A comprehensive 52-week journey through the humanities, following Ted Gioia's curriculum. ## Overview - **Introduction**: [A Crash Course in the Humanities](https://jarango.com/2025/01/05/a-crash-course-in-the-humanities/) - **Curriculum Source**: [Ted Gioia's 12-Month Immersive Course](https://www.honest-broker.com/p/a-12-month-immersive-course-in-humanities) (Weeks 1-13, paywall) - **Format**: ~250 pages of reading per week, plus music, visual art, and film - **Jorge's Substack**: [Learning By Note](https://www.learningbynote.com/) --- ## Weekly Breakdown ### Week 1: Plato - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 1: Plato](https://jarango.com/2025/01/05/humanities-crash-course-week-1/) - **Readings**: Plato's dialogues (*Euthyphro*, *Apology*, *Crito*, *Phaedo*); *Republic* Books I and VII - **Music**: Bach's *Well-Tempered Clavier* (Book 1), *Goldberg Variations* - **Visual Art**: Jacques-Louis David, including *The Death of Socrates* - **Film**: *Forbidden Planet* (1956) - **Why It Matters Today**: The Allegory of the Cave anticipated filter bubbles and algorithmic reality—we're all trapped in caves of curated information - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The School of Life - Plato](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDiyQub6vpw) (8 min) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! Episode 4 - Plato](https://www.philosophizethis.org/podcast/plato-jl6ng) - Dissenting view: Karl Popper's *The Open Society and Its Enemies* critiques Plato as proto-totalitarian - **Deep Dive**: [The Trial of Socrates](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385260326) by I.F. Stone --- ### Week 2: Greek Poetry - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 2: Greek Poetry](https://jarango.com/2025/01/12/humanities-crash-course-week-2/) - **Readings**: *Greek Lyrics* (Lattimore translation)—Sappho, Alcaeus, Theógnis, Anácreon; *Odyssey* Books 1-10 - **Music**: Schubert's *Winterreise*; Joni Mitchell's *Blue* - **Visual Art**: Ancient Greek sculpture (Laocoön and His Sons) - **Film**: *The Night of the Hunter* (1955) - **Why It Matters Today**: Sappho invented personal expression in verse—the origin of every confessional Instagram caption - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Rick Steves' Europe - Ancient Greek Art](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rick+steves+ancient+greek+art) - Album: [Ancient Greek Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/ancient-greek-music/215152409) on Apple Music - Podcast: [In Our Time - Sappho](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07fv9fh) - **Deep Dive**: [The Complete Poems of Sappho](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1590306341) translated by Willis Barnstone --- ### Week 3: The Odyssey - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 3: The Odyssey](https://jarango.com/2025/01/19/humanities-crash-course-week-3/) - **Readings**: *Odyssey* Books 11-24 (completing the epic) - **Music**: Beethoven Symphonies 3, 5, and 9 - **Visual Art**: Greek architecture - **Film**: *Paris, Texas* (1984) - Wim Wenders - **Why It Matters Today**: The original "coming home" story—every road movie and hero's journey descends from Odysseus - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: Notre Dame lecture on Greek architecture - Audiobook: [The Odyssey read by Ian McKellen](https://www.amazon.com/dp/014305824X) (Fagles translation) - Essay: Tyler Cowen's [Economics of the Odyssey](https://www.econlib.org/library/columns/y2025/cowenodysseypart1.html) - **Deep Dive**: [The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671210408) by Nikos Kazantzakis --- ### Week 4: Confucius - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 4: Confucius](https://jarango.com/2025/01/26/humanities-crash-course-week-4/) - **Readings**: *The Analects* of Confucius (Annping Chin translation) - **Music**: *The Hugo Masters: An Anthology of Chinese Classical Music* - **Visual Art**: Ancient Chinese arts and crafts - **Film**: *Spring in a Small Town* (1948) - Fei Mu - **Why It Matters Today**: Confucian values of filial piety clash with modern individualism—but offer wisdom on social responsibility - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Prof. Christopher Rea on Spring in a Small Town](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=christopher+rea+spring+small+town) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! on Confucius](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - Modern take: *The Path* by Michael Puett applies Chinese philosophy to modern life - **Deep Dive**: [Confucius and the Analects](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195133064) by Bryan Van Norden --- ### Week 5: Eudaemonia - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 5: Eudaemonia](https://jarango.com/2025/02/02/humanities-crash-course-week-5/) - **Readings**: Aristotle's *Nicomachean Ethics* and *Poetics* - **Music**: Bach's Cello Suites - **Visual Art**: Bernini sculpture - **Film**: *My Dinner with Andre* (1981) - **Why It Matters Today**: "Happiness" means flourishing through virtue, not pleasure—counters hedonic treadmill culture - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Crash Course Philosophy - Aristotle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvtOWEXDIQ) - Podcast: [The Partially Examined Life on Aristotle's Ethics](https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/) - Lecture: [Gregory Sadler's Aristotle lectures](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4gvlOxpKKIgLAEfPrYrLtXL3W0I3xqHH) - **Deep Dive**: [Aristotle's Way](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594206511) by Edith Hall --- ### Week 6: Herodotus - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 6: Herodotus](https://jarango.com/2025/02/09/humanities-crash-course-week-6/) - **Readings**: *Histories* Books 1, 6, 7, 8; Plato's *Symposium* - **Music**: Nonesuch Explorer Series (Bali, Iran) - **Visual Art**: Persian art and architecture - **Film**: Documentary on René Girard - **Why It Matters Today**: The "father of history" invented narrative nonfiction—and demonstrates how little human conflict has changed - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver on Herodotus](https://www.thegreatcourses.com/professors/elizabeth-vandiver) - Documentary: [Civilizations: The Rest and the West](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=civilizations+documentary) - Podcast: [The History of Greece Podcast](https://thehistoryofgreece.com/) - **Deep Dive**: [The Landmark Herodotus](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400031141) edited by Robert Strassler --- ### Week 7: Gilgamesh - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 7: Gilgamesh](https://jarango.com/2025/02/16/humanities-crash-course-week-7/) - **Readings**: *Epic of Gilgamesh*; *Dhammapada* - **Music**: Stravinsky's *Rite of Spring*; Wagner Overtures - **Visual Art**: Ancient Mesopotamian art - **Film**: *Taste of Cherry* (1997) - Abbas Kiarostami - **Why It Matters Today**: Humanity's oldest story grapples with death anxiety—4,700 years later, we're still searching for immortality (see: longevity startups) - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Fazıl Say - Rite of Spring piano](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fazil+say+rite+of+spring) - Podcast: [Literature and History - Gilgamesh](https://literatureandhistory.com/) - Modern take: [Gilgamesh: A New English Version](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0743261690) by Stephen Mitchell - **Deep Dive**: [The Buried Book](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0805087257) by David Damrosch (discovery of Gilgamesh tablets) --- ### Week 8: Ancient Egypt - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 8: Ancient Egypt](https://jarango.com/2025/02/23/humanities-crash-course-week-8/) - **Readings**: *Writings From Ancient Egypt* (Toby Wilkinson anthology) - **Music**: Ali Farka Touré; Tinariwen - **Visual Art**: Ancient Egyptian art and architecture - **Film/Opera**: *Akhnaten* (Philip Glass, 2019 Met production) - **Why It Matters Today**: Egyptian scribes understood writing as immortality technology—prescient in our age of digital permanence - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [NOVA - Building the Great Pyramid](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nova+great+pyramid) - Music: [Tinariwen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/artist/3bZ6iBmyW1tAeOgRJmKlJt) - Podcast: [The History of Egypt Podcast](https://www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com/) - **Deep Dive**: [The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553384902) by Toby Wilkinson --- ### Week 9: The Bible - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 9: The Bible](https://jarango.com/2025/03/02/humanities-crash-course-week-9/) - **Readings**: Genesis, Ecclesiastes, the Four Gospels, Romans - **Music**: Handel's *Messiah*; Thomas Tallis; The Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn!" - **Visual Art**: Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel - **Film**: *The Last Temptation of Christ* (1988) - Scorsese - **Why It Matters Today**: Western culture's primary text—you can't understand art, law, or politics without biblical literacy - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The Bible Project](https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBibleProject) - excellent animated explainers - Podcast: [Exploring My Strange Bible with Tim Mackie](https://www.youtube.com/@bibleproject) - Dissenting view: Bart Ehrman's textual criticism in *Misquoting Jesus* - **Deep Dive**: [The Good Book](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0061989153) by A.C. Grayling (secular humanist Bible) --- ### Week 10: Greek Drama - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 10: Greek Drama](https://jarango.com/2025/03/09/humanities-crash-course-week-10/) - **Readings**: Sophocles (*Oedipus Rex*, *Oedipus at Colonus*, *Antigone*); Aeschylus (*Agamemnon*); Euripides (*The Bacchae*); Aristophanes (*Lysistrata*) - **Music**: Classic blues (Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson) - **Visual Art**: Greek pottery - **Film**: *The Conversation* (1974) - Francis Ford Coppola - **Why It Matters Today**: Oedipus invented tragic irony—the more you investigate, the more you implicate yourself (see: every whistleblower story) - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Crash Course Theater - Greek Drama](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaqoJGYVvpw) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Greek Tragedy](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005481t) - Modern adaptation: [The Burial at Thebes](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374530181) by Seamus Heaney (Antigone) - **Deep Dive**: [The Oresteia](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374227357) translated by Robert Fagles --- ### Week 11: Stoicism - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 11: Stoicism](https://jarango.com/2025/03/16/humanities-crash-course-week-11/) - **Readings**: Marcus Aurelius's *Meditations*; Epictetus's *Enchiridion*; Book of Job - **Music**: Haydn Symphonies 45, 94, 104 - **Visual Art**: Roman art and architecture - **Film**: *The Tree of Life* (2011) - Terrence Malick - **Why It Matters Today**: Stoicism is Silicon Valley's favorite philosophy—"control what you can" is startup gospel - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Daily Stoic channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/DailyStoic) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! - Marcus Aurelius](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - Book: [The Book of Job: A Biography](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691147590) by Mark Larrimore - **Deep Dive**: [A Guide to the Good Life](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195374614) by William Irvine --- ### Week 12: Suetonius - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 12: Suetonius](https://jarango.com/2025/03/23/humanities-crash-course-week-12/) - **Readings**: *The Twelve Caesars* - **Music**: Mozart Symphonies 39-41 - **Visual Art**: Botticelli, Caravaggio - **Film**: *Spartacus* (1960) - Stanley Kubrick - **Why It Matters Today**: Gossipy biographies of tyrants reveal why republics hand power to strongmen—disturbingly relevant - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Historia Civilis - Roman history](https://www.youtube.com/c/HistoriaCivilis) - Podcast: [The History of Rome](https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/) - Modern parallel: *How Democracies Die* by Levitsky and Ziblatt - **Deep Dive**: [SPQR](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1631492225) by Mary Beard --- ### Week 13: The Qur'an - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 13: The Qur'an](https://jarango.com/2025/03/30/humanities-crash-course-week-13/) - **Readings**: Fifteen surahs of the Qur'an; poems by Rumi - **Music**: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; Tunisian music - **Visual Art**: Islamic architecture (Hagia Sophia, Alhambra) - **Film**: *Being There* (1979) - **Why It Matters Today**: Islam positions itself as monotheism's culmination—understanding it is essential for global citizenship - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Hagia Sophia NOVA documentary](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hagia+sophia+nova) - TEDEd: [Geometry in Islamic