Dear Abbie - The Non-Advice Podcast

Philosophy Podcasts

I would like this podcast to start a conversation with women of all ages, convictions and styles of life – wherever situated on the gamut of experience. In principle, there is no bar to men joining in, since how one defines women has a lot to do with what it means to be a man. But it is women I invite to pull up a chair at this virtual café table and put their questions and views into the conversation. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column,” (www.dearabbie-nonadvice.com) where she explores the situation of women. She thinks women’s lives are highly interesting. She’s the editor of The Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes’s Secret; Spinoza’s Way by her father, Henry M. Rosenthal. She’s written numerous articles that can be accessed at Academia.edu .

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United States

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I would like this podcast to start a conversation with women of all ages, convictions and styles of life – wherever situated on the gamut of experience. In principle, there is no bar to men joining in, since how one defines women has a lot to do with what it means to be a man. But it is women I invite to pull up a chair at this virtual café table and put their questions and views into the conversation. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column,” (www.dearabbie-nonadvice.com) where she explores the situation of women. She thinks women’s lives are highly interesting. She’s the editor of The Consolations of Philosophy: Hobbes’s Secret; Spinoza’s Way by her father, Henry M. Rosenthal. She’s written numerous articles that can be accessed at Academia.edu .

Language:

English

Episodes

Personality

2/1/2023
Why then do I now question the view I’ve long held: that people live and die by ideas? Apart from physical necessities, what else is there? There is Personality. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column,” where she...

Duration:00:13:44

Grace Under Pressure

1/27/2023
Four years ago, I’d participated in the year-long search to find our new rabbi after the previous incumbent decided to move ahead to greener pastures. . . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column,” where she explores...

Duration:00:10:39

The Gang's All Here

1/25/2023
I’ve always liked to be in situations where the whole gang was here. . .

Duration:00:11:04

Unwrapping the Gift of the Jews

1/20/2023
What’s the gift of the Jews? It’s to live with God chronologically. Is that all? Is that anything? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column,” where she explores the situation of women. She thinks women’s lives are...

Duration:00:12:30

Michael Wyschogrod

1/18/2023
When the Jewish Review of Books arrived, I noticed with pleasure the cover article,“Michael Wyschogrod and the Challenge of God’s Scandalous Love.” Good! I thought. Michael is being attended to and treated as timely, for some reason. Then I read Leora Batnitsky’s opening lines . . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded...

Duration:00:10:10

Landscapes of the Heart

1/13/2023
When we first moved to Bucks County, I used to go into New York once a week to “get my identity back.” . . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column,” where she explores the situation of women. She thinks women’s lives...

Duration:00:12:32

Final Proofs

1/11/2023
He’d been working in D.C., living in Alexandria with me as newly-wed wife, running a higher ed organization and pretty much minding his own business when he … heard God’s voice. I mean voice! And I mean words! Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for...

Duration:00:07:21

Nostalgia and Yearning

1/6/2023
For most of my life, I’ve lived under a low-hanging cloud of yearning. The Germans call it Sehnsucht. It’s romantic longing for a fog-enshrouded, mystery-enfolded, beckoning future. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice...

Duration:00:12:18

Birthday

1/4/2023
The way you can tell that “I” don’t choose these topics (but respond – as if to an inner prompt) is instanced here: why would anyone (over twenty one) choose that one? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column,” where...

Duration:00:10:14

Philosophical Gossip

12/30/2022
A powerful thinker wrestles with questions that are in the air, arising partly from the cultural or historical circumstances that surround him or her. But philosophers are not just historical characters. They are private persons too, with a front and a back that is unique to themselves. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded...

Duration:00:15:37

Put-Downs

12/28/2022
In my early days in the profession, I used reflexively to say out loud, at every opportunity, that I was not a bona fide expert in whatever subject I was talking about. Finally a male friend and colleague advised me to desist from reverse self-promotion of that kind. I took the hint and quit doing that. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now...

Duration:00:10:00

Where Are We Now?

12/23/2022
What was and is the link between one’s work and one’s life? There must be a correlation. Even if one’s activity is just whittling down a stick, the whittler does that in some way correlated with the way she does other things — hence with her life. There’s no getting around the fascination of these questions. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now...

Duration:00:15:33

A Philosopher’s and a Woman’s Place

12/21/2022
The Woman Question (as it was called in the nineteenth century) was always a real question for me. The accomplished women philosophers of my youth had no choice but to “think like a man.” While I greatly admired their attainments, I also thought that this obvious sacrifice of womanhood entailed its own burden of falsity. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize...

Duration:00:17:03

The Suffering Of the Situation

12/16/2022
My own experience tells me that the Biblical period is not exactly over. By that I mean that things still happen, between us and God, somewhat like the things that happened in the Bible. It’s not over, kids. It’s still going on. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes...

Duration:00:18:16

What the Fortune Cookie said

12/12/2022
“What the Fortune Cookie Said” In the last few weeks, whenever we’ve brought home supper from the Chinese take-out place, and opened the fortune cookie, mine has been deplorable. Things like, “When climbing the hill of difficulty, don’t slip and slide.” Just the other day, I got the all time worst fortune cookie. Here’s what it said: Pick another fortune cookie. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the...

Duration:00:11:16

The Politics of Ideas

12/9/2022
They say you are what you eat, but it’s been my experience that you are what you believe. People live and die for the ideas they believe to be true. What is more, people dress, work and play, experience nature, appreciate art, suffer life reversals or count themselves successful — all under the sheltering umbrella of what they believe. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a...

Duration:00:19:37

Style

12/7/2022
So many of the hurdles, which form impassible barriers to some, can be cleared at a bound with the right style. I say this because, in important cases, I have absolutely lacked this “open sesame” — the magic words that make the locks fall off the doors. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as...

Duration:00:11:44

Living in History

12/2/2022
That’s a theme of mine, though it’s easier to give the theme a name than to say exactly what it means. I can hone in on it by at least by saying what it’s not. If you claim that the world we sense, with its tables and chairs, human realms — of manners, customs, beliefs and memories — is “unreal,” then you’re NOT living in history. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a...

Duration:00:16:10

Jews and Christmas

11/30/2022
So Jews and Christmas? What do I think of it all? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of A Good Look at Evil, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, now appearing in an expanded second edition and as audiobooks. Dr. Rosenthal writes a weekly column for “Dear Abbie: The Non-Advice Column,” where she explores the situation of women. She thinks women’s lives are highly interesting. She’s the editor of The...

Duration:00:10:46

Getting Thrown

11/25/2022
One time, in my riding days in Downeast Maine, I went trotting up and down the neighborhood of Back Bay Road in search of the people who owned our right-of-way and shore strip. I needed to find them because it was time to sell the house I had inherited. Among the many bequests of Unfinished Business left me by my parents was the discovery – at the moment I needed to sell the house — that they had never acquired full title to the land on which their house sat. Abigail L. Rosenthal is...

Duration:00:08:35

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