Magnus Podcast

Ryan Khurana, AI technologist, strategist, and thought leader, joins John Johnson to discuss AI and the digital world. They compare the personhood, creativity, and relationships gifted to man to the counterfeit personhood of AI. They begin to tackle the difficult question, “How should Catholic Christians and liberal artists rightly respond to the instrument that is AI?” Stay tuned for Part II of the AI conversation with another special guest.  Join the Fellowship today! magnusinstitute.org/fellowship 

“Of all the forms of education, there is one that is best and most perfected  and that education has come to be known as liberal education.” - Dr. David Arias The Magnus Podcast season 5 has arrived! We open with the recording of our recent webinar where we discussed our Cohort Program and the value of liberal education with  Dr. Joseph Hattrup, Dr. David Arias, and AMI's Larissa Bianco.   Magnusinstitute.org/institute  to learn more!

How do we know that what we know is true? What does it mean to participate in the truth? What is the object of the will?  Dr. Thaddeus Kozinki joins John to discuss Plato's divided Line and the levels of being and knowledge. Read his article Plato and Participation Learn more about the Albertus Magnus Institute! Learn more about Father Owen Carroll  

Are digital tools inherently bad? How should we respond to the problem of tech? How do we know if what we are building is good? Don't be a tool...just use one. Join John Johnson and  Austin Klise, the founder of Klise Consulting as they discuss techne and technology and the implications therein.    You can find Austin  @ kliseconsulting.com Learn more about the Albertus Magnus Institute! Learn more about Father Owen Carroll

Join John Johnson and Angel Adams Parham as they have a discussion about race befitting the dignity of a liberal artist.  Angel Adams Parham is Associate Professor of Sociology, senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, and Associate Director for the major in Political and Social Thought at the University of Virginia. Through her research in historical sociology, she engages in inquiry that examines the past in order to better understand how to live well in the present and envision wisely for the future. Learn more about the Albertus Magnus Institute! Learn more about Father Owen Carroll    

Dr. Ryan Messmore of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education joins John to talk about the foundation of the Catholic Faith, the nature of God, and the doctrine of the Trinity. Listen and hear about the good work of ICLE, the pillars of the Catholic Faith, and Christ's relationship with His creation.    Learn more about the Albertus Magnus Institute! Learn more about Father Owen Carroll Read Dr. Messmore's book  

Dr. Tiffany Schubert of Wyoming Catholic College joins Larissa to discuss the idea of the hero. From Virgil's company of heroes and heroines to Jane Austen's many female heroines, Dr. Schubert guides us to understand them in light of tragedies and comedies, fate and providence, and epics and novels.  Join the Magnus Fellowship today! Check out Dr. Schubert's book Jane Austen's Romantic Medievalism: Courtly Love and Happy Endings

Alex Lessard of Adeodatus joins John Johnson to talk about the ongoing Classical education renewal. Join them in this lively conversation where they discuss issues facing the movement and explore unique solutions and ideas to refine the renewal even more.  Learn more about Adeodatus here! Learn more about the Magnus Fellowship today!

Grab a beer and celebrate our 100th episode with us! John Johnson discusses the soul, the city, and the citizen in this Three Beers Episode with Senior Fellow Palvos Papadopoulos and special guest Ryan Hammill of the Ancient Language Institute.   Albertus Magnus Institute: https://magnusinstitute.org/ The Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/ Wyoming Catholic College: https://wyomingcatholic.edu/

Who is man, what is he building, and why does this matter? Alan Cornett of Cultural Debris joins John Johnson to discuss mans relationship with architecture and both the worldly and eternal implications therein. Listen as they explore the architecture behind majestic Italian Cathedrals, bold American Art Deco and oppressive modern urbanism.  Follow Alan @ @culturaldebris or @alancornett Learn more about Cultural Debris Excursions! Learn more about the Albertus Magnus Institute!  

The Magnus Podcast is BACK and better than ever.  If you're a returning listener, you'll notice that this season premiere is a change of pace from previous episodes as we announce a tier of courses in the Magnus Fellowship: The Cohort: A Community of Learning for Liberal Education.  This three-year program is at the heart and soul of the Albertus Magnus Institute; it's an attempt to make concrete what we have been aiming to do since the beginning — to give our Fellows the principle parts of liberal education and unite them as they seek to discover the truth together.  This episode is the recording of our recent Q & A webinar where we answered questions from participating Fellows and shared our vision for liberal learning. Now we're sharing it with you. Whether you're a returning or new listener, we hope you enjoy, and we hope to see you in the Cohort!   Learn more about the Cohort Learn more about the Albertus Magnus Institute

Today we bring you the 20th and final episode of season 3. This season we talked about all things liberal arts from music and monarchy to Plato and Socrates to freeing minds and humanizing humans. It only seemed right then, to finish this season with a return to our first guest, Professor Steven Cortright, who opened the show with an episode appropriately titled, “The Liberal Arts". He returns now to discuss the current state of higher education and a sneak peak into coming things for AMI. Thank you to those of you have come back week after week and given us your support.  Please consider giving a donation to the Great Campaign today!

