Podcast
Socrates in the City
Hosted by Socrates in the City · EN
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56episodes
Episodes
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Lionel Shriver and Mary Harrington: Is the “Better Life” Dream Collapsing?
Jun 801:14:20Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Socrates Dialogues with Mary Harrington, novelist Lionel Shriver joins Harrington for a wide-ranging and incisive conversation on her novel A Better Life and the deeper cultural longings it exposes. Together, they probe the enduring myth of “a better life” and how it shapes modern views on immigration in both the United States and the United Kingdom. They also dive into the fertility crisis, shifting expectations around modern masculinity, and broader social currents redefining family, identity, and belonging in the West. Thought-provoking and unflinching, this dialogue explores what we mean when we seek a better life, and whether the promise still holds.The post Lionel Shriver and Mary Harrington: Is the “Better Life” Dream Collapsing? first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcribe →Eric Metaxas and Peter Giersch: Are Heaven and Hell Real?
Jun 801:02:20Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Socrates in the Studio, Eric Metaxas sits down with author and longtime friend Peter Giersch to explore his striking new book “Talking of Michelangelo: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell in the Burgundy Region.” What begins as a journey through the quiet beauty of Burgundy unfolds into something far more profound: a meditation on mortality, meaning, and the soul’s ultimate destination. Part memoir and part travelogue, Giersch recounts a pivotal week spent on an Ignatian retreat—a week that became a turning point in his life of faith. Together, he and Metaxas wrestle with enduring questions: What does it mean to truly confront judgment? How should we understand sin—not merely as doctrine, but as lived reality? The post Eric Metaxas and Peter Giersch: Are Heaven and Hell Real? first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcribe →James Orr and Mary Harrington: Why Aristotle Would Disagree With Modern Politics
May 100:34:32Tap to summarizeIn this Socrates Dialogues conversation with Mary Harrington, James Orr joins her as he traces his journey from the life of the mind to the heart of public affairs, reflecting on how a scholar becomes a political advisor without abandoning the pursuit of truth. Through this conversation, James Orr explores the meaning of scholasticism and its enduring influence, the shaping power of philosophy on the intellectual life of Europe, and the lasting political visions of Aristotle and Plato as they echo into modernity. Moving between the ancient and the contemporary, the abstract and the practical, the discussion wrestles with one of philosophy’s most enduring questions: the tension between existence and essence – and what it means for how we live, govern, and understand society today.The post James Orr and Mary Harrington: Why Aristotle Would Disagree With Modern Politics first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcribe →Mary Eberstadt: The Dark Side of the Sexual Revolution
May 100:56:00Tap to summarizeHow has the West drifted from its grounding in God, and what has been lost along the way? In this Socrates in the Studio conversation, author and scholar Mary Eberstadt joins Eric Metaxas to examine one of the most pressing cultural and spiritual questions of our time. Drawing on her influential works, including Adam and Eve After the Pill, How the West Lost God, and others, Eberstadt unpacks the far-reaching consequences of the sexual revolution, particularly its impact on relationships between men and women and on the broader redefinition of intimacy, identity, and family. She challenges prevailing assumptions by asking who has truly benefited from these cultural shifts, and the answers may surprise you. They present a compelling case for embracing challenge and struggle, not as obstacles to avoid, but as essential forces that shape us into deeper, more fully realized human beings. The conversation ultimately turns to the question of womanhood, exploring which vision of religion most authentically uplifts and supports women, and how competing cultural narratives continue to shape—or sometimes distort—our understanding of what it means to flourish.The post Mary Eberstadt: The Dark Side of the Sexual Revolution first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcribe →Tom Holland and Mary Harrington: The Rise and Reach of Rome
May 101:14:24Tap to summarize“The idea of there being human rights is as fantastical as believing that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day…” In this spirited dialogue, host Mary Harrington is joined by historian and bestselling author Tom Holland to explore why Rome’s long shadow still falls across the modern imagination, and why Americans are particularly drawn to learning about this great empire. Drawing from Holland’s latest book, Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age, the two discuss the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind. The conversation also ranges from Athens to Jerusalem to Rome, examining how these cities helped forge the moral and political grammar of the West. Along the way, they venture through the legacy of the Persian Empire, the upheavals of the Crusades, and how those ancient impulses continue in the minds of modern people.The post Tom Holland and Mary Harrington: The Rise and Reach of Rome first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcribe →Eric Metaxas and Jonathan Leaf: Decades of Chimp Propaganda
