Seeking the Hidden Thing Podcast

I am joined again by Athenian Stranger to discuss another idea foundational for much of western thinking, that of "history," which is foundational for the notion of "progress."[Housekeeping note: I have gone back to an audio podcast post because for whatever reason, either on my end with my computer’s ability to process video properly or the upload process on Substack’s end, but there has been an ongoing issue with the video podcast format where the sound cuts in and out. There does not seem to be that same issue with an audio only posting. I will be going back and checking in on past editions with the video podcast format and re-uploading those with issues in audio only format.]Sponsorship PartnersFoxNSons CoffeeSteve Fox is one of “our guys” and he sells coffee. Good coffee. If you live in the US — sorry Canadians…too much government red tape involved in shipping coffee over the border…my supply comes hand delivered — he can ship you your coffee right to your doorstep. Go to the FoxNSons website now and use the promo code “kruptos” for a 15% discount.Axios Fitness CoachingJD is also one of “our guys” and he wants to help you get fit and stay fit for what is coming. Head over to Axios and get started today! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

I have Duncan on to discuss his recent piece on artificial intelligence and the holy. We delve into how the technological society society cuts us off from God. [Housekeeping: some of you have noticed audio problems later in the videos. I suspect that this has something to do with the process of compiling the longer videos from MP3 into MP4 as my laptop was purchased for spreadsheets, word processing and opening web pages, not video processing and so struggles to do these tasks. I have uploaded a separate MP3 file for podcast listening/RSS feeds. If the issues persist, let me know and I will go back to just audio.]If you have not already subscribed to Duncan’s Substack, you should rectify that oversight.Here is the piece we discuss. You should give it a read.Sponsorship PartnersFoxNSons CoffeeSteve Fox is one of “our guys” and he sells coffee. Good coffee. If you live in the US — sorry Canadians…too much government red tape involved in shipping coffee over the border…my supply comes hand delivered — he can ship you your coffee right to your doorstep. Go to the FoxNSons website now and use the promo code “kruptos” for a 15% discount.Axios Fitness CoachingJD is also one of “our guys” and he wants to help you get fit and stay fit for what is coming. Head over to Axios and get started today! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.comSponsorship PartnersFoxNSons CoffeeSteve Fox is one of “our guys” and he sells coffee. Good coffee. If you live in the US — sorry Canadians…too much government red tape involved in shipping coffee over the border…my supply comes hand delivered — he can ship you your coffee right to your doorstep. Go to the FoxNSons website now and use the promo code “kr…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.comGio recently wrote a thought provoking piece about the breakup of mass culture and what happens to us when we share no common anything with anyone? What happens and where do we go?The piece in question: https://gioscontentcorner.substack.com/p/lifeless-dead“Nature and Organization” by My Black Diary. The lyrics quoted at the beginning of Gio’s article come from this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onb8z0D2jAE

I have J on to just talk about the discourse.Note: The sound and connection might have been a little wonky. The waveform in the editing software looked different than usual but when I listened in Audacity it sounded fine. Sponsorship PartnersFoxNSons CoffeeSteve Fox is one of “our guys” and he sells coffee. Good coffee. If you live in the US — sorry Canadians…too much government red tape involved in shipping coffee over the border…my supply comes hand delivered — he can ship you your coffee right to your doorstep. Go to the FoxNSons website now and use the promo code “kruptos” for a 15% discount.Axios Fitness CoachingJD is also one of “our guys” and he wants to help you get fit and stay fit for what is coming. Head over to Axios and get started today!Seeking the Hidden Thing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

Athenian and I discuss the origin of, and problem with the idea of "objectivity" and how it is a concept that works for the regime system, not against it. We also discuss the alternatives.Sponsorship PartnersFoxNSons CoffeeSteve Fox is one of “our guys” and he sells coffee. Good coffee. If you live in the US — sorry Canadians…too much government red tape involved in shipping coffee over the border…my supply comes hand delivered — he can ship you your coffee right to your doorstep. Go to the FoxNSons website now and use the promo code “kruptos” for a 15% discount.Axios Fitness CoachingJD is also one of “our guys” and he wants to help you get fit and stay fit for what is coming. Head over to Axios and get started today!Seeking the Hidden Thing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

