Naomi Rinehold walks us through The Cloud of Unknowing, its complicated authorship, and how its picture mysticism is much more grounded than other forms of mysticism.

Charley Dewberry elucidates Baruch Spinoza's Ethics, what about it made Cartesian theists nervous, how it tried to end religious conflict, and why it's the groundwork for Continental philosophy.

Naomi Rinehold joins to talk about Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, contract theory, the English Civil Wars, and how people can give demagogues sovereignty.

Charley Dewberry walks us through why Machiavelli might not be Machiavellian, how to be in the world but not of the world, and the hermeneutics of the plausible.

[This episode was recorded during the 2025 Spring term of Western Civilization]

Dr. Brian Julian walks through Sextus Empiricus' Outline of Skepticism, and why skepticism is super common (but not in the way that most people think).

Eliot Grasso gives a very brief introduction to the Reformations of the 16th Century, including a discussion of Medieval Catholic metaphysics and the protestations of Matin Luther.

Chris Swanson sits down to discuss Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, why a world built on maximizing pleasure could be as awful as World War I, and how suffering is important to human life.

Naomi Rinehold discusses Aristotle's Politics, how elements of corrupt systems of government can be used to create justice, the limitations of Athenian citizenry, and how the American Constitution typifies some of Aristotle's ideas.

Brian Julian discusses Plato's "Analogy of the Cave", the nature of ultimate justice, and why smart people don't know everything.

Charley Dewberry fills in some Western Civilization history by discussion Alexander the Great, Hellenization, and what sort of glory we should be looking for.

Eliot Grasso discusses Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue, why ethical and political discourse is so difficult, and how pursuing teleological ethics--as admirable as that might be--differs from Christian Existentialism.

Brian Julian joins to discuss Sartre's atheistic existentialism, why reading non-Christians is important, and a surprising proof for God's existence.

Long-time listeners will note a new mix for the music in this episode. Eliot Grasso wrote and produced the first version of "The Old Woman and Her Foundlings". The new version was produced by Wesley Coleman.

Errata- Brian mentions a philosopher who did not get along with Sartre, but his name cuts out in the current edit. That philosopher was Albert Camus.

Chris Swanson returns to the podcast's first novel: Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. This episode also features a crash course on Russian naming conventions, a primer on Kierkegaard's Stages of Life, and a discussion on why all happy families are alike.

Eliot Grasso returns to discuss Genesis 1-4, why such a short passage is so complex, and some dynamics at work in interpretation.

Naomi Rinehold is back to talk about Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics--but this time, it's from a Great Conversation reading, and it's about Justice.

Charley Dewberry starts this new season by discussing prehistory, the Bronze Age, and how surprisingly "advanced" ancient civilization was.

Chris Swanson wraps up the podcast's second year by talking about Christian Existentialism.

Naomi Rinehold discusses a lecture series delivered by C.S. Lewis, the Old Testament idea of sorcery, and sin mycorrhiza.

Dr. Eliot Grasso joins the podcast to discuss Jacques Ellul's Propaganda, why the nature of propaganda is so often misunderstood, and how loving our enemies can break the monster's glass spine.

Eliot quotes from the following works:

Ellul, Jacques. The Technological Society. Translated by John Wilkinson, Vintage Books, 1964. 

Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Atitudes. Vintage Books, 1973. 

Charley Dewberry discusses E. F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful, how not to fall off horses, and how we can choose to not serve Mammon when we have interstate highways.