In this bonus episode, host Roger Berkowitz speaks with writer and somatic coach Nikita Nelin '09 about identity, embodiment, and politics. Nelin describes his grandfather, who pursued acting only after being told to “take off the combat boots,” a metaphor for shedding protective armor that later constrains life. Connecting this to his coaching, Nelin contrasts bodily “compression” and exhaustion he saw in clients after the 2024 election with the “armoring up” response of 2016, and argues for permission to seek joy and desire amid political despair. Berkowitz relates this to Arendt’s distinctions between tyranny and totalitarianism, questions of living well under dictatorship, and the need to create and act beyond mere survival. They discuss somatic practice as attention to sensation and learned schemas, Nelin’s shift from writerly ambition to coaching, and Arendt’s idea of beginning anew at any age. (Read Nelin's recent Quote of the Week on Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition here.)
Our next read is Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition. Join us here on the podcast beginning September 11th, or become a member of the Arendt Center to join the Virtual Reading Group and attend the live recordings!
ABOUT:
Produced by the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College, this podcast offers close readings of Arendt's books alongside engaging interviews and thought-provoking conversations. Released weekly, each episode provides listeners with a deeper understanding of Arendt's philosophy and its relevance to contemporary issues. Available on all major podcast platforms, listeners join us on a captivating intellectual journey through the mind of Hannah Arendt.
New episodes every Friday morning! Join Roger Berkowitz, Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College, as he discusses the works of German Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt (1906-1975).
THE HANNAH ARENDT CENTER:
The Hannah Arendt Center provides an intellectual space for passionate, uncensored, and nonpartisan thinking that reframes and deepens the fundamental questions facing our nation and our world. Become a member and enjoy several benefits including live access to our Virtual Reading Group that takes place most Fridays, and upon which this podcast is based: https://hac.bard.edu/membership/
More information can be found on our website: https://hac.bard.edu/ Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/hannaharendt/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hannaharendtcenteratbard/
THE HOST:
Roger Berkowitz is the Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College. He is the author of the forthcoming A WORLD WE SHARE: Hannah Arendt and the Power of Friendship in a Broken World (Yale University Press; Oct. 6), editor of On Civil Disobedience: Henry David Thoreau and Hannah Arendt (2024), The Perils of Invention: Lying, Technology, and the Human Condition, and co-editor of Thinking in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt on Ethics and Politics (2009), and Artifacts of Thinking: Reading Hannah Arendt’s Denktagebuch (2017). Berkowitz edits the HA: Yearbook and the weekly newsletter Amor Mundi. He is the winner of the 2019 Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought given by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Germany.
EDITED BY:
Alex Fox Tschan is the editor & co-producer of the “Reading Hannah Arendt with Roger Berkowitz” podcast. He is a working musician, creative producer, & audio/visual editor at his Brooklyn-based studio, The Fox & The Sound. With 25 years of recording & performance experience, Tschan’s recent projects range from indie-pop albums to audiobooks for McNally Jackson. A full spread of his work & collaborations can be found at pastelhell.com.
