The Gutenberg Podcast

Thomas Hobbes's LEVIATHAN

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:00:29 +0000

Naomi Rinehold joins to talk about Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, contract theory, the English Civil Wars, and how people can give demagogues sovereignty.

Machiavelli's THE PRINCE

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 23:30:16 +0000

Charley Dewberry walks us through why Machiavelli might not be Machiavellian, how to be in the world but not of the world, and the hermeneutics of the plausible.

[This episode was recorded during the 2025 Spring term of Western Civilization]

Sextus Empiricus' OUTLINES OF SKEPTICISM

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 22:00:53 +0000

Dr. Brian Julian walks through Sextus Empiricus' Outline of Skepticism, and why skepticism is super common (but not in the way that most people think).

Medieval Catholicism and many Reformations

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 07:00:38 +0000

Eliot Grasso gives a very brief introduction to the Reformations of the 16th Century, including a discussion of Medieval Catholic metaphysics and the protestations of Matin Luther.

Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD

Fri, 16 May 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Chris Swanson sits down to discuss Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, why a world built on maximizing pleasure could be as awful as World War I, and how suffering is important to human life.

Aristotle's POLITICS

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 07:00:00 +0000

Naomi Rinehold discusses Aristotle's Politics, how elements of corrupt systems of government can be used to create justice, the limitations of Athenian citizenry, and how the American Constitution typifies some of Aristotle's ideas.

Plato's "Analogy of the Cave"

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Brian Julian discusses Plato's "Analogy of the Cave", the nature of ultimate justice, and why smart people don't know everything.

Alexander the Great and Hellenization

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Charley Dewberry fills in some Western Civilization history by discussion Alexander the Great, Hellenization, and what sort of glory we should be looking for.

Alasdair MacIntyre's AFTER VIRTUE

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 19:45:00 +0000

Eliot Grasso discusses Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue, why ethical and political discourse is so difficult, and how pursuing teleological ethics--as admirable as that might be--differs from Christian Existentialism.

Sartre's "Existentialism is a Humanism"

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 08:05:00 +0000

Brian Julian joins to discuss Sartre's atheistic existentialism, why reading non-Christians is important, and a surprising proof for God's existence.

Long-time listeners will note a new mix for the music in this episode. Eliot Grasso wrote and produced the first version of "The Old Woman and Her Foundlings". The new version was produced by Wesley Coleman.

Errata- Brian mentions a philosopher who did not get along with Sartre, but his name cuts out in the current edit. That philosopher was Albert Camus.

Tolstoy's ANNA KARENINA

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 08:03:41 +0000

Chris Swanson returns to the podcast's first novel: Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. This episode also features a crash course on Russian naming conventions, a primer on Kierkegaard's Stages of Life, and a discussion on why all happy families are alike.

Genesis 1-4

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Eliot Grasso returns to discuss Genesis 1-4, why such a short passage is so complex, and some dynamics at work in interpretation.

Aristotle on Justice

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Naomi Rinehold is back to talk about Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics--but this time, it's from a Great Conversation reading, and it's about Justice.

Prehistory and the Bronze Age

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Charley Dewberry starts this new season by discussing prehistory, the Bronze Age, and how surprisingly "advanced" ancient civilization was.

Christian Existentialism

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 15:45:00 +0000

Chris Swanson wraps up the podcast's second year by talking about Christian Existentialism.

C.S. Lewis's THE ABOLITION OF MAN

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Naomi Rinehold discusses a lecture series delivered by C.S. Lewis, the Old Testament idea of sorcery, and sin mycorrhiza.

Jacques Ellul's PROPAGANDA

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Dr. Eliot Grasso joins the podcast to discuss Jacques Ellul's Propaganda, why the nature of propaganda is so often misunderstood, and how loving our enemies can break the monster's glass spine.

Eliot quotes from the following works:

Ellul, Jacques. The Technological Society. Translated by John Wilkinson, Vintage Books, 1964.

Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Atitudes. Vintage Books, 1973.

Schumacher's SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 00:50:03 +0000

Charley Dewberry discusses E. F. Schumacher's Small is Beautiful, how not to fall off horses, and how we can choose to not serve Mammon when we have interstate highways.

[REISSUED] Kuhn's STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 20:55:00 +0000

Chris Swanson joins the podcast to discuss Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the difference between paradigms and worldviews, and why the scientific community has less dissent than other academic disciplines.

[Producer's Note: I was told I had posted the wrong file Friday afternoon. I corrected the episode file, but folks who use Apple Podcasts informed me that the problem was not fixed. This is my duct-tape-and-bailing-wire attempt to get the correct episode up for our Apple Podcasts listeners. I'll do my best in the future not to make this same mistake again.

P.S. If you don't listen on Apple Podcasts, you can go ahead and mark this one as "listened" or "played".]

Kuhn's THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Lenin's THE STATE AND REVOLUTION

Fri, 24 May 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Eliot Grasso joins the podcast to talk about Vladimir Lenin's The State and Revolution, and the sobering consequences its brand of revolutionary thought had for the 20th Century.

How are things true?

Fri, 10 May 2024 23:30:00 +0000

Brian Julian expounds on the question of how statements can be true, asks whether truth requires verification, and contrasts Correspondence Theory and William James.

