Kat Morgenstern
- 13
- reviews
- 17
- helpful votes
- 18
- ratings
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Foundations of Western Civilization II: A History of the Modern Western World
- By: Robert Bucholz, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert Bucholz
- Length: 24 hrs and 35 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,398
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,241
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,237
Beginning with the Renaissance, the culture of the West exploded. Over the next 600 years, rapid innovations in philosophy, technology, economics, military affairs, and politics allowed what had once been a cultural backwater left by the collapse of the Roman Empire to dominate the world. This comprehensive series of 48 lectures by an award-winning teacher and captivating lecturer will show you how - and why - this extraordinary transformation took place.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Excellent Overview
- By Lee on 12-21-14
disappointing
Reviewed: 12-02-22
I have listened to a lot of history lectures on the great courses. this one is by far the most boring. the kind of history lessons that you love to hate as a youth. all about Kings, battles and victories or defeats, names and dates but not enough social history to contextualise the story. After listening to the history of western civilization part one by a different author this series is bland and tiresome. sorry for the bleak review but I was expecting more after having had so many great lectures by the great courses series.
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2 people found this helpful
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The Foundations of Western Civilization
- By: Thomas F. X. Noble, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Thomas F. X. Noble
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,686
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,447
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,432
What is Western Civilization? According to Professor Noble, it is "much more than human and political geography," encompassing myriad forms of political and institutional structures - from monarchies to participatory republics - and its own traditions of political discourse. It involves choices about who gets to participate in any given society and the ways in which societies have resolved the tension between individual self-interest and the common good.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not Engaging or Very Interesting
- By Tommy D'Angelo on 03-05-17
history from a bird's eye perspective
Reviewed: 09-24-22
I loved listening to this lecture series and was impressed by the multifaceted scope. it is no small feat to draw together the many roots and influences that have shaped the Western world. This is a long listen but still concise given this multilayered approach. I am sure I will return to listen to it again.
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My Favorite Universe
- By: Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,175
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,830
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,818
What forces molded the universe? Are those forces still at work, removing, changing, or adding heavenly bodies even as we gaze upward? Will humanity, and Earth itself, one day be gone? Are we alone? In an era when science journalism is perhaps more thorough and ambitious than ever before, fascinating explorations of questions like these seem available to us almost every day - provided we have a working understanding of the scientific theories on which they're based.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Wish there was more
- By dan on 08-21-16
- My Favorite Universe
- By: Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
cosmic
Reviewed: 02-24-22
I enjoyed getting my brain stretched thinking about astrophysics and dimensions beyond our everyday reality. The delivery could have been a little smoother but it was good enough to listen to without getting irritated.
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Redefining Reality
- The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science
- By: Steven Gimbel, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Steven Gimbel
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,676
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,267
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,225
No subject is bigger than reality itself, and nothing is more challenging to understand, since what counts as reality is undergoing continual revision and has been for centuries. The quest to pin down what's real and what's illusory is both philosophical and scientific, a metaphysical search for ultimate reality that goes back to the ancient Greeks. For the last 400 years, this search has been increasingly guided by scientists, who create theories and test them in order to define and redefine reality.
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5 out of 5 stars
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mind = blown
- By Bailey on 09-13-15
- Redefining Reality
- The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science
- By: Steven Gimbel, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Steven Gimbel
fantastic lecture series
Reviewed: 10-05-21
I absolutely loved everything about this audiobook. A masterfully constructed narrative, both broad and deep, told with humour and wit. Provides plenty of food for thought about the human condition, the way we see the world and how our reality changes with the way we look at things.
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1 person found this helpful
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The Creative Thinker's Toolkit
- By: Gerard Puccio, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gerard Puccio
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 953
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 823
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 816
According to the latest scientific research, anyone can be creative. You just have to know how to think creatively, which involves taking a more imaginative approach to the challenges we all face. Learn how to wield the same research-based tools that today's creative people use and tap into your inner creative thinker with Professor Puccio's engaging 24-lecture series that takes you step-by-step through the creative-thinking process.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing Read.
- By D. Wri on 02-03-15
- The Creative Thinker's Toolkit
- By: Gerard Puccio, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Gerard Puccio
a lot of interesting tools
Reviewed: 04-17-21
I enjoyed this audio book and found the tools very usable. I think I will be able to implement quite a few of them. The performance could have been a bit better, the speaker talks a bit halting which for me got into the way of the flow a bit. But it wasn't that bad. I still listened to it to the end and enjoyed it overall.
