Today on Young Heretics, a minor topic: the origins of the universe. Very casual. New details and images from the James Webb Space Telescope have called into question the standard model of cosmology in Physics, leading Spencer into a series of reflections on the deeper histories of thought and of the universe (not so distinct as you might initially imagine). Plus, a cosmic mailbag question: what would you ask Satan if you met him? Sign up for my newsletter: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/ ...
Sep 12, 2023•59 min
In the interval between finishing the cardinal virtues and starting on the Christian virtues, Spencer takes some listener questions in a special Office Hours episode of Young Heretics. Topics include: Getting kids interested in the classics, differences between Judaism and Christianity, Body Count Discourse, and naked women doing political protests. Plus: a close read of The 6th Sense . Sign up for my mailing list at rejoiceevermore.substack.com . Check out my book, How to Save the West: https:/...
Sep 05, 2023•59 min
There's a movement afoot--and its coming from the ground up. All around the internet and the real world, there's a spirit moving people to reconsider the nature and purpose of consciousness in creation. Drew Weatherhead is one of those people--a writer and pocaster red-pilled by COVID and moved to explore some of the themes that have also been of urgent importance to Young Heretics. We discuss his journey and the central role of humanity in the creation of the world. Check out Drew's book, Consc...
Sep 01, 2023•48 min
From the Ballad of Ye and the Kardashians to the Hatfields and the McCoys, there are a million ways to get justice wrong. Straight is the road and narrow is the gate: in this final installment of the cardinal virtues series, Spencer discusses justice at the macro level, not as a collection of prohibitions but as a law of love. Sign up for my mailing list: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/ Check out my book, How to Save the West : https://a.co/d/2uukAV3...
Aug 29, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Why isn't every book on philosophy like this one? Alex Priou, classicist and co-host of the New Thinkery podcast, has written an exploration of Plato's Symposium that is both readable and profound. It's a text we've talked a fair bit about on Young Heretics, and Alex has a great sense of what it can reveal to a modern reader. We discuss the true meaning of love, the nature and limitations of science, and the significance of prose style in philosohpy. Order Alex's book, Musings on Plato's Symposi...
Aug 25, 2023•53 min
We hear the word "justice" and immediately think "punishment." But justice in the truest sense isn't only a set of rules: it's also a virtue. From Plato to Dante by way of Stephen Sondheim, Spencer explains the last of the four cardinal virtues as both a source and a destination of love. Plus: an extended mailbag question about dealing with gender dysphoria. Sign up to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/ Check out my book, How to Save the West : https://a.co/d/fisa1Kq...
Aug 22, 2023•59 min
For this week's interview, Spencer is joined by Faith Moore, relation, to discuss her upcoming novel Christmas Karol . The two siblings discuss the power of storytelling to change hearts, how to truly recognize the value of motherhood, and why Charles Dickens's tale of Christmas has become such an enduring classic. Plus: stories about how annoying it was to grow up with Spencer. Pre-order faith's book, Christmas Karol : https://a.co/d/9IDMq9C Find faith on Twitter @FaithKMoore...
Aug 18, 2023•46 min
How do you decide whether to start a side hustle? Who to vote for in 2024? When to pop the question? These moment-to-moment decisions, large and small, are the stuff character is made out of. Spencer discusses decision-making tactics in the modern and the ancient world, ranging from Brexit and the OODA loop to Aristotle and the virtue of practical wisdom. Mailing list and mailbag signup: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/ Check out my book, How to Save the West : https://a.co/d/2rg35qD More o...
Aug 15, 2023•1 hr 5 min
How does a wandering mind find its way to the classics? How do you cultivate renewal in a world of ruin? Spencer interviews Shane Sorensen, author of Renaissance Wisdom , about his self-instructed entry into the great conversation, and the pursuit of eternal virtues at the end of an age. Much like Petrarch and the leaders of the Renaissance, we find ourselves today on the cusp of something altogether new. Check out Shane's book, Renaissance Wisdom : https://a.co/d/7mM4AD6 Discover Shane's podcas...
Aug 11, 2023•47 min
What's the point of all this obscure knowledge? Spencer turns from contemplative wisdom to phronēsis , practical wisdom or the knowledge of how to do what is good for you as a human being. Subjects covered include free will, determinism, and why what is good for you is not necessarily good for a fish. Spoiler: it's because you can't breathe underwater! Subscribe to my newsletter: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/ Check out my book, How to Save the West : https://a.co/d/3OhqD3i "God in Transl...
