Online Great Books Podcast

This week, Scott and Karl discuss James Madison's Federalist No. 51, titled: "The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments." In this Federalist Paper, Madison explains and defends the checks and balances system in the Constitution. Of its effectiveness, Scott says, "He doesn't make any errors, he only makes oversights."  Each branch of government is framed so that its power checks the power of the other two branches; additionally, each branch of government is dependent on the people, who are the source of legitimate authority. For Karl, this is the most important part of this paper: "Government means that the rights of the minority must be preserved, or else it's not a government at all." Tune in to learn more about "the great difficulty” of founding, and Madison's core arguments for checks and balances in a federalist system of government.

This week, Scott and Karl talk about two, while unsuspecting, companion pieces: Thomas Gray’s poem “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” and Norman Rockwell's iconic painting Freedom from Want.  Scott says, "They are both about hearth and normal forgotten people." "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a 1751 poem about the buried inhabitants of a country churchyard and a meditation on the inevitability of death. This is considered the best example of elegiac poetry in English literature of the eighteenth century. Freedom from Want, also known as The Thanksgiving Picture or I'll Be Home for Christmas, is the third of the Four Freedoms series of four oil paintings by American artist Norman Rockwell.  Tune in to hear more about the connection between these two pieces, and the celebration of life found in both. 

This week, Scott and Karl read the classical epic, The Song of Roland, translated by Dorthy Sayers.  The Song of Roland is an 11th-century epic poem based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778, during the reign of Charlemagne. Although the poem was set in the Carolingian era, The Song of Roland was actually written later by an anonymous poet. Karl points out, "It's romantic, epic, thrilling, and it probably gets most of the details wrong."  The duo dives into the character of Roland, Charlemagne's campaign of vengeance, and the medieval code of chivalry.  Tune in to learn more about the oldest surviving major work of French literature. 

This week, Scott and Karl read Mark Twain's "The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut."   Don't let the long title misguide you, this Twain original is short and wonderfully mischievous.  As the story goes, Twain is expecting a visit from his dear, nagging Aunt Mary. Before her arrival, Twain has an unexpected visit from an ugly dwarf; an unwelcome guest he soon discovers to be his conscience. Lauded as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced" and "the father of American literature" by William Faulkner, Twain manages to tie in some heavy themes to a lighthearted scenario. Scott says, "Twain has no room for healthy conscience here. You either have a small conscience and you’re into being a mean man, or you have a large conscience and you’re a tortured soul for all of your days." “Or you nag everyone else,” Karl adds.  Tune in to enjoy this Twainish treat, and make sure to share with a friend. 

This week, Scott and Karl read a novella by Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Published in Russian as Smert Ivana Ilycha in 1886, this short story remains one of Tolstoy's most celebrated pieces of late fiction. As Scott puts it, "This is the smallest chunk of Tolstoy that could be had."  The story provides an examination of the nature of both life and death, and how man can come to terms with death's inevitability. Ivan Ilyich, a worldly careerist, has to realize he's dying before he starts to put any value on himself. By forcing Ivan to confront the prospect of his death, it brings him face to face with his own isolation. Before having to look death in the face, Scott says, "Ivan thought everything in his life was for someone else to observe and judge."  How does an unreflective man confront his moment of truth? Tune in to learn more about the slow degradation of Ivan, but also the possibility of finding spiritual salvation.

This week, Scott and Karl read Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener, one of America’s most beloved storytellers.  As the author of more than forty books of fiction and nonfiction, the majority of Michener's novels were lengthy family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales, incorporating solid history.  As a collection of related short stories, Tales of the South Pacific interweaves Michener's personal anecdotes from his time stationed as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy on the island of Espiritu Santo during the Pacific campaign in World War II. Karl says, "The book is trying to capture Mitchener's view of what humans are like that ought to be remembered." Written in 1946, Tales of the South Pacific goes on to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948. Tune in to hear more about Michener’s exploration of what happens when cultures connect, or fail to, in this classic wartime book. 

Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage has played a significant role in shaping the popular Western genre. First published in 1912, this novel is often referred to as "the most popular western novel of all time." But as Karl points out, "We've made Westerns for much longer than when there was a Wild West."  Set in Southern Utah canyon country in 1871, it tells the story of a woman, Jane Withersteen, trying to escape the control of her fundamentalist Mormon community with the aid of two cowboys, Bern Venters and Jim Lassiter. What ensures is horse-theft, kidnapping, gunfights, and lots of romance.  Scott summarizes, "This book is about salvation."  But what's the appeal to the Western genre?  You'll find that the lone cowboy heroes in this story are self-assured, with a strong sense of justice.  Scott adds, “Lassiter and Venters are complete within themselves. They’ve been alone enough that they know what they think." Even if Westerns aren't your favorite, you'll be intrigued by this piece of pulp fiction. "The

