Online Great Books Podcast

Scott and Karl Schudt discuss what an Online Great Books seminar is like -- the experience, what it should be, and what it is not. Many people interested in reading the great books balk at the seminar aspect of OGB out of fear that they won't have anything useful to contribute, that they may not be smart or educated enough to participate, or perhaps because of the vulnerability of speaking in front of a group. Scott and Karl explain why the seminar experience is for anyone, why your voice and opinion matters and should be heard, and what to expect when you sign up for your first seminar.   Use the discount OGBPODCAST to save 25% on enrollment at Online Great Books.

Scott and Online Great Books member John Syc, a therapist and LCSW from Hamden, CT, discuss the concept of authenticity in speech and discussion, and the various ways people sabotage their participation in discussions. Not only do people rob themselves of value with inauthentic speech, they also do disservice to the group. The Socratic model relies upon honest engagement in conversation, and learning to become vulnerable in voicing one's thoughts and opinions is an important aspect of discovery and learning.   Authenticity could be described as speaking your mind in a genuine manner, that is, expressing your thoughts in spite of the potential reactions of others. To dispense with PC culture, as it were. The seminars at Online Great Books are intended to provide a space for exploring and testing your values and ideas through discussion. Therefore participation in the discussion -- more importantly, genuine participation in the discussion -- is critical. The seminars rely on the idea of "learning through doing"

Online Great Books seminar leader and former advertising executive Malachy Walsh joins the podcast again to discuss everyone's least favorite school subject -- composition. Many people dread writing, either because of grammar, a tenuous grasp of dialect, or simply because they are not sure what they have to say. Malachy has developed a writing course for OGB to help people write fluently and confidently, and, most importantly, with a purpose.   Malachy's writing education began in Catholic primary school, but was really informed by his experience in advertising. Early in his career he trained as one of the first "account planners" in North America, and faced the challenge of writing coherently about his clients goals and objectives.    In Malachy's course, students don't spend much time on writing per se. Instead they spend time learning to better formulate their thoughts using the Socratic method of asking questions. To Malachy, effective writing involves planting a question in the reader's mind which begs t

Brett McKay of Art of Manliness fame joins Online Great Books owner Scott Hambrick to discuss Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, a narrative poem best known by the titles of its three constituent parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.   Dante's tale blends Christian theology and human reason, exploring the nature of sin and redemption. Virgil, the pre-Christian author of  The Aeneid, serves as Dante's (the character) guide through the Hell and Purgatory as well as a symbol of human reason. Meanwhile, Dante's childhood crush and self-described "perfect woman" Beatrice guides him through Heaven. Along the way Dante the author paints a picture of Hell that informs modern depictions to this day: fire, brimstone, lurid and gory punishments.

You've heard her in the OGB staff seminar discussions, now she's joined the podcast to tell Scott her encounters with the Great Books. Marsha Enright developed a strong interest in education and the problems with modern public education at a young age. As a young woman she studied objectivism with followers of Ayn Rand in New York City in the 70's, occasionally discussing questions with Rand herself (who was in her 70's at the time). Later as a mother, dissatisfied with the schooling options available to her children, Marsha sought out Montessori schools in Chicago where she met a gifted and influential teacher. Together they founded their own Montessori academy in Beverly Hills/Morgan Park in southwest Chicago..   Since then, Marsha has furthered her lifelong interest in education by joining Online Great Books as a seminar leader. She has also developed an introductory reading course for new students at OGB aimed at helping them grapple with the abstractions of the sometimes difficult or obtuse texts on the

The Online Great Books crew wraps up their exploration of Plato's Republic in the third and final roundtable with Scott, Karl, Marsha, Malachy, and John. They grapple with the question of whether The Republic is a practical manual for government or really a thought experiment, performed out of a deep love for wisdom and reason.

