This special episode is a recording from our 2025 Conference in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The panel is "Inspirations for Classical Education," and the speakers are: Stephen McGinley (Mount St. Mary's University & Good Soil Farm) - "Festivity, Education, and Farming" Gerald Boersma (Ave Maria University) - "A Pagan Paideia and the Contested Ressourcement of the Fathers" Mary Clare Young (University of Virginia) - "The Virtuous Classroom: Lessons from a Roman Educator" Mandi Gerth (University of Dallas) - "The Poetic Discipline: Lousie Cowan and the Necessity of Literature in Liberal Education" If you like this panel, please consider attending our next conference, March 12-14, 2026, in Omaha, Nebraska. For details, go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/2026-conference-registration/ 0:00 Episode Introduction 1:56 Panel Introduction 3:28 McGinley 28:25 Boersma 49:38 Gerth 1:09:41 Young

Josh Bowman chats with Winston Brady of Thales Press and Thales Academy about his evocative and moving novel, The Inferno (Fidelis Press, 2023). We discuss the nature of sin and repentance, as well as themes of vice, evil, greed, American History, suicide, depression, and Hell. Winston’s story, creatively described in his novel, is a testimony of God’s redeeming love and forgiveness.  ** This episode discusses suicide and may contain content that is disturbing to some. Listener discretion is advised. Also, if you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please seek immediate help from a professional or from emergency services. For example, dial 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. ** Buy the book here: https://www.fidelispublishing.com/authors/winston-brady The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE.   To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/

This special episode is a recording from our 2025 Conference in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The panel is "Theological Perspectives on the Market," and the speakers are: John Robinson (James Madison University) - "Scarcity, Isolation, and Dependence: Economic Insight in CS Lewis's The Great Divorce" Erik Matson (Mercatus Center) - "Economics and Evil" Paul Radich (Catholic University of America) - "From the Invisible Hand to the Inexorable Hammer: Cosmological Affinity between Adam Smith and Karl Marx" Dylan Pahman (Acton Institute) - "The Fourth Face of Power: Toward a Pure Theory of Friendship" If you like this panel, please consider attending our next conference, March 12-14, 2026, in Omaha, Nebraska. For details, go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/2026-conference-registration/ 0:00 Episode Introduction 1:56 Panel Introduction 4:15 Robinson 15:30 Matson 32:47 Radich 47:28 Pahman 1:07:31 Q & A To find out more about our activities, sign up for our newsletter, or make your tax-deductible gift, please visit https://ciceroniansociety.org/

Josh Bowman leads a discussion on the recently republished 1973 book The Social Philosophers: Community and Conflict in Western Thought (American Philosophical Society Press, 2025) by the American sociologist Robert Nisbet (1913-1996). Joining him are Luke Sheahan of Duquesne University, author of the foreword to this edition, and Paul Mueller of the American Institute for Economic Research.  Nisbet’s book focuses on the historical development of communities that he categorizes as military, political, religious, revolutionary, ecological, and plural. Which community is dominant today? What are communities even for?  To check out the book itself, go to: https://www.amphilsoc.org/publications/social-philosophers-community-and-conflict-western-thought The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE.   To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/

This special episode is a recording of a panel at the June 2025 meeting of the Academy of Philosophy and Letters in College Park, Maryland. We are grateful to the APL for their permission to publish this recording. The panel is titled "Book Roundtable – Aristocratic Voices: Forgotten Arguments about Virtue, Authority, and Inequality" and the panelists are: Ethan Alexander-Davey, Campbell University, “Aristocracy and the Forms That Fit” Matthew T. Cantirino, The University of Dallas, “Henry Adams: Aristocracy in an American?” Luke C. Sheahan, Duquesne University, “Authority, Hierarchy, and the Social Bond in the Aristocratic Thought of Robert Nisbet” Michael Federici, Middle Tennessee State University, “Irving Babbitt on Democracy and Leadership” Michael Harding, Montgomery College, “Against the Tarantulas: Nietzsche on Aristocracy” To find out more about our activities, sign up for our newsletter, or make your tax-deductible gift, please visit https://ciceroniansociety.org/ To learn more about the APL and their programs, visit https://philosophyandletters.org/ The APL 2025 Conference schedule is here: https://philosophyandletters.org/2025/02/14/2025-conference-schedule/ 0:00 Introduction 7:51 Ethan Alexander-Davey, Panel Introduction 20:52 Matthew Cantirino on Henry Adams 37:13 Luke Sheahan on Robert Nisbet 49:35 Michael Federici on Irving Babbit 1:01:09 Michael Harding on Nietzsche's Tarantulas