art](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg1NpMmPv48) - Podcast: Bishop Barron on reading difficult religious texts - **Deep Dive**: [No god but God](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812982444) by Reza Aslan --- ### Week 14: Roman Decadence - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 14: Roman Decadence](https://jarango.com/2025/04/06/humanities-crash-course-week-14/) - **Readings**: *Aeneid* Books 1-2; Ovid's *Metamorphoses* Book 1; *Satyricon* (Trimalchio's Feast) - **Music**: Puccini and Verdi arias - **Visual Art**: Cave paintings (via Werner Herzog's documentary) - **Film**: *La Dolce Vita* (1960) - Fellini - **Why It Matters Today**: Decadent societies in decline look remarkably similar across millennia—warning signs for our own - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cave+of+forgotten+dreams) - Podcast: [Literature and History on Ovid](https://literatureandhistory.com/) - Modern parallel: *The Decadent Society* by Ross Douthat - **Deep Dive**: [Rubicon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400078970) by Tom Holland --- ### Week 15: Boethius - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 15: Boethius](https://jarango.com/2025/04/13/humanities-crash-course-week-15/) - **Readings**: *The Consolation of Philosophy* - **Music**: Schubert's String Quartet No. 14; Mozart's *Requiem* - **Visual Art**: Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, Pieter Bruegel the Elder - **Film**: *A Man for All Seasons* (1966) - **Why It Matters Today**: Philosophy as comfort for the condemned—how to think when everything is taken from you - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Apple Music Classical annotations for Requiem](https://music.apple.com/us/album/requiem-in-d-minor-k-626/1452516855) - Podcast: [History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps - Boethius](https://historyofphilosophy.net/) - Short intro: [Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0192854216) - **Deep Dive**: [The Consolation of Philosophy](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140447806) (Penguin Classics) --- ### Week 16: The Art of War - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 16: The Art of War](https://jarango.com/2025/04/20/humanities-crash-course-week-16/) - **Readings**: Sun Tzu's *The Art of War*; Lao Tzu's *Tao Te Ching* - **Music**: Beatles (*White Album*, *Sgt. Pepper's*, *Abbey Road*); Rolling Stones (*Exile on Main Street*) - **Visual Art**: Chinese architecture - **Film**: *In the Mood for Love* (2000) - Wong Kar-wai - **Why It Matters Today**: "Win without fighting" applies to business, relationships, and geopolitics—still the strategy bible - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The School of Life - Taoism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFb7Hxva5rg) - Book: Ursula K. Le Guin's [Tao Te Ching translation](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1590305469) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! on Chinese Philosophy](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - **Deep Dive**: [The Art of War](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1590302257) (Shambhala edition with commentary) --- ### Week 17: Curiositas - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 17: Curiositas](https://jarango.com/2025/04/27/humanities-crash-course-week-17/) - **Readings**: Apuleius's *The Golden Ass* - **Music**: Scott Joplin (Previn/Perlman recordings) - **Visual Art**: Van Gogh - **Film**: *EO* (2022) - Jerzy Skolimowski - **Why It Matters Today**: "Curiositas" = doomscrolling, clickbait, reckless experimentation; "studiositas" = disciplined learning - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [National Gallery lecture on Van Gogh](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=national+gallery+van+gogh) - Podcast: [Literature and History on The Golden Ass](https://literatureandhistory.com/) - Modern parallel: *Amusing Ourselves to Death* by Neil Postman - **Deep Dive**: [The Golden Ass](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140435905) (Penguin Classics) --- ### Week 18: 1,001 Nights - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 18: 1,001 Nights](https://jarango.com/2025/05/04/humanities-crash-course-week-18/) - **Readings**: Five stories from *One Thousand and One Nights* (Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad, The Three Apples, The Fisherman and the Jinni) - **Music**: Tchaikovsky ballets; Rimsky-Korsakov's *Scheherazade* - **Visual Art**: Aboriginal Australian art - **Film**: *The Thief of Bagdad* (1940) - **Why It Matters Today**: These escapist fantasies about poor people gaining wealth are the ancestors of every lottery commercial - **Quick Recommendations**: - Music: [Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade](https://open.spotify.com/album/5IWk7Ly2dNnYnYCbCzXiGS) - Podcast: [In Our Time - 1001 Nights](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ttjjd) - Modern retelling: *The Wrath and the Dawn* by Renée Ahdieh - **Deep Dive**: [The Arabian Nights](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393331660) (Norton Critical Edition) --- ### Week 19: Bhagavad Gita - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 19: Bhagavad Gita](https://jarango.com/2025/05/11/humanities-crash-course-week-19/) - **Readings**: *Bhagavad Gita*; Saint Augustine's *Confessions* (first two chapters); Rule of Saint Benedict - **Music**: Gregorian chants - **Visual Art**: Fra Angelico, Giotto - **Film**: *On the Waterfront* (1954) - **Why It Matters Today**: "Act without attachment to outcomes" = mindfulness before mindfulness was cool - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The School of Life - The Bhagavad Gita](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=school+of+life+bhagavad+gita) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! on Indian Philosophy](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - Translation: [The Bhagavad Gita](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1586380192) translated by Eknath Easwaran - **Deep Dive**: [The Bhagavad Gita: A Biography](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691139962) by Richard H. Davis --- ### Week 20: Confessions - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 20: Confessions](https://jarango.com/2025/05/18/humanities-crash-course-week-20/) - **Readings**: Saint Augustine's *Confessions* (complete) - **Music**: Bach's *St Matthew Passion* - **Visual Art**: Bayeux Tapestry - **Film**: *The Seventh Seal* (1957) - Ingmar Bergman - **Why It Matters Today**: The first autobiography—Augustine invented confessional writing that now dominates social media - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Bayeux Museum online