We're so back, folks--it's Words, Words, Words, our series on translation! Election or no, we stay translating Homer. This time I've taken one of the passages from our Odyssey walkthrough--the summoning of the dead in Book 11--and compared versions from the 1700s to today. What sorts of compromises do translators have to make, and how well have different translators (including me) made them? We'll answer those questions while reading Homer a bunch, which honestly is just always good for the soul. Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et

We're nearing the last leg of Odysseus' journey, and he's really caught between a rock and a hard place. Between the devil and the deep blue sea. Between...well, between Scylla and Charybdis. After a dramatic turning point among the dead, Odysseus is now faced with what he says is the saddest and most pitiable horror he has ever seen on all his suffering journeys across the sea. What is it--and would you have chosen differently? Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home  

It's been just under a week since my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World was released. In that time, I've been privileged to have a whole array of wonderful conversations about the book and its themes. One of the most stimulating, wide-ranging, and enjoyable of those was with the UCSD physicist Brian Keating, who asked well-framed and fascinating questions about the reconciliation of science and faith. If you haven't already, you really should subscribe to Dr. Keating's own podcast, Into the Impossible. It's consistently one of the best out there. And if you order my book today (October 21), send me a screenshot of your order--I'll enter you to win one of five free signed bookplates. If you've already got the book, please consider giving it a five-star review on Amazon. That makes a huge difference in spreading the word. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/

Andrew Klavan, an acclaimed author known for his gripping detective novels, delves into contemporary dilemmas and the changing tides of identity in America. He discusses his latest work, exploring themes of materialism's decline and the search for meaning. Klavan reflects on historical revolutions and the importance of ethics in today’s world. The conversation also touches on the potential revival of orthodox Christianity as a guiding force and underscores the significance of ancient languages in maintaining cultural heritage.

It's about time for our Halowe'en special--and as luck would have it, I can think of no more chilling or eerie storie than the one we have to tell today. It's Odysseus' meeting with the shadows of the dead in the Odyssey Book 11. In it, both Odysseus and Homer must confront the ultimate existential crisis and grapple with the possibility that life itself ends in nothing but worm food. So why go on living? It's a painful question, but one a hero must face to make his way out the other side of death and come back home. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at The Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ My book is out!! Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Who doesn't love a free sample? This week, to change it up, I'm offering a sneek peak behind the paywall at rejoiceevermore.substack.com, where I've been creating an audiobook of John Milton's epic Paradise Lost. Hard to believe it's almost done! But to entice you to join, and to solicit suggestions for what to record next, here's the latest installment, in which Adam--newly expelled from Paradise--gets a glimpse of what will come in the wake of sin. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at 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 joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Life is very hard for Odysseus. He's lost comrades to war and to people-eaters of both the one- and two-eyed varieties. He's far from home, wandering at sea, and now, after all that...he has to go to bed with a beautiful goddess. Please bow your heads in a moment of silence. Truly, though, the island of Aeaea, where Circe the witch lives, does represent a major trial that Odysseus must go through to make his way back into civilization. But it's not he kind of trial we'd imagine today, when Christianity has totally transformed sexual ethics. What does it mean to stay true to your family, and what is true strength? Odysseus is going to have to answer both questions to make it home. SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at 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 Catch up on my livestream with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/new-livestream-october-7-6pm-et Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Translation should be impossible--but it works. Does that prove there's such a thing as universal, objective reality? For that matter, what would "objective" reality even mean? This week, thanks to a listener question, I'm lead to the heart of these ancient mysteries via Aristotle, Kant and...Kanye West? Plus: the Light of the Mind book tour begins! Guess where I am this week... SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at 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 joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home

Ah, the state of nature: a peaceful utopia where each man is free to live off his own vineyards, sit under his own fig tree, and eat people alive. Wait--what?? In Book 9 of the Odyssey, Homer gives us a diabolical bait-and-switch, from the pure serenity of primitive life to the gruesome horrors of a world without law. It's the perfect antidote to the wishful thinking that might set in around election time, when all we want is to get away from politics: if you can believe it, the alternatives might be even worse! SIGNUPS OPEN: Register for Spring courses at 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 joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Simon Netchev’s Odyssey Map: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15906/odysseus-ten-year-journey-home  

Let's pick up where we left off last week: words are symbols of symbols, representing inward states of the soul. But those inward states are also symbols, because the world is symbolic--that is, it naturally produces symbols as a real feature of its construction. So...what do we do about it? To answer that question we turn to Thomas Aquinas, whose little book De Natura Verbi Intellectus tells you everything you need to know about Adam naming the animals, and probably also about quantum superposition. Which is...cool. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): 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