to sign it, please email your comments to Harris Feinsod
4 Oct 2008
Dear Robert, Harris and all who work on Entitled Opinions,
First, I'd like to add my voice to those clamouring for a show on
Foucault. That would be great. I read him as an undergrad but always
feel I can benefit from new approaches and angles on his thought.
Second, I'm writing an MA dissertation on how mimetic desire is
constitutive of culture and I'd like to apeal to Entitled Opinions
listeners for any links they may know of to material I could read on
this but may not know about or have access to.
Robert, I read Girard first in Polish (I''m an Englishman studying in
Kraków) and finding it very demanding I sought English sources for
back up. Then, as if by magic, I happened upon the two interviews you
did with Rene Girard.
That was the beginning. I'm very glad it happened.
Thanks for turning us on to Vico and Dante. Thanks also for dealing
with current issues in the natural sciences in a way that helps near
illiterates such as myself get some grasp of that area (e.g., the
'What is Life' interviews). Also, what about a programme on Vico? What
about convincing KZSU to do a poetry reading show? What about an
Internet based reading club around Entitled Opinions? I say this
because I would love to have spent a few weeks with the philosophy
reading group you have referred to on the show.
Finally, please play my band's songs (not on EO, but pass them on if
you like them). We're two Americans and two Englishman living in
Krakow who have had a band here for five years now). We're called
Gasoline.
Many, many thanks for all the pleasure you've given us and please keep going.
--Mark
Oct 1 2008
Dear Professor Harrison and all who cultivate Entitled Opinions,
I remember when I first heard Entitled Opinions I said to myself "as long as they continue to discuss interesting topics I shall continue to listen". I had no idea the long term commitment I was making. Professor Harrison continues to illuminate the great conversations of human culture, with many other splendid conversationalists as well, particularly Joshua Landy, Marjorie Perloff and Thomas Sheehan. The convivial and mindful probing of Proust revealed the truths of the content. The discussions of 20th century modernist and avant garde art were both concise and comphrensive. And the analyses of Christian scripture enrichingly contextulised matters, enabling me to appreciate what I didn't before.
To make some wishful requests, besides to have the guests noted above return, I would really enjoy discussion on Latin American literature (like Borges, Marquez or Neruda) and 20th Century French thought (particularly my lastest adoration Maurice Blanchot, a Heideggerian who found a sense of mystification to life via literature).
I'll end here by saying I can't help but think of Nietzsche's notion of la gaya scienza when i think of Entitled Opinions. Welcome back from hiatus and I hope the spirit of Entitled Opinons continues to flourish.
Appreciatively Luke, from Melbourne Australia
19 Sept 2008
Dear Professor Harrison,
I discovered your program while looking for podcasts in preparation for a long drive across three states. I listened to seven episodes during the course of that roadtrip and enjoyed every minute. Now I listen to the program during my twice-weekly commute to Mankato, where I attend graduate school. The long drive is less tedious and much more enjoyable when Entitled Opinions is riding shotgun.
Grazie molto,
Thomas Flynn
Minneapolis, MN
4 Sept 2008
Greetings.
This message comes to you in the spirit of clarity, and it is my hope it is received as such. My observations are based within the context of just having listened to several Entitled Opinion podcasts, which include three episodes with your friend Thomas, an episode regarding the advent of agriculture, and most recently, an episode on Schrodinger. I enjoyed them very much, as well as benefitted intellectually. I would like to point out a couple of my hesitations regarding your reasoning on the show.
It is evident to me that you strongly adhere to the feelings or notions of wonder, spirituality, transcendence, and mysticism. These terms seem to have their place within certain conversations, but seem out of place when used on your show. By out of place I mean used as antonyms to science, reductionism, reason, etc. I infer that the framework for your understanding of science does not include wonderment, spirituality, etc. It seems as though if one were able to explain existence and experience in scientific terms, beauty and wonder would vanish. On the contrary, I submit to you that beauty, wonder, and feelings of transcendence can flourish just as wildly regardless of being a reduction-bent mad scientist or a boxcar-jumping poet. Once a month, I find myself floating in the tropical waters of the Gulf of Thailand. The "transcendent" experience that occurs, to me, is indescribable and inexplicable. If God or neuroscientist Sam Harris raced to my location to interrupt my experience of wholeness and bliss in order to explain why this experience is occurring, I would would kindly offer them both a "thanks, but maybe later, for the validity and joy of my ethereal experience does not rely upon having a scientific or mystical reason." Later at the beachside cafe, I imagine hearing Sam's neurologically-based explantation, as well as God's spiritual one--neither amplifying or muffling what had occurred while floating in the sea. Because an orgasm can be explained in scientific terms doesn't negate the fantastic adjectives the poets ascribe to it. Let the poets and scientists wax on as humanity revels in their experiences and existence.
There seems to be a nebulous quality in the idea of mysticism, spirituality, and magic that lends itself to an opposition of scientific understanding. For quite some time, I have sought out the reason for such interest in things that are magical, spiritual, and mystical. The best I can come up with is that the commonalities which ties these ideas together is ignorance: a lack of understanding causes. There is something so attractive about experiencing an unexplainable phenomenon such as ESP or "divine revelations". Would such phenomena be as attractive if they could be explained? My observation is that often, a large portion of people don't want to hear scientific reasoning. From this I conclude that many people find some sort of affective utility in all things magical, mystical, or spiritual. I urge audiences to engage the question as to why they so ardently deviate from a data-driven understanding.
I feel it is accurate to point out that science does not provide all of the answers. However, is it really such a bad place to start? Let's explore our unexplainable experiences through a variety of lenses and filters. Let's engage how these experiences may be linked to unobservable entities. In an attempt to achieve a deeper and more accurate relationship with reality, experience, and existence, it is my hope that the experiencer refrain from patterns of thought that lend to cognitive dissonance and slippery and disjointed scaffolding. I don't feel that science and scientifically-minded individuals will ever be able to claim the peak of Complete Understanding, and it would be arrogant to do so. Let's make the same point clear to our mystics, scribes, messiahs, and the people who buy their books.
