Cyberpunk and the Metaverse https://youtu.be/5RDwibgTfGo Today’s Pugcast walks through a blog post by Jason Ananda Josephson Storm, an important secular philosopher who, among other things, is engaged in a systematic critique of Postmodernism and where things should go from there. This post deals with Zuckerberg’s Metaverse and assesses it from the perspective of 1990s Cyberpunk, …
Is Sweat Really Necessary? https://youtu.be/6zDTG_9MhK4 In today’s show the Pugs discuss a recent article in First Things by Joshua Mitchell, By the Sweat of Our Brow. It’s a free ranging, yet profound treatment of the erosion of competence in daily life, among other things. Mitchell makes the argument that citizenship requires “mediating institutions” (families, small …
Apocalyptic AI: Cyber Theosis? https://youtu.be/x_9XIg7rZGw On today’s show Tom brings into discussion themes from Robert Geraci’s book: Apocalyptic AI: Visions of Heaven in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality. The conversation focuses on ways in which the Western Christian Apocalyptic emphasis gets changed and rethought by several key figures in the Robotics and AI research …
Why Everyone Should Believe in Fairies https://youtu.be/d8uTEjElnFY That’s the provocative title of a series of articles that the guys discuss today. Belief in nature spirits was universal around the world, including among the church fathers and Christian theologians, until the 17th century, when Enlightenment rationalism consigned them to the realm of superstition. Even today, though, …
Episode 187: Why Everyone Should Believe in Fairies Read More »
Justice and Reality https://youtu.be/_GhPxPVVjow On today’s show Chris guides a conversation on the nature of justice and its relationship to the given order of nature. For many intellectuals “justice” is an ideal that is imposed on society. Innate differences between people should be either compensated for, denied, or surgically removed. But is this really just? …
Christian Wayfaring https://youtu.be/awuWmSliHac The trials and triumphs of Christian life as pilgrims in the world but not of the world. Tom introduces the topic by way of David Elliot’s article: Passing through the Sirens, the Trials of the Christian Wayfarer in the World. The conversation discusses the various biblical senses of ‘world’ and engages the …
The Most Reluctant Convert https://youtu.be/1qIirqRqIkk Listen in for a quick question and answer session following yesterday’s episode: The Most Reluctant Convert.
The Most Reluctant Convert https://youtu.be/JzEZTH_XRhg This week, the Pug has a special guest, Max McLean, the founder of the Fellowship for the Performing Arts. Max has brought to the stage “The Screwtape Letters,” “The Great Divorce,” and “The Most Reluctant Convert,” the story of C.S. Lewis’s conversion; most recently staring in a film adaptation of …
C. S. Lewis and Miracles https://youtu.be/Z9hHbCUL7SI We wouldn’t have Christianity without miracles, and one miracle in particular—the resurrection and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth. Odd then, isn’t it, that not so long ago, there were some people who said that we could? C. S. Lewis knew that was nonsense, and he set out in his …
Medieval Courtesy Books https://youtu.be/L6g_3H0sVSk In this episode, the Pugsters look at the idea of courtesy and manners through the lens of medieval courtesy books. These were instructions to children on how to behave derived from chivalry and from instructions to novices in monasteries. Their goal was to inculcate virtue in children before they had a …