Thinking Aloud

Audio interviews with BYU Humanities Faculty, originally broadcast on the KBYU 'Thinking Aloud' Program.

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• Great Works: Avarice, Justice, and Poverty in Dante's Comedy, Stan Benfell

  Dante wrote of some of the "Seven Deadly Sins" in his Comedy and yet they are still visible in our world today. Specifically avarice or greed that we can find on places like Wall Street or in many large corporations. They discuss the further understanding of why Dante wrote this and what it said about his community and what it says about ours today.

• Women Authors from the Sophie Project, Michelle James

  The Sophie Project is working to make German women's art, from literature and paintings to philosophy and music, more available to those of the community. They are publishing them on the internet at http://sophie.byu.edu/ in German and in translation as much as possible. They discuss the way in which women were educated and how they pushed their boundaries to learn and grow and create. They are trying to correct the lack of information currently around.

• Sacred Space Symposium Preview, Truman G. Madsen

  Looking at the legacy of Truman Madsen by talking to one of his colleague in the Philosophy Department. They look at his style of bridging topics of sensitive nature and speaking his mind with his own beliefs in lectures, research, and novels.

• The Cult of the Literary Pilgrimage, Paul Westover

  This broadcast discusses why people return to the places where authors or famous composers have lived. What are their motivations and hopes in what they will find? It speaks of places from the Midwestern United States to the beauties of Europe.

• American History through Literature, Keith Lawrence

  This broadcast looks at the different lenses that you can use to look at American history. They specifically look at how literature plays a role in studying history. They look at some non-fiction works, but primarily they look at fiction books and look at it as part of history.

• Plant Genetics and Quinoa , Jeff Maughan and Rick Jellen

  This podcast discusses the research, benefits, and difficulties of the genetically engineered food, specifically of Quinoa. They briefly discuss the ongoing debate and then move on to speak of what the food is used for and how it is decreasing world hunger and other problems.

• Macbeth on Stage at BYU, Bruce Young

  Our world of the 21st century probably resembles the world of Shakespeare far more than the world of Shakespeare fits the world of Macbeth. If ever there was a usurpation, this is it. This new story has essentially become the only real Macbeth to us. And as it happens, the story is currently on stage at BYU.

• Poet Lance Larsen, Lance Larsen

  Lance Larsen's poetry has been published far and wide, garnering several awards. His recent collection of poems, Backyard Alchemy, is very much grounded in the real world but filled with highly imaginative language that challenges readers to reconsider, and delight in, the quotidian. Today, Larsen gives voice to these new poems, presenting the unique experience of an author reading his own work out loud.

• Vernice Wineera, Jay Fox

  Vernice Wineera is part Maori, part British. She's a painter, a poet, and an educator. We're pleased to introduce Vernice Wineera to you, a day before she delivers the Nan Osmond Grass Lecture at the BYU Department of English. Pacific Perspectives on how literature helps shape cultural identity, on today's Thinking Aloud.

• Berenice by Jean Racine, Michael J Call

  Tragedy usually means calamity. Stock formulas call for violence, bloodshed, mayhem, or-the ultimate misfortune-death. But the French playwright Racine rethought all this, introducing a twist perhaps more compelling and less predictable than we've come to expect. Today on Great Works Monday, we'll feature a conversation about Racine's classic Berenice.

• Baroque Poetry to Music, Russell Cluff

  We talk about the "music of poetry"; the concept isn't really new. But today we're Thinking Aloud with an interpreter of poetry who has used his interdisciplinary expertise-expertise in language and literature as well as musical know-how and ability-to take poetic interpretation in a fully musical direction.

• Black History Events, Chris Crowe

  As Black History Month comes to a close, we are taking a few moments to reflect on significant events that have shaped time. We are Thinking Aloud about a history that deserves recognition.

• The History of the Life and Adventures of Mr. Anderson, Nicholas Mason

  The title of today's show comes from a novel written by a British explorer in 1754. This transatlantic tale offers a unique and compelling perspective on American life in the expanding Atlantic world of the mid 18th Century. Although popular during its time, the book slipped into obscurity for 250 years. Nick Mason and Matt Mason recently discovered the text and argue for its importance in a new critical edition. Our guests make the case for a progressive author and the idea that this book, although written by an Englishman, could represent the first American novel.

