443 - Kale Zelden - There’s Still Time to Read the Great Books

443 - Kale Zelden - There’s Still Time to Read the Great Books

Kale Zelden is a literature teacher and writer and in this video he joins me to discuss reading, the "Great books", and what it means to recover the reading tradition in a modern context. We talk about how to encounter old texts, what reading can contribute to our lives, and how to approach authors like Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare without reducing them to modern assumptions. We also explore the limits of the novel, modernism, postmodernism, irony, and the essential rediscovery of the epic.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/9zps7RIov44

Kale’s Substack, The Underneath: https://kalezelden.substack.com/

Join us at the Symbolic World Summit | May 14-16 | Ohio | Keynote speakers: Jonathan Pageau, Fr. Josiah Trenham, Mary Harrington, Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin, Kale Zelden, Annie Crawford, and Heather Pollington
Buy your tickets: https://symbolicworldsummit.com/

Learn more about Pavel Shchelin's phenomenal course on Plutarch, Live now: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/plutarch-symbolism-in-history


TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Coming up
01:07 - Intro music
01:32 - Introduction
02:09 - The state of education
07:30 - First of all
10:47 - The power of analogy
13:11 - Select your curriculum
21:05 - What is canon?
33:24 - What are we moving towards
39:20 - Allegory
43:47 - What is modernism?
47:50 - Great books program
53:24 - What is the epic?


BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS DISCUSSION:
00:04:45
Augustine — Confessions — Spiritual autobiography, early Christian thought
Plato — Dialogues — Philosophy of truth, justice, knowledge
Aristotle — (various works) — Ethics, logic, metaphysics
Church Fathers — (various writings) — Foundations of Christian theology
00:06:20
Anne Rice — (novels) — Modern popular fiction
Shakespeare — (general works) — Foundational drama
Beowulf — Anonymous — Old English epic poem
00:06:49
Plato — Dialogues — Rediscovered philosophical texts
00:07:32
Shakespeare — Hamlet — Tragedy of revenge and doubt
Dante — Divine Comedy — Vision of Hell, Purgatory, Heaven
Chaucer — Canterbury Tales — Medieval storytelling
Mary Shelley — Frankenstein — Creation and responsibility
Milton — Paradise Lost — Epic of the Fall
00:13:55
Kerouac — On the Road — Modern freedom and experience
Camus — (e.g. The Stranger) — Existential philosophy
00:14:31
Homer — Iliad, Odyssey — Foundational epics
Plato — Apology, Republic — Justice and philosophy
Shakespeare —
Romeo and Juliet — Tragic love
Julius Caesar — Politics and betrayal
Macbeth — Ambition and guilt
A Midsummer Night’s Dream — Comedy and illusion
King Lear — Suffering and authority
Hamlet — Existential tragedy
The Tempest — Reconciliation
00:16:21
Dostoevsky — Crime and Punishment — Guilt and redemption
Dostoevsky — The Brothers Karamazov — Faith and morality
00:21:31
Voyage of St. Brendan — Medieval Christian voyage
Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius — Apocalyptic text
The Golden Legend — Jacobus de Voragine — Saints’ lives
00:21:58
Cervantes — Don Quixote — Satire of chivalry, early novel
00:22:51
Jane Austen — Pride and Prejudice — Social psychology
00:23:59
Milton — Paradise Lost — (revisited, epic psychology)
00:26:11
Faulkner — (novels) — Fragmented modern storytelling
00:33:41
C.S. Lewis — On Stories — Defense of story over psychology
C.S. Lewis — Abolition of Man — Critique of modern values
C.S. Lewis — Miracles — Defense of the supernatural
00:37:05
Sondheim — Into the Woods — Modern fairy tale deconstruction
00:38:55
Rabelais — Gargantua and Pantagruel — Satirical, playful text
00:44:06
Melville — Moby-Dick — Epic-scale novel
Hemingway — The Sun Also Rises — Modern disillusionment
00:49:42
Ovid — Metamorphoses — Mythic transformations
00:46:13 (thinkers mentioned)
Lyotard — Postmodern philosophy
Derrida — Deconstruction
Heidegger — Phenomenology
00:53:14
Virgil — Aeneid — Roman epic
Bible — (Moses narrative) — Epic of calling and suffering

🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe
💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau
🎧 Listen to and review The Symbolic World podcast:
-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gI8bUwPtT3gkduHqNh6M5
-Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-symbolic-world/id1386867488
Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/
My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/

Avsnitt(441)

442 - "Historical Accuracy" Can Miss the Point

442 - "Historical Accuracy" Can Miss the Point

We often assume that being “historically accurate” means getting closer to the truth, but that’s not always the case. In this video, I explore how modern, mechanical thinking can actually invert meani...

26 Mars 14min

441 - Mary Harrington - Technology, AI, and Cultural Memory

441 - Mary Harrington - Technology, AI, and Cultural Memory

In this conversation, I sat down with Mary Harrington about technology and the online world.Mary reflects on her path as a writer, the evolution of online culture, and the growing difficulty of discer...

20 Mars 51min

440 - Dr. Zachary Porcu - Journey to Reality: De-Secularize Your Life

440 - Dr. Zachary Porcu - Journey to Reality: De-Secularize Your Life

In this conversation I speak with Dr. Zachary Porcu about his book, Journey to Reality: Sacramental Life in a Secular Age, and the challenge of explaining true Christian thinking to modern people. We ...

12 Mars 1h 4min

439 - Pavel Shchelin - Plutarch: Symbolism of History with Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin

439 - Pavel Shchelin - Plutarch: Symbolism of History with Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin

This is a conversation between Deacon Seraphim Rohlin and Pavel Shchelin on political theology, power, and Plutarch’s Lives. They explore how ancient biographies reveal enduring patterns of ambition, ...

5 Mars 1h 23min

438 - Universal History: The American Religion: Making Way for Mormonism

438 - Universal History: The American Religion: Making Way for Mormonism

Magical beginnings, secular endings. In this episode of Universal History, Deacon Seraphim Rohlin and I start a discussion about early Mormonism (or rather, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa...

2 Mars 1h 22min

437 - Making Space for the Resurrection of Art (Makers and Mystics)

437 - Making Space for the Resurrection of Art (Makers and Mystics)

In this conversation, I sit down with Stephen Roach on the Makers and Mystics podcast to explore why our stories feel exhausted — and what that reveals about our cultural moment. We talk about the end...

26 Feb 49min

436 - Reflections on the Void: negativity and difference in the Bible and contemporary thinking

436 - Reflections on the Void: negativity and difference in the Bible and contemporary thinking

In this episode I try to circle around something that is very difficult to speak about directly — the void.From the opening verses of Genesis, where the earth is described as “empty and void,” we are ...

19 Feb 51min

Populärt inom Utbildning

historiepodden-se
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
det-skaver
alska-oss
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
nu-blir-det-historia
johannes-hansen-podcast
rss-foraldramotet-bring-lagercrantz
roda-vita-rosen
rss-viktmedicinpodden
not-fanny-anymore
sektledare
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
i-vantan-pa-katastrofen
sa-in-i-sjalen
allt-du-velat-veta
rib-podcast
rss-basta-livet
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
rss-traningsklubben