Josh Bowman talks with Kevin DeJuan Lewis Jr., the state of Michigan’s director for an organization called TakeCharge. “TakeCharge is committed to supporting the notion that the promise of America is available to everyone regardless of race or social station.” The organization focuses primarily on renewing families, marriages, and faith among Black Americans.   To learn more, visit https://takechargeus.com/   The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE.   To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/

This special episode is a recording from our 2025 Conference in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The panel is "The Gifts of Christian Humanism," and the speakers are: Chris Armstrong (Anselm House) - "Twentieth Century Christian Humanism and the Retrieval of the Premodern Real" Darryl Falconburg (Russell Kirk Center) - "Christian Humanism and the Renewal of Education" Jason Jewell (State University System of Florida) - "Irving Babbitt and the Natural Law" If you like this panel, please consider attending our next conference, March 12-14, 2026, in Omaha, Nebraska. For details, go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/2026-conference-registration/ 0:00 Introduction1:34 Biographies & Prayer4:43 Armstrong24:52 Falconburg44:09 Jewell1:02:52 Q & A 

Josh Bowman speaks with Joy Moore, a Nebraska native, mother, and writer now living in South Dakota. She is also an adjunct law professor at the Univ. of South Dakota. This episode focuses on her newest project concerning the topic of friendship. The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE.  We hope you’ll join us! Register here: https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/2026-conference-registration/ To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/

Josh Bowman interviews Nate Roberts, founder of the Michigan Academy of Folk Music (MAFM). (This 2025 episode combines 2 episodes previously published in 2023.) In the first half of this episode, we talk through Nate and MAFM’s approach to music education and its overlap with classical education, homeschooling, and more. In the second half, we talk about the role of music in discipleship and moral and spiritual formation generally. https://www.mifolkmusic.com/ Listeners may be interested to hear some of Nate’s recordings. Search for the following albums where you listen to music: Unadorned and Commonplace by Hayes Griffin & Nate Roberts Structures by Nate Roberts and Doug Scheuerell Dendrophilia by Nate Roberts Trio The Meaning of a Tree by the Field Hymnal If you enjoy learning and writing about any of the topics discussed in this Podcast, we encourage you to visit our website to sign-up for our newsletter and to register for our upcoming conference. https://ciceroniansociety.org/

Ethan Alexander-Davey and Glenn Cronin discuss the penetrating insights of the 19th century Russian Orthodox writer Konstantin Leontiev, an aristocratic voice who has become an important figure in Russian intellectual and political life since 1991, but remains unknown in the West. The conversation focuses on Dr. Cronin’s recent book, Disenchanted Wanderer: The Apocalyptic Vision of Konstantin Leontiev. Leontiev’s political philosophy combines a Nietzschean aestheticism with Orthodox Christian culture, which he called “Byzantinism.” Works by Glenn Cronin Disenchanted Wanderer: The Apocalyptic Vision of Konstantin Leontiev https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501760181/disenchanted-wanderer/   The Enduring Enigma of Lev Tikhomirov https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501783456/the-enduring-enigma-of-lev-tikhomirov/#bookTabs=1   Works by Ethan Alexander-Davey Aristocratic Souls in Democratic Times https://www.amazon.com/Aristocratic-Souls-Democratic-Political-Theory/dp/1498553265/   Aristocracy and the Καλλίπολις: Konstantin Leontiev and the Politics of ‘Flourishing Complexity' https://www.academia.edu/44382561/Aristocracy_and_the_%CE%9A%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%AF%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%B9%CF%82_Konstantin_Leontiev_and_the_Politics_of_Flourishing_Complexity   Konstantin Leontiev in English Byzantinism and Slavdom https://www.amazon.com/Byzantinism-Slavdom-Konstantin-Leontiev/dp/B08LNLCLCL/   Lev Tikhomirov in English Why I Ceased to be a Revolutionary https://www.amazon.com/Why-Ceased-Revolutionary-Beginnings-Ends/dp/B08LNJKZ96/ The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025. To lea...

