This first episode introduces the Nature's Lead podcast by explaining the format, establishing a couple baseline concepts, and defining its purpose.

Nature's Lead

Podcast 1.1 - The Beginning

In this Open Valley, I read William Wordsworth’s sonnet entitled “November 1.” This Open Valley is a Reading, something I haven’t done before, meaning I’m just going to read and not add a lot of commentary. Now this poem reminded me of something I wrote years ago, and so I’m going to read that as well. I don’t share, very often, things that I’ve written, but the subjects of both of these writings are very similar.

Podcast Open Valley 08 - Reading: Wordsworth’s 'November 1'

In "The Truth about Truth," I discuss the meaning of truth and read a wonderful passage from Emerson's "The Transcendentalist."

Podcast 2_35 - The Truth about Truth

In this Open Valley, I simply read one of Robert Frost’s most famous poems, “Birches.”

Podcast Open Valley 07 - The Imagination of Birches

In this Open Valley, I read from William Blake’s famous "Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience" and briefly discuss an alternate view.

Podcast Open Valley 06 - Blake's Innocence

In "Technology as Destination," I talk about the problem of treating technology as a destination, and I make an analogy to “A Descent into the Maelstrom” by Edgar Allan Poe.

Podcast 2_34 - Technology as Destination

In this Open Valley, I read a poem from Emily Dickinson and explore thoughts about shared, natural empathy existing within us and Nature.

Podcast Open Valley 05 - Natural Empathy

In this Open Valley, I share my experience of getting locked inside of Rome's Protestant Cemetery where Keats and Shelley are buried.

Podcast Open Valley 04 - Locked in a Graveyard

In "Economic Individualism," I talk about recognizing our personal economies, and I read from Emerson for some guidance and inspiration.

Podcast 2_33 - Economic Individualism

In "Reality is Only Feelings," I talk about the movie, The Graduate, and how it unearths a true reality below the weight and confusion of society's institutions and traditions.

Podcast 2_32 - Reality is Only Feelings

In this Open Valley, I discuss the surprisingly intricate structure of the sonnet poetical form and read from Wordsworth and Shakespeare as examples.

Podcast Open Valley 03 - The Sonnet

In "Love is Yours," I talk about beauty and love, and I read one of Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets.

Podcast 2_31 - Love is Yours

In this Open Valley, I share my theory on a potential hidden code in one of Whitman's most famous poems, "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer."

Podcast Open Valley 02 - Whitman

An Open Valley is not a typical episode. It's a way for me to give you an update on the podcast, an update on personal items, or some info on other items that wouldn't fit into a normal episode. In this first Open Valley, beyond the house keeping stuff, I do briefly mention what a Rendevous was in the Rockies early in the 19th century.

Podcast Open Valley - 01

In "Music's Emotional Manifest," I explore the idea of music's direct emotional effect on us while reading a famous poem from Wordsworth, and I'll also share a couple piano pieces I wrote.

Podcast 2_30 - Music's Emotional Manifest

This podcast both examines and inspires a certain approach towards life that is based both on personal philosophies and on, more importantly, the writings of people such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. The host, while working in technology for a major corporation, holds a Master's in English Literature and is a true Romantic.

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Nature's Lead

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