With his country hemorrhaging money and its leadership too weak to function (sound familiar?) William the Marshal, a man of seventy, had to lead English forces against the French at the Battle of Lincoln. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan discusses the courage that took, and how we can learn from it today. To get access to live chats, the Young Heretics mailbag, and more exclusive content, use promo code MARSHAL for a one-month free trial of the Young Heretics community: https://...
Mar 15, 2022•1 hr
Headlines across America have been unanimously proclaiming the death of chivalry for decades—10 out of 10 tastemakers agree, it's sexist, hippocrytical, and probably somehow racist to aspire to manly excellence. So why won't chivalry stay dead? Using the biography of England's greatest knight, William Marshal, Spencer Klavan uncovers the true meaning of chivalry, and its enduring importance for today. To get access to live chats, the Young Heretics mailbag, and more exclusive content, use promo ...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 4 min
Last week, Spencer Klavan explored the crucial role of first principles in debates of every kind. This week on Young Heretics, he applies those ideas to one of America's most heated public discussions—the discussion about abortion. Why can't we stop fighting? A look at the first principles involved shows why. To get access to live chats, the Young Heretics mailbag, and more exclusive content, use promo code PISTIS for a one-month free trial of the Young Heretics community: https://youngheretics....
Mar 01, 2022•54 min
American public discourse is breaking down. On abortion, on coronavirus, on war, we just seem to be talking past each other—why? Using the abortion debate as an example and Aristotle as a guide, Spencer Klavan gets at the philosophical heart of America's first principle problem in this episode of Young Heretics. To get access to live chats, the Young Heretics mailbag, and more exclusive content, use promo code AXIOM for a one-month free trial of the Young Heretics community: https://youngheretic...
Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 1 min
Why can't we come to terms with the horrors of Gulag? Why were so many of us taught about the Holocaust, but not about Stalin? In this next installment of his series on Solzhenitsyn's masterwork, Spencer Klavan describes the dark shadow-religion that swept over Russia and created concentration camps in the archipelago. -- How can you learn Latin, Ancient Greek, or Biblical Hebrew in order to read the classics of the ancient western world, in their original language? Get 10% off of your Ancient L...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 16 min
Shakespeare's As You Like It is a reflection on social roles: how they work, and what happens when they don't. Escape with Spencer Klavan to the Forest of Arden, where you can be free from the expectations of society, MAN. Or can you? -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essentials made from clean ingredients. Receive $15 off your first Public Goods order at https://publicgoods.com/HERETICS. -- Take the guesswork out of taking care of your skin with Disco. ...
Feb 08, 2022•59 min
In The Apology of Socrates, Plato exposes the pretensions of self-styled experts and authorities. Socrates was the only man in Athens who admitted he was not wise—and neither was anyone else. This didn't make him very popular, but he was willing to die rather than give up the truth. -- Celebrate the moments that matter most with a professional, hand-painted portrait from Paint Your Life. Get 20% off your painting right now if you text the word HERETICS to 64-000. -- Once you know the comfort, th...
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr 2 min
The fight for life is a crucial issue that touches on the deepest principles of the West. Without the right to life, there are no other rights. In a Young Heretics special, Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins joins Spencer Klavan to discuss her bold new campaign to restore and preserve the most fundamental right for the most vulnerable members of society. It’s the Final Fight for Freedom. The pair examines why this moment is so crucial both for the pro-life and conservative movement, and...
Jan 27, 2022•28 min
Experts hate to be laughed at, especially when they have something to hide. Aristophanes, the genius of Old Attic Comedy, shows us how it's done in Clouds, his goofy satire of an education system in decline. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan explores the question, was Socrates part of the problem—or part of the solution? -- Indeed is the hiring partner where you can attract, interview, and hire all in one place. Get a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post at https://I...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 10 min
It's the year of our Lord 2022 and Spencer Klavan is here to spoil your fun. Not really, but since the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become such an enormous cultural touchstone, it makes sense to ask: where do its ideas come from? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan takes a deep dive into the multiverse, an ancient concept that is now gaining currency in art and physics alike. -- How can you learn Latin, Ancient Greek, or Biblical Hebrew in order to read the classics of the ancient...
