Leisa Michelle

Nerdy Monologues of an Autodidact

Cinderella’s Father Is The Real Villain of Massenet’s Cinderella

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We all know the classic fairytale Cinderella. That is, we know how it starts and we know how it ends. What makes re-adaptations of fairytales (or any movie or piece of media, really) so fun to consume is how we get to the ending we all know. All the stuff in the middle is where artists, authors, and directors are able to bring out new themes and new ideas for us to think about.

Jules Massenet’s opera adaptation of Cinderella had a huge change to the story from most other versions I’ve seen: Cinderella’s father is alive and well, and is a major character in the drama. In fact, he might even be the villain.

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The Great Courses on Audible Are the Best Thing to Happen for Autodidacts

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If you’ve ever tried to teach yourself something outside of school, you’ll know it’s pretty tricky. Obviously, new things are hard to learn. It’s also hard to have the discipline to stick with your new project. But the most difficult part of all often comes before you even embark on your learning adventure: deciding which materials to use.

Let’s say you’re curious about DNA. You took a biology class or two once upon a time, but it’s been a while. The only thing you really remember is that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. So where do you start?

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Life Lessons Learned from the 20th Century’s Greatest Physicist

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Richard Feynman was one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century. He worked on the Manhattan Project during WWII, helped uncover the cause of NASA’s Challenger tragedy, and received the Nobel Prize for his work in quantum physics. A set of his lectures are available on Youtube – and they’re extremely approachable even for non-physicists.

I first heard about this dude while listening to the Great Courses’ Particle Physics for Non-Physicists. His name kept coming up, so naturally I had to Google him. I discovered that he had published an autobiography based on some conversations he had with a friend. The book is called Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!, and I ended up downloading it on Audible.

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