Josh Bowman talks with his longtime friend and former professor, Paul R. Dehart on his new book, The Social Contract in the Ruins: Natural Law and Government by Consent (Univ. of Missouri, 2024). DeHart is Professor of Political Science at Texas State University. DeHart argues that modern attempts to root political obligation and morality in contractarian thought on voluntarist terms are self-referentially incoherent as well as a normative failure. What implications might this have for the American Founding and Constitutional thought? Can the classical natural law tradition get along with social contract theory? Is social contract theory worth saving? Does the “consent of the governed” even matter?  We discuss this and much more, giving attention to thinkers such as Aristotle, Cicero, Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Althuisus, Richard Hooker, and many others.  Dr. DeHart’s profile at Texas State University https://faculty.txst.edu/profile/1922208 His Books: The Social Contract in the Ruins: Natural Law and Government by Consent (Univ. of Missouri, 2024) https://upress.missouri.edu/9780826223050/the-social-contract-in-the-ruins/ Uncovering the Constitution's Moral Design (Univ. of Missouri, 2017) https://upress.missouri.edu/9780826221308/uncovering-the-constitutions-moral-design/ Also mentioned: The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, Vol. 2: The Age of Reformation, by Quentin Skinner And works by Francis Oakeley, J. Budziszewski, A. John Simmons, Brian Tierney, and others.  The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025. To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/ 0:00 Introduction3:38 Social Contract Theory14:30 SCT vs Natural Law Tradition24:23 Why It Fails38:01 American Founding52:24 Covenantal Realism1:12:19 How to Handle Disagreements1:23:18 First Principles1:26:57 Paucity of Consent

Josh Bowman leads a discussion of Aristocratic Voices: Forgotten Arguments about Virtue, Authority, and Inequality (Lexington Books, 2025) co-edited by Richard Avramenko and Ethan Alexander-Davey. Ethan joins us for the talk along with two chapter authors, Luke Sheahan and Michael Harding.  Our conversation covers a lot of ground, considering the thought of W.H. Riehl, Robert Nisbet, and Nietzsche, as well as some discussion of Hegel, Cicero, Tocqueville, Burke, Philip Rieff, the French Revolution and much more.  https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/aristocratic-voices-9781666933147/ The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025. To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/ 0:00 Introduction3:37 Three Implications of Inequality13:41 Nisbet's Diagnosis19:42 Bureaucracy as New Elite?23:07 Nietzsche36:37 Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl47:27 Lack of Courage53:22 Tarantulas, Eternal Recurrence59:52 Nisbet & Civic Associations1:08:08 Next Research Steps

This special episode is a recording from our 2025 Conference in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The round table title is "Building Places of Intellectual Community," and the speakers are: Paul Mueller (American Institute for Economic Research) Jeff Nelson (The Russell Kirk Center) Zach Howard (Bethlehem College) After Q&A, there are remarks by Josh Bowman, Bill Batchelder, and James Patterson (Ciceronian Society). If you like this panel, please consider attending our next conference, March 12-14, 2026, in Omaha, Nebraska. For details, go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/2026-conference-registration/ 0:00 Episode Introduction 2:30 Panel Introduction 7:06 Mueller 17:30 Nelson 35:48 Howard 53:35 Q & A 1:22:41 Bowman 1:32:07 Batchelder 1:41:05 Patterson 1:53:07 Song Links:  https://aier.org/ https://aier.org/people/paul-mueller/ https://bcsmn.edu/ https://bcsmn.edu/profile/zach-howard/ https://kirkcenter.org/ https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/batchelder-award/ https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/lawler/

Josh Bowman talks with Michael Maibach about his former teacher, Herbert J. Storing, and the book prize now offered in honor of professor Storing. We also discuss Michael’s work overall, and his particular interest in the electoral college.   Mr. Maibach is a native of Illinois where, in 1972, he became the first American elected to public office under 21-years of age in US history while a college student. His 40-year career in international business included working for the Intel Corporation and later as President & CEO of the European-American Business Council. Today he serves on several non-profit Boards, including as an advisor to the Ciceronian Society and as a Trustee and Managing Director of the James Wilson Institute. In addition, he travels around the U.S. giving talks about the Founders’ Constitution and its Electoral College design to students and civic groups for Save Our States. https://saveourstates.com/   To learn more about the Storing Prize and to nominate a recent book on the American Founding Era, go to: https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/storing-award/   The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025. https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/2026-conference-cfp/   To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/

Josh Bowman shares some information on the upcoming 2026 conference in Omaha, NE before turning to the Menard Family Center for Economic Inquiry at Creighton University. He’s joined by economic scholars Dr. Colin O’Reilly and Dr. Michael D. Thomas. The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025. Click here to propose a paper and learn more: https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/2026-conference-cfp/ Nominate a book for the Herbert J. Storing Prize by September 1, 2025: https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/storing-award/ Menard Family Center for Economic Inquiry: https://www.creighton.edu/menard-center-for-economic-inquiry To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/ 0:00 About the Ciceronian Society8:00 The Menard Family Center11:21 Vocation of a Catholic Economist15:10 Different Views of Poverty20:49 Omaha30:15 Economists at CS36:11 How to Learn More about MFC & Creighton University  

