Young Heretics

We will not live in the pod. We will not eat the fake meat. We will not perform robot necromancy. But then...what should we do? With the Right in political power and a radically new mood sweeping the country, Jon Askonas of the Catholic University of America is among those thinking about how we can use technology well and in service of our humanity--not the other way around. I called him up to discuss a new First Things statement on preserving the family in the digital age. We talk AI, lab-grown meat, cursed robots, Soviet Ender's Game, Potempkin Dystopia, and so much more. Check out our Sponsor, The Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com Follow Jon on X: https://x.com/jonaskonas?lang=en Protoclone, the horrorbot: https://x.com/clonerobotics/status/1892250639360561234 A New Technology Agenda for the Right, from First Things: https://firstthings.com/a-future-for-the-family-a-new-technology-agenda-for-the-right/  

Transcribed - Published: 13 March 2025

When we first met Aeneas, he wished he could have died at Troy. Today, we find out why. By all accounts, the honorable thing to do would have been to go down with the burning citadel of his fathers. But this ain't your daddy's Iliad, and one thing we're learning is that honor and glory don't fetch quite the price they used to. If there's anyone who understands that it's Neoptolemus, AKA Pyrrhus, AKA Achilles' hellspawn, AKA the living wages of Greek decadence. It's not a pretty sight. Plus: what should we make of the Septuagint?  Use code HERETICS to get 20% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2025

Hey look, it's some Greeks! Bearing gifts! What could possibly go wrong? Today the Trojans will find out the answer to that very question, which will take us (at last!) into the story of that freaking horse. In Virgil's masterful hands it becomes a parable of Greek rhetorical trickery, Odyssean danger, and above all Roman anxiety over just how we should feel about the Greeks. On the one hand, without them, there would be no Aeneid. On the other hand, they're...kinda sus. Plus: why you should read the Aeneid instead of letting Grok do it for you.  Use code HERETICS to get 20% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2025

Don't take money...don't take fame...just takes a primordial deity whose powers of creation and destruction supervised the origins of the world, who is now divebombing straight at Dido's heart. What could go wrong? This extremely twisted Valentine's Day special will bring us to the end of The Aeneid, Book 1, which ends in blood-pumping fashion with a moment of extreme sexual tension. In the midst of which, Aeneas will be asked to relive the time his home got obliterated by a ruthless army of bloodthirsty Greeks. Fun! (No actually, it's fun.) Plus: the Drake and Kendrick of the ancient world.  Use code HERETICS to get 20% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 20 February 2025

Wail, O Tyre and...where now? Just where WAS Jonah going when he got re-routed via fish? The possibilities aren't limitless, exactly, but there sure are a lot of them including...just, like, the ocean itself? Nah, probalby not, but it's a fun thought and there are lots of others. It's one of those little Biblical mysteries that holds out all sorts of tantalizing possibilities. I can't tell you which one is definitely right, but I sure have a favorite. You asked, I answer: where is Tarshish? Check out our Sponsor, The Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 14 February 2025

It's Aeneas and Dido: A Tale of Love and War. As we get into the first major episodes of Aeneas' journey, we embark upon an intricate composition of wheels within wheels--stories of carnage and battle interlocked with stories of desire, affection, and lust. From an explanation of ring composition via Harry Potter, to a Virgilian image that has changed poetry ever since, to a bonus segment on chiasmus and the clapper (you know, that thing you can use to turn your lights on and off) it's a jam-packed addition to our Aeneas series. Check out our Sponsor, The Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com Beatrice Groves on Ring Composition in Harry Potter:  https://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/guest-post-stone-goblet-hallows-literary-links-and-riddles-in-philosophers-stone-goblet-of-fire-and-deathly-hallows-dr-groves-part-ii/

Transcribed - Published: 11 February 2025

Who's that dime walking down the temple corridor? Is it Juno? Venus? Diana? Cleopatra? No, it's Dido, queen of Carthage and warrior princess of Tyre. In this episode, Virgil introduces one of literature's all-time greatest heroines, high on her throne but doomed to fall. She's demure...or is she? She's mother...or not? Whatever she is, she's always a woman to me. And to Aeneas, who at this point can't do much more than stare at her like a dope.  Use code HERETICS to get 20% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com  