exploration](https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/discover-the-bayeux-tapestry/explore-online/) - Podcast: [History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps - Augustine](https://historyofphilosophy.net/) - Modern memoir: *Confessions of a Philosopher* by Bryan Magee - **Deep Dive**: [Augustine: A New Biography](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060750685) by James J. O'Donnell --- ### Week 21: Middle English - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 21: Middle English](https://jarango.com/2025/05/25/humanities-crash-course-week-21/) - **Readings**: Chaucer's *The Canterbury Tales* (selected); Malory's *Le Morte D'Arthur* (Books 13-15) - **Music**: Beethoven's late string quartets (12-14) - **Visual Art**: Pre-Raphaelite painters - **Film**: *Excalibur* (1981) - John Boorman - **Why It Matters Today**: Medieval lit feels dated—but Chaucer's satirical portraits of everyday people are eternally relatable - **Quick Recommendations**: - Audiobook: [Canterbury Tales audiobook](https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Canterbury-Tales-Audiobook/B002V5D2VS) helps with Middle English - YouTube: [Monty Python and the Holy Grail](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=holy+grail+clips) for comedic Arthurian context - Podcast: [In Our Time - Chaucer](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00548d1) - **Deep Dive**: [The Once and Future King](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0441627404) by T.H. White --- ### Week 22: African Epics - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 22: African Epics](https://jarango.com/2025/06/01/humanities-crash-course-week-22/) - **Readings**: *The Mwindo Epic*; *Epic of Sundiata* - **Music**: Fela Kuti (*Coffin for Head of State*, *Zombie*) - **Visual Art**: African sculpture and masks - **Film**: *Touki Bouki* (1973) - Djibril Diop Mambéty - **Why It Matters Today**: Oral tradition emphasizes community authorship—these stories belong to peoples, not individuals - **Quick Recommendations**: - Music: [Fela Kuti on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/artist/0FPtLN2RLPSfCbSNLpCu7N) - Album: Talking Heads' *Remain in Light* (Fela influence) - Documentary: *Finding Fela* (2014) - **Deep Dive**: [Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali](https://www.amazon.com/dp/103590599X) by D.T. Niane --- ### Week 23: Romantic Love - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 23: Romantic Love](https://jarango.com/2025/06/08/humanities-crash-course-week-23/) - **Readings**: *Letters of Abelard and Heloise* - **Music**: Monteverdi madrigals - **Visual Art**: Gothic cathedrals (Notre Dame, Chartres, Cologne) - **Film**: *Brief Encounter* (1945) - David Lean - **Why It Matters Today**: Before Romeo and Juliet, these were the prototypical star-crossed lovers—with surprisingly modern candor - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Virtual tours of Notre Dame](https://www.friendsofnotredamedeparis.org/virtual-tour-notre-dame/) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Abelard and Heloise](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007728s) - Modern parallel: *Love in the Time of Cholera* by García Márquez - **Deep Dive**: [The Letters of Abelard and Heloise](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140448993) (Penguin Classics) --- ### Week 24: Divine Love - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 24: Divine Love](https://jarango.com/2025/06/15/humanities-crash-course-week-24/) - **Readings**: Dante's *La Vita Nuova*; *Divine Comedy: Inferno* - **Music**: Minimalist masterpieces (Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass) - **Visual Art**: The Ghent Altarpiece - **Film**: *The Phoenician Scheme* (2025) - Wes Anderson - **Why It Matters Today**: Dante's Hell is cold, not hot—Satan trapped by his own ego, chilling himself through futile escape attempts - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Ghent Altarpiece explained](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ghent+altarpiece+explained) - Podcast: [100 Days of Dante podcast](https://100daysofdante.com/) - Modern take: *Inferno* by Dan Brown (guilty pleasure) - **Deep Dive**: [Dante: The Poet, the Political Thinker, the Man](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400077818) by Barbara Reynolds --- ### Week 25: The Divine Comedy - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 25: The Divine Comedy](https://jarango.com/2025/06/22/humanities-crash-course-week-25/) - **Readings**: Dante's *Divine Comedy: Purgatorio* and *Paradiso* - **Music**: Bach's *Mass in B Minor* - **Visual Art**: Native American art - **Film**: *The Mission* (1986) - **Why It Matters Today**: The journey from crisis to transcendence—a medieval roadmap for midlife redemption - **Quick Recommendations**: - Translation comparison: John Ciardi (rhythm) vs. Mark Musa (clarity) - YouTube: [Divine Comedy animated overview](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=divine+comedy+animated) - Podcast: [Dante's Commedia - The Great Courses](https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/dantes-divine-comedy) - **Deep Dive**: [Dante: Inferno](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385496982) illustrated by Gustave Doré --- ### Week 26: Shakespeare I - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 26: Shakespeare I](https://jarango.com/2025/06/29/humanities-crash-course-week-26/) - **Readings**: *Hamlet*, *Macbeth*, *King Lear* - **Music**: Berlioz's *Symphonie Fantastique*; Ellington/Strayhorn's *Such Sweet Thunder* - **Visual Art**: Titian - **Film**: YouTube performance of *King Lear* with Laurence Olivier - **Why It Matters Today**: Shakespeare invented modern psychology—every therapy session owes something to Hamlet's self-reflection - **Quick Recommendations**: - App: [Shakespeare Pro](https://www.playshakespeare.com/shakespeare-pro-app) for enhanced reading - YouTube: [King Lear with Laurence Olivier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdn07wgUrno) - Podcast: [No Sweat Shakespeare](https://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/blog/category/podcasts/) - **Deep Dive**: [Will in the World](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393352501) by Stephen Greenblatt --- ### Week 27: Shakespeare II - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 27: Shakespeare II](https://jarango.com/2025/07/06/humanities-crash-course-week-27/) - **Readings**: *Romeo and Juliet*, *A Midsummer Night's Dream*, *The Tempest* - **Music**: Bernstein/Sondheim's *West Side Story*; Mendelssohn's *A Midsummer Night's Dream* - **Visual Art**: Thomas Gainsborough's *The Blue Boy* - **Film**: *Ran* (1985) - Akira Kurosawa - **Why It Matters Today**: Shakespeare's meta-theatrical