Scott Hambrick and the OGB seminar leaders tackle the first five books of Plato's Republic, wrestling with Socrates' central question "what is justice?" and arguing whether Plato intended the Republic as a manual for government or political satire. Malachy Walsh leads the discussion.

In today’s episode Scott chats with fellow Great Books educator Adam Rose. Mr. Rose is a University of Chicago alum and, since 1993, an instructor for the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults offered by the University of Chicago Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies. The Basic Program is a four-year, non-credit course for adults, first established by Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler in 1946. The mission of the Basic Program is, first and foremost, to assist adults in their ongoing personal and civic self-development by facilitating critical, collaborative, first-hand engagement with great works of the mind. This is accomplished by reading the Great Books and discussing in seminars using the Socratic method.   In addition to his work with the Basic Program, Adam lectures on a number of topics related to the Great Books. He is a prolific writer as well, and a selection of his writings, lectures, and more can be found on his website: https://www.adamrose.com/home/about/

Our dear Reader-in-Chief, Scott Hambrick, appeared on the Canon Ball Podcast (an Agora Podcast Network show) to talk about Edmund Burke, Voltaire, and discuss their influence on thoughts about the French Revolution.    From the Canon Ball Podcast episode description: Daniel from the Canon Ball is joined by Scott Hambrick from www.onlinegreatbooks.com for an intimate chat about Burke's thoughts on the French Revolution and Voltaire's reflections on the English!   Many thanks to Daniel for featuring us on the Canon Ball Podcast, and giving us permission to repost here!  

Scott and the seminar leaders at Online Great Books discuss Book I of Plato's Republic. The central question posed by Socrates -- what is justice? -- is the focal point of Book I. Socrates discusses with three companions the nature of justice. Cephalus offers a definition of justice of that which owed. Polemarchus says justice is "the art which gives good to friends and evil to enemies." Thrasymachus proclaims "justice is nothing else than the interest of the stronger."    

Socratic dialogue, that is, the art of seeking the truth through questions and discussion -- famously demonstrated by Socrates -- lies at the heart of the Online Great Books community. Yet what made Socrates' approach work was his knack for asking good, probing, thought-provoking questions. So what is a good question anyway?   Scott and fellow reader Jim Furr discuss their ideas on what makes a good question. They both agree that, foremost, a good question is open-ended. It does not presuppose an answer or lead the conversant toward a particular idea. Asking an honest question is more difficult than it sounds! A good interlocutor -- the moderator of the small groups at Online Great Books -- asks good, honest questions and holds his group to the same standard, without attempting to teach or profess. As Scott says, the interlocutor is merely the first among equals in the discussion group.   Scott and Jim offer some good questions to ask yourself when approaching a piece of literature: Why do people continue to

Scott interviews Online Great Books seminar leader and former ad-man Malachy Walsh about his Classical education and his long career in advertising during the fertile "Mad Men" period of the industry in the late 60's through the 70's.   Malachy has dedicated his life to learning and literature. Educated at a Jesuit school at Georgetown, he had undergrad exposure to Greek, Latin, philosophy, math, science, and of course the foundational texts of the Western canon. Facing down the Vietnam War as a young college student in the Sixties, Malachy pursued a PhD in English at the Univesity of Chicago to avoid going to war, and to dive deeper into his love for literature. He eventually realized the life of an academic involved a lot of toil, long, dark hours in the library, and scholarly articles -- without a lot of reward -- so he abandoned his dissertation for a career in the burgeoning field of advertising.   In the ad world he met a lot of similar folks - literary critics, writers, and other creatives - and began

Scott interviews attorney, former Marine, autodidact, and lover of classics Quintus Curtius (his nomme de guerre) about his life passion - translating classic works of Latin. Quintus has translated six major books including Cicero's On Dutiesand Sallast's The Conspiracy of Cataline and The War of Jugurtha. He has also written extensively about philosophy, linguistics, travel, and many other topics on his blog. Notably, Quintus is not an academic, yet he has dedicated years of hard study to learning and translating Latin. He is the embodiment of what we strive for at Online Great Books, a man seeking to better himself and gain deeper understanding of the world by engaging in hard, enriching things.   You can find Quintus Curtius and his books and articles at https://qcurtius.com.