This week, Scott and Karl read Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forester. Published in 1950, this novel is considered the first episode in the 11 volume set about the career of the young British Naval officer, Horatio Hornblower.  Hornblower commences his career in the Royal Navy as an inexperienced midshipman in January 1794. Through a series of adventures and hardships, Hornblower discovers he is actually talented as both seaman and a leader.  At the young age of 17, Hornblower is already an Aristotelian hero. Scott says, "He exibits the nuts and bolts way of how to become Aristotle's great-souled man." Karl adds, "This is the poetic image of virtue you would want your kids to have." The duo talks about the virtue of courage, ultimately being what allowed Hornblower to see the whole picture and do the right thing, according to the right measure, at the right time. Scott adds, "His fears put him right where he needed to be over and over again."  Scott and Karl agree: Horatio Hornblower is a character that

This week, Scott and Karl read selections from Johann Gottlieb Fichte's Addresses to the German Nation. They focus on the Second Address, “The General Nature of the New Education,” and the Third Address, "Description of the New Education." As a series of polemical speeches delivered during 1807-8, Fichte detailed his plan for national revival, or rather “salvation,” for Prussia after falling to Napoleon at Jena in 1806.   In a time of national crisis, he believes a new kind of education is necessary to preserve the nation. Only with a total revision of the method of educating children could Germany hope to become immune from the Napoleons of the future. According to Fichte, this system would, "completely destroys freedom of will in the soil which it undertakes to cultivate, and produces on the contrary strict necessity in the decisions of the will, the opposite being impossible." Karl says, “He doesn’t want the product of an education to still be capable of choosing evil." Scott adds, "For Fichte, if you emp

This week, Scott and Karl read the first book in the James Bond series, Casino Royale. Written by British author Ian Fleming and published in 1953, you'll find traces of the rising tensions of the Cold War mixed in with this spy thriller.  The story opens with James Bond gambling at the casino in Royale-les-Eaux to bankrupt the treasurer of a French union and a member of the Russian secret service known as Le Chiffre. What ensues is a tense but effortlessly stylish story packed with intrigue (not to forget Bentleys and gorgeous women).  Scott warns, "This [James Bond] is not the debonair Roger Moore, Sean Connery character here. He's a blunt instrument."  Karl adds later, "He's not an action hero. This is about being clever."  Tune in to learn more about Fleming’s inaugural James Bond adventures that launched the lethal and dashing 007 into a pop icon for generations of readers and movie-watchers.

This week, Scott and Karl discuss Nietzche's On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense.  Written in 1873 one year after The Birth of Tragedy, it was published by his sister Elisabeth in 1896 when Nietzsche was already mentally ill. In just 24 pages, the work wrestles with epistemological questions about the nature of truth and language, and how they relate to our formation of concepts. Nietzsche's primary question is this: Where do you have the desire for truth? For him, it is difficult to explain where any drive to truth comes from when the human intellect functions to deceive us. If you've never encountered Nietzche before, Karl warns, "He's a really good philosopher with a hammer."  Tune in to learn more about the social roots of truth-seeking according to Nietzche and what happens when humans get concepts. 

This week, Scott and Karl read the 1939 novel by Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep. This hardboiled crime novel is the first of seven novels to feature the famed detective Philip Marlowe. As Chandler’s first Marlowe story, there is no introduction to the character; rather, we leap straight into the investigation as it gets underway. Throughout the novel, Marlowe finds himself entangled with kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder, but as Scott points out, "You have to have your eyes wide open... It's really nasty without him putting it right in your face and hitting you over the head with how dark it all is."  Heralded as one of the finest prose writers of the twentieth century, Chandler writes as if pain hurt and life mattered. Karl says, "Chandler is able to provide this contrast between beauty on the one hand and horror on the other."  The duo talks about how these gritty, realist detective stories present a new kind of hero. Scott says, "The detective never wins. He might solve the problem, but he's

In the second episode of this two-part series, Scott and Karl finish up their discussion of Benjamin Graham’s 1949 classic The Intelligent Investor. Graham wanted to teach investors the basic principles needed to navigate markets. In doing so, he teaches investors how to manage themselves. Graham's rules for investing are designed to help readers treat the menu of options before them with rational criteria. But as Scott points out, "His rules aren't the important thing. The important thing is seeing how to create a framework for decision making in the financial world." Tune in to learn more about and this hallmark investment guide and gain insight into understanding your own risk tolerance. 

