The General Eclectic

The General Eclectic

By The American ConservativeSociety & CultureNewsPolitics
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The General Eclectic episodes

  • A Chat from the Ruins
    Kale and Rod catch up on Rod's stay in Budapest. In this wide-ranging conversation, they discuss social media and the default socialization of the young, the new perspective on things from the outside, the Chinese move to fill the void of Western meltdown and the latest chapter in the long march through the institutions. Has any culture had to deal with the twin-headed monster of social media and porn ubiquity? What effect are these having on the plastic minds of the young? Is the body politic in more danger from the genetic disease or the various memetic ones? What is our responsibility and method to fight back? Be sure to check out Rod's latest at his blog: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/
    45 min
  • Locked Down in Budapest and Reading the Signs of the Times

    Rod and Kale discuss his arrival in Budapest, and the alternate worlds of Covid lockdowns. Being away from America, and reading about America, has Rod in a reflective mood about how crazy we seem from afar. What is the end game of The Narrative? Where is the sense of adult-level responsibility for our media elites. Is there a way to call us off the ledge? The aftermath of the George Floyd verdict has us wondering if we are headed for another "forever war" but this time on the domestic front. We continue our conversation focusing on the Body Politic, it's flabbiness and the vulnerability to pathogens, both real and of the mind. We close on a conversation about church rot, Bishop Barron, and the idea that to know is to be responsible in light of Steve Skojec's piece on One Peter Five.

    The Most Honest Politician of the Week Award was given to Nancy Pelosi for her religious fervorino in the aftermath of the verdict.

    Let us know what you think.

    Links:

    Evergreen Documentary: (5) PART ONE: Bret Weinstein, Heather Heying & the Evergreen Equity Council - YouTube

    Pelosi Transcript: https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/nancy-pelosi-speech-after-derek-chauvin-verdict-transcript-april-20

    The Forever Race War: The Forever Race-Narrative War | The American Conservative

    Macron Warns about Critical Race Theory: 'Woke' American Ideas Are a Threat, French Leaders Say - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

