Classical Stuff You Should Know

We all get depressed sometimes. We take a look at when Satan gets the feels in Milton's Paradise Lost.

Lorenzo Ghiberti sculpted what are perhaps the most famous doors of human history. You can see them in Florence (if you go to a museum), or you can listen to this podcast and see them in your mind's eye. If you want to view them online, we've included a link in the show-notes on our website.

Even smart people need a little direction sometimes (except for Graeme, who is perfect always), and The Intellectual Life by A.G. Sertillanges helps us all in the disciplines of intellectualism.

The rest of Goethe's Faust is flat bananas, and it ends with a devil flirting with Angels. I can't even. (Also, please don't miss my rhyming pun with "Tokyo Drift." I'm convinced puns are extra good if you have to explain them.)

Let's talk about gnosticism. Let's talk about heresy. Let's talk about Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's book, "Montaillou, Cathars and Catholics in a French village, 1294-1324." Let's talk about starting our own cult.

As the archangel Michael boots Adam and Eve from Paradise, he gives Adam a vision of the future to, you know, make him feel better. Adam then says that he knows what is right now, and that man only has to obey. Was Milton making a statement about the ways in which we should conduct ourselves in regard to curiosity? I mean, probs.

Here's a list of the recommended episodes: Episode 36: The History of the Plantagenets Episode 129: The Poetic Edda: "Odin's Pickled Head" Episode 132: The Poetic Edda 2: An Otter Named "Otter" Episode 65: Satire Speaking with Joy (Bookish, Wise, and Tranquil): smarturl.it/BookishWiseTranquil Speaking with Joy (An Exercise in Hope): smarturl.it/AnExerciseInHope Pints with Jack (Season 4 Intro: The Screwtape Letters): smarturl.it/PintsWithJackSeason4 Rhetoric in Retrospect (Literary Alchemy): smarturl.it/LiteraryAlchemy

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a breathtaking German masterpiece of literature written by a rock collector. In this episode, we do the first bit of part one.

"A History of Private Life" is a look at the culture of Rome from the perspective of the commoner. What was it like to be a regular ol' Joe during the time of the Caesars?

The Bible has passages that are seemingly contradictory. In this episode, Graeme leads us through a case study of one of such contradiction and why it might be exactly what it seems.

Christopher Marlowe was a contemporary of Shakespeare's, and he wrote poorly. Specifically, he wrote eponymous play for this episode. Not only that but SPY STUFF?!?

In this episode we discuss C.S. Lewis's Perelandra and learn how to punch evil in the mouth.

Bubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble, Graeme discusses witches' stubble. Tells to Burg and 'splains to Bees, That's all that we do this week. Okay, so we talk about Macbeth and how all of the weird stuff that happens with Nature in this book is an inroads into the real themes of the play.

Magbee worries that A.J. is a little too fascinated with evil, so A.J. leaned into it and investigated how we currently think of evil. We follow the train of thought from Augustine to Aquinas. Turns out everything is pretty great.

Josh Gibbs, a favorite of ours, just put out a new book containing essays on Christmas. We discuss them here. Because Christmas is awesome, and you should awesome too.