Fireside Chats, Episode 38: The Plight of Postmodernism
Added 2018-05-22 16:00:02 +0000 UTCProfessor Greg Jackson holds a PhD in history, teaches at Utah Valley University, and hosts the podcast History That Doesn't Suck. I invited Jackson to Santa Monica to discuss modern academia, and what it's like teaching in a contemporary collegiate environment that, from the outside, seems to be burning to the ground. And so we focus our talk around the scourge of postmodernism. We also discuss history as a pursuit, a passion, and a profession. Why is history taught so poorly, and what can we do to make a new generation of young people passionate about the past?
Comments
He was just back on the show a few weeks ago, in case you missed it!
Colin Moriarty
2019-01-09 00:01:19 +0000 UTCIt is what it is, and it seems like it's only getting worse. Balance is essential.
Colin Moriarty
2019-01-09 00:01:10 +0000 UTCSo I just got done listening to the podcast, I love it, can you do a quarterly podcast with him on history. I also imagined what kind of history professor you would be. I love history the only problem I had in high school was remembering the dates. My 11 year old son is into history and I enjoy taking to him about US history. What really got me into history was the song civil war by guns and roses when I was 11 and the movie Glory.
Hose A Contra Razz
2018-08-25 00:13:32 +0000 UTCAwesome episode. Really hit home. I got into philosophy for the objectivity. I love the subject because it questions everything in a structured manner.... but when I transferred to a continental program, I was met with an unpleasant surprise. I was met with a far left bias and some hostility when I suggested a conservative view in our classes. I dont even consider myself a conservative, I just wanted to see the subject from all sides. So sad that academia is going this route. I was happy to graduate and escape this semester and do my own study in philosophy.
Bobby Bell
2018-06-01 16:50:23 +0000 UTCThank you so much! Professor Jackson and I were chatting when we were done, and we definitely want to do more together.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-30 18:43:25 +0000 UTCCol, I like almost all the stuff you put out, but THIS episode in particular was a highlight. Between the great topics and natural rapport you and Dr. Jackson had, you absolutely have to do a follow-up. This podcast was the most engaged I've heard you sound since your Beyond days. Great show!
WalkinTalkinStephenHawkin
2018-05-29 23:06:21 +0000 UTCOf course! Thank you Colin👏
Marcus Brown
2018-05-27 21:20:27 +0000 UTCI'm so glad to hear that this episode resonated with you. Thank you for listening!
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-27 21:00:39 +0000 UTCI learned a lot from this episode, and it was very cool. I wish you guys were my teachers in high school lol cause you guys make history great! It was always boring in school. I never thought in a million years i would listen to a podcast that talks about history, and politics. Thank you Colin! and your great guest Greg Jackson
Marcus Brown
2018-05-27 16:20:17 +0000 UTC"True conversation," as you put it, is so fundamental and so important. Hopefully, we rediscover it again as a society.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-24 18:31:39 +0000 UTCYou're very welcome. Your support makes it possible!
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-24 18:31:02 +0000 UTCVery interesting feedback. See, I need to probe a bit at times like these, because not liking history -- even the dry stuff -- is so foreign to me.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-24 18:30:50 +0000 UTCThat means a lot to me, because I'm trying to make the show as eclectic as humanly possible.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-24 18:30:10 +0000 UTCThank you! And thanks for giving his podcast a shot, too.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-24 18:29:55 +0000 UTCThank you for listening!
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-24 18:29:42 +0000 UTCWow what a fantastic podcast. I think you guys hit the nail right on the head with a few things and asked the right questions with others. I think the two biggest detriments in society right now are that 1 you are not encouraged to do what makes you feel good and fulfilled in life and 2 nobody understands the power of true conversation. This stems all the way from High School. I work and volunteer in the school systems in MA and it is a staggering issue with todays youth.
Chad Lewis
2018-05-24 16:18:25 +0000 UTCI subscribed to his podcast. This guy is awesome. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to him.
Jimmy Valentine
2018-05-23 21:00:12 +0000 UTCmy 2 cents on why people don't like history - as someone who took extra history in high school and did final exams in it. the courses that I went through – and loved– completely failed to contextualize the stories and events described, as well as explain why they matter at all. I had good teachers both in civics and in history, and I studied a lot myself, but it wasn’t until I read The Story of Mankind by van Loon in college that history actually started to make sense to me. I would like to have thought that I applied myself in high school, but as it turns out, I just knew a lot because I enjoyed history, but I didn’t actually understand much. So if a classmate wasn’t interested in the first place, there was nothing in that class to convince them otherwise. For example, we were taught in excruciating detail about Martin Luther, we recognized his protestantism as a turning point in european history, but none of us really understood what that truly meant in the context of 1500 years prior and 500 years after. What that really meant apart from "the church should carry less swag“. I think that high school history curriculum is way overstuffed with unimportant details that dillute the main takeaways (at least in Slovakia, where I’m from) and I ended up finishing high school as a walking encyclopedia, but not really a student of history. Imo, for history to be useful to a citizen, it needs to be WAY zoomed out. I am confident that there are many ways to make Ancient Mesopotamia relevant to a teenager in the 21st century, but they are memorizing the names of city states and rulers instead. In all honesty, The Story of Mankind with its 500 pages could replace our 3-year curriculum and we’d be better off.