• Playing at Monarchy, Corry Cropper

  Norbert Elias once wrote that "knowledge about sport is knowledge about society." Corry Cropper has deftly refracted French society, politics, and literature through the interpretive lens of sport in his book, Playing at Monarchy: Sport as Metaphor in Nineteenth-Century France. He discusses what Paume, the "real tennis," symbolized for the French Revolution, how chess helped mold our historical ideology, and why Napolean may have survived longer had he played trictrac.

• The Robert Burns Collection at the BYU Library, Matthew Wickman

  He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language and regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic Movement. Poet and lyricist Robert Burns is a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world. A celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. On today's Thinking Aloud, Marcus Smith hosts Matthew Wickman and Maggie Gallup Kopp. The two collaborated on an exhibition at the BYU Harold B. Lee Library titled: Robert Burns and the Poetic Image.

• Duino Elegies and The Sonnets to Orpheus by Rainer Maria Rilke, Alan Keele

  Rainer Maria Rilke is one of Germany's most famous and insightful poets, known for the lyrical beauty and spiritual depth of his poetry. On today's Thinking Aloud for our continual series celebrating Great Works, host Marcus Smith talks to BYU Professor of German Literature, Alan Keele, about Rilke's poetry. Alan Keele helped translate an edition of Duino Elegies, perhaps Rilke's greatest cycle, and a new edition has just been released.

• Japanese Puppetry, Scott Miller

  Bunraku is a traditional form of Japanese puppet theater over three centuries old. The Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe is the first traditional Japanese puppet troupe to form in North America. They are professionally trained in Japan and will perform at BYU on January 16 and 17. Learn a little more about this exquisite art form.

• Gabriele Finaldi, John Rosenberg

  We're talking with the Deputy Director for Collections and Research at the Museo del Prado or Prado Museum in Spain. Gabriele Finaldi talks about this major cultural arts destination for visitors to Madrid. The museum houses the world's finest collection of Spanish paintings, with pieces by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Murillo, as well as paintings by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, and Duerer.

• American History Through Literature, Keith Lawrence

  On this Thanksgiving Day, when you're spending time with your family, think about American history and the different events that shaped the United States. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, he discovered something he wasn't looking for ? the Americas. But some people say American history didn't begin with Christopher Columbus, and one thing we know for sure is that we make history every day. We're talking to Keith Lawrence of the BYU English Department about American history from the pages of literary works.

• Forensic Linguistics: Discovering Deception and Fraud, William Eggington

  Sometimes just a small sample of your language--spoken, recorded, or even typed in an email--can single you out as the originator. Because our language can identify, characterize, categorize, or even betray us, recent years have witnessed the growth of a science or discipline called "forensic linguistics." Our language can also contain hints, not just about identity, but about motive and intent, veracity or duplicity, guilt or innocence. Join us to find out just who might be trying to deceive you.

• Essayist Ian Frazier, Patrick Madden

  Ian Frazier has been called one of America's greatest living essayists. With over thirty years experience as a writer and humorist for The New Yorker, Frazier is a distinct and insightful voice in American literature. Whether he's writing about New York, the great plains, or the odd things he says to his children, Frazier always reveals something new in the familiar, something funny in the mundane.

• Great Works: Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz, Anca Sprenger

  As music critic for The New Yorker, Alex Ross notes that the "Symphonie Fantastique" by Berlioz "remains a totally shocking work after all these years, and no modern music has ever really matched it." The "Fantastique" tells the story of a passionate artist who struggles with notions of ideal love as the music follows him downward into opium-induced dreams and his own disillusionment. As part of our Great Works series, a discussion on this landmark composition from 1830.

• Poet Idris Anderson, Jesse Crisler

  Idris Anderson is the 2008 recipient of the May Swenson Poetry Award, a significant national award for poetry in the English language. Her publisher describes her poetic voice as having little interest in ideology, but great concern for lived experience in all its richness. Eminent literary critic Harold Bloom says Anderson's "grave, measured poetic voice" won him over instantly. Anderson visited BYU last week and stopped by to talk to English faculty memmber Jesse Crisler.

• Order and Chaos from the Classical to the Christian World, Cecilia Peek

  If you think life's chaotic nowadays, before the Olympian gods arrived to bring a little order to the cosmos, life was chaotic in ways we can't even imagine. We'll acquaint ourselves with some ancient concepts of chaos, order, and social stability, and juxtapose that with modern definition and application.