tricks in *The Tempest*—art commenting on art—feel remarkably postmodern - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [1960s Midsummer Night's Dream with Judi Dench](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=midsummer+night's+dream+1968) - Film: *West Side Story* (2021) - Spielberg remake - Podcast: [Shakespeare Unlimited](https://www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/) - **Deep Dive**: [Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human](https://www.amazon.com/dp/157322751X) by Harold Bloom --- ### Week 28: Renaissance Geniuses - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 28: Renaissance Geniuses](https://jarango.com/2025/07/13/humanities-crash-course-week-28/) - **Readings**: Benvenuto Cellini's *Autobiography* (Chapters 1-18); Giorgio Vasari's *Lives of the Artists* - **Music**: Josquin Desprez, Guillaume de Machaut - **Visual Art**: Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks - **Film**: None specified this week - **Why It Matters Today**: The Renaissance "genius" archetype—polymaths who excelled across fields—remains our ideal creative figure - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Leonardo da Vinci documentary](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=leonardo+da+vinci+documentary) - Book: [Leonardo da Vinci](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501139169) by Walter Isaacson - Online: [Leonardo's Notebooks digitized](https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=arundel_ms_263_f001r) - **Deep Dive**: [Vasari's Lives of the Artists](https://www.amazon.com/dp/019283410X) (Oxford World's Classics) --- ### Week 29: Shakespeare III - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 29: Shakespeare III](https://jarango.com/2025/07/20/humanities-crash-course-week-29/) - **Readings**: *Othello*, *Julius Caesar*, *The Merchant of Venice* - **Music**: John Dowland (Renaissance lute music) - **Visual Art**: Pre-Columbian architecture - **Film**: *Do the Right Thing* (1989) - Spike Lee - **Why It Matters Today**: Othello and Shylock are powerful outsiders undone by prejudice—racism and antisemitism remain tragically current - **Quick Recommendations**: - Film: *Throne of Blood* (1957) - Kurosawa's Macbeth - Music: [John Dowland on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/artist/7K4eJJSvmRxNQrDvMLLqXi) - Modern take: *Othello* at the National Theatre (YouTube) - **Deep Dive**: [1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060088745) by James Shapiro --- ### Week 30: Self-deception - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 30: Self-deception](https://jarango.com/2025/07/27/humanities-crash-course-week-30/) - **Readings**: Cervantes's *Don Quixote* (Chapters 1-5); Molière's *Tartuffe* - **Music**: Granados and Albéniz piano music - **Visual Art**: El Greco, Velázquez, Goya - **Film**: *Viridiana* (1961) - Luis Buñuel - **Why It Matters Today**: Don Quixote warns against letting fantasies overtake reality—applicable to every conspiracy theory and filter bubble - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Prado Museum virtual tour](https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-works) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Don Quixote](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00q4s4v) - Modern parallel: *The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat* by Oliver Sacks - **Deep Dive**: [Don Quixote](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060934344) translated by Edith Grossman --- ### Week 31: Political Theory - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 31: Political Theory](https://jarango.com/2025/08/03/humanities-crash-course-week-31/) - **Readings**: Rousseau's *The Social Contract*; Machiavelli's *The Prince* - **Music**: Mozart piano concertos - **Visual Art**: Auguste Rodin sculptures - **Film**: Not specified - **Why It Matters Today**: The "general will" vs. cynical power politics—this tension drives every democracy vs. authoritarianism debate - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The School of Life - Machiavelli](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTQlnmWCPgA) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! on Rousseau](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - Modern take: *The Prince* by Harvey Mansfield (with commentary) - **Deep Dive**: [Rousseau: A Free Community of Equals](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199581495) by Frederick Neuhouser --- ### Week 32: Voltaire - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 32: Voltaire](https://jarango.com/2025/08/10/humanities-crash-course-week-32/) - **Readings**: Rousseau's *Confessions* (Book 1); Voltaire's *Candide* - **Music**: Ravel and Debussy - **Visual Art**: French Impressionist painters - **Film**: *Mon Oncle* (1958) - Jacques Tati - **Why It Matters Today**: Voltaire's ironic smirk at optimism feels like the godfather of modern cynicism and "dunk" culture - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The School of Life - Voltaire](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=school+of+life+voltaire) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Candide](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00776yv) - Modern parallel: *Voltaire's Bastards* by John Ralston Saul - **Deep Dive**: [Candide and Other Stories](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199535612) (Oxford World's Classics) --- ### Week 33: Rational Foundations for Morality - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 33: Rational Foundations for Morality](https://jarango.com/2025/08/17/humanities-crash-course-week-33/) - **Readings**: Spinoza's *Ethics* (Book 1); Descartes's *Discourse on the Method*; Kant's *Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals* - **Music**: Mozart operas - **Visual Art**: Japanese architecture - **Film**: Not specified - **Why It Matters Today**: "I think, therefore I am" launched modern philosophy—Kant's categorical imperative remains our ethical baseline - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Crash Course Philosophy - Kant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bIys6JoEDw) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! on Descartes and Kant](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - Short intro: *Kant: A Very Short Introduction* by Roger Scruton - **Deep Dive**: [The Critique of Pure Reason](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140447474) - the big one --- ### Week 34: Sturm und Drang - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 34: Sturm und Drang](https://jarango.com/2025/08/24/humanities-crash-course-week-34/) - **Readings**: Goethe's *The Sorrows of Young Werther* - **Music**: Brahms symphonies - **Visual Art**: Not specified - **Film**: *Fitzcarraldo* (1982) - Werner Herzog - **Why It Matters Today**: Werther caused copycat suicides—literature's power to influence behavior, for better or worse - **Quick Recommendations**: - Documentary: [Burden of Dreams](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=burden+of+dreams+herzog) (making of Fitzcarraldo) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Goethe](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008h2p3) - Modern parallel: *Norwegian Wood* by Haruki Murakami - **Deep Dive**: [Goethe: Life as a Work of Art](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1631494724) by Rüdiger Safranski --- ### Week 35: Romanticism - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 35: Romanticism](https://jarango.com/2025/08/31/humanities-crash-course-week-35/) - **Readings**: Romantic poetry anthology—Keats, Wordsworth, Blake, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley (*Rime of the Ancient Mariner*) - **Music**: Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral"); Chopin's Nocturnes and Preludes - **Visual Art**: Caspar David Friedrich - **Film**: *Network* (1976) - **Why It Matters Today**: The Romantics invented nature worship and authenticity culture—ancestors of every #vanlife influencer - **Quick Recommendations**: - Music: Iron Maiden's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (inspired by the poem) - YouTube: [Caspar David Friedrich documentary](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=caspar+david+friedrich) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Romantic Poets](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r77fg) - **Deep Dive**: [The Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140435689) --- ### Week 36: Revolutions - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 36: Revolutions](https://jarango.com/2025/09/07/humanities-crash-course-week-36/) - **Readings**: U.S. Declaration of Independence; U.S. Constitution; Marx & Engels's *Communist Manifesto*; Wollstonecraft's *A Vindication of the Rights of Woman* - **Music**: Not specified - **Visual Art**: Not specified - **Film**: Not specified - **Why It Matters Today**: Revolutionary documents shaped the modern world—understanding their logic is essential for citizenship - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Crash Course - The French Revolution](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=crash+course+french+revolution) - Podcast: [Revolutions Podcast](https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/revolutions_podcast/) - Primary source: All four texts are freely available online - **Deep Dive**: [A Vindication of the Rights of Woman](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486290360) annotated edition --- ### Week 37: Jane Austen - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 37: Jane Austen](https://jarango.com/2025/09/14/humanities-crash-course-week-37/) - **Readings**: *Pride and Prejudice* - **Music**: Ella Fitzgerald singing Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern - **Visual Art**: Textile arts - **Film**: *The 39 Steps* (1935) - Alfred Hitchcock - **Why It Matters Today**: Austen's "stupid character" reveals how prejudice distorts perception—applicable to every social media misunderstanding - **Quick Recommendations**: - Film: BBC's *Pride and Prejudice* (1995) with Colin Firth - Podcast: [The Austen Chat podcast](https://www.austenchat.com/) - YouTube: [Crash Course Literature - Pride and Prejudice](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=crash+course+pride+and+prejudice) - **Deep Dive**: [Jane Austen: A Life](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679446281) by Claire Tomalin --- ### Week 38: Emergence - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 38: Emergence](https://jarango.com/2025/09/21/humanities-crash-course-week-38/) - **Readings**: John Stuart Mill's *On Liberty*; Darwin's *On the Origin of Species* - **Music**: Not specified - **Visual Art**: Not specified - **Film**: Not specified - **Why It Matters Today**: Mill's "harm principle" and Darwin's evolution by natural selection—foundations of liberalism and modern biology - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [Crash Course - Natural Selection](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=crash+course+natural+selection) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! on John Stuart Mill](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - Modern application: *The Origin of Species* graphic novel adaptation - **Deep Dive**: [Darwin: Portrait of a Genius](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143123912) by Paul Johnson --- ### Week 39: Gothic Horror - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 39: Gothic Horror](https://jarango.com/2025/09/28/humanities-crash-course-week-39/) - **Readings**: Edgar Allan Poe (*The Raven*, *The Fall of the House of Usher*); Mary Shelley's *Frankenstein* - **Music**: Not specified - **Visual Art**: Not specified - **Film**: Not specified - **Why It Matters Today**: Frankenstein is the original tech cautionary tale—"move fast and break things" ends with pitchforks and torches - **Quick Recommendations**: - Film: *Frankenstein* (1931) or *Bride of Frankenstein* (1935) - YouTube: [The School of Life - Mary Shelley](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=school+of+life+frankenstein) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Frankenstein](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ptfsp) - **Deep Dive**: [Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262533278) --- ### Week 40: Good & Evil - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 40: Good & Evil](https://jarango.com/2025/10/05/humanities-crash-course-week-40/) - **Readings**: Tolstoy's *The Death of Ivan Ilyich*; Nietzsche's *Beyond Good and Evil* - **Music**: Shostakovich Symphony 5; Prokofiev Piano Concerto 3; Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3 - **Visual Art**: Bauhaus - **Film**: Not specified - **Why It Matters Today**: Ivan Ilyich's deathbed reckoning—have you lived authentically?