This morning during my commute I started listening to the first course we bought from The Teaching Company. This particular course is King Arthur and Chivalry taught by Bonnie Wheeler. Ms. Wheeler has been on TV a few times, on The History Channel & A&E, so I was familiar with her (which is one of the reasons I picked this course). What I got was a couple of clear plastic cases with CD’s in paper sleeves and a pamphlet with course notes. Its not fancy but its functional and in fact this case will be easier to open one handed while driving when it comes time to change disks. 🙂

Anyway, my initial reaction is very favorable. Its clear that they just recorded her lectures, so it isn’t 100% polished…I get the feeling they didn’t do ‘takes’ or anything. They do record the lectures in a studio, though, so the sound quality is good. So far Ms. Wheeler has proven to be an engaging speaker, but I’d anticipated that after seeing her on TV, where it was clear she was passionate about the subject matter. The first lecture is more or less an overview of what’s to come, but already I’m anxious to hear more.

I’ll report back if things take a turn for the worse, but so far I’m very, very pleased. I may find myself getting a bunch more of these.