• Poet Robert Wrigley, Lance Larsen

  Robert Wrigley is a much published contemporary poet, author of Lives of the Animals, Reign of Snakes, and In the Bank of Beautiful Sins. He's winner of a long litany of national awards and has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Idaho State Commission on the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In this interview with English faculty member Lance Larsen, we'll talk part theory, part method, part motivation, and of course, we'll ask the poet to read some of his work.

• The Essential Themes of C.S. Lewis, Bruce Young & Steve Walker

  Let's take a walk with C.S. Lewis through the back of a commonplace wardrobe. "A step further in ? then two or three steps?" What do we find? The novels of C.S. Lewis guide us into worlds often laced with themes. Our guides Bruce Young and Steven Walker lead us through the themes and positions of C.S. Lewis.

• Great Works: Silence by Shusaku Endo, Van Gessel

  On today's Thinking Aloud, we continue our Great Works series, featuring a masterpiece from the Great Works List of the Honors Program at Brigham Young University. We'll travel to a part of the world where the roots of Christianity are not as deep, perhaps, as in the Western World, or on the African Continent, and certainly not as deep as in the Middle East where Christianity began. The soil of Japan has not been the most fertile ground for the seeds planted by Christian missionaries. Indeed, few places have witnessed the story of Christian martyrdom quite like Japan. Join Marcus Smith with scholar Van Gessel to experience the great novel Silence, by 20th century Japanese writer Shusaku Endo.

• Presidential Rhetoric, Gary Hatch

  At the height of the 2008 presidential campaign, we Americans have a love-hate relationship with the candidates and the political process. We love to hate them, and then somewhat schizophrenically hate loving them as much as we do. Don't be disillusioned into believing that Thinking Aloud will jump on the national bandwagon of mudslinging and partisan analysis; we'll be treating the current presidential campaigns through the lens of a venerable, timeless discipline-not one bit sensational-the discipline of rhetorical analysis. Join us for compelling ideas you'll be able to use long after people have completely forgotten the names Obama and McCain.

• African Unity, Chantal Thompson

  The United States of America has been around since 1776. The European Union was established formally in 1993. What about a United Africa? This year, this decade, or even this century? If it ever happens, should it? In other words, what might such an alliance mean both for Africans themselves and on the world stage generally? We're talking with one of the world's premiere scholars in the area of African studies about the prospect of a United Africa.

• Environmental Humanities, George Handley and Christopher Oscarson

  On today's Thinking Aloud, two scholars will discuss the type of research that adopts and adapts the methods of the humanities to clarify the cultural meanings associated with today's environmental debate. For decades experts have deliberated on environmental pursuits and the urgency of mankind's ability to exist harmoniously with the earth. Today, more than ever, terms like global warming, Greenhouse gases, Eco-systems and bio-diversity are thrown around as some of the buzzwords we here in popular culture. One group argues that the threat to earth is imminent and mankind just might destroy itself and mother earth if it is not prudent and conservative with the elements and all species. The other side contends there's no scientific proof to support any of those claims. Join us for a look at what the humanities have to say.

• A Metaphorical God with Poet Kimberly Johnson, Kimberly Johnson

  Poet Kimberly Johnson joins host Marcus Smith to talk about her recent collection of poetry titled: A Metaphorical God. Johnson is a poet, translator, and Renaissance scholar who currently teaches creative writing at BYU. Johnson is the author of a previous collection of poetry titled: Leviathan with a Hook, and a translation of Virgil's Georgics. Her poems appear widely in such publications as The New Yorker, Slate and The Iowa Review.

• A Hidden World: Japanese Woodblock Prints, Scott Miller

  From 1639 to 1854, Japan and it's culture were unknown to the Western world, a result of over two centuries of self-imposed isolation. The first glimpse many Westerners had of this hidden world came through a distinctively Japanese art form - colorful woodblock prints called ukiyo-e (oo-key-yo-eh) that had been reproduced by the thousands over the previous century. On today's Thinking Aloud, we're discussing the exhibit titled: Windows on a Hidden World: Japanese Woodblock Prints from the BYU Museum of Art Collection. We're talking to scholars of Japanese literature, art and culture, as well as the curator and designer of the exhibit. The exhibition will be on display from Saturday, September 27, 2008 through January 17, 2009. For more information about the museum and the exhibit, call (801) 422-8287 or visit: BYU Museum of Art

• A Look at Garry Troudeau's Doonesbury, Kerry Soper

  BYU scholar Kerry Soper rejoins us for another conversation on cartooning and caricature, but this time he's brought his new book, Garry Trudeau: Doonesbury and the Aesthetics of Satire. "I've always thought that my main contribution to the comics page," says Garry Trudeau, "was that I made it safe for bad drawing." Soper is here, in part, to explain how a very bad cartoonist can be such a very good cartoonist as we talk about the social importance of Garry Trudeau.

