New podcasts reviewed on Anne is a Man in July 2008

Tomorrow I will publish the updated list of reviewed podcasts, as usual on the first of the month. Before that, I would like to point out the new podcasts that were added this month.

In the category of History Podcasts:
History Compass Blog (review, site, feed)
Writers are telling in short about what article they have written in the History Compass

Fact or Fiction (review, site, feed)
History stuff for the history buff.

Oxford Biographies (review, site, feed)
Spoken biographies in seven to fifteen minutes, mostly on on lesser known people.

Historicast (review, site, feed)
A short monologue style podcast with inserted audio fragments.

Backstory (review, site, feed)
A panel of historians discuss the background story of an item in the news.

Ancient History - Alternative Theories (review, site, feed)
Esoteric reconstruction of ancient history.

Pope Podcast (review, site, feed)
A one by one, pope by pope history of the papacy.

German Cultural History  (review, site, feed)
Fascinating musings about Medieval German Culture and its earliest roots.

Politics and Warfare (UCSD)  (review, site, feed)
Political science course exploring explanations of the first world war and others.

Podcast history of cooking (review, site, feed)
Jesse Browner's fascinating journey through the history of our diet, from prehistory until today.

In the category of Science:
Straight talk about stem cells (Stanford) (review, site, feed)
Technology, law and ethics around stem cell research.

In the category of Geography Podcasts:
Iran Podcast (review, site, feed)
Three minute installments telling tidbits of Iranian culture, mostly about the festival of Noruz.

In the category of Arts and Culture Podcasts:
Forgotten Classics (review, site, feed)
Listen to Julie reading from her classics and other selected texts.

Naxos Classical Music Spotlight Podcast (review, site, feed)
Promotional podcast for Naxos records.

Schlaflos in Muenchen (review, site, feed)
The legendary audio blog  by Annik Rubens.

In the category of Religion and Spiritualiy Podcasts:
Time Out for Truth (review, site, feed)
New Age philosophy on how to live the good life, by examples of a lot of movies

Escaped from the big list in earlier versions:
Theories of Law and Society (review, site, feed)
A lawyer's encounter with Durkheim, Weber and Marx.

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Delenda Carthago - Dan Carlin's Hardcore History review

The latest of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is the first in an apparently two part series about the Punic Wars. In this edition Dan makes it from the early confrontations between Rome and Carthage to the second Punic war after Hannibal has crossed the Alps.

For history podcast listeners this is a real gem. There is a lot of comparative material around in podcast land. (See my post about Roman History in podcasts) One of the best comparisons is Stanford's Patrick Hunt and his Hannibal series (feed) and Dan shows his great knowledge, because he effectively sums up what Hunt needs some 5 hours of lectures for. And Dan does more. He describes the build up to the wars and he projects forward what the outcome and importance will be: Rome will be victorious and emerge as a world power.

As usual Dan improves on regular history podcast with his engaged way of telling the story, revealing the importance and bringing to life the drama. I cannot wait for the next installment to come out.

On a side note: Patrick Hunt may hit the news in the coming months. He spends the summer in the Alps digging for traces of Hannibal's trek over the Alps. If you have followed his series, you know he has a strong case for his hypothesis which pass Hannibal took and you know he finally has the permits to do the archeology. When he has his finds, National Geographic will be the first to know and publish about it. Stand by.

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

More Patrick Hunt:
Hannibal in the end,
Ten discoveries that rewrote history,
Patrick Hunt on Hannibal (and more),
Hannibal Barca on the couch,
Where did Hannibal cross the Alps?

Human Trafficking - UChannel podcast review

A lecture at the Council of Foreign Relations about Slavery in the Supply Chain, delivered by Mark Lagon, of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State, was published recently on the UChannel Podcast (also known as University Channel Podcast). The exploitation of people in various forms of labor is of all times and the differences in riches and the demands of economy and in some ways globalization actually encourage slavery and the trafficking of persons. Mark Lagon addresses this problem and talks of the influence of consumers and the industry. If consumers are not ready to buy tuna, when dolphins could have been hurt, the same can go for for example chocolate, when slavery was used somewhere down the supply chain.

In spite of there being laws, slavery exists still and what is needed is what Lagon calls 'good corporate citizenship' in addition to the rule of law. He gives examples from companies such as Gap, Lexus Nexus and Coca Cola and how they are involved in taking action against slavery. His choice of words is very policy-like, I would say; it is about 'monitoring systems' in the private sector and laws and NGO's doing their jobs, about hot-lines and more general examples of instruments that are in place. All is very well, but instruments that are in place are not necessarily being used, or being effective.

As a listener I felt the need for explicit talk. There was one example of Gap stopping a contract with a sweat shop in India, because of its involvement in child labor. The larger part of the podcast is dedicated to Lagon's answers to questions and though the questions are good, Lagon just doesn't manage to turn into an engaged and convincing speaker. Is that symptomatic for the fight against exploitation: a lot seems to be undertaken, but it doesn't sound engaged and convincing?

More UChannel:
Iran 2009,
The denials of yesterday,
Nuts and bolts of empire,
Islam meets Europe,
The rise and demise of Palestine.

Giordano Bruno - Het zwijgen opgelegd

OVT's martelaren bespreekt Giordano Bruno (1548 - 1600), de Italiaanse proto-wetenschapper die als ketter door de Romeinse Inquisitie naar de brandstapel wordt gestuurd. Hij zou als ter dood veroordeelde allang vergeten zijn, als hij niet in de negentiende eeuw was herontdekt en het odium kreeg aangemeten als een van de eerste martelaars van de wetenschap. Hoewel je de negentiende eeuwse opvatting van wetenschap maar met moeite kan toepassen op de vrijdenker uit de Renaissance.

