The Western Traditions Podcast

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. 

Episode III.22 - Marcus Cato and the Decline of the Roman Republic

Marcus Cato makes memorable observations on the decline of Roman traditions. Wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer men. The author reflects on the changing nature of the Roman upper and lower classes and on the decline of the moral order in Republican Rome after the Second Punic War. 

Episode III.21 - Greek Culture and Roman Society

The victors of the Macedonian wars bring back more than treasure and tribute. Greek culture flows into Roman society. Men like Flamininus and Aemilius Paulus embrace it. Marcus Cato reviles this Greek immigration of values and ideas. 

Episode XIB.015 - The Story of Jacob: Part One

The scriptures transition from the grand story of Abraham to the very human, realistic story of a family torn, a dying father, a scheming mother and two brothers in conflict. The tale of Jacob and Esau begins.

Episode III.20 - The Second Punic War VI: The Invasion of Africa

Scipio and Hannibal finally come face to face in Africa. Carthage is totally defeated. The Roman Senate takes another step to becoming the governing body of the known world.

Episode III.19 - The Second Punic War V: The War in Spain

Publius Cornelius Scipio the Younger, someday to be known as Scipio Africanus, engages and defeats the Carthaginians in Spain. He stands for election to the consulship, demanding the right to carry the war into Africa. The charismatic young hero is elevated to high command. Hannibal, worn down, lingers on in Italy. Fabius Maximus and Marcellus both die before they can see the war to its end.

Episode IX.06 - The Tyranny of Mediocrity

In which the speaker meanders from topic to topic, skirts dangerously close to misogyny, espouses various unorthodox viewpoints and talks a lot about sex. Mostly, though, he rages against the walls of the prison that he built around himself.

Episode III.18 - The Second Punic War IV: The Deadlock Years

The Second Punic War spreads into Greece, Sicily, Africa and Spain. The Illyrian Wars and the Macedonian Wars break out. Fabius and Marcellus are not alone among the men who come forward to serve Rome in this moment of need. Publius Cornelius Scipio dies fighting deep in Carthaginian territory in Spain. His son, who will someday become known simply as Scipio Africanus, is sent to salvage Roman security in the region. 

Episode III.17 - The Second Punic War III: To the Defeat at Cannae

Rome commits to the war, raising more troops than ever before and pushing the limits of their constitution. Hannibal is victorious over Rome again and again. Fabius Maximus manages to slow the destruction, until Carthage's greatest general finally obliterates Rome's largest army at the battle of Cannae.