• Presocratic Philosophy, Daniel Graham

  Our guest knows Socrates, to be sure, but has focused much of his recent scholarship on a group of ancient philosophers who get their name from the very fact that they come before Socrates: the Presocratics. We're discussing the compelling argument that these Presocratic philosophers really represent the true origins of Western thought and science.

• Great Works: A Raisin in the Sun , Kristin Matthews

  A Raisin in the Sun is a phrase from a Langston Hughes poem titled Harlem, or A Dream Deferred. Lorraine Hansberry borrowed the phrase as the title for her own classic play. In the play and later movie A Raisin in the Sun, we engage with a plurality of dreams, an abundance of personal and collective visions. Kristin Matthews helps us engage with this American classic.

• Coubertin and the Modern Olympic Movement, Corry Cropper

  Is all this hype what they had in mind when they revived the Olympics as a modern movement? Who were they for that matter? Our guest knows a thing or two about Pierre de Coubertin, the French Baron who founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894. Coubertin's actual intentions may surprise you. Can you imagine a sporting competition reserved entirely for the educated and wealthy upper class? What would Olympic history be like without phenomenal grassroots athletes: the likes of Jesse Owens, Abebe Bikila, Nadia Comaneci, and Michael Phelps? If Coubertin's ideas had prevailed, we probably wouldn't know these names today.

• Maya Art and Culture, Allen Christenson

  As it turns out, the purported shroud cloaking the "mystery of the Maya" is far less opaque than most people are led to believe. Allen Christenson reveals the transparent truth about Mayan people and ways.

• Feminazis or Ardent Advocates? , Kristine Hansen

  When tracing the genealogy of human rights activism, it's hard to know precisely where to begin. But in the English-speaking world, the lineage of human rights as it relates to women can almost certainly be traced back to one Mary Wollstonecraft. We'll examine a tradition of rhetorical prowess, from Wollstonecraft to Virginia Woolf, with our guest Kristine Hansen.

• Young adult literature, Chris Crowe

  Think back to your high school days. Who ever really wanted to read the Scarlet Letter ? More tellingly, did reading the Scarlet Letter at that age make you want to read? We live in a new age of literary legitimacy, with room for more than the established classics. We'll look (perhaps in vain) for the boundary between serious reading and guilty pleasure, as we discuss Young Adult Literature with New York Times bestselling author Shannon Hale.

• Learning How to Look: Emerson, Nature, and the Visual Arts , Carl Sederholm

  Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered one of the greatest thinkers of the mid-19th Century. Dr. Carl Sederholm joins us to examine Emerson's major writings and then trace out his influence on selected writers, poets, and painters of the late 19th Century. Sederholm addresses two primary questions: (1) How does Emerson teach us to interpret literature, nature, art, and the world? (2) How were Emerson's writings transformed into artistic expression?

• Houses of Birth and Houses of Death , K. Codell Carter

  It may be hard to believe today, but there was a time when young doctors walked straight from their research in the morgue to the delivery room. Childbed fever killed more than a million women in nineteenth century Europe. Modern medicine, and most people born today, owe much to the pioneering work of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis. We're talking with K. Codell Carter about his book Childbed Fever: A Scientific Biography of Ignaz Semmelweis.

• A New Window on Authentic American English, Mark Davies

  Just as scientists in any other profession, linguists must observe, record, and analyze data from research in the field. But where or what exactly is "the field" for a linguist? BYU professor Mark Davies has recently published the largest body of American English as it occurs in newspapers, magazines, novels, and even talk shows. You could say he's compiled a behavioral study of language in its natural environment. His continuing study sheds some light on the language we use every day. For more information, visit his website.

