Podcast appearances and mentions of benjamin reiss

Special thanks to this episode's guests, Sushmita Yallapragada and Benjamin Reiss. Links from today's episode:  Wild Nights by Benjamin Reiss Get some Headspace. Use code HiberNation at checkout for a 90-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

America’s “environmental prophet,” Henry David Thoreau, set out for a simpler, more mindful, and more deeply lived life on Walden Pond on July 4th, 1845. How to live deliberately, being mindful of the things that truly matter and not let ourselves be distracted by what everyone else seems to expect and want from us. The date of July 4th is important, for the book is another Declaration of Independence: an effort to unshackle America from the consumerism, competitiveness, and the profound and shameful dishonesty that created a new nation without reaching true freedom and equality. Thoreau’s Walden is as much about how to live a better, simpler life, as it is about the right way of settling a continent stolen from Native peoples and aided by the moral sin of slavery. Thoreau, after all, gave a word to the idea of “civil disobedience,” refused to pay his taxes to a state that supported slavery (he was jailed for it), and railed against the dishonesty that propped up what today we call white supremacy. Walden is a deeply philosophical book about making sense of one’s circumstances, taking control of one’s life and reckoning with the temptation of living up to the expectations of others. The late Stanley Cavell, a philosopher who did much to insist that the United States have a unique tradition of thinking and writing (and with whom I was able to study in college), said that Thoreau’s Walden “means every word it says.” Cavell taught me how to read this book and take its claims seriously: that so much of what we think are circumstances given to us are structures we buy into — and that so many of the structures we cannot change by ourselves are deeply corrupt. “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” What’s amazing about Walden is how Thoreau switches seamlessly from literal description (how many nails to build a cabin; how many rows of peas to make a harvest; how many hours to make a day) to metaphorical (or metaphysical) observations. “To be awake is to be alive, yet I never met a man who is quite awake.” Are we perhaps walking among a nation of sleepwalkers? How do we rouse ourselves from the slumber: how do we find not our true selves but our “next selves”? Walden breaks off (Thoreau did not chronicle his second year on Walden Pond) because Thoreau says that he “had other lives to live.” This should tell us that we ought not to follow in Thoreau’s path but choose our own path. We should realize we have other lives to live, and that to change our lives we must first genuinely live our life. I spoke with Benjamin Reiss, Samuel Candler Professor of English at Emory University and author of Wild Nights: How Taming Sheep Created Our Restless World and The Showman and the Slave, about Walden’s continued significance, how to read philosophically, and — yes, I did ask — how to get a good night’s sleep. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America’s “environmental prophet,” Henry David Thoreau, set out for a simpler, more mindful, and more deeply lived life on Walden Pond on July 4th, 1845. How to live deliberately, being mindful of the things that truly matter and not let ourselves be distracted by what everyone else seems to expect and want from us. The date of July 4th is important, for the book is another Declaration of Independence: an effort to unshackle America from the consumerism, competitiveness, and the profound and shameful dishonesty that created a new nation without reaching true freedom and equality. Thoreau’s Walden is as much about how to live a better, simpler life, as it is about the right way of settling a continent stolen from Native peoples and aided by the moral sin of slavery. Thoreau, after all, gave a word to the idea of “civil disobedience,” refused to pay his taxes to a state that supported slavery (he was jailed for it), and railed against the dishonesty that propped up what today we call white supremacy. Walden is a deeply philosophical book about making sense of one’s circumstances, taking control of one’s life and reckoning with the temptation of living up to the expectations of others. The late Stanley Cavell, a philosopher who did much to insist that the United States have a unique tradition of thinking and writing (and with whom I was able to study in college), said that Thoreau’s Walden “means every word it says.” Cavell taught me how to read this book and take its claims seriously: that so much of what we think are circumstances given to us are structures we buy into — and that so many of the structures we cannot change by ourselves are deeply corrupt. “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” What’s amazing about Walden is how Thoreau switches seamlessly from literal description (how many nails to build a cabin; how many rows of peas to make a harvest; how many hours to make a day) to metaphorical (or metaphysical) observations. “To be awake is to be alive, yet I never met a man who is quite awake.” Are we perhaps walking among a nation of sleepwalkers? How do we rouse ourselves from the slumber: how do we find not our true selves but our “next selves”? Walden breaks off (Thoreau did not chronicle his second year on Walden Pond) because Thoreau says that he “had other lives to live.” This should tell us that we ought not to follow in Thoreau’s path but choose our own path. We should realize we have other lives to live, and that to change our lives we must first genuinely live our life. I spoke with Benjamin Reiss, Samuel Candler Professor of English at Emory University and author of Wild Nights: How Taming Sheep Created Our Restless World and The Showman and the Slave, about Walden’s continued significance, how to read philosophically, and — yes, I did ask — how to get a good night’s sleep. