When the Devil visits Ivan in the Brothers Karamazov, he looks at first like a rather unimpressive gentleman. But lurking under his seemingly distracted conversation is a sinister depiction of the world broken down into infinite matter, formless and void. What answer can we possibly give to this satanic vision? Spencer Klavan explores Dostoevsky's alternative to modernist perdition. -- You'll have more energy and feel healthier when you take Field of Greens. Get 15% off your first order and anot...
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 1 min
"Everyone is guilty for everything before everyone": This week, through the mystery of Father Zosima's life and sermons, Spencer Klavan unfolds Dostoevsky's answer to Ivan, to Nietzsche, and to modern skepticism and scientism. The words of Zosima are at the heart of this sprawling novel, and their wisdom is, if anything, more relevant now than when they were written. -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essentials made from clean ingredients. Receive $15 of...
Dec 06, 2022•58 min
Ivan, the most brilliant and also the most tormented of the brothers in Dotoevsky's "Brothers Karamazov," saw something that few others could see: if there is no immortal soul and no God, then everything is permitted. It's something that Nietzsche realized as well, and it drove him mad. How did Dotoevsky avoid the same fate—and how can we? Spencer Klavan picks up these questions in the second installment of this series. -- Stop throwing your tea into the harbor, and start celebrating America's t...
Nov 29, 2022•59 min
Dostoevsky was the kind of artist who peers so deep into the heart of the present that he becomes a prophet of the future. His last and greatest novel, The Brothers Karamazov, can be difficult to get into—but if you manage to crack the spine, it will be well worth your while. Spencer Klavan offers a little Young Heretics-style help to get you started. -- Rocket Money is the new app that helps you identify and stop paying for subscriptions you don't need, want, or simply forgot about. Save thousa...
Nov 22, 2022•59 min
What do you want? In this final episode of his series on Thomas Traherne, Spencer Klavan explores Traherene's daring suggestion that you might not want enough. The 17th-century mystic argued that God gives us the world anew each time he creates a new human being—a thought that can radically change the way you look at basically everything. -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essentials made from clean ingredients. Receive $15 off your first Public Goods ord...
Nov 15, 2022•1 hr 1 min
How can we retain a sense of joy in the teeth of suffering? What does it mean to forgive? These hard and painful questions are the subject of the second installment in Spencer Klavan's series on Thomas Traherne and Matthew 6. Breaking down the Greek of the gospels and using Traherne as a guide, Spencer points the way to a joy that persists even when happiness doesn't. -- How can you learn Latin, Ancient Greek, or Biblical Hebrew in order to read the classics of the ancient western world, in thei...
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 6 min
"Take care that ye perform not your righteousness to be seen of men." These words, familiar to Christians around the world, have an urgent and profound meaning for our time that needs unlocking. Using the Greek of the gospels and the profound meditations of Thomas Traherne, Spencer Klavan explores what it means not to let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essentials made from clean ingredients. Receive $15...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 5 min
In this final episode of his series on Athenian democracy and citizenship, Spencer Klavan tells a few rip-roaring myths and true stories from the history of Athen—from the birth of King Erichthonius out of the ground to the fraught relationship between Cleisthenes of Athens and King Cleomenes of Sparta. Then as now, the question was: what does it mean to be equal before the law? -- Rocket Money is the new app that helps you identify and stop paying for subscriptions you don't need, want, or simp...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Okay, so we have a country—but isn't that a little mean? Drawing on Aristotle's definition of citizenship and politics, Spencer Klavan examines the question of open borders and asks what it really means to "love thy neighbor" in a political context. -- 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. -- Stop throwing your tea into the harbor, and star...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 4 min
What is a citizen, and who gets to be one? With immigration all over the news, Spencer Klavan takes a Young Heretics look at the nature of citizenship, starting with Aristotle's politics. From 3rd-gen Athenian philosophy to Martha's Vineyard, all in 60 minutes! -- 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 Language Institute course with promo code HERETICS: https://...
Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 5 min
In this final installment of the series on Owen Barfield, Spencer Klavan explores how the first and last Inkling's ideas can help us understand the arguments over the multiverse, the creation story in Genesis, and the very fabric of reality. Plus he reads some of Barfield's poetry. And all in under an hour! -- 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/HE...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Owen Barfield's "Poetic Diction" is a book about etymology that turns out to shed light on much more than language. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan describes his own life-changing experience discovering the book and explores how Barfield's vision of human perception can help unlock the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything. From scripture to science, the first and last Inkling has much to say to our modern predicament. -- Rocket Money is the new app that helps you ide...
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 6 min
What kind of knowledge does science give us? Is it the "God's-eye view" of things—a third-person, objective understanding of reality's bedrock? Owen Barfield, one of the less well-known Inklings, argued powerfully that it is not. Heeding Barfield's words can help us break free of the false religion that holds scientific truth up as the only real knowledge and makes science into a kind of new religion. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan introduces Barfield and embarks on a journey ...
Sep 20, 2022•1 hr 6 min
We did it! The final installment of the Republic series is here. In this last and possibly most infamous book of his masterwork, Plato calls for a complete and total shutdown on artists until he figures out what the hell is going on. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan discusses Plato's challenge to art, and the ways we might grapple with it today. -- Indeed is the hiring partner where you can attract, interview, and hire all in one place. Get a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade ...
