Witness
Crossing the Rubicon
When Julius Caesar led his troops across the Rubicon river and into Italy he was effectively declaring war on the Republic in Rome. Afterwards, there was no turning back.
(review, feed)
What is the Stars?
Monday January 10th
The Blue of the Night's resident astronomer Francis McCarthy from Blackrock Observatory in Cork celebrates humankind's ingenuity as the 6th anniversary of the Huygens spacecraft landing on Saturn’s largest moon Titan is marked on 14th January.
(review, feed)
TED Talks
We are all cyborgs now - Amber Case
Technology is evolving us, says Amber Case, as we become a screen-staring, button-clicking new version of homo sapiens. We now rely on "external brains" (cell phones and computers) to communicate, remember, even live out secondary lives. But will these machines ultimately connect or conquer us? Case offers surprising insight into our cyborg selves.
(review, feed)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
What is hot on 10 January 2011
EconTalk
Caldwell on Hayek
Bruce Caldwell of Duke University and the General Editor of the Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about Hayek, his life, his ideas, his books, and articles. The conversation covers Hayek's intellectual encounters with Keynes, Hayek's role in the socialist calculation debate, Hayek's key ideas, and a discussion of which of Hayek's works are most accessible.
(review, feed)
La Resistance
Herding Lions: Maximizing the Resistance
A technologically superior redo of the long awaited Jean Moulin ep on La Resistance! Tune in to learn more about the man historian Thane Peterson was speaking of when he said ‘If there’s a greater hero of WWII of any nationality, I haven’t read about him.’
(review, feed)
Mahabharata Podcast
The Markandeya Sessions Pt. 3
Episode 39 - Two more stories from the Sage Markandeya. The first is a rousing fight story, where the king of Ayodhya gets super powers from the god Vishnu and defeats a dragon.
I find the second story more interesting. Yuddistira wants to know about the specific problems that women and servants must have in following their dharma. Markandeya replies with a story about a short-tempered Brahmin Kaushika, who encounters a particularly wise peasant woman, whose devotion to her husband grants her great wisdom and insight. Noticing that the brahmin could use some advice on dharma, she sends him to the local butcher, who, it turns out, knows even more about dharma than the woman.
We are nearly through with Markandeya. Next episode we'll get back to the main protagonists, with a tete-a-tete between Draupadi and Krishna's wife Satyabhama.
(review, feed)
Ideas
The Age of American Decline
With American power in decline, who will fill the vacuum? China? India? For many, this may be good news, but be careful what you wish for, says Richard Haass, a prominent American foreign policy analyst.
(review, feed)
TED Talks
A realistic vision for world peace - Jody Williams
Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams brings tough love to the dream of world peace, with her razor-sharp take on what "peace" really means, and a set of profound stories that zero in on the creative struggle -- and sacrifice -- of those who work for it.
(review, feed)
Caldwell on Hayek
Bruce Caldwell of Duke University and the General Editor of the Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about Hayek, his life, his ideas, his books, and articles. The conversation covers Hayek's intellectual encounters with Keynes, Hayek's role in the socialist calculation debate, Hayek's key ideas, and a discussion of which of Hayek's works are most accessible.
(review, feed)
La Resistance
Herding Lions: Maximizing the Resistance
A technologically superior redo of the long awaited Jean Moulin ep on La Resistance! Tune in to learn more about the man historian Thane Peterson was speaking of when he said ‘If there’s a greater hero of WWII of any nationality, I haven’t read about him.’
(review, feed)
Mahabharata PodcastThe Markandeya Sessions Pt. 3
Episode 39 - Two more stories from the Sage Markandeya. The first is a rousing fight story, where the king of Ayodhya gets super powers from the god Vishnu and defeats a dragon.
I find the second story more interesting. Yuddistira wants to know about the specific problems that women and servants must have in following their dharma. Markandeya replies with a story about a short-tempered Brahmin Kaushika, who encounters a particularly wise peasant woman, whose devotion to her husband grants her great wisdom and insight. Noticing that the brahmin could use some advice on dharma, she sends him to the local butcher, who, it turns out, knows even more about dharma than the woman.
We are nearly through with Markandeya. Next episode we'll get back to the main protagonists, with a tete-a-tete between Draupadi and Krishna's wife Satyabhama.
(review, feed)
Ideas
The Age of American Decline
With American power in decline, who will fill the vacuum? China? India? For many, this may be good news, but be careful what you wish for, says Richard Haass, a prominent American foreign policy analyst.
