Where can I find a woman like...Dante's girl? On this episode of Young Heretics, we finally get the high-fallutin' invocation of the Muses we've come to expect from any epic poem. But it's not enough! Dante needs more woman than the Muses can be...more grace, more truth, more light. And it comes from on high--first from the Virgin Mary, then Sainty Lucy, then finally his beautiful, his famous, his beloved Beatrice. Today we introduce this central figure in the Comedy, inspiration of Dante's career and "lady of his mind." We'll talk about the Muses, memory, and the communion of saints. And hopefully by the end, we'll see how much courtly love meant to the poets of this age--and how much, perhaps, it can mean to us.

Check out my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://amzn.to/4tKWACP

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

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Get the Dorothy L. Sayers translation: https://amzn.to/4djdh2s

I'm very pleased to introduce a new Young Heretics feature. Since I've been teaching at the University of Austin, Texas, I've had the chance to get to know some brilliant, energetic, and charismatic professors. And none more so than J.J. Kimche, assistant professor of religion and philosophy. I got together with J.J. while in Austin for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation on the intertwining histories of science and religion. Does faith inform, or compete with science? Does science enrich, or undermine faith? We talked about where things are headed now and how the liberal arts can inform our high-tech age. This is the first of hopefully many conversations I'll record with J.J. and other UATX professors as part of my ongoing work at the university. Enjoy!

Sign up for J.J.'s newsletter, "The Jew from Nowhere": https://firstthings.com/introducing-the-jew-from-nowhere/

Check out the NEW episode of Klavans on the Culture, my new podcast with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://youtu.be/ZJpXAoIlbxI?si=3uzICi-kmeShxezu

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Take a look at my book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: Illuminating Science through Faith: https://amzn.to/4mN9vBP

Lions, and wolves, and leopards...oh my! Dante the pilgrim is balanced on a knife-edge, tipping over into the start of a new century, a new period of life, a new world. It's creation and crucifixion all at once, a fever pitch of both hope and dread. How can he go on? How can he make sense of things? How can we? Those are the questions we'll deal with today as we continue our journey toward the mouth of hell. We'll talk about the zodiac, the significance of allegory, the three beasts of sin, and the reappearance of our boy, the GOAT, the man himself: Virgil! He's back! And so are we, with the next episode in our Divine Comedy series.

Check out the NEW episode of Klavans on the Culture, my new podcast with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://youtu.be/ZJpXAoIlbxI?si=3uzICi-kmeShxezu

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Welcome to Young Heretics, the classical education you didn't know you were missing. It's Good Friday...in the year 1300. And also now! Because Dante's Divine Comedy is a poem for all time and our time. Today we are (finally!) beginning our Young Heretics journey through this masterpiece, following Dante's pilgrim step by step as he wanders from the straight and true way into a dark and dangerous adventure that will lead him, ultimately, to the heights of heaven. We'll talk about gu(w)elphs, gh(w)ibellines, art, theology, and of course Studio Ghibli memes. Join me on this new adventure!

Check out Klavans on the Culture, my new podcast with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://youtu.be/ZJpXAoIlbxI?si=3uzICi-kmeShxezu

Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/

Listen to Inferno read aloud on the Digital Dante site: https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/sound/bausi-readings/

Check out Jonathan Pageau on Dante: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-inferno-the-course

Get the Durling and Martinez translation: https://amzn.to/47zWZPK

Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Welcome back!! Happy 2026!! After a holiday hiatus, we're starting the year off strong with the Second Annual Inkling Awards for Literary Excellence. As an exciting new term of teaching kicks off for me at the University of Austin, TX, It's a good time to be thinking about some of the best questions: why should we read? How should we read? And how much? Without further ado, here are Dr. Klavan's rules of thumb for reading, the best books I read last year, and the books I'm looking forward to in 2026. Plus: C.S. Lewis on why you should read old books.

Check out my cover essay in First Things on Virgil's Aeneid: https://firstthings.com/in-the-footsteps-of-aeneas/

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

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It's the most wonderful time of the year: that's right, the Lent of St. Martin! Okay okay, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but the lead-up--known as the season of Advent--is an unbelievably rich tradition filled with deep meaning. On this Young Heretics special, I explain the big ideas of Advent through the surprising history of everyone's favorite song of the season, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." And God bless us, every one!

Read my co-authored essay with Andrew Klavan (no relation) on AI: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/07/ai-idols-consciousness-religion-llms/

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

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It's time to talk about the shocking, the dramatic, the THRILLING and also, the kind of confusing end of Virgil's Aeneid. What a journey it's been! The story is never truly over, but as we leave Aeneas behind we have to ask--did Virgil mean for it to end this way? With Turnus' blood spilled ruthlessly on the ground and after that, the dark? Some say no--this is an incomplete ending that would have horrified the Emperor Augustus. I say yes--and Augustus would have been delighted. What do you say?

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Read my latest essay on AI cand ancient Jewish wisdom: https://www.civitasinstitute.org/research/ai-and-the-divine-test

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

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The planets are aligning, the moment is almost here, the fates are sealed...or are they?? Today, in our penultimate episode, right as Aeneas looks poised to take up the mantle of his destiny and live out the greatness that Augustus will one day inherit, everything seems to fall apart. The Gods throw up their hands, and the Rutulians go ferociously to war against the Trojans. Can it be that Virgil actually doesn't want us to know what happens next? Can it be the future of Rome is not as guaranteed as it seemed to be? Find out on this episode--plus, advice for writers to hone their skills.

Check out our new Sponsor, Alithea Travel: https://www.alitheatravel.com/tours/strength-and-virtue

Read my latest essay on why AI can't do your writing for you: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/p/writing-is-thinking

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

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Today on Young Heretics: a violent and unjust seizure of indigenous land!!! At least, according to Juno and the Furies, goddesses of retribution and blood guilt. Actually, the situation in Rome and in the Aeneid is a lot more complicated than that, which is one reason why the conclusion of the poem is a refreshingly sophisticated antidote to our often-oversimplified conversations about history, territory, colonialism, and the sins of the past. Plus: a mailbag question about Charlie Kirk and Julius Caesar.

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Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

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...And also, pizza. Kind of. This might be one of the coolest parts of Virgil ever, and even though I've been reading the Aeneid since high school, I feel like I only just figured it out. One of the most famous lines of the poem—forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit, "one day it will be pleasing to remember even these things—finds its answer in Book 7, when Aeneas arrives on shore and has to face the possibility of war with the, erm...indigenous Latinx peoples. So much to discuss, here, and a great mailbag question about how to deal with situations you can't change.

Check out our new Sponsor, Alithea Travel: https://www.alitheatravel.com/tours/strength-and-virtue

Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM

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Read my essay on why we should read in thea ge of AI: https://www.thefp.com/p/what-happens-if-no-one-reads-culture-education