Oralotium podcast

Food of the Gods, by Terence McKenna

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 12:07:37 GMT

In this episode I discuss a book by an American philosopher called Terence McKenna in which he proposed a radical new theory on human evolution.

If you liked this episode and would like to support my work you can do so over on patreon or the site "buy-me-a-coffee" just look for Oralotium. Likes, shares and comments on my Instagram @Oralotium would also be appreciated, cheers ✌️ I hope to hear your feedback 🙏🏻

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The History of Psychedelics

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 16:50:32 GMT

In this episode I read out a narrative that I wrote as a result of my recent 3 month deep dive into the history of psychedelics.

Time stamps for sections:

00:00 - An Ecstatic Prologue

27:25 - The Old World

43:04 - The New World

50:10 - Seeking the Magic Mushroom

53:42 - Seeking the Magic Mushroom: Richard Evans Schultes

1:02:50 - Seeking the Magic Mushroom: Gordon Wasson

1:13:05 - Time for Change

If you liked this episode and if you would like to show appreciation and support my work, you can do so over on my Patreon @ Oralotium

Cheers✌️

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ulysses: Proteus, my processing and response

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 19:58:08 GMT

This episode is a reading of the next (and third) installment of my ongoing project based on James Joyce's novel, Ulysses. I have been rewriting the chapters of the book to document my response and processing of the modernist masterpiece. The recording is 14 minutes long.

If you enjoyed this episode or any of my other episodes and would like to buy me a drink over on patreon to show appreciation, your support would be greatly appreciated. I can be found on Instagram, Facebook and Patreon @ Oralotium, though I am most active on Instagram. Likes, shares and comments welcome 🙏🏻😊

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oration on the Dignity of Man by Pico Della Mirandola, part 2

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 18:46:59 GMT

Part 2 of my reading, with live commentary, of the famous essay called Oration on the Dignity of Man by the Italian Renaissance Philosopher, Pico Della Mirandola. This essay is now considered by scholars to be a "manifesto for the Italian Renaissance."

If you would like to support this podcast you can do so by buying me a drink over on my patreon @ Oralotium, you can also follow, like, share and comment on Instagram @ Oralotium . Cheers. Feel free to say hi ✌🏻

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oration on the Dignity of Man by Pico Della Mirandola, an Italian Renaissance Philosopher

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 17:22:31 GMT

In this episode I do another live reading of another famous essay, this time it is a lecture called Oration on the Dignity of Man by the Italian Renaissance Philosopher, Pico Della Mirandola. This essay is now considered by scholars to be a "manifesto for the Italian Renaissance."

If you would like to support this podcast you can do so over on my patreon @ Oralotium, you can also follow, like, share and comment on Instagram @ Oralotium . Cheers.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The First Philosophers: the pre-Socratics and the road to atoms (you can't step in the same river twice)

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 17:02:55 GMT

The first philosophers: the pre-Socratics and the road to atomic theory.

Thales

Anaximander

Anaximenes

Xenophanes

Heraclitus

Parmenides

Zeno

Melissus

Pythagoras

Anaxagoras

Empedocles

Leucippus

Democritus

The Sophists

Protagoras

Gorgias

Prodicus

Thracymachus

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ulysses: Nestor, a 17 minute condensed reimagining.

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 16:55:19 GMT

A 17 minute condensed and, in many places, reimagined version of the second episode of James Joyce's modernist masterpiece, Ulysses, titled, Nestor. Likes are great, but buying me a drink (or some food) over on patreon would be even better😅🫣 What would Joyce have been without his patrons? #strugglingartist #"would I make money by it?" Stephen asked Haines.

You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook at Oralotium. Patreon: Oralotium

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Origins of Contemporary Dialogical Art Practices, my B.A. thesis, part 3

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 14:15:36 GMT

As part of my bachelor's degree in Art college I had to write a thesis on a subject of my own choosing. If you're not familiar, ever wondered what an Art college thesis might be like? I chose to write my thesis on the reasons why a form of contemporary socially engaged art, called Dialogical Art, came about. In this episode I read out and discuss the thesis that I wrote. Some of the topics include: Guy Debord's book called Society of the Spectacle; some past forms of socially engaged art; why Installation Art came about; Relational Aesthetics and Dialogical Art practices.

And here are some other words that come up in discussion in relation to this kind of art: Socially engaged art, Community art,

Experimental communities,

Interventionist art, Participatory art,

Collaborative art, Contextual art, Useful art, and Social practice.

