What's this notion called the sublime? What does it mean to have a sublime response to something, and why has interest in the sublime waxed and waned? According to Iain Boyd Whyte, the sublime can be discussed in connection with natural phenomena, artistic production, and even political ideology and propaganda.

Black bodies have been stereotyped, criminalized, and rendered invisible by what George Yancy calls the white gaze. In a recent book Yancy explores, among other things, the lived experiences of African Americans in relation to whites, the nature of whiteness, and the contours of effective white antiracist work. (Encore presentation.)

Human consciousness, creativity, development, and organization: So many facets of the human condition interested Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), whose insights into the big questions of modern existence continue to resonate. A new volume of Benjamin's early writings, in which the German philosopher-critic holds forth on topics like education, creativity, history, and the search for truth, is edited by Howard Eiland.

Michael Paller discusses Jean-Paul Sartre's activities during World War II, which included writing the play No Exit, an expression of Sartre's existentialist philosophy. Tom Ross talks about the Tennessee Williams play The Eccentricities of a Nightingale. And Robert Bray comments on Williams's political views and the playwright's coming-out on national television in 1970.

Joseph Levine grew up an Orthodox Jew, found himself attracted to the '60s counterculture, and studied in Israel for two years. Soon after, he became an atheist. Levine talks about his upbringing, about Torah Jewish practice and doctrine, and about the ideas that spurred him to reject religious faith.

What are you looking at? The Spanish artist Juan Munoz called that his first artistic question. Art critic Michael Brenson has been thinking about that question for a decade; it's changed the way he encounters art. According to Brenson, that question leads to many others, all of which can enhance how we go about engaging with, and learning from, works of art.