Episode 135: Welcome to the Metaverse!

Welcome to the Metaverse! Today Chris introduces the “Metaverse”–what’s that? you may ask. According to Wikipedia it is: “…the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the Internet.” Or as Robin Phillips in a recent blog post at Salvo put it, “Imagine that the relationship between the real world and the internet becomes so …

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Episode 134: Sophistry Past and Present

Sophistry Past and Present Tom introduces a classic debate between Truth, reality, and language and the removal of language from truth and reality (sophistry). He engages the ancient debate and sees similarities between it and today’s deconstructive tendencies and political use of language to manipulate people. Chris and Glenn bring into the conversation many insights …

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Episode 133: The Rise and Fall of Heroes

The Rise and Fall of Heroes This week, the guys look at the idea of heroes. Back in Homer’s day, “hero” was almost synonymous with the heavily armed and armored warriors that were the subjects of the Iliad, and not just the big names like Odysseus, Achilles, or Ajax. They exemplified the warrior virtues: prowess, …

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Episode 132: Darwinian Conservatism?

Darwinian Conservatism? In today’s show Chris presents an article that was published by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), entitled, Darwinian Conservatism Versus Metaphysical Conservatism. The article is something of a departure for ISI, but it addresses a significant debate within conservative circles–can Darwin’s evolutionary theories be used to support conservative social ethics, and conservative politics. …

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Episode 130: The Rise of Biblical Criticism

The Rise of Biblical Criticism The guys are back in the seventeenth century again, looking at the beginnings of challenges to biblical authority. Progressive thinkers of the day starting with the Jewish philosopher Spinoza attacked Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch as a way of undermining orthodox Christianity: since Jesus referred to Moses as the human …

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Episode 129: Is Politics Everything?

Is Politics Everything? You may have heard feminists say, “The personal is political”—but are they right? Is the relationship between a mother and her child really a political relationship—or is it something else? In today’s show the guys discuss what else relationships like this could be. The term that they use is “pre-political”. Along the …

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Episode 128: Meaning in History: Part Two

Meaning in History: Part Two In this episode Tom returns to the topic of Meaning in History (a three show aim) by looking at ways Modernity rejected classical Christian understanding of history and meaning and developed alternatives which borrowed from Christianity while introducing radical alternative notions which still impact us today, often unwittingly. This show …

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Episode 127: Guilds, Craftsmanship, and Excellence

Guilds, Craftsmanship, and Excellence Jumping off another suggested topic from our faithful listeners, the Pugsters talk about the medieval guild system. The guilds were a way to protect customers and, with export goods, the reputation of the city by guaranteeing the quality of products. They also guaranteed a level playing field for producers. Along with …

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