Some key writers in relation to these types of art are: Claire Bishop, Grant Kester and Nicolas Bourriaud.

If you like this episode, or any other episodes, and would like to show support or appreciation, then you could buy me a drink over on Patreon, just search Oralotium there, cheers ✌️🙏 follow on Instagram: Oralotium

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Origins of Contemporary Dialogical Art Practices, my B.A. thesis, part 2

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:41:12 GMT

And here are some other words that come up in discussion in relation to this kind of art: Socially engaged art, Community art,E xperimental communities,

Interventionist art, Participatory art,

Collaborative art, Contextual art, Useful art, and Social practice.

Some key writers in relation to these types of art are: Claire Bishop, Grant Kester and Nicolas Bourriaud.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Origins of Contemporary Dialogical Art Practices, my B.A. thesis, part 1

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 23:35:14 GMT

And here are some other words that come up in discussion in relation to this kind of art: Socially engaged art, Community art,

Experimental communities,

Interventionist art, Participatory art,

Collaborative art, Contextual art, Useful art, and Social practice.

Some key writers in relation to these types of art are: Claire Bishop, Grant Kester and Nicolas Bourriaud.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scandinavian Mythology, by Thomas Carlyle, part 2

Sat, 16 Dec 2023 01:20:14 GMT

Part 2: I read and discuss a lecture by Thomas Carlyle in which he investigates Scandinavian mythology.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scandinavian Mythology, by Thomas Carlyle

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 16:22:37 GMT

In this episode I read and discuss a lecture by Thomas Carlyle in which he investigates Scandinavian mythology.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Instapoem

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 19:14:50 GMT

In this short 7 and a half minute episode I read out a poem that I wrote recently which introduces the fact that I have been writing poetry for a long time now, but I have only recently started trying to get some of it published in literary magazines and journals. Here is that story in the form of a poem.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where Do My Tax Dollars Go: Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 23:59:59 GMT

I read out live and discuss a well known essay called Civil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau. It is still as relevant today as it was when it was first written in 1849. This essay was a major influence on Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King in their use of non-violent, peaceful protesting. I thought it was appropriate to read this essay now because of the current, worldwide protesting that is calling for a ceasefire of the genocidal, Nakba 2.0 situation in Gaza right now.

follow on Instagram: Oralotium

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Poet by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Part 2.

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 20:20:55 GMT

Part 2 of a live reading, with commentary, of another essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson called, The Poet.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Poet by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Part 1.

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 20:19:05 GMT

In this episode I do a live reading, with commentary, of another essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson called, The Poet.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Myths /(Science fiction) from Mesopotamia.

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 19:58:00 GMT

In this episode I explore three of the most popular myths from the earliest known civilization on the planet, which was located in Mesopotamia, called, Sumeria. This civilization basically produced the foundations for every other civilization that followed on the planet. They are enigmatic and tantalizing stories that rocked the world when they were rediscovered in the mid 19th century. Who created the world and mankind, and why? Here's an alternative creation story. The Enuma Elish (The Epic of Creation), Atrahasis and The Epic of Gilgamesh. Check it out 😉✌️

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ulysses: Condensing the first chapter of one of the greatest books of the 20th century.

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 19:04:30 GMT

Ulysses, the novel by the Irish modernist writer James Joyce, is celebrated each year on the 16th of June and the celebration is called Bloomsday. The book is set on June 16th, 1904. The story starts off that morning and ends that night. It is a story of two protagonists and how their paths cross during the day; a young recent graduate, and artistic-type, Stephen Daedalus and a middle-aged, Dublin-born, jewish man who works in advertising, Leoplod Bloom. It is hailed as a masterpiece of modernist fiction. Joyce chose to set his novel on that day because June 16th, 1904, is the day that he first met his wife.

I was rereading some chapters of the book again in June this year as we approached Bloomsday, and around the same time I had discovered that the German word for poetry comes from the German word for "to condense." So, just as an experiment, I set myself the task of trying to condense the first chapter of Ulysses. Here are the results. What do you think of it? Should I do some more chapters? Maybe even the whole book? 😄 I took some artistic liberties within this experiment, readers of Ulysses will perhaps be able to spot where I deviated.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Making of the European Mind: Colombanus to Cosimo.