• The Growing Interest in the Arabic Language, Kirk Belnap

  Modern technology and education have connected America to the people of the world. We communicate easier with our foreign neighbors. We travel, we trade, and we communicate across the globe with greater ease than ever before. Currently, U.S. relations with the Middle East demand association and attention which has consequently spiked the interest in the Arabic language. For the first time ever, the Arabic language has reached the Top Ten List of Most Studied Languages according to the Modern Language Association, with student enrollment jumping 127% from 2002 to 2006. On today's Thinking Aloud, Director of the National Middle East Language Resource Center, Kirk Belnap, discusses the rising national trends in learning Arabic and the details on the furious national debate over the best way to learn this difficult language.

• The Future of the Belarusian Language, Tony Brown

  What happens when empires crumble? We may see sub-populations begin to emphasize their unique identities or try to reassert their cultural idiosyncrasies. We're discussing one such population, the region inhabited by the people of Belarus. It's a landlocked country in Eastern Europe that borders Russia. We're talking to BYU Scholar Tony Brown from the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages about Belarus, particularly the future of the Belarusian language.

• Beyond Words: Creative Journals, Travis Anderson

  Have you ever read some old journals or diaries? Maybe the journal of a grandparent or perhaps one that belonged to an ancestor? After reading pages of words, you might have wished illustrations accompanied the writing to give you a different view or further insight into the life of your long-deceased relative. We're talking about creative journals - going beyond words to enhance your record - with BYU philosophy professor Travis Anderson.

• BYU Philharmonic Concert Preview: A Libby Larsen Premiere, Alan Keele

  The BYU Philharmonic premiered a new composition by distinguished American composer Libby Larsen. The concert overture is titled "Bach 358." Also on the program, the Mahler Symphony No. 4. We're talking with Libby Larsen, conductor Kory Katseanes, and literary scholar Alan Keele in a concert preview.

• International Cinema: A Compelling German Film, Robert McFarland

  There's a curious but well-known phrase shared by citizens of the formerly divided Berlin. "Die Mauer im Kopf" or "the Wall in the head." The phrase alludes in part to the falling of the physical Berlin Wall, but more so to its lingering psychological presence. Can the demon ever be exorcised? We'll talk about the German Democratic Republic that has disappeared, though not without a trace, with BYU professor Robert B. McFarland.

• Rashomon: A Classic Japanese Film, Scott Miller

  We're talking with Scott Miller of the BYU Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages, a professor of Japanese and Comparative Literature. We'll be discussing the 1950 Japanese film Rashomon, directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is said that Rashomon is Kurosawa's presentation of Japanese cinema to Western audiences and is considered one of his masterpieces. We'll discuss this movie's place in film history, the appeal it has for film aficionados over half a century, and what chance this classic has of remaining fertile ground for future interpretation.

• Philanthropy in British and American Fiction, Frank Christianson

  BYU English Professor Frank Christianson discusses his book Philanthropy in British and American Fiction. His book explores the relationship between philanthropy and literary realism in novels by Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, George Eliot, and William Dean Howells. We'll discuss the subsequent influence these writers had on the rise of modern philanthropy. Edinburgh University Press published the title as part of their Edinburgh Studies in Transatlantic Literatures Series.

• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard Duerden

  What happens when you take an Amazonian warrior queen and an Athenian ruler, introduce an ever-shifting love-quadrangle, throw in a quarreling worldly king and queen and their earthy servants, add an Indian changeling, and toss in a lovably pompous troupe of British clowns. You get a "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Our guests on today's Thinking Aloud know this play inside and out.

• Cliché and Collusion, Danette Paul

  On today's Thinking Aloud we talk about "Cliché and Collusion," an exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art.

• Shakespeare with Brandie Siegfried, Brandie Siegfried

  On today's Thinking Aloud, we're discussing Shakespeare with BYU English professor Brandie Siegfried. Siegfried investigates not only our own views, but also historic perspectives about the locus of an experience we call Shakespeare.

• The Christian Eye, John Bennion

  We're devoting ourselves to reflection, to thoughts and ideas, particularly self-expression while we follow some BYU students on a hike across England. We're talking with two BYU students and their professor about a new documentary titled The Christian Eye: An Essay Across England. This documentary aired on BYU-TV in February.

• What Bach Thought Music Was All About , James Siebach

  How do we make use of music? It is amusement? Entertainment? An interesting hobby? A mental game? Philosopher James Siebach and Musicologist Douglas Bush participate in this discussion to consider various uses, functions, or reasons for the making of music, against the backdrop of the known philosophy and perspective of the great Johann Sebastian Bach.

