The Last Lecture: Timeless Lessons from Commencement Speeches

Maitt Saiwyer
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"Graduation day ends in a few hours — but the speeches can last a lifetime." This podcast brings together the most powerful commencement speeches ever delivered — from David Foster Wallace’s reminder to choose how you see the world, to J.K. Rowling’s hard-won lessons on failure, to Steve Jobs’s timeless call to stay hungry, stay foolish. Each episode dives deep into one landmark speech, weaving together long verbatim excerpts with reflective commentary that connects their wisdom to everyday life. Across 10 episodes, you’ll hear the voices of writers, leaders, and visionaries — George Saunders, Neil Gaiman, Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, Barack Obama, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — all offering a kind of curriculum for living with courage, kindness, creativity, and responsibility. More than a podcast, this is a ceremony of ideas — a graduation of the spirit — reminding us that life itself is the ultimate commencement. If you’ve ever wished you could carry the world’s best advice in your pocket, this series is your invitation to walk across the stage again and again — each time with new wisdom in hand.

  1. Episode 1 – David Foster Wallace: This Is Water

    EPISODE 1

    Episode 1 – David Foster Wallace: This Is Water

    Theme: Awareness, choice, and the hidden work of living meaningfully. Quote: “The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people...” Listeners explore Wallace’s warning about drifting through life unconsciously, and how “choosing how you see” can be the most profound act of adulthood.

    59 min
  2. Episode 2 – J.K. Rowling: Very Good Lives

    EPISODE 2

    Episode 2 – J.K. Rowling: Very Good Lives

    Theme: Failure, imagination, and rebuilding. Quote: “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all.” We discuss Rowling’s Harvard speech — how failure stripped her life down to its essentials, and how imagination fosters empathy and innovation.

    27 min
  3. Episode 3 – Neil Gaiman: Make Good Art

    EPISODE 3

    Episode 3 – Neil Gaiman: Make Good Art

    Theme: Creativity and courage in the face of mistakes. Quote: “When things get tough, this is what you should do. Make good art.” This episode unpacks Gaiman’s radical permission to embrace accidents, bad jobs, and wrong turns as fuel for creative brilliance.

    26 min
  4. Episode 4 – George Saunders: Congratulations, By the Way

    EPISODE 4

    Episode 4 – George Saunders: Congratulations, By the Way

    Theme: Kindness above all else. Quote: “What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.” We reflect on Saunders’s famous speech about humility, generosity, and the power of small acts — especially in moments when we’re tempted to ignore them.

    40 min
  5. Episode 5 – Toni Morrison & Friends: The World Is Waiting for You

    EPISODE 5

    Episode 5 – Toni Morrison & Friends: The World Is Waiting for You

    Theme: Activism, literature, and living with purpose. Quote (Morrison): “The function of freedom is to free someone else.” From this anthology, we pull speeches by Morrison, Steinem, and other icons, examining how commencement speeches become calls to action for justice and creativity.

    33 min
  6. Episode 6 – Kurt Vonnegut: Advice for the Young

    EPISODE 6

    Episode 6 – Kurt Vonnegut: Advice for the Young

    Theme: Humor, irreverence, and humanism. Quote: “Practice any art, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you.” Vonnegut’s speeches are playful yet piercing. We explore how laughter can carry profound wisdom into everyday life.

    33 min
  7. Episode 7 – Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

    EPISODE 7

    Episode 7 – Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

    Theme: Connecting the dots, loss, and living as if each day is your last. Quote: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Jobs’s Stanford address is dissected for its blend of business savvy and existential courage — a modern manifesto on risk and vision.

    22 min
  8. Episode 8 – Barack Obama: Commencement at Howard

    EPISODE 8

    Episode 8 – Barack Obama: Commencement at Howard

    Theme: Responsibility, hope, and building bridges. Quote: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Obama’s speeches, delivered at commencements and campaign rallies alike, invite us to see ourselves as agents of history and repairers of divisions.

    38 min
  9. Episode 9 – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: We Should All Be Feminists

    EPISODE 9

    Episode 9 – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: We Should All Be Feminists

    Theme: Identity, feminism, and authenticity. Quote: “Culture does not make people. People make culture. If it is true that the full humanity of women is not our culture, then we can and must make it our culture.” This episode brings Adichie’s speech into focus as a commencement-style call for equity and courage in self-definition.

    31 min
  10. Episode 10 – Closing Montage: The World’s Wisdom on One Stage

    EPISODE 10

    Episode 10 – Closing Montage: The World’s Wisdom on One Stage

    Theme: Synthesis of commencement wisdom. We weave together the series’ most moving quotes into a single reflection: on kindness (Saunders), freedom (Morrison), imagination (Rowling), awareness (Wallace), creativity (Gaiman), courage (Jobs), and joy (Vonnegut). A finale that feels like graduation day itself.

    50 min
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"Graduation day ends in a few hours — but the speeches can last a lifetime." This podcast brings together the most powerful commencement speeches ever delivered — from David Foster Wallace’s reminder to choose how you see the world, to J.K. Rowling’s hard-won lessons on failure, to Steve Jobs’s timeless call to stay hungry, stay foolish. Each episode dives deep into one landmark speech, weaving together long verbatim excerpts with reflective commentary that connects their wisdom to everyday life. Across 10 episodes, you’ll hear the voices of writers, leaders, and visionaries — George Saunders, Neil Gaiman, Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, Barack Obama, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — all offering a kind of curriculum for living with courage, kindness, creativity, and responsibility. More than a podcast, this is a ceremony of ideas — a graduation of the spirit — reminding us that life itself is the ultimate commencement. If you’ve ever wished you could carry the world’s best advice in your pocket, this series is your invitation to walk across the stage again and again — each time with new wisdom in hand.

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