The Wisdom Of

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The Wisdom Of podcast explores great works of literature, the sort of works from which much insight and wisdom can be drawn. We explore themes from happiness, to love, to authenticity and to tragedy.

The Wisdom of With Kristian Urstad by Avant-Garde Productions


    • May 31, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekdays NEW EPISODES
    • 19m AVG DURATION
    • 299 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Wisdom Of

    Henri Bergson - Overcoming the tyranny of mechanical time!

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2025 17:18


    The French philosopher Bergson criticized the scientific notion of time, instead turning to what he called lived time. Find out more!  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one: A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Agewww.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/

    Greek tragedy, Pollution and AI! + announcement!

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2025 14:48


    If interested, check out my new book series! Here's the first one:  www.amazon.com/Manifesto-Beauty-Reclaim-Digital-World/dp/1069510815/   The full title is: A Manifest on Beauty: Reclaim Real Beauty in a Digital Age

    If I could time travel....Cafe, Paris, 1940's!

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2025 17:29


    If I could time travel anywhere, I'd skip the big battles and royal balls. Drop me in a smoky café in 1940s Paris—existentialism, espresso, and all! If you're not convinced, take a listen! 

    Dylan Thomas' Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - Don't surrender the flame!

    Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2025 15:55


    How should we meet death? With rage! Or so says the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas! And he's not the only one! Find out more! 

    Kafka's A Hunger Artist - The Death of Uncompromising Art!

    Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2025 14:56


    What would Kafka think about our attention economy today? And what about the state of our art? Find out more! 

    Naomi Klein - The Apocalypse, Mars, and the Bunker Nation!

    Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2025 16:59


    Naomi Klein, the Canadian author and social activist, argues for what she sees as the apocalyptic mindset of the far Right. Along with Klein, I offer up a few of my own concerns! 

    Why We Can't Avoid Making JUDGMENTS—And Why That's a Great Thing!

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2025 14:14


    So as we all know, there's the popular or cliched idea that we should be “nonjudgmental”. But by and large, I don't think that's right! 

    Adorno on Animals - "The degradation of a creature to the status of a mere thing"

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 15:15


    Send us a textThe philosopher Theodor Adorno lays a powerful groundwork for thinking ethically about animals! Find out more! 

    Humour as Social Critique - Let's keep LAUGHING at POWER!

    Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2025 15:48


    Send us a textHumour can have real revolutionary force! Ask the philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin. Let's keep laughing at the powerful. It will work! 

    Tolstoy vs. Dostoevsky - Some major DIFFERENCES!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 17:51


    Send us a textThese giants of literature, they're often viewed as similar from afar. But they're not. Especially when it comes to how they see the human soul and the road to salvation! 

    Miles Davis - Why LESS IS MORE!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 14:21


    Send us a textIn our world of more and faster and louder, we might do well to remember that less is often more! Just ask Miles! 

    Heidegger - The death of the LOVE LETTER in the time of the digital message!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 14:08


    Send us a textThe love letter has become an extinct species! This is a symptom of a much larger problem - at least according to Heidegger! 

    Buddhism and NON-ATTACHMENT - Some Objections!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2025 16:20


    Send us a textIs human well-being and flourishing really all about detachment? I would argue, no! 

    Byung-Chul Han and Plato on the POWER of BEAUTY!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2025 11:20


    Send us a textModern beauty has become tepid and smooth. It lacks the depth and friction and power of genuine beauty! Or so say Han and Plato! 

    What does it mean to be a GOOD FATHER?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2025 14:15


    Send us a textInspired by Gabriel Marcel and Martin Buber, I argue that being a good father requires the invisible labor of presence. 

    Foucault and Kierkegaard - Where the heck has YOUTHFUL REBELLION gone?

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2025 19:22


    Send us a textWhen I was growing up teenage rebellion seemed to be everywhere! Where is it now? At the heart of this decline: social media and technology!  

    Simone De Beauvoir and Hannah Arendt - A Happiness of ENGAGEMENT!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2025 13:15


    De Beauvoir and Arendt both argue against passive forms of happiness! Find out more! 

    Socrates - Power and Stupidity: A Destructive Combination!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2025 13:50


    Socrates argues that ignorance is the worst of all evils! Especially in the service of power! Ring any bells today?

    Pascal and Kierkegaard on the SUPERFICIAL LIFE - Owning up to one's SELF!

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2025 14:42


    One could argue that we live more superficially than ever before. Pascal and Kierkegaard are particularly relevant here! 

    Why Plato wrote dialogues - Let's bring back the power of real conversation!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2025 13:35


    Plato chose not to write essays. He wrote dialogues instead. Why? And how is this relevant for us today? Find out more! 

    The Myth of Icarus and Daedalus - Melting the wings of our children!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2025 19:26


    I think this ancient myth is more relevant today than ever before! Find out more! 

    Nietzsche - DECADENT Culture!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2025 12:23


    According to Nietzsche, cultures can be healthy or decadent. How do we see the culture today? 

    Erich Fromm - Submission to Authoritarianism!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2025 19:20


    The psychologist Erich Fromm argues that we tend to willingly submit to authoritarianism! Relevant today? 

