On the Least Interesting Parts of Great Books: Melville and Homer

Ben Payne, director of leader support for Hillsdale College's K-12 Education Office, joins host Scot Bertram to discuss helping students build emotional durability, focusing on developing virtue over value, and the essential principles when helping students to reframe their attitudes. Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kathleen O’Toole, associate vice president for K-12 Education at Hillsdale College, is joined by Christopher Nadon to discuss a recent essay he wrote on how educators are failing their students by embracing the importance of “lived experience.” Christopher Nadon (B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of Chicago) has taught political philosophy and humanities at Emet Classical Academy, Claremont McKenna College, Trinity College, and Kyev-Mohyla Academy. He writes on the character and history of republican government understood as self-rule in authors such as Herodotus, Xenophon, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Sarpi, Hobbes, Locke, Tocqueville, and Lincoln.   Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stephen Cox, a founding board member of Thomas More Classical School in Anchorage, Alaska, joins host Scot Bertram to discuss his role in starting a classical school in Alaska, the decision to make Thomas More Classical School a private institution, and the process of becoming a Hillsdale College K-12 Education partner school. Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gabrielle Lewis, a teacher support lead and Core Virtues director at Hillsdale College’s K-12 Office, joins host Scot Bertram to discuss the relaunched Core Virtues program, cultivating the moral imagination through stories, and how schools can utilize the Core Virtues program. Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Justin Jackson, English professor and Edrie Seward Kennedy Chair in English at Hillsdale College, joins host Scot Bertram to discuss his upcoming co-authored book on teaching students the elements of analysis, the art of close analysis, and what texts teachers should use to teach close analysis. Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Benedict Whalen, associate professor of English at Hillsdale College, joins host Scot Bertram to discuss why short stories are worth studying, how to prepare your class to learn from a short story, and why reading short stories out loud can help your students better understand them. Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jenny Pridgeon, director of field recruitment for the Admissions Office at Hillsdale College, joins host Scot Bertram to discuss the art of writing a memorable letter of recommendation, how to stand out from other college applicants, and activities that students should include on their high school resume. Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jason Lund, upper school humanities teacher and senior thesis coordinator at Treasure Valley Classical Academy in Fruitland, Idaho, joins host Scot Bertram to discuss the least interesting parts of great books, how Homer's list of ships in The Iliad relates to the poem's themes, and the importance of the extracts in Melville's Moby Dick. Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel Higgins, one of the founders of the Self Authoring and Understand Myself programs, joins Kathleen O’Toole, associate vice president for K-12 Education at Hillsdale College, to discuss the Self Authoring Suite, how students can benefit from the "Future Authoring" process, and the nuances of Aristotle and Plato. Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vincent Kane, head of school at Idaho Novus Classical Academy in Boise, Idaho, delivers a lecture on how classical education helps bolster Western Civilization. This lecture was given at the Hoogland Center for Teacher Excellence seminar, “The Art of Teaching: Western Civilization” in April 2025. The Hoogland Center for Teacher Excellence, an outreach of the Hillsdale College K-12 Education Office, offers educators the opportunity to deepen their content knowledge and refine their skills in the classroom.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.