Dr. J's American Passages

Episode 22: American Beauty

What is America's attitude toward beauty? Is it something valuable for itself alone? Or does it require some other more moral vrtue? Or is it merely something to be shown off? Or something to be disapproved of? Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth asks us to consider this question.

Episode 21: Pocahontas

Is John Smith's account of his rescue by Pocahontas true? Does it mater?

Episode 20: Sweet Thunder

The Calvinist preacher Jonathan Edwards describes his own discovery of he seetness of God.

Episode 19: Self-Reliance

Self-reliance doesn't mean selfishness as much as it means self-confidence.

Episode 18: Atalanta

W.E.B. Du Bois reflects on the threat to the soul of thiniking of the world in terms of dollars.