The Nietzsche Podcast

I am joined in this 50th installment of the podcast's conversation series, Untimely Reflections, by Johannes Niederhauser, for a conversation on Heidegger and his interpretation of Nietzsche. While we've discussed Heidegger's lectures on Nietzsche in the past, Johannes brings a level of expertise in Heidegger and familiarity with his works that vastly outstrips my own, and I learned a lot from this conversation. As I said in the talk, every time one revisits Heidegger, there are new things to learn. I've appear on Johannes' show twice in recent weeks, so I recommend everyone go and listen to those conversations for discussions about Nietzsche's "dangerous ideas" and his opposition to Platonism.

Nietzsche's break with Wagner and the beginning of his philosophical career coincide with an adoring appreciation for Voltaire. Nietzsche made a pilgrimage to Voltaire's home in Ferney; an anonymous friend sent him a bust of the philosopher; he dedicated Human, All Too Human to Voltaire, and released it on the centennial of Voltaire's death. What was the significance of Voltaire, on Nietzsche's thought, and why did the definitive French philosophe eventually become less important to Nietzsche's philosophy? Join me as we explore Nietzsche's reverence for Voltaire, the key contrast in Nietzsche's thought between Voltaire and Rousseau, Voltaire as standing for an aristocratic spirit of Enlightenment against the anti-Enlightenment of the Germans and the cult of sentimentality, and finally, how Dionysus versus the Crucified eventually overcome the Voltaire versus Rousseau dichotomy.
Episode art: Triumphant France encourages Science and Arts in the midst of the war - Charles Meynier (1768-1832)

Enjoy an early release of the episode slated for Halloween, including an extended meditation on the significance of Halloween, the "autumn feeling", the difference between horror & weird fiction, Ray Bradbury's philosophy concerning death, and a review of Bradbury's The October Country, featuring a survey of its overall themes and a closer (and spoiler free!) reading of four of my favorite stories from the collection. Happy early Halloween to all who celebrate! There will be two additional episodes of Becoming-Spooky, both Patreon exclusive: one for all tiers, and one exclusive to Freigeists. After this, the series will conclude. That is, until next year.

Join me for this foray into the work of Algernon Blackwood - theosophist, occultist, and writer of weird fiction tales. Blackwood tell us the story of Professor Mark Ebor: a man with a double life, but a wholesome one, split between the scientific and the mystical. He is an "incorrigible optimist" whose writings give hope to a weary world. Ebor has always believed it his destiny to find the divine and eternal truths of the cosmos and to become their messenger. Would you like to "find out" the most profound truths about the cosmos? To unriddle the universe and know the secrets inscribed on the indestructible Tablets of the Gods? Then listen in.... IF YOU DARE...

Welcome to Becoming-Spooky! This is the first of three episodes in this special, seasonal series. Join me and deterritorialize the domains of sanity, the familiar and the human. Patrons will receive two additional episodes!
The first half of the episode is my full reading of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. The second half includes my philosophical analysis, drawing on Lovecraft's essay, Supernatural Horror in Literature, as well as my own impressions about the story.