Dr. J's American Passages

Fireside Poems

Each episode Dr. J selects a passage from American literature, reads it aloud, and discusses what the passage contributes to our understanding of what America and being an American mean.

  1. 06/30/2023

    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.

  2. 06/10/2023

    Pocahontas

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

  3. 05/17/2023

    Sweet Thunder

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

  4. 05/03/2023

    from Self-Reliance

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

  5. 04/20/2023

    Atalanta

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

  6. 04/06/2023

    Remember the Ladies

    As her husband John Adams participates in the writing of the founding documents of the United States of America, Abigail Adams asks him to consider too the wrongs done to women and the rights they should have in the new United States.

  7. 03/15/2023

    A is for Antinomian

    Hester presented as the embodiment of the American antinomian spirit.

  8. 03/01/2023

    from O Pioneers!

    The value of state clleges and universities to America.

See All (23)

Ratings & Reviews

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About

Each episode Dr. J selects a passage from American literature, reads it aloud, and discusses what the passage contributes to our understanding of what America and being an American mean.

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