Apr 2401:06:09Tap to summarizeWhat is behind society’s obsession with monkeys? In this thought-provoking conversation, Socrates in the City host Eric Metaxas sits down with author and playwright Jonathan Leaf to explore the ideas behind his provocative new book, The Primate Myth, and to ask what lies beneath the persistent effort to connect humanity and primates. They discuss why this fascination has endured so powerfully across culture, science, and media. From the mass popularity of Punch the Monkey to a broader cast of famous animals that have captured the public imagination, they examine the historical, cultural, and even political forces shaping this narrative, questioning whether the perceived relationship between humans and primates is grounded in genuine scientific insight or something more constructed. Along the way, they uncover surprising animal behaviors, trace unexpected ideological influences, and grapple with why this idea continues to resonate so strongly, inviting listeners to reconsider what they think they know about human origins, identity, and the stories we choose to believe.The post Eric Metaxas and Jonathan Leaf: Decades of Chimp Propaganda first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcribe →Louise Perry and Mary Harrington: The Feminization of Society
Apr 2401:09:28Tap to summarizeMary Harrington is joined by Louise Perry to discuss many topics ranging from the sexual revolution to the collapsing birth rates around the world to the strange pressures of feeling the need to react to each week’s “deranged mass emotional moment.” They argue that stepping offline—and building families and thinking deeply, for example—may actually be the ultimate countercultural move in an age addicted to speed and outrage.The post Louise Perry and Mary Harrington: The Feminization of Society first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcribe →Eric Metaxas and Hugh Ross: An Astrophysicist Explores the Science of the Bible
Apr 2400:50:46Tap to summarizeHow does the book of Genesis line up with modern science? In this Socrates in the City conversation, Eric Metaxas is joined by astrophysicist Hugh Ross as they explore the surprising truths found in the Bible. The two explore the multitude of ways Genesis gets the science right, but still challenges us, from the origins of the universe to the reality of the Ice Age, along with a personal story about Ross’s Gideon Bible that’s been carried for years. This conversation explores the nuances, mysteries, and surprising truths of the relationship between science and faith.The post Eric Metaxas and Hugh Ross: An Astrophysicist Explores the Science of the Bible first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcribe →Jonathan Pageau and Mary Harrington: Reality in a Disenchanted Age
Apr 2001:01:16Tap to summarizeEpisode three of Socrates Dialogues with Mary Harrington returns, this week with artist Jonathan Pageau, for a conversation that is as delightful as it is wide-ranging. From medieval cosmology to internet memes (we love how Mary describes them as “clusters of meaning”), from Dante to C.S. Lewis, we wonder if there’s a topic that wasn’t covered. The duo discuss how one of the modern world’s troubles lies in forgetting how to see, having traded a symbolic vision of reality for a mechanistic one that leaves the soul rather undernourished. Along the way, there are conversation detours into the importance of words and language, war, and the apocalyptic imagery of Revelation, and even a surprisingly tender conclusion: that even amidst the thorniest political questions, a shared orientation toward what transcends us may yet allow for unity and love.The post Jonathan Pageau and Mary Harrington: Reality in a Disenchanted Age first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Transcribe →Nina Power and Mary Harrington: The Ponzi Scheme of Modern Institutions
Apr 2001:00:32Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Socrates Dialogues with Mary Harrington, she is joined by philosopher and writer Nina Power, who examines the changing philosophies of education and academic life, questioning the sustainability of what she describes as the “Ponzi scheme” of woke institutional culture. She reflects on the value of intellectual freedom, the dignity of varied vocations, and the necessity of a society that honors different paths, priorities, and forms of excellence beyond the narrow confines of elite academia.The post Nina Power and Mary Harrington: The Ponzi Scheme of Modern Institutions first appeared on Socrates in the City.
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