The elegance of the hedgehog

Robert Adams is a book reviewer from Canada. He was born in Wales in 1937, which he frequently reminds us of in his talks, but came to Canada a life time ago in 1964. He features, from time to time, on the podcast Big Ideas where he lectures extensively reviewing a book that by virtue of that lecture, you immediately begin to love. (feed)

The latest subject of this elation was The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (translated from French into English). Adams retells the tale of the twelve year old girl from the haughty Parisian upper class, the concierge in their luxurious apartment building and the new tenant from Japan. It is not just the drama of the people who won't fit in and the youngster planning her suicide. Barbery is a philosopher and the novel, as Adams tries to reveal, is a vehicle of her ideas about the good life and the lies, big and small, of society.

Robert Adams's enthusiasm is contagious. As with the previous reviews, you are drawn in by how compelling he retells the story, convinced by his interpretations and in the end you feel you have read the book with him. The only thing that remains is to re-read it alone. Adams not only makes you appreciate a certain piece of literature, he makes you love and teaches you to close-read literature in general.

More Big Ideas:
Age of Unequals,
Dan Dennett: what should replace religion?,
Chris Hedges,
Needham about China,
The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

Listening ideas for 17 March 2011

The Economist
Protests in Bahrain
Sectarian tensions colour Bahrain's protests, says analyst Jane Kinninmont. But will they become a proxy for a broader regional power struggle?
(review, feed)



In Our Time
The Medieval University
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval universities. In the 11th and 12th centuries a new type of institution started to appear in the major cities of Europe. The first universities were those of Bologna and Paris; within a hundred years similar educational organisations were springing up all over the continent. The universities provided training for those intending to embark on careers in the Church, the law and education. They provided a new focus for intellectual life in Europe, and exerted a significant influence on society around them. And the university model proved so robust that many of these institutions and their medieval innovations still exist today. With Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History at Queen Mary, University of London; Ian Wei, Senior Lecturer in Medieval European History at the University of Bristol; and Peter Denley, Reader in History at Queen Mary, University of London.
(review, feed)

Ernst van de Wetering

Interviews met Ernst van de Wetering leveren grosso modo twee interessante onderwerpen op voor de luisteraar. Het ene is het kind van foute ouders in de oorlog. Hoe fout waren ze, hoe zijn ze gestraft en hoe heeft het kind met die schuld verder geleefd.

Het andere onderwerp is de schilderkunst en vooral in technisch en historisch opzicht, toegespitst vooral op Rembrandt, maar het gaat natuurlijk ook over Barnett Newman's 'Who's afraid of red, yellow and blue?'

Luister naar twee van die interviews. Uit 1998, het gesprek van Djoeke Veninga met Ernst van de Wetering uit de serie Marathon Interview (feed). Beide onderwerpen komen in het drie uur durend gesprek aan bod (en je zou willen dat het nog veel langer duurde), in de stijl van Veninga interviews: bijna achteloos; het lijkt een natuurlijk kabbelend gesprek, maar je komt ongelofelijk veel te weten.

En dan, in 2008, komt Ernst van de Wetering in Simek 's Nachts (feed). Dat is een interview van een uur, maar in de doorvragende stijl van Simek, kom je ook heel veel te weten. En het is interessant om na het vorige interview dit te horen en te merken hoe na tien jaar Van de Wetering verder is gekomen in beide onderwerpen.

Meer Het Marathon Interview:
Isaac Lipschits,
Ger Harmsen,
Het Marathon Interview met Kerst 2010,
Michiel van Erp,
Ger van Elk.

Meer Simek 's Nachts:
Wachtkamer van de dood - Anne-Mei The,
Pieter Winsemius,
Jan Lenferink,
Sjoerd Kooistra,
Ik ben een geraffineerde vrouw - Naema Tahir.

Listening ideas for 16 March 2011

Rear Vision
Gambling on Sport
According to Olympics chief Jacques Rogge, illegal betting on sport generates a global turnover of around $140 billion a year and threatens the credibility of sport. Perfectly legal gambling can also lead to corruption and distort results. Rear Vision looks at the history of the relationship between gambling and sport.
(review, feed)

Irish History Podcast
A history of St. Patrick and Ireland’s conversion to Christianity
Around the world on March 17th, millions of people will attend St Patrick’s day parades in memory of the man who supposedly “converted the Irish to Christianity”. He is a figure shrouded in mystery and myth but in this podcast we examine the truth behind the one time slave and famous bishop Patrick. Tune in to hear the real history behind Ireland’s conversion, who St. Patrick really was and how he become associated with snakes and shamrocks.
(review, feed)

