Godward: A Lit-Wisdom Podcast
by Casey
An ex-professor continues the search for wisdom in literature, philosophy... and parenting. Try to avoid Mammon and Moloch along the way because this show affirms Jesus Christ! More reactionary than progressive, but trying to stay optimistic. Look for new episodes at least once a week.
Episodes
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Episode 90: Philo on the Riot in Alexandria, 38 A.D.
This episode is a bit delicate... but very relevant, and very worth listening to, in my opinion. What was the cause of the riot among the native Alexandrians in 38 A.D.?
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Episode 89: Trees
It's really about trees -- not a metaphor!
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Episode 88: Are Covid Masks Here to Stay?
The title says it all -- this episode's better on YouTube.
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Episode 87: Against the Law
Anacharsis vs. Solon -- is the Law the way, or does it just make things worse?
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Episode 86: Lao Tzu | The Tao Te Ching
Dao / Tao
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Episode 84: Horace | The Willing Suspension of Disbelief
The Roman poet, Horace!
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Episode 82: Paul's Letter to the Romans
This episode is about Paul's Letter to the Romans. It helps if you've read it.
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Episode 81: IDEALISM vs. DEMOCRACY
In this episode, hear a summary of philosophical idealism, and learn how it is related to the question of Realism vs. Nominalism that dominated philosophy during the Middle Ages. Then, think through the consequences of these world-views. Was William of Ockham a genius, or was he wrong -- or was…
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Episode 78: Plato's Greater Hippias & the Odalisque Paintings
Make sure to look at the YouTube version of this episode -- much more visually stimulating~
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Episode 71: Night-Sea Journey, by John Barth
A reading of a story
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Episode 70.3: Blithedale Seminar, cont'd
More of the same, for die-hard fans only. Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance. Part 3. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Godward Odysee: https://odysee.com/@Godward:5?r=FFgMAmWyyzJ2b8HrstejXYp7UaTdV9ep
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Episode 70.2: Hawthorne's "The Blithedale Romance" (part 2)
Part 2 in the video series on Hawthorne's 1852 book, "The Blithedale Romance" Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Godward Odysee: https://odysee.com/@Godward:5?r=FFgMAmWyyzJ2b8HrstejXYp7UaTdV9ep
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Episode 70: Utopia & the Passions in Hawthorne's "The Blithedale Romance"
In this introductory episode, hear about Brook Farm and 19th century socialism in America, the influence of Fourier, and the necessity of skepticism and doubt. "The Blithedale Romance" was published in 1854, about 12 years after Hawthorne lived for a time at Brook Farm with a bunch of unitarians...
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Episode 69: Suffering, Wisdom, & Buddha's Diamond Sutra
In this eclectic episode, hear about Montaigne's approach to essay-writing, my own health difficulties, and Buddha's teachings -- plus, a general review of the channel and a discussion of what sorts of directions we might pursue in the future. There's a little bit of everything here. Patreon:...
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Episode 68: The Dark Lady & The Red Pill in Herman Melville's "Pierre"
In this high-verbal IQ episode, hear a reasonable attempt at summarizing Melville's very dense follow-up novel to Moby-Dick, "Pierre, or, The Ambiguities." What happens when mom wants you to like Reese Witherspoon but you fall for Helena Bonham Carter instead -- and then discover she's your...
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Episode 67: Intro to Walt Whitman's Thinking & Writing
Continuing in the thread of 19th century liberals and why we love them, this episode considers "Song of Myself" and a couple of shorter poems by Whitman. Is he a very modern, post-Christian, sexually-depraved degenerate? Probably yes to all those. Do we still love his poetry?--yes!--even though…
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Episode 66: Zarathustra is a Liberal
Nietzsche's ubermensch, eternal recurrence, anti-Christianism. Enjoy the analysis and commentary on "Thus Spake Zarathustra." Plus, honoring Jerry Rubin! This episode gives you all the content you want in a way that will make some of you (the ones who don't know what they're talking about) mad....
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Episode 65: Reactionary Self-Culture in Huysmans' "Against Nature"
In this Francophilic video, enjoy lots of pretty pictures and some sympathetic talk about Huysmans' 1884 cult classic, "Against Nature," which is also translated as "Against the Grain." The idea of this book is that the French Decadent period was sort of the end of an age. Ennui was dominating...
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Episode 64: The Moral Teaching of Shakespeare's King Lear
In this misleadingly titled video, hear a reasonable attempt at summarizing one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, as well as some thoughts about its meaning and dominant themes. See some famous paintings of the play, and hear something about how Shakespeare changed English drama, as well as how he...
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Episode 63: Kafka, Work, and the Bug Man
In this based episode, see a couple of interesting short clips, hear some stuff about Franz Kafka & his story, "The Metamorphosis," and learn about the Art of Dark podcast. We should talk more about what we mean by "Based," but we'll save that for the secret streams. Themes of alienation and...
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Episode 62: Human Thinking Before Language -- Cormac McCarthy
In this ineffable video, ironically, not as many visuals -- just some talking about language and thought after re-reading Cormac McCarthy's "Kekule Problem" essay... here's a link to the original essay: https://nautil.us/issue/47/consciousness/the-kekul-problem I've always found this to be a...
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Episode 61: Eusebius on Early Christian History
In this positively-perspectival episode, learn about what happened after the Gospels and after the Book of Acts, both in Jerusalem and in places like Ephesus and Athens and Rome and Alexandria. Eusebius's church history is an attempt to narrate a people into existence -- he refers more than once…
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Episode 60: Milton on Sin and Human Nature
In this very English video, hear a bit of background and statistics on Milton's famous poem, "Paradise Lost." See some video footage of North Carolina in Spring. Hear about what's so wrong with communism, and why Psychology is only helpful if it builds upon a proper understanding of the essential...
