Best Abigail L. Rosenthal Podcasts (2024)

1
Sacrificial Acts 11:19

7h ago11:19

11:19

It’s occurred to me that, several times in the past, I succeeded better at an effort when I didn’t do it for me. I don’t mean that I got “ego” out of the way, whatever that means. What’s ego? What’s necessary life force? Which is which? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the auth…

1
My Identity Crisis 12:36

3h ago12:36

12:36

The task of A Good Look at Evil is to make clear the shape of a good life and the role of evil in trying to destroy what is good in a life. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tr…

1
Philosophy 11:46

8d ago11:46

11:46

As a little girl, I would set the lunch table extra slowly so that I could overhear the philosophic conversations between my father, Henry M. Rosenthal, and Léo Bronstein, his closest friend. Understanding not a word, I still liked that music better than any other. For me, it was like having died and gone to heaven. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professo…

1
Revisiting Country Gospel 5:35

15d ago5:35

5:35

Being born and raised a Jewish girl from Manhattan’s old-rent, upper east side, the last thing I’m expected to like is country gospel. Or so I’m often told. People shake their heads. Here comes the dog walking on its hind legs. It’s not done well, as Dr. Johnson said, drawing this analogy with the lady preacher, but the wonder is that it is done at…

1
I Dreamed I Saw Grandpa 10:11

23d ago10:11

10:11

Let me explain who and what he was, a little. He was tall, white-bearded when I knew him, and had the sad, seen-it-all-at-least-two-times-over Jewish eyes, as well as tremendous personal vibrancy and humorous resilience. His name is on a street in Jerusalem. Though he didn’t over-value it, he also had a German doctorate in Judaica. Without presumin…

1
What's With The Nothing? 13:02

30d ago13:02

13:02

Well, I always write about what most concerns me, and beggars can’t be choosers, so – nothing for it – I’d better plunge headfirst into The Nothing. Hey, what does that feel like? Be the first kid on your block to find out. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confess…

1
Before Feminism – and After! 15:19

1M ago15:19

15:19

Say what you will about the costs (and they were many and steep) women today are freer and happier than they were back then. You can see the change in the documentaries about feminism. The early combats were grim and the combatants solemn and desperate. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New …

1
“Evil? What Do You Mean, ‘Evil’”? 11:39

1M ago11:39

11:39

Aside from my personal encounters with it, and study of some of the cases that made history, what do I know about it? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine a…

1
How I Got to be a Person Whose Whole Life is Lived in Cliches 11:36

2M ago11:36

11:36

The Rabbis inveigh against gossip. Since a lost reputation is almost as hard to recover as a lost life, they deem it equivalent to a capital crime. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" i…

1
Therapy For The Jews 13:15

2M ago13:15

13:15

Have the Jews anything to offer the world today in their capacity as Jews? The remarkable plasticity and resilience of anti-semitism doesn’t answer my question about being a Jew: what the hell good is it? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Phi…

1
The Deep and the Shallow 9:36

2M ago9:36

9:36

I like happy endings, where hopes long denied get fulfilled, where the apparent pointlessness of someone’s particular experience resolves itself into retrieved significance, where the lead character’s imperiled identity returns from his or her ordeal more solid than before. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The Ci…

1
Do Miracles Happen? 13:29

3M ago13:29

13:29

Occasionally something occurs that you or I might be tempted to call “a miracle.” But: what follows when you try to talk about a “miracle” that you think might have happened to you? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming),…

1
Recognition 10:28

3M ago10:28

10:28

Of course, there are times when one needs to be alone, but not indefinitely. Even solitude has its touchstones of homecoming, of reunion – with memory, with aspiration, with nature and wild creatures. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philoso…

1
Who is the Suffering Servant? 14:43

3M ago14:43

14:43

If the Suffering Servant does not fit neatly into mainstream Jewish traditions about the messiah, who is he? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine and Rousse…

1
A Misremembered Woman 15:45

3M ago15:45

15:45

I found a book to read for the flight from Philadelphia to Ontario, California, this past week. It was about a woman named Sabina Spielrein. I’d never heard of her, but she’s an important figure in the recent history of our culture — a woman whose significance, influence and voice have been stifled by her colleagues, her detractors and even by her …

1
How Can I Tell If It’s God? 12:09

4M ago12:09

12:09

I knew the miracles could be regarded as chance happenings. Onlookers would take them that way. Academics don’t talk about miracles. But the string of personal history didn’t pull taut till I took them as God-sent. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A…

1
I Believed Juanita Back When 12:24

4M ago12:24

12:24

When I watched Lisa Meyers’ NBC interview with Juanita Broaddrick, back when President Bill Clinton had just survived an impeachment vote in the Senate, I called myself a “Clinton Democrat.” Why then would I bother to watch a TV program where, as I’d heard, damaging accusations would be made against the very President I’d been fervently supporting …