Transcribed - Published: 4 February 2025

When I tell you my finger smashed the "order now" button--apparently there's a fragmentary translation of the Aeneid by C.S. Lewis that he was working on all throughout his life. It's a rhyming version in 12-syllable Alexandrine lines, and you KNOW I had to do a review of it. Here are my thoughts, as well as a little more on Lewis's theory of epic and his lifelong relationship with Rome's greatest narrative poem.  Use code HERETICS to get 10% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Check out a new review of the book at Law and Liberty: https://t.co/lHSo8yotG8

Transcribed - Published: 28 January 2025

Of all the gin joints on all the shores of the Mediterranean, Aeneas had to wash up onto this one. He doesn't know it yet, but this is Carthage: the home of what will become Rome's greatest rival and the ultimate obstacle in her rise to greatness. The genius of Virgil is how he tells us all that while also showing us what things looked like from Aeneas' vantage point--before the clash of civilizations was made manifest, and when the immediate point at issue was where to get something to eat. Here's the key to understanding Virgil's opening moves.  Use code HERETICS to get 10% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com The End of Everything, by Victor Davis Hanson: https://a.co/d/iCDan7I Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Check out a new review of the book at Law and Liberty: https://t.co/lHSo8yotG8   

Transcribed - Published: 24 January 2025

If you've ever wanted to make the ladies or the fellas swoon with just three little words, now is your chance. I'm talking, of course, about the words "arma virumque cano." So few syllables, yet they say so much. In fact, they connect Virgil's epic to Rome and Greece, past and future, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the human and the divine realms, all at once. And each one is a kind of transformation of what went before it. Digging in deeper can help show the power of language and translation. It's time for another episode of words, words, words.  Use code HERETICS to get 10% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com A helpful list of translations: https://foundinantiquity.com/2023/12/05/do-we-have-too-many-english-translations-of-the-aeneid/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20there%20is%20not,English%20translations%20of%20the%20Aeneid. Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Transcribed - Published: 21 January 2025

Aeneas really, really does not want to be in this poem. As in, he would rather be dead. That's how the Aeneid starts out: when we're introduced to our hero he's a very unwilling participant in a grand plan for world history, and he doesn't feel remotely up to the task. Virgil might have felt the same way, crushed under the political and artistic pressure of telling a founding story for Rome's new era. Which makes this a perfect time to read the poem, as a troubled America gets ready to celebrate 250 years since its own founding.  Use code HERETICS to get 10% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com A helpful list of translations: https://foundinantiquity.com/2023/12/05/do-we-have-too-many-english-translations-of-the-aeneid/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20there%20is%20not,English%20translations%20of%20the%20Aeneid. Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Mailbag: Check out Omeros, by Derek Walcott

Transcribed - Published: 17 January 2025

How many English editions of the Aeneid can we possibly need? Which one is the best one, and why? Is the C.S. Lewis version real, or just a myth? Today, as we prepare to launch into our series on Virgil's great epic, I share a reading from a few different translations, a discussion of some of the issues at play, and a verdict on the GOAT when it comes to the Aeneid in English.  Use code HERETICS to get 10% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com A helpful list of translations: https://foundinantiquity.com/2023/12/05/do-we-have-too-many-english-translations-of-the-aeneid/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20there%20is%20not,English%20translations%20of%20the%20Aeneid. Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM I maked this: "The Crisis of Purpose in the West": https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/report/resurrection-or-surrender-the-crisis-purpose-the-west  

Transcribed - Published: 15 January 2025

It's a new year, and it's time for a new epic. You asked, we delivered: here comes Virgil's Aeneid! BUT FIRST: while we were gone over the Christmas vacation, Twitter descended into an intoxicating madness of epic adaptation, debate, and counter-programming. I'll recap the major points and give my take on: Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, whether you should have heard of Homer before, and what you should think of Emily Wilson's new translations. Then we'll launch into our new series for the year, on the little Roman epic with big hopes to rival Greece. Use code HERETICS to get 10% off Field of Greens: fieldofgreens.com Read my review of Emily Wilson's Odyssey and Iliad translations: https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/homer-without-heroes/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM I maked this: "The Crisis of Purpose in the West": https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/report/resurrection-or-surrender-the-crisis-purpose-the-west  

