Political Science lecture series - podcast review

Compelling and provocative. In the first two lectures of Berkeley's undergraduate course in political science (Political Science 179), Alan Ross does everything to bring out the fireworks. Ross doesn't believe in teaching the science. He brings guest speakers, preferably ones with unusual points to make, to bring debate, to bring politics to life.

If his speakers won't do that, he will himself. He does the first lecture and challenges his audience, not only with provocations. He uses sheer sarcasm. 'Hey you with the funny t-shirt, you look like you have an attitude.' 'All those people who said their vote counts, what are they? Wrong!'

You absolutely do not have to agree, just do not fall asleep. If only you weren't listening on the podcast, but actually could be there; you could participate. Where do you find such with regards to politics these days?

More Berkeley courses:
Man, God, and Society in Western Literature,
Economic Geography of the Industrial World,
Ancient Philosophy,
Physics for Future Presidents,
A survey of Europe from the Renaissance to the present.

Dan Carlin announcement

Today I received an email from Dan Carlin, making an announcement that all you podcast listeners who follow his Hardcore History, will want to know.

His series about the Punic wars is delayed. He was planning to make it into a double episode, but has decided to make it a trilogy in stead. Nevertheless the publication of the second installment is going to be soon. It just won't be the final. A lot of the material that has already been recorded will be discarded. For those who are interested in the full version, Dan relates, this may become available at a premium. See Dan's blog.

I appreciate he lets quality prevail over a preset publication schedule. I have seen this happening with many podcasts lately. The on demand character of the medium also allows for an on supply approach, I gather. We listener's have so much to choose from, we won't suffer if there is less, especially when what is there, is properly produced.

More Dan Carlin:
Punic Nightmares I,
Under the Influence,
Apaches,
Assyrians,
and Dan Carlin praises Anne is a Man!

The first Anne is a Man audio Promo - by Jim Mowatt

38 seconds PROMO for Anne is a Man:


This is my first audio promo. Jim Mowatt of the Historyzine podcast did the text and I fumbled with some podsafe music by Muzyka Dawna from Poznan (Poland). If you appreciate my blog and especially if you were happy with a review you found here, I invite you to play this promo on your podcast or place it on your website. Let me know, when you do.

You can download the promo or embed it. To embed, first click the 'SHARE' link on the player above. Then copy the code to clipboard and then paste it into the code of your web page.

I'll continue to work on the subject of audio promo's, so keep posted.

More about the blog:
About Anne is a Man,
Why don't I give ratings to podcasts?,
What to write about a podcast?,
When do I write in my blog?,
When do I listen to podcasts?,
Time to start again.

Mail from a happy reader on Anne is Man!

From: Karen Roth
To: Anne Frid de Vries
Sent: Sunday, 7 September, 2008 18:39:06
Subject: your reviews are indispensable to me

Dear Anne,

I can't thank you enough for your blog. I'm lucky enough to have a job, hobbies, commute, and home life that allow me to listen to podcasts several hours a day. Until I found your site (via recommendation on the Historyzine podcast) I was running out of quality shows. I have found other podcast reviewers focus either too narrowly on a specific subject (e.g. physics for physics majors/professionals) or too broadly to a general (and, though it sounds patronizing, pedestrian and tasteless) audience. Your reviews are, for me, just right. Your taste is excellent, your reviews informative and honest, and your site setup makes it so easy for me to locate and subscribe to casts.

I am amazed by all the altruism on the web. From freeware to reviews so many people have enriched my life out of the goodness of their hearts. Thank you again for your help and all the time and effort you put in to making quality podcasts known. You're a mensch.

--
Karen Roth
Scottsdale, AZ


More Feedback:
Jan Oosthoek (Environmental History),
Dan Carlin (Hardcore History and Common Sense).

Pain in paradigm - missing link review

There is good news and bad news on the Missing Link Podcast. The bad news is that the podcast will be suspended until further notice. The feed will be maintained, but for the time being there will be no new issues. The good news is the great quality of the latest episode.



Under the title Where does it hurt? the missing link presents a guest essay by Daniel Goldberg. Goldberg talks of the medical profession and tries to analyze its problematic relation with the phenomenon of pain. His approach is (partly) a historical one. His main point seems to be that the paradigms of modern medicine sort of a priori exclude pain, or at least pains without lesion. It will not find an effective way of dealing with it - pain management - if it won't analyze this paradigm, both in its historical and its cultural, traditional sense.

There was, in my ears, a bit of a loose end in the essay which fascinated me enormously and brought some disappointment in that it was not tied to the main argument in the end - or at least not to my satisfaction. It was a remark that was made about Galen and his medicine tradition as it has dominated ours until it became scientific, reductionist and analytical. Galen, so Goldberg relates, was holistic, it pressed for a dialog between doctor and patient and it suggested that the complete person of the patient would be needed to explain (and treat) whatever he suffered from. Goldberg seems to suggest that with Galen this particular emphasis was lost and is sorely needed in understanding pain. Maybe it is what he intended to say, but it was left implicit.

Despite these shortcomings, this was a particularly thrilling installment of an otherwise already outstanding history podcast series. We hope Elizabeth Green Musselman will find the time to continue, but until then we will gladly go over the old stuff and wait.

All about The Missing Link on this blog:
Missing Link in Devon,
Curious and curiouser,
Domestic Science,
Missing Link with monotheists,
Missing Link with Popper,
An evolved controversy,
Time's Arrow,
On Time and on Counting - The Missing Link,
Strength in Numbers,
Constant Companions,
From Berlin,
History of Science.

More on old Medicine:
Four Humours (In Our Time).

De verdediger van Parijs - Veertien Achttien recensie

Joseph Gallieni de Franse generaal was al met pensioen toen hij in 1914 in aller ijl van zijn koloniale lauweren werd gerukt om het benarde Parijs te beschermen tegen de optrekkende Von Kluck. Tom Tacken vertelt erover in de laatste aflevering van Veertien Achttien.

Deze biografie is aanleiding om de Franse, geimproviseerde verdediging te bespreken. Dit in het historisch perspectief van de eclatante nederlagen in 1870 en 1940 en het Franse sentiment dat de aanval de enige, of in ieder geval de beste verdediging was. Opnieuw een briljante aanwending van een biografie om de Grote Oorlog voor het voetlicht te brengen. Al mag het anecdotische aspect niet ontbreken.

Pikant detail is dat Gallieni alle mogelijke vervoermiddelen vorderde, onder meer de Parijse Taxi's, om de hoognodige versterkingen naar het front te brengen. Dat is een aardige illustratie, maar gelukkig blijft het daar niet bij en komt de grote lijn goed in beeld. Veertien Achttien blijft een ongewoon verdienstelijke historische podcast, die behalve geweldig informatief, ook heel onderhoudend is.

Meer Veertien Achttien:
Alexander von Kluck,
Alexander Samsonov,
Dicke Bertha; Bertha Krupp,
Veertien Achttien - recensie.