He is a man who, in this day and age, needs no introduction. Dr. Jordan Peterson joined the Online Great Books podcast to share his thoughts on the Great Books and the importance of our mission to get people to read and discuss the greatest works of literature.   As Dr. Peterson advises in rule #9 of his 12 Rules for Life, "assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't." The rule can easily be applied to reading as well as listening. In order to live a good life, that is, to avoid a life of suffering and evil, we must be able to critically think about our world and communicate our thoughts and beliefs to ourselves and others. One of mankind's unique tools for this kind of work is a capacity for reason. That reason, however, must be earned through study, critical thought, reflection, and discussion. We're not born with a command of it. Difficult books, like the Western Canon that we keep harping on about, are the portal.      

Karl Schudt joins us again to talk about the Great Books and why we undertake this long and sometimes difficult journey to read them, ponder them, and discuss them. Karl is one of the seminar leaders at Online Great Books, and helped write some of the guidelines and materials for leading groups through the book progression. As a philosophy professor, Karl would frequently prod his students, in Socratic fashion, about why they attended his class, or university in general. While many inevitably answered "to learn," and a brave few "because it's on my schedule," Karl would push them to follow the line of questioning to it's root. Why do you need to satisfy your schedule? So you can get a degree and get a job? Why do you want a job? To make money? Why do you want money? To get a nice house and a car? Why do you want a house and a car? Etc, etc. Ultimately it boils down to some version of wanting to live a "good" life, some form of seeking happiness.   What is a good life, though? And what is happiness, exactly? T

Our very own Karl Schudt and Emmet Penney, seminar leaders at Online Great Books, joined the ReConsider podcast on May 21, 2018 to discuss three great philosophers and how they still have influence and relevance hundreds, even thousands of years later. The three philosophers chosen for the discussion were Plato, Machiavelli, and Karl Marx.   From the ReConsider episode description: "Today we're joined by Emmet and Karl of OnlineGreatBooks.com to discuss why a bunch of dead thinkers are still hyper-relevant today. We talk about their impact on society and politics, as well as make a case for why they should still be read if we want to understand the world around us, and ourselves. The three philosophers that go under the microscope: Plato, Machiavelli, and Marx."   Many thanks to the ReConsider crew for featuring us on the podcast, and for giving us permission to repost here!

Trent and Hambrick discuss Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound."     Thoughts and questions about the book. Prometheus gives humanity “hope” Consider the significance of this to human beings. Is it right or wrong to oppose ultimate power? Can man judge the world by his own ethical standards? If so, who or what is the arbiter? Can human autonomy and divine rule by reconciled? Prometheus has been compared to Job, in the Bible. Job famously complained of his situation, but never defied God, Prometheus does. Which is the better path? Notice the personification of human attributes in Might and Violence as characters. Violence says nothing. Is there any significance to this omission?

Scott Hambrick and a group of the Online Great Books seminar leaders tackle Plato's The Meno, a short but endlessly deep work attempting to unearth the meaning - or even existence - of virtue. Written as a Socratic dialogue between Socrates and Meno, a young Thessalian noble, the Meno is both provocative and frustratingly inconclusive.   Virtue comes from the Greek arete, meaning "excellence" or more generally, "fitness for purpose." Thus, to arrive at an understanding of virtue, one must first understand the nature and purpose of man. Modern thinking often leans toward objective, scientific descriptions of things, i.e. describing what a thing is. The Meno pushes us to not just think about what man is, but what man should be.   The group ponders what a society built on Socratic dialogue might look like. On matters of justice, modern society often pushes for action -- what we must do to fix a (perceived) problem. The Socratic society might first question whether there is a problem, and, more importantly, wheth