I’d probably participate in some April foolery here if I had a bit more energy available, but since I’ve got some big announcements, I’ll just give it to your straight today.
This is the start of my third month building my site and publishing pieces here on Substack. I’ve been enjoying this new space so far, and judging from the likes and comments, so have most of you readers. The biggest piece of news is that I’ve enabled paid subscriptions.
If you want to remain a free subscriber, you certainly can. You’ll still get posts categorized under News, Resources, and Reading Recommendations, and you’ll still see Notes. For paid subscribers, I’ll be writing additional Articles about all sorts of philosophical ideas and practices. I’m starting a new philosophy podcast as well (still yet to be named - if you’d like to get in on that, click here), which will be for paid subscribers here and my supporters over in Patreon.
Producing the sort of content you’ve seen me posting and writing about here is one main way that I support myself economically, so if you’re considering becoming a paid subscriber, I’ll just say that I’m very grateful for everyone who contributes to my ability to earn a decent living providing resources and guidance that help people learn about, study, and apply philosophy.
All right - on to the other announcements!
Online Events And Classes
We’re finishing up this week with the two online classes I’ve been teaching in the Study With Sadler Academy: Stoicism and The Cardinal Virtues and Ancient Philosophers on Friendship. And we’ve got a new class currently enrolling!
Aristotle on the Moral Virtues, an 8-week online class, starts Saturday, April 13 with the first 90-minute class session at 10 AM Central Time. If you’d like to learn more about it, I wrote a piece about it here in Substack just yesterday.
We have a whole slate of online events lined up:
April 6 - monthly AMA (Ask Me Anything) Session - YouTube live event in my channel - https://youtube.com/live/fp-37MzmBo8
April 13 - Worlds of Speculative Fiction: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint Germain Cycle - YouTube video premiere in my channel - link will be posted after video is produced
April 20 - Classic Metal Class Session 27: Bands That Say They're Not Heavy Metal - Zoom videoconferencing for students enrolled in the free class (they get the Zoom link there) - https://reasonio.teachable.com/p/classic-metal-class
April 21 - Advice About Self-Directed Study: Thomas Aquinas - YouTube video premiere in my channel - link will be posted after video is produced
April 27 - Understanding Anger 2.0 Class Session 11: Cicero's Examinations Of The Emotion Of Anger - YouTube live event in my channel -https://youtube.com/live/d5rHIPqM9Gw
Video And Podcast Production
My plans for the Sadler’s Lectures podcast this month are the same as last month: converting the core concept videos in the series on Immanuel Kant’s Prolegomena To Any Future Metaphysics into podcast episodes. If I do get all of that done, I’ll start working on converting my Speculative Fiction Studies videos on Ursula K Leguin’s novel Tehanu into podcast episodes (I’ll need them for an online class I’m teaching this fall).
There’s also the new, yet-to-be-named podcast for subscribers and supporters. In that, after an introductory episode providing an overview of the series, I’m going to be doing episodes that take a key philosophical idea and explain it well, or that provide advice and encouragement for people studying philosophy.
As far as video production goes, I’ve yet to make good on some of the projects I had in mind for last month, but which got put on hold as I recover from surgery. One main priority is doing a lot more Sadler’s Honest Book Reviews - the backlogged books are piling up! I’ll be shooting some additional core concept videos on Frantz Fanon, and Albert Camus for that Existentialist Philosophy and Literature class, and one commissioned video on the “body without organs” in Deleuze and Guittari’s Anti-Oedipus. I’ll also do more Ideas That Matter interviews, and Sadler’s Stories videos and I still want to shoot an updated version of my video on the Perfectionist Trap. If I’m feeling up to it, I might even shoot a review video of one of the non-alcoholic beers that I enjoy.
Some Personal Updates
As many of you know, I had surgery to remove my gallbladder last month, a procedure that took quite a while to get scheduled. The surgery went well, and it turned out the organ was in worse shape than they thought - so it really needed to come out. Recovery from the surgery has been a longer process than I would like. I’m usually impatient to get back to work, and not having the same level of energy is a bit taxing. Overall though, I’m doing quite well with this. The incisions are healing up. I didn’t get any kind of infection. The pain after the first few days has been pretty minor. And before too long, once I’m healed up, I should be able to get back to the kinds of exercise I like.
On another note, we’re going to see my child, Cat Sadler, acting in the play Pipeline later on this week. This is Cat’s final semester working towards a Theater degree at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Cat has really done a lot - not just acting, but house management, musical theater, writing and directing, makeup and stage design, even puppetry - some of this through UWM, some through local jobs, and some through other opportunities. So I’m pretty proud of my child for all they’ve accomplished. We’re gearing up for the next chapter in Cat’s development and career.
The last thing I’ll mention is that, as many of you know, I volunteer at a local cat shelter, Almost Home Cat Rescue. The surgery has put a hold on that for the time being, since for a while, I’m not to lift more than 10 lbs. I’m looking forward on healing up and getting to spend time taking care of the cats and kittens soon.
So that’s it for the April Newsletter. If you’d like to know more, or you’re particularly excited about, about any of these things going on, feel free to leave a comment!