Jan 18, 2022•1 hr 6 min
As the new year rolls in, most of us think about how to be better—but what does that even mean? Luckily, our journey through Plato's Republic has taken us to the perfect book for thinking about excellence of all kinds. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan discusses the cardinal virtues and how to cultivate them. NEW YEARS SALES ARE HERE: Become a Young Heretics VIP at a limited-time discounted rate between now and January 15 at https://youngheretics.com/locals. Get your exclusive Yo...
Jan 11, 2022•55 min
The final installment in the Space Trilogy, "That Hideous Strength," is a perfect allegory for our Fauci-worshiping times. In this episode of “Young Heretics,” Spencer Klavan describes the logic which Lewis reveals in his myth of megalomania and satanism—a logic which is still at work today. NEW YEARS SALES ARE HERE: Become a Young Heretics VIP at a limited-time discounted rate between now and January 15 at https://youngheretics.com/locals. Get your exclusive Young Heretics merch at 20% off with...
Jan 04, 2022•1 hr 9 min
In the second book of the Ransom trilogy, C.S. Lewis imagines what it would have been like if Eve got a second chance in the Garden of Eden. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan reads from this rip-roaring tale of demonic possession and space travel to tell a Christmas story about the cosmic power of one human choice to change the world. NEW YEARS SALES ARE HERE: Become a Young Heretics VIP at a limited-time discounted rate between now and January 15 at https://youngheretics.com/loc...
Dec 28, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Sometimes to see earth clearly, you have to look down on it from mars. C.S. Lewis's space trilogy is a classic of sci-fi literature but it's also, weirdly, the perfect thing to read at Christmas. In "Out of the Silent Planet," Lewis takes his place alongside Dante and Milton with a Christian vision of the worlds beyond our world. CHRISTMAS SALES: Become a Young Heretics VIP at a limited-time discounted rate between now and Christmas at https://youngheretics.com/locals. Get your exclusive Young H...
Dec 21, 2021•1 hr 9 min
We say "never forget"...but do we really mean it? We deceive ourselves if we think that murderous tyrants like Stalin are uniquely evil in some way that we ourselves could never be. Reading through Volume 1 of the Gulag Archipelago, Spencer Klavan shows how ordinary people can consent to terrible things. CHRISTMAS SALES: Become a Young Heretics VIP at a limited-time discounted rate between now and Christmas at https://youngheretics.com/locals. Get your exclusive Young Heretics merch at 20% off w...
Dec 14, 2021•58 min
In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan begins a journey through Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's masterwork, "The Gulag Archipelago," which exposed the horrors of Lenin's and Stalin's Russia to the West. Describing how Russia's Empire was overthrown and replaced with a socialist state, Spencer explains the nightmare philosophy behind it all and reveals what really made Stalin's rule so gruesome. CHRISTMAS SALES: Become a Young Heretics VIP at a limited-time discounted rate between now and Chr...
Dec 08, 2021•1 hr 4 min
You've heard about the "first Thanksgiving," but have you heard about the miraculous sea crossing that made it possible in the first place? In this Young Heretics Thanksgiving special, Spencer Klavan talks about the journey of faith that gave birth to the American spirit. -- The Magnus Fellowship is the college to end colleges and serves as a tuition-free alternative for those who need an online resource that is equally as rigorous. Apply to the Magnus Fellowship today and receive a free gift at...
Nov 30, 2021•59 min
Are video games art? What about a urinal? And how about splotches of paint on a wall? We all have instinctive answers to these questions, but it can be hard to articulate the logic behind them. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan discusses one of the West's oldest and most sophisticated books on the topic and how it can help us solve modern problems about censorship and cancel culture. -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essentials made from ...
Nov 23, 2021•58 min
If you want a perfect state, you have to seize the means of artistic production. That's something that both the Right and the Left now instinctively understand... which is why we're fighting so hard over things like Netflix. Plato saw to the heart of the matter in the third book of his Republic, which is why that book has caused, shall we say, quite a bit of trouble. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan explains. -- Take the guesswork out of taking care of your skin with Disco. Chec...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Everyone's talking about mob rule these days—but why is it happening now? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan explains insights into mob rule from the French anthropologist, philosopher, and literary critic René Girard. Using Girard's brilliant exposition of the Gospels, Spencer explains everything that's going on in our politics... and what to do about it. -- How can you learn Latin, Ancient Greek, or Biblical Hebrew in order to read the classics of the ancient western world, in t...
