Alexander Schmid Podcast

In this episode, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I continue into Disc 2 of Square's "Final Fantasy VII". Specifically, we consider (a)  Cloud's plight, (b) Cid and Barret as leaders and the new team dynamics, (c) what the difference between the beginning of a game is and the middle-end of a game, and how those trajectories correlate to the beginning and middle-end of a life. Wes also makes a bold claim about Majora's Mask! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this episode of Night School, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I discuss Robert Frost's most famous poem: "The Road Not Taken". Specifically, we consider (a) two leading theories on how to read this poem, (b) how the method of amplifying (expanding on) a poem brings to light embedded information within it regardless of the reception of the poem, and (c) we conclude with a consideration of what is lost when something is gained. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this episode of Side-Quests, Wes and I are joined by Helen McCarthy (http://helenmccarthy.wordpress.com), a learned scholar of anime, accomplished craftsperson, and engaging conversationalist. We specifically consider the subjects of (a) Japanese Culture and its perception vs. its reality, (b) mythology and whether anime melds the mythologies of the East and West, and (c) then we focus in on the works of Hayao Miyazaki, his leading ideas, his sense of nostalgia, and ultimately consider what his masterpiece is. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this episode of Night School, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I conclude our Emily Dickinson unit with two poems of hers about death: "Because I could not stop for Death – (479)", and "A not admitting of the wound (1188)."    --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we (a) observe the divine house of Alkinoos, covered in gold and silver; (b) we enjoy the hospitality of the Phaiakians, and the wisdom of their leading men and women, and (c) learn about the history of the Phaiakians and the speed of their far-flung ships. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this episode, Ms. Sarah Miller, Mr. Wesley Schantz, and I delve into "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" Chs. 18-23. Specifically, we consider (a) the first challenge and the symbol of the dragon, (b) the Yule Ball and the discomfort of dawning "new robes" (roles), and (c) what is the role of transformation in these chapters, and is there a difference between superficial, aesthetic transformation and a deeper, more substantial one? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture we discuss (a) the interwoven olive bushes beneath which Odysseus spends his first night in Scheria, (b) the dream of Nausikaa and her mythological situation, poised before marriage (major theme), and (c) the interaction between the wild and savage appearing Odysseus and the courageous and taming Nausikaa! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we meet (a) Justinian and Romieu de Villenueve, (b) consider the concepts of just punishment and just reward, and (c) provide Beatrice/Dante's account for why (1) God became mortal, and (2) why God forgave rather than punished man for his death. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

On this episode of Night School, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I discuss two poems by Emily Dickinson: "There is no Frigate like a Book (1286)" and "The Poets light but Lamps — (930)". Specifically, we consider (a) classical images of the soul in "There is no Frigate,"(b) Christian and Greco-Roman imagery in "The Poets,", and (c) some analysis of the metempsychotic function of poetry. What is passed on through the poetic art? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this episode, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I consider (a) our new restricted character list and physical constraints and incarceration, (b) the new immediate threats (WEAPON) and remote threats (METEOR) with which we now must content, down one Cloud, and (c) how to move forward from the idyllic past into the terrible and terrifying present, full of potentially world-ending problems? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this episode of Recurrent Events, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I are joined by the wise Mr. Oscar Ortiz. Specifically, we talk about (a) the differences between teaching and leading as an administrator, (b) how glory and its pursuit relates to education, and (c) what it means to pursue greatness, and what a community based on such a pursuit might look like. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, I layout and give Beatrice's response to the following major questions from the Sphere of the Moon:    1)If heaven is perfect, and above the earth, it cannot be made of matter, but how do I, Dante, move in heaven if I have a body which is made of matter? (1-97-99)  2)Why does the moon appear to have dark spots if it is in heaven, and heaven is perfect? (2.49-51)  3)How do humans take what they see with their senses and then understand what they see with their intellects? (4.43-61)  4)What makes an oath unbreakable? What are the parts of an oath, and under what conditions may an oath be broken? (5.13-15)  5)If a vow is broken by the force of another, why would I be blamed for breaking the vow? (4.19-21)  6) Bonus: Why do souls not long for a higher place in paradise? (3.64-66)  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this episode of Recurrent Events, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I have the  pleasure to welcome Mr. David Oldham to talk to us. Specifically, we consider (a) the value of being a lifetime student as a teacher, (b) what is civic virtue and how does it relate to teaching, and (c) what is the highest pursuit of man, and how does it relate to teaching? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we (a) review the stories of Helen and Menelaos from Book IV (4), (b) we observe the Edenic/Paradisical nature of Kalypso's island home, and (c) we watch Odysseus restart his epic adventure knowing that much hardship awaits him. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this lecture, we consider (a) the story Helen tells Telemachos (and Menelaos) of once giving a disguised Odysseus a bath! And (b) then we hear Menelaos' sorrowful account of his capturing Proteus, The Old Man of the Sea! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this introductory lecture to Dante's "Paradiso", we consider (a) Dante's geocentric conception of the universe, (b) the difference between the (1) absolute will and (2) contingent will, and (c) consider the value of oaths and promises amongst the oath-breakers. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this episode of Night School, Mr. Wesley Schantz and I explore Emily Dickinson's "Publication – is the Auction (788)," "Fame is the one that does not stay — (1507)," "Fame is a fickle food (1702)", and conclude with the pointed "Fame is a bee. (1788)." We specifically consider (a) Dickinson's disparaging view of selling the work of the mind (art), (b) the tension between Christian monarchical symbolism and American democratic/capitalist value in Dickinson's work, and (c) the wistfulness inherent in fame and the poetic art. Alex also butchers the quote below. John 3:8 King James Version (KJV) "8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

On this episode of Consilience Conversations, Dr. Matt Roos and I discuss (a) the neuroscience behind giving vs. receiving, (b) how religious beliefs, practice, and experience relate to neuroscience and what we currently know, and (c) how humans naturally see the world socially and how that relates to conceptions of religion and well-being. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

In this fourth podcast on the 4th volume in the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," Ms. Sarah Miller, Mr. Wes Schantz, and I discuss chs. 15-17, and more specifically (a) the significance and relationship between Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; (b) the nature of Harry's heroism, (c) Hermione's developing social awareness, and (c) how does volume four figure within the series at large? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support

On this episode, Mr. Wes Schantz and I consider (a) the summoning of Weapon and to what extent "you" are summoned in the game; (b) what the relationship between Sephiroth, Jenova, and you is, and (c) what is the nature of Cloud's being, and Sephiroth's, and Jenova's, and how do they relate to Weapon? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexander-schmid9/support