Friday, April 3, 2009

Jews of the Persian Empire - From Israelite to Jew podcast

In From Israelite to Jew Michael Satlow reviews the Jewish history of the Second Temple Period (from the sixth century BCE until 70 CE) and attempts to give insight in the developments in this time that altered the Israelites, that is a loose collection of tribes, into Jews, an alleged singular ethnic group.

We have reached the 8th episode in the series and until this point, the discussion has remained rather close to the one big source: The Hebrew Bible, most notably the books of the Torah, Ezra and Nehemia. However, in episode 8, about the Jews of the Persian Empire, a non-Bible source takes center stage. Archeologists have found archives of a Jewish unit in the Persian army in Egypt (The Elephantine Papyri) that give a fascinating insight in Jewish life in the fifth century BCE.

And it is going to be much more interesting from here. Of the Persians we know so little, but now the Greeks enter scene and apart from the fact that there are many more sources about them, they have had a lot of influence on the Jews. So we are impatiently waiting for more in this series.

More FITJ:
The fox and the hedgehog,
Looking for a Persian History podcast.

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The hollow earth at The Memory Palace

The Memory Palace (feed) is a podcast that one must listen to. The less said about it the better. This is a podcast of experience one must undergo without me giving away anything of it.

But if you are still here, know at least this: episode 8 of this series is out and is titled The World Within The World and you will enjoy yet another tale Nat DiMeo dug up from history. It is about a man who posed as a doctor and dwindled into believing in his own fantasies. Told with DiMeo's style that is to apt for ironic tragedy.

If you are missing episode 7 from the feed (as I do), know then that you can download it from the site anyway (L'il Nipper - the file). I guess there is something wrong with the file that prevents feedburner from properly channeling it through. Do not let this technicality stop you from listening.

More The Memory Palace:
The Memory Palace - history narration.

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Thursday, April 2, 2009

Nudge: decision architecture - LSE podcast review

Last year there was an earlier lecture by Richard Thaler about Nudge on the UChannel Podcast and I reviewed it in December. What struck me at the time was the technocratic nature of Nudge. Here I'll take a look at other aspects.

This time Richerd Thaler spoke at the London School of Economics (on the LSE Events podcast) and it was a different, evolved probably, lecture by now. There were fewer examples of nudges, but more of the idea that in decision-making people tend to be human and not optimizing calculating economists. The whole idea of nudge is to help people quickly make decisions optimizing requires, without going through all the calculations.

Thaler calls his model one of libertarian paternalism. It is libertarian in the sense that freedom of choice is maintained. Options should be open, but paternalistically, people are nudged towards the choice that is deemed better for them (or for society that is). Nudge offers an alternative for policymakers who want to influence people's behavior and usually seize legal methods, either through taxation, obligation or punishment. Thaler shows that simply by creating a decision architecture, you can effortlessly induce people to go for the best decisions, because those decisions are easier, they stand out or form the default or seem to be better as the decision makers are informed of relevant data such as the choices other people made. I wonder how radical this approach is to social science.

More LSE Events:
The EU and the Middle East,
The British Mandate in Palestine,
Iran Today,
Science and Religion,
The crisis.

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Good climate for everyone - UChannel on global warming

I had never thought there would be something like climate engineering until I heard a podcast from UChannel Podcast. Daniel Schrag of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University was invited to speak about this subject at Princeton University, the home ground of UChannel Podcast. Climate engineering is what the word suggests: technological interference with the earth's climate and this is neither science fiction nor a list of possible measures that are all too expensive to contemplate.

There is little talk of what can be done, because, naturally the talk focuses on the ethics of the subject. If we can, should we be allowed. Or as Schrag has it, if we can and the dangers of global warming are as great as we can possibly fear, then maybe we must. But Schrag is no ethicist, he is a geologist, so he is most at ease and informative when dealing with the relevant facts. A bit of what can be done and a whole lot of what range of challenges and dangers are involved with global warming and the science of predicting its effects.

The magnitude of the subject is overwhelming and I must admit, I have an intuitive reaction against climate engineering. I think, messing with the environment got us in the bad shape we are in, do we need more messing. Promising a Mediterranean climate for everyone sounds worse than too good to be true, it sounds like the words of the sorcerer's apprentice. Schrag pays attention to these intuitions and replies to them. His tendency, as stated above: the situation is so bad, we have no choice. It is like applying a tourniquet to prevent us from bleeding to death. Indeed, you wouldn't apply a tourniquet to a healthy person. Question remains: do we really know how sick we are?

More UChannel Podcast:
Robots and War,
Sudan and the fallacy of nationhood,
Against intervention,
Lakhdar Brahimi on Afghanistan and Iraq,
Europe versus Islam.

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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

249 Podcasts - Anne is a Man's list for April 2009

UPDATE: we now have 316 podcasts reviewed. (click this link for the latest list)

Every first of the month I publish a full list of podcasts I have reviewed. You can find the list below. If however you want to have them presented to you in a more orderly fashion, look up my list of directories. The disclaimer must be that the directories are not as up to date as the full list is. I am working on it.