On a more specific note, you quoted Sherington on a recent broadcast: The mind has no native home in the brain. I would like to know how accurate that statement is when very small parts of the brain, like the Brocca's region, can get damaged and result in very profound loss of cognitive ability. Minor physical damage to the brain often results in loss of very profound and "unexplainable" cognitive faculties such as memory, emotion, etc. How does Sherington's statement remain accurate today? Sherington's statement seemed to be used by you as ammunition against science, and as a tool for mysticism. If that was in fact your intension, I hope you bring your intension under further scrutiny. (In addition, would it really be so bad if consciousness could one day be explained in reductionist terms? Would our wonderment and joy cease to thrive in the presence of empiricism and scientific methodology? Would the poets and clergy go mute, the passion for life evaporate?)
I eagerly look forward to further broadcasts of Entitled Opinions. Please keep them coming.
Nathaniel Joseph Van Heuveln
Bangkok, Thailand
I just finished listening to the show discussing Erwin Schrodinger's "What is Life" and "Mind and Matter". (And by the way, all these shows are a definite international public service so thanks to Stanford and Prof. Harrison)
The net effect or conclusion that listening to that particular show had on me was that it appeared to be creating more space for religion (and those who are religiously inclined) and less space for science (and for scientists, or for "believers in the faith of science"....who instead almost seemed to be being chastised)
Whether this was due to Schrodinger's own arguments, beliefs or understandings or the way those arguments have been presented and interpreted
I do not know for sure. (I have read some Schrodinger but not those particular books) " Objectivist science" currently (and maybe never) does not have all of the answers to the phenomenology(ies) of brain (let alone of mind) and reductionist arguments that try to reduce consciousness and mind....(whether human or animal) (and can anyone prove" that dogs don't have minds?) to the laws of physics, (the ones we happen to have either for anthropic principle reasons or for some other reasons as yet not well understood) neglects several so called intermediate "emergent phenomena" (including the periodic table of the elements, biochemistry, and evolution through natural selection) (however updated) .
So it is definitely well and good to always wonder in awe and to ponder the sheer mystery of it all and to be very modest and never arrogant. But it seems to me even more of a reductionist argument to then turn from such legitimate awe and wonder (and recognition of ignorance) towards transcedentalism, mysticism and spiritualism. Which apart from the experiential states that they can produce (and that can be observed) in some human beings basically can explain and predict next to nothing and whose "body of theory" (or even of experience) fails to meet elementary principles of logic let alone of evidence and empiricism.
I also was not able to figure out what Prof. Harrison meant when he referred to "vulgar atheists"....such as Richard Dawkins and his God Delusion. I am assuming that since he teaches in the Italian and French Department he may have been using the term in its archaic (or at least in its lesser) usage or meaning i.e. "pertaining to the common people" or Latin vulgaris/vulgus much as Dante wrote in "the vulgar language" (Italian) (and not in its more commonly understood meaning or usage as a state "characterized by ignorance or lack of good breeding or taste"). In any case I failed to see the appropriateness of the term to describe Dawkins' work in either meaning and found it unfortunate that it should be one of the very last references in the talk to leave the listener with. (by way of an overall anti-atheist conclusion but "attributable" to one of the key scientific figures in quantum mechanics?)
Schrodinger was first and foremost a physicist and secondarily a philosopher. Although I certainly would agree that it
is always very good to also be "a thinker". Similarly Dawkins is primarily an evolutionary theorist but doesn't seem to do too poorly at being some sort of a thinker too.
I would prefer to read both within their main areas of expertise. (and have done so) And just as Darwin has probably been improved upon by Dawkins and Weinberg and Gell Mann and many others have "improved upon" Schrodinger in their own areas of expertise, surely the last word has not been uttered either onevolutionary theory or on quantum physics, ......nor (obviously) regarding the relative merits (explanatory or other) of religious philosophies and scientific ones. We have plenty of time (hopefully) before the sun burns out to find out. Assuming of course that the religious right in the United States doesn't get the ideological upper hand and helps to end the planetary experiment a bit (or a lot) earlier.
(So let's go with is more likely and most useful)
Max Iacono
Thailand
20 Aug 2008
Mr. Harrison, let me start by noting that I have long had a soft spot in my heart for Stanford University, as it genuinely is one of the top universities in the world. My dad graduated for Stanford with a PhD in Physics years ago and growing up I always looked up to him for his many insights into life. He always told me that in this world there wasn't much evidence of intelligent human life. Well, he was partially wrong on this insight because after listening to you and your talented guests I have come to realize that yes, there is some very intelligent life in this world as evidenced by the many hours of intellectual conversation you and your guests have provided. Thanks for being on the air for us listeners to enjoy. I sometimes feel guilty because I'm getting what seems like a free education from you…on so many subjects. I also love the Doors and Hendrix. One small point, your monologs are so talented, superior and cultivated I suggest you compile them in book form and make them available to us average beings. Also, I bought your book Gardens and am looking forward to reading and enjoying it.
Norm Marks
14 Aug 2008
I am a regular listener to your podcast Entitled Opinions here in Bangkok, Thailand. It sure is a brain saver and nurturer of a program. Sometimes I find the posturing of the host irritating but that is only because the topic is beyond him or there is no chemistry with the guest.
You are doing a good service to improve somewhat the quality of humanity's intellect (for those who have no access to great libraries and hunger for knowledge).
from an ardent anti-American, in solidarity with your good intentions. A big hand of applause. Bravo!
Ramon C. Sevilla
Bangkok, Thailand
11 Aug 2008
Dear Professor Harrison
Your program is exceptional.