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America’s “environmental prophet,” Henry David Thoreau, set out for a simpler, more mindful, and more deeply lived life on Walden Pond on July 4th, 1845. How to live deliberately, being mindful of the things that truly matter and not let ourselves be distracted by what everyone else seems to expect and want from us. The date of July 4th is important, for the book is another Declaration of Independence: an effort to unshackle America from the consumerism, competitiveness, and the profound and shameful dishonesty that created a new nation without reaching true freedom and equality. Thoreau’s Walden is as much about how to live a better, simpler life, as it is about the right way of settling a continent stolen from Native peoples and aided by the moral sin of slavery. Thoreau, after all, gave a word to the idea of “civil disobedience,” refused to pay his taxes to a state that supported slavery (he was jailed for it), and railed against the dishonesty that propped up what today we call white supremacy. Walden is a deeply philosophical book about making sense of one’s circumstances, taking control of one’s life and reckoning with the temptation of living up to the expectations of others. The late Stanley Cavell, a philosopher who did much to insist that the United States have a unique tradition of thinking and writing (and with whom I was able to study in college), said that Thoreau’s Walden “means every word it says.” Cavell taught me how to read this book and take its claims seriously: that so much of what we think are circumstances given to us are structures we buy into — and that so many of the structures we cannot change by ourselves are deeply corrupt. “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” What’s amazing about Walden is how Thoreau switches seamlessly from literal description (how many nails to build a cabin; how many rows of peas to make a harvest; how many hours to make a day) to metaphorical (or metaphysical) observations. “To be awake is to be alive, yet I never met a man who is quite awake.” Are we perhaps walking among a nation of sleepwalkers? How do we rouse ourselves from the slumber: how do we find not our true selves but our “next selves”? Walden breaks off (Thoreau did not chronicle his second year on Walden Pond) because Thoreau says that he “had other lives to live.” This should tell us that we ought not to follow in Thoreau’s path but choose our own path. We should realize we have other lives to live, and that to change our lives we must first genuinely live our life. I spoke with Benjamin Reiss, Samuel Candler Professor of English at Emory University and author of Wild Nights: How Taming Sheep Created Our Restless World and The Showman and the Slave, about Walden’s continued significance, how to read philosophically, and — yes, I did ask — how to get a good night’s sleep. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s fun to play the lottery. If you do, you probably spend more on it than you think. This episode begins with a look at how much people really spend on lottery tickets and what the real odds are of winning the Powerball jackpot. http://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/01/07/heres-what-americans-are-spending-on-lottery-ticke.aspxeBay has made it a lot easier for people to sell stuff they don’t want anymore to someone who does want it. So, do you have stuff that other people want – and how much do you think it is worth? Aaron Lapedis author of The Garage Sale Millionaire (https://amzn.to/2NR3btP) is an expert on buying and selling stuff at garage sales, eBay, Craigslist and elsewhere. Listen as he tells you what just might be luring in old boxes in the attic that could be worth a lot of money. And what to do with it to get it sold.Sometimes you need to charge your phone fast. Listen as I explain some tips that can really speed up the process and getting your battery back up to 100%. Source: David Pogue author of "Pogue's Basics: Essential Tips & Shortcuts" (https://amzn.to/2RN1cb8)We have rules for sleep. For example, mom and dad sleep together in one room. Kids sleep in their room. We go to bed when we are supposed to – but says who? Where did these rules come? According to Benjamin Reiss, professor at Emory University and author of the book, Wild Nights (http://amzn.to/2lWdPP7) claims that our rules for sleeping today are very different than they have been for most of human history. Hear what he has to say and you be liberated from a sleep routine that doesn’t really work for you.

