Results of the Vote - Heidegger Podcast Episodes Coming Up Next

Today, I've finished releasing my latest series of podcast episodes in the Sadler's Lectures podcast, a set on Simone de Beauvoir's work, The Second Sex. I wanted to get some input from viewers, subscribers, followers, and supporters about which thinkers they would like to see the next podcast episodes focus on. So I created and ran polls on my YouTube channel, Patreon page, and Twitter stream. I weighted Patreon supporters' votes much more heavily, since they make a monthly commitment to underwriting the work I do.

Each of the options was a thinker that I've already created some podcast episodes on in the past.  Aristotle, Cicero, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, or Martin Heidegger.  The results were quite interesting.  the formula for each of these is Patreon (x20) + YouTube + Twitter.

• Heidegger 140 + 259 + 56 = 455 total
• Dostoevsky 100+ 259 + 31 = 390 total
• Aristotle 160 + 168 +30 = 358 total 
• Cicero 120 + 84 + 22 = 226 total

So Heidegger was the clear winner of the combined polls, and I'll be producing a set of episodes on one of his key essays, What Is Metaphysics?, with releases starting tomorrow.

It's interesting and heartening to see that there were quite a bit of people wanting to see podcast episodes on the other three thinkers as well.  Once the Heidegger podcast episodes are done, I'll move on to Dostoevsky, and convert my recent core concept lectures on portions of The Brothers Karamazov to podcast episodes.  

After those two thinkers, I'll shift to Aristotle and Cicero, and I plan to concentrate on their discussions of the complex topic of friendship and relationships. So for Aristotle, that's Nicomachean Ethics books 8-9 (supplemented here and there by the Eudemian Ethics).  And for Cicero,  his book On Friendship, of course!

I'll be producing and releasing all of those podcast episodes over the next two months, so if you follow my Soundcloud, you can be sure to hear them as they come out.  One of the perks for my Patreon supporters, of course, is that they get early releases of these, so if that's something you're interested in, you might consider becoming a supporter.

Sadler's Lecture Podcast Hits 200 Episodes!

A bit over two years ago, I created the Sadler's Lectures podcast.  Viewers had been asking me for years to convert some of my YouTube videos into downloadable podcasts that they could listen to anywhere.  I'd balked at it for a while, hesitating to add yet another activity to my chronically-full schedule, but then  decided that once I hit a certain level of monthly support on Patreon, I'd commit to starting a podcast.

Sadler's Lectures is exactly what it sounds like.  I'm not hosting a new podcast - not at this point - in which I'd do something different from my video lectures.  In fact, what I've done (with a very few exceptions) is take my already existing core concept videos and turn those into podcast episodes.  I generally boost and tinker with the sound quality, and then edit out all the filler words - "ums", "ahs", "y'knows" - and the pauses, tack on standard intros and outros, and then they're ready to release.

The podcast is officially sited on Soundcloud, but you can also get it on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Player FM, Himalaya, iHeartRadio, and quite likely some other places out there that have flown under my radar.  Sadler's Lectures episodes are also incorporated into TrueSciPhi Radio as well.

With the release of the last in the series (for now) on Albert Camus' work, The Myth of Sisyphus, Sadler's Lectures hit a new benchmark.  I've produced and released 200 episodes! (Actually 208, since I early-released a sequence on Epicurus to my Patreon supporters - I'll be releasing those episodes over this weekend and the coming week).

Since I keep producing core concept videos - I'm probably well past the 700 video mark - I'm not going to run out of content to edit into podcast episodes anytime soon.  I've been putting out abut 5 per week on average, so you can expect to see about 250 additional episodes a year if I keep it up!

At present, the podcast includes lectures on Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Epictetus, Anselm of Canterbury, Rene Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Immanuel Kant, Soren Kierkegaard, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, William James, Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel, Rainer Maria Rilke, Hannah Arendt, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ursula K. Leguin, James Rachels, Lawrence Kohlberg, Mary Midgley, and John Rawls.  I'll be adding quite a few new authors as time goes on!

If you'd like to make a contribution to helping me continue my work making classic philosophical texts, thinkers, and topics accessible for people worldwide, consider becoming a monthly supporter on Patreon. If you'd like to make a one-time donation, you can do so directly on Paypal, or on Buy Me A Coffee.

Podcasting Has Begun!

Yesterday, I uploaded and released the first three files for my new podcast.  Three short lectures on key ideas in Plato's text, The Apology!  I've created a Soundcloud site, which you can access by clicking here.  You can also go to the Sadler's Sound Files blog where I'll be posting podcast episodes individually and most news about the podcast from this point on.

For years, viewers, subscribers, supporters, and other fans have been asking me if I would convert my massive and growing stock of online philosophy lecture videos into mp3 files.

There definitely are some advantages to doing so.  Many people listen to, as well as watch, my philosophy lectures and presentations.  But streaming video requires a lot more data than downloading a podcast.  So that's one good reason.  Another is that it affords me the chance to edit and improve the sound quality of many of the recordings.

It requires that I carve out additional time from my busy schedule, though, so for a long time that held me back.  What has made it possible now is reaching a sufficient level of support through crowdfunding (if you're interested in supporting my work, check out my Patreon site).  That effectively underwrites the time and work needed to produce the sound files.

I'm starting for the moment with converting videos on Plato into podcast lectures.  In the coming months you can expect to see episodes on six other main thinkers, three from ancient philosophy - Aristotle, Cicero, and Epictetus - and three from the Existentialist movement - Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Heidegger.  I'm hoping to get 10-15 podcast episodes done per month, though greater support will help me work through the videos more quickly, and perhaps eventually get caught up with the videos

February Online AMA (Ask Me Anything) Session

At 12:00 PM Central Time today, I'll be going onto YouTube Live for my next monthly AMA session!

These sessions are where my viewers, subscribers, followers, backers, fans - and anyone else who happens to show up - gets to Ask Me Anything.  I try to respond to as many of the comments and questions as I possibly can, though I don't always manage to get to all of them.

I started holding these last Fall - committing to doing the first session when we met our first modest goal in Patreon crowdfunding support.  After my backers got us to the next goal, I committed to providing an AMA each month, and that's what I started doing in December.

Here's where you can log into the session - and don't worry if you're early! YouTube will keep that screen open for you until it starts, and even send you a reminder, if you think you need it.



If you'd like to see me in action in the previous sessions, fielding questions, addressing comments, even tackling complaints and confusions, here are links to the previous three AMA sessions:

• Ask Me Anything Session 1 - September 2017
• Ask Me Anything Session 2 - December 2017
• Ask Me Anything Session 3 - January 2018

All of the time and labor involved in these - and many other - free online events are underwritten by my Patreon supporters.  Their pledges help me earn a living for myself and my family doing work I love - making philosophy accessible to people of all walks of life, all over the world.  If you'd like to become a supporter, here's where you can do that.