Can I propose Professor James Klugel – author of ‘How to Read the Bible’ (a tome on the modern scholarship and the Hebrew bible) as a follow up to your interviews with Professor Sheehan?
Many thanks for all your efforts.
Peter Richards
Brisbane Australia
5 Aug 2008
Hello, prof Harrison!
It really is a great combination of knowledge and pleasure You give us, thank You very much! Nowadays I look forward to my jogging in the evening, since I now have You and Your interesting guests and topics in my ears. In that way I will hopefully be in a better shape both in my mind and body, thanks to You… Thank You again!
Jonta Gustafsson
Sweden
31 Jul 2008
Dear Robert,
For all of us who divide our annual calendar as much by the schedule of Entitled Opinions as by the seasons, you should feature on your Web site--in bold 48-point type--the exact date of your return to the airwaves.
A fan in Chicago,
Bryon Giddens-White
18 Jul 2008
Hello,
Several weeks ago I discoverd the podcast versions of Entitled Opinions and am writing to thank you for the program. How wonderful it is to hear ideas, theories, literature, theology and, yes-thinking itself-discussed at adult levels! I have listed to as many as five a day since "discovering" the program and I might say that it has been a constant source of delight. I have listened to several more than once to take in nuance and to more fully understand both your questions and the provided answers. In this world of simplistic sound bites, there is very little media of any sort that bears listening to/watching even once. the only other media that I have listened to more than once is Krista Tippett's Speaking of Faith.
I am especially fond of your passion for Danté, and the many ways you weave literature into cosmology and theology into abstractions far removed fro anything liturgical. So a wildly enthusiastic 'Thank You!" from Atlanta, Georgia.
Please continue the fine work, bravo!
Cordially,
Terre Spencer
8 Jul 2008
Dear Prof. Harrison,
I'm a big fan of "Entitled Opinions" and find almost all of your shows very enlightening. Your April 10, 2008 broadcast about Schroedinger, however, was an exception.
To fully understand Schroedinger's philosophy requires some study of physics and math. The same could be said of Bohr or Einstein or a host of other modern physicists. The fact that you haven't spent much time learning physics or math is no discredit to you; you've been plenty busy with other things, after all, and it's no longer possible to be a true renaissance man.
For someone who knows just enough to be dangerous, it's easy to find statements by prominent scientists and use them out of context as the basis for one's own crackpot theories about the ultimate nature of reality. The movie "What the *bleep* Do We Know?" is a textbook example. And, I'm afraid, your own musings on Schroedinger also fall into that category, although they're arguably less egregious.
Nevertheless, I eagerly look forward to a new season of broadcasts.
Warm regards,
zenbum
San Jose, CA
8 Jul 2008
Dr. Harrison
I very recently discovered your wonderful podcast via Itunes and so far I only listened to your conversations with messr. Erlich, Linde, Pamuk and Rodrigue.
There is nothing more that I can add to the compliments I read on your guestbook; I hope that one day my kids will have the opportunity to study in Stanford and meet teachers like you.
I left Stamboul as a kid to grow up in Milan.
Iskenderiya, Selanik, Izmir, Rodi, Istanbul, and ….Beirut: cities where you believed firmly in your own God, but you knew how to worship in two or three other religions; conversations where not one single sentence finished in the same language it started with.
How it happened that everything disappeared in one generation? where did all the people go? Are there some spots left in this ethnic cleansing desert?
How it is ever possible to transmit that feeling to our children?
Enis Kapuano
7 Jul 2008
I have nothing to say other than thank you for this show. I just discovered it the other day while tooling around the internets.
Great stuff, thank you!
If only all radio (or at least more radio!) were like this.
Radio is an extremely difficult medium to master, but its potential is limitless. Thanks for keeping alive the classic spirit of radio.
Peter
7 Jul 2008
Hello Professor. I'm a high school student from New York who really enjoys your show. Allow me to suggest Foucault as the subject for a future program.
Best Wishes,
Harmon Siegel
26 Apr 2008
Dr Harrison,
I would like to thank you for the excellent radio show you continue to deliver on a weekly basis. Having recently graduated I feel fortunate to be able to take part in the academic community to a certain extent while broadening my understanding of life and literature. Of course I have to make a suggestion for a future show; how about having Dr. Joseph Frank on to discuss Dostoyevsky and Bakhtin?
Cheers,
Jessica from Mobile
24 Apr 2008
Hello. I have been listening to your show for about four months now. I am a student of theology in Canadian Mennonite University's (Winnipeg, MB - Canada) Masters of Arts in Theological Studies program. I started listening to your show after reading your book: The Dominion of the Dead. I love your work there and its intersections with theology, ecclesiology, martyrology, and Tradition. I would love to hear a show where you could deal with some of these kinds of concepts. There is an excellent dissertation in theology on the topic of martyrdom and politics by a guy named Tripp York, titled "The Purple Crown" (Herald Press). Your chapter "Hic Non Est" reminds me a lot of work done by the theologian/philosopher Graham Ward in his book: Christ and Culture (Blackwell Publishers). His book touches on the role of Tradition, our participation in Tradition
and its participation in ordering our lives today. Sounds like some of your stuff.
I love your show,
Marco Funk
19 Apr 2008
Hello Prof. Harrison -
While many of the guestbook contributors give voice to my own sentiments re Entitled Opinions, I must add a few words of gratitude and appreciation for this gift of time and erudition you've given me and the other listeners. I discovered Entitled Opinions while browsing iTunesU's Stanford section and downloaded one or two for persusal, intrigued no doubt by the idea of some thoughtful conversation about Austen, Proust . . . and pretty much every other topic you've covered. I'm now working my way through the entire back list of Entitled Opinions shows, largely to the exclusion of everything else on my iPod (and the stack of books on my nightstand).
