The Canon Ball

The Canon Ball

By The Canon BallSociety & CultureEducation
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The Canon Ball episodes

  • BONUS: Puritanism
    With Claude away on paternity leave, Daniel welcomes Ben Jacobs (host of Wittenberg to Westphalia) to discuss puritanism.

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    54 min
  • BONUS: American Scandal - Preview Episode
    The Canon Ball and the Agora Podcast Network are proud to present this special preview episode of Wondery's American Scandal. For more, visit wondery.com or find American Scandal wherever you get podcasts.

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    17 min
  • 15. Don Quixote - Book 2
    It’s Don Quixote Book 2, all of the mind-bending reality questioning of a Christopher Nolan film and none of the portentousness! Daniel and Claude and Sancho and the Don join forces to face down our delusions and accept that the “real world” may just be yet another permutation of our individual fantasies. Is Don Quixote’s descent into the Cave of Montesinos an early exploration of the idea of the unconscious? Is Sancho secretly the most capable member of the party? Could chivalric manners be the best solution to a rising culture of xenophobia? Are the aristocracy really just a bunch of useless, corrupt, money-wasting fools? Ok, the answer to that last one is unequivocally yes, but for our discussion of the other questions, well, just listen. The Canon Ball is a member of the Agora Podcast Network, and if you enjoy our show then be sure to check out some of the others on the network like Lands of Leviathan. Each show takes on a complicated idea or issue from the fields of political science and international relations and analyzes it through the lens of pop culture material. For more information on the show, check out landsofleviathan.com, and for more information on the shows on the network, go to agorapodcastnetwork.com. And if you want more of the Canon Ball, check out our blog at thecanonballpodcast.wordpress.com.  You’ll see our occasional scribblings on canonical things as well as the order in which we’re tackling the canon. You can also find us on Twitter @canonballpod or on Facebook if you look for our group. If you like the show, please rate and review on Apple Podcasts!

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    1 hr 52 min
  • 14. Don Quixote - Book 1
    And we’re finally on the road with book one of Don Quixote. When you look around and realize you’re just a burnt out old man why not reinvent yourself as your personal ideal? Is that any more ridiculous than inadvertently basing every move in your life on other narratives? Daniel and I discuss reinvention in 17th century Spain and speculate on the effects the Reconquista and Inquisition (i.e., ethnic cleansing) may have had on this particular motif in Don Quixote. We also take a look at the Don’s (and others’) masochistic, self-enfolded sexual frustration, which is much less exciting than it sounds. The Canon Ball is a member of the Agora Podcast Network, and if you enjoy our show then be sure to check out some of the others on the network like the Renaissance English History podcast where Heather Teysko walks through the days in the lives of the Tudors.  You can find it at https://www.englandcast.com/ and for more check out our blog at thecanonballpodcast.wordpress.com.  You’ll see our occasional scribblings on canonical things as well as the order in which we’re tackling the canon. You can also find us on Twitter @canonballpod or on Facebook if you look for our group. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts; thanks and enjoy the show.  

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 39 min
  • 13. Cervantes and Don Quixote

    And here we go, sallying officially forth in the first of our series on Don Quixote! In this episode, we commence with some background discussion of Spain in Cervantes’ time, writing in Cervantes’ time, and the genres that went into the making of what Claude is very close to arguing is officially the first novel. We also get into the multiple Spains that make up Spain and the epistemological crisis that is attendant to the rise of the chivalric prose tale. It’s… actually more interesting than it sounds…


    The Canon Ball is a part of the Agora Podcast Network.  If you like the show, check out some of the other shows on the network, like History of Alchemy, History of Germany, and the Secret Cabinet, all part of the Podcastnik Productions team. They specialize in all things Germanic and many things esoteric.  Find out more at www.podcastnik.com and for more information on the shows on the network, go to agorapodcastnetwork.com.


    And if you want more of the Canon Ball, check out the blog at thecanonballpodcast.wordpress.com.  You’ll see our occasional scribblings on canonical things as well as the order in which we’re tackling the canon. You can also find us on Twitter @canonballpod or on Facebook if you look for our group. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts if you like the show and recommend us to a friend!


