James Taylor Foreman returns to the Yours Truly Podcast to talk about faith, homecoming, and the New Renaissance he calls Techno-Rural. After years in Los Angeles, he and his wife left Hollywood for Louisiana—choosing marriage, meaning, and decay over abstraction, ambition, and illusion.

We talk about his viral essays “Choosing Penelope” and “The New Renaissance Will Be Techno-Rural”, the symbolic act of rebuilding his father’s house, why the local reverses entropy, and how marriage and place can become the new frontier for spiritual renewal.

It’s a conversation about re-enchantment, modern exile, and the beauty that still lives in small towns.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 - Intro – Why James Left LA

02:17 - Moving From Los Angeles to Louisiana

06:28 - The Myth of Penelope and Choosing Decay

13:45 - Marriage as Metaphor and the Meaning of Home

21:34 - The Techno-Rural Vision

33:02 - Entropy, Beauty, and the Local

47:50 - Cleaning Your Father’s House

56:15 - The South, History, and Re-enchantment

1:08:03 - Church Buildings, Decay, and Renewal

1:19:45 - The Machine and Our Relationship With Technology

1:33:10 - Embodiment, Faith, and Wisdom

1:42:26 - The Future of “The Metaphor”

1:47:55 - Closing Reflections & Outro

Mentioned & Referenced

Jonathan Pageau (@JonathanPageau )

Paul VanderKlay (@PaulVanderKlay )

Jordan Hall (@JordanGreenhall )

Paul Kingsnorth, “The Machine” @PKingsnorth

Jordan Peterson @JordanBPeterson

The Metaphor (Substack by James Taylor Foreman)

📖 Follow James Taylor Foreman

Substack: https://themetaphor.substack.com

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Podcast links

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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-yours-truly-podcast/id1751129283

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