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Podcast: Context with Brad Harris
Episode: The Closing of the American Mind, by Allan Bloom
Pub date: 2019-05-02

Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind, published in 1987, became one of the most influential books of the last 50 years by instigating a battle over the soul of the American University that’s been raging ever since.

The book sold millions of copies, becoming a powerful weapon in Bloom’s fight against what he identified as a morally and intellectually crippling form of relativism infecting America’s educational system. Allan Bloom sought to remind us that the goal of education is not to become open to all ideas, but to cultivate the search for the best ideas.

This episode was supported by KiwiCo, reimagining the way kids play and learn: https://kiwico.com/context

To access bonus episodes and all regular episodes ad-free: https://www.patreon.com/context

Learn more at https://bradharris.com

 

 

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Podcast: Context with Brad Harris
Episode: The Two Cultures, by C. P. Snow
Episode pub date: 2018-11-21

The Two Cultures by C. P. Snow was one of the most influential lectures of the 20th century, triggering an intense epistemological debate within higher education regarding the status of science that has persisted to this day. The main theme of Snow’s lecture was to raise alarm about the growing knowledge gap between modern society’s scientists and everyone else, and to reinvigorate respect for science among cultural elites who were increasingly dismissive of it.

Support Context at https://www.patreon.com/context

Learn more at https://bradharris.com

 

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Brad Harris, Historian, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

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Podcast: Context with Brad Harris
Episode: Scientific Culture and the Making of the Industrial West, by Margaret Jacob
Episode pub date: 2018-07-10

Margaret Jacob’s book helps us understand how scientific knowledge became integrated into the culture of Europe through the 1600s and 1700s, and how the different social and political conditions of different European countries influenced the application of science to material prosperity. Jacob enhances our understanding of the role of science in the Industrial Revolution, and provides insight on why Britain’s distinctive approach to the utility of science enabled it to industrialize generations earlier than any other country.

You can support Context on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/context, or through https://bradharris.com.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Brad Harris, Historian, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

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Podcast: Context with Brad Harris
Episode: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas Kuhn
Episode pub date: 2018-07-24

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is a classic in the history of science, and one of the most cited books of the twentieth century. Thomas Kuhn insightfully challenged our assumptions about how science works, but his opaque style ignited a cultural movement energized around the misinterpretations that objective truth was an illusion and that scientific progress was just a conceit of western civilization. These ideas became pillars of postmodernism, and no one was more frustrated by the folly of their development than Thomas Kuhn himself. 

You can support Context on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/context, or through https://bradharris.com.

 

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Brad Harris, Historian, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

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