The Ralston College Podcast

Heather Heying, an evolutionary biologist, explores the emergence of sentient consciousness across species. She reveals common traits in intelligent beings, like long childhoods and social behaviors, drawing parallels among primates, dolphins, and corvids. Heying discusses how play enhances learning and describes innovative behaviors from dolphins using tools to crows refining their tool designs. She connects these insights to broader themes of culture, empathy, and the beauty of natural patterns, challenging conventional views of intelligence in animals.

Bret Weinstein, an evolutionary biologist, and his wife, Heather Hying, join the discussion to explore the intersection of evolution and human culture. They delve into why life emerges from nonlife, critique the conflation of data collection with science, and emphasize the importance of predictive models. The couple also discusses how adaptation shapes human purpose and morality, suggesting humans uniquely reason about survival. The conversation spans the value of language, the relationship between the arts and sciences, and enduring cultural traditions.

Dr. Heather Heying, an evolutionary biologist and public intellectual, dives into the foundations of scientific inquiry, blending biology and philosophy. She challenges dogma, advocating for free inquiry as essential to scientific discovery. Heying distinguishes between biotic and abiotic origins, revealing how evolution impacts everything from molecular structures to human artifacts. Her discussion touches on the nature of universals, the importance of diverse evidence in understanding evolution, and the humility required in scientific exploration. A thought-provoking invitation to view science as a living inquiry!

Join Bret Weinstein, an evolutionary biologist and cultural critic, and Heather Heying, also an evolutionary biologist with a knack for pedagogy, as they explore the nature of learning and curiosity. They discuss the importance of mentorship and play in education, tackling the complexities of modern technology and hyper-novelty. With insights on fostering genuine intellectual engagement, they emphasize the need for humility in science and bridging connections between science and the humanities. Their engaging stories about nature reveal why they’re passionate about evolutionary biology.

Mari Otsu joins Stephen Blackwood for a deeply personal conversation about her journey through the wounds of materialism, ideology, and spiritual forgetting, and her return to the soul through the beauty of the humanities. Reflecting on her years at NYU and the Grand Central Atelier, Mari speaks of a longing that nothing in the modern, politicized worldview could satisfy, and how she found healing in therapy, classical painting, and, most profoundly, the living philosophical community of Ralston College. Engaging with the works of Plotinus, Boethius, and Dante, she discovered a path of purification and ascent that restored her sense of meaning and inspired her to share these treasures with others. This conversation explores the roots of today’s meaning crisis and the redemptive power of beauty, thought, and imagination to heal the soul. Subscribe to receive the latest Ralston College updates at www.ralston.ac/sign-up. Authors and Works Mentioned in this Episode: Plotinus’ Enneads Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy Augustine’s Confessions Plato Dante’s Divine Comedy Monique Wittig’s The Straight Mind Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 01:29 - Conversation Begins 02:18 - About Mari 6:00 - Βrief Review of Mari’s time at Ralston 8:00 - Mari’s Descent into Anguish and Fragmentation 15:20 - The Ideological Component: NYU 23:30 - Leaving Blame Behind 27:20 - Fear as a Symptom of a Spiritual Pathology 29:00 - The Role of Therapy and Right Relationship 34:00 - The Power of Art 44:16 - Moving from Beauty to Contemplation 46:51 - Beginning at Ralston 1:00:00 - Plotinus Moving Beyond Beauty 1:08:00 - Wrapping It All Up 01:11:01 - Exit Music and Fade  

Ralston College presents a lecture by Dr Jason Pedicone, distinguished scholar and classicist and the co-founder and President of the Paideia Institute. In this rich and compelling address, Dr Pedicone introduces the subject of philology - the study of language in its historical context - before embarking on a historical tour of philological interventions – times when people have decided to pay particularly close attention to language for societal, historical or technological reasons. Our tour takes us from the ancient Greek and Roman worlds of Plato and Pisistratus through Charlemagne, Valla, Erasmus, Nietzsche and up to the present day and the inexorable rise of AI. For the latest Ralston College updates visit: www.ralston.ac/sign-up.   Authors and Works Mentioned in this Episode: C.S Lewis Plato Suetonius Pisistratus Homer - The Iliad; The Odyssey Aristophanes of Byzantium Aristarchus of Samothrace Callimachus of Cyrene Quintus Ennius Livius Andronicus St. Boniface Jerome Charlemagne Alcuin of York Boniface Lorenzo Valla Desiderius Erasmus - Novum Instrumentum Omne Nietzsche - The Birth of Tragedy Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff - Philology of the Future Friedrich August Wolf - Prolegomena ad Homerum Derrida Plato - The Phaedrus Roland Barthes - The Death of the Author Wilhelm von Humboldt Heidegger - Being and Time Camus Shakespeare Marsilio Ficino Nick Bostrum - Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World Ray Kurzweil  