—is the ultimate midlife crisis text - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The School of Life - Nietzsche](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHWbZmg2hzU) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! on Nietzsche](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - Film: *Last Temptation* parallels Ivan Ilyich's spiritual crisis - **Deep Dive**: [Nietzsche on Morality](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0415856809) by Brian Leiter --- ### Week 41: What Moves Us - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 41: What Moves Us](https://jarango.com/2025/10/12/humanities-crash-course-week-41/) - **Readings**: Proust's *In Search of Lost Time* (Overture from *Swann's Way*); Henry James's *The Spoils of Poynton* - **Music**: Mahler Symphonies 2, 5, 9 - **Visual Art**: Henri Matisse - **Film**: *The Third Man* (1949) - **Why It Matters Today**: Proust invented involuntary memory—the madeleine moment explains why smells trigger nostalgia - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [de Botton on Proust](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=alain+de+botton+proust) - Book: *How Proust Can Change Your Life* by Alain de Botton - Film: *The Third Man* is perfect noir - **Deep Dive**: [Swann's Way](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0142437964) (Lydia Davis translation) --- ### Week 42: Evil Flowers - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 42: Evil Flowers](https://jarango.com/2025/10/19/humanities-crash-course-week-42/) - **Readings**: Baudelaire's *The Flowers of Evil*; Flaubert's *A Simple Heart* - **Music**: Not specified - **Visual Art**: Not specified - **Film**: Not specified - **Why It Matters Today**: Baudelaire found beauty in urban squalor—the aesthetic ancestor of every moody city photography account - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The School of Life - Baudelaire](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=school+of+life+baudelaire) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Baudelaire](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0072vwr) - Modern parallel: *Paris Spleen* by Baudelaire (prose poems) - **Deep Dive**: [The Flowers of Evil](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199535582) (bilingual edition) --- ### Week 43: Racial Injustice - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 43: Racial Injustice](https://jarango.com/2025/10/26/humanities-crash-course-week-43/) - **Readings**: W.E.B. Du Bois's *The Souls of Black Folk*; MLK's *Letter from Birmingham Jail*; Frederick Douglass's *Narrative* - **Music**: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday - **Visual Art**: Harlem Renaissance artists - **Film**: *To Kill a Mockingbird* (1962) - **Why It Matters Today**: Du Bois's "double consciousness" explains the burden of navigating spaces that devalue your identity - **Quick Recommendations**: - Primary source: [Letter from Birmingham Jail](https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html) (free online) - Documentary: *13th* by Ava DuVernay - Podcast: [Throughline - The Souls of Black Folk](https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510333/throughline) - **Deep Dive**: [The Autobiography of Malcolm X](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345350685) --- ### Week 44: Modernist Art - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 44: Modernist Art](https://jarango.com/2025/11/02/humanities-crash-course-week-44/) - **Readings**: Joyce's *Dubliners* ("The Dead"); *Ulysses* (Episode 1); Beckett's *Waiting for Godot* - **Music**: Traditional Irish and Scottish music - **Visual Art**: Pablo Picasso - **Film**: *Eraserhead* (1977) - David Lynch - **Why It Matters Today**: Godot's existential waiting is everyone doom-refreshing Twitter for news that never comes - **Quick Recommendations**: - Film: *Waiting for Godot* filmed performances on YouTube - Podcast: [Re:Joyce podcast on Ulysses](https://www.rereadjoyceproject.org/) - Short intro: *How to Read Joyce* by Derek Attridge - **Deep Dive**: [Ulysses](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679722769) annotated by Don Gifford --- ### Week 45: More Modernism - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 45: More Modernism](https://jarango.com/2025/11/09/humanities-crash-course-week-45/) - **Readings**: T.S. Eliot (*The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock*, *The Waste Land*); Virginia Woolf's *To the Lighthouse* - **Music**: Gershwin (*Rhapsody in Blue*, *An American in Paris*); Ella Fitzgerald sings Gershwin - **Visual Art**: Frida Kahlo, Edward Hopper - **Film**: *Raging Bull* (1980) - Scorsese - **Why It Matters Today**: Modernism's fragmentation reflects post-war disillusionment—The Waste Land is the original "everything is broken" - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The Waste Land explained](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=waste+land+explained) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Virginia Woolf](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b8xvm) - Tool: LLMapper for concept mapping complex texts - **Deep Dive**: [The Letters of T.S. Eliot](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300211856) Volume 1 --- ### Week 46: Freud - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 46: Freud](https://jarango.com/2025/11/16/humanities-crash-course-week-46/) - **Readings**: Freud's *An Outline of Psychoanalysis*; *Beyond the Pleasure Principle* - **Music**: Not specified - **Visual Art**: Not specified - **Film**: Sci-fi/horror/action film (not specified) - **Why It Matters Today**: Freud's ideas (Id, Ego, Superego) permeate pop psychology—even if clinical validity is disputed - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The School of Life - Freud](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQaqXK7z9LM) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! on Freud](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - Dissenting view: *Freud: The Making of an Illusion* by Frederick Crews - **Deep Dive**: [The Interpretation of Dreams](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465019773) --- ### Week 47: Short Fiction - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 47: Short Fiction](https://jarango.com/2025/11/23/humanities-crash-course-week-47/) - **Readings**: American short stories—O. Henry, Flannery O'Connor, Shirley Jackson (*The Lottery*), Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner (*The Sound and the Fury* excerpt), Ralph Ellison (*Invisible Man* excerpt) - **Music**: Not specified - **Visual Art**: Not specified - **Film**: Not specified - **Why It Matters Today**: "The Lottery" reveals how quickly communities enforce conformity through violence—social media pile-ons, anyone? - **Quick Recommendations**: - Short story: [The Lottery free online](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery) - Podcast: [Selected Shorts](https://www.selectedshorts.org/) - Collection: [The Best American Short Stories](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0547055323) - **Deep Dive**: [Invisible Man](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679732764) by Ralph Ellison --- ### Week 48: Borges - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 48: Borges](https://jarango.com/2025/11/30/humanities-crash-course-week-48/) - **Readings**: Kafka's *The Metamorphosis*; García Márquez's *One Hundred Years of Solitude* (Chapter 1); Borges's *Ficciones* - **Music**: Tango, Cumbia, Bossa Nova, Afro-Cuban, Reggae - **Visual Art**: Antoni Gaudí - **Film**: *The Godfather* (1972) - **Why It Matters Today**: Borges's "Library of Babel" predicted the internet—infinite information, mostly noise - **Quick Recommendations**: - Short story: [The Library of Babel online](https://sites.evergreen.edu/politicalshakespeares/wp-content/uploads/sites/226/2015/12/Borges-The-Library-of-Babel.pdf) - YouTube: [Borges documentary](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=borges+documentary) - Podcast: [In Our Time - Borges](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06b8vf9) - **Deep Dive**: [Borges: A Life](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143035568) by Edwin Williamson --- ### Week 49: Modern Times - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 49: Modern Times](https://jarango.com/2025/12/07/humanities-crash-course-week-49/) - **Readings**: Simone de Beauvoir's *The Second Sex* (Introduction, Chapter 1); Michel Foucault's "The Eye of Power" interview; René Girard interview - **Music**: Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan - **Visual Art**: Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol - **Film**: *Modern Times* (1936) - Charlie Chaplin - **Why It Matters Today**: Foucault's Panopticon anticipated surveillance capitalism—you're being watched, so you self-regulate - **Quick Recommendations**: - YouTube: [The School of Life - Foucault](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBJTeNTZtGU) - Podcast: [Entitled Opinions - René Girard interview](https://entitled-opinions.com/) - Book: [Wanting](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250262488) by Luke Burgis (Girard for beginners) - **Deep Dive**: [Discipline and Punish](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679752552) by Michel Foucault --- ### Week 50: Going Meta - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 50: Going Meta](https://jarango.com/2025/12/14/humanities-crash-course-week-50/) - **Readings**: Susan Sontag essays (*Notes on Camp*, *On Style*, *Against Interpretation*, *The Image-World*); Walter Benjamin's *The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction*; Ortega y Gasset's *The Dehumanization of Art* and *The Revolt of the Masses* (Chapters 6, 8) - **Music**: Motown, Hip-Hop - **Visual Art**: Classic photographers (Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Edward Weston) - **Film**: *Die Hard* (1988) - **Why It Matters Today**: Benjamin warned that reproduction destroys "aura"—now everything is a copy of a copy - **Quick Recommendations**: - Essay: [Against Interpretation free online](https://www.coldbacon.com/writing/sontag-againstinterpretation.html) - YouTube: [Benjamin's Aura explained](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=walter+benjamin+aura) - Podcast: [Philosophize This! on Frankfurt School](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - **Deep Dive**: [Against Interpretation and Other Essays](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312280866) by Susan Sontag --- ### Week 51: Brave New World - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 51: Brave New World](https://jarango.com/2025/12/21/humanities-crash-course-week-51/) - **Readings**: Aldous Huxley's *Brave New World* - **Music**: Electronic music (Jean-Michel Jarre) - **Visual Art**: Jean-Michel Basquiat - **Film**: *Blue Velvet* (1986) - David Lynch - **Why It Matters Today**: Huxley's dystopia of pleasure and distraction may be more accurate than Orwell's—we're amusing ourselves to death - **Quick Recommendations**: - Essay: Neil Postman's *Amusing Ourselves to Death* (Huxley vs. Orwell comparison) - YouTube: [Brave New World vs 1984](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=brave+new+world+vs+1984) - Film: *Brazil* (1985) - Terry Gilliam's dystopia - **Deep Dive**: [Brave New World Revisited](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060898526) by Aldous Huxley --- ### Week 52: Growing Up - **Post**: [Humanities Crash Course Week 52: Growing Up](https://jarango.com/2025/12/28/humanities-crash-course-week-52/) - **Readings**: Joan Didion's "The White Album"; Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild"; Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried"; David Foster Wallace's "The Awakening of My Interest in Advanced Tax" (*The Pale King*); Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book (Chapter 5) - **Music**: Stephen Sondheim (*Into the Woods*, *West Side Story*) - **Visual Art**: Leonardo da Vinci - **Film**: *Stand by Me* (1986) - **Why It Matters Today**: Maturity means responsibility—these texts explore how we find meaning through obligations to ourselves and others - **Quick Recommendations**: - Short story: [The Things They Carried excerpt](https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/04/books/the-things-they-carried.html) - Film: *Stand by Me* - perfect coming-of-age story - Podcast: [David Foster Wallace interview with Charlie Rose](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=david+foster+wallace+charlie+rose) - **Deep Dive**: [The White Album](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374532079) by Joan Didion --- ## Resources ### Jorge's Resources - **Blog**: [jarango.com](https://jarango.com) - **Substack**: [Learning By Note](https://www.learningbynote.com/) - **YouTube Playlist**: [Humanities Crash Course Videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKhfFBbVtFg&list=PLgqJsFpee80G2SN342rMQiF2iB2U5kyJ5) - **Book**: [Duly Noted](https://dulynoted.fyi/) (on personal knowledge management) ### Ted Gioia's Curriculum - [Weeks 1-13](https://www.honest-broker.com/p/a-12-month-immersive-course-in-humanities) (paywall) - [Weeks 14-26](https://www.honest-broker.com/p/a-12-month-immersive-course-in-humanities-ac2) (paywall) - [Weeks 27-39](https://www.honest-broker.com/p/can-you-really-learn-the-humanities) (paywall) - [Weeks 40-52](https://www.honest-broker.com/p/my-12-month-immersive-course-in-humanitiesthe) (paywall) ### Free Text Sources - [Standard Ebooks](https://standardebooks.org/) - beautiful free ebooks - [Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/) - classic texts - [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/) - books and more ### Recommended Podcasts - [Philosophize This!](https://www.philosophizethis.org/) - [In Our Time](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl) (BBC) - [Literature and History](https://literatureandhistory.com/) - [The Partially Examined Life](https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/) - [History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps](https://historyofphilosophy.net/) --- *Last updated: March 2026*