Carpe All Over the Place

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25 April 2025

Episode 5.13 - Carpe All Over the Place

How far away are we from the original meaning of carpe diemSimply translated as "Pluck" or "Seize" "the Day," it is the... More? And does it matter?

Looking back across our wanderings so far, it seems that our literature and culture has gotten fairly sloppy (or cavalier?) in its popular imagination of philosophy, perhaps dangerously so. We investigate those understandings, capturing several modern approaches to carpe diemSimply translated as "Pluck" or "Seize" "the Day," it is the... More and contrasting them dramatically to where Epicurus and friends began.

Along the way, we visit Thoreau, Rilke, and contemporary thinker/philosopher Roman Krznaric.

Key Terms:

Eudaimonia (a deep well-being)
Ataraxia (peace of mind)
Aponia (freedom from pain)

Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/andrew-marvell-coy-mistress/

CHAPTERS

00:00 Thoreau vs Pop Culture
05:45 Opening Theme
06:17 Recap: Seize the Day, We Barely Knew You
12:03 Poly-Carpes
19:13 An EpicureanA philosophy of simple and sensual pleasure as a goal of lif... More Ideal?
28:47 Krznaric’s Carpe
31:46 Outro and Credits

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Transcript: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/transcript-5-13-carpe-all-over-the-place

Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/MmhqcGgeLcjCaVK97

What are your thoughts on our discussion? Email me: Steve@waywordsstudio.com

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Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas.

Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses.

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CREDITS:

Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/)

Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski

USING THIS WORK:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution.

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