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Introducing the Young Heretics Podcast
Identity politics is crap. We all know it’s crap, yet we still keep talking about it. Constantly. Not that it’s not important to fight what’s become known as the “culture wars” — with practically every major institution collapsing under the weight of its own smarmy leftist bromides, you’d be a fool not to notice something amiss. As Andrew Doyle (the comedian behind the Titania McGrath SJW parody Twitter account) remarked recently, “When the United Nations is asking you to avoid words like ‘boyfriend’ or ‘wife’ for the sake of inclusivity, the idea that the culture war is just a fringe concern is simply not sustainable.”
Conservatives (or really anyone who cares about the West) must push back against this stuff. Nowhere is it worse than in the academies of higher education, where our finest young minds are systematically stultified with a drab, dogmatic philosophy of resentment. In more and more of our once-great universities, even just reading guys like Shakespeare and Homer is becoming suspect. It’s a mess out there.
But we fall into a trap when we spend all our time shaking our fists and railing against the illiberal harridans who have taken over our campuses. Arguing with idiots is always frustrating and rarely good for the soul. What we need more than anything is an appreciation of our cultural heritage on its own terms, a new sense of what makes the West great and worth preserving. That’s why I’m launching the Young Heretics podcast. I’m an academic with a PhD in classics with a lifelong devotion to ancient texts but I’m sick and tired of the petty nonsense that has overcome our so-called elite universities.
So every week on Young Heretics, I (and my guests) set the culture wars aside and just focus on culture — the great triumphs of literature, history, philosophy, and music that have made the West great.
Published in Culture
That was glorious–you sure know how to grab your audience! Looking forward to the next installment…
I’m looking forward to the podcast, Mr. Klavan. I’ve been appreciating your work on the American Mind podcast, and your written work at the site.
I’m a fan of your dad, too.
I’ve loved listening to you on The American Mind podcast, so I look forward to your new endeavor. I know I’m going to be a fan.
I loved this podcast. Well done sir. I typically listen to podcasts while doing other tasks. With this I had to keep rewinding until I gave up and just sat down to listen.
My only complaint is that I want more on the Iliad (if I’m not mistaken that you’re moving on next week). I’m imagining a mini-series on each piece of Western art instead of a single pod. Nonetheless, an excellent job giving a picture of the work in a single podcast.
Programming note: Spencer will be a guest on this week’s Ricochet Podcast.
Exciting.
Excellent, excellent podcast! It is just the break from the everyday crap we all talk about, that I have been desperate to find. Thank you!
Same here, I stopped whatever I was doing to really listen. He is so articulate and knowledgeable.