Transcribed - Published: 9 January 2025

I wanted to like this movie. Really, I did. I tried to like it. But modern realism is just totally unsuited to the Homeric epics and like, also...maybe to telling a coherent story at all? Ralph Feinnes and Juliette Binoche are both terrific actors, but The Return failed for me at every level and here's why. Plus: read more at The New Jerusalem.  Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Join in the Rejoice Evermore Advent Calendar: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/p/coming-soon-light-of-the-world-the Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Transcribed - Published: 18 December 2024

And the Inkling Award goes to... This year, for the first of what I hope will be many times, I'm announcing my awards for the best books I read in four categories, with one bonus: Non-Fiction  Criticism Fiction Theology Bonus Category: Worst Book of the year You can find links to the winners above, and a few runner-ups here, here, here, here, and here. Who will win? Who belly-flopped the hardest? Were there any good movies this year? All this and more, plus a preview of things to come. Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Join in the Rejoice Evermore Advent Calendar: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/p/coming-soon-light-of-the-world-the Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Transcribed - Published: 10 December 2024

"I cannot rest from travel," says Odysseus in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Ulysses. But wasn't resting from travel...kind of the whole point? Come to think of it, what does happen to an indelible character when his story comes to an end? Maybe the answer is, it doesn't. As a coda to our series on Homer, here's one last look at Odysseus through the years, as his story has inspired everyone from Dante to Spongebob. Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Check out iBreviary: https://www.ibreviary.org/en/ Join in the Rejoice Evermore Advent Calendar:  Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Listen to EPiC, the Musical: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2kdmTOXncgNHSuYVMhdd5I?si=t3N9X8bGSPmp6ZX5t7QDRw Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2024

Hey you! Yeah, you!! PUT DOWN THAT NAT KING COLE CHRISTMAS ALBUM. It's not time yet!! Technically, it won't even be time on December 1, which is the beginning not of Christmas but of the Advent season. It's also the beginning of the liturgical calendar. And since these sorts of things can be hard to focus on unless you really set out with intention at the beginning, I thought this year I'd invite you to read and meditate with me during the season. And don't worry, you can still play Christmas music. To join in my Rejoice Evermore advent calendar, go to https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/p/coming-soon-light-of-the-world-the and become a paid subscriber for 20%. OR buy a copy of my book and send me the receipt: https://a.co/d/1DoFRmW  

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2024

It's payback time. Odysseus at last throws off his disguise and wages holy war on the men who tore up his house and home for ten years, in what is still one of the most metal sequences in all of world literature. Does he go too far? Lots of people think so--but I don't. I think he gets right up to the brink and then, in a key moment that brings the hero's journey to its close, his son pulls him back from the brink. After that it's really all over but the shouting--and a little husband-wife trickery--before we bring this journey to a close. Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Check out iBreviary: https://www.ibreviary.org/en/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Transcribed - Published: 19 November 2024

Confession: for a long time I never understood why Tolkien had to make up a language to go with The Lord of the Rings. It felt a little bit like trying to tell an adventure story while getting bogged down in the details of imaginary corn law. But when the Daily Wire asked me to invent a new language for the Pendragon series, I instantly understood Tolkien in a whole new way. So when a listener asked me to comment on the idea that world building essentially is language building, I was all in. Here's what I learned from my first time language building, or "conlanging." Check out more behind-the-scenes footage from Daily Wire: https://x.com/dailywireplus/status/1717656941122461910 Order Osweald Bera: https://ancientlanguage.com/vergil-press/osweald-bera/ Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Transcribed - Published: 15 November 2024

