Classical Stuff You Should Know

Turns out that all this gene editing is a good way to destroy ourselves. Lewis was dealing with conditioning, but it's pretty much the same thing, right?

The Illustrious A.J. Hanenburg summarizes Lewis's thoughts on the Tao. Sounds like a noodle dish, but I swear it's pretty neat.

Graeme Says some stuff about C.S. Lewis's Abolition of man. It's important stuff folks, and he's a smartypants.

This is both our one year anniversary and our first (successfully recorded) live episode! This took place at the annual Paideia Conference at Veritas Academy. We hope to see you there next year!

Bees takes us on a journey with an ancient Greek fellow who just wouldn't listen to the oracles. Listen to the prophets, bro. Listen to the prophets.

Graeme discusses the common topic of comparison as it's divided into judgment and wit.

In this episode, A.J. walks us through mankind's oldest story.

Beez walks us through Tolkien's Article, "On Fairy-Stories," and we discuss the nature of humanity as it relates to fiction.

In this episode, we discuss the four ways to read a book.

One of the greatest military minds of all time, Julius Caesar, was written about by two greats: Shakespeare and Plutarch.

The most common criticism of English courses is that some of the things we teach sound made up. How do you know what is symbolic in a book and what isn't?

Bees answers the question, should we try and learn a language on our own, or be okay with reading translations? Personally, I think we should speak our own made up language. But that's just me. Grizzleboomp.

Beowulf is one of those epics that is needlessly intimidating. It's a story about a big guy who kills monsters. What's not to love?

Aristotle's four causes are a nifty way to think about definition. What, in its essence, is a thing? Anything? Well, Aristotle took a crack at it. We four high school teachers weigh in.

The "Grand Inquisitor" chapter (paired with the "Rebellion" chapter) in Dostoevsky's "Brother's Karamazov is a scathing criticism of Christianity and the central crux of the book. We discuss.

Thomas takes us through what, exactly, classical education is. Sure, we've done the trivium, but beyond that, what is different about a classical school?

In this episode, A.J. gives some tips on Style, the third canon of rhetoric. If followed, these tips will improve your prose.

In this episode, we discuss a few essays from the prominent thinker, Wendell Berry.

In this episode, Graeme finishes (or comes near finishing) a brief history of the house of Plantagenet, the house that helped to found the British Empire.

Graeme reviews the beginnings of the British empire, focusing mainly on awesome kings and royal drama. You know, the good stuff.

Thomas walks us through some thoughts on literacy and the appropriate time for entering the classical world.

A.J. walks us through the Hero's journey and outlines a the theory of the cosmic journey. Tableware also makes an appearance. Spoiler: it's gold.

In this episode, A.J. brings us into the world of the Odyssey, noting some important scenes as we explore the story.

Graeme leads us through the notion of Deep Joy. It's shorthand for the experience that inspired the romantics.

In this episode, we discuss the purpose of college, beginning specifically with the changes in mission of a specific college.

In this episode we discuss the person of Socrates. The man himself is a little tough to nail down, considering that he didn't write anything down.

We discuss the church's attitude toward lending, interest, and money. We also try to figure out definitions and how to survive the apocalypse.

We introduce you to Dante in this episode and give you a guide to understanding his best known work. Oh, also, it's a little bit about Hell, which is fun.

Adequatio is the notion that the understanding of the knower must be adequate to the thing known.

Graeme teaches us about the fall of man according to Milton. Our eighth-grade boys will be disappointed to hear that it isn't all Eve's fault.

In this episode, A.J. walks us through the ancient method of loci and its modern uses. Ever see Sherlock poke his brain and information comes out? Well, the memory palace is a real thing, but it doesn't exactly work like that.

In this episode, Thomas takes us through the ancient understanding of despair--both its symptoms and its remedies.

In this episode, Graeme takes us through the theology of Milton's paradise lost. Even if you never plan on reading this mountain of a book, it's a good way to delve into the theology of Adam and Eve.

In this episode, A.J. takes us through an alternative to the five paragraph essay that is more useful for everyone, including those of us no longer in school. Need to convince someone of something? You can use this.

In this one, Bees walks us through a classical view of friendship.

Dante recorded what folks had been doing for a long time as they read scripture. In this episode, we run you through Dante's method for studying scripture.

Dorothy Sayers' "Lost Tools of Learning" is the article that helped to form a movement. We talk through it in this episode, and we end up talking a little more trivium while we're at it.

When we say , "The Ideal Type," it's really just a way of expressing in shorthand that we cling to the idea of an ideal: an ideal way to live, an ideal way for man to live in culture. This is a discussion of that ideal.

The Trivium--grammar, logic, and rhetoric--provides the three grand divisions upon which classical education is based. Sounds boring, I know, but it ain't so bad.

In this episode, Bees walks us through Josef Pieper's book, "Leisure the Basis of Culture." A.J. takes issue with those uppity philosophers.

In this episode, we discuss the classical understanding of the seven deadly sins and their import today.

In this episode, we cover the fallacies of ambiguity and the fallacies of form.

The logical fallacies can be bunched into a few headings. There are quite a few of them, and this episode isn't exhaustive, but we hit the biggies. In this episode, we focus primarily on the fallacies of distraction.

Thomas leads us through the criteria for calling a work classical.

This episode is a little different since I included an extra bit of conversation that we had been having with the audio off. It concerns economy and man. After that, we move on to the actual episode. It concerns the three modes of persuasion. If you ever hope to convince someone to do something, and do it with commitment, you're going to have to use these. Ethos concerns the trustworthiness of the speaker. Logos concerns the use of logic and avoidance of fallacy, and pathos concerns the emotions.

The House of Atreus is central to both the Iliad and the plays of Aeschylus. The story is a little crazy, so be warned: it's not really appropriate for kids.

Medieval man is much maligned for his cosmology. This episode describes this cosmology, helping the modern reader to understand references to the spheres in Milton and others, while at the same time defending medieval man.

In this episode, Graeme discusses the different parts of a metaphor.

The twenty-second book of the Iliad is a microcosm of the whole. The symbolism in this chapter captures all the major themes of the book.

In this podcast, we discuss the ancient division between the two types of reason. Put simply, Intellectus refers to natural understanding or meditation, and Ratio refers to the working faculty of reason.