America’s “environmental prophet,” Henry David Thoreau, set out for a simpler, more mindful, and more deeply lived life on Walden Pond on July 4th, 1845. The date is important, for the book is another Declaration of Independence: an effort to unshackle America from the consumerism, competitiveness, and dishonesty that created a new nation without reaching true freedom and equality. Thoreau’s book is as much about how to live a better, simpler life, as it is about the right way of settling a continent stolen from Native peoples and aided by the moral sin of slavery. It is a deeply philosophical book about making sense of one’s circumstances, taking control of one’s life, and reckoning with the temptation of living up to  the expectations of others. I spoke with Benjamin Reiss, Professor of English at Emory University and author of Wild Nights: How Taming Sleep Created our Restless World, about Walden’s continued significance, how to read philosophically, and – yes, I did ask – how to get a good night’s sleep.

You may spend a third of your life asleep… but how much do you know about it, really? Benjamin Reiss walks us through the history of sleep.

Science is great. Except when it gives us stuff like heroin and TNT. Paul Offit explains what we can all learn from science’s mistakes. A small, insular group controls the world’s financial system. No, they aren’t lizard-people. They’re superhubs. The way we sleep now was invented in the 18th century. Benjamin Reiss takes us on a tour of sleep’s history.

We will discuss our collaboration as co-teachers of a course called "Sleep in Science and Culture" and our consultations with each other since. We aim to show how a discussion between disciplines can help define what is normal and what is pathological, and the consequences of making those distinctions. (September 29, 2015)

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t." (Hamlet, 2.2.223) Plenty of people today consider Shakespeare a literary genius, a pillar of theater history, a gifted writer of timeless love poems, and more. But even the most over-the-top contemporary admirer of Shakespeare is unlikely to consider him a pioneer of modern medical science... much less forensic psychiatry. Hard as it may be to believe, however, there was a strange period in American history when that's exactly how William Shakespeare was seen in both law and medicine. Rebecca Sheir, host of the Shakespeare Unlimited series, interviews Benjamin Reiss, a professor in the English department at Emory University and the author of a book called "Theaters of Madness: Insane Asylums and Nineteenth-Century American Culture." "From the mid-1840s through about the mid-1860s in the United States, during the first generation of American psychiatry, no figure was cited as an authority on insanity and mental functioning more frequently than William Shakespeare," says Reiss. Such citations were not just in medical journals, he adds, but in sworn legal testimony. The reason, we learn in this podcast, was essentially this: Modern psychiatry was a fledgling field, regarded with distrust and little respect by many Americans. What it needed, above all, was authority—and what better, more respected authority than the great playwright? Join us to explore this curious yet fascinating intersection between civil society and William Shakespeare. ------------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Recorded by Toby Schreiner.

Comedian Josh Blue and Jon McCullough of Blaze Sports talk about their experiences as Paralympic athletes and more in this engaging, often humorous conversation held January 31, 2014, at Emory University. They are also joined by Benjamin Reiss, Professor of English and co-chair of the Disability Studies Initiative at Emory. Blue (http://joshblue.com/) was a winner of the Last Comic Standing competition and a disability advocate. Blaze Sports (www.blazesports.org) is a Decatur nonprofit adaptive sports organization. The Disability Studies Initiative at Emory is a new working group (beginning Fall 2013) generated across departments and schools that is dedicated to interdisciplinary research and teaching by faculty and students. The Initiative is led by a group of faculty and students who are interested in the social, cultural, historical, political, and legal dimensions of disability in our world. http://www.disabilitystudies.emory.edu

Dr. Benjamin Reiss visits The Context of White Supremacy. Dr. Reiss specializes in 19th-century American literature and culture, with strong interests in the history of medicine, race, disability, popular culture, and environmental issues. We'll discuss his publication, The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America. The book chronicles P.T. Barnum, credited with founding the circus United States circus industry. Now known for clowns, a menagerie of animals and a flying trapeze; things started off with the body of a dead black female slave. Barnum wheeled out Joice Heth's remains for the entertainment and Racism appeal of Whites. Barnum's "freak show" took place during the 1800's and is the foundation of minstrel acts, black face performance, and the trillion dollar entertainment industry currently streamed around the world. Once again, the concept of necrophilia is at the center of what it means to be White. #TheCOWS3Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE: 564943#