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PODCAST

Books of Titans Podcast

Welcome to the Books of Titans Podcast where I (Erik Rostad) seek truth & beauty in the Immortal Books. My goal is to read the Great Books written by 200 authors over the next 15 years and share what I’m learning. I’ll talk a bit about each book, tie ideas together from a variety of genres, and share the one thing I always hope to remember from each of the Immortal Books. www.booksoftitans.com

arts books

All Episodes

25:27

#272 - Living the Braveheart Life by Randall Wallace

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/12/19

The Braveheart film has had an outsized impact on my life. It first sparked a deep interest in the country of Scotland, that try as I might, I cannot shake. It inspired me to purchase a set of bagpipes and then learn how to play them. But it also had deeper implications in the areas of faith and living.In this book, the author of both the novel Braveheart as well as the screenplay that became the famous film, Randall Wallace, provides an autobiography that shows a close connection between his life

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26:46

#271 - Rhetorica Ad Herennium by [Cicero]

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/12/12

The two pillars of this reading project are to read more books and to remember what I read. To that end, I’ve experimented with a variety of practices to attempt to assist with memory. I’m always on the hunt for new ideas.That’s how I came across Rhetorica Ad Herennium by [Cicero]. Cicero is in brackets because it’s not certain that he is the author. So, author unknown, but content exceptional. This is the oldest surviving work we have about ways to remember what you hear and learn.This was written

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27:00

#270 - The Presocratics

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/12/05

I started reading through the complete dialogues of Plato this year. I came to a point where I realized that Plato was referencing philosophers who came before him and I didn’t know anything about them or their ideas. I took a break from Plato to consider these philosophers who gave the seeds to Plato’s philosophy.These philosophers are called the Presocratics and the Sophists. They are Pre-Socrates in that their ideas precede Socrates, not necessarily that they preceded him historically. The

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33:49

Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/11/28

An introduction to this reading project for anyone new to Books of Titans. I started this in 2017 as an attempt to read more books and experiment with ways to help me remember what I read. It’s morphed into a lifelong reading project that I now expect to last until I die as I slowly make my way through The Immortal Books. Give this episode a listen to learn more and then give my wife Stephanie’s music a listen as well! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or

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37:23

#269 - Plato of Athens by Robin Waterfield

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/11/21

“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”~ Alfred North WhiteheadI’ve been enjoying my Plato Project where I’ve decided to read through the Complete Works of Plato. I’ve read 9 dialogues so far and realized I needed to take a step back and learn more about the philosopher himself. This was the perfect book for that endeavor.Robin Waterfield covers the basic known facts about the life of Plato, his friendships,

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16:09

#268 - The Idea Machine by Joel J. Miller

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/11/14

I’m making the wild assumption that you like books. Perhaps that’s because you like what’s inside of books - the stories, ideas, information, history. But do you ever just stop and think about the book itself? The physical book that you hold in your hand?Joel J Miller has a book coming out this Tuesday, November 18th, 2025 called The Idea Machine: How Books Built Our World and Shape Our Future. It’s a book about the book. It’s a richly researched account of the history of the book through the ages,

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28:42

#267 - Sophist by Plato

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/11/07

The goal of this dialogue is to define the Sophist. We’ve seen the Sophist pop up in Greek Tragedy and Comedy and it’s never a pretty picture. They are often contrasted with the Philosopher, the true lover of wisdom, and are denigrated as those who have the appearance of wisdom. They are known for charging money to teach their students how to argue a point, irrespective of its truth.In attempting to define the Sophist, Plato must overcome a snag put forward by the philosopher Parmenides. Parmenides

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30:22

#266 - Statesman by Plato

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/10/31

The goal of this dialogue is the definition of a statesman. Can Plato show us the essence or nature of the statesman? This dialogue is a sequel to Sophist. In each dialogue, an attempt at a definition is sought through the method of division. For example, Statesman begins with Knowledge, which is divided into practical and theoretical knowledge. The statesman would be on the theoretical side.This division occurs until the discussion partners Visitor from Elea and Socrates the Younger describe the

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39:37

#265 - Man's Search for Meaning (Revisited)

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/10/24

I finished reading Man’s Search for Meaning as the fireworks announced the start of 2018. I was closing out my first year of this reading project with my final book of the year and was trying to finish it before the clock struck 12. I didn’t make it, but I was close.That book ended up being my favorite for many years. Here was a man claiming that it was possible to develop a spiritual life amidst hell on earth. Amidst hunger, torture, unbearable loss, and despair. There was a flicker of hope.Last

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23:40

#264 - Theaetetus by Plato

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/10/17

How do we know what we know? That’s the question Socrates presents to Theaetetus in this dialogue by Plato. I was actually intrigued with the some of the side discussions about learning and memory and how that connects to knowledge. In this podcast episode, I share the general outline of the arguments and highlight the parts about memory that might help us in our reading lives. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit

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27:51

#263 - Cratylus by Plato

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/10/10

So far, this is my favorite dialogue by Plato. I’ve only read 5 of them, so I have a ways to go, but this one covers the origin of language and the correctness of names. It answers this question - is there a reason behind the name of a thing or is it just by chance?Cratylus believes there is a correct name for each thing, one that belongs to it by nature. Hermogenes believes that names are agreed upon by the community. Socrates leads the discussion to determine if “names are given in accord with

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29:23

#262 - Phaedo by Plato

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/10/03

Were you there?It’s the opening question of this dialogue. Echecrates is asking Phaedo if he was there when Socrates drank the hemlock and died in prison. He was there. This is Phaedo’s account of the final day of Socrates.I wonder what I would do knowing I had a few hours to live. Would I be frantic? Would I conduct a dialogue about the soul as Socrates does here? Would I calmly drink my death sentence that 500 of my peers had bestowed upon me? I doubt it. Socrates was calm. He died as he had

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22:41

#261 - Crito by Plato

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/09/26

Socrates is nearing the end. He’s been sentenced to death and the time has come where he will be forced to drink hemlock. Crito, his old friend, comes to persuade him to escape this death. He tries to convince Socrates that in this grave injustice, the just thing would be to escape.But Socrates says “we must examine whether we should act in this way or not, as not only now but at all times.” Would it be right for Socrates to escape?This short dialogue allows us see if Socrates will remain true to

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55:18

Allen Levi In Conversation: Part II

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/09/19

Here’s Part II of a conversation with author Allen Levi that took place on Saturday, September 6th in Franklin, Tennessee, at the historic Franklin Theatre. Part I released last week and is the discussion from the 3pm event. Part II releases this week and is the discussion from the 7pm event. Each event was sold out and questions were different for each event.Allen Levi is the author of Theo of Golden. In this conversation, I asked him about this book, his inspirations, his life, and potential movie

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58:39

Allen Levi In Conversation: Part I

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/09/12

SPOILER ALERT: This conversation contains book spoilers. Listener beware.Here’s Part I of a conversation with author Allen Levi that took place on Saturday, September 6th in Franklin, Tennessee, at the historic Franklin Theatre. Part I releases this week and is the discussion from the 3pm event. Part II releases next week and will be the discussion from the 7pm event. Each event was sold out and questions were different for each event.Please Note: Static interference is present at various points

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49:54

#260 - Apology by Plato

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/09/05

Last week, Socrates was on his way to his trial in the Euthyphro dialogue. In Apology, Socrates is giving his defense against three charges:* Not recognizing the gods recognized by the State* Manufacturing new gods* Corrupting the youthIf you are expecting any contrition on the part of Socrates, you’ve come to the wrong place. Here, apology means a defense speech in a legal proceeding, and Socrates is anything but apologetic in the sorrowful sense. Here we see a defiant man unconcerned with death

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29:06

#259 - Euthyphro by Plato

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/08/29

I have decided to read through the complete works of Plato. Euthyphro is my first dialogue in this Plato Project. I ended up reading it 4 times within 4 different translations. In this episode, I give a brief overview of the dialogue, talk about piety and if/when this word shows up in Homer, the Greek Tragedies, and elsewhere, and cover each of the answers and responses between Euthyphro and Socrates.Socrates has asked Euthyphro if piety and impiety take on an essential form. Poor Euthyphro thinks

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7:50

Frameworks for Reading

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/08/26

Do you find yourself struggling to remember what you read? This has been a continual difficulty for me and is a main reason that I started this reading project. I wanted to read more books, but more importantly, I wanted to experiment with different ways to help me remember what I read.One of the most powerful ways I’ve found to remember what I read is to apply basic summary frameworks during and after the completion of each book. In this article, I’ll highlight the most powerful frameworks that you

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14:53

The Plato Project

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/08/22

I’m currently making my way through The Immortal Books by 200 different authors. I expect the project to take 15 years. I’m currently in year 3 and Plato is author 18 out of 200. I had initially planned to read 9 of his works (Apology, The Republic, Laches, Symposium, Philebus, Crito, Phaedo, Theatetus, Meno), but when people on Twitter suggested I pick up this version of his complete works, I began to consider reading Plato’s entire corpus.Why not? Plato has an outsize influence on what comes after

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17:31

#258 - The Last Sweet Mile by Allen Levi

Books of Titans Podcast ·

2025/08/15

A life well-lived. Looking back, what would make you say that about your own life? What would constitute that well-lived life? Would it contain grand gestures seen by many or small, sacred acts seen by few?The Last Sweet Mile is a long letter written by Allen Levi to his family that covers the last year of his brother Gary’s life. They had a special relationship. A relationship we all long for. They were remarkably close. Gary was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2011 and died an exact year later on

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