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  1. 12 Byzantine Rulers
  2. 7th Son
  3. Africa (Stanford Travel)
  4. Africa Past and Present
  5. All Things Medieval
  6. American Environmental and Cultural History (Berkeley ESPM 160AC)
  7. American History before 1870
  8. Ancient and Medieval Podcast
  9. Ancient History - Alternative Theories
  10. Ancient Philosophy (Berkeley)
  11. Are we alone?
  12. Armistice Podcast 
  13. Backstory
  14. BBC History Magazine
  15. Behind the Black Mask
  16. Behind the News with Doug Henwood
  17. Beyond Good and Evil (Librivox)
  18. Big Ideas (TVO)
  19. Bike Radar
  20. Binge Thinking History 
  21. Bioethics podcast
  22. Biography Podcast (Learn Out Loud)
  23. the Biography Show (TPN)
  24. Biota Podcast
  25. Birth of the Modern (Arizona State University)
  26. the Bitterest Pill 
  27. Bommel Hoorspel
  28. British History 101
  29. Cambridge Alumni Podcast
  30. Car Talk
  31. CAT 2 Culture Art and Technology (UCSD)
  32. CATS 2 Culture and Technology Studies (UCSD)
  33. Celtic Myth Podshow
  34. CFR Podcast 
  35. Chronicles Radio Dispatches
  36. Church History
  37. Dan Carlin's Common Sense
  38. Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
  39. Das Rätsel der verschollenen Schatulle
  40. David Kalivas' World History
  41. De Geschiedenis Podcast 
  42. Distillations
  43. East Asian Thought (UCSD)
  44. Economics 100B (Berkeley)
  45. the Economist 
  46. EconTalk
  47. Engines of our Ingenuity
  48. English 117S (Berkeley)
  49. Entitled opinions
  50. The Ethicist (NYT)
  51. Everything Lincoln
  52. Existentialism in Literature and Film (Phil 7 - Berkeley)
  53. Exploring Environmental History 
  54. F1Cast
  55. Fact or Fiction
  56. Family History - Genealogy made easy
  57. Forgotten Classics
  58. Frankenstein, or modern Prometheus (Librivox)
  59. Freedomain Radio
  60. Fresh Air (NPR)
  61. From Israelite to Jew
  62. From our own Correspondent (BBC)
  63. Game Theory (Yale)
  64. Genealogy Gems Podcast
  65. Geography 110C (Berkeley) Economic Geography of the Industrial World
  66. Geography 130 (Berkeley)
  67. Geography of Europe (Arizona State University)
  68. Geography of World Cultures (Stanford)
  69. German Cultural History
  70. Geschichtspodcast (Chronico)
  71. Geschiedewistjedatjes
  72. Global Geopolitics (Stanford)
  73. Grammar Girl 
  74. Hank's History Hour
  75. Hannibal (Stanford)
  76. Haring Podcast
  77. Harvard Business IdeaCast
  78. Historical Jesus (Stanford)
  79. Historicast
  80. History 106B (Berkeley)
  81. History 167B (Berkeley)
  82. History 181B (Berkeley)
  83. History 2311 (Temple College)
  84. History 2312 (Temple College)
  85. History 4A (Berkeley)
  86. History 5 (Anderson - Berkeley)
  87. History 5 (Hesse- Berkeley)
  88. History 5 (Laqueur - Berkeley)
  89. History 7B (Berkeley)
  90. History according to Bob 
  91. History Compass Blog
  92. History Network
  93. History of Holland (Librivox)
  94. History of Rome
  95. History of the International System (Stanford)
  96. History on the Run 
  97. History Podcast
  98. Historypod
  99. Historyzine
  100. Hoor! Geschiedenis
  101. HUM 4Enlightenment, Romanticism, Revolution (UCSD)
  102. ICT Update
  103. In My Living Room! 
  104. In Our Time (BBC)
  105. In the Media (WNYC)
  106. Inspired Minds (Deutsche Welle)
  107. Interview Vrijdag (VPRO)
  108. Introduction to Ancient Greek History (Yale)
  109. Introduction to German Politics (Oxford)
  110. Introduction to Language (Arizona State University)
  111. Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) (Yale)
  112. Iran Podcast
  113. Irving Poetry podcast
  114. ITV
  115. Jung Podcast
  116. Junggesellenblog
  117. KMTT
  118. La Resistance
  119. KQED Forum
  120. Language (UCSD)
  121. Leben und Überleben mit 45+
  122. Letters and Science (Berkeley)
  123. LSE Podcast  
  124. Making History with Ran Levi - עושים היסטוריה
  125. Marathon Interview (VPRO)
  126. Matt's Today In History
  127. Media Matters (NPR)
  128. medicalhistory 
  129. Medieval & Renaissance Studies Events (Virginia Tech)
  130. Medieval Podcast
  131. Meetings Podcast 
  132. Meiky's Podcast Show 
  133. The Memory Palace 
  134. Midwest Writer
  135. Military History Podcast
  136. Missing Link
  137. MMW 2 , the great classical traditions (Chamberlain - UCSD)
  138. MMW 3, the medieval heritage (Chamberlain - UCSD)
  139. MMW 3, the medieval heritage (Herbst - UCSD)
  140. MMW 4 (UCSD)
  141. MMW6 (UCSD)
  142. Muscular Judaism
  143. My Three Shrinks
  144. Namaste Stories
  145. Napoleon 1O1 (TPN)