• Mormon Scholars in the Humanities, George Handley

  Scholars Claudia Bushman, Richard Lyman Bushman, Terryl Givens, and George Handley form a panel for this conversation. They are at BYU today in conjunction with the inaugural symposium of a new organization called Mormon Scholars in the Humanities. They consider the raison d'etre of this new group and also reflects on the nature of idea sharing among Mormon scholars ... given the apparent paradox of remaining open to the life experience and ideas of people outside the Mormon faith or in foreign cultures while also remaining sympathetic to Latter-day Saint impulse to promulgate their own unique, religious truth claims.

• African-American Food Cultures, Jill Rudy

  Psyche Williams-Forson is a faculty member in the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland. She teams up with Jill Rudy of BYU's English department To talk about foods influenced by African-America culture.

• Comics and Culture, Kerry Soper

  Kerry Soper teaches classes on American humanities, Popular American culture, and comedy and satire at BYU. His main academic interests include American social & cultural history, satire, and popular visual arts. Today we're Thinking Aloud about a time in American culture when the funnies poked at serious issues.

• Black Mormon Pioneers, Margaret Young

  Darius Gray and Margaret Young are Thinking Aloud about the influence of early Mormon Pioneers. Both are historians and have co-authored the book, "Standing on the Promises," a compilation of stories about black LDS pioneers, their struggles, and their faith.

• From Classical Music to World Music: What is the Real Scope of Ethnomusicology? , Larry Shumway

  Ethnomusicologist Larry V. Shumway reflects on the history and utility of his profession. Jerry Jaccard joins the interview as co-host, bringing to bear his expertise as a folksong researcher. Throughout history humans have raised musical praises in search of spirituality, to give thanks for blessings, to hail deities or summon dead ancestors, and to accompany important ceremonies. Simple instruments fashioned from wood, reeds, bamboo, gourds, animal bone, and other ready-to-hand materials suggest that the need for music inspires ingenuity and supersedes the desire to boast wealth. From the earliest musical moments to the latest, what perspectives on the subject of music-making are central in the field of study called ethnomusicology?

• Philosopher Albert Borgmann on Countering the Ills of Technology and Tech Culture, James Faulconer

  In this interview, guest host Jim Faulconer (BYU Department of Philosophy) converses with philosopher and author Albert Borgmann (University of Montana, Missoula) about what we can do to preserve the important focus (or foci) of our lives in the brave new world in which we live ... the culture of technology. The conversation stems from Faulconer's reading of a book by Borgmann titled "Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology" (Brazos Press, May 2003).

• Themes of Eternity: The Magic Flute, Alan Keele

  This weekend ? something historic will happen. It's never been done before. ? A high-definition transmission of audio and video ? live from the Met. We've been talking about it for some time here on Classical 89, and many of us in Utah will witness the event in person this Saturday, as The Magic Flute is beamed on over. We at Thinking Aloud doff our hats to the revolutionary event on Friday, with three scholars who can initiate us into the club of the few who really can say with much authority what this strange Mozart opera is really all about.

• The Library of Herculaneum with Roger McFarlane and Gene Ware, Roger MacFarlane

  Roger MacFarlane, of the BYU Department of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature, and Gene Ware, a member of the BYU department of Electrical Engineering tell us of their experience using new technology to decipher ancient texts preserved at Herculaneum and elsewhere in the ancient world. In recent years, the high-tech recovery of numerous ancient texts has increased dramatically.

• On the Eve of Halloween: The American Horror Tradition, with Carl Sederholm, Carl Sederholm

  Carl Sederholm is a professor of humanities at BYU and a specialist on the American Gothic. We talk with him about the American horror tradition as it appears in American literature. How far back does it go and what are the lines of this tradition's development? Also, what really lies behind the thrill of the scream or spine-tingling shudder? Do we have some innate "need" for fright?

• Concepts of Self I: Jim Faulconer Reflects on Philosophical Aspects of Self-Definition & Awareness, James Faulconer

  This interview launches a four-part series of Thinking Aloud presentations devoted to concepts of self. At the ancient temple at Delphi, a prominent inscription read "gnothi seauton," or "Know Thyself." Is the injunction archaic, or is there something to be gained by asking ourselves who and what we are?