In the first episode of this two-part series, Scott and Karl begin discussing Benjamin Graham's 1949 classic The Intelligent Investor. Heralded as the greatest investment advisor of the twentieth century, Graham's philosophy of “value investing” provides the core tenants of all good portfolio management.  Karl says, "It is [about] how to invest. But what it is not is how to speculate."  Where the speculator follows market trends, the investor uses discipline, research, and analytical ability to purchase assets that will produce a predictable yield.  Tune in to learn more about and this hallmark investment guide and dig into what Scott calls Graham's "metaphysics of corporatehood."   

In the second half of the conversation, Scott and Karl continue discussing Herbert Marcuse’s 1965 essay “Repressive Tolerance.” In the course of analyzing Marcuse, Karl creates a new word: "justism."  As Karl describes, "It's when you take a complex reality and you reduce it to one simple concept. For Marcuse, it looks like the "justism" is towards whatever his vision of freedom is, which will require the repression of the normal people who support the established order." Although Scott and Karl agree with some of his criticism on the media, they find fault in his ability to show his work and give concrete solutions. As Scott puts it, "He's a smuggler." Tune in to part two of the show and learn more about the Marcusean shape of intolerance. 

Is tolerance a good thing and who deserves it?  In the first episode of this two-part series, Scott and Karl begin discussing Herbert Marcuse's 1965 essay "Repressive Tolerance."  Marcuse argues that the whole of society shapes what is politically possible for each of us, so any discussion of politics must attend to society as a whole.  Scott says, "For Marcuse, whether something is tolerable or intolerable is entirely based on whether that thing gives his group more power."  While Marcuse doesn't clearly provide boundaries to what is tolerable and intolerable, Scott and Karl dig in for themselves.  Scott says, "We live in a world of scarcity. We are never completely liberated and never can be... there will be compromises, things we must do to not perish. [Marcuse] doesn't carve out allowances for those things either."  Tune in and learn more about Marcuse's essay and the problem when tolerance becomes a partisan tool. 

This week, Scott and Karl read Hilaire Belloc's "An Essay on the Restoration of Property." Written in 1936, Belloc attempts to rectify the wrongs in both major economic theories by approaching the problem from an entirely new angle, offering his own program for property distribution.  As Scott points out, "The whole idea underlying what he's writing about is predicated on a much different notion of 'the good' that most people carry today... Belloc's main concern is economic freedom." Property to Belloc is something that directly contributes to your economic freedom. Karl adds, "Property seems to have it's own kind of rights, at least it's own kind of interests."  Would a propertied class be a more politically active and politically savvy class? Tune in to hear Scott and Karl discuss how Belloc illustrates the practical application of many such societal questions. 

This week, Scott and Karl discuss A Canticle for Leibowitz, the post-apocalyptic science fiction classic by Walter M. Miller Jr., first published in 1959. Scott says, “It's a story about how fragile civilization is, how fragile knowledge is, and what people’s responsibility to that may or may not be."  As the plot goes, the monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz work to preserve the surviving remnants of man's scientific knowledge until the world is again ready for it after a devastating nuclear war. Divided into three parts, the book spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself, harboring themes on the cyclical nature of technological progress and regress. The separate novellas share a nostalgia for things that have been lost. “Post-Megawar stories are about an afterlife,” Miller writes, “Survivors don’t really live in such a world; they haunt it.” Tune in to hear more about this timeless story in a mythic dimension, brought to you by onlinegreatbooks.com. 

12 years ago, an anonymous person using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. This week, Scott and Karl discuss this revolutionary concept of how Bitcoin set out to change the way the world views currencies.  At just ten pages long, Nakamoto’s original paper is still recommended reading for anyone studying how Bitcoin works. Nakamoto’s vision for the project is this: digital currency that anyone can use without needing to go through a bank or any other centralized organization. Bitcoin provides a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network. According to Nakamoto, "The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work.” Although the paper spares no technical detail in explaining how the Bitcoin network operates, both Scott and Karl agree— there is elegance and unrealized potential of Nakamoto’s idea. Karl says, “It

What are fairy-stories? What is their origin? What is the use of them? This week, Scott and Karl read “On Fairy-Stories” and “Leaf by Niggle” by J. R. R. Tolkien. Both works offer answers to these questions while providing the underlying philosophy of Tolkien's own fantastical writing, such as The Lord of the Rings. In his essay “On Fairy-Stories,” Tolkien discusses the nature of fairy tales and fantasy in an effort to rescue the genre from those who would relegate it only to the nursery.  In the process of discussing the making of a fairy tale, the duo dives into the relationship between bare fact and storytelling. The power of a story, according to Karl, “pulls you out of where you’re living, what you’re doing, and makes you see things that you don’t see.” Tune in to hear more on Tolkien's defense of fantasy and why there's no such thing as writing "for children."