A quick note concerning the music selected to end each show: brilliant! The finishing, master stroke -- each piece as thoughtful, provocative and delightful in its way as the discourse preceding it. More than once, I've been tempted to sneak ahead to the podcast's conclusion to hear the song -- the coda, as it were, of each show. A lapsed Doors fan (of many years), even my old enthusiasm for Mr. Morrison and company has been reawakened.
Truly, an oasis in the desert. Thank you so much.
Judy Wilson
Nashville, TN
18 Apr 2008
Dear Prof Harrison,
I am a PhD student in French and Comparative Literature at Cambridge and I am just writing to you in order to congratulate you to your radio program 'Entitled Opinions'. I enjoy listening to it so much - it is so enriching and encouraging. I always look forward to your next topic and I can only hope that you will put many more shows together!
Best Regards,
Anna
12 Apr 2008
"Entitled Opinions" ....andante molto vivace !!
Saludos
Humberto Moya Morux
Costa Rica
11 Apr 2008
Dr. Harrison:
I recently found Entitled Opinions while searching for podcasts concerning the likes of Thomas Nagel and John Searle. I listened to the podcast concerning Heidegger twice and was consequently hooked. I want to thank you, those that work with you, along with those that join you on your show for creating an oasis within a desert. While I'm clearly not the first to state such, you have another avid listener in Alaska. Once again, thank you.
Peter House
"Wir müssen wissen, wir werden wissen" - David Hilbert
3 Apr 2008
This show has become an addiction. It is like having a very interesting guest for dinner and having a wonderful evening of conversation. I metaphorically bring a bottle of fine wine to each podcast.
Many thanks
j2
20 Mar 2008
Dear Professor Harrison:
Thank you for your brilliant interviews with leading intellectuals on some of the most intriguing topics available on the web. Your guests are, of course, incredibly insightful---but so are you! I think that your work sets a standard of the highest level for public radio.
Best wishes,
Bob
Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D.
Director, American Institute for Cognitive Therapy
18 Mar 2008
Dear Professor Harrison,
I have just finished listening with great interest to your program on the poetry of Robert Service, referred to me by my English Grad student son in Winnipeg, Canada.
I have spent many years with this poetry and their stories, as a musician and drama teacher, and as a producer of a CD of Service poems by my 92 year-old Godfather.
I am attaching, in the hope you can listen, however, to a great recording of 'The Spell Of The Yukon' by the great Canadian and Nashville star Hank Snow - recorded about 40 years ago.
Now that I am aware of your show, I will be sure to tune in regularly.
Thank-you
Loyd Bishop
Clearwater, British Columbia, Canada
18 Mar 2008
Dear Professor Harrison,
I am a new listener of "Entitled Opinions" via the iTunes podcast. I found your radio show there recently and enjoy it tremendously. I listened to this week's episode on Jane Austen with great pleasure. In the show, you commented that you don't know how many listeners you have. I'll tell you this: you have at least one listener in Alaska. Thank you for making it available to the public outside of Stanford.
Best Regards,
Teresa Nunes
Meadow Lakes, Alaska
Hi Prof. Harrison,
I have been avidly listening to the your podcast of the "Entitled Opinions" radio show ever since I became aware of it through iTunes. Since then, I have delved into your program archives and eagerly gobbled up every show posted online since its inception, a couple of years ago. I particularly enjoyed your two-part discussion with Prof. Rene Girard and his theories of mimesis and scapegoating as the basis of religion, as well as, more recently, your discussions on the origins of agricultural society with Prof. Michael Shanks.
I eagerly anticipate your podcasts as they are released every week, as I know that each program guarantees a heady, powerful insight into the domain of the humanities, literature and philosophy. So much so that I even experience withdrawal symptoms when your program goes off the air! For example, this week, when your weekly podcast wasn't posted online!
I look forward to listening to many more of your engaging discussions on varied subjects in the future! My heartiest congratulations on a brilliant, successful run so far!
Best regards,
Uday Gunjikar,
Los Angeles, CA.
6 Feb 2008
Hi!
I've been an Entitled Opinions fan for the past two years--and I reaped many profound insights, personal and universal, from Robert and his guests. The recent show with Orhan Pamuk was particularly interesting in
that it seemed that the show was exploring a different yet complementary worldview in discussing what is at times considered to fall outside the walls of world literature/outside the center of Europe at least in
amnesic present terms.
Although every show of Entitled Opinions offers so much on various levels to its listeners, I think that perhaps it should venture to have more shows that, like the one on Pamuk, talks about those other literary giants that have been doing the work of Sisyphus in a Western-centered literary stage.
Keep up the great programming...
Carolina Beltran
P.s. I'm dying for a show on Borges or maybe even cannibalism (old and
new world variants)...
2 Feb 2008
Dear Prof. Harrison !
First of all, I love your show. You are a God amongst insects, never let anyone tell you differently.
There are perhaps many things I can say about your show, but the one thing that I really love about your
show is your selection of music at the end. Would you be so kind as to give me a list of every album you played on every show since 2005 !? Okay...that's asking for a bit too much. What can I say...I love all of your music.
I must know the names of all of your music on your show !
Regards,
Tony Alexander from Japan.
1 Feb 2008
Dear Robert Harrison,
as a student in Germany I have only recently discovered your show and find it very interesting. I specifically liked the shows on Thoreau, Heidegger, and the interview with Rorty was fantastic.
Is there any chance of you doing a show on Foucault and/or Nietzsche? I would love that and am sure that many other of your listeners would enjoy it, too.
Best wishes,
D. Timothy Goering
1 Feb 2008
Dear Robert,
The interviews are intellectually invigorating experiences of the best quality. Thank you for picking up high caliber guests and not dumbing down the issues. NPR with a serious kick!
Dr. Jacques-Jude Lepine
Media Center Director
Profile School
Bethlehem, NH
16 Jan 2008
Professor Harrison,
Thank you so much for your show.
