We discuss Johann Kurtz’s book, Leaving a Legacy, specifically:

*the ethics of passing on wealth to your children

*the importance of building family virtue and passing on a strong culture, and

*an aristocratic ‘Benedict Option’

(00:00) Introduction

(05:38) Matt's opening remarks

(08:50) Marty's opening remarks

(15:08) Dani's opening remarks

(22:24) Charity vs philanthropy, local vs global charity

(45:55) Questioning aristocracy; an aristocracy of excellence

(54:42) Family culture and an aristocratic Benedict Option

(1:01:40) Modernity as a 'myth of normal'

(1:06:40) Concluding thoughts

My X account: https://x.com/mattsinglebrush

My Substack: https://humanecologyaus.substack.com/

Johann's X account: https://x.com/JohannKurtz

Johann's Substack: https://becomingnoble.substack.com

The best framework I've found for maximising willpower, setting goals to succeed, and competing desires.

(00:00) Introduction

(01:39) The will and competing desires

(03:55) Desires vs demands

(06:43) Realistic goals

(09:24) Renouncing short-term desires

(10:49) Bringing it together and concluding

I interview Maxim Smith, the 20-year-old author of The Preparation, a manual for turning boys into men, through character, virtue, skills, higher learning, hobbies and recreation. Maxim is half way through as the first to trial the the program, and already he's come a long way. Now his future looks bright - he's skilled, confident and has a good understanding of himself. A possible gap year, precursor or substitute for university, The Preparation is a program all parents of boys should consider.

(00:00) Introducing Maxim Smith

(01:59) A highly skilled 20-year-old

(04:49) What is The Preparation

(09:33) Building the modern Renaissance Man

(12:35) Be, do, have – the three most important words in any language

(13:42) A substitute for university?

(18:38) What does Maxim’s future look like after The Preparation?

(24:30) Fundamental differences between The Preparation and university

(30:46) Costs and benefits of university

(35:31) Role models and the patron-client relationship

(43:12) Plugging the book and how to contact Maxim

Get The Preparation book or find the program's Substack, or follow Maxim's progress as he continues through the program.

Here I provide my own perspective on childcare - the decisions facing modern families, facts we have to confront about childcare, and the difficulty but possibility of effecting change.

This follows from episode 08 with Dr Gigi Foster. (Apple Podcasts link)

(00:00) Introduction

(00:49) Part 1 - economic reality

(03:27) Part 2 - basic facts of childcare

(10:31) Part 3 - Discussing options for change

The fact that our society, on mass scale, places very young children in childcare, has been on my mind, and so I decided to look into it.

Firstly, I spoke with Dr Gigi Foster of UNSW about her analysis of Australian childcare. She breaks down the major issues and proposes interesting solutions. Along the way we talk culture, big government, and community, and her thinking aligns with some emerging themes of the Human Ecology podcast.

Secondly, I crunched some data on childcare, which you can find here on the Substack post that accompanies this episode.

Finally, I'll release a solo follow up episode where I'll explore the issue further.

This is an issue worth thinking about closely, and I invite you all to listen to Dr Foster's analysis as an attempt to rebalance the conversation.

(0:00) Introduction

(2:02) Background to Gigi’s research paper

(3:55) What the research says about child care

(9:01) Childcare to support labour force participation

(12:29) Liberating labour: effects of staying home on work outcomes

(15:46) Quality of research, and other frameworks of assessing childcare

(19:48) The major issues in Australian childcare

(26:41) Big government mindset, institutional decay and lack of community

(29:59) The difficulty in judging childcare quality and Gigi’s proposal

(33:03) Community-based hiring of childcare staff

(35:33) Gossiping parents, the power of community and taking the initiative

(38:41) Rethinking the focus on work

(41:08) Demand or supply side models of childcare funding

(43:03) Issues with higher education and an alternative in a castle in Belgium

(52:32) Opportunities in Australia for parallel or alternative higher education

(58:45) Gigi’s new think tank, Australians for Science and Freedom

(1:03:45) Wrapping up and flagging the follow up episode on childcare

The podcast is back. I talk about the future and my interests with the podcast.

Find me on X: x.com/mattsinglebrush

Substack newsletter: humanecologyaus.substack.com

ESG is trendy and often well meaning but is it a threat to Australian business and the economy? What is the real reason for the rise of ESG? Professor Peter Swan of the University of New South Wales joins me and draws on decades of academic research experience into Australian corporate governance and recently on ESG to paint a clearer picture on what is driving it, who really governs Australian corporations (it’s not who you think), what’s gone wrong with corporate governance in Australia and what we do better on than most other countries. We reconsider the Friedman Doctrine and whether it applies today, and how changes in share ownership - such as the rise of index and superannuation funds - may influence Australian corporations.

