Sep 27, 2024
Let's pick up where we left off last week: words are symbols of symbols, representing inward states of the soul. But those inward states are also symbols, because the world is symbolic--that is, it naturally produces symbols as a real feature of its construction. So...what do we do about it? To answer that question we...
Sep 24, 2024
The Odyssey begins with a big empty space where Odysseus should be. His home, his familiy, his household are all suffering for want of him. But where is he--and more importantly, who is he? That's the poem again and again and today, we begin trying to answer it. If there's one thing everyone remembers from this poem...
Sep 20, 2024
If a tree falls in the forest...does it make a sound? There's actually a great answer to that question, and Aristotle just tweeted it out way back when. Today, in response to a listener question, I finally lay it all on the line and tell you my nuts-and-bolts theory of translation, which is also a theory of the world....
Sep 17, 2024
Let's check in on how Odysseus' other buddies from Troy are doing.
*Briefly scans news report from Proteus*
Yeah so uh it's a dumpster fire. Today Telemachus arrives at Troy, where he hears from Menelaus about his own fraught journey home, including his encounter with an immortal seal dad (real) which led to the first...
Sep 13, 2024
The name "Rosetta Stone" has great brand recognition, but how much do you really know about Ptolemy V's royal decree? When you get right down to it, it's one of the wildest little corners of world history, stretching from the conquests of Alexander the Great to the defeat of Napoleon, with lots of bonkers facts in...