to it. However this may not necessarily be the case. I am therefore considering an article series (possibly in three languages) that will deliver these basic instructions as well as some more advanced stuff like managing your podcasts without the use of iTunes.

So, what I would like from you is that you let me know whether you think this is a good idea and what specific question you have, you'd like to see answered. Please comment on the blog or send me mail at Anne Frid de Vries (in one word) AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk.

In the mean time, what else can you expect in the coming days?
- History 5 about the Enlightenment and the French Revolution
- Tudorcast
- Irvin Yalom on two podcasts: Wise Counsel and KQED Forum. He speaks about his new book Staring at the Sun, which deals with the issue of confronting death
- King Lear on two podcasts. Recently In Our Time dealt with King Lear and by the end of the month it is expected that English 117S, the Berkeley lecture series about Shakespeare will take on Lear.
- A host of new History Podcasts

Subscribe in a reader

Paste the link
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Anne_Is_A_Man
into the RSS reader of your preference.

Jaap van der Zwan - Simek

Persoonlijk vond ik het interview met Jaap van der Zwan, maar matig. Martin Simek deed er alles aan, maar Van der Zwan kwam helemaal niet los. Het streven van het programma om tot de emotie door te dringen stuitte op een gast die alleen in algemeenheden wilde praten en daar in slaagde zelfs als het over emotionerende zaken ging. Niettemin kan je wel zien dat het motto van Simek 's Nachts overeind blijft: je blijft je verwonderen.

Hoe is het mogelijk dat zo iemand zonder enige spoor bewogen te zijn, kan vertellen over het afscheid van zijn vader? De verzetsman was ter dood veroordeeld en vrouw en kinderen mochten afscheid van hem nemen. Ze werden geleid naar de kooi waar hij opgesloten was. Tegelijkertijd, als er al iets van emotie te merken is, dan is het over iets als het verdwijnen van Scheveningen als vissersdorp. Hij heeft er een boek over geschreven en laat weten dat hij bij het schrijven steeds kwader werd. De politiek heeft de authentieke bevolking van haar omgeving beroofd ten gerieve van de mondaine toeristencultuur aan het strand.

Wat is er nou precies verdwenen, wil Simek weten. En Van der Zwan begint te vertellen van een achterlijkheid waar je geen nostalgie bij voelen kan als luisteraar. De vissers slachtten in 1929 het jongste maatje aan boord, als zoenoffer om een goede vangst af te bidden. De bevolking woonde in krotten in de meest abjecte omstandigheden. Daar kan je toch niet naar terugverlangen? Het wordt niet duidelijk wat Van der Zwan dan wel gewild had. Daarover kan je je verwonderen en blijf je je verwonderen, want de uitzending geeft geen uitsluitsel.

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

An evolved controversy - Missing Link

The Missing Link Podcast opened a series which intends to investigate the history of the Evolution vs. Creation controversy. Host Elizabeth Green Musselman incorporates in the podcast the audio essays made by her students.

The series starts with an essay by John Burchfield and Shalane Giles, which intends to show the historic development of the scientific method. As Green Musselman points out in her introduction: the essay's pith is towards the scientific method in the way of Karl Popper. Hence the essay describes the development of naturalism, to empiricism, to theory testing. The culmination is a biography of Sir Karl himself.

There are a number of unanswered questions that pang me with this first installment. Why does Musselman suggest she herself doesn't agree with Popper's views, but does nothing to indicate what her criticism might be? The effect is that the essay is labeled with an alleged naivety before it even starts. Another is: why is the show titled 'the ghost in the machine'? Also: are all the installments going to be student essays? Then how will the subject be condensed and ordered?

Apart from these concerns, I am very excited about this subject. The Missing Link podcast keeps me glued to my iPod.

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

Anne is a Man, the coming days

Within 24 hours:
- The Missing Link (kicking off a new series)
- Simek 's Nachts (Jaap van der Zwan)

Within 48 hours:
- Tudorcast
- History 5

In the coming days
- Irvin Yalom (on KQED and Wise Counsel)
- Shrink Rap Radio (Mindmentor and others)
- UChannel Podcast
- Ancient & Medieval History
- Podcasts on Medieval Texts

In New podcasts on trial we have March as a history podcast month with a wide range of candidates:
American History before 1870
Hank's History Hour
Redborne History Podcast
Teaching American History Podcast
History 2311

Subscribe in a reader

Paste the link
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Anne_Is_A_Man
into the RSS reader of your preference.

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