The Society for the Preservation of Literature, the Arts, Numinosity, Culture, Humor, Nerdiness, Inspiration, Creativity & Storytelling
In this episode, Clare and Hannah continue to geek out about robots, but to be honest we spend more time discussing humans. Typical humans, always talking about ourselves. We talk about the nature of beauty, being stewards of the earth, and something called an a priori cognitive structure. I feel smarter already.
“The humans, who can think, are so afraid of those who cannot think…”
In this episode, the first half of a two-part discussion, Clare and Hannah chat about the progress of robotics over the years, laying the groundwork for the second part, where we get super-duper philosophical and stuff.
Clare and Hannah continue their discussion of William Golding’s classic 1954 novel, Lord of the Flies. Mayhem ensues.
Clare and Hannah discuss William Golding’s classic 1954 novel, Lord of the Flies. Like all civilized people, they pass the pig mug, and things get philosophical.
Gen Xer Clare and Millennial Hannah talk about the generations and how they were shaped by technology, historical events, and in Clare’s case, a whole lot of geopolitical mayhem.
Clare and Hannah watch Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 film adaptation of Dune and immediately sit down to talk about it. We’re both big fans of Duke Leto, and Hannah keeps wanting to talk about the Gom Jabbar for some reason.
Clare and Hannah continue to dive down the rabbit hole and talk about Richard Adam’s 1972 adventure novel Watership Down. In Part 2 of this discussion, we talk about the qualities of a great leader: trusting your followers, offering peace to hostile neighbors, and saving the lives of random mice.
After a bit of a break, Clare and Hannah return to talk about Clare’s favorite childhood book: Watership Down! We talked briefly about it in Season 1, Episode 3, “Hobbits and Rabbits and Gnomes (Oh my!)” but on today’s episode and in next week’s episode we dive deeply–down the rabbit hole, if you will–into this classic 1972 novel by Richard Adams. It’s much more than a fun adventure story about talking rabbits!
The title is confusing to many potential readers. It is not a nautical book about a sinking ship. A “down” is in fact, a hill. And Watership Down is a specific hill in the North Wessex Downs area in the south of England. The story begins in the county of Berkshire and moves south into Hampshire, where most of the story takes place. Hampshire is on the southern coast of England. Portsmouth and Southampton are two well-known cities in the county. From the coast, southward across at strait called The Solent, is the Isle of Wight.
Richard Adams was born and raised in the area, and except for a brief stint in the army during World War II, lived his whole life in this scenic region of England. (For more on the setting, check out Clare’s review of Watership Down, linked below.)
Click “Read More” to enjoy part 1 of the episode and find additional resources!
Clare and Hannah may look exactly the same, but they’re a lot different under the surface. One of them is introverted, and the other is extroverted. I wonder if you can guess which is which?
Clare and Hannah talk about the positive effects of handcrafts, gardening, cooking, and building your own home!