Entitled Opinions (about Life and Literature)

A conversation with Scott Thomas Anderson, writer and producer of the documentary podcast series “Drinkers with Writing Problems”. Season 2 of Scott's podcast premiered on January 20, 2022. Songs played in this episode: “Moby Dick” by Glass Wave “Fat Angel” by Jefferson Airplane

Cynthia L. Haven is a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar and author of Czesław Miłosz: A California Life, from Berkeley’s Heyday Books and 2018’s Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard, the first-ever biography of the renowned French theorist. She has also published two previous books on Czesław Miłosz: An Invisible Rope: […]

Dr. Miles Osgood received his Ph.D. in English Literature from Harvard University, and he is currently a Lecturer in the Structured Liberal Education program at Stanford. He has designed and taught classes on Ulysses, modernist women writers, and global short fiction. In this episode, Dr. Osgood and Robert Harrison discuss the 1927 novel by Virginia […]

Dr. Chloe Summers Edmondson is a Lecturer in the Civic, Liberal, and Global Education program at Stanford. She received her PhD from Stanford in the French & Italian Department in 2020, and MA in Communication in 2014. Her research is situated at the crossroads of literary criticism, cultural history, and media studies, with a focus […]

Sophus Helle is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Freie Universität Berlin. He previously translated “The Epic of Gilgamesh” into Danish with his father. His English translation of the epic was recently published by Yale University Press. Songs in this episode: “Helen” by Glass Wave “Gilgamesh Blues” by Glass Wave

Markus Gabriel holds the chair in epistemology, modern, and contemporary philosophy at the University of Bonn, Germany, and also serves as the Director of its International Center for Philosophy. He works mainly in epistemology and metaphysics (ontology) drawing his inspirations from the history of philosophy (in particular, 19th century Post-Kantian philosophy, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein). He […]

This episode is a brief monologue by our host, Professor Robert Harrison. Songs in this episode: “Voodoo Child” by Jimi Hendrix “Present Tense” by Radiohead

Scott Thomas Anderson is a journalist whose work regularly appears in The San Francisco Chronicle and The Sacramento News & Review. He studied American Literature at the University of California at Davis, and while the bulk of his 15-year career has been primarily as a crime reporter, he’s recently started to balance that focus by […]

Joseph Cermatori is assistant professor of English at Skidmore College. He specializes in the fields of comparative literature, modern and contemporary drama, performance studies, and critical theory. Beyond his research in twentieth-century modernism, his scholarship encompasses the broad history of art and ideas in Western culture from 1600 to the present, focusing on the philosophical […]

Alex Rex Nielson is a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is the founding member of the UK band Trembling Bells, which recorded six albums before Alex went on to make four solo albums under the band name Alex Rex. Songs played in this episode: “Directing Hand- for PB”— drum solo by Alex Rex “Master” by Alex […]

A conversation with Thomas Woltz about landscape architecture. Thomas Woltz is the owner of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. Over the past two decades of practice Thomas and his team have infused narratives of the land into the places where people live, work, and play, engendering stewardship and inspiring connections between people and the natural […]

A monologue by Robert Harrison. Outro song: “The End” by The Doors

A conversation with Aqsa Ijaz about the Persian poet and Sufi mystic Rumi. Aqsa Ijaz is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University. She is a singer, translator, writer, book reviewer, and a literary scholar. Outro song: “dil miravad zidastam” by Aqsa Ijaz

A conversation with Bryan Cheong about the laws of thermodynamics. Bryan Cheong received his Bachelor of Science from Stanford University, with a degree in applied and computational mathematics. He then went on to receive a Masters degree in Materials Science, also from Stanford. Outro Song: “Pick Up The Pieces” by The Average White Band

A conversation with Professor Mark C. Taylor on the topic of his new book: Seeing Silence (University of Chicago Press, 2020). Mark C. Taylor is Professor of Religion at Columbia University and the Cluett Professor of Humanities emeritus at Williams College. Outro song: “Sword In Hand” by Madeleine Bouton

A conversation with Professor Thomas Harrison on the topic of his new book: Of Bridges: A Poetic and Philosophical Account (University of Chicago Press, 2021). Thomas Harrison is Professor of Italian at UCLA. Outro song: “Bold As Love” by Jimi Hendrix