Odysseus' journey isn't over when he reaches Ithaca's shores. It won't be fully over until he takes back his rightful place at the head of his household--but first, he has one last journey of self-discovery to make. With the help of his nursemaid Eurycleia, he has to learn at last that he's not just the person war has made him: he's also the person he left behind at home. At the end of all his wanderings, he returns at last to find himself. Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Check out iBreviary: https://www.ibreviary.org/en/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Transcribed - Published: 13 November 2024

My guest today is someone who I believe, without exaggeration, will help transform the way people learn ancient languages for years to come. While our institutional academies crumble, a new academy is quietly emerging in independent organizations like the Ancient Language Institute, and Colin Gorrie is one of its leading figures. His aspiration is to "bring linguistics out of the ivory tower," which he's done magnificently with his new book Osweald Bera, now available for pre-order. We talk about Tolkien, Beowulf, and the magic of learning ancient languages. Pre-order Osweald Bera: https://ancientlanguage.com/vergil-press/osweald-bera/ Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

Transcribed - Published: 8 November 2024

We've met the ladies at the end of Odysseus' journey--though not, of course, the most important one. But now it's time for the main man to get re-acquainted with the fellas: his faithful wingman, his furry friend, and most of all, his long-lost son. In a moving series of reunion scenes, Odysseus learns that though he brought much of himself to war and back again, he also left much of himself at home--and the worst of his failures are not the last word. Plus: an update about the revival of higher ed at New College, Florida. Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Check out iBreviary: https://www.ibreviary.org/en/ Watch my conversation with Jordan Peterson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMRT2ZbXa2s Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Transcribed - Published: 6 November 2024

If tomatoes are a fruit, why can't you put them in a fruit salad? Somewhat more importantly, did you know cashews aren't nuts? And most importantly of all, what does any of this have to do with the theory of translation? Today I'm responding to a question about the difference between technical, scientific terminology, and the words we use in everyday speech. Are these really the same language, even if they use the same vocabulary? The answer may surprise you, and affect the kinds of mixed nuts you serve at parties. Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et

Transcribed - Published: 1 November 2024

We are truly on the home stretch now--folding up the frame story around Odysseus' adventures, we can see there are three women that walk beside him on his way back to Ithaca. Each of them, in her own way, must love him without holding on to him, as he goes through the painful process of recovering who he is after all the accretions of war and wandering have been stripped away. It's an epic drama but also, in some deeply essential way, the story of all of us. Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Check out iBreviary: https://www.ibreviary.org/en/ Watch my conversation with Jordan Peterson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMRT2ZbXa2s Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Transcribed - Published: 30 October 2024

We're so back, folks--it's Words, Words, Words, our series on translation! Election or no, we stay translating Homer. This time I've taken one of the passages from our Odyssey walkthrough--the summoning of the dead in Book 11--and compared versions from the 1700s to today. What sorts of compromises do translators have to make, and how well have different translators (including me) made them? We'll answer those questions while reading Homer a bunch, which honestly is just always good for the soul. Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et

Transcribed - Published: 25 October 2024

We're nearing the last leg of Odysseus' journey, and he's really caught between a rock and a hard place. Between the devil and the deep blue sea. Between...well, between Scylla and Charybdis. After a dramatic turning point among the dead, Odysseus is now faced with what he says is the saddest and most pitiable horror he has ever seen on all his suffering journeys across the sea. What is it--and would you have chosen differently? Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home  

Transcribed - Published: 22 October 2024

It's been just under a week since my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World was released. In that time, I've been privileged to have a whole array of wonderful conversations about the book and its themes. One of the most stimulating, wide-ranging, and enjoyable of those was with the UCSD physicist Brian Keating, who asked well-framed and fascinating questions about the reconciliation of science and faith. If you haven't already, you really should subscribe to Dr. Keating's own podcast, Into the Impossible. It's consistently one of the best out there. And if you order my book today (October 21), send me a screenshot of your order--I'll enter you to win one of five free signed bookplates. If you've already got the book, please consider giving it a five-star review on Amazon. That makes a huge difference in spreading the word. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/