Aug 08, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Welcome to Young Heretics: Conversations, a new series of specials devoted to living out high ideals in the modern day. Spencer talks with Peachy Keenan, author of Domestic Extremist , about how to break the spell of latter-day feminism, what it means to be extremely domestic, and why everyone's obsessed with the Barbie movie. Check out Peachy's book: https://a.co/d/3JRD8UL Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KeenanPeachy Read her substack: https://peachykeenan.substack.com/...
Aug 04, 2023•48 min
This week on the show, Spencer takes the study of wisdom to the very foundations of the world, where existence came into being and human consciousness came online. This is the virtue of the soul that allows us to understand what we are, and why we're more than just accidents. It's trippy--so buckle up--but it's also the realest thing there is. Sign up for my mailing list: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/ Check out my book: https://a.co/d/9Zq300Q...
Aug 01, 2023•1 hr 13 min
Some ideas are so stupid only an intellectual could believe them. But some wisdom is so profound only an old man can pass it on. In this new installment of his series on the virtues, Spencer introduces a form of moral excellence that is sorely lacking in the world: not intelligence or intellectual horsepower, but sophia , the wisdom that connects us to the order governing all time and space. Plus: an elaborate reference to the Matrix. Sign up to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substac...
Jul 25, 2023•1 hr 7 min
This one's for the girls. The ancient Greek word for courage is andreia --manliness. But whereas physical courage on the battlefield is a picture of something essential to manhood, there is also a womanly moral courage that no civilization can do without. In times of crisis and in the daily work of raising a family, womanly bravery is too often overlooked. Spencer concludes his series on the second canonical virtue with an episode dedicated to the women in our lives. Sign up for my newsletter to...
Jul 18, 2023•1 hr 9 min
It's the age of the anti-hero, and Machiavelli can help explain why. Talking through the life of Agathocles, tyrant of Syracuse, and discussing the portrayal of him in The Prince , Spencer probes deeper into the uneasy line between recklessness and courage, shamelessness and virtue. Can we find our way out of the war between the sexes to a real vision of what it means to tame the lion of the soul? Plus: a close reading of Taylor Swift. Sort of. Sign up for my newsletter to ask mailbag questions:...
Jul 11, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 143
This 4th of July, it's hard to feel confident that everything is gonna be just fine. But that's the point: nobody said it was easy, and it may be you were born for such a day as this. Continuing a series on the cardinal virtues, Spencer pauses to consider the nature of courage in America now and at its founding. Plus: more tips from the build-a-soul workshop. Sign up for my newsletter: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/ Check out my book: https://a.co/d/bZKnihe...
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 142
Gather round, one and all, and learn from Plato about how to get a date. Or start a workout routine. Or really...do anything good. Spencer embarks on a catalogue of the cardinal virtues--the principal forms of human moral excellence--beginning with moderation. It's not just some bland, middle-of-the-road stasis: it's a dynamic harmony among all the parts of you, and an antidote to the shallow philosophy of "following your heart." Sign up for my mailing list: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/...
Jun 27, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 141
At long last, the people's cries have been heard--Young Heretics returns! Every day seems to bring some new catastrophe, and it's easy to see all the things that have gone wrong. But what would it mean to go right? You can't build a philosophy, or a life, on saying "no" to things. Somewhere you have to say "yes." In this new series, Spencer explores the nature of virtue and what it means to seek a truly good life (rather than just a not-bad one). Sign up for the mailing list: http://eepurl.com/d...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 140
For the penultimate episode of the show, Spencer Klavan is joined by friend and Dante expert Catherine Illingworth to approach the Commedia's beatific vision. Tying together threads from the whole series, and the whole podcast, Spencer and Catherine discuss the roles of flesh and spirit in love as the pilgrim makes his final approach to God in paradise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 03, 2023•48 min
In this middle portion of his series on Dante, Spencer Klavan outlines the lay of the divine "land" in Dante's Commedia. Traveling from the lust of the damned up to the longings of the saved, Dante the pilgrim meets Beatrice the redeemed soul, seeking a way to purify and channel his fleshly desires. -- 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 thousands of dollars a year: https://rocketmoney.com/hereti...
Dec 27, 2022•58 min
In this final series of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan charts a map of Dante's career and the structure of his greatest work, the Commedia. Walking through the politics, metaphysics, and artistic background of the poem, Spencer approaches the beginning of Dante's journey to discover the true nature of love. -- 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...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 2 min
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
