Random Non-fiction Podcasts

Published in 1912, The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell is one of his most popular books. It renders philosophical issues and questions in a way in which they become relevant and accessible to the man or woman on the street, provoking them to devote time and effort into thinking about these aspects of life. Here, the great philosopher and humanist thinker Bertrand Russell examines the importance of empirical (that which can be verified by observation or experience rather than deduced from logic or reasoning) thinkers like David Hume and George Berkeley the Anglo-Irish philosopher and scientist. Both these men were proponents of empiricism and idealist philosophies. The book also holds great relevance for us in today’s world. Our education systems today focus largely on making us ready for employment. There are very few courses which delve into the inner workings of our minds and help us to engage with the fundamental aspects of our lives. In The Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell presents readers with some of the issues that philosophers have grappled with throughout the ages. He then presents these through his own viewpoints and breaks them down to their core principles. Most Western and Eastern philosophical questions have been centered around the issues of personal and public experiences, identity, the consciousness of self and the awareness of others, time and space relationships and finally the question of knowledge itself. In The Problems of Philosophy, Russell describes in detail one of his most famous theories of knowledge, the distinction between “knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description.” He argues that anything which is known through means of a direct causal experience is fundamentally different (and perhaps superior) to knowledge gained through secondhand descriptions and through the reports of other people. In today’s Age of Information, knowledge by description is often mistaken for “true knowledge” and many of us proceed on the premise that such knowledge is indeed the truth. Russell was a philosopher who believed in the dynamism and evolution of thought. He frequently revised his positions on fundamental issues throughout his life, moving from liberalism to socialism. He was also a famous pacifist and prominent anti-war, anti-imperialism activist. Imprisoned for his views on the evils of World War II, he was also an outspoken critic of Hitler and Stalin. He strongly condemned the actions of the United States in the Vietnam War and lent his voice to support nuclear disarmament. The Problems of Philosophy examines the questions that lie deep in the hearts and minds of all human beings and provides a compassionate yet objective attempt at finding the answers to some of them.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Bertrand Russell, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, The Problems of Philosophy

Charles Spurgeon was a popular Baptist minister in London in mid-Victorian times; his ministry was highly influential and had a significant effect on many families in London and further afield. It was difficult to find a hall large enough to accommodate the crowd who wished to hear him. At times the Royal Surrey Gardens’ Music Hall was hired to accomodate the Sunday congregation; this could seat 10,000 but large numbers were unable to gain admittance. His world-wide heritage is very much with us today through the many chuches built, missionary work begun, children’s charity founded and theological colleges established as a result of his ministry. The sermons in this collection were preached buring May 1898 and published immediately at one penny (1d.) each. These were widely circulated and remain one of the all-time best-selling series of writings. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Religion & Spirituality

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Charles Spurgeon, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, religion, Spurgeon's Sermons May 1858

Before the beginning of World War II, during the time of the Modernist movement in philosophy, George Santayana wrote these five descriptive essays. He examined John Locke’s sensationalism, British Idealism, the “Theory of Relativity”, Freud’s psychology, and Julien Benda’s preachment on the relations between God and the world. [Summary written by Gary Gilberd]

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, George Santayana, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Some Turns of Thought in Modern Philosophy

A treasure trove of wise and pithy sayings, reflections on education, family values, the ideal human being, life and living, politics, art, culture and timeless wisdom, The Sayings of Confucius is indeed an invaluable addition to your bookshelf. Ever since Chinese literary works first began to be translated into European languages, the works of the legendary Chinese philosopher and teacher Confucius, who lived in present day Qufu in the Shandong province of China, more than two thousand years ago, have held universal appeal. He was a teacher, philosopher, editor, mentor and politician who lived at some period during 776-476 BC and is credited with editing and writing many texts and treatises. However, he is best known for his Aphorisms or Sayings. These are compact, perceptive and often witty sayings, which were compiled in a volume of Analects long after his death. Confucius, or Kong Fuzi, to give the Chinese rendering of his name, was brought up by his mother in great deprivation and poverty after the early death of his father, a valiant and victorious army general. Though they were aristocrats descended from the royal Song dynasty, circumstances forced their ancestors to flee from violence in their native state and settle down in the walled city of Zhou. As a young man, Confucius endured humiliation and hardship, having worked as a menial laborer and shepherd to make ends meet. However, he managed to educate himself and in his later years, gathered a large and dedicated group of students round him. He also held high positions in the government in the kingdom of Lu where he reached the peak of his political career and became the confidant of the Duke. His works became the foundation for centuries of Chinese intellectual thought and are revered even today. His philosophy is based on the concept of “ren” or compassion, and his famous Golden Rule, “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others,” remains immortal. “He who learns but does not think is lost, he who thinks but does not learn is in great danger” is another example. The genealogical descendants of Confucius still exist in China, where the Kong family has the oldest recorded ancestry in the world, but his spiritual family is scattered all over the world and across generations. Confucius’ teachings continue to delight, enlighten and educate us and his Sayings remain relevant and fresh even in this modern Age of Information.