I recently posted a Note saying that you can make home made Mac and Cheese in the same time as it takes to make Kraft Dinner. People asked for the recipe. There is none. I made a video instead.Sponsorship PartnersFoxNSons CoffeeSteve Fox is one of “our guys” and he sells coffee. Good coffee. If you live in the US — sorry Canadians…too much government red tape involved in shipping coffee over the border…my supply comes hand delivered — he can ship you your coffee right to your doorstep. Go to the FoxNSons website now and use the promo code “kruptos” for a 15% discount.Axios Fitness CoachingJD is also one of “our guys” and he wants to help you get fit and stay fit for what is coming. Head over to Axios and get started today!Seeking the Hidden Thing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

[Note: if you are listening in “video” format, you will discover that at around the 1h20 mark the sound will start cutting in and out. If you listen in “audio only” format — click the headphone icon to the left of the video to switch — you will not encounter these problems.]The “Man Question” is a big subject with no obvious starting point, so Johann and I waded in and came at this subject from various angles and vectors with Walter Ong’s book, “Fighting for Life: Contest, Sexuality and Consciousness” as the anchor while folding in insights from his other major work, “Orality and Literacy.” We hope you will enjoy this somewhat meandering conversation.Sponsorship PartnersSteve Fox is one of “our guys” and he sells coffee. Good coffee. If you live in the US — sorry Canadians…too much government red tape involved in shipping coffee over the border…my supply comes hand delivered — he can ship you your coffee right to your doorstep. Go to the Fox N’ Sons website now and use the promo code “kruptos” for a 15% discount.Axios Fitness CoachingJD is also one of “our guys” and he wants to help you get fit and stay fit for what is coming. Head over to Axios and get started today! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

[Note: this is a re-upload in audio only podcast format to correct the issue with Substack where video format podcasts start cutting out around the 1h20 mark]Me doing conspiracy theory talk? Not really. Ron and I take a look at what "Talmudic thinking" is, its origins, its historical development, and its theological and political implications for today.Conspiracy theory thinking is a staple of the online right. It is seductive. It gives a clear enemy who is manipulating things behind the scenes to enact their sinister plans and designs. The problem with this type of thought is that it removes from us the obligation to examine ourselves and really understand what is actually happening. Often, reality is more subtle, nuanced and comes with goods and ills together, making it hard to easily grapple with. Reality is messy and complicated.In this episode,Ronald Dodsonand I look at what we call “Talmudic” thinking and its influence on not just the modern administrative state, but also the patterns of thought that gave birth to American constitutionalism. It was instrumental in the rise of Scholasticism, both Catholic and Protestant and ultimately in systematic theology. We trace this idea back to its Old Testament origins in misunderstanding the nature and purpose of the law and its relationship to the wisdom tradition in the Old Testament up through the New Testament as it is fulfilled in Christ.With this foundation we follow the movement and influence of “Talmudism” through the middle ages, up through the Reformation and into modernity looking at its implications for the Christian faith as it is practiced in the modern era, especially in the New World, as well as the way it shaped modernity more broadly, especially in the form of the administrative state. “Talmudism” is a way of thinking that gradually was adopted in the west and genuinely contributed to technological mindset that produces such things as “the rule of law,” the administrative state, and even AI.We really think you will both enjoy this one and be deeply challenged by it. I have had a lot of really good conversations here at Seeking the Hidden Thing, but this is one of the best in my mind.Sponsorship Partners[Note: After some hiccups with adding the sponsorship partners after a post goes out to paid subscribers — I had one that refused to be mailed to free subscribers later — I am just going to make things easy on myself and put the sponsorship adds here right from the outset. You are welcome as paid subscribers to take advantage of the deals offered by both Fox ‘N Sons and Axios Fitness]FoxNSons CoffeeSteve Fox is one of “our guys” and he sells coffee. Good coffee. If you live in the US — sorry Canadians…too much government red tape involved in shipping coffee over the border…my supply comes hand delivered — he can ship you your coffee right to your doorstep. Go to the FoxNSons website now and use the promo code “kruptos” for a 15% discount.Axios Fitness CoachingJD is also one of “our guys” and he wants to help you get fit and stay fit for what is coming. Head over to Axios and get started today!Seeking the Hidden Thing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe

Sponsorship PartnersSteve Fox is one of “our guys” and he sells coffee. Good coffee. If you live in the US — sorry Canadians…too much government red tape involved in shipping coffee over the border…my supply comes hand delivered — he can ship you your coffee right to your doorstep. Go to the Fox N’ Sons website now and use the promo code “kruptos” for a 15% discount.Axios Fitness CoachingJD is also one of "our guys" and he wants to help you get fit and stay fit for what is coming. Head over to Axios and get started today! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.seekingthehiddenthing.com/subscribe