  146. National Archives Podcast
  147. Naxos Classical Music Spotlight Podcast
  148. New Books In History
  149. New World Orders
  150. New York Coffee Cup
  151. Night's Knights
  152. Nilpod
  153. Nonviolence (Berkeley PACS 164A)
  154. Nonviolence today (Berkeley PACS 164B)
  155. NRC FM
  156. Only in America
  157. Open Source
  158. Out of the past
  159. OVT (VPRO)
  160. Oxford Biographies
  161. Oy Mendele!
  162. Parnell's History Podcast
  163. Peopletalk's Podcast
  164. Physics for future Presidents (Berkeley)
  165. Philosopher's Zone (ABC)
  166. Philosophy 103
  167. Philosophy 7 (Berkeley)
  168. Philosophy Bites
  169. the Philosophy Podcast
  170. Philosopy 6 (Berkeley) Man, God, and Society in Western Literature
  171. Podcast history of cooking
  172. Podcasts on Medieval Texts (Virginia Tech)
  173. Pods and Blogs 
  174. Podwatch
  175. POLI 120A - Political Development of Western Europe
  176. Political Science 10 (UCLA)
  177. Political Science 179 (Berkeley)
  178. Politics and Warfare (UCSD)
  179. Pope Podcast
  180. Practice of Art (Berkeley) Foundations of American Cyber-Culture
  181. Prosperity show
  182. PSYC 105 - Introduction cognitive psychology (UCSD)
  183. Radiolab (WNYC)
  184. Rav Dovid's
  185. Real Talk
  186. Rear Vision (ABC)
  187. Red Panda
  188. Redborne History
  189. Religion and Law in the US (UCSD HIUS 155A)
  190. Religion and Law in the US (UCSD HIUS 155B)
  191. Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean
  192. Replaceable You (Stanford)
  193. Rhetoric 10 (Berkeley)
  194. Rpgmp3
  195. RSA Current Audio
  196. Schlaflos in München
  197. Science & the City
  198. Science Fiction and Politics
  199. Science Friday (NPR)
  200. Science Times (NYT)
  201. Sex History Podcast
  202. Shrink Rap Radio
  203. Šimek 's Nachts (RVU)
  204. the Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
  205. Skythen-Podcast
  206. SOCD 188JChange in Modern South Africa (UCSD)
  207. Social Innovation Conversations
  208. SOCL 1B - the study of society (UCSD)
  209. Sonic Society
  210. Speaking of Faith (APM)
  211. Stanford U History 
  212. Stem Cells: Policy and Ethics (Stanford)
  213. Sterke Geschiedenis
  214. Straight talk about stem cells (Stanford)
  215. Stuff you missed in history class 
  216. Sunday Sundown 
  217. Talking Robots
  218. TdF London
  219. Teaching American History
  220. Teaching Company
  221. TED Talks
  222. That Podcast Show (aka Edgy Reviews)
  223. Theories of Law and Society (Berkeley)
  224. the Things We Forgot To Remember
  225. Thinking Allowed
  226. Time Out for Truth
  227. Times Talks
  228. Tudorcast
  229. UCLA Israel Studies 
  230. University Channel Podcast (aka UChannel Podcast)
  231. Veertien Achttien
  232. VIS 22Formations of Modern Art (UCSD)
  233. Volkis Stimme
  234. Volkskrant Podcasts
  235. We the People Stories
  236. Welcome to Mars
  237. What is Judaism?
  238. Wise Counsel 
  239. the Word Nerds
  240. World View (NYT)
  241. the Writing Show
  242. Wynyfryd's meditation room
  243. the Your History Podcast
  244. Your Purpose Centered Life
  245. zencast
  246. zoem
  247. האוניברסיטה המשודרת
  248. מה שהיה היה
  249. קטעים בהיסטוריה
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

New podcasts in march 2009 - Anne is a Man

Podcasts mentioned on this blog for the first time in March 2009. Three history podcasts, three podcasts from the New York Times and a live conversation podcast.

New Books In History (review, site, feed)
A great new podcast in which Marshall Poe interviews historians about their latest book. (This podcast is in fact so outstanding, I have reviewed it already four times)

The Memory Palace (review, site, feed)
An almost poetic history podcast. Short stories, eloquently narrated from history.

Rear Vision (ABC) (review, site, feed)
Program from the Australian broadcaster ABC, which digs into the historic backgrounds of a chosen subject in current affairs.

The Ethicist (NYT) (review, site, feed)
Randy Cohen answers ethical questions from everyday life.

World View (NYT) (review, site, feed)
Podcast from the international section of the New York Times. Short items with international affairs background information.

Science Times (NYT) (review, site, feed)
A good podcast from the science section of the New York Times, with the science news and interviews on assorted scientific subjects and a health column.

Nilpod (review, site, feed)
Live conversation between two Irishmen on subjects like fashion, work, etiquette etc.

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