Transcribed - Published: 21 October 2024

I was startled when I walked into my living room today to find Andrew Klavan (no relation) sitting in my chair! But while he's in town I thought we might as well talk about his new book, A Woman Underground, the latest in the Cameron Winter series. It's a detective story that's at once gripping and intellectually fascinating, so we explored some of the influences and themes that make this book an essential read for our times. As it turns out, we've taken two very different approaches to one idea: materialism is in decline. So what comes next? Read the new mystery, A Woman Underground: https://a.co/d/9qvGY33 SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ My book is out!! Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Transcribed - Published: 18 October 2024

It's about time for our Halowe'en special--and as luck would have it, I can think of no more chilling or eerie storie than the one we have to tell today. It's Odysseus' meeting with the shadows of the dead in the Odyssey Book 11. In it, both Odysseus and Homer must confront the ultimate existential crisis and grapple with the possibility that life itself ends in nothing but worm food. So why go on living? It's a painful question, but one a hero must face to make his way out the other side of death and come back home. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ My book is out!! Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Transcribed - Published: 15 October 2024

Who doesn't love a free sample? This week, to change it up, I'm offering a sneek peak behind the paywall at rejoiceevermore.substack.com, where I've been creating an audiobook of John Milton's epic Paradise Lost. Hard to believe it's almost done! But to entice you to join, and to solicit suggestions for what to record next, here's the latest installment, in which Adam--newly expelled from Paradise--gets a glimpse of what will come in the wake of sin. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 12 October 2024

Life is very hard for Odysseus. He's lost comrades to war and to people-eaters of both the one- and two-eyed varieties. He's far from home, wandering at sea, and now, after all that...he has to go to bed with a beautiful goddess. Please bow your heads in a moment of silence. Truly, though, the island of Aeaea, where Circe the witch lives, does represent a major trial that Odysseus must go through to make his way back into civilization. But it's not he kind of trial we'd imagine today, when Christianity has totally transformed sexual ethics. What does it mean to stay true to your family, and what is true strength? Odysseus is going to have to answer both questions to make it home. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Transcribed - Published: 8 October 2024

Translation should be impossible--but it works. Does that prove there's such a thing as universal, objective reality? For that matter, what would "objective" reality even mean? This week, thanks to a listener question, I'm lead to the heart of these ancient mysteries via Aristotle, Kant and...Kanye West? Plus: the Light of the Mind book tour begins! Guess where I am this week... SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Transcribed - Published: 4 October 2024

Ah, the state of nature: a peaceful utopia where each man is free to live off his own vineyards, sit under his own fig tree, and eat people alive. Wait--what?? In Book 9 of the Odyssey, Homer gives us a diabolical bait-and-switch, from the pure serenity of primitive life to the gruesome horrors of a world without law. It's the perfect antidote to the wishful thinking that might set in around election time, when all we want is to get away from politics: if you can believe it, the alternatives might be even worse! SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home  

Transcribed - Published: 1 October 2024

Let's pick up where we left off last week: words are symbols of symbols, representing inward states of the soul. But those inward states are also symbols, because the world is symbolic--that is, it naturally produces symbols as a real feature of its construction. So...what do we do about it? To answer that question we turn to Thomas Aquinas, whose little book De Natura Verbi Intellectus tells you everything you need to know about Adam naming the animals, and probably also about quantum superposition. Which is...cool. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 27 September 2024

The Odyssey begins with a big empty space where Odysseus should be. His home, his familiy, his household are all suffering for want of him. But where is he--and more importantly, who is he? That's the poem again and again and today, we begin trying to answer it. If there's one thing everyone remembers from this poem it's the adventure stories in the middle: the Cyclops, Circe, the Lotus Eaters. We embark on those stories now, beginning with the moment when Odysseus finally chooses to reveal his true identity to his hosts the Phaeacians...and perhaps also to himself. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com Peter Struck’s interactive Odyssey Map: https://www2.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/homer/index.php?page=odymap Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home Selective attention test (the basketball gorilla): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo EPiC, a concept album by Jorge Rivera-Herrans: https://solo.to/jayherrans And check out Rivera-Herrans’s Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/jayherrans/?hl=en

