Lecture series · recorded 2006
Commerce and Culture
Commerce and Culture is a free lecture series (17 recordings, 25.7 hours) you can stream or download at freecapitalists.org, with 2 speakers.
A ten-lecture course presented by Paul Cantor, a pioneer in literary criticism from an Austrian perspective.
Media and CultureWorld History
Cover painting: groundlings crowd the yard below the stage during a performance at the Globe Theatre, London, 1600. See every painting in the art gallery.
16 of 17 lectures mirrored; the rest are still syncing.
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01
1:30:47 Download MP3
The Economic Basis of Culture 2006
"Sure, maybe capitalism produces more goods more affordably," the Marxists say, "but it corrupts our souls." In this 90-minute lecture, English professor Paul Cantor discusses how culture has become the "last frontier" of Marxism.
Media and Culture
Read the transcript 12,296 words
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02
1:38:13 Download MP3
Shakespeare's Theater 2006
This is a great example of commercial art and a great commercial artist – Shakespeare. Nobody does like competition, but competition, like Marlowe and Johnson, is healthy for culture. Shakespeare had to approach entrepreneurial backers in London who had surplus wealth to invest in a capital project so that people might spend money on entertainment.
Media and Culture
Read the transcript 12,964 words
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03
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The Economic Basis of Culture (video) 2006
[ From the 2006 Commerce and Culture Seminar , presented by Paul Cantor. ] Now that Marxists have lost the economic arguments, culture is now the last battleground between Marxism and free markets. Marxists say mass production of anything ruins it. But this is elitist thinking. In Marxist thinking, there is a bias against commercial culture. But, art and culture depends on a division of labor. Without attaining a certain sophisticated level of economic development, cannot have what we now think of as culture. Up until 1800, the world was too poor to care about art. The triumph of capitalism created a mass audience for art and books. Art is an example of spontaneous order. Art is like the market. Art and culture are messy and experimental. Academics would like art to be predictable, but it cannot be. Art improves from being part of a market. Lecture 1 of 10 from Paul Cantor’s Commerce and Culture .
Media and Culture
Read the transcript 12,067 words
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04
1:27:11 Download MP3
The Economics of Painting: Patronage vs. the Market 2006
A priceless Klimt painting turned out at auction to have a price - $135 million. Scholarship on painting is sympathetic to markets, unlike scholarship on music. Picasso was even called an entrepreneur. Picasso was quite wealthy early in his career and died a billionaire. Not every artist starves.
Philosophy and MethodologyMedia and Culture
Read the transcript 11,463 words
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05
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Shakespeare's Theater (video) 2006
Read the transcript 11,374 words
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06
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The Economics of Classical Music: Patronage vs. the Market 2006
There was a conflict between patronage and the market in music, as reflected in the book, Quarter Notes and Banknotes. The classical music tradition is traced back to Paris. The Court of Burgundy in the 14th and 15th Century begins to get interesting.
Calculation and KnowledgeMedia and Culture
Read the transcript 13,414 words
- 07 Download MP4
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08
1:40:28 Download MP3
The Serialized Novel in the Nineteenth Century 2006
Dickens’ work reflects popular culture as a feedback mechanism. He saluted middle class virtues. He praised capitalism. He had high regard for free enterprise. Dickens was the greatest novelist in English. Dickens died a very wealthy man.
Media and CultureWorld History
Read the transcript 13,953 words
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09
1:38:51 Download MP3
The Economics of Modernism 2006
Modernism was a reaction to mass culture and totalitarianism government support. Are artists better off being shielded from markets and commercial pressures? There are pluses and minuses to commercial systems.
Calculation and KnowledgeMedia and Culture
Read the transcript 13,842 words
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10
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The Serialized Novel in the Nineteenth Century (video) 2006
Read the transcript 13,402 words
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11
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The Economics of Modernism (video) 2006
Read the transcript 12,253 words
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12
1:34:41 Download MP3
Totalitarianism and the Arts in the 20th Century 2006
Art can flourish under any conditions. Many falsely imagine that commercialization is always a bad thing, but the commercial system has produced great art, too. Totalitarianism and modernism is the last thing anyone wants to say anything good about.
Political TheoryMedia and CultureWorld History
Read the transcript 13,066 words
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13
1:36:25 Download MP3
The Rise of the Motion Picture 2006
The motion picture is purely commercial art. Lack of taste can earn a producer a fortune. This is the perfect intersection of commerce and culture. Most movies are bad, but many are very good. The movie form is so recent, that its history is right there to see. It was just a novelty item at first.
Media and Culture
Read the transcript 13,876 words
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14
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Totalitarianism and the Arts in the 20th Century (video) 2006
Read the transcript 12,219 words
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15
1:39:02 Download MP3
When is a Network Not a Network? 2006
Television is not better because you don’t want it to be. The relation of government and television and movies are certainly not free markets, just relatively free markets. TV has always been in a regulated environment. TV is licensed by the federal government.
Media and Culture
Read the transcript 13,698 words
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16
1:41:01 Download MP3
Conclusion: Culture as Pop Culture 2006
We have such a bias against commercial art in our culture that Cantor tries to show that some of the great art of the past grew out of commercial activity. Cantor had never played a video game, so he had to work through those. He sees that this is where things are going.
Media and Culture
Read the transcript 14,474 words
- 17 Not yet mirrored Listed from metadata
People in this series
Speakers
Recording dates, summaries and topics for 16 of these 17 lectures come from the Mises Institute's page for Commerce and Culture, checked 2026-09-28.
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About this series
- Is Commerce and Culture free to listen to?
- Yes. All 16 mirrored recordings stream in the browser or download as video and audio, at no cost and with no signup.
- How long is Commerce and Culture?
- 17 recordings, 25.7 hours in total.
- Who lectures in Commerce and Culture?
- Paul A. Cantor and R. W. Grant.
- When was Commerce and Culture recorded?
- 2006, per the recording dates recovered for this series.
- Is there a transcript of Commerce and Culture?
- Yes. Every lecture in the series has one, 204,839 words in total, free to read on each lecture's page and searchable in the browser.
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