Montaigne: Philosopher of the French Renaissa...

Is Gulliver’s Travels just a whimsical children’s adventure story, or is it a scathing satire designed to expose political hypocrisy?From suppressed Irish resistance allegories to biting parodies of Whig corruption, Enlightenment science, and moral decay, Gulliver's author Jonath ...  Show more

What if the fairy tales you grew up with were never meant for children at all?Long before these stories were transformed into family-friendly animated films, they were forged in the gritty reality of Renaissance Italy and later weaponized by rebellious Parisian aristocrats to cha ...  Show more

Nietzsche listed Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) among the best French writers of the Renaissance, and called him a link to classical antiquity. The personal seal of Montaigne read, “What do I know?” For Montaigne, doubting was no less pleasing than knowing, and he exemplified th ...  Show more

On this episode of the podcast, we learn about Michel de Montaigne. We first discuss how a case of 16th century road rage led to a near-death experience which ironically helped Montaigne overcome his fear of dying. Next, we learn why Montaigne valued personal experience above all ...  Show more

In his “Essays” Montaigne uses his wit, insight, and humanist training to tackle his favorite subject: Montaigne.

When thinking about the 16th century the Tudor dynasty often comes to the fore, but the was so much more to this extraordinary period to be explored. In celebration of the launch of her new History Hit podcast, Professor Suzannah Lipscombe joins Dan to discuss all things   Show more