Join me for a reading and discussion of William Cowper's final poem The Castaway (1799)
This is the second time I have done a reading of this poem.

An elegy is a poem written to mourn the death of someone. Here we will explore the hidden depths of this philosophic poem.

Halloween is a time to face fears. Do not allow the fear of a lack of comprehension of this poem stop you from attempting to mine its meaning and beauty.

This special episode of Troubadour Talks features three members of the Literary Canon Club—a group dedicated to reading through the entire Western Canon from Homer to Rand. 

Book one in our group was The Iliad. In this episode, Kirk discusses various aspects of Homer’s The Iliad with Molly Johnson, Marco Romero and Heather Schwarz. 

Even if you have never read the Iliad, this discussion will show you the value of taking time out of your busy life to read great literature.

On today’s episode of Troubadour Talks, I chat with a host of the Daily Objective, Nikos Sotirakopoulos, about the novel by Jack Schaefer “Shane.” 

One critic of Shane has expressed, correctly, that if you are to read one Western novel, let it be Shane. 

Nikos and I discuss the straightforward plot and then have a deep discussion of the characters and their relationships. As this is a frontier story, like all Westerns, we will talk about life on the frontier, how it is different from life in a fully civilised location, and most importantly, how manliness is required in these frontier lands.

We also talk about the fraternity among men and how to earn the manly love of your brothers. This was an enjoyable conversation with a true brother in arms!

Today's guest is Rucka, and we will be discussing Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie and The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson. 

We had a great discussion of the meaning of Peter Pan and why this is such a valuable story for children and adults.

What is the meaning of a boy who never grows up? What role does passion play in our lives, and do we have to give up our desires as we age? These and many other questions are ones that we discuss on this wide-ranging talk about these two great works of literary art and their role in our lives.

Today we have some Shakespeare to discuss. I have as my guest Ann Ciccolella, artistic director of Austin Shakespeare. We will be exploring the play "Macbeth", Also known within the theatre community as "The Scottish Play."

Before digging into the play, Ann and I explain why it can be beneficial to read the play and even watch videos summing up the play before seeing a performance. Our conversation included a summary of Macbeth, why its themes are relevant to our lives today, and some tips on how to enjoy Shakespeare, even if his language is difficult to understand at first.

Film director & producer Chris DePretis joins Kirk to talk about the short story “Boule de Suif” by Guy de Maupassant. 

It is said that Maupassant is the most adapted literary writer after Shakespeare. Though this is hard to prove, because often his short stories offer a broad brush by which film directors like John Ford will use to paint. Nevertheless, his impact on world cinema is impressive. Besides Ford, many directors have adapted stories from the French short story writer, such as D.W. Griffith, Orson Welles, Jean Renoir, Kenji Mizoguchi, Jean-Luc Goddard and many more. These directors, of course, are the most influential directors in cinema. By proxy, very few people can claim as much influence on world cinema as Guy de Maupassant.

In this episode, we summarize and discuss one short story in particular “Boule de Suif.” Then we discuss and compare the classic western movie Stagecoach (1939) starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford.
We will be talking about the themes of both of these works as well as the way in which Ford was inspired by Maupassant.

If you are a literary lover or a film buff, this episode is for you! Great art builds on great art.

Kirk and guest Luc Travers from http://www.literatureatourhouse.com/​ discuss the dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury “Fahrenheit 451.” Together they give a synopsis (from memory) of the story. Then they leap into the flames of Bradbury’s tale. 

In this episode, you’ll enjoy discussions on:
The main characters: Guy Montag, Chief Beatty, Clarise and Faber
Meaning of the story
Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold
Dover Beach and its meaning relative to the story
The prescience of the story
What is happiness, and how do we know if we are happy?
The importance of UNhappiness
And much more!

Eric and I go over a synopsis of this play, first staged in 1897 to immense adulation. Then we discuss the meaning of the love triangle, the larger-than-life character of Cyrano and the meaning of the play.

 Since 1897 there has been a variety of different projections of Cyrano’s looks. This is an important feature of the play. How ugly should Cyrano be? 

What is it that Roxanne falls in love with?

Can a beautiful man also be bright and clever and witty?

What role does Cyrano’s nose play?

We analyze some specific passages in the play.

We take a look at the spiritual/body dichotomy in the play.

The role of “success” in Cyrano.

In the second half of the conversation, Eric, who is a Catholic, and I have a debate about Pride and the meaning of Cyrano’s Pride.

Eric Robert Morse (ericrobertmorse.com) is a writer, publisher, painter, illustrator, web programmer, philosopher, theologian, economist, and historian. His published works include a critique of Behavioral Economics (Psychonomics), a theory of political economy (Juggernaut), two novels (Monaco and Ricky Wills It), a psychology of storytelling (The 90-Minute Effect), a history of Feminism (The Economic Theory of Sex), and a sociology of postmodern America (Tearing at the Seams).

My guest today is Jesse McCarthy Founder of MontessoriEducation.com

Jesse McCarthy began his career as a young assistant at a small private school in California, and now 15+ years later he leads an organization that helps parents and teachers around the world to achieve inevitable success with children — happily and without stress.

We discussed The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. 

This book is described as a “dramatic autobiography,” and as Jesse and Kirk discuss, it is exactly that. It is not a long text. It can be read in a few hours. But it is an emotionally challenging text.

Jesse and Kirk discuss Douglass’ story, his courage and character as told within the narrative. 

There are some ideas in this book that may be very challenging for people today to confront. Not in terms of slavery, everyone correctly abhors slavery, but rather some of the values and virtues that Douglass held as essential to the building of a good character. 

Jesse and Kirk discussed:

• the concept of “self-creation” as Douglass meant it. 
• Slave Mentality
• Slave-holders mentality
• Fighting a system of ideas
• The education of Douglass
• How to educate children
• Importance of reading
• Different levels of reading
• And much much more.