226 episodes

The classical education you never knew you were missing. Join scholar and writer Spencer Klavan on a tour through the great works of the West. In a world gone mad, we're not alone: the great men and women who went before us have wisdom to guide us. With their help, we can recover truth, beauty, and the stuff that matters.

Young Heretics Spencer Klavan

    • Education
    • 5.0 • 147 Ratings

The classical education you never knew you were missing. Join scholar and writer Spencer Klavan on a tour through the great works of the West. In a world gone mad, we're not alone: the great men and women who went before us have wisdom to guide us. With their help, we can recover truth, beauty, and the stuff that matters.

    Words, Words, Words 12: English is a Foreign Language

    Words, Words, Words 12: English is a Foreign Language

    Have you ever thought about how weird it is that our oldest English literature is somehow...in another language? If you want to become a better communicator, understand your own history better, and just generally have an awesome time reading cool stories about knights and stuff, you could do no better than to read the great chivalric tales of the English past. But how to start? Today I'm embarking on a new Friday series that will answer that very question, for busy people who want to read Aurthurian romances and have time to play Prince of Persia.
    Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

    • 41 min
    Doin' It Live: How to Read a Poem for the First Time

    Doin' It Live: How to Read a Poem for the First Time

    If you've never read a great work of literature before...where do you start? This week, in response to a listener request, I'm taking a poem I had never read before and walking through my process of getting to know it with you step by step. Hopefully, this will help give you some tips and pointers for getting acquainted with new authors and new ideas. If nothing else, by the time we're done you'll know which English queen helped make Shakespeare's career possible, what sorts of romantic entanglements can end you up in the Tower of London, and how to telegraph your sad boy vibes without getting your head chopped off.
    A review of Graven With Diamonds, by Nicola Shulman: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/graven-with-diamonds-by-nicola-shulman-2286444.html
    A podcast with Susan Bridgen, author of Thomas Wyatt: The Heart's Forest: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-just-the-tudors/id1564113869?i=1000554333559
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
    Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com
    I maked this: "The Tale of the Brothers True," at Rejoice Evermore: https://open.substack.com/pub/rejoiceevermore/p/the-frat-bros-of-the-round-table?r=wm1tt&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
     

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Words, Words, Words 11: The Translation Cinematic Universe

    Words, Words, Words 11: The Translation Cinematic Universe

    When it comes to picking a translation, which brands can you trust? Like streaming services and video game consoles, publishers are always competing for eyeballs, which means no one imprint is going to be able to gather all the best authors and translators under one roof. But here are some good rules of thumb to help you understand the lay of the land when it comes to choosing a translation or series of translations, so you always know what you're getting yourself into.
    Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

    • 34 min
    The Abolition of Sex: IVF, Designer Babies, and Goethe's Faust

    The Abolition of Sex: IVF, Designer Babies, and Goethe's Faust

    Before C.S. Lewis, before George Orwell, there was Goethe: in Faust Part II, the magician's servant Wagner concocts a literal test tube baby--a "homunculus" or "little man" made without any sexual intercourse at all. This picture of humanity cut off from its natural origins is frighteningly familiar, and it leads to a final word on science, magic, and the coming age of genetic screenings. Where do we go from here? Only the past can help guide us into the future.
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
    Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com
    We maked this: The New Jerusalem, featuring Andrew Klavan's latest essay on antisemitism: https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/essay-4-antisemitism-is-the-devils

    • 1 hr 7 min
    Words, Words, Words 10: The Holy Ghost Story

    Words, Words, Words 10: The Holy Ghost Story

    Why do we say "Holy Spirit" more often than "Holy Ghost"? It's not just because we're scared of things that go bump in the night. This week I'm taking a listener question about why "Spirit" and "Ghost" seem interchangeable in early modern English translations of the Bible, but not so much anymore. It's about how English has changed, how the Biblical languages changed over time, and how we've changed since salvation history began.
    Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

    • 35 min
    Nope-ing Out on Humanity

    Nope-ing Out on Humanity

    "We're not a good species": that's the rallying cry of Les Knight, founder of the Voluntary Extinction Movement. But the idea that humanity was a mistake didn't just spring out of nowhere. It was built up gradually over centuries, as a side-effect of the scientific revolution. Goethe's Faust is a brilliant attempt to recover and sanctify the role of humanity in creating reality. It is more important now than ever.
    Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
    Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
    Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com
    I maked this: "China's Three-Body Problem--and Ours," at Law & Liberty: https://lawliberty.org/chinas-three-body-problem-and-ours/ 
     

    • 1 hr 12 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
147 Ratings

147 Ratings

TLT1973Ishtar ,

A classical education

Spencer really takes the pain out of trying to get caught up with the classics. He takes the hard stuff and breaks it down into digestible bits - it’s an honour to be spoon fed by him! And what a great voice!

bsdjsjajs ,

Sublime

Mr Klavan “Carries the wisdom of the past and revitalizes” it - as he says in episode 18, which is sublime. I have been listening and re-listening to the episodes and then going off to read on my own and then coming back. Thank you for this education and inspiration.

林思敏nicole ,

Amazing

Makes me wish I majored in Classics instead of English though maybe that would be overrun by leftists too

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