American Myths

Not knowing can be painful... but knowledge may come at a hefty price.

What if everything you thought you knew about Plato's Republic... was wrong?

An exploration of the art of philosophy, starring Plato, Simone de Beauvoir, Zhuang Zhou, Soren Kierkegaard, Diogenes of Sinope, Audre Lorde, and more! This is the third in a four-part series inspired by Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Scroll through the past episodes to find the first two parts, "Raising the Curtain, Lifting the Veil" and "Madmen." 

Joseph Campbell was a proponent of the power of myth in framing human life. But in America in the 21st Century, what myths do we have to live by? Well... there's always Star Wars...

Antonin Artaud was a self-described 'madman' and persistent failure in the theatre... He was also one of the great artistic geniuses of the 20th Century.

Bertolt Brecht was the force behind some of the most popular and influential theater of the 20th Century. But he didn't make plays to entertain. He made them to wake people up to the insanity around them. This episode delves into Brecht's background and work, his philosophy and his legacy... and leads to some surprising places. This is the first in a sequence inspired by the Allegory of the Cave, from Plato's Republic.

What lies at the intersection of art and commerce? Is it possible for these two categories of human endeavor to get along, or are they like cats and dogs, fated to engage in an endless struggle for dominance? (Okay, not really like cats and dogs, but you get the idea...) This episode features insights from Alan Watts, Tom Waits, Samuel Johnson, David Foster Wallace, and someone's psychic grandmother (seriously).

For the first episode of season two, I examine what the experience of creating and contemplating art does for us at the deepest level. A dip into the philosophy of art with some help from Tao master Zhuangzi, Thomas Merton, Simon Armitage, Duke Ellington, and Haruki Marukami.

Season 2 of Quite Useless is on its way! Here's a sneak peek at the first episode, in which I take a few steps in the direction of a general theory of art (and arts education), with reference to Zhuangzi, Thomas Merton, Simon Armitage, Duke Ellington, and Haruki Murakami.

The Hero's Journey, as described by Joseph Campbell, is one of the most influential ideas in modern storytelling. Every Hero's Journey starts with a call to adventure. But what happens when the call is confusing or contradictory... or when it never comes? This is the final episode of Season One of Quite Useless.