Het is weer leuk, net als de aflevering over Socrates. Ondanks de kanttekeningen die gezet worden bij de toepasselijkheid van moderne opvattingen op Bruno, ook in de uitzending raakt hij zijn symbolische waarde niet kwijt. Want in welk vat je het gedachtengoed van Bruno ook giet, zelfs al zou hij niet meer dan een obscure occultist zijn, dan nog blijft hij zijn symboliek behouden. En dat komt door het Katholieke establishment dat er alles aan doet om de eenling en zijn gedachtengoed te onderdrukken.

Het is zelfs niet genoeg dat ze hem na acht jaar inquisitoir proces eindelijk op de brandstapel krijgen. Ook in onze tijd, wanneer hij wordt herontdekt en zijn moderne bewonderaars een standbeeld van hem in Rome plaatsen (met het gezicht naar het Vaticaan), staat de Kerk op zijn achterste benen. Het dreigt de pauselijke zetel uit Rome te verplaatsen, maar vangt bot elders in Europa en blijft in de eeuwige stad achter, aangestaard door de stenen blik van de ketter Giordano Bruno vanaf Campo dei Fiori.

(Photo by Joshua Corey)

Meer OVT:
Maria Stuart,
Jeanne d'Arc,
Paulus,
Socrates,
Hoeren en Agenten.

Out for Truth - Spiritual podcast review

When listening to the Time Out for Truth podcast, I think of a friend who once told me she believed in the infinity of sources. In her opinion, when searching for insight (or wisdom for that matter), anything can be a source. If you can learn something from a book, that is no less than from a poem, or a dream, or a religious tradition, or a tarot session, a horoscope and on and on. In that respect, for her, it didn't matter whether the sources that are used together, do not recognize each other. Or even, if you use a source in way that it doesn't sanction itself.

Time Out for Truth claims to tap into sources in much the same fashion. In its own words: "The Golden Thread of Truth weaves its way throughout the centuries. It flows through books and speakers and systems, yet no one can claim a monopoly -- no one owns it." Host Tom Russell and his book and his site, Super Wisdom, deliver his outlook on life, combining the various sources and applying them to practical life. He uses books, films and psychological and esoteric practices as tangible sources in the podcast. The object is to help the listener to lead a purposeful and fulfilling life. As a source, this podcast goes as well as any other and has a lot of practical and spiritual insights to offer to each one who chooses to give it a try.

Looking into the roots of host Tom Russell and his views, I found out he is a student of the American spiritual teacher Vernon Howard. Howard's sources, as presented by Wikipedia are: Christian and Eastern mysticism, Gurdjieffian Fourth Way teachings, the Gospels of the New Testament, Jungian psychology and American Transcendentalism. In this respect, Russell is very similar to many modern spiritual teachers I have run into. Just like my friend, he taps into any source he can and uses the most readily available, such as Christian traditions, modern psychology, but also other tradition as Gurdjief's that have had their hype once, but are rarely directly referred to these days.

So, what kind of teachings from the wide variety that are available these days are you about to expect? Let's compare it with another podcast: Eric Maisel's Your Purpose Centered Life. Both YPCL as TOFT stand in that modern multiverse of teachings, they show you how to get the best of your life borrowing from the wide variety of sources available to us. Eric Maisel is more tended towards rationalism, atheism and psychology. Tom Russell openly refers to Christ, showing a more believing inclination. His approach is also more mystic than rationalist. Personally I lean in both directions and together with them, I take my pick from standing traditions as well as you can see in the list of Religion and Spirituality Podcasts.

Infinity of sources, yeah, that works for me.

More YPCL:
Authentic Living,
Subjective Meaning,
The purpose centered life.

Schlaflos in Muenchen - podcast review

My native language is Dutch. On a daily basis I constantly switch between my native tongue and English and Hebrew and somehow, I manage not to get them awfully mixed up, although it is a delicate balancing act. I used to be fluent in German, but for lack of use, I do not speak or write it any more and whenever I try, my balancing act with the three other languages get disturbed. I am a three ball juggler. Ask me to juggle four and all of the balls end up on the floor.

My passive mastery of German has remained the same though and this means that for listening to podcasts, German podcasts come in Frage. Occasionally I go for a news or sports podcast in German, if the content is somehow unique and cannot be had otherwise, but nothing serious enough for this blog. I did however, very much want to at least get acquainted with the legendary, much referred to on The Word Nerds, German podcast Schlaflos in München. This podcast deserves a review and consistent with my principle to blog in the podcast's language, I should review Schlaflos in German. But I do not want to make a fool of myself and end up with four balls on the floor and egg on my face. So I chicken out to English. Tut mir Leid.

Schlaflos in München is a witty, paced and entertaining audio blog by host Annick Rubens, a thirty something inhabitant of Munich who makes podcast at night when she cannot sleep, oder so heisst es. In the last episode the major subjects on the show are a book review and an interview, but other than that, she also treats the listeners with a staccato banter and attention to the listening community consisting of answering voice mails. Annick is sharp and funny and that is the major quality of the show. Her qualities as an interviewer were a tad less. Her conversation with a weathered Twitter user, was easy to follow for me, because I know and use Twitter, otherwise I would have been at a loss. Even if the guest says that Twitter cannot be explained and must be experienced, one can still venture into some more description, I guess.

In any case, SiM is a podcast I am going to give an occasional listen to.