Sep 13, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Drawing on Plato's highly sophisticated account of the relationship between psychology and politics, Spencer Klavan delivers an important message for the ages: turn off your dang phone! At least before bed. In Book IX of the Republic, Plato's Socrates explores what it means to be tyrannical—to be enslaved to your own desires—and how we can avoid that fate. -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essentials made from clean ingredients. Receive $15 off your firs...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 7 min
If your ship of state really is sinking, what can you possibly do about it? As we reach the conclusion of our series on Plato's Republic, psychology and politics converge upon some striking answers to this very pressing question. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan talks through Socrates's survey of kinds of state and kinds of people, and reveals why you should turn off your durn phone if you want to save the world. -- Indeed is the hiring partner where you can attract, interview, ...
Aug 30, 2022•1 hr 8 min
In the 13th century, the world held its breath as it waited for a new kind of art to be born. Then came Cimabue—or was it Duccio? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan walks through the fascinating and complicated history of early Florentine Renaissance art, asking along the way what it might mean for us to seek rebirth out of a dark age. -- Truebill is the new app that helps you identify and stop paying for subscriptions you don't need, want, or simply forgot about. Save thousands o...
Aug 23, 2022•59 min
How dark were the middle ages, really? And are we living through our own period of decline today? By studying the good and the bad of how art developed after the fall of the Roman Empire, Spencer Klavan reflects on our own time of fracture and uncertainty. It may be we are due for our own rebirth, and sooner than we think. -- 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://pu...
Aug 16, 2022•1 hr
Today begins a journey through Florence, the hub of rebirth in what Giorgio Vasari called the "rinascita" and we call the Renaissance. Vasari will be our tour guide through this explosive period of transformation. Much like movies and TV in our day, the art of the Medieval period had exhausted its possibilities. Then as now, we might ask: what comes next? -- How can you learn Latin, Ancient Greek, or Biblical Hebrew in order to read the classics of the ancient western world, in their original la...
Aug 09, 2022•1 hr 5 min
Does history only ever move in one direction? Is decay inevitable? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan argues that it is not, using the example of America's greatest founding figure—George Washington. Washington's refusal to seize more power than he needed made him the anti-Caesar, and the perfect hero for our nation. -- 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 h...
Aug 02, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Shakespeare's great tragedy, Julius Caesar, carries the story of Caesar forward beyond the Rubicon and beautifully dramatizes the tragic machinery of history that led Rome's republic to its downfall. Did Caesar have a choice? Do we? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan discusses all this and more in the latest installment of the Shakespeare series. -- Truebill is the new app that helps you identify and stop paying for subscriptions you don't need, want, or simply forgot about. Save ...
Jul 26, 2022•1 hr 6 min
When was Rome doomed? What about America? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan tells the famous story of Julius Caesar's choice to invade Rome, but with a twist: since no one knows exactly what happened in that fateful moment, the story becomes an opportunity for reflection on the great conflict between destiny and free will. This is the first of a series on the fall of Rome and the future of America. -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable, high quality everyday essent...
Jul 19, 2022•1 hr 3 min
It's often said that our politics has become "post-truth." But how far back does that problem go, really, and what are its deeper causes? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan examines these questions with the help of Plato's Republic, bringing our series on Athens, democracy, relativism, and virtual reality to a close. -- 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://Indeed...
Jul 12, 2022•1 hr 3 min
There's a lot of hype around Web 3 and the Metaverse. But what can the sales pitches for these new technologies tell us about the governing philosophy of our elites? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan applies Platonic insight to modern tech proposals to show what's really going on behind the news cycle. -- 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://publicg...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 5 min
From Athens' late-stage democracy to the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two equals four. Why should that be so? In a discussion ranging from the quadrivium, to Dante's Paradiso, on into Star Trek, Spencer Klavan explores the close connection between lies and violence. -- 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://Indeed.com/HERET...
Jun 28, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Plato's cave is one of the most famous metaphors ever. But what does it really mean? At long last, this Young Heretics series on the Republic has gotten us far enough to understand what Plato is saying about Athenian society—and our own—in book 7. Plus: how do you find your purpose in life? BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Pre-order your copy of Spencer Klavan's new book, "How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises" today: https://www.amazon.com/How-Save-West-Ancient-Wisdom/dp/1684513456 -- Publi...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 10 min
How do you find the truth in a world designed to keep it from you? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan talks through statesmanship, philosophy, and the relationship between the two in a culture that rewards power, but not truth. From the cave to Twitter, most of what passes for philosophy is just regime enforcement—Spencer unpacks Plato's advice for turning the mind toward the true, the beautiful, and the good. -- How can you learn Latin, Ancient Greek, or Biblical Hebrew in order ...
Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 3 min
In the final installment of his Young Heretics series on rights, Spencer Klavan asks how we can ever make changes and reforms to longstanding laws without hurtling down the slippery slope. Can we advance to meet the challenges of the day without dissolving into madness? Using Chesterton, Newman, Burke, Lewis, and the Seneca Falls declaration, Spencer shows how the tree of tradition can bear new fruit without cutting off the roots that feed it. -- Public Goods is the one stop shop for sustainable...
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr 11 min
We're so used to talking about "human rights" and "human dignity" that it's easy to just nod along when people start declaring the brotherhood of man. But how did we get here? In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan argues that God is a load-bearing pillar—cut him out, and sooner or later the whole building comes crashing down. From the Enlightenment to the present day, if your rights are going to be secure, they have to come from God. -- Indeed is the hiring partner where you can attr...
May 31, 2022•1 hr 4 min
If all men are brothers, then who is their father? If we have rights, who gives them to us? In today's episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan embarks on a series of episodes to trace the history of natural law and natural right that underlies our modern debates about abortion, euthanasia, and so much more. -- 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://Indeed.com/HERETICS through M...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 4 min
