Online Great Books Podcast

Beyond producing a body of pioneering research in thermodynamics, Faraday left an educational legacy: his great lectures on the “Chemical History of a Candle.” 

Originally published in 1861, this series of six lectures showcases Faraday's ability to clearly display scientific principles to a general population, landing him the reputation of one of the first 'popular scientists.' Scott says, "When people say to trust the science the...

In 1965, the Birch Society's publishing house, Western Islands, printed du Berrier's Background to Betrayal: The Tragedy of Vietnam. While hard to come by, it remains the most authoritative source in English on the crucial history of Indochina up to that point and is indispensable for an understanding of the tragic consequences of our government's policies in Vietnam. 

Scott and Karl believe that du Berrier's book on Vietnam has st...

Scott and Karl read and discuss James S. Taylor's 1998 book,  Poetic Knowledge: The Recovery of Education.

Taylor describes his work as an “attempt to resuscitate a nearly forgotten mode of knowledge.”  This "poetic knowledge" is not the knowledge of poetry. Rather, it is an intuitive, obscure, mysterious way of knowing reality. As Karl points out, "Poētēs in Greek means making... you're a maker of things. I think that's a reasonab...

Scott and Karl delve into James Howard Kunstler's 2008 end-of-days novel, World Made by Hand. 

James Howard Kunstler is an American author, social critic, public speaker, and blogger, perhaps best known for his 2005 novel, The...

Scott and Karl finish their discussion of Father Francis Bethel's biography, John Senior and the Restoration of Realism. 

According to Scott, if you have concerns about yourself, how you interact with the world, and where the world is going— you need to read some John Senior as well as this biography. 

In his works, John Senior discusses how there are ways of life that actually require real...

Scott and Karl begin their discussion of Father Francis Bethel's biography that examines the life and thought of "cultural critic, university professor, and sometime cowboy," John Senior. 

John Senior is the founder of Clear Creek Abbey, a Benedictine Abbey in Cherokee County, Oklahoma. He is the author of both The Death of Christian Culture and The Restoration of Christian Culture.

As Karl points out, this biography doesn't so muc...

To round out 2022, Scott and Karl decided to revisit Shelby Foote's 2,968-page, 1.2 million-word history of the American Civil War. Collectively, Foote's history of the Civil War includes three compelling volumes: Fort Sumter to Perryville, Fredericksburg to Meridian, and Red River to Appomattox.  

Scott and Karl begin talking about the tenuous nature of history yet how Foote still manages to bring his narrative power to this great...

We're back! Scott and Karl explore Helen and Scott Nearing's The Good Life (1954) and Continuing the Good Life (1979) in a new, long-form podcast. 

In the 20th century, Scott and Helen Nearing became the new models of self-sufficient lifestyles and rural homesteading. Having abandoned their life in New York City in 1932, rural Vermont became the place the couple could escape a capitalist life. Scott says...

Scott and Karl are back after a brief hiatus to finish their discussion of Dean Koontz's 2003 thriller, Odd Thomas. 

While the ending might make you emotional, this book satisfies its genre— it's suspenseful, memorable, and thoroughly entertaining. Still, Scott points out that reading this type of fiction in the present times is getting harder and harder. 

Tune in for Part Two of the duo's ...

This week, Scott and Karl begin their discussion of Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas, a best-selling thriller novel published in 2003. Koontz is known for being a masterful storyteller with a talent for creating richly drawn characters. While this novel is definitely a thriller, Scott points out it reads like a noir detective story. 

If you are looking for an entertaining read, this book checks all the boxes for the duo. As Karl points out...

Scott and Karl finish their discussion of the first novel in Isaac Asimov’s classic science-fiction masterpiece, Foundation.

The novel is set in the future, when the world is barely remembered, and humans have colonized the galaxy. While this series helped to redefine the science-fiction genre, the duo takes issue with the ways this make-believe society responds to the problems Asimov lays out and the us...

This week, the duo tackles Karl's pick— the first novel in Isaac Asimov’s classic science-fiction masterpiece. 

Largely regarded as a launch pad for space-age science fiction, Foundation is a collection of five short stories which were first published together as a book by Gnome Press in 1951. The series tells the story of the Foundation, an institute founded by psychohistorian Hari Seldon to preserve th...

Scott and Karl finish their discussion of Dorothy M. Johnson’s Indian Country, a collection of some of the greatest short stories about the American West. Scott says, "I don't want to talk about the book too much because it's that good. I love the characters, I love the setting, I love Dorothy Johnson, I love the themes, I love the style." 

While this work is out of print, the duo agrees it is worth your...

This week, Scott and Karl read Dorothy M. Johnson’s Indian Country, a collection of eleven stories showing a frontier alive with complex struggles. You may be familiar with two of her most famous stories, “A Man Called Horse” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” which are included in this collection. 

Johnson, a Montana-based author, brings to western fiction a clear ideal of individuality and honor. Scott says, "The sense of lif...

This week, Scott and Karl finish their discussion of Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which follows the Roman Empire over thirteen centuries - its rulers, wars and society, and, of course, the events that led to its collapse.

Towards the beginning of the show, Karl asks, "how do lasting emporiums last?" The duo unpacks thought-provoking questions about the idea of an empire whose history touch...

This week, Scott and Karl tackle a massive narrative of one of the world's greatest civilizations. Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire follows the Roman Empire over thirteen centuries - its rulers, wars and society, and, of course, the events that led to its collapse.

Published between 1776 and 1788 in six volumes, Gibbon gained himself the reputation of being the first modern historian of ancien...