The New Thinkery

This week, the guys return to Ancient Greece as they gather to discuss Socrates' personal life as a family man. They analyze whether philosophers can even have families, whether Socrates' family was serious or ironic, whether his intellectual or biological progeny are his real family, and more. Plus: a special announcement from Greg!

This week, the guys are joined by David's colleague and friend, Spencer Klavan. Together, the group discuss the overarchiing themes, influence, and historical context of Euripides' The Bacchae. Plus: an analysis of uniquely feminine power. 

This week, the guys take a look at the introductory section of Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind. In their analysis, the guys cover the significance of Bloom's writings in the context of American political thought as well as the merits of his argument in his introduction.

This week, the guys are joined for a second time by Dr. Justin Gottschalk to talk about the prologue to Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The group analyze the history, themes, value, and modern interpretations of what is arguably Nietzsche's hardest to grasp text.

Returning to the Ancients this week, the guys are here to discuss Xenophon's Hunting with Dogs. Using an edition put together by Michael Ehrmantraut and The New Thinkery's own Greg McBrayer, the guys dive into the text, analyzing the underlying themes of the work, as well as some hidden intentions put in by Xenophon that have confused scholars for quite some time. 

This week, the guys return to Leo Strauss' crucially important book, Natural Right and History. A discussion of the history of the work moves naturally to an analysis of the themes of chapter one, how thoroughly it expands on the concept of historicism before ripping into it, as well as some contextualization of the chapter when compared to other thinkers of Strauss' time. Plus: a brief note for your feedback.

This week, the guys take another trip down to the silver screen to analyze Jean Renoir's 1937 movie, The Grand Illusion. Hidden underneath the POW escape plot of the movie are deep and serious themes about the role of what was at the time Europe's dying aristocracy, among others. The guys break it all down.

With the gang back together this week, the guys jump into a short essay on a punchy topic, the problem of freedom, using Jacob Klein's essay by the same name as a starting point. They discuss the framing of freedom, its types, and to what extent freedom itself is a good or bad thing. Plus: an announcement toward the end of the show!

This week, David is away, which means Alex and Greg are getting right to the point. They discuss chapter seven of The Prince, which focuses primarily on Cesare Borgia and his political career. Machiavelli seems to put ample praise on Borgia while also noting the stumbling block he would succumb to. Plus: a quick analysis of where the famous line, "the ends justifies the means" comes from.

This week, the guys are joined by Dr. Spencer Klavan, David's coworker and author of multiple books on philosophy and saving the West. The group take a quick look at stoicism and ancient life before diving into an insightful and funny analysis of The Life of Zeno.