I am an English teacher, and I often listen to your show before I go to sleep. It has such a breadth and depth of ideas, and I’m often moved and invigorated by the ideas you discuss. It inspires me in my teaching and in my own thinking and writing.
You’ve given us all a Treasury in which you will always live.
-David Kidd
12 Jan 2008
To Robert Harrison,
I recently discovered your show "Entitled Opinions" through i-tunes U. I'm a photographer, and your downloaded conversations are the perfect fare with which to feed my mind while I work in the darkroom.
I've particularly enjoyed your programs on Epicureanism and on René Girard's theory of Mimetic Desire.
On your show you frequently wonder "is anybody out there," and with this email I just want to add my voice to the many who have already said, "yes."
But, inevitably, I have the same urge as so many ardent fans: to be not only a fan, but also a critic and an editor. My criticism however, is really just a plea for More. I still haven't finished listening to all your past shows, but as I scroll through the list of topics, a name close to my heart is missing: Goethe. Perhaps that's just a sign of the richness of the field that you're mining. Three years of amazing programs, and there's still the creator of Dr. Faustus waiting in the wings.
Thank you for your shows, and I look forward to this coming season.
Sincerely,
Alexandra Huddleston
29 Dec 2007
Hello,
I enjoy Robert Harrison's conversations very much. I subscribe to the podcast. I work in the business world and enjoy a classical education from a Jesuit University (1973) in the midwest. It is refreshing to listen to these thoughtful discussions in this world of noise and inane banter. Please tell him thank you and to keep up the good work!
Charles Brown
Woodside, CA
11 Dec 2007
hello professor harrison,
I've only recently discovered your wonderful talk show on itunes and have been podcasting you like crazy. (stop my beating heart . . . ) I can't wait for them to resume in january as I've just about exhausted the archives.
in case you'd like to know, I'm a 58 year old artisan, silversmith, living in quiet isolation in rural maine. without the lifeline of the internet and access to minds like yours, this would, of course be impossible for me. so I thank you and bless you.
in addition to wanting to thank you for your good work, I'd also like to find out what is the music you use for your theme? I really like it and can't quite put my finger on who or what the group is that does it. it's haunting me.
ciao for now,
merry christmas
and my very best wishes to you and yours
for the new year,
dede schmitt
www.sorrentosilver.com
10 Dec 2007
This is a wonderful program. The Prof Sheehan interviews were particularly interesting. In this regard, any chance of an extended interview with John Dominic Crossin in 2008?
Best wishes
Peter Richards
Brisbane Australia
26 June 2007
Absolutely wonderful. Your show has reinvigorated my interest in a wide range of authors and subjects. You have even helped me get a bit of a handle on Heidegger (not an easy task). Many thanks.
Brad Coates
Toronto, Canada
24 June 2007
Dear Robert,
Thank you for your wonderful show. A pleasure and privilege to hear such
consistently witty, profound, beautiful, and inspiring dialogues. Easily one of the best and most vital programs on radio and indeed online today. We are currently trudging through the demands of fixing up our new apartment in Vancouver, Canada and your show is helping us navigate the wastelands of late night labor in our "Globe"! We can't wait for the show to resume again in 2008. A few [sic] suggestions for people and topics for the future: Edmund Spenser, Slavoj Zizek, Sherlock Holmes, Jacques Lacan, Emily
Dickinson, The Beatles, Ovid, Fawlty Towers, Herbert Marcuse, Beethoven,
English Romantic Poets, Bright Eyes...
In the meantime, let us just say that your show like
Poetry enlarges the circumference of the imagination by replenishing it with thoughts of ever new delight, which have the power of attracting and
assimilating to their nature all other thoughts, and which form new intervals and interstices whose void ever craves fresh food. -- Percy Bysshe Shelley
Best regards and heartfelt thanks,
Paul Kingsbury (Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Simon Fraser University)
and
Melinda Kingsbury (Ph.D. Student, Department of English, Indiana University)
06 June 2007
I just wanted to say how refreshing this show is. It seems like the only things my friends talk about is why that other guy should have won American idol.
Keep up the great work
Scott Maniates
11 May 2007
Professor Harrison,
Thank you.It is indeed a pleasure to have Entitled Opinions back on the air. It was greatly missed.
If you or the Stanford podcast department are interested in my opinion, I hope it is back on the air for the long term.
Thank you again for your all your hard work to put together such interesting and thought provoking shows.
May God bless you in all your future endeavors.
Sincerely,
John Stoll
12 April 2007
Overjoyed that the show is finally back on the air! And such a wonderful, lyrical start to the new season. Here's to many, many more.
--Josh
12 January 2007
What an amazing show! I started listening to the podcasts last summer. Is it coming back? many thanks for many pleasurable and stimulating hours of listening!
--Dennis (http://www.middlemania.com)
8 January 2007
Hello Robert:
Just a short note to express my gratitude for your many interesting programs on your Stanford ipod series 'Entitled Opinions'. I graduated in Philosophy with a second degree in Literature, and find great enjoyment listening to the many diverse subjects that you have brought forth on the program. I particularly enjoy your introductions, which I find rich with language, imaginative, and embedded with intellectual intrigue. Loved the dedication to Birds program, which portrayed a poetic appreciation for one of nature's most beautiful gifts. I would very much like to see a hard copy of your introduction essay which you read. What a great arena to dwell in; The infinite concepts of thinkers, and I am very much looking foreword to an extended series which I hope you plan on conducting in the near future. I am sure there are many dedicated listeners to your program, and again want to assure you that you are deeply appreciated, and creating a worthy deed with your life energies.
