The Western Traditions Podcast

Episode III.26 - Marius

From outside the aristocracy, Marius comes to power in an endangered Roman Republic. As he rises through the ranks, the Gracchis are slain, the Numidians rebel, the Germans invade and the slaves revolt. We first hear of Lucius Cornelius Sulla and the Servile Wars.

Episode III.25 - Caius Gracchus

Caius Gracchus works his way through the Roman ranks until, following in his older brother's footsteps, he is elected as a young tribune of the people. Immediately, he begins to propose legislation that will both avenge his brother's death and return land and prosperity to the common people. The Senate, fearing any strong man in public power, moves against him. In the end, his corpse follows his brother's into the Tiber river, and it will be the task of another man to rattle the Senate's Republican cage. 

Episode III.24 - Introduction to the Late Roman Empire

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus returns home from war to find his nation in decline. The rich have imported immigrants and slaves into Italy to displace the native citizens. The rise of plantations drives free Romans into urban zones to seek a living through labor and to live in property-less poverty. When elected tribune, he sets out on a martyr's road to right the wrongs of class warfare in Rome.

Episode IX.09 - The Tyranny of Optimization

How the process of optimization ultimately ruins everything. Beginning with examples from Mexican politics and President Gustavo Diaz, the podcast goes on to consider business, sports, diet, religion, marriage and technology as well as the US health care system. Finally, the episode closes with Dr. Richard Feynman's elaboration on the theory of entropy. 

Episode IX.08 - Into the Evening Redness: The Dark Theology of Cormac McCarthy

The speaker explores the dark theology of Cormac McCarthy. The sources of influence include William Faulkner, Herman Melville's Moby Dick, ancient gnosticism. Cited works include The Orchard Keeper, The Outer Dark, Suttree, Blood Meridian, The Border Trilogy, No Country for Old Men, The Road, The Passenger and Stella Maris.

Episode IX.07: Post-Apocalypse Now

A reflection on the post-apocalyptic trend in modern fiction, starting with an epiphany experienced while rereading Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. The speaker explores technological trends in history, prehistory and the future, from Gobekli Tepe to the present and beyond. Archaeology, history, literature, mathematics and the Technological Singularity all find their way into the thread of the monologue. 

Episode XIB.018 - The Story of Jacob: Part Four

Jacob returns to the Promised Land, after surviving the reunion with his brother Esau. He meets a mysterious stranger and earns a new name at the river Yabbok. His daughter, Dinah, is violated near Shechem. His sons stir up trouble for him as they try to settle in the land. 

Episode XIB.017 - The Story of Jacob: Part Three

Jacob reaches the middle of his life and comes into conflict with Laban, his father-in-law. He gathers his wives and household and returns to the Promised Land. Digressions on repetition in Scripture and the flexible morality of the Patriarchs. 

Episode XIB.016 - The Story of Jacob: Part Two

Jacob begins his odyssey, traveling to the lands of the East, where his uncle Laban and his cousins live. The fragile youth becomes a man. He marries Leah and Rachel, and has numerous children through them and their handmaids. 

Episode III.23 - The Third Punic War: African Apocalypse

Carthago delenda est. Marcus Cato dies before he can see his apocalyptic dream come true. Scipio Aemilianus rises to the office of consul and leads the Roman legions in their final assault on the city of Carthage.