• Taiwan Film Festival, Steven Riep

  Taiwanese film isn't what it used to be. In the 50s and 60s, a lot of the fare was staple melodrama, teen romance, and of course a solid showing on the part of kung-fu. Today, cinema from Taiwan is world-famous, with subject matter ranging from the real to surreal, with documentary, social commentary, and some plain good storytelling. Today on Thinking Aloud, Marcus Smith talks with Steven Riep - Chinese Comparative literature and film professor at BYU. He will also talk with Eric Hyer who teaches Political Science at BYU. We'll talk about life in Taiwan today, how that society is changing, and how life is being captured in film. It's all in advance of the upcoming Taiwan Film Festival at BYU.

• An American in Paris: BYU Scholar at the Sorbonne, Daryl Lee

  In 1951, Gene Kelly and Leslie Carron starred in "An American in Paris," the story of a struggling painter who finds adventure in the "the city of lights." In this interview, Thinking Aloud takes us to a very different Paris, with Daryl Lee. Lee is a Yale-trained faculty member in the department of French and Italian at BYU. He'll be sharing some of his own experiences as an American in Paris, where he recently presented some of his scholarship at the famed Sorbonne. He may not have been seeking adventure, but he got it. And although he wasn't dancing, we understand he was nimble on his feet. We'll ask him to tell his own story.

• Pictures Worth a Thousand Vulgates, Jesse Hurlbut

  Illuminated texts are famous for their colorful illustrations and intricate designs. The Harold B. Lee Library has recently acquired a facsimile of a thirteenth-century illuminated manuscript-the Saint Louis Bible. Jesse Hurlbut (BYU Dept. of French and Italian) studies the history and iconography of moralized bibles. We'll talk with him about four traditional notions of scriptural exegesis-history, allegory, tropology, and anagogy-as they relate to these rare artifacts. In an age saturated with new media, take some time to enjoy some of the old.

• Dream of Eden: From the Permanent Collection at the BYU Museum of Art , Michael Call

  To many artists of the early 19th-Century, the Americas seemed like a new Garden of Eden, a land teeming with natural bounty and correspondingly abundant in aesthetic possibilities. In a newly installed exhibit from its permanent collection, the BYU Museum of Art displays a selection of works typifying the Eden theme in visual art. Michael Call (chair of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature at BYU), Laura Howe (graduate student in art history and curatorial studies), and Rachelle Woodbury (graduate student in comparative studies) all join Thinking Aloud's host Marcus Smith in a conversation about the Edenic theme's manifestation in art.

• Ethics and Infinity: An Introduction to the Thinking of Philosopher Emmanuel Levinas , James Faulconer

  In recent years the name Emmanuel Levinas has garnered a great deal of attention among students of philosophy. Religious thinkers and students of ethics alike have found his voice an especially compelling one. A seminar on the thinking of Levinas was recently offered to faculty at BYU. We'll visit with professor James Faulconer of the department of philosophy, and with Keith Lane, who teaches religion at BYU-Hawaii. Learn about the thought-legacy of one of the twentieth-century's preeminent thinkers. How do we situate Levinas in the unending flow of philosophical concerns?

• Attention Deficit Disorder in Adulthood, Mark Burns

  What if you learned, in the middle of your life (as an adult) that you suffer from a condition you thought normally affects children and teens? Guests featured in this interview are BYU professor Mark Burns (College of Humanities), telling how he dealt (and continues to deal) with his own discovery of Adult ADD. Also joining us is guest John Call of the BYU Accessibility Center.

• Recovering Forgotten Art by Women Artists:, Rob McFarland

  Guests Ruth Christensen (BYU School of Music Faculty), Rob McFarland (Humanities), and BYU graduate Sarah Reed have all participated, with numerous of other BYU faculty and student scholars, in an audacious mission of recovery. How do you find, collect, and preserve forgotten art? The Sophie Project entails the preservation of both the written word and musical composition. The focus of this discussion is on women musicians and various artifacts uncovered or rediscovered through this project.

• Study Abroad in Jordan, Kirk Belnap

  Today Thinking Aloud speaks with participants on BYU's Study Abroad in Jordan.

• Stewardship and the Creation, George Handley

  Professors Terry Ball (Religious Education), George Handley (Humanities), and Steven Peck (Integrative Biology) have served as editors for a new volume recently released by the Religious Studies Center at BYU. When it comes to environmental concerns, it's probably a faulty assumption to think that all Latter-day Saints are of one point of view. Where along the wide spectrum of environmental perspectives are you? And where are our guests?