Sincerely,
James Garrahan
www.jamesgarrahan.com
3 January 2007
I ran across "Entitled Opinion" by chance and now I can credit it with helping take my literary perspective to a higher and much more meaningful level (with a relevance placed firmly on life experiences.) The 2005 November show titled "Literary Vocation and Marcel Proust" along with the ending song dedication to Proust's fictional character, Albertine, was a real joy to listen to; I found myself compelled to jot a note or two about desire, self-deception and will & power to knowledge. Profound stuff.
--Carolina Beltran
25 October 2006
Dear Prof. Harrison,
I just wanted to let you know that I recently discovered your program through its podcasts, and I think it is wonderful! I am working on a dissertation in early-modern French history, and your program has been a pleasant and informative diversion from the narrowly defined study I'm involved in at the moment. You do a wonderful job with each interview, and I am always impressed by your erudition. I hope you decide to pick it up again someday.
Best regards,
Douglas Powell
8 July 2006
I must tell you how much I have enjoyed your radio program. I discovered Entitled Opinions a few weeks ago and it has been a real treat. The intellectual after market of your show has been quite fascinating for me as well. I listened to your discussion with your brother and immediately ordered 1910: Emancipation of Dissonance. Further intrigued, I searched for the Metaphysics of Death by Simmel but could only find a similarly titled work by John Martin Fischer (also a Stanford professor). A very interesting collection of essays.
I was once an academic--but that was many years ago (Ph.D. Psychology from NYU; Assistant Professor in Social Psychology at George Washington University. I long ago left that life, but still am compelled to search out intelligent conversation (even if it's simply eavesdropping on the conversation of others). Stumbling across your little oasis in the desert has been a highpoint of the summer.
Thank you and job well done!
Carlos
24 June 2006
Feeling really bereft knowing that I can no longer look forward to Tuesdays. Thank goodness I have all the I Tunes recordings of thel past programs, and can continue to listen to them again and again. They bear up so very well. The last program was hugely touching and affecting. I'll remember the birds for a long time. Hope the program will be rescheduled at a future date.
Frances Alston
19 June 2006
Thank you for sharing the radio shows with iTunes. I just found these podcasts a couple of months ago and have been catching up with a delightful year of 'Entitled Opinions'. I just love feeling like I am eavesdropping as a couple of professors talk over coffee! ...Please continue with these podcasts soon!
Meanwhile, you will be missed...
Tracy Kennedy
19 June 2006
What a wonderful find. Ive enjoyed this series immensely I hope there is
another on the way.
Tim Burrows
Sydney, Australia
15 June 2006
I've been listening either live by internet or by podcast from the beginning sharing many of the files with friends and colleagues. Two that has lead to some eloquent discussion are "A conversation with Professor Andrei Linde about the theory of the inflationary universe" Jan 17, 2006. and "A conversation with Novelist Shirley Hazzard" Jan 10 , 2006 leading to an enjoyable read of "The Great Fire"
Have enjoyed Stanford Radio for the year that I have known of it, your program the highlight of the program schedule.
Also enjoyed reading your brother Thomas's book and has gotten back into Proust.
Many thanks
John Drewe
San Diego
14 June 2006
I was engaging in my weekly podcast from entitled opinions and noted the title (with trepidation) "concluding opinions"--not good news...I would hope this break is just that--"provisional"...what do I need to do to ensure this stays on...this is my only respite from the madness....colonel keith essen
14 June 2006
I've been listening to podcasts of "Entitled Opinions" and have found them all good, and many of them excellent. I've especially enjoyed the interviews with Sheehan (and await a promised second installment), Girard, Hazzard, and Nightingale.
Thanks so much; I've listened to many engaging and highly interesting lectures from Stanford in the past year via podcasts, but yours are my favorites.
Barry Brinker, AB 1974 (English and French)
Wayne, PA
3 June 2006
As a graduate student of politics and public administration, I truly enjoyed listening to Drew Gibson’s entitled opinion on the philosophy of corporations. Throughout the entire spectrum of the installment, I remained fascinated by the continuous unfolding of the existing paradox between organizational productivity and administrative ethics—in other words, would it ever be possible for any corporate shareholder, or human resource manager, to arrive at a “true” synthesis between such two opposing notions?
I would like to applaud both, Dr. Harrison, and Drew Gibson for directing the thesis of the dialogue back to its roots in the fundamental question between productivity and ethics.
Rodney Faridi
Turlock, CA
3 June 2006
I truly hope this doesn't indicate the demise of your wonderful radio show.
I am not a radio listener but I do download the interviews. I think they are just great! Truly, there are few things that are more
enjoyable to me than to listen to your intensely informed guest discuss philosophical topics in their current context. Your opening remarks are always provocative and your role as interlocutor is well done.
If its true that you are going off the air, I am sad to hear it. If I am mistaken, consider this note high praise and I look forward to more!
David Leech
3 June 2006
As a recent convert to Entitled Opinions, I want to say thank you for this amazing, intellectually stimulating program. I am a bit concerned that the upcoming show "Concluding Opinions" may indicate that the program is ending.
Is this the case? I'm hoping that Robert Harrison is just taking a much deserved break for the summer! If the show does continue, I would love to hear a discussion of colonial/postcolonial theory, the Virgin Mary in the Americas,and a comparative discussion of Nietzsche and Emerson. As an aspiring literary scholar married to an aspiring philosophy scholar, I appreciate the ways in which the program bridges these two fields -- as well as others.
Tereza M. Szeghi
Tucson, Arizona
21 May 2006
Great show with Dr. Michael Hendrickson -- very smart guy! The introductory monologue was terrific too. Science as a force not just for disenchantment but also for re-enchantment: a vital corrective to the standard line. Keep up the great work.
Josh Landy
7 May 2006
Dear Sirs,
I just discovered your radio show and podcasts on the internet, and I love them! I can't believe that such consistently excellent material is being broadcast. What a great way to showcase the faculty of one of the finest universities in the world and to open up its treasures to a broader public, of which I count myself lucky to be included. Thank you so much! I look forward to many more shows; please keep them coming.
