Twenty Years of 'Entitled Opinions'

An Evening with Robert Pogue Harrison

Robert Pogue Harrison and Christy Wampole celebrate the 20-year anniversary of "Entitled Opinions" by sharing anecdotes about the guests and topics and a glimpse behind the scenes of the radio show.

Robert Pogue Harrison launched his radio show "Entitled Opinions" on KZSU at Stanford University in September, 2005, and has since gained a global following of committed listeners interested in literature, philosophy and life. From science to art, technology to rock music, Harrison has probed the most pressing issues of our time with remarkable guests including Werner Herzog, Richard Rorty, René Girard, Peter Sloterdijk, Shirley Hazzard, Orhan Pamuk, Colm Tóibin, Marilynne Robinson, Paul Ehrlich, Michel Serres, Hayden White, and many others. During this celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the show, the host will share the history of "Entitled Opinions," anecdotes about the most interesting guests and topics and a few tales of what went on behind the scenes. The conversation will be moderated by a former producer of the show Christy Wampole (Princeton, Department of French and Italian).  

In Conversation:

Robert Pogue Harrison is Emeritus Professor of French and Italian at Stanford. He is the author of five books: "Juvenescence: A Cultural History of Our Age" (2014), "Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition" (2008), "The Dominion of the Dead" (2003), "Forests: The Shadow of Civilization" (1992), and "The Body of Beatrice" (1988). He is a Chevalier of the French Republic, a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, the host of the radio show and podcast Entitled Opinions, and a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books.  He is currently finishing a book called "The Spirit of Planet Earth." 

Christy Wampole is an essayist and a professor at Princeton University. Her two most recent books are "Degenerative Realism: Novel and Nation in 21st-Century France" (Columbia University Press 2020, winner of the Modern Language Association Scaglione Prize) and "Rootedness: The Ramifications of a Metaphor" (University of Chicago Press 2016, winner of the Modern Language Association Prize for a First Book). She is co-editor of "The Cambridge History of the American Essay." Her essay collection "The Other Serious: Essays for the New American Generation" appeared with HarperCollins in 2015. In addition to her scholarly publications, her essays and opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Aeon Magazine, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and Public Books. Her radio interviews have been broadcast on NPR, WNYC, Radio Canada, Deutschlandfunk, SiriusXM, Canadian Broadcasting Company, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Radio France Culture. Originally from Texas, she lives part-time in New Jersey and part-time in Berlin.

Presented with support from the Princeton University Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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