213 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 • 4.3K 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.

    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
    Words, Words, Words 7: By Any Other Name

    Words, Words, Words 7: By Any Other Name

    Lying awake one night, I pulled out my Japanese grammar dictionary, as you do. And I suddenly realized some of the stuff in there--i.e., in Japanese, a language the Ancient Greeks had never heard of--could have been taken right out of Plato's Cratylus. What the heck is that about? And what does it have to do with the name of God? Answers to these and other questions, taken straight from my groggy 2am brain, on today's installment of Words, Words, Words.
    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

    • 36 min
    Kate Merlinton, Princess of Wales

    Kate Merlinton, Princess of Wales

    Will the real Merlin please stand up? Every major new development in scientific knowledge comes with a period of upheaval in what it means to do magic--or in what counts as magic, and what counts as science. This week, in providential synchronicity with a listener question, I wanted to talk about two twentieth-century depictions of Merlin in the age of industrial technology. Was he friend, foe, or fraud? Mark Twain and C.S. Lewis will help us decide. Also somebody, please, tell me what I'm supposed to think about the latest royal scandal.
    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
    Sign up to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/
    Read Sabine Hossenfelder on Oppenheim's new theory of "post-quantum" gravity:
     https://nautil.us/the-end-of-the-dark-universe-531983/
    https://nautil.us/what-physicists-have-been-missing-506607/?_sp=9994ab18-0835-44f3-9a87-f15989a55825.1710844533125
     

    • 1 hr 1 min
    Interview: Isabel Brown, Gen Z Champion

    Interview: Isabel Brown, Gen Z Champion

    Are the kids alright? Before you leap to respond "absolutely not," listen to content creator Isabel Brown argue that in fact there really is honest-to-goodness hope among members of--wait for it--Gen Z. As an ancient Millennial myself, I think this is great news. Isabel lays out the case for why Gen Z might actually be trending conservative culturally in her new book, The End of the Alphabet. Bored with the wokescolds and searching for meaning, the newest generation to come of age may have more going for it than its skeptics claim.
    Check out Isabel's Book, The End of the Alphabet: https://a.co/d/fO4QMWN
    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
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Sign up to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/

    • 38 min
    That Magician Ain't Real!

    That Magician Ain't Real!

    These days we tell a tidy little story: once there was magic, now there's reason. But there's another, older story that might be closer to the truth: once there was fake magic, now there's real magic. In fact, not only is that the story that many luminaries of the scientific revolution told--it's also a story that extends back before the scientific revolution, to the days of Merlin and King Arthur in the Medieval chronicles of English history. Scientists, meet Merlin: you guys have a lot in common.
    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
    Sign up to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/
    Read Scott Yenor's essay on the women of country music: https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/the-first-ladies-of-country-music/
     

    • 58 min
    Words, Words, Words 6: What's in a Name?

    Words, Words, Words 6: What's in a Name?

    Oh, we're really in it now. On today's translation segment, I take a question that will lead us into the heart of magic, language, and human nature: what's in a name? Specifically, what's in God's name? Throughout the Bible, not just God but God's name is invoked as a stand-in for God himself. Figuring out why will take us through Greek philosophy, Medieval theology, Jewish wisdom literature, and magical thinking of the most intense kind. Let's dive in.
    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
    Take a look at Ralston College's MA in the Humanities: https://www.ralston.ac/humanities-ma
    Sign up to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/

    • 33 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
4.3K Ratings

4.3K Ratings

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.

Chill Out Dog Guy ,

A Remedy for Hard Hearts and Soft Heads

Klavan achieves the high aim of resolving the issue at the heart of C.S. Lewis’ observation that “a hard heart is no infallible protection against a soft head.”

The podcast is self described as “the classical education didn’t know you were missing”. Five minutes into any episode and you’ll fully agree.

Listen. Subscribe. Enjoy.

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