Fr. Michael Darcy, Pittsburgh, PA
P.S. Please have Prof. Girard on again!
7 May 2006
Your podcast is wonderful. I have learned so much and the show has encouraged my developing interest in the humanities and above all philosophy. Thank you for all the time and effort you have put into these shows.
Sheryl Bartlett
Ottawa, Canada
29 April 2006
Paul Floris
Like some of the other (international) listeners, I happened upon the
Entitled Opinions site when roaming the Internet. In my case, in search
of information on René Girard whose theories featured in a series of
articles in my local newspaper. How fortunate, therefore, I was to find
your recordings with Girard of September and October of last year. What
a great and fascinating shows!
I do enjoy the diversity of topics, and especially the global scope of your program (how interesting to have me my European mind explained by Russell Berman!...). Please continue with your program, as it's fresh and stimulating, and provides such excellent food for thought. And, as I'm not able to listen to the live shows, please also continue posting the recordings on your web site; highly appreciated!
Best regards,
Paul Floris
Leiden
The Netherlands
26 April 2006
Aaron Wez
My big thanks to Stanford and to Robert Harrison for a marvelous program. I found Entitled Opinions quite by chance as I wondered if universities were using podcasting as a tool for courses and special projects; on searching through iTunes and internet search engines, this program was one of the top results. How correct that is.
While I, much like Prof. Harrison, have my own opinions - be they entitled or not - the wealth of information and referral, the joy and discovery of debate and active dialogue, is brought to fruit so well, here. I appreciate very much the global scope of these conversations. So many could be hopelessly trapped only in the U.S. experience.
20 April 2006
John Steele
Thanks Robert Harrison for an excellent program it's one of the highlights of my week. I've recently retired and am able to listen to the podcasts in series. Please continue the programs are pitched at just the right level. Maybe some more Heidegger, some Husserl, Foucault, Derrida and in the literary field Kafka, Hesse and Rilke. More discussions on classical literature too.
Is it possible to invite Peter Brown, the historian of late antiquity onto your program?
Thanks
John Steele
Sydney
Australia
19 March 2006
John Steele
Thanks to Prof. Harrison for a very enjoyable program. A highlight of my week.
John Steele
9 March 2006
Fred Jones
Just listened to "entitled opinions" for the first time.
I enjoyed it greatly!
please keep the episodes coming!!!
thankyou
2 March 2006
Nicole Schultheis
Although I only just broke down and bought an iPod the other day, I am already a fan of "Entitled Opinions." I listened enthusiastically yesterday to the two segments with René Girard. I am going to the library again soon and hope to check out "The Man without Qualities." I was about halfway through Robert Persig's "Lila," and got fed up. It seemed interesting at first, but got increasingly dopey, and still it dragged on and on and on. Will I like Musil better? The gender preference thing you were talking about with Prof. Gumbrecht is interesting, and challenges me. I am wondering about the parallels between Musil and Persig. I also liked the one on Heidegger, but need to listen again, as I kept being interrupted.
Thank you,
Nicole Schultheis
27 February 2006
Glen Palm
This is one of the best, informative, and unique podcast I've had the honor to listen to. If you'd added a something like this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/research.shtml it would be
over the top. I know it would add more work and suck more hours out of your life. I have no access to learned dissuasion on issues of any sort. As a person goes from the stage in their life from student to worker/earner it becomes harder and harder to pause to listen and think about ideas and movements. Now I have time, access, and effort to go back to the state I've enjoyed the more in my life.
Again -- thank you
Glen Plam
21 February 2006
Abigail Acton
Just a quick line to tell you how much I'm enjoying your 'Entitled Opinions' series. I listen to the podcasts whilest doing my artisanal bookbinding course, in Belgium, and the two fit well together. Have you come across the 'In Our Times' podcasts, hosted by Melvyn Bragg, BBC Radio 4? If not, I think you might enjoy them, they're easily found at iTunes.
Best regards,
Abigail Acton
12 February 2006
Joseph Perloff
I heard with great pleasure, your splendid interviews on Robert Musil and and Thomas Sheehan's historical Jesus. I was enthralled by The Man Without Qualities which I have read and reread. Biblical archeology and biblical scholarship are high on my list of interests, and I was impressed and informed by Sheehan's erudition. I will surely get his book on the historical Jesus. But why wasn't the James Ossuary discussed? Keep broadcasting. I'm a devoted fan.
Cordially,
Joe
7 February 2006
Rodney Faridi
For the listeners who may want to catch the show in real time (live), you can do so through iTunes. When you have the iTunes program open, choose 'Radio' from under the 'Source' section (with a single click), and choose 'Public' from under the 'Stream' section (with a double click). Then, look for 'KZSU FM' and choose it (with a double click). KZSU FM broadcasts in 24kbps for slower, and 128kbps for faster Internet connections.
Best regards,
Rodney Faridi
7 February 2006
s. morgan
Just how much I enjoy such engaging, cutting-edge talk radio, and
would love to hear another show continuing the conversation with
philosopher Richard Rorty. Have you considered adding a call-in
segment to your shows, perhaps organizing particular shows featuring
call-in dialog with a guest, or even using the audience callers as
"guest" exchanging ideas on a given subject? Thank you very much.
28 January 2006
Makiko Orito
Hi, thank your so much for your great show! I'm a Japanese who is currently studying interpretation and is doing some interpretation jobs at the same time. As someone like me who would like to be a English-Japanese interpreter, mastery of language is very important and that's why I began to listen to your show through podcast. It was a mere coincidence that I foud your show, but it was the greatest radio show I've ever heard. I love your beautiful introduction and amazing quotes and all the books you deal with are masterpieces and actually I feel I'm cheating on those students who are studying at grad schools because your show is like one of the best lectures on literature that we can attend at free.