    Amidst Conflicting Fatima "Secrets," a Clear Message Shines - OnePeterFive

    49 min
  • The Rise of the CEOs
    Rod and Kale discuss the shift in corporate virtue signaling and the move to make the states pay for their crimes. Are corporations more powerful than the government? They move on to talk about institutional capture and the challenges of raising not only religious kids but also basically conservative kids. They then tack to a conversation about the impending doom of the Derek Chuavin trial. Is it a disaster in the making? What is the responsibility for those with large megaphones and platforms?
    1 hr
  • A Conversation with Ross Douthat on Christian Cul-de-sacs, Decadence, and Competing Cosmologies
    Kale discusses a recent Substack in which Ross articulates the dilemmas facing Christian's in light of our current cultural exhaustions, what Ross works out in more detail with his latest book The Decadent Society. Rod joins Kale to continue the conversation and they talk about post-Obergfell, the Integralist response, and pessimism regarding where we stand. Ross's The Decadent Society: The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success: Douthat, Ross: 9781476785240: Amazon.com: Books Charles Taylor The Secular Age: A Secular Age: Taylor, Charles: 9780674986916: Amazon.com: Books Ross's Substack on Christian Cul-de-sacs: Reactions (substack.com) Rod's post on Discord Discord Servers: Woke Friends Consider Her A Leper | The American Conservative Rod's response to Ross's Substack: Cosmos & Chickadee | The American Conservative Rod's Sex After Christianity (a MUST read): Sex After Christianity | The American Conservative
    1 hr 11 min
  • Woke Facebook Cabal, Selma Envy, and How Societies Remember
    In The General Eclectic #13, Rod and Kale discuss woke parents and school committees, social credit and social media, Lil Nas X and anti-Christian culture, and more. Links: Woke Parents Enemies list: In Aftermath Of Enemies List, School Committee Pledges To 'Silence The Opposition' | The Daily Wire and Teachers Compile List Of Parents Who Question Racial Curriculum, Plot War On Them | The Daily Wire Rod's post on Two College Guys visit: 'Lovely People' & The Social Credit System | The American Conservative Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism: The Origins of Totalitarianism: Arendt, Hannah: 9780156701532: Amazon.com: Books Lil Nas's Satan Sneakers: Lil Nas X's Satan Shoes | The American Conservative Lil Nas's NPR interview: Lil Nas X On His Children's Book, 'C Is For Country,' And Playing To Kids : NPR Plenty Coups: Who Is The Plenty Coups Of The Christians? | The American Conservative The Church as Culture: The Church as Culture by Robert Louis Wilken | Articles | First Things Final Pagan Generation: The Final Pagan Generation by Edward J. Watts - Paperback - University of California Press (ucpress.edu)
    1 hr 2 min
  • Be Weird, It's Important
    In The General Eclectic #11 Rod and Kale recap more of the Woke March, but pivot to a larger discussion about more field notes from the emergent Soft Totalitiarianism. Rod's book Live Not By Lies continues to sell well, though with a virtual legacy media blackout. They move on to discuss the necessity to be unafraid of being a Weird Christian and the siren call for Bougie Conformity. Towards the end, these two Gen X'ers break form and offer an earnest thanks and plea to the audience for prayers. Links: A military lawyer loses his job for an emoji tagged post about January 6: Is The US Military Being Purged Of Rightists? | The American Conservative Dr. Ibram X. Kendi tells us what real Christians are: Antiracist, Anti-Christian | The American Conservative A Live Not By Lies reading group in Massachusetts: MFI | Massachusetts Family Institute – Massachusetts Family Institute | Faith. Family. Freedom. (mafamily.org) Pastor Paul Vanderklay's podcast with Kale: (48) Christian Education: Between the Table and the T-shirt with Brett Salkeld and Kale Zelden - YouTube Live Not By Lies: Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents (eighthdaybooks.com)
    1 hr 10 min
  • The Return of Jordan Peterson, Community, and Institutional Decadence
    In episode #11, we discuss the return of Jordan Peterson, both in the form of his new book Beyond Order (Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life: Peterson, Jordan B.: 9780593084649: Amazon.com: Books) but to the world of Podcasting. In particular, his episode with Jonathan Pageau: (43) The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast - Season 4 Episode 8: Jonathan Pageau - YouTube It is a must watch video, and we see Peterson coming to that frightening point where the narrative and objective world meet. We go on to discuss Rod's trip to Birmingham, and then Tucker Carlson's row with the woke military. Other links: "Gotcha Video": (43) Jordan Peterson debate on the gender pay gap, campus protests and postmodernism - YouTube Biblical Lectures: (43) Biblical Series I: Introduction to the Idea of God - YouTube Tactical Faith: Celebrating 10 Years! - Tactical Faith Rod's Substack: Daily Dreher (substack.com)
    1 hr 7 min
  • Normalizing Nihilism & the Capture of Cultural Production
    In #10 Rod and Kale discuss the normalization of cultural nihilism and the capture of the modes of production. We discuss: -The California Enshrinement of Throuples: The Whale And The Net | The American Conservative -The capture of the Civil Rights movement and Justice Kennedy's infamous establishment on personal definition of destiny -Christopher Caldwell's The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties: Caldwell, Christopher: 9781501106897: Amazon.com: Books -E.J. Dionne's claim that Biden has rolled back the culture war: Opinion | Biden is rolling back the culture war. The country should thank him. - The Washington Post -Pillar discussion about +Wuerl, +Gregory, and +Tobin and the ongoing rot of church corruption: The Pillar (pillarcatholic.com) (a no-brainer sub) -Bari Weiss's Woke Cult comes to your favorite Prep Schools: The Miseducation of America's Elites | City Journal (city-journal.org)
    1 hr
  • The Long March

    In this episode we talk about the continued "long march through the institutions" of all things woke and the looming specter of Gramsci. They discuss Wokeness as a neo-religion, and the frustrations of its relentless advance. They go on to discuss the regular and consistent mis-reading of Rod's The Benedict Option, and the announcement of a new "intentional community," and Kale's misgivings.

    45 min
  • Intro

    Welcome to The General Eclectic, a new podcast from The American Conservative featuring Rod Dreher, hosted by Kale Zelden

    4 min

About The General Eclectic

From the publisher's feed

A new podcast from The American Conservative, presented by Kale Zelden and bestselling author Rod Dreher, exploring faith, culture, and public affairs.