Nov 09, 2021•57 min
W.W. Jacobs was a one-hit wonder, but his one hit is a Halloween masterpiece: The Monkey's Paw. In this Young Heretics holiday special, Spencer Klavan reads the story and reveals the theological truths behind it—without which, many of our modern ghost stories are doomed to fall flat. -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essentials made from clean ingredients. Receive $15 off your first Public Goods order at https://publicgoods.com/HERETICS. -- Take the gues...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 4 min
In an age when everyone wants us to think we are bound to our time, our race, and our place, Henry James's story "The Great Good Place" reminds us of the brotherhood of man. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan reads from this gem of a story and joins it with the witness of Machiavelli, Raphael, and DuBois to show that we are more than the here and now. -- Ned offers a natural remedy for some of life’s most common health issues. To get 15% off plus a FREE De-Stress Blend Sample on o...
Oct 26, 2021•44 min
Your right to make your own choices is under assault. But where does that right come from anyway? Conscience is one of the oldest and deepest ideas in the Western tradition, developed by millennia of thought stemming from both Athens and Jerusalem. Spencer tells the story of conscience and defends your right to choose. -- Celebrate the moments that matter most with a professional, hand-painted portrait from Paint Your Life. Get 20% off your painting right now if you text the word HERETICS to 64-...
Oct 19, 2021•54 min
In this episode of Young Heretics, we follow St. Thomas More to his death, and ask how it can be that he managed to find the strength for martyrdom. Spencer Klavan offers comfort and guidance from the great Saint for a moment when the powers of the world seem both powerful and threatening. -- Ned offers a natural remedy for some of life’s most common health issues. To get 15% off plus a FREE De-Stress Blend Sample on orders over $40 use the promo code HERETICS: https://www.helloned.com/HERETICS....
Oct 12, 2021•49 min
In an age when anxieties about state persecution are running high, Spencer Klavan looks to the ironclad perseverance of Saint Thomas More. More lived in a far more dangerous time than our own, and his confidence in the reality of the hereafter kept him firm in the face of tyranny. This episode of Young Heretics is the first of two on how one man gave it all rather than buckle under pressure. -- Celebrate the moments that matter most with a professional, hand-painted portrait from Paint Your Life...
Oct 06, 2021•1 hr 8 min
How can a good and just God allow suffering? The Book of Job is where the Old Testament looks this question squarely in the face. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan discusses this masterwork of wisdom literature, drawing out lessons for patience in suffering that go beyond happy talk and nihilism. -- Everyone wants a beard that looks like Spencer Klavan's. Visit https://minimoustachery.com/heretics and use the code HERETICS to get 25% off men's grooming and shave kits. -- Ned offe...
Sep 28, 2021•53 min
With Thrasymachus the sophist thoroughly spanked and sent home crying, the real philosophers in the room get to work. That's the premise of Republic Book II, in which Socrates embarks with Glaucon and Adeimantus on a monumental project of imaginary civilization-building. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan explores the question, can they craft a city of pure justice, or just a totalitarian nightmare? -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essent...
Sep 21, 2021•58 min
Romeo and Juliet are two truly iconic characters—Shakespeare's tragedy has made them so powerfully real that it's almost as if they're still alive. But who are they, really, and why did this one play stick so firmly in the mind of the West? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan talks through the high drama, the classical sources, and the world-famous speeches of this classic play. -- Learn a language and have fun doing it. Meet the Ancient Language Institute and receive 15% off with ...
Sep 14, 2021•50 min
How do we put blood guilt to rest? It isn't pretty. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan walks through the conclusion of Aeschylus' Oresteia and traces the ideas it conveys throughout Western history. In the end, the question is not "what are we owed," but, "how can we live?" -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essentials made from clean ingredients. Receive $15 off your first Public Goods order at https://publicgoods.com/HERETICS. -- The Spec...
Sep 07, 2021•56 min
Who is Orestes? What kind of man will he be? That is the question on which the middle play of the Oresteia turns. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan walks through the tragedy and the questions it raises for men and women facing the unfairness of life today. -- Everyone wants a beard that looks like Spencer Klavan's. Visit https://minimoustachery.com/heretics and use the code HERETICS to get 25% off men's grooming and shave kits. -- If you believe that your data is your business, s...
Aug 31, 2021•49 min
