A Passion for Learning

Emma Weinheimer talks with Professor Mary Johnson about the literary works of Flannery O'Connor, known as a Southern, Catholic writer.

Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild talk with Dr. John Hersey, Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University.Their topic: Plato's Republic.

Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild bring us episode 2 of season 2 of the Great Eight. They talk with Dr. Christopher Anadale, Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University. 

Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild return for another season of the Great Eight. They talk with Dr. Susann Samples, Professor of World Languages at Mount St. Mary's University.  Dr. Samples entered the world of King Arthur through her study of German, particularly the High Middle Ages. She compares the German and British traditions and brings to life the Arthurian ideal of fellowship and virtue. 

Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild speak with Prof. Stephen McGinley, who teaches philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University and farms his land in Emmitsburg. See https://goodsoilfarmllc.com/. Good Soil Farm practices regenerative agriculture in line with Catholic social thought. Prof. McGinley discusses Beowulf, an epic of the 7th century, and Song of Roland from the 11th. Along the way connections are made with Aldos Huxley's Brave New World and G.K. Chesterton's The Ball and the Cross. What pulls it all together? Celebration.

David McCarthy gives a quick word on Season 2 and a few stats about our listeners across the globe.

Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild discuss Greek tragedy with Dr. Kurt Blaugher, long-time theatre professor at Mount St. Mary's University. Dr. Blaugher draws out the enduring themes of two plays, "Antigone" and "Philoctetes," and he focuses on the ritual and performative aspects of theatre for the Greeks and for us today. Along the way, we learn some interesting Mount history and that Emma has caught the theatre bug.

Emma Weinheimer talks with Dr. Paige Hochschild about Augustine and his Confessions. Dr. Hochschild is a historian of the early Church and a systematic theologian, as well as the chair of the department of theology at Mount St. Mary's University.  She studies Augustine in particular. In the Confessions, Dr. Hochschild avers, we find Augustine framing his whole life -- and life itself -- in the light of the grace of God.

Emma Weinheimer and Joshua Hochschild, Ph.D., talk with Dr. Barrett Turner of the Theology Department at Mount St. Mary's University. Dr. Turner is a moral theologian with expertise in political theology. He guides us through Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, from the perspective of a Catholic tradition that goes through Thomas Aquinas, fellow Dominican Fransisco de Vitoria, and St. Robert Bellarmine, SJ.  Dr. Turner explains that Hobbes's work is not well received by his contemporaries and yet shapes much of modern political theory that follows. 

Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild have a discussion with Dr. Joshua Brown, theology professor at Mount St. Mary's University. Dr. Brown studies Chinese philosophy and does so in relationship to Catholic systematic theology.  Dr. Brown guides Emma and Dr. Hochschild through a Confucian journey, and they gather insights on how to "think about the world God has made and our place in it."

Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild discuss Thomas Aquinas and his Summa Theologiae with Dr. Justin Matchulat from the Philosophy Department at Mount St. Mary's University. Dr. Matchulat introduces us to the work of Aquinas, saint and doctor of the Church.  Emma and Drs. Matchulat and Hochschild go over the structure of the Summa, its purpose, its "disputed questions" approach, and Aquinas's subtle humor.

Season One: Great EightEmma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochshild, from Mount St. Mary's University, discuss another "book that is great." Dr. Greg Murry provides a review an analysis of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince. "Yes," says Dr. Murry, "it is a great book, and Machiavelli is wrong."Listen to the second episode of a series on great books, or as Dr. Murry phrases it, "books that are great."

Season One: the Great EightEmma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild host a series of discussions on great books, which in episode 1 is a great play -- William Shakespeare's, "The Merchant of Venice." Emma and Dr. Hochschild are joined by Dr. Sean Lewis who presents "The Merchant of Venice" in its historical back ground and enduring significance for us today. Toward the end, Dr. Lewis weaves together the play and the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6. You will have much to think about and ponder after listening.