A conversation with Professor Mark C. Taylor on the topic of his new book: Intervolution – Smart Bodies, Smart Things (Columbia University Press, 2020). Mark C. Taylor is Professor of Religion at Columbia University and the Cluett Professor of Humanities emeritus at Williams College. Outro song: “Soliloquio” by Alusa Fallax

A conversation with Professor Christy Wampole on the topic of her new book: Degenerative Realism: Novel and Nation in Twenty-First-Century France (Columbia University Press, 2020). Christy Wampole is Associate Professor of French at Princeton University. Outro song: “Coeur Bizarre” by La Féline

A brief monologue by Robert Harrison on Marcel Proust for the 150th anniversary of his birth on July 10, 1871. Outro song: “She's Not There” by The Zombies

A monologue by Robert Harrison.

Songs featured in this episode: “We Used To Know” by Jethro Tull” “We’re Going Wrong” by Cream “Handful of Hair” by Alex Rex “Annabel Lee” by Glass Wave

Before Entitled Opinions goes on hiatus, Robert Harrison wanted to share a few brief thoughts with you on time, death, and cosmos.

In this monologue professor Robert Harrison talks about human solarity in its various aspects. Music included in this show: La Nuit du Rat–Le Féline Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun–Pink Floyd Gimme Shelter–The Rolling Stones

In this recently recorded monologue, professor Robert Harrison discusses the sixteenth century Italian poem l'Orlando Furioso. Additionally, professor Harrison calls into question the anticipant revelatory power of literary works that belong to the past.

This week we offer a recording of a talk that was originally given by professor Robert Harrison in 2014, for the Stanford lecture series “Memory and the Arts”. Topics of discussion include: cultural memory, the enigma of beginnings, and special reference to Dylan Thomas' play “Under Milk Wood”.

With our recording studio at KZSU temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, professor Robert Harrison has decided to open the Entitled Opinions Happy Hour Bar, offering up some small shots of poetry, on the house! This Happy Hour (our second of the season) features a few choice lyrics from Jethro Tull, a British rock […]

This episode is a pre-recorded show that originally aired on March 4th, 2019 on Christopher Lydon’s “Open Source” podcast.In this conversation, Christopher Lydon and professor Robert Harrison discuss René Girard and his theory of mimetic desire. Additionally, professor Harrison also comments on social media, and recent advancements in biotechnology.

Professor Watkin is a Senior Lecturer in French Studies at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. At its broadest, his research explores how people make sense of the world, and how they interact with ideas and positions different from their own. His previous publications include: “Phenomenology or Deconstruction?”, “Difficult Atheism”, and “French Philosophy Today: New Figures […]

With our recording studio at KZSU temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, professor Robert Harrison has decided to open the Entitled Opinions Happy Hour Bar, offering up some small shots of poetry, on the house! We inaugurate our happy hour this week with a few choice lyrics from Jimi Hendrix. If you are interested […]

This show is a recording of an online meeting that was held on Sunday April 5th, 2020. In this discussion professor Robert Harrison speaks on Boccaccio's Decameron, with particular emphasis on the following novelle: Second Day, story #5; Third Day, story #1 and story #10; Fourth Day, story #5; Fifth Day story #9; Sixth Day, […]

In this episode, professor Robert Harrison reflects on the ways in which the present Coronavirus pandemic gives new resonance to Boccaccio’s Decameron, which was written in the immediate aftermath of the Black Death of 1348. This monologue was recorded from Robert’s home. It will be followed in a day or two by the recording of […]

In this episode, professor Harrison reflects on the symbolism of willows and their connection to thresholds. He includes discussions of Japanese willow stories, Algernon Blackwood, and poems by the pre-rafalite poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his sister Christina Rossetti.