1
Betrayal 12:39

4M ago12:39

12:39

My private concern is betrayal. I want to be myself, the one who – very precisely – I am. That identity, that authenticity, turns out to have a Jewish thread running through it. At the same time, it’s God I care about, it’s truth I care for, most of all. Need these conflict? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City …

1
Anger 9:32

4M ago9:32

9:32

It did not fall out that way. I did not feel resentful of those who had put me through seven years of professional hell. I rather felt sorry for them. In my view, they’d picked the wrong parts to play in the movie we’d shared. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Conf…

1
Jesus 11:27

5M ago11:27

11:27

Today the talk turned to Jesus. In the politics of religion, that’s a sensitive subject. With us, it’s not. We’re interested in the question of how to relate to God. That’s very different from the question of whose religion is “best” or (what comes to the same thing) which one has the strongest battalions. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita …

1
A Good Look at Evil 12:02

5M ago12:02

12:02

I’ve now reread A Good Look at Evil, the first edition. It was my first book. It talks about “narrative” before anyone else that I know of did, if the term is applied to an individual’s life experience. By now, “narrative” is much talked of, but in the sense of something made up, not in the sense of something true. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor…

1
A Steeper Cliff 10:40

5M ago10:40

10:40

So here I am in this intermarriage and my man is having conversations with God that occur outside the Jewish project. So what do I do? Nothing. I do nothing. I keep the two worlds separate. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forth…

1
The Most Complex Trip Imaginable 10:50

5M ago10:50

10:50

So fifty seconds with an airline dispatcher? What are the odds? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau. She writes a weekly online column, "Dear …

1
Rocky Mountain Lowdown 13:11

5M ago13:11

13:11

In sum, it’s not true that everything has changed since the Shoah. Sadly, very little has changed. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau. Sh…

1
Moses and Me 10:51

6M ago10:51

10:51

The reason I have trouble with Moses is that his basic task seems to me different. God is not just asking him to bring himself into being. The Lord is asking Moses to bring a people into being! Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (f…

1
World History and Me 16:15

6M ago16:15

16:15

Last night I watched a documentary about the “discovery” by Europeans of the Western Hemisphere – that vast tract of land between Europe and the India that the spice-hunters sought. In my childhood, that discovery was chronicled without scare quotes, as the collected tales of intrepid adventurers and pioneers who stepped onto the shores of a virgin…

1
Death, Dying, and Heroes 10:52

6M ago10:52

10:52

So, if death is ordinarily not that bad – a big relief, even – why the dread of dying? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau. She writes a weekl…

1
September 11, A Week Later – 21:40

6M ago21:40

21:40

This post, written the week after September 11, 2011, is dedicated to Frank De Martini and Pablo Ortiz. Starting at the 88th floor on the North Tower, they went from floor to floor calling out to people who crouched in debris and darkness, without a clue as to what to do or where to go. “Is anybody there?” they called, gathering and shepherding peo…

1
Success in San Francisco 10:41

7M ago10:41

10:41

The trip wasn’t exactly a willing one on my part because my spouse had talked me into giving a paper at the conference where he was to chair a panel and present his own paper. I hadn’t given any philosophical papers since taking early retirement at Brooklyn College. I’d forgotten how to breathe when you read something you wrote. The topic I’d writt…

1
Léo 11:26

7M ago11:26

11:26

Léo was Laurin’s philosophy of art teacher at Brandeis University. He was also my father’s closest friend and a sort of godfather to me, from my earliest days and continuing into adult life. As we talked in a Brazilian café on sixth avenue, way downtown, Laurin shared a story about Léo. I have heard him tell it before. I’ve never understood why it …

1
Zeitgeist 11:47

7M ago11:47

11:47

What is it about the Zeitgeist? It’s never quite feasible to pretend it’s not real or to dodge it completely – unless you’ve managed to carve out an existence on an uninhabited Pacific island or a solitary mountain peak. It’s hard to define it and harder to explain it satisfactorily, but you know it when you see it. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professo…

1
Apologies to Kierkegaard 10:45

7M ago10:45

10:45

In a previous post or two of “Dear Abbie,” I found myself sharply critical – denunciatory even – of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). He is the Danish philosopher/theologian who is still studied by serious people today, both inside and outside classrooms. I denounced him for having used his considerable talent, his genius really, to capture the heart,…

1
Frustrations and Epiphanies 15:22

8M ago15:22

15:22

Our quiet town, with its Victorian houses (many of them kept in good repair by the law firms that have taken them over), its charming signs of civic care and pride, has for some years also been the scene of a performance that I for one find deeply frustrating and troubling. Every Tuesday, between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m., the main square in town is occup…

