x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Young Heretics

The classical education you never knew you were missing. Join scholar and writer Spencer Klavan on a tour through the great works of the West. In a world gone mad, we"re not alone: the great men and women who went before us have wisdom to guide us. With their help, we can recover truth, beauty, and the stuff that matters.

education

All Episodes

01:03:41

THE PROPHECY HAS BEEN FULFILLED

Young Heretics ·

2025/09/15

...And also, pizza. Kind of. This might be one of the coolest parts of Virgil ever, and even though I’ve been reading the Aeneid since high school, I feel like I only just figured it out. One of the most famous lines of the poem—forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit, “one day it will be pleasing to remember even these things—finds its answer in Book 7, when Aeneas arrives on shore and has to face the possibility of war with the, erm...indigenous Latinx peoples. So much to discuss, here, and a great

en

01:02:38

Make Love, Not War

Young Heretics ·

2025/08/29

And now for something completely different. The Odyssey portion of our tour is over, and the Iliad portion will now begin. But wait! Wasn't the Iliad a poem about war? And isn't Aeneas supposed to do battle for Latium? So why is it all sunshine, butterflies, and love goddesses? Today we launch into Part II of the poem with a passage that has bamboozled scholars for centuries, and of course I will deliver the definitive interpretation so that everyone can stop arguing. Plus: a plot summary of what's

en

01:08:42

Augustus to Virgil: Are you Mad at Me? 🥺

Young Heretics ·

2025/08/15

It's time we finally talked about the elephant in the room: does Virgil actually like Augustus? Or is he just pretending? This doesn't seem to have been much of a question in the ancient world--the commentator Servius wrote quite bluntly that "Virgil's intention was to imitate Homer and praise Augustus." But in the wake of the two world wars, scholars in the Anglosphere started to wonder whether there might not be a hint of menace behind Virgil's apparently rosy picture of imperial Rome. This week

en

01:06:49

Is There Life Out There?

Young Heretics ·

2025/08/01

Everyone, everywhere, thinks about the afterlife. If you think you don't, you're wrong: you do. Because what you believe about life after death is an expression of how you think the universe is ordered, and whether you believe there's such a thing as ultimate justice. That in turn affects how you live--and almost no one has had a bigger impact on how we think about this in the West than Virgil. This week, we're going in--down through the Egyptian Book of the Dead, past the churning waters of the

en

01:07:58

Do You Even Prophesy, Bro?

Young Heretics ·

2025/07/18

One of the West's great recurring characters, the Sibyl of Cumae, takes center stage today. Deranged, holy, prophetic, and apparently totally jacked, she guided Rome throughout its history and now teaches Aeneas what he must do to become the man who can found Rome. She may have been one of the pagan visionaires who prophesied the coming of Christ. Plus she's part of a crazy history that goes back to the invention of the alphabet and all the way to the creation of Star Wars. Then: another figure of

en

01:13:08

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???

Young Heretics ·

2025/06/27

If, like me, you're still sore about what they did to the Gladiator franchise, let this episode be part of your healing journey. It's certainly part of Aeneas': with the fleet grounded back in Sicily, the crew realizes it's been one year since the death of his father Anchises. This is the occasion for a good old fashioned fight night, with funeral games in honor of the great patriarch. It's a connection between Rome's gladiatorial entertainments and the heroic passtimes of yore, a way for Aeneas to

en

01:08:10

I Will Go Down with This Ship

Young Heretics ·

2025/06/10

There are some indelible scenes inscribed forever into the psyche of the West, and the death of Dido is one of them. When William Congreve wrote that "Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd," he surely had in mind this archetype of all scorned women, the tragic heroine who stands in for every abandoned lover and for an entire civilization. Aeneas--and Rome--must leave her ruthlessly in the dust. But no one knows how to guilt trip you like your ex, and

en

37:40

Once in Royal David's City, ft. Doron Spielman

Young Heretics ·

2025/05/29

Major Doron Spielman has dedicated much of his life to excavating the City of David, the ancient archaeological site just outside modern Jerusalem which confirms much of the Jewish history recorded in the Bible. It's an astonishing tale of theological warfare, cutting-edge scholarship, and contemporary politics that shows just how dramatically ancient and modern history sometimes converge. Major Spielman's NYT-bestselling book, When the Stones Speak, is rich with fascinating details about the

en

01:12:47

Dido and Aeneas need Couples Therapy

Young Heretics ·

2025/05/23

I'm not saying that the catastrophe in Carthage could have been avoided. I'm just saying, everyone--the two main characters especially--behaved very badly. Now the deed is done, the nymphs are ululating, the "wedding"(?) announcements are out, and the gods are on the move to put a stop to all this. Which means Aeneas has some hard conversations he has to have and he...punts. Not his proudest moment. But instructive for us and as always, beautiful, timeless poetry. Enjoy! Check out our Sponsor, The

en

01:05:49

Mean Girls

Young Heretics ·

2025/05/09

This is it: Book 4 of the Aeneid. The storm of love that's been brewing now breaks into full force. Two human sisters start flirting with disaster while two divine frenemies enter into a catty pseudo-alliance. It's a nuclear-grade meltdown of relations between the sexes, all taking place under the soaring vault of destiny. Dido transforms before our eyes into a deranged Greek tragic heroine on the model of Phaedra or Medea, while Juno and Venus find their power dynamic flipped on its head from what

en

01:10:31

An Odyssey without an Ithaca

Young Heretics ·

2025/04/25

Virgil, master of the setup, is now laying the groundwork for some of the Aeneid's major setpieces: the love affair with Dido, the voyage into the underworld. But first Aeneas has to pass a different milestone, one that people sometimes miss: he has to say goodbye to his father. It's one of the most human moments of the poem--something every single one of us has to go through--elevated to magisterial significance in the hero's journey. Follow along with us to the end of Book III as Aeneas enters a

en

44:56

Galileo: The Elon Musk of the Renaissance? Ft. Dr....

