“Invitation to Learning” Discusses A History of Western Philosophy

Abstract

russell: the Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies n.s.  (summer ): – The Bertrand Russell Research Centre, McMaster U. issn –; online – Documents “INVITATION TO LEARNING” DISCUSSES A HISTORY OFWESTERN PHILOSOPHY Irwin Edman, Horace M. Kallen and Harold A. Taylor Introduced and transcribed by Lukas Spencer Russell Archives/Russell Research Centre / McMaster U. spencl2@mcmaster.ca ranscribed here is a  rpm vinyl (or possibly shellac) recording of the cbs broadcast of Invitation to Learning on  September . In it Irwin Edman, the chair, and guests Horace M. Kallen and Harold A. Taylor discuss Bertrand Russell’s recently published book, A History of Western Philosophy. The roughly thirty-minute broadcast, which aired on a Sunday from : to : pm, was segmented onto eight “vinyl” sides on four twelve-inch discs. They came with the fourth accrual of the Bertrand Russell Archives to McMaster University Library. “Transcription” holds quite a different meaning for a person who listens to a transcription than for a person who reads one. The image shows the “vinyl” recording in the Russell Archives which cbs may have sent to Russell himself sometime after the broadcast aired, or a friend or secretary may have requested it from the broadcaster. In radio broadcasting terms, a transcription is the product of a transcription disc recorder and is meant for subsidiary radio stations to play on their own airwaves. It was not necessarily meant for commercial use. The transcribing facility allowed the government -run us Armed Forces Network to broadcast domestic T  edman, kallen and taylor c:\users\ken\documents\type\rj   red.docx -- : AM radio shows in the uk and Europe during and after the Second World War. 1 In the image overleaf, the hand-printed “SET A” on the label, suggesting there was more than one set, may pertain to such distribution. In the National Archives of the United States, there are several transcriptions of Invitation to Learning sessions, but Russell seems not to have been a participant in them. Transcribing (into text, now) these Russell appearances on the programme— some dealing with topics not been found anywhere else in his known publications —would extend our understanding of Russell’s views.2 From here onward , “transcription” means speech converted to text. Whenever a speaker in the following discussion quotes A History of Western Philosophy directly, a page reference is noted. If the speaker misquotes Russell or if an extension of a pertinent quotation provides additional context for the discussion, the passage itself is provided. Other relevant publications by Russell are mentioned. Irwin Edman and Horace M. Kallen both published reviews in  of the History; where these reviews relate to their comments in the discussion, quotations are provided. In May  Columbia Broadcasting Systems began broadcasting Invitation to Learning weekly after a year of internal deliberation, successfully impelled by Stringfellow Barr, a cbs adult-education board member.3 The programme was broadcast almost exclusively on Sunday mornings or early afternoons.4 In addition to Barr, whom cbs asked to step down amid the first season, a revolving door of programme chairs presided during Invitation to Learning’s twenty-four-year history; the guests, two for each session, came in through an adjacent turnstile. Among the programme’s earliest regulars was none other than the esteemed educator himself, Bertrand Russell. Appearing on at least a dozen sessions between  and , Russell was among a short list of honoured guests whose own book was the programme’s focus of discussion. Before the session recording began, the chairman and guests convened for about an hour in a separate studio for a preliminary discussion of that session’s book. The only scripted part of the programme, save the announcer’s introductory and concluding statements, came from this pre-discussion huddle: the chair and guests would supply a representative quotation from the text which, of the three provided, the chair would choose whichever he thought was best and invite whoever suggested the quotation to read it aloud at the end of the programme (see Grams’ introduction). Given that Irwin Edman 1 For the technology, see Stirling, Encyclopedia of Radio (), : –, . 2 See Marley Beach, “‘Invitation to Learning’ Sessions”, p.  below. 3 Buffington, “Invitations to Learning” (), p. . 4 Grams, Invitation to Learning (), whose book...