Michal Dudic
2018-05-23 15:06:00 +0000 UTCWell I know another podcast I'll be binging in the future. Great discussion and can't wait to dive into History that doesn't suck. Loving the eclectic nature of fireside chats. :-)
Britton Dowers
2018-05-23 13:48:56 +0000 UTCTerrific podcast. Found the reasons for the problems in colleges interesting, as well as the point of history as stories. Have subscribed to his podcast
Peter Campbell
2018-05-23 12:05:41 +0000 UTCWhat interested is that a lot of what Jordan Petersen talks about is very anti-postmodernity in the sense that we NEED those traditional narratives because there is a reason why they've lasted so long.
Brogan Wassell
2018-05-23 07:00:36 +0000 UTCDOOOOD .... postmodernity is most DEFINITELY the reason why. I'd love to talk to this guy especially because a lot of people have predicted this stuff like William Lane Craig etc. Really great conversation and fireside chat.
Brogan Wassell
2018-05-23 06:58:19 +0000 UTCGood point... though it perhaps says a lot about my own lack of a social life as a youth that I got into history. =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-23 03:46:37 +0000 UTCThis was wonderful. Why some people think history is boring: I think that students (especially in middle school, high school, and young college) are really absorbed with their present life, and they do not realize how history affects their life or why it is relevant to them. They of course mostly care what their phone says and who likes them. ;) Of course, those people probably also dislike the English books that are set in the past and think those are boring also.
Megan Gierlach
2018-05-23 02:46:54 +0000 UTCNah, not interested in conducting debates or moderating anything on Fireside Chats. What I WOULD want is someone who takes the opposite tact of Professor Jackson, so we could get both sides on the record.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 22:42:39 +0000 UTCThis was fascinating to listen to and good to hear not all colleges are as corrupt and crazy as here in CA. Would you ever get a couple people who disagree on a topic to debate and “moderate”? You touched on it a lot through this chat that nobody ever meets in the middle anymore. It would be a very welcome change to political discourse.
James Galos
2018-05-22 22:26:15 +0000 UTCRick in Manitoba is a fucking clown, and the whole world should know it.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 21:46:38 +0000 UTCThen this one will be right up your alley! =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 21:46:15 +0000 UTCIt's sad to me that you feel like you need to be quiet. That's a shame.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 21:24:48 +0000 UTCFuckin Rick in Manitoba. That guy really grinds my gears. Get upset just thinking about him. Hilarious - Great podcast. This dude is so passionate about his field, and thats always cool to hear. My degree is virtually worthless now. I have a BA in psychology, and I don't remember half my college time because I was plastered through most of it. College CAN be important kids, but if you're gonna pay as much as you do for an education, take advantage of it while you're there. Otherwise you're just wasting money. I got a degree I do nothing with (I do tech support).
Owen
2018-05-22 19:52:15 +0000 UTCCan't wait to listen after work. If there's one thing I love more than history it's people talking about their love for history.
Quinn
2018-05-22 19:40:11 +0000 UTC*there
Will Hahn
2018-05-22 18:39:47 +0000 UTCListening to this right now... as a fourth year college student at Sonoma State, I can say that I’ve witnessed a great amount political unevenness, especially when it comes to debating in my education classes. I know so many people at Sonoma State who can’t stand opposing political and social views. I don’t like to talk about my political views very much because so many students who are far left tend to suppress my views with subjective arguments. The political toxicity is silent, but it’s their.
Will Hahn
2018-05-22 18:39:37 +0000 UTCThat Rick fella in Manitoba is a real son of a bitch.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 18:39:23 +0000 UTCThanks. Eclectic is the name of the game!
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 18:39:10 +0000 UTCIt bothers the shit out of me, too. I know some really great people that voted for Trump (and would vote for him again).
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 18:39:02 +0000 UTCOh, you nasty boys.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 18:38:37 +0000 UTCNice! He was a great guy. Would love to have him on again.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 18:38:16 +0000 UTCYou got it! Enjoy.
Colin Moriarty
2018-05-22 18:38:05 +0000 UTCLoved this guy. Dammit Rick!
Blair Sutton
2018-05-22 18:24:50 +0000 UTCOh, man. This sounds very interesting! Dig all these different topics and people.
Marius Skarsem Pedersen
2018-05-22 16:49:41 +0000 UTCVery good conversation. Also he completely mirrored my experience with Trump voters (full disclosure, I'm not a fan of the president). The thing I'm always saying is I have a lot of friends and family that voted for Trump that I've never even heard suggest something racist. It kills me that the media has decided to demonize them as such. To what end too? If anything it only galvanizes their position regardless of what silly thing he tweets next. Guess it was nice to hear that (and the rest) from this guy.
CTE
2018-05-22 16:29:02 +0000 UTCMr. Jackson if you're nasty?
Erik Peterson
2018-05-22 16:12:01 +0000 UTCI work with a bunch of UVU students - just moved down the road from it, actually. So cool to see a UVU prof on here!
Micheal Boudreaux
2018-05-22 16:09:01 +0000 UTCSounds like a great topic! Cant wait to dig into this one! Thanks Colin!
Ryan Harvey
2018-05-22 16:06:08 +0000 UTC
