Summer Reading List 2014
Jun 08, 2014What philosophers, philosophies, or philosophical issues would you like to read up on over the summer?
What's on your summer reading list for 2014?
17 April 2014
Every year, we do a special program called the Summer Reading List. As we're preparing for this year's show, we want to know what YOU, our fans and listeners, are planning to read this year.
Are there some new books you've been itching to get your hands on? Any old favorites you love to return to again and again? Are you more of a fiction or nonfiction type of reader? Do you have any recommendations for our philosophically-inclined audience?
Share your thoughts with us here, and maybe we'll ask you to join John and Ken on the air to talk about what's on your list!
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Related Shows
Summer Reading List 2014
Jun 08, 2014What philosophers, philosophies, or philosophical issues would you like to read up on over the summer?
Blog Archive
Why do some people have a strange desire to do weird things for no (good) reason? There's something fascinating about kids who eat laundry soap as part of a “challenge,” or people who deliberately... Read more
Making a better world would be a great thing—but do we need philosophers to help us do that? Famously (or infamously), not all philosophers have been such great people. So are they the folks we... Read more
In her time—the 4th century CE—Hypatia was one of the most famous philosophers in Alexandria, and indeed in the ancient world. She studied and taught mathematics,... Read more
Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating ideas, from Mexica ("Aztec") and Mayan thought to Sor Juana’s feminism and Emilio Uranga’s existentialism... Read more
Your friendly neighborhood Senior Prodcuer here, once again stepping out from behind the mixing board to bring you some bonus content from this week's 17th (!) annual Summer Reading special.... Read more
Gender is a controversial topic these days. To some, gender is an oppressive system designed to keep women down: people go around saying "girls are made of sugar and spice and boys are made of... Read more
Fascism is on the rise, new infectious diseases keep cropping up, and we’re on the verge of environmental collapse: how on earth could art possibly save us? The arts are may be nice distraction,... Read more
Some say the world is full of contradictions, like “parting is such sweet sorrow.” Parting is sweet, but parting is also sad; and sweetness and sadness are opposites. But logicians would say that... Read more
Our minds are amazing prediction machines—and sometimes they can even make their predictions come true!
Does reading that strike you as something out of The Secret—like if you... Read more
Derek Parfit was a really interesting thinker when it came to identity and the self. He had a particularly cool thought experiment involving tele-transportation.
Suppose you’re on your... Read more
When philosophers talk about perception, they tend to focus on what we see and hear, and rarely on what we smell. But olfaction is a strange sense that deserves greater philosophical scrutiny. For... Read more
A caller in this week's episode nominated "Women Talking" for a Dionysus Award. Guest co-host Jeremy Sabol takes that as a springboard to blog about movies and... Read more
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This week we’re asking why we should trust science—which may sound like a weird question. After all, why would we doubt the method that helps us build bridges and skyscrapers, formulate life... Read more
Following up on last year's not-so-new experiment, here's a little behind-the-scenes look into the brief audio montages (produced... Read more
This week we’re asking what it’s... Read more
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"The World According to Proust."
... Read more
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Some might think there are not enough leaders like that... Read more
This week we're thinking about the British Liberal tradition and its relationship to colonialism and self-government. Classical Liberal thinkers, like John Locke and John Stuart Mill, held that... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Collective Action and Climate Change. With floods and fires getting more frequent and intense, and with the summer just ended shattering heat records around the... Read more
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This week we're asking whether it's rational to be optimistic—which seems like bit of a crazy question if you've been reading the news lately. After all, what could possibly justify the belief... Read more
This week we're thinking about the Changing Face of Antisemitism—a program recorded last month at the Stanford Humanities Center for our first live, in-person event in 2-1/2 years.
... Read more
Comments (7)
Devon
Saturday, April 19, 2014 -- 5:00 PM
In the spirit of today'sIn the spirit of today's broadcast of our program on Conspiracy Theories, I have just ordered what's sure to be an exemplar of music scholarsip, Come Ye Masters of War: The Bob Dylan Conspiracy by one Robert Louis O'Brien.
Dabrain88
Monday, April 21, 2014 -- 5:00 PM
1. Anarchism : a very short1. Anarchism : a very short introduction by Colin Ward
2.Nietzsche:Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist by Walter Kaufmann
3.Nietzsche: Human , All too Human
4.The transhumanist reader by Max More
5. Always running by luis J. Rodriguez
6. The history of western philosophy by Bertrand Russell
a.j.moses
Sunday, April 27, 2014 -- 5:00 PM
read this! A CORNER OF THEread this! A CORNER OF THE VEIL by Laurence Cosse. A "causuit" priest is given Proof of God! A delightful (emphasis on the light) French novel. See the reactions of the honest, the government and the church. Like a delicious glass of champagne, this novel is wry, dry, kind and wickedly delicious.
Tim Smith
Monday, April 28, 2014 -- 5:00 PM
-Backsliding: Understanding-Backsliding: Understanding Weakness of Will by Alfred Mele - I'm going to read this against my better judgment.
-Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis - as soon as my turn comes up in the library queue - currently 356th in line...summer
-The Language of Mathematics: Making the Invisible Visible by Keith Devlin - Keith Devlin is cool.
-The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics by Leonard Susskind
-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - saw the movie on a whim despite a so so tomatometer and was very impressed... can't wait for this...
-Trusting What You're Told: How Children Learn from Others by Paul Harris
-Your Life is a Joke: 12 Ways to Go from Ha Ha to Aha! by Adam Christing - I know... I'm shallow.
Laura Maguire
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 -- 5:00 PM
356th in line!! Maybe next356th in line!! Maybe next summer...
universoulwitness
Thursday, May 22, 2014 -- 5:00 PM
Just finished "Good Calories,Just finished "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. Well written and full of "the controversial science of diet and health.
Next is "Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand" by Leonard Piekoff. Read "Atlas Shrugged" last year and "The Fountainhead" the year before. I'm a true convert and now should delve deeper.
I have been rereading and taking notes of "Socrates to Sarte: A history of Philosophy" by Samuel Enoch Stumpf. I found this to be quite excellent (maybe because it is rather short considering). I purchased "The Oxford Guide of Philosphy" but that thing is like 1,000 pages where as Stumpf's is 500.
I plan on rereading Niezstche's "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". One of my favorite motivational stories of the greatness of Man. Uber cool....
I am also a huge Trekkie so I found a book that peers into the philosophical ideas found in the famous "Star Trek" franchise. A collection of essays from renowned professional philosophers - 21 in fact. Should be a fun read! "Star Trek and Philosohpy: The Wrath of Kant"
I started "The Ringing Cedar" series last year and will continue reading book 4 and 5 this year, The first book "Anastasia", is a true account of a Russian merchant who came across a recluse young girl, deep in the forests of Siberia. Living her whole life among wild nature, she share's her ideas and shows her special powers to a spiritual lax businessman. A great and provocative series, if not a little crazy. Not sure how I feel about all the things she says, but nonetheless gets the mind thinking.
If I finish all the above I have Plato's "Republic" to finally read.
One of my favorite books last year was Leonard Peikoff's "The DIM Hypothesis: Why the lights of the West are going out" Heady but very much recommended.
I will also have to look into some what is recommended here.
Guest
Tuesday, August 16, 2016 -- 5:00 PM
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