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Episode 59: Toward a Standard Model of the Interpretation of Heroic Virtues in Western/Christian Literature
In this abstract episode, consider a few specific examples taken from literary classics -- as well as a couple from modern books & movies -- in order to answer the question of whether there are limits to interpretation that are "built into" the narratives we enjoy. What ramifications do these...
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Episode 58: Flannery O'Connor on Christianity and Violence
In this atonal episode, hear almost nothing about Milledgeville and very little about Lupus, but hear a pretty good complete reading of a fragment of an uncompleted novel based on a line from Psalm 2 by Flannery O'Connor -- who wrote the fragment, which has been published as a story titled "Why…
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Episode 57: Meister Eckhart on How to Become God (!)
In this mystical episode, learn a bit about German theologian Meister Eckhart and hear from his sermon, "Blessed are the Poor." We're talking exoteric and esoteric, outward and inward -- the god beyond all concepts of "God." The church wasn't exactly comfortable with him 700 years ago and some...
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Episode 56: Borges on Memory and the Imagination
In this very plausible episode, learn to appreciate the way that the intricate, realistic, and even mundane details of a typical Borges story -- in this case, "Funes, El Memorioso" -- create a catalyst to imagination that can free you from your stuck-in-a-rut basic concerns about politics and...
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Episode 55: The American Critique of Capitalism in Melville's "Bartleby"
In this scattershot episode, we discuss the incentives and pressures that exist in modern, post-revolutionary capitalist society. We trash Milton Friedman a little bit and bolster some new stuff by David Graeber and some older stuff by Thoreau & Melville -- plus, hear from Wendell Berry & Leo…
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Episode 54: Lyricism & Analogical Thinking
In this experimental video, just get into the trance, learn to think like an iris flower, see some inverted video and hear more from Aarvoll & Dogen & Dionysus. There's also a bunch of paintings and pictures of early Spring. And what's with Moses covering his face?
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Episode 53: Euripides: The Bacchae & the God Dionysus
In this licentious video, get wild with the Bacchae of Euripides, learn about where Dionysus comes from (he's a foreigner, sort of) and why he demands to be acknowledged as a god. And, hear all about what happens if we refuse to recognize him as a god. Plus, lots of paintings and a wild 5-minute...
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Episode 52: Plato's Gorgias: A Study in Charlatanism
In this brightly lit video, learn about an ancient feud between one type of people (the good ones) and another type of people (the bad ones), and try to decide which side you want to be on. The stakes couldn't be higher! If you choose to be on the good side, the people on the bad side will…
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Episode 51: Plotinus on the Intellectual-Principle, Beauty, and The One
In this heady video, hear a good deal of analysis of the first of Plotinus's Enneads, and learn about the three hypostases, his anti-Gnosticism, and how Porphyry preserved his mentor's biographical details. What is a "Proficient?" Plus, watch me thumb through the greatest children's book of...
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Episode 50: Harry and Meghan after Reading Antigone
Interested in the Harry & Meghan Markle scandal? Want to learn about why the Royal Family is so interesting in this case, and why it's not so easy to decide which side is in the right? Listen to this informative episode where we discuss Sophocles's famous Oedipus Cycle, and we examine the...
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Episode 49: Jonathan Edwards: A Divine and Supernatural Light
In this Puritanical episode, learn about Jonathan Edwards, Puritan-Calvinist theology, and the importance of receiving a sort of special revelation that Edwards describes as a light immediately imparted by God. Plus watch me cut down a ginkgo tree. We're talking the real living Holy Spirit, and…
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Episode 48: Gnosticism in the Gospel of Philip
In this heretical episode, see some images and learn to see through the images to the divine realm. Hear about how the Nag Hammadi was discovered, when the texts were translated, etc. Plus, hear some quotes from the Gospel of Philip, discuss the problem of language & ineffability... and if you…
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Episode 47: Herodotus on Ancient Cultural Diversity
In this scandalous episode, hear an overview of Herodotus, a defense of free speech, some reflections on my college years, and a re-telling of the story of King Candaules sucking himself. See some sexy paintings and read about the very different ways that people used to arrange themselves. If...
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Episode 46: On Pascal's Aphoristic Thought
In this succinct episode, learn little about the life of Blaise Pascal, about his historical period, about his political convictions--instead, hear a few of his maxims read aloud, and think with me about what they mean, and consider why he was thinking about them. Pascal seems to me like…
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Episode 45: Sallust on the Moral Ruin of the Roman Republic
In this conspiratorial video, learn about the historian Sallust and his two works, The Catiline Conspiracy and The Jugurthine War -- see a great painting by Rogier Van Der Weyden, which I had intended to compare favorably to the Mona Lisa but chickened out. Hear a quote from a PhD who gives you…
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Episode 44: Boethius on Truth and Consequences
In this Truthful episode, Straussians are BTFO’d by one of the greatest men to ever live, Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius — better known simply as Boethius. What can we do about the Woke brigade, cancel culture, and our lingering sense that the world that existed for our grandfathers was in…
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About this show
An ex-professor continues the search for wisdom in literature, philosophy... and parenting. Try to avoid Mammon and Moloch along the way because this show affirms Jesus Christ! More reactionary than progressive, but trying to stay optimistic. Look for new episodes at least once a week.
Hosted by
Casey