(review, feed)
TED Talks
A realistic vision for world peace - Jody Williams
Nobel Peace laureate Jody Williams brings tough love to the dream of world peace, with her razor-sharp take on what "peace" really means, and a set of profound stories that zero in on the creative struggle -- and sacrifice -- of those who work for it.
(review, feed)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
What is hot on 9 January 2011
Office Hours
Shamus Khan on Inequality and the Elite
This week we talk with Shamus Khan about his new book Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School. One the one hand, elite social institutions—such as St. Paul’s—have opened up to women and minorities in recent decades, but on the other hand, inequality has increased and wealth is more concentrated now than since the 1920s. What explains this apparent contradiction between increasing openness yet rising inequality? Khan draws on his experiences as a student and then researcher at St. Paul’s to help answer this question.
(review, feed)
Veertien Achttien
Sir Stanley Maude en de vergeten koffer (zondag 7 januari 1917)
De man die de Turken in Mesopotamië op de hielen zat, deed eerst op Gallipoli met een stiff upper lip de deur voor de Britten dicht. Hop into the lighter Maude!
(review, feed)
Shamus Khan on Inequality and the Elite
This week we talk with Shamus Khan about his new book Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School. One the one hand, elite social institutions—such as St. Paul’s—have opened up to women and minorities in recent decades, but on the other hand, inequality has increased and wealth is more concentrated now than since the 1920s. What explains this apparent contradiction between increasing openness yet rising inequality? Khan draws on his experiences as a student and then researcher at St. Paul’s to help answer this question.
(review, feed)
Veertien AchttienSir Stanley Maude en de vergeten koffer (zondag 7 januari 1917)
De man die de Turken in Mesopotamië op de hielen zat, deed eerst op Gallipoli met een stiff upper lip de deur voor de Britten dicht. Hop into the lighter Maude!
(review, feed)
Historical Jesus methodologies
Here is a nice review to open a Sunday; let's talk the historical Jesus. The first podcast to go to for input in the historical Jesus is Stanford's Historical Jesus by Thomas Sheehan* (feed). There is some brief discussion at Yale, in Dale B. Martin's course Introduction to New Testament History and Literature (feed), but Martin keeps it short as he reveals that he teaches an independent course on the subject - when will that one come out in podcast?
Right now a series is running as part of the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean by Philip Harland (feed). Whereas Sheehan pushes towards a very specific conclusion and uses mostly literary interpretation, Harland is more tentative and uses a wider spectrum of methods. Sheehan comes off as more of a Theology professor and Harland as a historian in comparison. By all means both of them are very interesting, yet for the historical effort, I am very much charmed by Harland's course and would like to draw your attention to the issue of methodology.
First of all Harland explains the various methodologies at the beginning of the section. In addition to the literary approach, he adds the few pieces of data that arise from there and puts them in a wider historical context, using other sources historical and archeological. For example, in the last issue, he takes the indications that Jesus was a healer and exorcist and digs into sources about other healers and exorcists around the same place and time. He tells about Hanina Ben Dosa and Honi haM'agel in order to extrapolate what might have been the facts with the historical Jesus.
* Be aware that Sheehan's course has some very low audio and the lectures are coming out of the feed in correct order. A syllabus comes along that will guide you to the correct sequence.
More Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean:
6 more podcasts I listened to when I was away from the blog,
Jesus - Egalitarian or Apocalyptic,
Historical Jesus (2) - Philip Harland,
Historical Jesus (1) - Philip Harland,
Early Christianity podcasts.
First of all Harland explains the various methodologies at the beginning of the section. In addition to the literary approach, he adds the few pieces of data that arise from there and puts them in a wider historical context, using other sources historical and archeological. For example, in the last issue, he takes the indications that Jesus was a healer and exorcist and digs into sources about other healers and exorcists around the same place and time. He tells about Hanina Ben Dosa and Honi haM'agel in order to extrapolate what might have been the facts with the historical Jesus.
* Be aware that Sheehan's course has some very low audio and the lectures are coming out of the feed in correct order. A syllabus comes along that will guide you to the correct sequence.
More Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean:
6 more podcasts I listened to when I was away from the blog,
Jesus - Egalitarian or Apocalyptic,
Historical Jesus (2) - Philip Harland,
Historical Jesus (1) - Philip Harland,
Early Christianity podcasts.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
What is hot on 8 January 2011
Science Friday
Paul Offit On The Anti-Vaccine Movement
In his new book, vaccine researcher Paul Offit contends that some parents' decisions not to vaccinate their kids are harming others. Offit discusses the anti-vaccine movement, and weighs in on a new report calling a 1998 study linking autism and vaccines an "elaborate fraud."