Wise Counsel
Michael Edelstein, Ph.D. - Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Michael R. Edelstein, Ph.D., a Clinical Psychologist and REBT therapist is a protogee of Dr. Albert Ellis, one of the key founders of the modern cognitive behavioral therapy movement. Though today largely overshadowed by Dr. Aaron Beck, Ellis described the basic ideas that continue to inform cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) years before Beck started down that path. Dr. Edelstein's book Three Minute Therapist is a restatement of Ellis' important ideas for non-therapists who are interested in using these techniques as a mode of self-help.
(review, feed)

Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation Podcast
The Synagogue
The central Jewish institution for the past 2000 years has not been a house of God; it has been a house of meeting (beit knesset, or “synagogue”). The synagogue has enabled a dispersed nation to survive, and even to thrive, in very diverse circumstances and surroundings. Discover what the origins of the synagogue can teach us about its current challenges and its future.
(review, feed)

The Christian Humanist Podcast
Asceticism
David Grubbs moderates a conversation about various forms of Biblical and Christian asceticism, including but not limited to monasticism and mendicant orders. As the topics move from historical era to historical era, our focus returns to the possibility of genuine difference from the world that serves the world in its difference. Among the historical figures and texts discussed are Genesis, Leviticus, Saint Anthony, Saint Francis, Chaucer, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr., Saint Jerome, and Freud.
(review, feed)

London School of Economics: Public lectures and events
Israeli Society and the Occupation
Gideon Levy is a Haaretz columnist and a member of the newspaper's editorial board. In his lecture he will explore how Israeli society deals with the occupation and with the international criticism of this. He will also examine the role of the Israeli media in supporting the occupation. Gideon Levy joined Haaretz in 1982, and spent four years as the newspaper's deputy editor. He is the author of the weekly Twilight Zone feature, which covers the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza over the last 25 years, as well as the writer of political editorials for the newspaper. Levy was the recipient of the Euro-Med Journalist Prize for 2008; the Leipzig Freedom Prize in 2001; the Israeli Journalists' Union Prize in 1997; and The Association of Human Rights in Israel Award for 1996. His new book, The Punishment of Gaza, has just been published by Verso Publishing House in London and New York.
(review, feed)

Entitled Opinions
Greek Tragedy
Robert Harrison discusses Greek Tragedy with Rush Rehm Professor of Drama and Classics at Stanford University.
(review, feed)

A reminder of the great BBC podcasts

Regular readers of this blog may be well aware of the two great history podcasts the BBC has been producing that I admire and recommend whole-heartedly, but only recently I ran into someone who somehow had missed out on one of them and was so happy with my recommendation, that I learned once again that the really good stuff cannot be mentioned often enough.


A History of the World in a 100 Objects
The director of the British Museum, Neil McGregor takes us in 100 episodes through the history of mankind and uses objects from the museum as an illustration. This is not only most original, it is also enlightening and we can trust the BBC to produce such a podcast at the highest standard. Contrary to regular BBC podcast policy, all of the chapters are downloadable.
(review, feed)




In Our Time
Each week Melvyn Bragg meets with three top of the bill specialists to discuss one subject from the history of ideas. Over the years I have been advising to keep your subscription to this podcast active at all times as the BBC used to remove each issue after one week. This season however has remained available ever since it started in its entirety. Go back and take your pick, if you have not done so yet. Enjoy Maimonides, or Free Will, or The Industrial Revolution (two parts), or Daoism, or The Volga Vikings or Imaginary Numbers and more.
(review, feed)

Age of Unequals - Big Ideas

There is also a Philosophy Bites issue in which Alex Voorhoeve argues what is bad about inequality, but that is more on a theoretical level. (see Three issues of Philosophy Bites)

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett took on the practical approach and collected data from all over the world and compared the social fabric of societies where equality is greater to those where inequality is greater, as far as wealth is concerned. On Big Ideas you can hear a lecture in which Wilkinson brings that point with a stream of examples home. What is interesting to find out is that not only is inequality bad for the poor. In societies where there is greater inequality there is more crime, more psychiatric disorder and people are less happier and live less longer and this affects the rich as well.

More Big Ideas:
Dan Dennett: what should replace religion?,
Chris Hedges,
Needham about China,
The Reluctant Fundamentalist,
Ayaan Hirsi Ali and the quest against Islam.