In this episode, I explore Eric Hoffer's description of the various types of people that constitute the leaders and followers of mass movements, as described in his classic 1951 book, The True Believer.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine the competing forces of Physis (Nature) and Nomos (Custom) as detailed in the erudite examination The Sophists by W. K. C. Guthrie.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine the connections between Nomos, Physis, and Moira in early Greek philosophy as detailed by Cornford in From Religion to Philosophy.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the violent glory of war in Homer's Iliad, as detailed in Bernard Knox's introduction to the Robert Fagles translation of this classic epic poem of war, and several choice readings of the battle for the Argive ships.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at Thomas Cahill's examination of Ancient Greece in Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter. I pay special attention to the first three chapter where Cahill discusses Homer and his great works, The Iliad and the Odessey.By Dylan John

In this episode I explore another essay in Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey's massive History of Political Philosophy 3rd Edition. This time it's David Hume and his so-called skepticism, which I call into question on account of his deference to habit and custom. This episode is the fourth of a series.By Dylan John

In this episode I explore another essays in Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey's massive History of Political Philosophy 3rd Edition, this time looking at an essay by David Lowenthal that discusses Montesquieu and the various types of regimes, and the English synthesis of them. This episode is the third of a series.…

In this episode I explore another essays in Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey's massive History of Political Philosophy 3rd Edition, this time looking at an essay by Robert A. Goldwin discussing John Locke and his theories of the state of nature vs the state of war, and his thoughts on the right of rebellion. This episode is the second of a series.…

In this episode I examine one of the many essays in Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey's massive History of Political Philosophy 3rd Edition, detailing the thoughts of Thomas Hobbes. This essay by Laurence Berns discusses the weaknesses of Hobbes' conception of sovereignty. This episode is the first of a series.…

In this episode I revisit the history of trade policy in America, with Gill's book Trade Wars Against America. I look especially at the 2nd half of the 19th Century and Woodrow Wilson.By Dylan John

In this episode I revisit Louis Menand's collection of Pragmatist writings, Pragmatism: A Reader, with an eye toward the more recent writers. I discuss Richard Rorty's Postmodernist Bourgeois Liberalism and Richard Bernstein's Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Healing of Wounds.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at some of the early pragmatist writings, in particular The Will to Believe by William James, and The Ethics of Democracy by John Dewey. This episode is the first of a two part series on this book.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the evolutionary exposition of Richard Dawkins in his classic The Blind Watchmaker, with a closer look at how DNA replicates and evolves.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at a few of William James' early essays What Is an Emotion? and The Function of Cognition, and I make a particular examination of his essay The Dilemma of Determinism.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine the deterministic vision of the nature of the universe as described by P. W. Atkins in The Creation.By Dylan John

In this episode I explore the myth of the divine child, viewed through both historical myths and the archetypes of the collective unconscious, in the collaborative book by both Carl Jung and Carl Kerenyi, Essays on a Science of Mythology.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the ancient Roman god of Saturn and the festival of Saturnalia, as described in Samuel Macey's Patriarchs of Time.By Dylan John

In this episode I explore the lack of myth in our modern world, as described by Rollo May in The Cry for Myth.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, with a particular emphasis on his definitions of myth, archetype, metaphor, and transcendence.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the phenomenal book Free Trade Doesn't Work by Ian Fletcher. I focus on Fletcher's overview of trade deficits and his explanation of the theory of comparative advantage.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at one of the most important of protectionist treatises, The National System of Political Economy by Friedrich List, with a particular focus on Book 2: The Theory.By Dylan John

In this episode, I look at the connections between ecosystems and economies, as described by Jane Jacobs in The Nature of Economies.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at Henry Clay's attempts to get tariff legislation passed in the early 19th Century, in Maurice Baxter's Henry Clay and they American System.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the basic premise of economic theory as presented by Henry Hazlitt in his classic Economics in One Lesson. I look closely at his discussion of tariffs, and provide a counter-argument that examines the tax burden of tariffs and the elasticity of supply and demand.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine the case for protectionism and against free trade, as described by Pat Buchanan in his book The Great Betrayal.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at several types of American Nationalism as described by F. H. Buckley in his book The Republican Workers Party. I argue against his position on Liberal Nationalism.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine the essay 'The Sentiment of Rationality' from William James' collection of essays, The Will to Believe. This essay shows the early signs of James' Pragmatism.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the origins of philosophical Pragmatism in John Muphy's Pragmatism. I look especially at Charles Peirce and his ideas about doubt and truth.By Dylan John

