Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine (Barry Strauss)
Episode 127
Barry Strauss's latest book doesn't offer anything particularly new, but it does offer food for thought. And I predict our November future! (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook…
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work (Matthew B. Crawford)
Episode 126
As the Wuhan Plague has exposed many jobs as substantively valueless, Matthew Crawford's classic work on work, manual labor, and craft has assumed more relevance. (The written version of this review…
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago
The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic (Mike Duncan)
Episode 125
As it is said, history does not repeat, but it does echo. This book narrates those echoes, which grow louder every day in 2020 America, in the history of the late Roman Republic. (The written version…
Published on 5 years, 5 months ago
American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll (Bradley J. Birzer)
Episode 124
Of the most aristocratic of the Founding Fathers, a man whose views have been proven right over time. (The written version of this review was first published April 11, 2018. Written versions, in web …
Published on 5 years, 5 months ago
The Saxon Savior: The Germanic Transformation of the Gospel in the Ninth-Century Heliand (G. Ronald Murphy)
Episode 123
Back when Christians heeded the command to proselytize, tools for conversion were many and varied. The gospel harmony analyzed in this book was one such, and it offers insights into both their cultur…
Published on 5 years, 5 months ago
To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism (Ross Douthat)
Episode 122
In which I excoriate Pope Francis as stupid and Pope Benedict as weak, and call for a wholesale purge within the Roman Catholic Church. (The written version of this review was first published March 3…
Published on 5 years, 5 months ago
The Moral Basis of a Backward Society (Edward C. Banfield)
Episode 121
The grossly defective character of a 1950s Italian village is of more relevance to twenty-first-century America than we might like to believe. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and eb…
Published on 5 years, 6 months ago
The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter (David Sax)
Episode 120
Of things analog, from vinyl to film to books, and their importance. Good, but somewhat obtuse about the corrosive class implications of a return to analog. (The written version of this review was f…
Published on 5 years, 6 months ago
Infantry Platoon And Squad ATP 3-21.8 (United States Army)
Episode 119
As violence looms, it is worthwhile to understand what violence means. (The written version of this review was first published March 27, 2018. Written versions, in web and PDF formats, are available …
Published on 5 years, 6 months ago
When Money Dies: The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany (Adam Fergusson)
Episode 118
Of the German hyperinflation of 1923, something much better understood now than it was then—but still an event with important lessons for our society today. (The written version of this review, in we…
Published on 5 years, 6 months ago