The New Thinkery

This week, the guys analyze the film classic Ford Apache. They're joined by Hillsdale College's Professor Adam Carrington, who has written about the film. The group talk about the portrayal of Native Americans, the hubirs of an aristocratic mindset, and more!

This week, the guys return to Strauss to look at a pair of his lesser known, but still important essays touching on historicism, science, and the trajectory of the West. The two provide an excellent primer to The City and Man for those who are interested in reading Strauss.

This week, the guys are joined by Eric Adler, Professor and Chair of Classics at the University of Maryland. Together, the group discuss Plutarch's Life of Romulus and the history of Roman historians more generally as they compare to Greek historians.

After last week's discussion of Hiero, the guys are back this week with fare that is lighter in some ways, and heavy in others: Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. From light analysis of the boxing movie trope to the weighty topic of euthanasia, the guys cover it all. Plus: Greg was actually in a real fight once. You'll never guess where.

This week, the guys reconvene to discuss Xenophon's Hiero. Greg has published translations of Xenophon, and is especially in his element. The core question the guys focus on is the same as that of this minor work: is the life of a tyrant more pleasant than that of a commoner?

This week, the guys re joined by Hillsdale professor and David's colleague, Michael Anton. The group discuss Montesquieu's philosophy and the ways in which it proves correct, and some ways it comes up short. Plus: Professor Anton talks about Jaffa and Machiavelli. 

As we leave the Televisual Age behind and enter into the Digital Age, it might seem like a paper proposing the banning or severe limiting of TV hasn't aged all too well. But Anastaplo's paper proposing just that has aged like a fine wine, and is more applicable now than ever. The guys analyze Anastaplo's paper from top to bottom.

This week, the guys are joined by one of Alex's colleagues: Dr. Paul Diduch. The group discuss whether unfettered technological progress is in fact "progress" and what we, especially in the modern age, ought to think about before we call technology an absolute good for humans and our souls.  They focus on some texts from Plato, Aristotle, and Bacon.

This week The New Thinkery celebrates its 100th episode! To mark the occasion, the guys invite on Producer Jake to chime in for an analysis of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Books 8 and 9, which focus on the nature and types of friendships.

This week, the guys dive into another of Plutarch's lives. Unlike some of the other lives Plutarch describes, Theseus' is surrounded by an unusual amount of mythologizing, leaving us to speculate about why he is different from the others.