Ralston College presents a talk by Christopher Snook, Lecturer in the Department of Classics at Dalhousie University, on St. Augustine’s great autobiographical text The Confessions. This talk offers a detailed walk through of Books VII and VIII of Augustine’s text in light of Augustine’s “abiding preoccupation with the nature of the created order.”  Snook explores how Augustine absorbed the  insights of Platonist philosophers like Plotinus and Porphyry but also moved beyond them as he sought a more embodied account of the nature of the human person. Augustine’s own conversion stresses the importance of encountering models for life and reveals the centrality of the incarnate Logos to the Christian understandings of self-realization. This lecture was delivered on January 9th, 2025 at Ralston College’s Savannah campus during the third term of the MA in the Humanities program. Support Ralston College’s mission to revive the conditions of a free and flourishing culture. Authors and Works Mentioned in this Episode: Dante, The Divine Comedy Cicero, Hortensius T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock St. Ambrose Plotinus Porphyry Gaius Marius Victorinus Plato, The Republic Virgil, The Aeneid  Iamblichus Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol St. Anthony the Great John Scotus Eriugena Anselm of Canterbury Martin Luther Rene Decartes  

Douglas Murray, revered cultural critic and author, delivers the highlight of Ralston College’s symposium of “Renewal and Renaissance,” a lecture exploring the theme of cultural reconstruction. Delivered from one of the beautiful, stately galleries of Savannah’s Telfair Academy, the audience is treated to an intimate address that is both deeply moving and inspiring of hope. Murray’s talk begins with the sober reflection that civilizations are mortal and share the fragility of life. He recounts how the loss of confidence experienced after the catastrophes of the World Wars led to the development of modernism, postmodernism and finally deconstructionism. The lecture then takes a more optimistic turn as Murray confidently asserts that after decades of deconstruction, especially in the field of higher education, we are now entering an era of reconstruction. He explains how this process of cultural renewal can come about through both the opportunities afforded by technology and the process of going back into the great literary treasures of the past, finding our place amongst these works and adding to them. Murray shares his love of books, describing himself as “not only a bibliophile but something of a bibliomaniac,” and expresses how literature, and especially poetry, can ground us in the world and make us feel that we are never alone for we will always have “friends on the shelves.” Traversing through Byron, Gnedich, Stoppard, Auden and Heaney, Murray recounts three powerful stories that reveal the lengths certain individuals will go to recover, preserve and transmit our cultural treasures. The talk was followed by a captivating Q&A session which ranged from the current status of poetry to the topics of writing, war and human nature. As part of the stirring introduction to the lecture from Stephen Blackwood, President of Ralston College, soprano Kristi Bryson performed Handel’s Lascia ch’io pianga, accompanied on the piano by Ralston alumna and fellow, Olivia Jensen. A splendid performance showcasing perfectly the ability of culture to transcend the difficulties of life through the power of beauty. A reminder for us all of exactly what it is that we are seeking to preserve and renew. Mr Murray's books, including his most recent, are available here: https://douglasmurray.net. To watch the first conversation of the day—the roundtable from the Ralston College Renewal and Renaissance Symposium, featuring multiple speakers discussing the future of education, culture, and human flourishing—click here.

Join James Orr, a philosopher from Cambridge, alongside David Butterfield, a Latin professor, and Harvard's Renaissance historian James Hankins. They delve into what ignites a cultural Renaissance, examining the significance of literature, music, and architecture. Joseph Conlon advocates for the power of language learning, while Gregg Hurwitz emphasizes literature's broader resonance beyond academia. The conversation weaves in thoughts from various thinkers on how communal experiences and beauty in our surroundings can foster renewal and inspire future generations.

“Why We Tell Stories” is a discussion between Greg Hurwitz & Jonathan Pageau which took place on January 31, 2025. In this exchange, two prominent professionals in creative fields discuss the place of passion, productivity, and integrity in the context of their careers, and offer insights which range from guiding, general principles to concrete, practical advice. Over the course of their discussion with each other and with the students, they field questions about the artistic process; about the public attention they’ve received for their work; about the lessons they’ve learned; and about their impression of Ralston College and its place in a broader context of cultural and educational renewal.  This event was part of Ralston College’s Career and Life conversations, a series of informal Friday-afternoon discussions for students enrolled in the MA in the Humanities. To apply to this program, please visit our website: www.ralston.ac/apply. Authors and Works Mentioned in this Episode: Aristotle Dante Alighieri DC Comics’ Batman series The Book of Genesis Jordan B. Peterson Stephen King William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury (1929) Rashomon (1950; dir. Akira Kurosawa) Marcel Duchamp, “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2” (1912)  Sigmund Freud Carl Rogers Jackson Pollock Pablo Picasso Lucile Ball Groucho Marx Sammy Davis Jr. James Patterson John Grisham  Dr James Orr Dr Douglas Hedley Douglas Murray Ben Shapiro William Shakespeare Dan Brown, The DaVinci Code Hamilton: An American Musical  Harry Potter series  William Goldman