Dec 18, 2020
Oct 24, 2020
In this complementary episode to the reading of ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich,’ Stephen Blackwood speaks with Dr Donna Orwin, professor of Russian literature at the University of Toronto. Dr Orwin provides context for Tolstoy and his world, and the two discuss the style, structure, and unfolding layers of meaning within...
Oct 15, 2020
In this first episode of a new series, Stephen Blackwood reads Leo Tolstoy’s classic novella, ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich.’ A masterful text from one of history’s great writers, it tells the story of a man whose fatal illness forces him to confront the shallow assumptions of his life and the slowly encroaching,...
Aug 30, 2020
How does one cultivate creativity and independence of mind? Stephen Blackwood talks to physicist and entrepreneur Stephen Wolfram about his precocious and largely self-educated early life and his ascent to become a world-class scientist, an innovator in computational theory, and the founder of a global company....
Aug 3, 2020
Stephen Blackwood talks with Cal Newport, writer and professor of computer science. They begin by reflecting on the historically unparalleled challenges and distractions of the digital age. They then discuss strategies to reclaim our mental autonomy, the generative power of non-instrumental thinking, and the...