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
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/
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 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!
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!
What would Kafka think about our attention economy today? And what about the state of our art? Find out more!
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!
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!
Send us a textThe philosopher Theodor Adorno lays a powerful groundwork for thinking ethically about animals! Find out more!
Send us a textHumour can have real revolutionary force! Ask the philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin. Let's keep laughing at the powerful. It will work!
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!
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!
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!
Send us a textIs human well-being and flourishing really all about detachment? I would argue, no!
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!
Send us a textInspired by Gabriel Marcel and Martin Buber, I argue that being a good father requires the invisible labor of presence.
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!
De Beauvoir and Arendt both argue against passive forms of happiness! Find out more!
Socrates argues that ignorance is the worst of all evils! Especially in the service of power! Ring any bells today?
One could argue that we live more superficially than ever before. Pascal and Kierkegaard are particularly relevant here!
Plato chose not to write essays. He wrote dialogues instead. Why? And how is this relevant for us today? Find out more!
I think this ancient myth is more relevant today than ever before! Find out more!
According to Nietzsche, cultures can be healthy or decadent. How do we see the culture today?
The psychologist Erich Fromm argues that we tend to willingly submit to authoritarianism! Relevant today?
Carl Jung believed that UFOs have their basis in a vital psychic need! Find out more!
What Camus has to say in The Rebel is very relevant to our current trend towards absolutist and binary thinking!
Kierkegaard spends a lot of time talking about the connection between existence and passion! We'd do well to listen to him!
The archetype of the earth is crucial for understanding Dostoevsky's view! Find out more!
As friends we gratify and pamper too much, or so these philosophers say! Find out more!
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 Beats were a group of poets and writers who emerged after WWII. What was their philosophy all about? Find out more!
Apart from the death of Jesus, no death has been discussed more than that of Socrates. And for very good reasons! Find out more!
How do we take the sting off of death? How about a little less ego, a little more selflessness! Find out more!
Dare to know and think! This was Kant's calling in his famous 1784 essay "What is Enlightenment?" Find out more!
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!
In 1927 the philosopher Bertrand Russell gave a lecture called Why I am not a Christian. Find out more!
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!
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.
Is there anything more important than hope, especially today? These two profound philosophers have lots to say about this!
Selfie-ism permeates our world culture! Do we have cause for concern? What would the existentialists think?
What's going on? Why don't we care about character anymore? This is very troubling.
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!
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!
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!
The French existentialists have a problem with bourgeois morality and relationships! What's their beef all about? Find out more!
For Aristotle, leisure is the most important human activity. Unfortunately we're contracting out our leisure activities to AI, and with it, our humanity!
Why do we feel so disturbed by dolls and robots that are human-like? Why do we really fear AI? Freud has an answer!
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!
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 Presocratics, the first philosophers and scientists, rejected traditional mythological explanations in favour of rational ones! Huge turning point! Find out more!
Going to graduate school gave me some important abilities and approaches to things that have proven beneficial for my life as a whole!