Transcribed - Published: 24 September 2024

If a tree falls in the forest...does it make a sound? There's actually a great answer to that question, and Aristotle just tweeted it out way back when. Today, in response to a listener question, I finally lay it all on the line and tell you my nuts-and-bolts theory of translation, which is also a theory of the world. It's basically Aristotle, with some Thomas Aquinas mixed in: the mysteries of the soul are inscribed all over with the hieroglyphs of the body, and symbols are the rosetta stone that bridge between them. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ The Writing of the Gods, by Edward Dolnick: https://a.co/d/4jGv6NO Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 20 September 2024

Let's check in on how Odysseus' other buddies from Troy are dong. *Briefly scans news report from Proteus* Yeah so uh it's a dumpster fire. Today Telemachus arrives at Troy, where he hears from Menelaus about his own fraught journey home, including his encounter with an immortal seal dad (real) which led to the first news of Odysseus in years. It won't bring him home but it will bring his son hope, which might be just what he needs to fill the void that has opened up since Odysseus left. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ I Maked This: "If--," Then (And Now) https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/p/if-then-and-now Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 17 September 2024

The name "Rosetta Stone" has great brand recognition, but how much do you really know about Ptolemy V's royal decree? When you get right down to it, it's one of the wildest little corners of world history, stretching from the conquests of Alexander the Great to the defeat of Napoleon, with lots of bonkers facts in between. Plus it'll help us uncover more about the nature of language, logic, and humanity itself. Not bad for a hunk of rock! Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 13 September 2024

The Odyssey is a very different poem from the Iliad in many ways, but in one way it picks up right where the Iliad leaves off: with the fallout of war and the journey to re-integrate soldiers back into the civil society they came from. Today we begin Odysseus' long journey home, which actually begins at the end and works backward, starting with his son Telemachus' journey to grow to manhod without his dad around. Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com Stephen C. Meyer, The Return of the God Hypothesis: https://a.co/d/gbIOQSY Owen Barfield, Worlds Apart: https://a.co/d/1eVagdy Owen Barfield, Saving the Appearances: https://a.co/d/ioLqsnf C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man: https://a.co/d/e3QeBte C.S. Lewis, Miracles: https://a.co/d/g9hpjq5 Victor Stenger, God: The Failed Hypothesis: https://a.co/d/gmGwcoW James Hannam, God’s Philosophers: https://a.co/d/625AA62 Ed Feser, Aristotle’s Revenge: https://a.co/d/bPGnKuf Augustine, Confessions: https://a.co/d/99APz4T Augustine, De Genesi ad litteram imperfectus liber: https://www.augustinus.it/latino/genesi_incompiuto/index.htm

Transcribed - Published: 10 September 2024

Is prophecy a species of translation, or encryption, or both? This fascinating question, prompted by last week's episode on quantum cryptography, breaks down into two different sub-questions: how do prophets receive and communicate their messages, and how should we understand them? There are lots of ways to go wrong here--think doomsday cults--but also some fascinating ways to go right that help reveal the nature of language, scripture, and history. Plus: an illustration of the four traditional ways to interpret the Bible. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com I maked this: a full translation of the Book of Isaiah at https://www.rejoice-evermore.com/just-the-translation

Transcribed - Published: 6 September 2024

Is prophecy a species of translation, or encryption, or both? This fascinating question, prompted by last week's episode on quantum cryptography, breaks down into two different sub-questions: how do prophets receive and communicate their messages, and how should we understand them? There are lots of ways to go wrong here--think doomsday cults--but also some fascinating ways to go right that help reveal the nature of language, scripture, and history. Plus: an illustration of the four traditional ways to interpret the Bible. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com I maked this: a full translation of the Book of Isaiah at https://www.rejoice-evermore.com/just-the-translation

Transcribed - Published: 6 September 2024

Fall is in the air, which means the time has come for us to close out our study of the Iliad. From book 16 to the end in book 24, the poem engages in what remains one of the most enduring subtle studies of rage, war, grief, and even PTSD that the human mind has ever produced. It shows us the roots of all tragedy in our own lives and throughout history, leaving the stage set for a new adventure in the Odyssey. Which we'll pick up next week! Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com Alice Oswald, Memorial: https://a.co/d/dcToGpW Christopher Logue, War Music: https://a.co/d/fF2eVnb Jonathan Shay, Achilles in Vietnam: https://a.co/d/3Jo7LpD Books of Titans: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/books-of-titans-podcast/id1237365806

