Thinking Class

John Gillam
  • 4.6 (5)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

Thinking Class is a weekly long-form interview podcast and documentary series exploring the cultural, historical, and civilisational forces shaping Britain, the Anglosphere, and the wider West. Over 15,000 subscribers and 1.4 million plays across all platforms. Hosted by John Gillam, founder of the Albion Institute (Lord Nigel Biggar CBE serves as Advisory Board Chair) and creator of The Call of England and the forthcoming Call of America documentary series. Each episode brings together historians, philosophers, theologians, economists, and public intellectuals for conversations that go beyond the news cycle. Guests have included David Starkey, Lord Jonathan Sumption, Lord Nigel Biggar, Iain McGilchrist, Peter Hitchens, R.R. Reno, Auron MacIntyre, Patrick Deneen, Lionel Shriver, David Goodhart, Carl Trueman, Eric Kaufmann, Carrie Gress, Katharine Birbalsingh, Kathleen Stock, Frank Furedi, Rob Henderson, Robert Tombs, and many more. If you value serious conversation about England, Britain, the Anglosphere, and the forces shaping our civilisation, this is the show for you. New episodes every Thursday. Albion Institute: albioninstitute.orgSubstack: thinkingclass.substack.comYouTube: youtube.com/@ThinkingClassX: x.com/thinkingclasses Contact: thinkingclasspod@gmail.com

  1. 6d ago ·  Video

    #147 - Father Luke Dysinger OSB - The Last Time Western Civilisation Collapsed One Institution Saved Everything. And It Did It By Accident.

    Father Luke Dysinger is a Benedictine monk of Saint Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California. He trained as a physician, practised family medicine, and at the age of 27 walked away from it all because he fell in love with a way of life centred on prayer. He has lived in the monastery ever since. He studied at the Benedictine House of Studies at Oxford, holds a doctorate in patristic theology, and is now a professor of theology and a bioethicist. In this conversation we think out loud about: Why a trained physician walked away from medicine to become a monkThe three Benedictine vows - stability, obedience, and conversion of life - and why they produce institutional coherence that no modern organisation can replicateHow the monasteries saved Western civilisation by accident — not by copying manuscripts but by praying themWhat England lost when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries — and what survived in EvensongWhy secular institutions trying to save civilisation without prayer will always feel hollowThe Benedict Option — can families and communities outside the monastery build something that lasts?The foundational question monastic prayer forces you to answer: do you believe you are loved by God?What a young man who knows something has gone deeply wrong should do with his life.Related: - Pierre d’Alancaisez — The Custodians Of Beauty Became Its Gravediggers: https://youtu.be/KXn2z3mfCDk - The Base — They Were Trained By The Best In British Theatre: https://youtu.be/sNQ6ank7quI] - Iain McGilchrist — There Is A Great Deal Of Ruin In The Western World: https://youtu.be/yrlmkVl86-0 Watch The Call of England: https://youtu.be/muBQWIP6ZQQ Register your interest for the Albion Institute: https://albioninstitute.org Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast on the cultural, historical and civilisational forces shaping England, Britain, the Anglosphere and the wider West. Hosted by John Gillam.  ▶ YouTube ✍ Substack 🎧 Spotify 🍎 Apple 🐦 X New episodes every Thursday at 3pm.

  2. Sep 24 ·  Video

    #146 - Lola Salem - You Can Win Every Election In The West But If The Whole Of Culture Is Against You Nothing Will Change

    Dr Lola Salem is a musicologist, cultural critic, and Catholic convert. She is the author of the forthcoming Artless (Polity Press) and writes for The Critic and the Catholic Herald. In this conversation we think out loud about: • The boycott crisis in the arts and how it works in the shadows  • Why the right keeps winning elections and losing the civilisation  • The left as high-functioning alcoholics of culture  • The post-cultural state — institutions remain, the spirit has left  • The collapse of the managerial elite  • The education pipeline that reproduces institutional capture  • Whether the recovery of culture requires the recovery of faith •  Verdur_in — small, serious, uncompromising spaces outside the captured institutions Follow Lola's work: - https://x.com/SalemLola - http://salemlola.substack.com Sponsored by Aquinas Tuition: https://aquinastuition.co.uk/ Related:  Pierre d’Alancaisez — The Custodians Of Beauty Became Its Gravediggers: https://youtu.be/KXn2z3mfCDk The Base — They Were Trained By The Best In British Theatre: https://youtu.be/sNQ6ank7quIIain McGilchrist — There Is A Great Deal Of Ruin In The Western World: https://youtu.be/yrlmkVl86-0 Watch The Call of England: https://youtu.be/muBQWIP6ZQQ Albion Institute: https://albioninstitute.org Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast on the cultural, historical and civilisational forces shaping England, Britain, the Anglosphere and the wider West. Hosted by John Gillam.  ▶ YouTube ✍ Substack 🎧 Spotify 🍎 Apple 🐦 X New episodes every Thursday at 3pm.

