American Canon: Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self-Reliance"

We've decided to begin a running series dedicated to the American Canon. We open the episode by talking about why we're doing this before launching into a discussion of our first entry in the series: Emerson's "Self-Reliance." Kojeve's animalization makes a come, Emerson's eternal present, we discuss the roots of American iconoclasm, John explains how Southern aristocrats saw themselves as the descendents of the combatants at the Battle of Hastings, and much, much more. This one was really fun to record and we look forward to expanding the series as time rolls on.

Bibliography here.

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Cover image: “Shroon Mountain, Adirondacks,” oil painting by Thomas Cole, 1838, a painter of the Hudson River school; in the Cleveland Museum of Art.