Gandhi - History 174c UCLA

In Vinay Lal's previous course, History of India, there was about half a lecture about M.K. Gandhi; in the latest course, The history of British India - UCLA (feed), that I just finished listening to, there is sufficiently more attention to India's most famous nationalist.

Already when Lal arrives in his chronological narrative at the late nineteenth century, there is a short high-light - just to let you know that Gandhi is born and goes, as so many Indian intellectuals, to England to study law. But Gandhi was to disappear from India and Indian history for a longer span of time. For about twenty years he was to spend his life in South-Africa. Only by 1915 he was to return to India. He'd return, as Lal, puts it, not as an overly famous, but certainly a known Indian. From there he made a fast career in the ranks of the Indian National Congress and he was to dominate the party even when he was no longer holding an official position.

Recently on Radio Open Source, Amartya Sen stated something also Lal emphasizes in this course and this may come as new fact about Gandhi for the average reader and listener. Gandhi's was ardently anti-modern, up to the point he was even against rail-roads - an example that is pointed out by both Sen and Lal. Within the wider framework of his philosophy, I suppose, this is a very complex element for especially westerners (see also Introduction to nonviolence), but also for Indians to deal with. Hence it is an important issue to be aware of.

More History of India:
Sati,
A story of India,
History of British India,
Trade,
The search goes on.

Reith Lectures 2010

The Reith Lectures will be podcast by the BBC just like last year when Michael Sandel gave a wonderfully inspiring performance. The lectures will be delivered in the same feed as last year. I expect that also, just like last year, the podcast will not be kept in the feed. So my advice is to subscribe, download and keep. This year, the lectures will be delivered by the astronomer Martin Rees. Under the title Scientific Horizons he explores the challenges to science today.

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

The uniqueness of humans - Robert Sapolsky

What makes humans unique as opposed to animals. Look at this lecture by baboon researcher Robert Sapolsky. This is simultaneously informative, entertaining, thought provoking and inspiring.



More Robert Sapolsky:
What Baboons teach us about stress.

Israel's Nuclear Program - Rear Vision

Here is a quick recommendation to listen to Rear Vision. They have recently done a documentary about Israel and its, alleged, bomb. In 30 minutes you get to understand the ratio of its policy of ambiguity and the fundamental difference in what it means for Israel to have the bomb in comparison to what it means Iran, for example, has the bomb. As usual Rear Vision is very informative, but I felt that this time the program has exceeded itself in managing to be clear and concise and captivating in one fell swoop.

More Rear Vision:
Kashmir,
UK Elections - recommended podcasts,
Two podcast issues on the history of Haiti
History of Yemen,
Freemasons.

Time travel is easy, history is hard - Ancient Rome Refocused

Ancient Rome Refocused is a new history podcast that deserves the highest acclaim. This podcast seems to be about Roman history, but in fact is about much more. This is because it is a podcast both of history narrative, which obviously is concentrated on Rome, and of history musings. On account of the last quality, already, the podcast has been widely compared with Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. I would also like to compare the show with Nate DiMeo's Memory Palace.

Host and maker of the podcast Rob Cain is off on a magnificent start with his series and even now, three episodes into the feed, we must grant him his own ground and assure that he is making something unique, something very good and in addition to that, I am absolutely sure, the history podcast audience is going to adore. The comparisons with Dan Carlin and Nate DiMeo serve here only as a characterization and not as some example of what Cain is trying to emulate. Cain combines the history musings, like Dan Carlin, with the astonishing narrative qualities of Nate DiMeo. Cain is telling Roman history with a quality of narrative immediacy that equals the impressive standard of DiMeo's Memory Palace and continues to engage in thoughts about that history in the compelling way of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Thus he establishes an impressive combination of styles that both work extremely well in podcast and he does so with his own voice, his own style that bears only comparison, but not similarity with the mentioned predecessors.

First of all, I'd simply urge you to go and listen without letting me spoil the surprises in particular and the fun in general (feed). Allow me to highlight just these three identifiers for the first three issues. The first makes excellent use of Monty Python's scene in Life of Brian 'What have the Romans ever done for us'. The second lays out the basics of the Roman reality by projecting time travel. The third delivers a subtle expose on slavery in Rome (that dwarfs Dan Carlin's adventure into slavery) which is both history, audio drama, a poignant contemporary critique of low wage labor and prostitution as well as the most balanced analysis of Spartacus' slave revolt I have encountered ever. With even more lines to current times.

Even if Rob Cain stops now, he has produced a podcast classic. The idea he is about to deliver a fourth, and likely more episodes has me both reel in anticipation and yet also a bit worried: can he keep up with the towering standard he has set off with?

Heidegger in podcast

One of the latest issues of Entitled Opinions had me captivated in spite of the fact that I couldn't follow a decent bit of what was being discussed. I wanted to and it sounded tremendously good and the occasional thing I did follow felt like a true gem, but Robert Harrison's conversation with Thomas Sheehan about Martin Heidegger really needs repeated listening and probably some serious preparation.

By the way, not only Robert Harrison we know from podcast, Thomas Sheehan is well known for his course on The Historical Jesus. And during the show Harrison quotes Hubert Dreyfus who delivers a number of philosophy course in podcast through Berkeley. Among those is also a course on Heidegger and so, while I am at it, I might as well direct you to more Heidegger material in podcast.

Another course is offered by J. Drabinsky and since his audio is not syndicated, I have used Huffduffer to put it in a feed for you.

In case you understand German, you can also turn to a lecture delivered on podcast by the university of Freiburg. Dichter und Denker in Freiburg (feed) has Günter Figal speak about Heidegger and his phenomenological predecessor Husserl.

I am surprised I cannot find an issue of Philosophy Bites about Heidegger. Maybe it is hard to wrap your mind around him.

More Entitled Opinions:
Pink Floyd,
Alexander the Great,
Athanasius Kircher (Giordano Bruno),
King Lear,
Albert Camus.