The Worthy House (Charles Haywood)
Charles Haywood
I am here to give you back your future. Human flourishing in the coming post-liberal West. The hour is late, and Moloch is within the gates. Foundationalism. Reality-focused writings, often on history and politics.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 23, 2021 • 24min
We (Yevgeny Zamyatin)
Yevgeny Zamyatin's We, from 1921, is the original dystopia that spawned all other twentieth-century dystopias portrayed in literature. Despite being the oldest dystopia, it is in some ways the most relevant one for today, more so than the more famous 1984 and Brave New World. Yet its most crucial lesson is almost always ignored. (The written version of this review can be found here.)
Apr 20, 2021 • 27min
Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth (Peter Turchin)
The prolific Peter Turchin offers another attempt to quantify and mathematize history. It's not bad, and it's fairly interesting, but it's not nearly as successful as his more famous Ages of Discord. (The written version of this review can be found here.)
Apr 16, 2021 • 24min
How Democracy Ends (David Runciman)
From 2018, one of several then-current books about the impending end of democracy; although this one is less through a Trumpian lens, and thus has not dated as badly as others. With bonus references to Skynet as a possible destructor! (The written version of this review was first published August 29, 2018. Written versions are available here.)
Apr 12, 2021 • 22min
The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming (Jean-Martin Fortier)
Thoughts on the practical effects and social impact of small-scale agriculture, along with thoughts on large-scale agriculture and fat people. (The written version of this review can be found here.)
Apr 5, 2021 • 20min
Coup d’État: A Practical Handbook (Edward N. Luttwak)
From 2018, through the lens of a classic work of applied politics, thoughts on coups (which have not happened, nor did I predict them), and on social media's role in enforcing global rule of the Left (which I did predict, and which has most definitely happened). (The written version of this review was first published August 27, 2018. Written versions are available here.)
Mar 30, 2021 • 30min
I See Satan Fall Like Lightning (René Girard)
René Girard's exposition of the mechanisms of societal violence. Deeply insightful, and with potent lessons for the present moment. (The written version of this review can be found here.)
Mar 27, 2021 • 20min
The Garments of Court and Palace: Machiavelli and the World That He Made (Phillip Bobbitt)
Phillip Bobbitt's interpretation of Machiavelli's world view and attempted synthesis of his works, along with the unlikely use of Machiavelli to claim virtue for the the modern neoliberal, consumerist state. (The written version of this review was first published August 23, 2018. Written versions are available here.)
Mar 23, 2021 • 39min
On the January 2021 Electoral Justice Protest
On one of the seminal events of modern history, the January 6, 2021 Electoral Justice Protest—and of the friend/enemy distinction, and of what flows from it. (The written version of this analysis can be found here.)
Mar 17, 2021 • 15min
The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity (Timothy Ware)
On a classic introductory work on Eastern Orthodoxy, with thoughts on Orthodoxy's relation to the West, especially the Crusades, and to the modern Turks. (The written version of this review was first published August 18, 2018. Written versions are available here.)
Mar 13, 2021 • 16min
The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States (Jeffrey Lewis)
From 2018, but both my core predictions here, that history will return (even if it returned in 2020 as clown show), and that the deplatforming of conservatives from social media was just beginning, have been fully borne out. (The written version of this review was first published August 8, 2018. Written versions are available here.)
