Jeff, Lise, and Brian roll up their sleeves and dig in to Aristotle’s Politics. How are this and other “Great Books” relevant to how we live our lives? What is good political rule? What does it mean to be “just” within a political system? What problems can politics solve? What problems can it not solve? The team tackles those questions and much more in this episode.

Douglas Lensing joins the show to talk about his path from the Navy to St. John’s College and his paper “Passion and Mind: Homer’s Formula for Victory in the Iliad.”

Doug joined the Navy on a Naval Special Warfare contract, but after failing to complete BUD/S went to Defense Language Institute, learned Farsi and worked at Fort Gordon, Georgia as a linguist.

Doug will be starting his Ph.D. at Baylor University in Political Science in the fall of 2018.

Is human life “nada” – nothing? In their discussion of Hemingway’s (very) short story, Brian, Lise, and Jeff examine the contrast between youth and old age and the states of being hurried versus unhurried. How are those distinctions related to the question of whether there is a difference between those who need a clean, well-lighted place and those who do not?

Can you simultaneously hate and love the same thing? What is the relationship between virtue and love? Lise, Jeff, and Brian tackle those questions and more in this episode on Jean Racine’s play Phedre.

Also, as promised, you can find Jeff’s Frankenstein lecture here and the book with Lise’s essay here. Enjoy!

Jeff, Lise, and Brian discuss Freud’s On Transience, in which Freud ruminates on the transitory nature life and beautiful things in life. The piece prompts a conversation about a variety of topics Freud raises, from death to libido to war.

Brian interviews St. John’s College alum and U.S. Navy veteran Anne Kniggendorf. They have an engaging discussion about the relationship between liberal arts and the military.

Check out Anne’s website (https://annekniggendorf.com/) and Anne’s article, mentioned in the pod (https://electricliterature.com/gracie-allen-and-john-denver-in-boot-camp-c45ee066e561).

“I beheld the wretch – the miserable monster whom I had created.”

Why did Victor Frankenstein create his monster? What role did beauty, love, science, and education play in his endeavor? Join Lise, Brian, and Jeff in a discussion of this classic, widely known novel.

As a follow up, listen to Jeff’s lecture on the book here (http://digitalarchives.sjc.edu/items/show/3733)

How should human life be valued? Is death something to suffer, or something that provides relief? Jeff, Lise and Brian discuss these questions and more in examining Anton Chekhov’s short story “Rothschild’s Violin” or “Rothschild’s Fiddle.”

Should we fear death? Jeff, Lise, and Brian discuss Plato’s Phaedo, in which Socrates is joined by his friends to discuss that and other questions while awaiting the time for Socrates’ execution later the same day.

What role do lying and deception play in achieving strategic objectives? Jeff, Lise and Brian discuss that and other questions as raised by Sophocles in Philoktetes, in which a soldier (Philoktetes) is recovered from an island where he was left after being wounded. His significance arises from his possession is the famed bow of Heracles, which the characters Odysseus and Neoptolemus believe is necessary to win the Trojan war.