A Podcast Playlist for 4 July 2011

SFFaudio
The SFFaudio Podcast #115
Scott and Jesse talk to Anne Frid de Vries of the Anne Is A Man blog for a talk about podcasts and podcasting.
(review, feed)

Philosophy Bites
Victor Tadros on Punishment
How can state punishment of criminals be justified? Is it right that wrongdoers suffer? Victor Tadros investigates these questions in conversation with Nigel Warburton for this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy.
(review, feed)

The History of Rome
You've Earned It
After two years of sporadic war, Constantius II defeated the usurper Magnentius in 353. Following his victory the Emperor let his advisors talk him into executing first Gallus in 354 and then Claudius Silvanus in 355.
(review, feed)

Russian Rulers History Podcast
Napoleon on the Run
Napoleon is chased by Alexander I all the way to Paris. The Tsar then has a change in personality causing him to reverse many of his earlier reforms.
(review, feed)

Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation Podcasts
Inauguration
In 2004, Kol Hadash hired Rabbi Adam Chalom as our full-time cultural and philosophic guide. Rabbi Chalom immediately used his energy, talents and good humor to move our congregation forward into our second stage. In this retrospective, Rabbi Chalom's inaugural address to the congregation is featured.
(review, feed)

International Political Economy - Saeed Ahmed guest post

One of the key tensions in the 20th century has been the relentless advance of an international economic system running up against local, regional and national interests. States, while susceptible to hegemony, are not usually governed by anything other local sovereignty. Strong states have always had greater sway than their weaker neighbors, but in the 20th century, the way this played out was different from previous epochs in several significant ways.

Very few available courses (in podcast form) in the internet cover this in a digestible way. From time to time, UCSD has some offerings that cover the economic aspects well, but are often a bit too technical to be easily digestible in audio form. Therefore, I want to alert podcast listeners to a very good course offered by James Morrison of Middlebury College, which covers the political economy of the international system (International Political Economy(). It is from 2009, and I didn't discover this until recently because I was looking specifically for something that covered the global economic and political developments in the 20th century, and I googled until I found something. (feed)

Dr. Morrison is quite engaging, and involves his students. In this case, it is both a good thing and not so good for the podcast listener. It is good because it is somewhat Socratic, but it is often hard to hear the students. There is considerable class discussion, because this is not a big lecture course. Dr. Morrison tries to get to know all his students, and usually calls on them by name. The syllabus, slides and even online discussions are still available on the website. I would recommend downloading the slides because they really make it easier to digest the material even if one looks at them later (in my case, I review them quickly in the evening usually after listening to the podcast).

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like there will be podcasts from Middlebury routinely, and it isn't clear how long this one will be available, so download this series while you can.

Saeed Ahmed

More guest posts by Saeed Ahmed:
A podcast on climate, energy and food,
Two podcasts on the brain,
Comedy podcasts and philosophy,
John Searle, Philosophy of Mind,
Politics 114B (United States Political Thought; 1865 to the Present).

A Podcast Playlist for 3 July 2011

Tapestry
Science and the Moral Landscape/Jewish Atheism
Mary Hynes talks to Sam Harris on Tapestry about his latest book, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values. And Dan Falk, author, freelance journalist and documentary-maker, explores the idea of Jewish atheism.
(review, feed)

Philosopher's Zone
The puzzlement of Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein, the great Anglo-Austrian philosopher, who died fifty years ago this year, often looked puzzled. In fact, puzzlement, about the world and about the concepts with which we try to grasp the world, was to a large extent his stock-in-trade. This week, we investigate how useful it can be to share Wittgenstein´s puzzlement when turning our attention to human society and the possibility that there might be a science of human society.
(review, feed)

Myoclonic Jerk
Addiction
In this episode we look at the dark side of games, how they hook us and the damage they can do, and where they might be taking us. Dan talks to therapist and author Shavaun Scott about her time as an in-game therapist. Comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani talks about his life in games. Writer/performer Justine Barron explains why games are more appealing than guitar lessons. Online gaming pioneer Richard Garriott (aka Lord British) and Vlad Cole of Blizzard Entertainment both return to defend games. All this and much more!
(review, feed)