Categories: Arts, Education, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Confucius, ebooks, free audio books, Languages, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, The Sayings of Confucius

It is under a deep impression that the place and power of prayer in the Christian life is too little understood, that this book has been written. I feel sure that as long as we look on prayer chiefly as the means of maintaining our own Christian life, we shall not know fully what it is meant to be. But when we learn to regard it as the highest part of the work entrusted to us, the root and strength of all other work, we shall see that there is nothing that we so need to study and practise as the art of praying aright. … the Father waits to hear every prayer of faith, to give us whatsoever we will, and whatsoever we ask in Jesus’ name. (Andrew Murray, quoted from the Preface of this book) More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Education, Religion & Spirituality

Tags: Andrew Murray, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, instruction, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, religion, With Christ in the School of Prayer

Arthur Schopenhauer, an early 19th century philosopher, made significant contributions to metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics. His work also informed theories of evolution and psychology, largely through his theory of the will to power – a concept which Nietzsche famously adopted and developed. Despite this, he is today, as he was during his life, overshadowed by his contemporary, Hegel. Schopenhauer’s social/psychological views, put forth in this work and in others, are directly derived from his metaphysics, which was strongly influenced by Eastern thought. His pessimism forms an interesting and perhaps questionable contrast with his obvious joy in self-expression, both in the elegance of his prose and in his practice of playing the flute nightly. His brilliance, poetry, and crushing pessimism can be seen immediately in this work, as for example in this claim from the first chapter: “The pleasure in this world, it has been said, outweighs the pain; or, at any rate, there is an even balance between the two. If the reader wishes to see shortly whether this statement is true, let him compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the other.” We see also, in this work, his misogyny, as for example in his claim that “as lions are provided with claws and teeth, and elephants and boars with tusks, . . . so Nature has equipped woman, for her defence and protection, with the arts of dissimulation; and all the power which Nature has conferred upon man in the shape of physical strength and reason, has been bestowed upon women in this form.” Given his opening comment, the translator, T.B. Saunders, seems to have been at least somewhat sympathetic to this perspective.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: Arthur Schopenhauer, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Studies in Pessimism

The strands woven together in Gustave Flaubert’s famous, path breaking 1856 novel Madame Bovary include a provincial town in Normandy, France, a shy young doctor with an indifferent career and a lovely young woman who lives in a fantasy world based on the innumerable romantic novels she reads. Of course there is also the story of a dull marriage punctuated by passionate, adulterous love affairs. First published in serial form in a Parisian magazine and deemed to be the “perfect” novel, Flaubert’s debut was received by both readers and critics with acclaim and admiration. However, its bold theme, path breaking ideas of women’s rights and the condemnation of middleclass morality led to its being legally attacked by the Church and the government. This was in spite of the fact that the magazine’s editors had already done their own censoring of “offending passages.” Flaubert himself was shocked and the resulting very public trial in 1857 added to the book’s notoriety. The charges were dismissed and the book was seen by the judges as promoting morality and strengthening of family values instead. However, it remained controversial and was banned time and again by various upholders of “morality” till as recently as 1954. Madame Bovary marks a watershed in the development of the novel form. Flaubert’s revolutionary techniques like the use of “style indirect libre” where the environment itself responds to a person’s emotions, his use of realism and objectivity were all radically new literary devices. In the almost linear, simple plot, Charles Bovary is a truly “ordinary” man. A country doctor who marries a wife chosen by his mother, he then meets and falls in love with the beautiful, young Emma Roualt when he visits her father’s farm on a call. His wife, a much older woman, is jealous, but she soon dies. Charles and Emma marry and move to a larger town where Emma swiftly becomes disillusioned with her husband, their financial situation and social position, though she has attained motherhood by now. She embarks on a series of love affairs to satisfy her hankering after fame and fortune. Each of these affairs brings about her moral and psychological degradation, while she simultaneously plunges herself and her family into financial ruin. What follows is a vivid depiction of life and the human condition. For the discerning and sensitive reader, Flaubert’s brilliant portrait of the tragically flawed Emma Bovary, with her shallow, provincial preoccupations, her craving for love and money and the meaninglessness of bourgeois life in the countryside make this one of the finest works of literature.