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1 person found this helpful
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The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions
- By: Jay L. Garfield, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jay L. Garfield
- Length: 18 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,984
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,750
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,727
What is the meaning of life?It's a question every thoughtful person has pondered at one time or another. Indeed, it may be the biggest question of all-at once profound and universal, but also deeply personal.We want to understand the world in which we live, but we also want to understand how to make our own lives as meaningful as possible; to know not only why we're living, but that we're doing it with intention, purpose, and ethical commitment.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thoughtful, Evenhanded, Precise, and Well Spoken
- By George on 03-12-14
thoroughly toughtul and thoroughly enjoyable
Reviewed: 03-13-21
I loved this very deep and far reaching excursion into the various philosophical and religious traditions all attempting to grapple with the question of what is a meaningful life. highly recommended.
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The Story of Human Language
- By: John McWhorter, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 18 hrs and 15 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,008
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,054
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,944
Language defines us as a species, placing humans head and shoulders above even the most proficient animal communicators. But it also beguiles us with its endless mysteries, allowing us to ponder why different languages emerged, why there isn't simply a single language, how languages change over time and whether that's good or bad, and how languages die out and become extinct.
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5 out of 5 stars
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You'll Never Look at Languages the Same Way Again
- By SAMA on 03-11-14
- The Story of Human Language
- By: John McWhorter, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
interesting subject
Reviewed: 10-04-17
I wish I could like this book more. interesting story told in a convoluted and sometimes tedious way, peppered with not very funny, borderline racist cracks. In my view he missed the most important point about why diversity if language is so important, which is the way it encodes local knowledge, especially ecological knowledge which cannot easily be expressed in other languages as it is specific to culture / environment interaction. It would help if the professor took a slightly broader social science or anthropological perspective instead of staying firmly focused on his own little knowledge box.
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4 people found this helpful
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Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior
- By: Mark Leary, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Mark Leary
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,353
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,917
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,884
Every day of your life is spent surrounded by mysteries that involve what appear to be rather ordinary human behaviors. What makes you happy? Where did your personality come from? Why do you have trouble controlling certain behaviors? Why do you behave differently as an adult than you did as an adolescent?Since the start of recorded history, and probably even before, people have been interested in answering questions about why we behave the way we do.
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1 out of 5 stars
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I wanted to like this course
- By Diane Tincher on 08-06-18
- Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior
- By: Mark Leary, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Mark Leary
layman level psychology
Reviewed: 07-04-17
I enjoyed listening to the lectures overall. Layman psychology level, good for people who have no prior knowledge and are just curious about human behaviour. For the serious student there are better courses out there.
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The Great Ideas of Psychology
- By: Daniel N. Robinson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Daniel N. Robinson
- Length: 23 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,048
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 898
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 879
If you’ve ever wanted to delve more deeply into the mysteries of human emotion, perception, and cognition, and of why we do what we do, these 48 lectures offer a superb place to start. With them, you’ll see the entire history of psychology unfold. In the hands of Professor Robinson, these lectures encompass ideas, speculations, and point-blank moral questions that might just dismantle and rebuild everything you once thought you knew about psychology.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Oxford level of examination of psychology
- By Gare&Sophia on 01-21-14
- The Great Ideas of Psychology
- By: Daniel N. Robinson, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Daniel N. Robinson
Great lectures
Reviewed: 03-19-17
This was a thoroughly enjoyable lecture series, intelligent, informative, and even entertaining. Highly recommended.
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Man's Search for Meaning
- By: Viktor E. Frankl
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49,269
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40,709
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Story5 out of 5 stars 40,596
Man’s Search for Meaning is the chilling yet inspirational story of Viktor Frankl’s struggle to hold on to hope during the unspeakable horrors of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of those he treated in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering, but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Read This if You're Very Sick and/or Thinking About Ending Your Life
- By Derek on 07-21-15
- Man's Search for Meaning
- By: Viktor E. Frankl
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
Insightful and moving
Reviewed: 09-16-16
Very inspiring and moving. Insightful, philosophical and supremely human. very good reader too.
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