New Discourses

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 219

The United States of America was founded on a very particular view of the people's right relationship to government authority that can be, and was, summarized by the famous phrase, "Resistance against tyrants is obedience to God." But, many have wondered, even in our present day, what about the injunctions of Paul's famous Romans 13, which demands we obey our civil authorities, for they are ordained by God for our good through that role? This crucial question loomed very large through the Covid-19 abuses and has ever since, including in the American churches. The definitively American answer to the question was given as a sermon (https://lc.org/PDFs/A%20Discourse%20Concerning%20Unlimited%20Submission%20and%20Non-Resistance%20to%20the%20Higher%20Powers%20-%20Jonathan%20Mayhew%20-%201750.pdf) in Massachusetts Colony in 1750, however, by a fiery young Congregationalist named Jonathan Mayhew, and this sermon laid bedrock under what would become the United States. "A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers," he called it. In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay reads the majority of this sermon to you with as much passion as he can muster so that you, too, can hear this incredibly important message, 276 years after it was first preached. You won't want to miss it.

(Get Eric Metaxas's Revolution here (https://amzn.to/4wgxMDg) and Tim Sandefur's Proclaiming Liberty here (https://amzn.to/4cpyV4d)!)

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New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 177

In 1969, Max Horkheimer gave an interview in which he was called to account for his development of the Critical Theory and its application through the Frankfurt School, which he had directed for decades. In that essay, he offers a straightforward explanation for why he formulated the Critical Theory and what it is for, saying it allows criticism of a system that is so comprehensive that it prevents even imagining a better alternative on its terms. This little segment of Horkheimer's thought allows us to dissect the Critical Theory and clearly understand its anatomy and consequences, and in this episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay does exactly that. Join him for an illuminating discussion to see Critical Theory more clearly than you have ever before.

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The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 218

The school of thought known as Critical Theory was born, as we understand it today, in an essay written in 1937 by Max Horkheimer, who was director of the infamous Frankfurt School. This definitive essay of Western Marxism makes it clear that what we think of as "theory" is only one side of the story, and it's the side that keeps reproducing our present society. Horkheimer calls this "traditional theory," and we call it "knowing what you're talking about and applying it to make the world a better place." He contrasts it against his own approach to Western Marxist thinking, which he calls "critical theory," which questions the very foundations of the society we inhabit in favor of an alternative we can't even articulate. In this important episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay brings you through some of the text of the first half of this historical essay so you can understand the Critical Theory from its birth, in the words of its own founder. Join him to hear the truth: Critical Theory has always been like this, from the very beginning.

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New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 176

Profit is good. It is good practically, and it is good morally. Rarely today do we hear such a direct and clear statement or a thorough defense of these facts, but it's necessary. Our people, especially younger people, need to understand that they're not just participating in a successful system but also an intrinsically moral one: a fair one that creates opportunity and exchanges even human dignity itself. In this episode of New Discourses Bullets, host James Lindsay invites you to understand the goodness of profit and to start teaching it to others, especially our young people. Join him and take up the charge.

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The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 217

A very relatable feeling today is that of having something incredibly important to say while nobody listens. We go on screaming about the nearly existential horror of the situation we are in while everyday life goes on beside us, ignoring us, denying us. It's incredibly frustrating. This now far-too-familiar circumstance was written about eloquently at a time when it mattered as much as it may ever have mattered, in January 1944. In that month, Arthur Koestler, writing in the New York Times, published a monumental essay titled, "The Nightmare that Is Reality," (https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/09/archives/the-nightmare-that-is-a-reality-the-grim-stories-of-nazi-atrocities.html) describing the madness of screaming the truth about the unfolding Holocaust in Germany. In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay shares Koestler's landmark essay with you in full and then explores the unsettling question it raises: with so many "screamers," which ones, like Koestler, are crucially right, and which ones are cranks and fools, if not worse? How can we tell them apart? Join him for an important exploration.

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