The Scholar's Armchair

Great minds on the greatest ideas: Conversations with scholars on their area of expertise for a general audience. Less like a lecture, more a conversation with an expert.Check us out on YouTube!

The Scholar's Armchair is a arts podcast hosted by Dr. John Burton, with 26 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Dr. John Burton hosts The Scholar's Armchair, a arts show with 26 episodes published.

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  The Scholar's Armchair

  Can MYSTICISM Free us from Ourselves? | Prof Simon Critchley

  Aug 16, 202652 min

  What does mysticism have to offer us in a secular age? Have we lost not only religious faith, but our capacity for wonder, ecstasy and experiences that take us beyond ourselves? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I speak with philosopher Simon Critchley about his book On Mysticism: The Experience of Ecstasy. Mysticism, Critchley argues, need not mean supernatural visions or religious belief. It can instead be understood as a way of breaking out of our habitual ways of thinking and experiencing the world, opening ourselves to something larger than the isolated self. Our conversation ranges from Hamlet and the melancholy of modern life to Julian of Norwich, T. S. Eliot, music, love and the strange possibility of ecstasy. We ask why philosophy has so often been suspicious of mysticism, what literature can tell us that philosophy cannot, and whether art and music might provide forms of mystical experience even for those who don’t believe in God. Above all, we explore a question at the heart of Critchley’s book: can mysticism help us live more intensely, attentively and openly in the world? Links On Mysticism: The Experience of Ecstasy | US edition: https://www.nyrb.com/products/mysticism UK edition: https://profilebooks.com/work/on-mysticism/ Simon Critchley — Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at The New School for Social Research: https://www.newschool.edu/nssr/faculty/simon-critchley/ Follow The Scholar’s Armchair on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thescholarsarmchair The Scholar’s Armchair: great minds on the greatest ideas. #SimonCritchley #Mysticism #Philosophy #Literature #TSeliot #JulianOfNorwich #Hamlet #Books #TheScholarsArmchair

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  The Scholar's Armchair

  How did Alchemy create modern chemistry? | Dr Kit Chapman

  Aug 9, 202637 min

  What if modern chemistry didn’t replace alchemy—but was born from it? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I’m joined by science writer Kit Chapman to discuss his fascinating book, The Age of Alchemy: How Early Innovators Shaped Modern Chemistry. Most of us think of alchemy as the failed attempt to turn lead into gold. But Kit argues that this familiar story misses the point. Long before modern laboratories existed, generations of artisans, metalworkers, physicians, philosophers and alchemists developed the practical knowledge that would eventually become chemistry. Together we explore the surprising history of alchemy, the forgotten innovators who shaped science, and what this remarkable story teaches us about curiosity, experimentation, failure and the search for truth. In this conversation we discuss: • Why alchemy has been misunderstood • The real origins of modern chemistry • Forgotten scientists and innovators from around the world • How mistakes can lead to great discoveries • Why science is always a deeply human endeavour Kit Chapman’s book: The Age of Alchemy https://profilebooks.com/work/the-age-of-alchemy/ Follow Kit Chapman (“Chemistry Kit”) https://www.youtube.com/@chemistrykit Kit on X (Twitter) https://x.com/chemistrykit Follow The Scholar’s Armchair on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thescholarsarmchair/ If you enjoyed this conversation, please Like, Subscribe, and Share. It really helps the channel and ensures more conversations like this with leading authors, historians and thinkers.

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  The Scholar's Armchair

  How to Stay Alive in Renaissance England | Dr Alanna Skuse

  Aug 2, 202641 min

  How did people decide who to trust with their lives before modern medicine? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I’m joined by historian and literary scholar Dr Alanna Skuse to discuss her fascinating book, The Surgeon, the Midwife, and the Quack: How to Stay Alive in Renaissance England. We explore the strange and surprising world of Renaissance medicine, where surgeons, midwives, physicians, apothecaries and travelling healers all competed for patients. Along the way we discuss Shakespeare, miracle cures, dangerous operations, the blurred line between expertise and quackery, and a question that remains just as relevant today: how do we decide who to trust when certainty is impossible? If you enjoy conversations that bring together literature, history and big ideas, please like the video, subscribe to the channel, and let me know your thoughts in the comments. Find out more about Dr Alanna Skuse: The Surgeon, the Midwife, and the Quack (Oneworld): https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Surgeon-The-Midwife-The-Quack/Alanna-Skuse/9781836430773 Blood, Guts, and Nasty Cuts (DK Children): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/829078/blood-guts-and-nasty-cuts-by-dr-alanna-skuse/ Follow Dr Alanna Skuse on Instagram (@historian_alanna): https://www.instagram.com/historian_alanna/

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  The Scholar's Armchair

  The Lost Art of Dying Well | Molly Conisbee

  Jul 26, 202659 min

  Death is one of the few experiences every human being shares, yet in the modern world it has become something we rarely talk about. How did that happen? And what have we lost by pushing death to the margins of everyday life? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I speak with social historian and bereavement counsellor Molly Conisbee about her remarkable book No Ordinary Deaths: A People’s History of Mortality. Rather than focusing on the deaths of kings and queens, Molly uncovers the experiences of ordinary people, revealing how communities across Britain have faced death, cared for the dying, mourned their loved ones, and searched for meaning in loss over the centuries. Together we discuss the dramatic decline in child mortality, medieval and Victorian attitudes towards death, the changing role of hospitals and medicine, the disappearance of communal mourning rituals, and whether modern society has lost the “art of dying well.” Along the way we ask what history can teach us about grief, community, and ultimately what it means to live a good life. Whether you’re interested in social history, cultural history, medicine, philosophy, or simply one of the most universal aspects of human experience, this is a thoughtful and deeply humane conversation. Links: Molly Conisbee’s book: No Ordinary Deaths: A People’s History of Mortality https://profilebooks.com/work/no-ordinary-deaths/ Molly’s profile page: https://www.bath.ac.uk/person/509812 If you enjoy conversations like this, please like, subscribe, and let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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  The Scholar's Armchair

  Meeting the real Lord BYRON | Prof Andrew Stauffer

  Jul 19, 202648 min

  Who was the real Lord Byron? Was he really the brooding, scandalous Romantic we’ve inherited through legend? Or was there a very different Byron hiding in plain sight—in the extraordinary letters he wrote to friends, lovers, family and fellow writers? In this episode of The Scholar’s Armchair, I speak with Professor Andrew Stauffer about his acclaimed new book, Byron: A Life in Ten Letters. Rather than telling Byron’s story through a conventional biography, Stauffer lets Byron speak for himself, revealing a man who was witty, self-aware, vulnerable, contradictory and startlingly modern. Along the way we discuss the birth of celebrity culture, the origins of the Byronic hero, Byron’s influence on Mary Shelley, the Brontës and the Gothic tradition, his friendships with Percy Shelley and Thomas Moore, his role in the Greek War of Independence, and why his life and work continue to shape literature more than two centuries after his death. Whether you’re a lifelong admirer of Romantic poetry or simply curious about one of history’s most fascinating literary figures, I hope you enjoy the conversation. Andrew Stauffer’s book: Byron: A Life in Ten Letters (Cambridge University Press)⁠ https://share.google/XCk4I1M8cAQuRkHOE If you enjoyed this interview, please consider subscribing to The Scholar’s Armchair, where I speak to leading scholars and authors about literature, history, philosophy and the ideas that continue to shape our world.

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