1
A Funny Thing Happened to Philosophy (on its way to the deepest depths) 12:33

8M ago12:33

12:33

In the entire history of philosophy, we know of nothing like it. No betrayal on that scale of the loyalty owed by a philosopher to his teacher and his students. It’s without precedent, so far as I know. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philo…

1
Why Women Are Mean to Other Women 11:42

8M ago11:42

11:42

Whew! This is a touchy subject. Almost taboo, since we are these days denominated the compassionate, caring, anti-violence sex. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of A…

1
About Confessions of a Young Philosopher 8:47

8M ago8:47

8:47

Well, I am a person who, for most of her life, has carried a number of secrets. Possibly for that reason, or possibly because, temperamentally, I experience every encounter in an extra-amplified way, I try to tip toe through the world unheard and unseen. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New Yor…

1
Wonder Woman 6:54

9M ago6:54

6:54

One of our back-to-back appointments here in California was cancelled, freeing the Saturday afternoon hours, so we decided to go see “Wonder Woman,” a great hero of my childhood now back in living cinematic color. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A …

1
Memoirs, True or False? 16:15

9M ago16:15

16:15

Does this truth-behind-the-mask change anything for the philosophical reader? I can’t speak for anybody else, but I take philosophy very seriously. I’ll tell you what it changes for me. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcomi…

1
The Woman on the Pedestal 13:24

9M ago13:24

13:24

In public, many feminists repudiate the whole structure: the pedestal and the woman trying to stand on it. I don’t. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine and…

1
Is Virtue Rewarded? 11:34

9M ago11:34

11:34

Is a woman’s virtue rewarded? And, by the way, what do we mean by woman’s virtue nowadays? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau. She writes a w…

1
A Chosen People? 12:52

9M ago12:52

12:52

My explanation is simpler and covers all the cases. They are hated because God chose them. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau. She writes a w…

1
Jews on the Brain 14:58

10M ago14:58

14:58

Hell, I like happy endings. Does this story contain one? Oh sure. When the messiah comes, or comes back if you prefer, we’re all gonna go to our happy place. But within the terms of our present discussion? Any happy ending here and now? . . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is th…

1
Believe You Me 15:13

10M ago15:13

15:13

Last Saturday, in Torah Study, we read Numbers 16, the chapter where there’s a rebellion against the leadership of Moses. Korah and his faction of 250 Levite elders give voice to the uprising. Why should Moses continue in the leadership as the holiest Israelite? Isn’t the whole community holy? Who made him the CEO of holiness? Abigail L. Rosenthal …

1
Treachery and Transcendence 13:53

10M ago13:53

13:53

In my whole life, I have never been so angry. . . Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau. She writes a weekly online column, "Dear Abbie: The Non…

1
Yom HaShoah 11:06

10M ago11:06

11:06

I can’t “normalize” the past. Yet I’m aware of its insidious presence in our world. It’s true, many people have been persecuted and massacred, for all kinds of reasons — having nothing to do with this theology. But it is the longest hatred, of a single target, in recorded history. I often say that, in my next life, I’m coming back Swedish. But now …

1
Microaggression: Woman on Woman 12:14

11M ago12:14

12:14

As anyone knows who knows me, I detest the very word “microaggression.” To me, it’s part of a newly weaponized jargon that allows any accuser to put on the mantle of victimhood and leave the accused to fight her own way back to social safety. That said, I can’t think of another title for the story I’m about to share with you. Abigail L. Rosenthal i…

1
“I, A Happy Woman?” 8:19

11M ago8:19

8:19

So what message did I get this morning? What came to me was merely this: I am happy. Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. She is the author of Confessions of A Young Philosopher (forthcoming), which is a woman's "confession" in the tradition of Augustine and Rousseau. She writes a weekly …

1
The Ex-Terrorist Comes To Town 16:32

11M ago16:32

16:32

Our temple sponsored a lecture by Kasim Hafeez, a Brit of Pakistani origin who had seriously resolved to give his life for jihad and then changed his mind. Everybody on the planet has an interest in finding out whether that can happen, and if so, how. His talk was titled, “Hate to Hope: The Day I Stopped Hating Israel.” . . . Abigail L. Rosenthal i…

1
Political Innocence 15:15

11M ago15:15

15:15

If each of us were sure we were right, we would never quarrel with anyone – much less break with friends – over politics. The politically-triggered quarrels, friendship breakages, civil-society breakdowns, result from our insecurity over what we think true in the conflict zones of public life... Abigail L. Rosenthal is Professor Emerita at Brooklyn…

1
The Blame Game 16:26

12M ago16:26

16:26

We don’t start life with a clean slate. Childhood is the time we spend figuring out what kind of a hand of cards we’ve been dealt and how to start playing it. What happens to us – inside ourselves – when we embark on the project of blaming others (or accepting blame) for the original hand that they, or we, were dealt? Abigail L. Rosenthal is Profes…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Abigail L. Rosenthal Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide