Length: 39 minutes
Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legacy/id1711362652?i=1000644373276
I like the theory behind this podcast. Spending 4 episodes going through the lives of important historical figures. Today I listened to Episode I of Gorbachev. So far the podcast has covered Napoleon, Cecil Rhodes, Picasso, and currently Gorbachev. The hosts of the podcast are Afua Hirsch and Peter Frankopan.
The podcast begins with the funeral of Gorbachev and outlines his legacy in the west and in Russia. Then it jumps back to Gorbachev’s birth. I like the set up. We hear what his legacy is and then the hosts ask if it is justified. They then will outline his life.
The title of this podcast is slightly misleading. The Boy from Stavropol led me to believe this episode would focus on his early years. Yet 25 minutes into the podcast he has already become the leader of the Soviet Union at the age of 54. I would like to have seen more information about his early years or a different title so that my expectations would have been different.
The hosts provided some details about Gorbachev’s life and then they would insert their commentary. They work together pretty well and it was a quick listen. I will listen to the rest of this season on Gorbachev and then decide if this podcast is added to my library.
Great literature should do more than entertain us. It should provide a roadmap to improving our lives.
In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens introduced readers to Sydney Carton, one of literature's most compelling and deeply flawed characters. Dickens also gives him an unusual title: the Jackal.
His struggles raise questions that remain relevant today.
Are we defined by our past mistakes? Can we overcome our weaknesses? What separates the people we are from the people we could become?
Lessons From the Jackal is a 25-day character study exploring these questions through Sydney Carton’s life, decisions, relationships, and personal development.
This is not a traditional course on A Tale of Two Cities. Our reading assignments will focus specifically on Carton, with sufficient background provided to understand his story. No previous knowledge of the novel is necessary.
Each day will feature selected readings, historical comparisons, reflection questions, discussions, and practical challenges ...
Five days ago, we began with a simple question: How do you measure potential?
Over the course of this week, Sydney Carton has challenged us to reconsider what potential really means.
We met a man whose careless appearance concealed remarkable intelligence. We watched him make observations that others overlooked, only to receive little recognition for his contributions.
We discovered a man who recognized in Charles Darnay a reflection of what he might have become, yet seemed unwilling or unable to pursue that possibility.
We examined his relationship with Mr. Stryver and considered what it means to become a jackal: someone who possesses the ability to contribute to another person’s success while neglecting the pursuit of his own.
Finally, we learned that Carton’s habits began long before his professional career. Even as a schoolboy, he devoted his abilities to completing the work of others while neglecting his own.
Carton attributes some of his disappointments to bad luck. Perhaps circumstances have indeed worked ...
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
Poet, Critic, Philosopher
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the most gifted literary minds of his generation. A poet, critic, and philosopher, he possessed extraordinary intellectual abilities. Yet his life was marked by unfinished projects, difficulties with discipline, and an increasingly destructive dependence on opium.
Coleridge produced some of the most memorable poetry in English literature, including The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan. But he also struggled to translate his ambitious intellectual plans into completed works. His friends recognized his extraordinary abilities, even as they witnessed the difficulties that prevented him from consistently applying them.
Unlike Sydney Carton, Coleridge achieved lasting recognition. Nevertheless, both men illustrate the distance that can exist between ability and accomplishment.
Consider the comparison. Was Coleridge's potential diminished by his inability to complete everything he envisioned?
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