Introductory note on Charles Darwin (#2) (Volume 29, Harvard Classics)
Jul 25, 2021•3 min•Season 1Ep. 656
Darwin visited a South American city ruined by an earthquake. There he heard the superstitious account of the phenomenon. The ignorant people accused Indian women of bewitching the volcano. But Darwin has another explanation. (Volume 29, Harvard Classics)
Jul 25, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 655
Introductory note on Francis Bacon (Volume 3, Harvard Classics)
Jul 24, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 654
There are styles in friendship as well as in clothes. The mode of friendship of Bacon's time went out with plumed hats and long hose. But Bacon knew the true test of a friend. (Volume 3, Harvard Classics) Francis Bacon knighted, July 23, 1603.
Jul 24, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 653
Introductory note on Homer (Volume 22, Harvard Classics)
Jul 23, 2021•9 min•Season 1Ep. 652
Odysseus was wrecked with his men on an island inhabited by one-eyed giants. Trapped in the cave of a giant who gobbled up some of the crew for supper, the cunning Odysseus blinded the giant and rescued the survivors of his crew. (Volume 22, Harvard Classics)
Jul 23, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 651
Introductory note on Robert Burns (Volume 6, Harvard Classics)
Jul 22, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 650
The songs of Burns are the links, the watchwords, the symbols of the Scots. He is the last of the ballad singers. In his works are preserved the best songs of his people. (Volume 6, Harvard Classics) Robert Burns died July 21, 1796.
Jul 22, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 649
Introductory note on John Bunyan (Volume 15, Harvard Classics)
Jul 21, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 648
John Bunyan, imprisoned for preaching without a license, gave to the world "Pilgrim's Progress," the greatest allegory in any language, second only to the Bible. (Volume 15, Harvard Classics)
Jul 21, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 647
Introductory note on Sir Walter Raleigh (Volume 33, Harvard Classics)
Jul 20, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 646
The famous gallant who spread his gorgeous cloak so the dainty slipper of his queen would be unspotted, soon lost the high favor this action won for him. In spite of his glorious voyages, Raleigh condemned himself when he fell in love with another woman. (Volume 33, Harvard Classics) Sir WaIter Raleigh imprisoned July 19, 1603.
Jul 20, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 645
Introductory note on Robert Browning (Volume 18, Harvard Classics)
Jul 19, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 644
"Browning's play has thrown me into a perfect passion of sorrow," wrote Charles Dickens of "The Blot in the 'Scutcheon." Like Shakespeare's Juliet, Browning's Mildred plays the role of a youthful lover in a tragic drama. (Volume 18, Harvard Classics)
Jul 19, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 643
Introductory note on Jean Racine (Volume 26, Harvard Classics)
Jul 18, 2021•3 min•Season 1Ep. 642
Phædre first persecuted Hippolytus, her handsome stepson, then loved him. Suddenly he and her own son became rivals for the throne. Should she push her son's claims or let Hippolytus take the crown? (Volume 26, Harvard Classics) Racine elected to French Academy, July 17, 1673.
Jul 18, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 641
Introductory note on Mohammed (Volume 45, Harvard Classics)
Jul 17, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 640
The sacred book of the Moslems, the Koran, gives an account of the birth of Christ. The Koran gives Jesus a high position among the prophets but holds the first place for Mohammed. (Volume 45, Harvard Classics) Beginning of Moslem era of time, July 16, 622 A. D.
Jul 17, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 639
Introductory note on William Harrison (Volume 35, Harvard Classics)
Jul 16, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 638
Meals in the houses of the gentry and noblemen in Elizabethan England were taken most seriously. No one spoke. Holinshed records the strange table etiquette of our ancestors. (Volume 35, Harvard Classics) Queen Elizabeth entertained at Kenilworth, July 15, 1575.
Jul 16, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 637
Introductory note on Edmund Burke (#2) (Volume 24, Harvard Classics)
Jul 15, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 636
What the Fourth of July is to Americans, the Fourteenth of July is to Frenchmen. It commemorates an oppressive tyranny overthrown by a freedom-loving people. (Volume 24, Harvard Classics) The Bastille surrendered, July 14, 1789.
Jul 15, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 635
Introductory note on Plutarch (Volume 12, Harvard Classics)
Jul 14, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 634
Pericles used public money to beautify Athens. The citizens protested against the expense, as citizens in all ages do. By a clever stroke Pericles won their support to his ambitious plans. (Volume 12, Harvard Classics)
Jul 14, 2021•21 min•Season 1Ep. 633
Introductory note on Henry David Thoreau (Volume 28, Harvard Classics)
Jul 13, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 632
Thoreau's individuality was unique and original. He had no profession; he never married; he never went to church; he never voted or paid taxes; he never smoked; he never drank wine. His amusement was walking, to observe and meditate. (Volume 28, Harvard Classics) Henry David Thoreau born July 12, 1817.
Jul 13, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 631
Introductory note on Simon Newcomb (Volume 30, Harvard Classics)
Jul 12, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 630
The greatest spectacle offered man is a view of the magnificent vault of heaven. Under the stupendous arch of the Milky Way the cares of the world roll off. (Volume 30, Harvard Classics) Newcomb died July 11, 1909.
Jul 12, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 629
Introductory note on Leif Ericsson (Volume 43, Harvard Classics)
Jul 11, 2021•33 sec•Season 1Ep. 628
The shadow of a phantom cast upon the cradle of Snorri, the first white child born in America, was a warning of an Indian attack on the settlement of courageous Norsemen who had risked the terrors of unknown seas to visit "Wineland." (Volume 43, Harvard Classics)
Jul 11, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 627