WWI Disenchants the West

Sat, 27 Apr 2024 19:00:00 +0000

Charley Dewberry explains how World War I ended a particularly optimistic view of the Enlightenment, and discusses the sobering reality of man's rebellion against God.

The Long 19th Century

Sat, 13 Apr 2024 06:30:00 +0000

Charley Dewberry discusses the long 19th Century--from the end of Napoleon to the end of World War I--and the changes and costs of modernism.

Auguste Comte and the Positivist Future

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Chris Swanson sits down to discuss Auguste Comte, Positivism, and the optimistic political thought of the 19th century.

An Introduction to Soren Kierkegaard

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 23:30:00 +0000

Nancy Scott makes her debut on the podcast, discussing Soren Kierkegaard's authorship, elucidation of Jesus, and opposition to the comforts of Christendom.

The French Revolution and Napoleonic Era

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Chris Swanson lays out the consequences of the French Revolution, the rise and fall of Napoleon, and the death of Feudalism.

Rousseau's SOCIAL CONTRACT

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Brian Julian joins the podcast to talk about Rousseau's Social Contract, the "General Will", and why sometimes the questions authors are asking are more helpful than their answers.

Road to the Revolutions

Sat, 13 Jan 2024 06:30:19 +0000

Eliot Grasso stops by to broadly survey the history from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution, all while discussing how institutional failure leads to people looking for alternatives.

Kant’s Epistemological Contribution

Sat, 30 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Brian Julian discusses Kant's major contribution to epistemology, where that has lead to in contemporary philosophy, and how we should think about Kant's insights as Christians.

Reading Reid, Reading Reality

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Chris Swanson returns to discuss Thomas Reid, Reid's critique of the "Ideal System", and how Common Sense relates to philosophy.

Hume and the Limits of Understanding

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 17:45:00 +0000

Naomi Rinehold offers an unconventional way to think about David Hume's Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, along with how to think about the difference between an author's meaning and an author's significance.

Locke and Berkeley

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Charley Dewberry discusses the projects of Locke and Berkeley in preparation for upcoming episodes about David Hume and Thomas Reid.

Descartes Sets the Stage

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Chris Swanson lays out Descartes's project, what Descartes was responding to, and how Descartes has influenced Western Civilization.

Francis Bacon's NOVUM ORGANUM

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Eliot Grasso sits down to talk about Francis Bacon and his most famous work, Novum Organum, and whether Bacon should be remembered as either a villain or a good scientist.

The Science Curriculum

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Charley Dewberry lays out why the Science Curriculum--focused on the Copernican Revolution--is central to the Gutenberg project.

Boccaccio's Decameron

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 07:54:56 +0000

Naomi Rinehold returns to discuss what Boccaccio's Decameron contributed to the Renaissance and the value of such comedic works during times of crisis.

Genghis Khan

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Charley Dewberry explains how Genghis Khan and the Mongols formed the first economic--instead of political--empire, and how this has affected Western Civilization.

Anselm and Proving God's Existence

Fri, 12 May 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Brian Julian walks us through Anselm's ontological proof of God's existence, some critiques of that proof, and whether proof is even necessary for faith.

A Millennium of Medieval Philosophy

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 07:05:00 +0000

Eliot Grasso helps digest some key features of Western Medieval Civilization, and its need to harmonize church infrastructure, Greek philosophy, and the teaching of the Bible.

From Republic to Empire

Fri, 07 Apr 2023 07:05:00 +0000

Chris Swanson discusses Rome's transition from Republic to Empire, what factors contributed to that transition, and how that might be important for understanding our own place in history.

Polybius and the Cycles of Simple Government

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Eliot Grasso returns to talk about Polybius, a Greek historian who wrote about why the Roman republic was politically stable despite the tendency of governments to disintegrate.

The Hellenistic Philosophies

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 14:05:00 +0000

Naomi is back to talk about stoicism, epicureanism, cynicism, and skepticism. This is a good one folks!

Lucretius and the Big Swerve

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 14:20:00 +0000

Charley Dewberry joins Gil to talk about therapeutic philosopher Lucretius, atomism, and the scientific method.

Aristotle, Friendship, and the Nicomachean Ethics

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:55:00 +0000

Naomi Rinehold returns to talk about Aristotle's notion of friendship and what it can teach us about our relationships today.

Plato and Socrates

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:50:00 +0000

Brian Julian asks the question, "What was Socrates really up to?"

Greek Theater

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 13:40:00 +0000

Cidney Swanson explains the origins of theater and its significance in ancient Greek Culture.

Homer: The Story of the Cyclops

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 13:05:00 +0000

Tutor Eliot Grasso discusses the relationship between host and guest in ancient Greek culture.

Ancient Polytheism & Biblical Monotheism

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 13:30:00 +0000

Gutenberg tutor Naomi Rinehold explains polytheism as context for monotheism.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Gutenberg College president, Chris Swanson, explains why this ancient narrative is still relevant today.

Rhetoric and Dialectic

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Host Gil Greco talks to Gutenberg College president Dr. Chris Swanson about the concepts of rhetoric and dialectic.

Introducing the Gutenberg Podcast

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:03:55 +0000

The Gutenberg Podcast is a production of Gutenberg College in Eugene, OR. You're invited to come join the conversation at gutenberg.edu.