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 20:35:54 GMT

In this episode I take up where I left off in the last episode and gallop through a thousand years of history. Pointing out what I think are some of the main figures who helped develop the European mind up until the Italian Renaissance. How did Europe pick itself back up after the decline of the Roman Empire? Here is the story, in broad strokes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Early Dark Ages: From Cassiodorus to Colombanus.

Wed, 17 May 2023 19:09:35 GMT

In this episode I discuss, what I believe to be, the little known role that Ireland played in how Europe started to rebuild itself after the decline of the Roman empire. It's a tour around the chain of events that helped preserve and rebuild western civilization during the early Dark Ages, from Cassiodorus to Colombanus.

Ireland the land of saints and scholars

How the Irish Saved Civilization

Saint Patrick

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the Inside, a short story written by me

Thu, 11 May 2023 19:39:43 GMT

In this episode I read out a short story that I wrote myself, titled, On the Inside. It is very much so in the autofiction genre. Autofiction, short for autobiographical fiction, is a genre of literature that combines elements of autobiography and fiction. Hope you like it!

If you do like this episode, or any other episodes, and would like to show support or appreciation, then you could buy me a drink over on Patreon, just search Oralotium there, cheers ✌️🙏 follow on Instagram: Oralotium

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friendship by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 12:22:59 GMT

A companion to the previous episode. How does Ralph Waldo Emerson, a preacher of self-reliance and individualism, regard friendship? A live reading with commentary of an essay by Emerson that I have never read before. This essay is in the public domain.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 13:54:12 GMT

In a podcast series that is, so far, all about discussing books and essays, I made an episode where I read an essay live and comment on it as I read. A little experiment. An unrehearsed rereading of an essay that I first read years ago by Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American transcendentalist. The essay is about how all the greats were great because they thought for themselves, they were self-reliant, independent thinkers. It was a great read for me when I first read it in my mid-twenties. Hope you may find it interesting also. Another long episode, but if it seems too long perhaps you could divide it up into 2 one hour sections. This essay is in the public domain and is available to read online for free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Defence of Poetry by Sir Philip Sidney

Sun, 19 Feb 2023 12:36:35 GMT

I discuss this essay by the Renaissance poet, Sir Philip Sidney. The history of poetry; why was poetry attacked in Elizabethan England? what is the use of poetry? Did Philip Sidney nearly have a fatal duel with Shakespeare? Just some of the topics discussed in this episode. You can find me on Instagram. If you like this episode, or any other episodes, and would like to show support or appreciation, then you could buy me a drink over on Patreon, just search Oralotium there, cheers ✌️🙏 follow on Instagram: Oralotium

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the Vineyard of the Text by Ivan Illich

Sun, 19 Feb 2023 11:50:30 GMT

In this episode I discuss In the Vineyard of the Text, a book by Ivan Illich, which is all about another book that is all about reading which was written in the 12th century by Hugh of st. Victor. Did you know, that when it comes to contemporary books and how we read and write, that we can thank 12th century Christian monks for developing "the book" and reading as we know it? You can find me on Instagram. If you like this episode, or any other episodes, and would like to show support or appreciation, then you could buy me a drink over on Patreon, just search Oralotium there, cheers ✌️🙏 follow on Instagram: Oralotium

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pre-Podcast Trial Audio: A Defence of Poetry by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Sun, 19 Feb 2023 11:38:00 GMT

In this project's first attempt at recording an episode I discuss Shelley's famous essay, A Defence of Poetry. The difference between reason and imagination; the relationship between civility and imagination; the relationship between poetry and civilisation, to name just a few of the topics from the essay that I discuss. I made this audio in October 2022, three months before I launched this project. At the time of recording I wasn't sure if this recording was going to be just a rough first draught or an actual presentable recording, but you have to start somewhere and so this is how this project started. The next episode about Ivan Illich's book is my first real episode, so if you check out this trial episode first don't judge this project based on this audio alone 😅 You can find me on Instagram @ oralotium and if you like this episode, or any other episodes, and would like to show support or appreciation, then you could buy me a drink over on buy-me-a-coffee or Patreon, just search Oralotium there, cheers ✌️🙏 Likes, shares and comments always welcome on Instagram

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Intro: The Democratisation of Precision

Sun, 19 Feb 2023 09:26:59 GMT

Welcome! In this intro episode I explain the two main reasons why I make this podcast. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook at oralotium & patreon.com/Oralotium

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.