  3. Sep 17 ·  Video

    #145 - Oliver Bennett & Morgan Watkins - They Were Trained To Perform The Greatest Works In Western Civilisation And They Say The Whole Thing Has Now Been Captured By Cowards And Liars

    Oliver Bennett and Morgan Watkins are the co-founders of The Base and RADA-trained actors with nearly twenty years of experience in British film, television, and theatre. In this conversation, we think out loud about: What The Base is and why it exists The campification of British theatre and the shame around the Western canonThe Edinburgh Fringe as a monument to progressive capture and why the RSC is rehearsing a lesbian Othello set against the climate crisisMeeting Shakespeare on his own terms (the third position beyond progressive deconstruction and conservative nostalgia)The working men’s club with a library, what the working class built and what was taken from them Why not a single pro-Brexit play was produced in a country that voted 52% to leaveWhy today’s rebels know nothing about the past they claim to be rebelling againstWhether counter-institutions like The Base can survive without fundingThe return of masculinity and the need for men to stand upFind The Base:  thebasecreates.com X: @thebasecreatesSubstackYouTubeRelated:  Pierre d’Alancaisez — The Custodians Of Beauty Became Its Gravediggers: https://youtu.be/KXn2z3mfCDkCarl Trueman — The West Killed God. Then It Killed Man: https://youtu.be/zwhbWVc1PgUFrank Furedi — In Defence of Populism: https://youtu.be/qTdxAR40T4EWatch The Call of England: https://youtu.be/muBQWIP6ZQQ  Albion Institute: albioninstitute.org Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast on the cultural, historical and civilisational forces shaping England, Britain, the Anglosphere and the wider West. Hosted by John Gillam.  ▶ YouTube ✍ Substack 🎧 Spotify 🍎 Apple 🐦 X New episodes every Thursday at 3pm.

  4. Sep 10 ·  Video

    #144 - Ben Jones - Britain Has Become An Island Of Strangers And You’re Not Allowed To Say So

    Dr Ben Jones is the Director of Case Management at the Free Speech Union and author of Island of Strangers: Diversity, Decline & Free Speech In Crisis In this conversation, we think out loud about: When saying “it’s a free country” died in Britain and what replaced it6,000 people punished for speaking in five years, and what the Free Speech Union’s caseload reveals about modern BritainHow hyperdiversity and the decline of Christianity have destroyed the shared moral universeWhy the ethno-nationalist vs civic-nationalist debate is irrelevant — both will be swept away by eventsBritain’s pre-revolutionary state: the last time this happened, we executed a kingWhy Islam poses a distinct challenge that cannot be reconciled with Western liberal valuesThe ruling class has seceded from the nation and treats the population as an obstacleThe psychological toll of cultural dispossession and why he now has to spell “Ben Jones”The state is sponsoring an invasion inflicted primarily on women and girls, which has created a crisis of legitimacyWhy 2029 may be the last chance to turn this aroundFind Ben Jones:  XIsland of StrangersRelated episodes:  Nathan Pinkoski — France Sacrificed Free Speech To Keep The Peace: https://youtu.be/ztpqjZq9h4M?si=DtQxUi4K84cPYapgAuron MacIntyre — The West Has Already Become A Total State: https://youtu.be/GbTU7HrQlU8?si=zg8pwO_MVhPor9qoR.R. Reno — What Happens When The West’s Strong Gods Return: https://youtu.be/U_cXZnkU-JI?si=shQ2C4lKRNP5sBqNLionel Shriver — Immigration, Demography, And Belonging: https://youtu.be/IWG6zPX0EpE?si=CJ_W1ogZtHbhzCJkWatch The Call of England: https://youtu.be/muBQWIP6ZQQ Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast on the cultural, historical and civilisational forces shaping England, Britain, the Anglosphere and the wider West. Hosted by John Gillam.  ▶ YouTube ✍ Substack 🎧 Spotify 🍎 Apple 🐦 X New episodes every Thursday at 3pm.