Transcribed - Published: 3 September 2024

Ifmmp! After months spent explaining how communicating works in different languages, I've gotten a question about now not communicating works, in any language. Turns out the answer will take us through ancient mysticism, the invention of computers, and the technology behind Bitcoin...all in 30 minutes! At the end of it all, a tl;dr on what we should think about the race to build bigger faster quantum systems to make and break codes in our age of AI and machine-generated poetry. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 30 August 2024

Ifmmp! After months spent explaining how communicating works in different languages, I've gotten a question about now not communicating works, in any language. Turns out the answer will take us through ancient mysticism, the invention of computers, and the technology behind Bitcoin...all in 30 minutes! At the end of it all, a tl;dr on what we should think about the race to build bigger faster quantum systems to make and break codes in our age of AI and machine-generated poetry. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 30 August 2024

If I were making a movie of the Iliad (a good one, not the Brad Pitt version of Troy), there's no question the trailer would have to include today's central scene: Hector and Andromache on the wall. This is the money shot that reveals the poem in its full greatness, honest and sober about the realities of war but capable of mourning with those who suffer defeat. The Trojans might be the most interesting part of the poem, especially for what they reveal about the problems of polytheism and the contrast it poses to the Christian gospel. All this and more on our second-to-last Iliad episode. Watch my interview on the Ben Shapiro Sunday Special: https://youtu.be/5qjDUhzJqgc?si=T8JBpdXzc1dlfCzy Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substac.com

Transcribed - Published: 27 August 2024

"A word is a kind of painting of which the subject is a thought," wrote Nicolas Beauzée. Even an Enlightenement Frenchman is right twice a day. But where does that leave the written word--as a picture of a picture of a thought? Yes, I argue in this episode, and there's profundity in that which goes far beyond the history of alphabets--though that is, in its own right, exceptionally cool too. It's all here in the latest words, words, words. Dear English Language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ69ny57pR0 Sign up to Audit my Class: ncf.edu/youngheretics Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 24 August 2024

The cotton gin, the railroad, the printing press, the internet...there are plenty of candidates for the world's biggest tech revolution, but the biggest one might be one we've never even thought about before. And it has to do with how we process language, so naturally...I'm obsessed. PLUS: in a very special announcement, all my listeners are invited to join me at New College Florida this fall semester for an online course on Greek literature! Link below. Class is in session: https://www.ncf.edu/youngheretics/ Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 22 August 2024

And we're off to the races! The Iliad begins in earnest this week with the outbreak of the feud between Achilles and Agammemnon (#TeamAchilles). The drama that unfolds contains almost the entirety of all that was to come in Greek culture, from the terror of hubris to the magnificent achievement of city-states in coalition. Plus: stick around to the end for a bunch of very cool announcements. Trump the Sandworm: https://x.com/Babygravy9/status/1823830496872136776 Sign up to Audit my Class: ncf.edu/youngheretics Foundations of the West:Athens and the Logos Greek Myth Comix: https://greekmythcomix.com/comic/deaths-in-the-iliad-a-classics-infographic/ Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 20 August 2024

Is the Iliad just a cautionary tale about toxic masculinity? Or is there something deeper at work in Achilles' murderous rage? To really understand the poem, you have to understand--and internalize--what it means to live in an honor culture, and to seek justice in a universe that makes no guarantees. After listening to this episode you can understand the story of the poem as it was meant to be understood, rather than letting petty modern ideologues set the terms of interpretation. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 13 August 2024

What a time to be alive. New Euripides just dropped! Results are pouring in not only from the AI project that's unearthing new passages from the charred scrolls of Herculaneum, but also from the good old-fashioned method of leafing through mounds of old scrolls. Some of it is directly related to everything we've been talking about in Homer and the mythic cycle. It's the only Young Heretics news that's fit to break. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Transcribed - Published: 9 August 2024