Big Ideas
Kevin B. Anderson, Janet Afary on The Seductions of Islamism
Kevin B. Anderson and Janet Afary on their book The Seductions of Islamism: Revisiting Foucault and the Iranian Revolution
(review, feed)

Veertien Achttien
Ida B. Wells en een baby in de vlammen
'De grootste schande van de eeuw' noemde Ida B. Wells de rassenrellen in East St. Louis. Ook het Amerikaanse leger was nog lang niet vrij van racisme.
(review, feed)

Today in Podcast - 30 June 2011

In Our Time
In Memoriam
Melvyn and guests discuss one of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's greatest poem's, 'In Memoriam A.H.H.'. Written as a tribute to his best friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly and tragically at the age of 22, the poem offers an insight into Tennyson's deepest feelings of grief and loss. As well as being a heart-rending elegy, the poem also considers the new geological ideas that were coming to light at the time and the questions this knowledge raised about the history of the Earth as outlined in the Bible. Melvyn is joined by Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Liverpool University; Seamus Perry, Fellow and Tutor in English at Balliol College, University of Oxford; and Jane Wright, Lecturer in English at the University of Bristol.
(review, feed)

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Death Throes of the Republic VI
In a massive finish to the "Dan Carlin version" of the fall of the Roman Republic, conspiracies, civil wars, beatniks of antiquity and a guy named Caesar figure prominently. Virtually everyone dies.
(review, feed)

Mahabharata Podcast
Kurukshetra, Day 2
Episode 63 - The second day of battle comes and goes. If the first day went to the Kauravas, the 2nd day certainly belonged to the Pandavas. The day ends with Bhimasena and Arjun dominating the field, and the Kaurava soldiers crapping their pants. The cream of Kalinga manhood has been exterminated on the field, and even their enemies are forced to admire the way the two brothers cleared the field of all comers.
(review, feed)

Forgotten Classics
Genesis, chapter 30
In which Leah and Rachel begin an unusual competition and Jacob asks Laban for some pay.
(review, feed)

Reith Lectures 2011
Aung San Suu Kyi: Liberty 28 Jun 2011
Aung San Suu Kyi discusses what freedom means in the first of her 2011 Reith Lectures, entitled Liberty. The Burmese pro-democracy leader reflects on her own experience under house arrest in Burma, exploring the universal human aspiration to be free and the spirit which drives people to dissent. She also comments on the Arab Spring, comparing the event that triggered last December's revolution in Tunisia with the death of a student during a protest in Burma in 1988.
(review, feed)

The Economist
China's presence in Europe
China's economic expansion into Europe is gathering pace
(review, feed)

TED Talks
A Rosetta Stone for the Indus script - Rajesh Rao
Rajesh Rao is fascinated by "the mother of all crossword puzzles": How to decipher the 4000 year old Indus script. At TED 2011 he tells how he is enlisting modern computational techniques to read the Indus language, the key piece to understanding this ancient civilization.
(review, feed)

Just to let you know

These days it is more difficult than ever for me to keep up my blog. With the new job I have (since March) and a couple of changes with regards to my PC availability an internet connection at home, extremely little time is left to actually post to the blog. It is literally down to a couple of minutes per day. As a result, you have seen in the past months, fewer posts and more posts of the kind that can be produced quickly. My apologies for that.

I do not think it is going to change in the foreseeable future, so while I try to maintain as much as I can, I am thinking of how to increase the activity from my side. And while you, my readers are at it, do not hesitate to write in your feedback. Your influence will be great.

Thanks in advance,

Anne

Reith Lectures 2011

Here is a quick heads-up to let you know that this years' Reith Lectures are about to begin and will be podcast again as in previous years. The feed is the same as in previous years. The speakers will be Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former MI5 director-general Baroness Manningham-Buller. There will be five lectures in total and the subject will be "Securing Freedom".

If you are looking back into the lectures of the past, I want to recommend you listen to the 2009 series which were an outstanding performance by Harvard professor Michael Sandel.


Previously about the Reith Lectures 2010:
Reith Lectures 2010 (2),
Reith Lectures 2010.

About the Reith Lectures in 2009:
A new politics of the common good,
The bioethics concern,
Morality in Politics,
Morality and the Market.