It's the age of the anti-hero, and Machiavelli can help explain why. Talking through the life of Agathocles, tyrant of Syracuse, and discussing the portrayal of him in The Prince, Spencer probes deeper into the uneasy line between recklessness and courage, shamelessness and virtue. Can we find our way out of the war between the sexes to a real vision of what it means to tame the lion of the soul? Plus: a close reading of Taylor Swift. Sort of. Sign up for my newsletter to ask mailbag questions: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/ Check up my book, How to Save the West: https://a.co/d/fUJfnkJ

Rooting for the Anti-Hero

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.

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Are we on the brink of a return to Medieval wonder? A collapse into total warfare? Both? Bear with me while I present my Unified Field Theory of Human History in thirty minutes or less, by way of introduction to the mind-blowing essay "Christendom or Europe," by Novalis. He's the most important figure you've never heard of in Western literature, and now is the perfect time to get to know him, because he's going to be with us in the years ahead. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ I maked this: pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com Christendom or Europe? in a new edition, edited by Michael Martin: https://angelicopress.com/products/christendom-or-europe  

A Brief History of Absolutely Everything

This week we're going still further back in time, and further north, to read some Middle English from the tale of Gawain and the Green Knight. It's a galloping adventure that's been translated by some of the greats--including J.R.R. Tolkien--and reading the original is a good chance to practice dipping your toe into the more obscure forms of English that make the past feel like another country. Plus: how we appropriated Viking culture. Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com Tips on pronouncing Middle English:  https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/cb45/middle-english-basic-pronunciation-and-grammar  https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/mediawiki/media/images_pedia_folgerpedia_mw/1/1f/How_to_pronounce_Middle_English.pdf Recordings of expert readings: https://www.arthuriana.com/sggk-rendall

Words Words Words 13: Viking Visibility Week

So you want to defend the Western canon, huh? Why, exactly? In this episode I take a step back and ask why, outside of politics, we should care about books. Especially in the age of podcasts and digital media, with the publishing industry bleeding profits, it's easy to think of books as obsolete. But that might be exactly why we need them most--to hold ourselves together in a world of digital dissolution. Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com We maked this: Lists of recommended works at The New Jerusalem.  https://open.substack.com/pub/thenewjerusalem/p/list-16-brightness-visible?utm_campaign=post&utm;_medium=web

Why Read? iPads, Culture Wars, and the Point of the Canon

Have you ever thought about how weird it is that our oldest English literature is somehow...in another language? If you want to become a better communicator, understand your own history better, and just generally have an awesome time reading cool stories about knights and stuff, you could do no better than to read the great chivalric tales of the English past. But how to start? Today I'm embarking on a new Friday series that will answer that very question, for busy people who want to read Aurthurian romances and have time to play Prince of Persia. Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Words, Words, Words 12: English is a Foreign Language

If you've never read a great work of literature before...where do you start? This week, in response to a listener request, I'm taking a poem I had never read before and walking through my process of getting to know it with you step by step. Hopefully, this will help give you some tips and pointers for getting acquainted with new authors and new ideas. If nothing else, by the time we're done you'll know which English queen helped make Shakespeare's career possible, what sorts of romantic entanglements can end you up in the Tower of London, and how to telegraph your sad boy vibes without getting your head chopped off. A review of Graven With Diamonds, by Nicola Shulman:  https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/graven-with-diamonds-by-nicola-shulman-2286444.html A podcast with Susan Bridgen, author of Thomas Wyatt: The Heart's Forest:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-just-the-tudors/id1564113869?i=1000554333559 Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/ Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com I maked this: "The Tale of the Brothers True," at Rejoice Evermore:  https://open.substack.com/pub/rejoiceevermore/p/the-frat-bros-of-the-round-table?r=wm1tt&utm;_campaign=post&utm;_medium=web  

Rooting for the Anti-Hero

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