• Henry David Thoreau with Richard Smith

  • Apr 25 2024
  • Length: 39 mins
  • Podcast

Henry David Thoreau with Richard Smith

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  • Summary

  • Concord Historian Richard Smith discusses the life and legacy of Henry David Thoreau, from his childhood as the son of a pencil maker and political activist, to his guidance under Ralph Waldo Emerson and the legacy he left that remains relevant today.

    3:22 - What was Concord like in Thoreau’s time? How did Concord become a literary hub?

    6:42 - Life for Thoreau growing up in Concord and his family’s pencil-making company, and Henry David’s path to Harvard.

    10:54 - Thoreau meets Ralph Waldo Emerson, a springboard to his career as an author and lecturer.

    14:30 - Lectures are a mainstream form of entertainment in the mid 1800s. Thoreau follows Emerson into lecturing as a way to make money. And he was terrible at it.

    19:22 - Influence of Thoreau’s family on his work and posthumous publications and success.

    21:12 - Seeking isolation and the origins of Walden.

    26:48 - When and how did Thoreau become as well-known as he is now, when he wasn’t so successful during his life?

    31:21 - Thoreau’s influence in present day.

    35:12 - Thoreau plays it cool when he’s sent to jail for not paying his taxes, but gets talked into writing about civil disobedience.
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