Alexander Schmid Podcast

In this episode of Recurrent Events, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I are joined by the wise Mr. Oscar Ortiz. Specifically, we talk about (a) the differences between teaching and leading as an administrator, (b) how glory and its pursuit relates to education, and (c) what it means to pursue greatness, and what a community based on such a pursuit might look like.

In this lecture, I layout and give Beatrice's response to the following major questions from the Sphere of the Moon:   

1)If heaven is perfect, and above the earth, it cannot be made of matter, but how do I, Dante, move in heaven if I have a body which is made of matter? (1-97-99) 

2)Why does the moon appear to have dark spots if it is in heaven, and heaven is perfect? (2.49-51) 

3)How do humans take what they see with their senses and then understand what they see with their intellects? (4.43-61) 

4)What makes an oath unbreakable? What are the parts of an oath, and under what conditions may an oath be broken? (5.13-15) 

5)If a vow is broken by the force of another, why would I be blamed for breaking the vow? (4.19-21) 

6) Bonus: Why do souls not long for a higher place in paradise? (3.64-66) 

In this episode of Recurrent Events, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I have the  pleasure to welcome Mr. David Oldham to talk to us. Specifically, we consider (a) the value of being a lifetime student as a teacher, (b) what is civic virtue and how does it relate to teaching, and (c) what is the highest pursuit of man, and how does it relate to teaching?

In this lecture, we (a) review the stories of Helen and Menelaos from Book IV (4), (b) we observe the Edenic/Paradisical nature of Kalypso's island home, and (c) we watch Odysseus restart his epic adventure knowing that much hardship awaits him.

In this lecture, we consider (a) the story Helen tells Telemachos (and Menelaos) of once giving a disguised Odysseus a bath! And (b) then we hear Menelaos' sorrowful account of his capturing Proteus, The Old Man of the Sea!

In this introductory lecture to Dante's "Paradiso", we consider (a) Dante's geocentric conception of the universe, (b) the difference between the (1) absolute will and (2) contingent will, and (c) consider the value of oaths and promises amongst the oath-breakers.

In this episode of Night School, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I explore Emily Dickinson's "Publication – is the Auction (788)," "Fame is the one that does not stay — (1507)," "Fame is a fickle food (1702)", and conclude with the pointed "Fame is a bee. (1788)." We specifically consider (a) Dickinson's disparaging view of selling the work of the mind (art), (b) the tension between Christian monarchical symbolism and American democratic/capitalist value in Dickinson's work, and (c) the wistfulness inherent in fame and the poetic art. Alex also butchers the quote below.

John 3:8 King James Version (KJV)

"8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."