(review, feed)
The Memory Palace
Episode 36
Six scenes in the life of William J. Sidis, wonderful boy
(review, feed)
New Books In History
Ian Sample, “Massive: The Missing Particle that Sparked the Greatest Hunt in Science”
You’ve probably read about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It’s the biggest (17 miles around!), most expensive (9 billion dollars!) scientific instrument in history. What’s it do? It accelerates beams of tiny particles (protons) to nearly the speed of light and then smashes them into one another. That’s cool, you say, why all the smashing?
(review, feed)
Philosopher's Zone
Nietzsche and the will to power
Friedrich Nietzsche was the son of a preacher who came to despise Christianity. He was a scholar of the Greek and Roman classics who became better known as a philosopher. And he was a philosopher whose ideas -- rejecting the idea of pity, embracing the will to power and the ideal of the superman -- cast long shadows over the twentieth century. This week, we take a sympathetic look at this troubling, and troubled, thinker.
(review, feed)
KQED's Forum
Prescription Drug Abuse
Prescription drug abuse is on the rise. A new report says emergency room visits due to prescription drug abuse have doubled over the last five years, while the number of people seeking treatment for prescription drug use is also on the rise. We examine what some are calling the nation's fastest growing drug problem.
(review, feed)
Paul Offit On The Anti-Vaccine Movement
In his new book, vaccine researcher Paul Offit contends that some parents' decisions not to vaccinate their kids are harming others. Offit discusses the anti-vaccine movement, and weighs in on a new report calling a 1998 study linking autism and vaccines an "elaborate fraud."
(review, feed)
The Memory PalaceEpisode 36
Six scenes in the life of William J. Sidis, wonderful boy
(review, feed)
New Books In History
Ian Sample, “Massive: The Missing Particle that Sparked the Greatest Hunt in Science”
You’ve probably read about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It’s the biggest (17 miles around!), most expensive (9 billion dollars!) scientific instrument in history. What’s it do? It accelerates beams of tiny particles (protons) to nearly the speed of light and then smashes them into one another. That’s cool, you say, why all the smashing?
(review, feed)
Philosopher's Zone
Nietzsche and the will to power
Friedrich Nietzsche was the son of a preacher who came to despise Christianity. He was a scholar of the Greek and Roman classics who became better known as a philosopher. And he was a philosopher whose ideas -- rejecting the idea of pity, embracing the will to power and the ideal of the superman -- cast long shadows over the twentieth century. This week, we take a sympathetic look at this troubling, and troubled, thinker.
(review, feed)
KQED's Forum
Prescription Drug Abuse
Prescription drug abuse is on the rise. A new report says emergency room visits due to prescription drug abuse have doubled over the last five years, while the number of people seeking treatment for prescription drug use is also on the rise. We examine what some are calling the nation's fastest growing drug problem.
(review, feed)
Friday, January 7, 2011
What is hot on 7 January 2011
Being
Words That Shimmer
Poetry is something many of us seem to be hungry for these days. We're hungry for fresh ways to tell hard truths and redemptive stories, for language that would elevate and embolden rather than demean and alienate. Elizabeth Alexander shares her sense of what poetry works in us -- and in our children -- and why it may become more relevant, not less so, in hard and complicated times.
(review, feed)
Witness
Clinton impeachment
On January 7 1999 the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began in the US senate. His press secretary at the time, tells Witness about the politics behind the Lewinsky scandal.
(review, feed)
Distillations
Nuclear Power
In this episode we learn about the history and future of nuclear power, in the U.S. and abroad.
(review, feed)
Words That Shimmer
Poetry is something many of us seem to be hungry for these days. We're hungry for fresh ways to tell hard truths and redemptive stories, for language that would elevate and embolden rather than demean and alienate. Elizabeth Alexander shares her sense of what poetry works in us -- and in our children -- and why it may become more relevant, not less so, in hard and complicated times.
(review, feed)
WitnessClinton impeachment
On January 7 1999 the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began in the US senate. His press secretary at the time, tells Witness about the politics behind the Lewinsky scandal.
(review, feed)
Distillations
Nuclear Power
In this episode we learn about the history and future of nuclear power, in the U.S. and abroad.
(review, feed)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)