    But wait! There’s more! We have a new sponsor, Onlinegreatbooks.com. Enter the promo code CAN to get 25% off your first three months.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 59 min
  • BONUS: American Innovations - Preview Episode
    The Canon Ball and the Agora Podcast Network are proud to present this preview episode of the upcoming Wondery podcast American Innovations. Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts. Find out more at wondery.com/shows/american-innovations/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    8 min
  • 12. Don Quixote (w/ guest Chris Ludovici)

    It’s our most quixotic episode yet! In that it’s an episode that’s only tangentially about Don Quixote! While Daniel and I get our materials together to tackle Cervantes, I have a talk with Chris Ludovici, author of the novel The Minors, about his experiences with Quixote and the canon.  It’s a little looser than what we usually do, but Chris’ perspective on literature and the meaning of Don Quixote is pretty singular, and even if this is a bit of a digression from the regular path, it was a really good conversation.  You can find Chris’ book on Amazon and pertinent to our discussion is an article he wrote for the Penn Gazette, “The Prodigal Student.” Check it out at http://thepenngazette.com/the-prodigal-student.


    The Canon Ball is a member of the Agora Podcast Network, and if you enjoy our show then be sure to check out some of the others on the network like Roifield Brown’s 10 American Presidents a show about landmark presidencies.  Each show features an expert narrator giving their take on the life of one of the presidents as well as a dramatic score and audio clips to create a whole listening experience.  For more information on 10 American presidents, go to 10usp.com. and for more information on the shows on the network, go to agorapodcastnetwork.com. And if you want more of the Canon Ball, check out our blog at thecanonballpodcast.wordpress.com. You’ll see our occasional scribblings on canonical things as well as the order in which we’re tackling the canon. You can also find us on Twitter @canonballpod or on Facebook if you look for our group. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts if you like the show.


    This week's episode is sponsored by Onlinegreatbooks.com. Enter the promo code CAN to get 25% off your first three months.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    58 min
  • 11. Montaigne - Part 3
    It’s our third and final episode on Montaigne! So what does an Epicurean think of marriage? What’s the middle way in the middle of a civil war? Why are rugged individualists like Emerson and Nietzsche such total plagiarists? And how exactly should one execute a bowel movement? Montaigne has the answers to all of these questions and more that you probably never cared to ask! Join us on this episode as we finally think through Montaigne’s final word on final words.  The Canon Ball is a member of the Agora Podcast Network, and if you enjoy our show then be sure to check out some of the others on the network, like the History of England, a chronological walk through, well… the history of England. This isn’t a dry, events only podcast, but one that takes its time to meander through the customs and cultures that make the history of the UK funny if not fascinating. For more information on the show, check out thehistoryofengland.co.uk and for more information on the shows on the network, go to agorapodcastnetwork.com. And if you want more of the Canon Ball, check out our blog at thecanonballpodcast.wordpress.com.  You’ll see our occasional scriblings on canonical things as well as the order in which we’re tackling the canon. You can also find us on Twitter @canonballpod or on Facebook if you look for our group. Rate and review on itunes; thanks and enjoy the show.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 34 min
  • 10. Montaigne - Part 2

    On this episode we do a deep dive into the longest of Montaigne's essays, the Apology for Raymond Sebond! And boy do we get confused! Is Montaigne a Pyrrhonist? Is Pyrrhonism a form of deconstruction? Are Montaigne's politics regressive? Are Montaigne's politics progressive? Do we answer any of these questions? Just listen to find out the answer is "no!" But if you leave as baffled as we were we consider our jobs done.


    Check out some of the other podcasts on Agora like Thom Daly’s “American Biography,” which looks at American history through a human prism by examining the lives of important, if less discussed, Americans who have exerted great influence upon the nation's development. And for a deal on headphones, hit up our sponsor Sudio at www.sudiosweden.com and use the code CANNONBALL at checkout for 15% off (we know, they added an N, just go with it).


    Stop by the blog at thecanonballpodcast.wordpress.blog and drop us a line at [email protected].

    You can find us on Facebook under The Canon Ball and on Twitter at @DrCMGoozer.


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    1 hr 27 min

About The Canon Ball

From the publisher's feed

We try to read and discuss ALL the books in the western canon!

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