Young Heretics ·

2025/04/18

My friend Dr. Brian Keating, leading cosmologist and all-around mensch, joins me to discuss one of the most brilliant, complicated, and misunderstood men in all of Western history. No, not Elon Musk. Galileo Galilei! We cover Galileo's daring philosophy of science, his contributions to human knowledge, his devout Catholic faith, and his many, many mistresses and children. Plus: what can believers learn from scientists, and vice versa? It's a terrific conversation and the kind you could really only

en

01:01:05

Who Says You Can't Go Home? Virgil Does.

Young Heretics ·

2025/04/11

It's time to embark on Book III of the Aeneid, and with it a mini-Odyssey. But there's a catch: Odysseus had home waiting for him at the end of all his wanderings. Aeneas has left home behind him, and he can never return. This episode is about why that's so important--for Virgil, for Augustus, for Rome at the dawn of its imperial age, and for America on the verge of its 250th birthday. Plus: my daily routine does not involve rubbing banana peel on my face. But it does involve the liturgy of the

en

37:48

The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God, ft. Justin...

Young Heretics ·

2025/04/04

I'm back from Hungary, where the topic of the day was the future of faith in the West, without which it seems unlikely we'll survive. But are we on the brink of a revival? There are some hopeful signs, and no one better to discuss them with than my guest today. Justin Brierley has been podcasting and writing about the return of religious faith for 20 years. The trends he's been watching all that time are suddenly coming to a remarkable prominence. We talked faith and politics in the U.S. and the

en

51:06

Israel and Civilization, ft. Josh Hammer

Young Heretics ·

2025/03/25

This is a podcast about the West, which means Athens and Jerusalem. Without the second part of that equation you don't get the key notion of the "Imago Dei," or mankind's creation in the image of God--and without that, arguably, that you don't get America. Then of course there's the enormous storehouse of political wisdom that makes Israel a bulwark against globalism both ancient and modern. All this makes it hugely distressing that antisemitism--philosophical, virulent, and open hatred of the

en

01:04:19

The One That Got Away: Creusa, Aeneas' AI Girlfriend

Young Heretics ·

2025/03/19

Speaking just for myself, I'm still not over Creusa. Aeneas' first wife, the woman who bore the future forefather of Rome's emperors, must stay behind to die in Troy while her family forges on ahead. Today we'll talk about why that has to be, what it says about the tragic cost of destiny for each of us, and how book II of Virgil's epic concludes. Plus: the cast list for Christopher Nolan's Odyssey is out! My reaction to Zendaya as Athena, and a mailbag question about the legacy of Carthage. Use

en

43:49

Tech and the Future of the Family, ft. Jon Askonas

Young Heretics ·

2025/03/13

We will not live in the pod. We will not eat the fake meat. We will not perform robot necromancy. But then...what should we do? With the Right in political power and a radically new mood sweeping the country, Jon Askonas of the Catholic University of America is among those thinking about how we can use technology well and in service of our humanity--not the other way around. I called him up to discuss a new First Things statement on preserving the family in the digital age. We talk AI, lab-grown

en

01:16:25

After the End

Young Heretics ·

2025/03/05

When we first met Aeneas, he wished he could have died at Troy. Today, we find out why. By all accounts, the honorable thing to do would have been to go down with the burning citadel of his fathers. But this ain't your daddy's Iliad, and one thing we're learning is that honor and glory don't fetch quite the price they used to. If there's anyone who understands that it's Neoptolemus, AKA Pyrrhus, AKA Achilles' hellspawn, AKA the living wages of Greek decadence. It's not a pretty sight. Plus: what

en

01:04:33

Snakes on the Plain

Young Heretics ·

2025/02/26

Hey look, it's some Greeks! Bearing gifts! What could possibly go wrong? Today the Trojans will find out the answer to that very question, which will take us (at last!) into the story of that freaking horse. In Virgil's masterful hands it becomes a parable of Greek rhetorical trickery, Odyssean danger, and above all Roman anxiety over just how we should feel about the Greeks. On the one hand, without them, there would be no Aeneid. On the other hand, they're...kinda sus. Plus: why you should read

en

01:17:14

That's the Power of Love

Young Heretics ·

2025/02/20

Don't take money...don't take fame...just takes a primordial deity whose powers of creation and destruction supervised the origins of the world, who is now divebombing straight at Dido's heart. What could go wrong? This extremely twisted Valentine's Day special will bring us to the end of The Aeneid, Book 1, which ends in blood-pumping fashion with a moment of extreme sexual tension. In the midst of which, Aeneas will be asked to relive the time his home got obliterated by a ruthless army of

en

315 results

Similar Podcasts

Science Talk

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Les dents et dodo

BFMTV

一起读书吧！

一起读书吧！

五分钟心理学

柠檬心理

Rock it - dein Raketenstart in den Tag

Hannes kann es