26 January 2006
Ken Vallerio
http://www.kenvallario.com
Here is another entitled opinion from a very happy subscriber to your show. One of things I find the most refreshing about your show, besides the seriousness of it, is the way you pause occasionally to await the right question. I know this is stylistic but I like it all the same. One of my pet-peeves about modern culture is the non-stop requirement in conversation, it's so tiring. I will continue to listen and I have been telling people about your show. I listened to the episode on the Aeneid last night. My favorite moment was in the introduction when you were speaking about the work politically and you went to compare it to our modern leaders and you stopped yourself, very sincerely said outloud that you promised you wouldn't go there, and you didn't. I find it very exciting when people place boundaries on themselves for a higher purpose and I admire it. So many times you hear people say 'i promised i wouldn't say this, but....'
26 January 2006
joe dietzgen
Great show. I first heard your show when you interviewed a French Professor in French. Marvelous, I couldn't believe what I was hearing over the airwaves. Was this radio Canada in the Bay Area? I also loved your interview of the Russian mathamatican on inflation theory. I admit I thought you must be a graduate student because you had such a young voice. During your first show I listened I did not know this was radio Stanford. Sincerely thanks
22 January 2006
Rodney Faridi
I ran into 'Entitled Opinions' on accident while randomly surfing the web sometime back in Nov.2005. What an aesthetic encounter!!! To make a long story short, I have not missed a show ever since. Not only does each show bloom into an utterly gorgeous dialogue, but also, that the very choice of music surrounding each session appears as somewhat of a philosophically decorated boundary around each segmentóa paradoxical type of boundary which perhaps knows no limit, but the very limit of itself, as itself, as infinity.
Keep up the good work!
7 December 2005
Screddy
Wow, great show. It's so great to hear Robert Harrison -- who is so
articulate and interesting -- talking to, for example, Rene Girard. What a
great idea, Dr. Harrison.
2 December 2005
Aaron Cord
Nothing like this show, anywhere else on the net, much more so amongst
the toddlers of contemporary podcasting. Thanks for the discourse.
20 November 2005
Stephanie
unitedstates
I appriciate your project. See you soon.
14 November 2005
Stern, Howard
You'll be hearing from my lawyers, Harrison.
My hair is COPYRIGHTED, Dude, so lose that second-rate knock-off I saw on your web site.
[For the original, check: http://www.eonline.com/On/Howard/]
And if you want an audience, remember the secret of success: tits, not wits.
Later.
Howard
10 November 2005
Keith Essen
Is there anyway I can procure lectures by Andrew Mitchell on Heidegger... I don\'t care how much they cost, his commentary was stunning and frankly would love to hear more....Heidegger is so impenetrable yet fascinating...yet the discourse was so compelling, I would really like to hear more on this topic--for once it seemed within reach...kee
10 November 2005
Colonel Keith Essen
Dr. Harrison
You need to know that your show has been a distinct pleasure; cspecifically I thoroughly enjoyed the show on Heidegger....(I have listened to this several times already...and todays feast on epicurean thought was sheer delight... I am learning something with each encounter...and indeed I do feel part of the conversation...discussions on Proust, Girard on mimetic desire...where does it end...please continue to press on...would love to send my combined federal campaign donation to you all...do you have a code??? kee
9 November 2005
Mariah Isely
I have very much enjoyed the last three shows and wish the previous
ones were still available as pod-casts.
I suggest that you include in your shows or on the website after each
show a list of recommended readings, or at least a list of works cited in
the program. I'd love to know what you would recommend as a good
introduction to Epicureanism and its central texts.
Mariah
23 October 2005
Simon De Keukelaere
Congratulations for this new program! I especially enjoyed the two talks with Stanford-professor RenÈ Girard. I will send a link to your program to some friends in France and Belgium interested in this kind of insightful radio programs. Keep up the good work!
All the best,
Simon
(Ghent, Belgium)
19 October 2005
Alessandra Andrisani
Anche se non sono un'accademica, trovo la tua trasmissione davvero
accattivante...
11 October 2005
Alison Lovell
Dear Professors Harrison and Girard:
I would like to add that in versions of Agamemnon's sacrifice of his
daughter Iphigenia (another example of human sacrifice, carried out in
Aeschylus's version of the drama), the daughter is replaced by an
animal or an image of the girl. So the instance in the Hebrew Bible of
Isaac's sacrifice by Abraham (Isaac replaced by an animal) is not in fact
the *only* written document where a human is replaced, though plays
are not in the same genre category as a book from the Hebrew Bible, a
sacred text.
Thanks for a wonderful and stimulating discussion. I was listening!
Best,
Alison Lovell (new IHUM fellow)
11 October 2005
Lisa Dornell
I hereby nominate Dr. Robert Harrison, host of "Entitled Opinions," for
a Bad A** Mo Fo Award. His show has definitely raised the intellectual
level of KZSU to off the scale.
Yesterday's show was an interview with Rene Girard on "Ritual Sacrifice
and the Scapegoat." It was absolutely fascinating (and made it damned
difficult to prepare for my show.) Ranging from Christ to Oedipus to
commentaries on Freud it was the most intellectual hour I've ever heard
in my time at KZSU.
Aside from the coolness factor of having a faculty member back on the
airwaves, yesterday's show convinced me that this is one new show
going on my "must listen to every week" list.
Great stuff!
Decca
3 October 2005
Kenny Gundle
I am greatly enjoying listening and reflecting on the show from Kobe,
Japan. I guess it will have to be my stand-in for the Philosophical Reading
Group while I am away from campus.
I'd love to hear more about who is not entitled to an opinion, as well
as about choosing one's ancestors.
29 September 2005
Gary Wesley (BluJi)
Really enjoyed your enlightened show!
Only caught the last 30 mins while working in the
music library.
Keep it up!
BluJi