Writ Large

Play is an essential part of childhood. But according to German philosopher Johann Friedrich von Schiller’s treatise “On the Aesthetic Education of Man,” play was a key part of adulthood, too. In fact, in this collection of letters, Schiller claimed that the only way we could achieve utopia was by making play a central aspect of society. Professor Doris Sommer is a professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and African American Studies at Harvard University and Director of the Cultural Agents Initiative. Her books include The Work of Art in the World: Civic Agency and Public Humanities and Bilingual Aesthetics: A New Sentimental Education. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm.

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The Iliad is among the oldest surviving works of literature, but for a long time The Iliad wasn’t written down. It’s a story that has influenced the world for over three thousand years, but for the ancient Greeks, it was history. One man, Homer, is credited with writing The Iliad, but it’s more likely that The Iliad was composed by many ancient storytellers—a lot of whom were women. Gregory Nagy is the Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature and Director of the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University. His books include Homer: The Preclassic and The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm.

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It makes sense that historian Nathanial Philbrick calls Moby-Dick the “American Bible.” Along with being a story of adventure and danger, it’s also a celebration of pluralism and a critique of social and religious hierarchies. In this episode, Yale professor John Peters takes a deep dive into the many facets of this iconic tale. John Durham Peters is the María Rosa Menocal Professor of English and of Film & Media Studies at Yale University. He is the author of Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication, Courting the Abyss: Free Speech and the Liberal Tradition, and more. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm.

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Edmund Burke was a British government official who saw the French Revolution as a mob action. He wrote a book called Reflections on the Revolution in France. It was published in 1790—one year after the French Revolution officially began. David Bromwich is a Sterling Professor of English at Yale. Some of his written works include the books The Intellectual Life of Edmund Burke and How Words Make Things Happen. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm.

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Nitobe Inazō wanted to explain Japan to Westerners, particularly morality as it is taught in Japanese society. He was born a Samurai in 1862. In his book Bushido: The Soul of Japan, Inazō Nitobe explains the moral foundations of traditional Japanese society to a Western audience through “the way of the warrior,” Bushido. Harvard Professor David Howell is the Robert K. and Dale J. Weary Professor of Japanese History and Professor of History at Harvard University and the Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He’s also author of the books Capitalism from Within and Geographies of Identity in Nineteenth-Century Japan. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm.

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Frankenstein is a name we all know, even for those who haven’t read Mary Shelley’s novel. But the monster you might imagine is quite different from the one Shelley wrote about in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. In fact, Shelley’s writing has much more to say about ethics, philosophy, and modern scientific advancement than many ghost story enthusiasts would guess. In this episode, Professor Deidre Lynch discusses the wisdom and warnings found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Deidre Lynch teaches in the English department at Harvard University. Some of her works include Janeites: Austen's Disciples and Devotees and The Economy of Character : Novels, Market Culture, and the Business of Inner Meaning. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm. Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod.

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Born into an aristocratic family, Russian author Leo Tolstoy’s life was forever changed when he served as an officer in the Crimean War. The brutality he witnessed during the war transformed him from a privileged, aristocratic author to a non-violent anarchist. War and Peace explores the brutal reality of what happens when we make war more humane. Tolstoy’s work has inspired nonviolent pacifist movements across the globe and influenced leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Samuel Moyn is the Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and Professor of History at Yale University. He is the author of Not Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World, The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History, and more. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm.

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Until the publication of Edwin Hubble’s 1936 book, The Realm of the Nebulae, astronomers believed that the Milky Way was the only galaxy in the universe. Hubble infinitely expanded our understanding of the cosmos and showed that what scientists thought was everything, was really just the beginning. In this episode, MIT professor emeritus Marcia Bartusiak unpacks Hubble’s findings and discusses how they impact the field of astronomy to this day. Marica Bartusiak is Professor of the Practice Emeritus of the Graduate Program in Science Writing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She writes on physics and astronomy and her work has been published in National Geographic Magazine, Discover Magazine, Science Magazine, and many others. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm.

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As a college student, Harvard professor Michelle Sanchez was torn between following her faith or following her heart. She found guidance in the 19th-century philosophical text Fear and Trembling, in which Soren Kierkegaard maps universal human struggles onto a biblical story. In this episode, Professor Sanchez explains what Fear and Trembling can teach us about living in an uncertain world. Michelle Sanchez is Associate Professor of Theology at Harvard Divinity School. She is the author of Calvin and the Resignification of the World: Creation, Incarnation, and the Problem of Political Theology, and more. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod

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Bengt Sundkler wrote his 1940 book Bantu Prophets in South Africa for a white, European audience. He had no idea that his ethnographic study would play a critical role in keeping African independent churches active during the repressive apartheid regime. In this episode, Stanford professor Joel Cabrita discusses the book’s path from academia to activism. Joel Cabrita is Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University. She is the author of The People’s Zion: Southern African, the United States and a Transatlantic Faith-Healing Movement. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod

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