What’s the worst thing in the world, you ask?
Moving.
In less than two weeks we’ll be moving from Topeka, Kansas, to central Florida. And all the stuff I have to do between now and then is overwhelming.
So I’m afraid for the next few weeks, it’ll be around three episodes of the Tom Woods Show a week instead of the usual five. (Also, since Paul Krugman took this week off, Bob and I are also taking a break from the Contra Krugman podcast.)
If you happen to live in central Florida, please save the date: on December 1 I’ll be speaking in Orlando alongside Jeff Deist, president of the Mises Institute. That’ll be my first event in the area after settling in.
And if you happen to live in the Topeka area, I have an absolutely beautiful set of office furniture: two desks, a hutch, two file cabinets, and more, that’s worth thousands of dollars. It’s yours for a pittance if you can move it out yourself.
Here’s how you can tell preparing the move has been an ordeal for us: my friend Brad Birzer just prepared a fantastic lecture series, half of which is on J.R.R. Tolkien, and I didn’t even tell you about it.
The stories we tell ourselves matter, and they matter even to the cause of liberty. They form a major part of who we are, and they explore some of the most important human questions. That’s why Brad created a course for us on mythology and Western civilization.
Here’s Brad’s course:
Lecture 1: Why Mythology Matters
Lecture 2: Logos and Mythos
Lecture 3: Heraclitus and Stoicism
Lecture 4: Zeno and Stoicism
Lecture 5: Virgil and George Washington
Lecture 6: Virgil and Livy
Lecture 7: Cicero and the Natural Law
Lecture 8: Cicero and the Natural Law, Part II
Lecture 9: Sanctifying the Pagan
Lecture 10: The City of God and the Divine Comedy
Lecture 11: Why Tolkien Despised Democracy
Lecture 12: Tolkien and Imagination
Lecture 13: Tolkien and World War I
Lecture 14: Tolkien and Mythology I
Lecture 15: Tolkien and Mythology II
Lecture 16: Tolkien and Free Will
Lecture 17: Tolkien and Heroism
It’s really a mini-course in the great ideas of Western civilization, in its ancient, medieval, and modern variants. Dr. Birzer takes you through the thoughts of the first Greek philosophers, Socrates, Homer, Cicero, Virgil, Sts. John, Paul, and Augustine, and Dante in lectures 1-10, and examines the mythology of J.R.R. Tolkien in lectures 11-17.
For an extremely limited time (see the clock below), use coupon code TOLKIEN (all caps) to take 30 smackers off one of our annual plans, and JRR (all caps) to take 110 smackers off our lifetime plan.
So now we have 17 courses at LibertyClassroom.com, all of which can be listened to in the car, at your convenience. And ask Brad all the questions you like in our discussion forums.
Yes, you want to learn all this to be an educated person, but no, you don’t have the time and you’re not so sure which professors would be worth your time. I’ve taken care of both for you. The rest is up to you.
The all-important link, where the cool people congregate:
http://www.LibertyClassroom.com
But these neat coupons go away soon. Would this nice clock lie?