Pau is a graduate student in the ILAC (Iberian and Latin American cultures) department at Stanford University. He recently submitted his dissertation, and he will be graduating this year (2019). Pau has studied Philosophy, History, Greek Tragedy and Cinema. He has published three books about his travel experiences and one on the relation between archaeology […]

Marisa Galvez is Associate Professor of French at Stanford University. She specializes in medieval literature and culture, especially the lyric and romance of Continental Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Her scholarship focuses on such topics as crusade, performance, and the European lyric tradition from the Middle Ages to the present day. Her forthcoming […]

In this episode filmmaker and author Werner Herzog discusses his remarkable book “Of Walking in Ice”, first published in 1978. The audio in this show is a recording of a live event that took place at Stanford University on May 7, 2019. Discussing this book with Herzog are professors Robert Harrison and Amir Eshel. Werner […]

In this episode professor Harrison reads from Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem “Time of Useful Consciousness”, published in 2012. Ferlinghetti turned 100 years old on March 24, 2019.

Kai Carlson-Wee grew up on the Minnesota prairie. He received his BA in English from the University of Minnesota and his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His first collection of poems, RAIL, was published by BOA Editions in 2018. He is currently the Jones Lecturer in Poetry at Stanford University. Kai […]

Kai Carlson-Wee grew up on the Minnesota prairie. He received his BA in English from the University of Minnesota and his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His first collection of poems, RAIL, was published by BOA Editions in 2018. He is currently the Jones Lecturer in Poetry at Stanford University. Kai […]

Note: This segment serves as a prologue to the extended conversation on the topic of “The American Road”, which will air next week. In this episode, Kai speaks about how he first became a poet, and he reads a few poems from his recently published book “Rail”. Kai Carlson-Wee grew up on the Minnesota […]

In this monologue professor Robert Harrison reflects on the mysteries of the color white, and its various symbolic associations.

Donnie Hasseltine is a U.S. Marine Corps officer currently stationed in the Bay Area with the 23d Marine Regiment who served in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, the Joint Military Intelligence College, the Naval War College, and recently completed an Executive Master in Cybersecurity at Brown University. […]

Jeremy Sabol has taught as a Lecturer in Stanford University’s Program in Structured Liberal Education (SLE) on and off since 2003. Jeremy majored in physics and literature as an undergraduate, then received his Ph.D. in French. His dissertation examined the conceptual role of fiction in Descartes' physics and philosophy, as well as the impact of […]

In this 20 minute conversation, two Stanford undergraduates, Evan Kanji and Sammy Potter, interview our host professor Harrison on the topic of love.Evan and Sammy are the hosts of the KZSU show “Really, Bro?” If you are interested in knowing/hearing more of this podcast, the full list of episodes is available via the following link: […]

In this final episode of the season, our host Robert Harrison reflects on summer, the seasons, and the poetry of life on planet Earth.

Alison McQueen is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. Her research focuses on early modern political theory and the history of International Relations thought. Alison’s recently published book Political Realism in Apocalyptic Times, traces the responses of three canonical political realists—Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, and Hans Morgenthau—to hopes and fears about the end […]

Fred Turner is Harry and Norman Chandler Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at Stanford University. He is also Professor by courtesy appointment in the Departments of History and Art & Art History.Turner’s research and writing explore media, technology and American cultural history. He is especially interested in how emerging media have shaped […]

Quinn Slobodian is a historian of modern German and international history with a focus on North-South politics, social movements, and the intellectual history of neoliberalism.He is the author of Foreign Front: Third World Politics in Sixties West Germany, and most recently Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism. Professor Slobodian is the editor […]

Yoshihiro Francis “Frank” Fukuyama is an American political scientist, political economist, and author. Fukuyama is known for his book The End of History and the Last Man (1992), which argued that the worldwide spread of liberal democracies and free market capitalism of the West and its lifestyle may signal the end point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and become the […]

Professor Dan Edelstein works for the most part on eighteenth-century France, with research interests in literature, history, political thought, and digital humanities. Most recently, he has completed a book manuscript on the history of natural and human rights from the wars of religion to the age of revolution (On the Spirit of Rights, forthcoming with […]

Priya Nelson is an editor at the University of Chicago Press. She acquires books for the Press’s long-standing and distinguished lists in anthropology and history. Exchange, value, religion, urban studies, media, epistemology, social theory, and ethnographic writing are topics of special interest, though anything that uses classic themes to investigate contemporary issues tends to catch her […]