The Lightning Podcast

This week, Zohar is joined by literary critic and Stanford Professor, Marjorie Perloff, to discuss the meaning of the avant-garde, the poetic influence of Wittgenstein, why postmodernism has exhausted itself, whether we should care about popularity, the corrosive effects of mass culture, the novelty of T.S. Eliot and Frank O'Hara, the importance of tradition, and why confessional art is often boring.

This week, Zohar is joined by Anna Gát, Founder and CEO of Interintellect to talk about the importance of third spaces, how setting high expectations lead to better dialogue, the future of religion, post-political discourse, online community, European vs. American approaches to the Western canon, and the tension between being an author devoted to self expression and a community builder committed to hospitality.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist Joe Lonsdale to discuss optimism, decadence, globalization and tribalism, virtue ethics and utilitarianism, Romans and Jews, The University of Austin and liberal arts, Rabbi Soloveitchik, Hannah Arendt, Michael Polanyi, Nietzsche, and the conflicting values at the heart of Western Civilization.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week Zohar is joined by Russ Roberts, Economist, Host of the EconTalk Podcast, and President of Shalem College, to talk about Decision Making, Regret, Parenting, Skepticism, Mindfulness, Religious Life, Jewish thought, and the pros and cons of having a theory of everything.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by Rabbi David Wolpe, a beloved Jewish thinker and community leader, to talk about the blessings and challenges of public life, King David, sincerity and authenticity, religion and politics, study and song, celebrity and sanctity, the past and future of authority, whether intellectual honesty is overrated, and the majesty of the human face.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by Mark Lilla, Professor of Humanities at Columbia, and wide-ranging public intellectual, to talk about Great Books and the purpose of humanities education, falling in love with ideas, conversion and deconversion, ignorance and bliss, the theology of accommodation, and the instructive, all too human example of thinkers who err.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week Zohar is joined by Venture Capitalist and Torah Scholar Michael Eisenberg to discuss his unique synthesis of business, tech, theology, and Biblical interpretation. They discuss the meaning of place in Jewish theology and contemporary life, what's wrong and right with mysticism, how sharing a religious code enables trust, how to create social change, pronatalism, and the possibility of wisdom in a secular age.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week Zohar is joined by Public Philosopher and UChicago Professor Agnes Callard to discuss the life and legacy of Socrates, trolls and sophists, knowledge and inspiration, therapy, color, mysticism, identity politics, the idealism of youth, how to be a good conversationalist, and when to defer.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by Law Professor and public intellectual Jamal Greene, to talk about his new book, How Rights Went Wrong, the importance of compromise, Robert Cover, Hegel, parenting, Moses and Aaron, and the pitfalls of juristocracy.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.

This week, Zohar is joined by writer, editor, and public intellectual, Bill Kristol, to discuss the danger of nostalgia and the virtue of moderation, the Biblical conflict between kings and prophets, the wisdom of Talmudic debate, the teaching of Leo Strauss, the ambiguous legacy of the American Founding, and whether history has ended.

Meditations with Zohar is supported by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between big ideas and real world problems.

Read more from Zohar at his Torah newsletter Etz Hasadeh or his philosophy newsletter What is Called Thinking.

Meditations with Zohar is a production of SoulShop and Lyceum Studios.