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Gustave Flaubert, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Madame Bovary, Non-fiction, romance, tragedy

In 1894, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) published two short collections of aphorisms: “A Few Maxims For The Instruction Of The Over-Educated”, in the Saturday Review newspaper, and “Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young”, in the Oxford student magazine The Chameleon. By turns witty, intellectual, counter-intuitive and obtuse, the collections came to be seen by many as emblematic of Wilde’s style, and countless collections of Wildean aphorisms have since been published. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Kids & Family

Tags: Aphorisms, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, humor, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Oscar Wilde, satire, Teen/Young adult

Vol. I: The Colonial Period. Charles Austin Beard was the most influential American historian of the early 20th century. He published hundreds of monographs, textbooks and interpretive studies in both history and political science. He graduated from DePauw University in 1898, where he met and eventually married Mary Ritter Beard, one of the founders of the first Greek-letter society for women, Kappa Alpha Theta. Many of his books were written in collaboration with his wife, whose own interests lay in feminism and the labor union movement (Woman as a Force in History, 1946).In 1921, Charles and Mary Beard published their History of the United States. A contemporaneous review stated: “The authors… assume enough maturity in high school students to justify a topical rather than a chronological treatment. They have dealt with movements, have sketched large backgrounds, have traced causes, and have discussed the interrelation of social and economic forces and politics. All this has been directed to the large purpose of helping the student to understand American today in all its national characteristics and as part of world civilization as well…The literary style is exceptionally clear and crisp, and the whole approach…is thought producing. As a textbook or handbook for the average citizen it ranks with very best.” More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Charles Austin Beard, ebooks, free audio books, History, History of the United States: The Colonial Period Onwards, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction

The following work offers in book form the series of studies on the question of the historicity of Jesus, presented from time to time before the Independent Religious Society in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 1909. No effort has been made to change the manner of the spoken, into the more regular form of the written, word.

Categories: Arts, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, M. M. Mangasarian, Non-fiction, Philosophy, religion, The Truth About Jesus. Is He a Myth?

The Book of Tea was written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century. It was first published in 1906, and has since been republished many times. – In the book, Kakuzo introduces the term Teaism and how Tea has affected nearly every aspect of Japanese culture, thought, and life. The book is noted to be accessibile to Western audiences because though Kakuzo was born and raised Japanese, he was trained from a young age to speak English; and would speak it all his life, becoming proficient at communicating his thoughts in the Western Mind. In his book he elucidates such topics as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of Tea and Japanese life. The book emphasises how Teaism taught the Japanese many things; most importantly, simplicity. Kakuzo argues that this tea-induced simplicity affected art and architecture, and he was a long-time student of the visual arts. He ends the book with a chapter on Tea Masters, and spends some time talking about Sen no Rikyu and his contribution to the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Categories: Arts, Education, Society & Culture

Tags: art, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, History, Languages, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Okakura Kakuzo, Philosophy, The Book of Tea

The writer is as earnest in recommending ladies who belong to the higher class of settlers to cultivate all the mental resources of a superior education, as she is to induce them to discard all irrational and artificial wants and mere useless pursuits. She would willingly direct their attention to the natural history and botany of this new country, in which they will find a never-failing source of amusement and instruction, at once enlightening and elevating the mind, and serving to fill up the void left by the absence of those lighter feminine accomplishments, the practice of which are necessarily superseded by imperative domestic duties. To the person who is capable of looking abroad into the beauties of nature, and adoring the Creator through his glorious works, are opened stores of unmixed pleasure, which will not permit her to be dull or unhappy in the loneliest part of our Western Wilderness. The writer of these pages speaks from experience, and would be pleased to find that the simple sources from which she has herself drawn pleasure, have cheered the solitude of future female sojourners in the backwoods of Canada.

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Biography, Catharine Parr Traill, ebooks, free audio books, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Memoirs, Non-fiction, The Backwoods of Canada

Henry Gray’s classic anatomy textbook was first published in 1858 and has been in continuous publication ever since, revised and expanded through many successive editions. This recording is of the public-domain 1918 US edition (some information may be outdated). More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Education

Tags: Anatomy of the Human Body, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, Henry Gray, instruction, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, nature, Non-fiction, science

The History of the Peloponnesian War is an account of the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens) in the 5th Century BC. It was written by Thucydides, an Athenian general who served in the war. It is widely considered a classic and regarded as one of the earliest scholarly works of history. The History is divided into eight books. These book divisions are the work of editors in later antiquity. W. R. Connor […] describes Thucydides as “an artist who responds to, selects and skillfully arranges his material, and develops its symbolic and emotional potential.” More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, free audio books, History, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (Θουκυδίδης)

The Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers, that is, the philosopher-scientists who lived before or contemporaneously to Socrates, were the first men in the Western world to establish a line of inquiry regarding the natural phenomena that rejected the traditional religious explanations and searched for rational explanations. Even though they do not form a school of thought, they can be considered the fathers of philosophy and many other sciences as we have them now. None of their works is extant, so, in this collection, we present the textual fragments, when existing, of ten Pre-Socratic philosopher-scientists, and quotations and testimonials about them left by later authors. Texts collected by Leni. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: Ancient Greek Philosopher-Scientists, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Varous

Challenges can feel like a definitive ending, but they can actually be a new beginning. Part narrative non-fiction and part memoir, Season 1 of Initiate explores the resilience of women through authentic, intergenerational conversations on a monthly basis. Join storyteller and purpose-seeker Sarah Kyo as she meets women of a certain age, a.k.a. “experienced women,” who’ve taken a self-reflective, proactive approach to their life transitions. Words of wisdom will not only inspire listeners, but also empower our host, as she navigates her early 30s. Sometimes, the best way to find your path is to learn from someone who has already blazed a trail.

Categories: Business, Society & Culture

Tags: initiate, life transitions, Memoir, narrative, new beginnings, Non-fiction, resilience, storytelling, women, womxn, womyn

“DOWN TO SALLY’S COVE” is a collection of stories about Newfoundland and Labrador by Ella Manuel (1911-1985) and read by me, Antony Berger. I’m the editor of my mother’s writings about the history and rich culture of the places she lived, and the people she knew and loved. New episodes will be uploaded every week until mid-January 2021.

In 1945, after years in England and the USA, Ella returned to Newfoundland to live, a single mother with two small boys. Using her maiden name, she began to write for newspapers and magazines and to read for radio stories about the places and people she met, recapturing some of the forgotten men and women of Newfoundland’s past. Over the next three decades, her voice became known across Canada through her many broadcasts on the CBC. When she died, she left behind a confused mass of undated manuscripts and notes, which I have now arranged and edited. Only a few recordings of her marvellous voice still exist, so I have decided to read her stories myself, notwithstanding the challenge of a male voice substituting for hers.

The stories are arranged in five groups. Season 1 is entitled Around Bonne Bay; Season 2 – Friends and Neighbours; Season 3 – Beyond the Bay; Season 4 – Medics, Missionaries and Military Men; Season 5 – Tough Times at Sea; Season 6 – Ghosts and Dirty Tricks

A biography of my mother, together with a selection of her writings and broadcasts, including many of these podcast episodes, has been published under the title “No Place for a Woman. The Life and Newfoundland Stories of Ella Manuel” (Breakwater Books, St. John’s NL, 2020).

Categories: History, Society & Culture

Tags: Culture, History, Newfoundland, Non-fiction

“A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts,” is one of the quotes from James Allen’s classic self help books, As a Man Thinketh. Published in 1902, it provides many more such insightful concepts on the power of thought and its effect on a human being’s personality and behavior. This volume is more of a literary essay than a complete book and its title is based on a Biblical proverb, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Taking this piece of ancient wisdom further, James Allen explores the far-reaching effects of the inner workings of a person’s mind and motivation. He proposes that projecting one’s own desires, goals and needs in the outer world can provide clues to a person’s character. Thinking and the subconscious mind are assumed to be hidden from the outside world, and hence powerless to change the course of events or circumstances of one’s life. However, in this book, Allen presents ideas that can harness this subterranean force and bend our lives to our will if we so choose. James Allen was a British writer who wrote mostly about everyday philosophy for the lay person and was in a sense, a pioneer of the self help movement. His books and poems were inspirational pieces, meant to help people realize their own powers and take charge of their lives rather than being mere tools in the hands of destiny. Born in a working class family in Leicester, England, Allen and his younger brother grew up in straitened circumstances. His father, a factory worker, traveled to America in search of a better job, but was tragically attacked and killed by criminals in New York. James, the older son, was compelled to leave school and seek work back in England. He found employment as a secretary to a stationer and later worked as a journalist. He later discovered a deep and enduring interest in spiritual matters when he began working as a writer with a magazine devoted to spiritual themes. His first book From Poverty to Power was published in 1901. Subsequently, he also launched his own spiritual magazine. As a Man Thinketh was his third and most famous book. It became an instant bestseller and the sales of this tiny volume were so great that they allowed Allen and his family to retire to the country, buy a house and live in relative comfort for the rest of their life. The book’s language is very simple and the message presented here will certainly provide a basis for further thought and meditation. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Society & Culture

Tags: As a Man Thinketh, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Essay/Short nonfiction, fiction, free audio books, James Allen, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Non-fiction, Philosophy, Psychology