In this episode I explore Teddy Roosevelt's relationship with Japan, as described in T. R. The Last Romantic by H. W. Brands. I pay particular attention to Roosevelt's failure to heed the concerns of California's immigration restrictionists.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the Ted Kaczynski's Industrial Society and its Future, with a special focus on his critiques of leftism and his explanation of the power process, as well as his assertions about the possibility of social change and the self-perpetuating system.By Dylan John

In this episode I explore the Nature and Nationalism tradition of German political and ecological thought, as detailed by Jonathan Olsen in Nature and Nationalism. I look at its origins in Romanticism, and its expression in the volkisch, heimat, and wandervogel movements.By Dylan John

In this episode I dig deeper into the search for the natural social arrangement of man, with a look at The Rule of the Clan by Mark Weiner. I examine the structure of clannism and look especially at the rise of Anglo-Saxon England.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine Jean-Jacques Rousseau's early work, Discourse on the Origin and Foundation of Inequality among Mankind. I look at his examination of the natural man, and his accusations against property and the beginnings of strife.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at Richard McKirahan's study of the presocratics in Philosophy Before Socrates, with a focus on Empedocles, Homer and Pindar.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the relentless hunger of technology, as described by Friedrich Junger in The Failure of Technology.By Dylan John

In this episode, I examine Karl Jaspers presentation of the masses, and the global apparatus and technique that sustains them, as presented in Man in the Modern Age.By Dylan John

In this episode, I examine the connection between naturalism and crunchy conservatism, as described by Rd Dreher in Crunchy Cons. I especially focus on food and our relationship to it, exploring a secular or pantheistic response to Dreher's Christian approach.By Dylan John

In this episode, I examine the connection between conservatism and nationalism as described in The Case for Nationalism by Rich Lowry, with a focus on the premises that nationalism is old, natural, and powerful.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the long-running populist current in conservative thought, as detailed by Laura Ingrahan in Billionaire at the Barricades, later released as Busting the Barricades. I pay special attention to Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot, and our failing international trade policies.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine Jeff Flake's Conscience of a Conservative, with a critical examination of Flake's failure to anticipate or understand the rise of Trump. I discuss how, while I share Flake's desire for decency in politics, his principled political stance is ultimately too naive to effectively respond to the corrosive anti-American attacks …

In this episode I examine the classic text The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater, drawing attention to the focus of Goldwater and others of his era on federalism and the struggle against communism, with an evaluation of the ultimate result of 20th Century conservatism.By Dylan John

In this episode, I look at Lasch's collection of his last essays, The Revolt of the Elites. I examine his support for populism, criticism of liberal snobbery, and support the use of pragmatism to rebuke the academic left.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine the Mass Man of Ortega y Gasset's Revolt of the Masses, with a focus on the origins of the Mass Man in liberal abundance and the abolition of limitation.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine the friend/enemy distinction in Carl Schmitt's The Concept of the Political, including the liberal tendency to deny the political and aim toward a post-political world.By Dylan John

In this episode I examine Alexander Dugin's statements about the division between technical and social modernity and it's relation to the West, in the Rise of the Fourth Political Theory.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the organic lifecycle of the culture and civilization as described by Spengler in the abridged version of his classic book The Decline of the West.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the leftward direction of Pragmatism led by John Dewey, as outlined in his book Reconstruction in Philosophy, as well as his restatement of principles near the end of his life.By Dylan John

In this episode I review William James' Psychology (Briefer Course), the abridged version Principles of Psychology. I focus on the biological nature of habit and instinct.By Dylan John

In this episode I return to the topic of the philosophical pragmatism of William James, John Dewey and others with a review of Pragmatic Naturalism, an Introduction by S. Morris Eames, with a special focus on the affinity between pragmatism and evolutionary theory.By Dylan John

In this episode I look at the pre-Socratic philosopher Parmenides, the goddess Ananke, the biases of scholars, mythology, and determinism in John Burnet's Early Greek Philosophy.By Dylan John