  5. Sep 3 ·  Video

    #143 - Auron MacIntyre - The West Has Already Become A Total State And Most People Inside It Have No Idea

    Auron MacIntyre is the host of The Auron MacIntyre Show on Blaze TV and the author of The Total State. Auron previously taught high school before leaving education to build his media platform, writes the Substack The Total State, and appears across conservative and heterodox media. In this conversation, we think out loud about: Why every Western state is becoming total and why the HR department is the new political commissarHow bureaucracies automatically recognise one another as authoritative and create a self-reinforcing systemWhy it’s not a state-run media but a media-run state and that distinction changes everythingWhy Britain is further along the path to total control than any country in the West The First Amendment and American federalism as defence mechanisms  and whether they will holdWhy Texas told the federal government no and the federal government backed downWhy the system doesn’t need boxcars it just closes your bank accountWhy constitutions don’t make people, people make constitutions  and what happens when you change the people John Adams at Edgehill: the English foundations of American liberty  R.R. Reno’s strong gods: will they return, and whose gods will they be? Why the right cannot govern when it wins and what formation institutions must be builtFind Auron MacIntyre: XYouTubeInstagramThe Total State: https://link.amazon/B0fCMJp6RSponsored by Aquinas Tuition - bespoke academic tutoring for children who deserve to be stretched, not managed: https://aquinastuition.co.uk/ Related:  Nathan Pinkoski - France Sacrificed Free Speech To Keep The PeaceR.R. Reno - What Happens When The West’s Strong Gods ReturnCarl Trueman - The West Killed God. Then It Killed ManWatch The Call of England: https://youtu.be/muBQWIP6ZQQ ▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThinkingClass  ✍ Substack: https://thinkingclass.substack.com  🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/37vvzrlxpo8eORDoTDRtbH  🍎 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/thinking-class/id1717021615  🐦 X: https://x.com/thinkingclasses  New episodes every Thursday at 3pm.

  6. Aug 27 ·  Video

    #142 - Nathan Pinkoski - France Sacrificed Free Speech To Keep The Peace, Britain Did The Same And Now Neither Has Either

    Nathan Pinkoski is a Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute, the translator of Eric Zemmour’s The Suicide of France, and author of the forthcoming Silent Revolution: The End of the Liberal West. He writes for First Things and Compact and publishes the Substack Lament for the Nations. In this conversation, we think out loud about: — Why Zemmour’s Suicide of France sold half a million copies and what it tells the English-speaking world  — How the 1968 revolution conquered society rather than the state — and nobody noticed the difference  — The 10% threshold: when the foreign-born population reaches a certain level, free speech is the price of keeping the peace  — How Britain could dismantle its entire progressive legal architecture in a single statute — and why France, Canada, and America cannot — Pierre Trudeau’s constitutional coup: how Canada became the end game of perverted Westminster, and why only Tony Benn and Enoch Powell saw it coming  — The three deaths of the father: de Gaulle, paternal authority, and the gold standard — and why the West no longer produces leaders  — How Vichy was weaponised to impose collective guilt on the French people and delegitimise national sovereignty  — Why the smartphone killed assimilation and the Ellis Island myth is dead  — Why the only way to save the West is Christian revival Find Nathan Pinkoski:  Substack: lamentforthenations.substack.com XThe Suicide of France by Eric ZemmourRelated episodes you might enjoy: — France Is Fracturing Along Ethnic And Religious Lines. Britain Is Next — What Happens When The West’s Strong Gods Return — The West Killed God. Then It Killed Man — How Ireland Changed Beyond Recognition The Call of England — a documentary series retracing a 1927 journey through England:  Episode 1Episode 2Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast on the cultural, historical and civilisational forces shaping England, Britain, the Anglosphere and the wider West. Hosted by John Gillam.  ▶ YouTube ✍ Substack 🎧 Spotify 🍎 Apple 🐦 X New episodes every Thursday at 3pm.

  7. Aug 20 ·  Video

    #141 - R.R. Reno - What Happens When The West’s Strong Gods Return And Find Nobody Home

    R.R. Reno is the editor of First Things, the most important journal of religion and public life in America. He is the author of Return of the Strong Gods, In the Ruins of the Church, and a forthcoming rock climbing memoir. He has taught theology at Creighton University and has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Commentary. In this conversation, we think out loud about: — What the strong gods look like when they return to a country that no longer has any gods at all — and whether there is a floor below which even the strong gods cannot reach — Why Christianity remains a contested but robust force in American public life while Britain's established church has been abandoned by its own people — How Blair's open society theology disfigured Britain's understanding of itself — Pierre Manent's argument that the modern West has irreversibly chosen the city of man over the city of God — Why the first duty of the sovereign is to preserve the realm — not because it is conducive to greater utility but because the realm has intrinsic value — Alex Karp's observation that Europeans no longer believe their civilisation will last — Why multiculturalism is a theory designed to explain how disintegration is actually the birth of something new — and why it cannot work — The Parmenidean resurgence: classical schools, elite religious revival, and the young men turning to rigorous Christianity — Why Trump is the Vishnu of early 21st century politics — the great destroyer after whom someone must build Find R.R. Reno and First Things: Website: firstthings.com Subscribe: firstthings.com/subscribe X: x.com/raborenn Related episodes you might enjoy: — Carl Trueman — The West Killed God. Then It Killed Man. Now Something Darker Is Coming: https://youtu.be/zwhbWVc1PgU — Iain McGilchrist — There Is A Great Deal Of Ruin In The Western World And This Is Why: https://youtu.be/yrlmkVl86-0 — Pierre d'Alancaisez — The Custodians Of Beauty Became Its Gravediggers: https://youtu.be/KXn2z3mfCDk The Call of England — a documentary series retracing a 1927 journey through England to discover what remains of the national inheritance: Watch Episode 1 here: https://youtu.be/muBQWIP6ZQQWatch Episode 2 here: https://youtu.be/jbVZfSR3ZF4Thinking Class is a long-form interview podcast on the cultural, historical and civilisational forces shaping England, Britain, the Anglosphere and the wider West. Hosted by John Gillam.  ▶ YouTube ✍ Substack 🎧 Spotify 🍎 Apple 🐦 X New episodes every Thursday at 3pm.

  8. Aug 13

    #140 - Stephen Blackwood - The Universities Forgot What Education Is For So This Man Built One From Scratch & Here Is What He Learned

    Stephen Blackwood is President and Founder of Ralston College in Savannah, Georgia. The Chancellor is Dr Iain McGilchrist. He is on the advisory board for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC).  This episode is supported by Aquinas Tuition, which provides bespoke academic tutoring for children who deserve to be stretched, not managed. In this conversation, we think out loud about: — What Blackwood saw inside the Western university system at its highest level that made him believe the existing institutions could not be saved — How Boethius took the seeds of civilisation and cast them into the future from a prison cell — and why that matters now more than ever — Why "the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be lit" and why Ralston brings students to Samos, Greece, to light them on fire — The deathbed test: did I live as I should have lived? And why no culture that fails to help its people answer that question deserves to endure — Why the universities are the most upstream influence over the degradation of Western culture — The difference between legal protection of free speech and a culture of genuine truth-seeking — What Tocqueville saw in America that Britain is losing, which is to say self-governance as the precondition for democracy — Why Roger Scruton was right that a culture is just the things we have loved, and transmitting it is just teaching others to love them too — What growing up as the eldest of ten on a Canadian farm taught Blackwood about human nature, duty, and what a human being at full gallop looks like Find Stephen Blackwood and Ralston College: - Website: ralston.ac - Podcast: The Ralston College Podcast - YouTube Related episodes you might enjoy: — Iain McGilchrist — There Is A Great Deal Of Ruin In The Western World And This Is Why — Carl Trueman — The West Killed God. Then It Killed Man. Now Something Darker Is Coming — Pierre d'Alancaisez — The Custodians Of Beauty Became Its Gravediggers Watch The Call of England, a documentary series retracing a 1927 journey through England to discover what remains of the national inheritance: Watch Episode 1 hereWatch Episode 2 hereThinking Class is a long-form interview podcast on the cultural, historical and civilisational forces shaping England, Britain, the Anglosphere and the wider West. Hosted by John Gillam.  ▶ YouTube ✍ Substack 🎧 Spotify 🍎 Apple 🐦 X New episodes every Thursday at 3pm.

See All (146)

4.6
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Thinking Class is a weekly long-form interview podcast and documentary series exploring the cultural, historical, and civilisational forces shaping Britain, the Anglosphere, and the wider West. Over 15,000 subscribers and 1.4 million plays across all platforms. Hosted by John Gillam, founder of the Albion Institute (Lord Nigel Biggar CBE serves as Advisory Board Chair) and creator of The Call of England and the forthcoming Call of America documentary series. Each episode brings together historians, philosophers, theologians, economists, and public intellectuals for conversations that go beyond the news cycle. Guests have included David Starkey, Lord Jonathan Sumption, Lord Nigel Biggar, Iain McGilchrist, Peter Hitchens, R.R. Reno, Auron MacIntyre, Patrick Deneen, Lionel Shriver, David Goodhart, Carl Trueman, Eric Kaufmann, Carrie Gress, Katharine Birbalsingh, Kathleen Stock, Frank Furedi, Rob Henderson, Robert Tombs, and many more. If you value serious conversation about England, Britain, the Anglosphere, and the forces shaping our civilisation, this is the show for you. New episodes every Thursday. Albion Institute: albioninstitute.orgSubstack: thinkingclass.substack.comYouTube: youtube.com/@ThinkingClassX: x.com/thinkingclasses Contact: thinkingclasspod@gmail.com

Information

  • Creator
    John Gillam
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    146
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Thinking Class
  • Show Website
    Thinking Class

You Might Also Like