218 episodes

The classical education you never knew you were missing. Join scholar and writer Spencer Klavan on a tour through the great works of the West. In a world gone mad, we're not alone: the great men and women who went before us have wisdom to guide us. With their help, we can recover truth, beauty, and the stuff that matters.

Young Heretics Spencer Klavan

    • Education
    • 4.9 • 4.4K Ratings

The classical education you never knew you were missing. Join scholar and writer Spencer Klavan on a tour through the great works of the West. In a world gone mad, we're not alone: the great men and women who went before us have wisdom to guide us. With their help, we can recover truth, beauty, and the stuff that matters.

    Words, Words, Words 9: Mary Mary, Quite Contrary

    Words, Words, Words 9: Mary Mary, Quite Contrary

    It's not every podcast that comes with a disclaimer, but this one is just spicy enough that it needs a warning on the label. I got a great and fascinating question about how to translate a passage from John's Gospel...and the answer will take me into Mary's status in the church, the meaning of the word "the," and the cosmic significance of each of our lives. How's that for a Friday afternoon?*
    Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com
    *Words words words is a subsidiary of Young Heretics hosted by Spencer Klavan and represents exclusively the views of one dudebro books podcaster on exclusively those lexical matters he chooses to address. It has not been approved by the USCCB and is not intended to throw shade on or resolve disputes among Christians including but not limited to Catholics, Anglicans, evangelicals, baptists, anabaptists, katabaptists, parabaptists, pseudobaptists, and baptists with funny hats, regarding issues pertaining but not limited to the perpetual virginity of Mary, her immaculate conception, her experience of labor, her preference for the Browns over the Packers, or her views on the seasoning of fish. Side effects may include morphological fixation and fine grained knowledge of Biblical Greek; if either of these persist longer than a languid afternoon spent leafing through dictionaries and sighing like a character in a Victorian novel, consult your pastor.

    • 25 min
    Demons In My View: AI, Free Will, and the Quantum Revolution

    Demons In My View: AI, Free Will, and the Quantum Revolution

    Gather round, me hearties, and attend the tale of Pierre-Simon Laplace--a demon-haunted man. This is a story I've been itching to tell for a while, about the birth of quantum physics and the revenge of the Atomic Swerve. It stretches all the way back to Marcus Aurelius and all the way forward to the AI revolution, with some incredible tea to spill along the way (including a cameo from Napoleon). Buckle up, kids: this is a fun one.
    Check out our sponsor, 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 be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com
    I maked this: Gateway to the Stoics and Gateway to the Epicureans: https://a.co/d/cS72QtB
    https://a.co/d/2Kwu4Yu

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Interview with John Daniel Davidson: Silence, Pagan!

    Interview with John Daniel Davidson: Silence, Pagan!

    In his new book, Pagan America, Federalist Senior Editor John Daniel Davidson argues that America is not only becoming, but functionally already is, a pagan society. We talk about what that means, why it's happened, and what can be done about it. It's a fascinating discussion touching on a lot of themes that have really been mainstays of the show this year. Also take a listen to my introduction for a wild tesetimonial to liturgical providence (and to find out what happened with my car).
    Read John's Book, Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come: https://a.co/d/3UXz7VS
    Follow John on Twitter:
    Check out our sponsor, 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 new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com
    I Maked This: "After Chivalry" at Fairer Disputations: https://fairerdisputations.org/after-chivalry/

    • 34 min
    Yuval Harari's Faustian Bargain

    Yuval Harari's Faustian Bargain

    You've probably seen that meme of the IQ bell curve, where the guy with the lowest IQ and the guy with the highest IQ both agree, while the guy in the middle copes and seethes. Well, this week I am here to tell you that it really do be like that. Chris Marlowe and my Uber driver are in agreement that the soul is real, while Dr. Faustus and professional midwit Yuval Harari want to tell you humans can be hacked. The choice is yours! Literally. Stay tuned until the end for a new weekly segment, "I Maked This."
    Check out our sponsor, 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 new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com
    I Maked This: "After Chivalry" at Fairer Disputations: https://fairerdisputations.org/after-chivalry/
     

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Words, Words, Words 8: It's Not Bird

    Words, Words, Words 8: It's Not Bird

    On this Good Friday, we're doin' it live: translating Aquinas, that is. I talk through some extremely sticky medieval philosophy of language, but it's all worth it because at the end it turns out that existence is bananas and humanity really is made in God's image, which, come on, is good payoff for 30 minutes. A blessed Easter weekend to you; hope you spend it doing and thinking about the stuff that well and truly matters.
    Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

    • 32 min
    I Ain't Got No Crystal Ball

    I Ain't Got No Crystal Ball

    The universe just keeps getting weirder and weirder, man. New data from the James Webb Space Telescope might actually be the most important news story that no one's talking about. It invites us to consider whether we're going to freak out, like the Commies, or rejoice in the glory of God, like civilized people. It's possible Christopher Marlowe can help us tell the difference. But probably we'll just keep yelling at each other online!
    Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com
    Read the latest about James Webb: 
    https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1037233
    https://www.astronomy.com/science/we-just-discovered-the-impossible-giant-young-galaxies-shake-up-our-understanding-of-the-early-universe/

    • 1 hr 3 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
4.4K Ratings

4.4K Ratings

SharonArtC ,

The Faustian Bargain

Thank you Spencer! This episode is a keeper and so full of wisdom. Growing up, I often woke up
on Saturday mornings to my dad playing the opera “Faust” on our fabulous stereo system. I understood it to be a tragic love story, and that if one sells his soul to the devil, the outcome is never good. You have explained that it is giving up free will to live life in a material world of cause and effect. Worldly power is a trap! Yeshua Messiah also said if you live only by the rules, you will die by the rules, and that the devil is the ruler of this (deceitful) world. We keep our freedom by loving a good God, our neighbors & enemies, and ourselves. Then we truly see we are surrounded by beauty.

Merlin Swangoli ,

Hope for humanity.

Keep an eye on this guy. He’s part of the Hope for the future of civilization.

Spencer is on a mission to save the West (and the soul of humanity) with the wisdom of classical (and modern) thought and literature. And no one could do it with more eloquence, humor, compassion, intelligence, and scholarship. Listen and join him!

cricket1904 ,

Thank You!

What a joy to listen to Spencer’s melodious voice, guiding me through the magnificent classics!
How can we give anything less than a 5 star review for a taste of the education in classics that so many of us wished for but never received. Thank you! Keep up the very much needed work.

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