The Garden School Podcast

Today's Torah portion was discussed on Rosh Hashanah the Jewish New Year or "Day of Shouting" as its known. The selections were the story of Abraham and Sara having Isaac and the story of Hannah having Samuel. I guess the theme of today is unex

#14: (#1) Torah Portion: Dueteronomy and Isaiah

Sep 24th, 2020 1h 57m

Today we will be discussing selections from Dueteronomy and Isaiah of the Hebrew Bible. This will be part of a weekly Torah reading. We hope you enjoy!Please listen and follow us on iTunes!

#13: Social Display: The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life

Sep 14th, 2020 2h 13m

This episode of The Garden School features a discussion on Identity. What does it mean to be a Self in the world? How should an Individual act? Miles and I will be looking at Erving Goffman and the concept of Dramaturgy -- that life is a Drama.

#12: Manifest Image Vs. Scientific Image - An Ongoing Discussion On The Limits of Scientism

Sep 10th, 2020 1h 7m

In our 13th episode of the podcast, we embark on a conversation that will be an ongoing topic on The Garden School Podcast, the limitations of the Scientific perspective. We will be using Wilfrid Sellars as our guide to wade through these murky

#12: Learning How To Paint + The Philosophy of Doing Something You Aren't Good At

Sep 9th, 2020 1h 59m

In our 12th episode of The Garden School Podcast we discuss Learning How To Paint, a book by the British psychologist Joann Milner. The conversation starts with painting but goes into many different aspects of what happens to our brain/body whe

Leisure and Labor

Sep 9th, 2020 1h 57m

In lieu of Labor Day, Miles and I decided to discuss Leisure and Labor, thought, perception, and much more! Miles Simon is a literary scholar from the University of Rochester. Become a member of our Patreon page @ The Garden School.

Time and Tradition: The Ethics of Elfland

Sep 8th, 2020 2h 52m

In our tenth episode we have Miles Simon back for a discussion of G.K. Chesterton’s book Orthodoxy, specifically chapter 4, The Ethics of Elfland.

Attention, Deception, and the future of Criticism: A conversation with a friend.

Sep 6th, 2020 2h 25m

It’s been a while but we’re back! In this episode of The Garden School Podcast I have a conversation with one of my best friends, Miles Simon. Miles is a literary scholar at the University of Rochester and in this episode we discuss a range of

Endings, Beginnings and Alliances in America

Jun 25th, 2020 24m 24s

We're back! We've been in the process of leaving New York and moving down to Florida. This return episode features selections from Walt Whitman's Song of Myself -- and important American poem at a time of uncertainty and even anger at being Ame

Potential and Redemption

May 11th, 2020 20m 37s

In our seventh episode, we talk about potential and redemption. What is potential? Where does it come from ? How does redemption look in a secular setting? I'll be reading the poem, Ulysses by Alfred Tennyson. There's a link below.Cultivate y

Zest (Joy)

May 3rd, 2020 30m 53s

In our sixth episode, we'll look at the concept of zest. What does it mean to have it? How do you get it? We'll be revisiting Bertrand Russell's The Conquest of Happiness. Here's a new link to the reading:https://archive.org/stream/TheConque

#5: Sight and Perception

Apr 23rd, 2020 28m 22s

In our fifth episode, we talk about the influence of our perceptions on how we see the world around us. We'll be reading some excerpts from the brilliant G.K Chesterton's essay, A Piece of Chalk. There's a free pdf link on the bottom of the pag

#4: Kindness and Strength

Apr 16th, 2020 23m 2s

In our fourth episode, we’ll talk about Kindness and Strength through a reading of a few excerpts from Marcus Aurelius’s The Meditations. I’ll also talk about the importance of communicating important ideas.R.I.P Bill Withers FREE PDF OF THE

#3: Scorn: Anger As Fuel

Apr 10th, 2020 28m 28s

In our third episode, we'll look at Anger as a useful weapon if wielded correctly. We'll read excerpts from Albert Camus’s essay, The Myth of Sisyphus and talk about turning anger into fuel. A free pdf version of Camus's essay and more of his w

#2: Fatigue and Courage

Apr 6th, 2020 43m 24s

In our second episode, we'll look at the concept of fatigue and how to face it during crisis. I'll continue my annotated reading of Bertrand Russell's collection of essays, THE CONQUEST OF HAPPINESS. The essay for today is called FATIGUE, and c

#1: Boredom and Excitement

Apr 2nd, 2020 31m 17s

In our first episode, we’ll look at how we spend our time during the current corona virus quarantine. I’ll be reading and discussing excerpts from BERTRAND RUSSELL’S essay, BOREDOM and EXCITEMENT and looking for inspiration amidst the madness.