    Carl Jung - UFOs and their PSYCHIC SIGNIFICANCE!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2025 13:32


    Carl Jung believed that UFOs have their basis in a vital psychic need! Find out more! 

    Camus's The Rebel - Helping us to find MEASURE in a time of EXTREMES!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2025 14:47


    What Camus has to say in The Rebel is very relevant to our current trend towards absolutist and binary thinking! 

    The Cult of Personality and CEO worship!

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2025 15:08


    Kierkegaard - We've forgotten how to exist! Passion in the age of apathy!

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2025 13:09


    Kierkegaard spends a lot of time talking about the connection between existence and passion! We'd do well to listen to him! 

    Dostoevsky - Kiss the earth! Why the soil matters!

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2025 15:09


    The archetype of the earth is crucial for understanding Dostoevsky's view! Find out more! 

    Byung-Chul Han and Aristotle - Why real friends shouldn't be afraid of conflict!

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2025 15:12


    As friends we gratify and pamper too much, or so these philosophers say! Find out more!

    What time is it? - Chronos vs. Kairos!

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2025 14:29


    The Ancient Greeks had two words for time - chronos and kairos. What is this distinction and how might it be important for us today? Find out more! 

    The Beat Writers - If it ain't got that swing, it don't mean a thing!

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2025 20:52


    The Beats were a group of poets and writers who emerged after WWII. What was their philosophy all about? Find out more!

    Why the death of Socrates matters!

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025 21:49


    Apart from the death of Jesus, no death has been discussed more than that of Socrates. And for very good reasons! Find out more! 

    Selflessness as the antidote to death!

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2025 15:36


    How do we take the sting off of death? How about a little less ego, a little more selflessness! Find out more! 

    Kant's "What is Enlightenment?" - Emancipate your thinking!

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2025 13:13


    Dare to know and think! This was Kant's calling in his famous 1784 essay "What is Enlightenment?" Find out more! 

    The Delphic Injunction - KNOW THYSELF!

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2024 16:34


    The words “know thyself” were carved into stone at the entrance to the revered temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece. What does it mean? Well, the Greek playwright Sophocles and the philosopher Socrates interpret it in their own way! 

    Bertrand Russell - Why I am not a Christian

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2024 22:27


    In 1927 the philosopher Bertrand Russell gave a lecture called Why I am not a Christian. Find out more! 

    Dostoevsky and Heidegger - How to escape the algorithm!

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2024 17:39


    Both Dostoevsky and Heidegger, in their own way, look for ways to salvage some deeper meaning and experience in the midst of our increasingly technological and rational-scientific world! Find out more! 

    Cormac McCarthy's The Road - Each the other's world entire!

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 33:48


    One of the most emotionally powerful novels ever written! A father and son try to make their way across a post-apocalyptic America trying to get to a better place.  

    Byung-Chul Han and Gabriel Marcel on Hope!

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2024 18:15


    Is there anything more important than hope, especially today? These two profound philosophers have lots to say about this! 

    Selfies and Existentialism!

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2024 15:43


    Selfie-ism permeates our world culture! Do we have cause for concern? What would the existentialists think? 

    What the heck happened to integrity and character?!

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2024 19:28


    What's going on? Why don't we care about character anymore? This is very troubling. 

    Marinetti and Futurism - Welcome to the machine!

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2024 20:31


    The Italian futurist Marinetti called for the absolute glorification of everything new and modern, a worship of everything machine! What resonance all this has today! 

    The lost art of reading! And why reading makes us truly happy!

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2024 23:27


    Reading has become nearly obsolete in our age of momentary gratification. This is a great loss as reading engenders all sorts of important qualities that benefit us! 

    The problem with lying and liars!

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2024 16:32


    Lying seems to be on the rise, especially in the political world! I don't think we realize how dangerous and how morally problematic it is! 

    Why the existentialists hate the bourgeois!

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 14, 2024 14:38


    The French existentialists have a problem with bourgeois morality and relationships! What's their beef all about? Find out more! 

    Aristotle, Leisure and AI - Outsourcing our humanity!

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2024 18:30


    For Aristotle, leisure is the most important human activity. Unfortunately we're contracting out our leisure activities to AI, and with it, our humanity! 

    Freud, the Uncanny and AI!

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2024 16:26


    Why do we feel so disturbed by dolls and robots that are human-like? Why do we really fear AI? Freud has an answer! 

    Can you be GOOD without GOD?

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2024 20:37


    Dostoevsky said that if God is dead, then everything is permitted. In other words, morality depends on religion. Is that true? I don't think so! 

    Horace and Carpe Diem - What this famous phrase REALLY means!

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2024 14:44


    Carpe Diem is usually translated as seize the day. But that's not quite accurate, and it's a reflection of our times! Sit back and enjoy, like a good Epicurean! 

    The Presocratic philosophers - From mythology to matter!

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2024 17:02


    The Presocratics, the first philosophers and scientists, rejected traditional mythological explanations in favour of rational ones! Huge turning point! Find out more! 

    The THREE most important things I learned from graduate school!

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2024 18:37


    Going to graduate school gave me some important abilities and approaches to things that have proven beneficial for my life as a whole! 

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