Josh Bowman chats with Winston Brady of Thales Press and Thales Academy, along with Josh Herring of Thales College in North Carolina. We discuss the definition, style, future, purpose, and beauty of classical education, along with its relationship to place and the Ciceronian Society generally. Thales Academy: https://www.thalesacademy.org/Thales Press: https://www.thalespress.org/Thales College: https://www.thalescollege.org/ The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025. To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/ 0:00 Introduction1:59 Why Thales7:27 Founding10:35 What is Classical Education18:01 Curriculum & Press26:22 College & Certificate33:34 Out of Higher Ed44:43 Place55:56 Looking Ahead1:09:24 Ciceronian Crossover1:16:59 To Learn More about Thales 

Josh Bowman talks with David Michael Phelps, president of Harmel Academy. (This 2025 episode combines 2 episodes previously published in 2023.) Harmel Academy is a post-secondary Catholic trade school in Grand Rapids, Michigan, pioneering an exciting new strategy for the formation and education of men. To learn more, go to https://www.harmelacademy.org/ Select books mentioned: A. G. Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life https://www.cuapress.org/9780813206462/the-intellectual-life/ Matthew Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301618/shop-class-as-soulcraft-by-matthew-b-crawford/ Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World https://svspress.com/for-the-life-of-the-world-new-edition/ To learn more about the Ciceronian Society, visit https://ciceroniansociety.org/

Josh Bowman talks with Dr. Carl Richard, Professor of History at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. Dr. Richard has spent decades recovering the impact of the ancient Greeks and Romans on the American Founders and on American history generally. He has also turned to the influence of the Bible and Christianity on America’s founding, and now to the history of the Presidency. We begin by talking about the classics, including Cicero, before turning to his more recent books on the Bible’s impact, including his newest volume, So Help Us God: American Presidents and the Bible (Rowman & Littlefield, 2025). https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/so-help-us-god-9798881806330/ Carl’s Books: The Founders and the Classics: Greece, Rome, and the American Enlightenment (Harvard, 1994)Twelve Greeks and Romans Who Changed the World (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003)The Battle for the American Mind: A Brief History of a Nation's Thought (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004)Greeks and Romans Bearing Gifts: How the Ancients Inspired the Founding Fathers (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008)The Golden Age of the Classics in America: Greece, Rome, and the Antebellum United States (Harvard, 2009)Why We're All Romans: The Roman Contribution to the Western World (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010)When the United States Invaded Russia: Woodrow Wilson's Siberian Disaster (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013)The Founders and the Bible (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) He has also contributed a host of essays to edited volumes, including two books published by Oxford University Press. The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025. To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/ 0:00 Introduction2:30 Inspiration4:13 Golden Age7:47 Arguments For and Against the Classics20:04 Familiarity and Peculiarity25:53 Cicero32:06 The Founders and the Bible44:11 Prayer49:59 The Future56:26 Opportunities

Josh Bowman talks with legal scholar Jack Ferguson about his recent article exploring Cicero’s impact on the American Founders. We discuss natural law, republicanism, executive power, and more. Jack’s article is “The Ciceronian Origins of American Law and Constitutionalism” from The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, which can be found here: https://journals.law.harvard.edu/jlpp/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2025/03/Ferguson-Ciceronian-Origins.pdf  The 2026 Ciceronian Society Conference will be held March 12-14 at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Panel and paper proposals are due September 1, 2025.  To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/ 0:00 Why Care About Cicero?10:00 Part 1 - Cicero's Influence16:21 Part 2 - Law of Nature & Law of Nations19:47 Common Law23:09 Judicial Review27:45 Part 3 - Republicanism32:58 Personal Character36:42 Part 4- Executive Authority42:57 Cicero's Authority with the Founders

This episode concludes a series interviewing our first ever cohort of conference fellows. Josh Bowman talks with Matthew Chambers, a Nisbet Fellow, who teaches humanities at ECPI University in Virginia Beach and who is also entering his dissertation phase as a PhD Candidate in Humanities at Faulkner University. We discuss the relationship between the teachings of the early church and that of the Ancient Greeks, especially Plato and the idea of an immortal soul.  Visit our website to learn more about our conference fellowship program, and come back in Fall 2025 to learn how to apply for our 2026 cohort of conference fellows. https://ciceroniansociety.org/conference/conference-fellowships/ To learn more about us, our events, this Podcast, our journal, Pietas, to sign up for our newsletter, and to make your tax deductible gift, please go to https://ciceroniansociety.org/ 0:00 Introduction2:38 Plato and Immortality12:01 Incarnation19:15 Imago Dei30:25 Stakes41:02 Unique Cuisine