Stay tuned for two segments at the end on Peter’s early research on consumer durables and monopoly and on his recently published book on his father - Trevor Swan, one of Australia’s greatest economists.

(00:00) Introduction

(1:43) Peter’s concern with Australian corporate governance

(07:41) An example

(10:39) Running a company in a state of ignorance

(16:55) Corporations are voting with their feet

(18:22) The ultimate cause of the shift in corporate governance

(22:06) The link between corporate governance SBS ESG

(25:29) What is the purpose of a corporation?

(29:46) Two paths for ESG

(33:09) Financial gravity as the real source of corporate governance

(44:30) What Australia does better than other countries with respect to corporations

(48:55) Peter’s work on durable goods and monopolies

(57:09) Peter on his father, Trevor Swan

Professor Alexandre Lefebvre, author of Liberalism as a Way of Life, joins me to discuss liberalism (a companion to episode 004 with Tom Sarrouf). Alex offers his take on Deneen (whether liberalism failed), Fukuyama (whether liberalism is the end of History), how to be a better liberal and practise liberalism, as well as the Aussie phrase that is the best short definition of liberalism out there. He also outlines his interesting new project and invites the listener and reader to consider further ways to practise liberalism. Much to chew on here!

(00:00) Introduction

(00:50) Defining liberalism

(02:49) Comprehensive liberalism vs political liberalism

(05:01) Is liberalism failing?

(10:13) Illiberalism and conceptions of the good

(19:06) A middle ground for the State?

(24:19) The aim of Alex’s book

(26:24) Liberaldom and Christendom

(32:41) Is liberalism fatally flawed, or does it require better practice?

(37:15) Spiritual exercises for liberals

(38:46) Similarities between liberalism and Christianity

(44:41) Spiritual exercises II: the original position and the veil of ignorance

(52:51) How can this be institutionalised?

(55:50) Feasibility of liberalism without deference to authority

(59:06) Common themes in Alex’s body of work

(1:01:19) Wrapping up

My guest is Tom Sarrouf from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in the US, an educational institution devoted to educating future leaders for liberty.

Tom’s a proponent of postliberalism, and with liberalism seemingly failing, there's been fruitful contributions from some Christian postliberals. Whether they can create a coherent program and shift the culture is another question.

As you’ll see in this episode, I’m still working through these issues and wouldn't classify myself as a postliberal, but Tom does a great job of laying things out.

We discuss the educating of a new elite that can set America back on course, whether America is a democracy, the deep state, the true dividing line in the US, liberalism vs postliberalism, being educated vs being informed, new coalitions, and Croatia as a demonstration of some postliberal values.

It was a pleasure talking with Tom. Stay tuned for a counter perspective in the near future.

(00:00) Introduction

(00:13) ISI’s purpose

(06:44) The broader counter-establishment educational ecosystem

(11:59) Educating an alternate elite

(16:45) The feeling on the street

(21:08) An institutional success story? The Federalist Society

(24:06) Being educated vs being informed

(32:59) Is the US a democracy?

(39:06) Is the real divide establishment vs anti-establishment?

(44:46) Liberalism

(49:14) Postliberalism

(53:42) Digging deeper on postliberalism

(59:00) A more optimistic view of people than classical liberalism?

(1:04:38) A few pushbacks

(1:10:25) Prudential judgement vs ideology in economics

(1:20:31) Croatia, liberalism as separation, and urban planning

(1:27:49) Building new, authentic coalitions

(1:32:07) Wrapping up

My good, wise friend Martin Fitzgerald – Head of Philosophy at Redfield College in Sydney – joins me to provide the philosophical side of human ecology.

He provides a definition of freedom that differs from those held today. He speaks on the rise of etiquette coaches, the role of convention in reducing anxiety, a fresh perspective on cancel culture and hatred, episodes of cultural change, the value of the HSC, and more.

He responds to Ross Gittins’ (episode 2) perspective on ethics and religion and to Trisha Jha’s perspective on education (episode 1).

(00:00) Introducing Marty

(00:38) Education, convention and social change

(10:09) Virtue

(14:05) Making virtue second nature

(18:25) Values clarification

(24:05) What is freedom really?

(43:13) The interplay between freedom and morality

(46:16) Speculating on causation

(49:14) Hate and judgement

(51:38) Balance in feminine and masculine virtues

(54:43) Instinct & socialism, civilisation & natural law

(1:01:35) The re-emergence of natural law after WWII

(1:03:05) Establishing normalcy vs rejecting drudgery

(1:04:17) The Bloomsbury Group and cultural change

(1:08:32) Can you separate ethics from religion? Marty responds to Ross Gittins

(1:13:50) Does government interfere too much in education?