“You creatures of earth, don't you stop to consider the people over which you think you exercise authority?”  This conversation between two ‘non- serial' entrepreneurs, Christof Meyer and AMI's own John Johnson, will change the way you view entrepreneurship and management, and give you a vision of a rightly ordered, God honoring way to run a business that finds it's roots in the Liberal Arts tradition.  Learn more about Hildegard College Will you consider giving to our annual fundraiser, the Great Campaign? It is through the support of our generous donors that we are able to make a liberal arts education both free and freeing.  Magnusinstitute.org for more.      

Mother, grandmother, and author, Leila Lawler joins Larissa to talk about raising children faithfully. She explains how we can escape the traps of the modern world and provide something beautiful for our children to imitate, thus creating sacred spaces and harmonious homes. Read her blogs Like Mother Like Daughter and Happy Despite Them to learn more. Interested in her books, Summa Domestica and The Little Oratory? Learn more here. Will you consider giving to our annual fundraiser, the Great Campaign? It is through the support of our generous donors that we are able to make a liberal arts education both free and freeing.  Magnusinstitute.org for more.          

Enjoy the first half of the first lecture in Senior Fellow, Dr. Arias' course, "Philosophy of Man." Building on Aristotle and St. Thomas's philosophical account of the human person, this class focused on St. Thomas's teachings on man's natural and supernatural ends and the means proportioned thereto. Find out how you can learn more about the final cause of man AND access all archived courses- over 40 hours of exceptional classes with some of the top educators in liberal learning.  Subscribe to our e-mail list today and stay up to date on all courses, articles, and podcasts!  

Today, we are offering you another glimpse into the Magnus Fellowship; this time with Senior Fellow, Dr. Helen Freeh's course, "Friendship and Freedom in the Lord of the Rings." This is the first half of the first class of the final 8- week course on The Lord of the Rings, offered over three rounds of 8- week courses. This Fall, Fellows have been finishing the seminar with The Return of the King. They have discussed closely how the power of friendship achieves the Ring's destruction; they have looked at the extreme limitations of the individual acting alone against superior physical and spiritual force, the unseen hand of Providence coordinating the consequences of many characters' choices, and the despair that results from the modernist claim to autonomy. Find out how you can catch the rest of this course AND access all archived courses- over 40 hours of exceptional classes with some of the top educators in liberal learning.  Subscribe to our e-mail list today and stay up to date on all courses, articles, and podcasts!

Blessed Feast of St. Albert the Great! On this special day, we spoke with Leigh Bortins of Classical Conversations who, like St. Albert the Great before us, shares our love for a liberating education. Education is never free, and, like all good things, the higher the quality of education, the higher the cost. She joins John and Larissa to discuss how to give our students a high quality education that is a better kind of free-  free from the shackles and snares of our world.  Learn more about Classical Conversations, educational independence  and Leigh Bortins Educator, mother, grandmother, and daughter of the King, Leigh Bortins is best known for creating lifelong learners through her educational support program, Classical Conversations, which organizes classical academic communities for homeschooling families. Leigh founded Classical Conversations (or CC) in 1997 to know God and to make Him known through the power of community. After receiving a bachelor of science in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, Leigh went on to write her Doctor of Ministry thesis on church-based global education for Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.  Join us as we attempt to make quality education accessible to all, despite the cost. 

Once again, we are offering you a quick glimpse into the Magnus Fellowship; this time with Senior Fellow, Dr. Finley's class, “Rousseau and the Diabolical and Moral Imagination." This course explores the moral dimensions of the imagination through an examination of literature and philosophy. The aim of the course is to define and understand the concept of “imagination” and to be able to assess its role—for good or ill—in thought, action, and politics. Eighteenth-century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a pioneer of the Romantic movement and helped to shape the heart and mind of the West, both politically and in more subtle, but no less profound, ways. This course seeks to uncover some of the ways in which Rousseau's imagination serves as a touchstone for what has perhaps been the dominant moral sensibility in the West for the past two centuries. Find out how you can catch the rest of this course AND access all archived courses- over 40 hours of exceptional classes with some of the top educators in liberal learning.  Subscribe to our e-mail list today and stay up to date on all courses, articles, and podcasts!

Dr. Amir Sabzevary has spent the last thirty years teaching philosophy and religion. Today, he joins John to talk about the journey of both teaching and studying philosophy– how to trek through complicated lives as students and how to reach the unreachable students as teachers. Discover ever so much more on his Youtube Channel. Don't forget! Free Fall courses in the Magnus Fellowship start next week.

This week on the Magnus Podcast, John and Larissa talk moral theology with high school teacher, Rocky Brittain and attempt to answer difficult moral questions according to Catholic Theology and Thomas Aquinas, such as when is it permissible to kill? How should a priest respond when he hears a life changing confession? How should we respond when we disagree with authority?   Do you have thoughts that you'd like to share after listening to this discussion? Post your answers on twitter to @amifellowship   P.S. Enrollment is open for Fall courses in the Magnus Fellowship! Register today!

In this fast paced world full of echo chambers and outrage machines, we are fooled into a misguided view of justice and rhetoric. Dr. Joshua Phillips joins us to talk about how we can properly understand the connection between justice and humility and the distinction between thinking wonderfully and thinking critically.   Joshua Phillips received a Ph.D. in Speech Communication from Southern Illinois University in 2014. His academic focus is rhetoric and intercultural communication with particular interests in civil rights, free speech, media, and poverty. As a Ph.D. student, Dr. Phillips published 15 academic manuscripts, received 4 top paper awards from academic conferences, and presented over 50 keynotes at colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. His book, Homeless: Narratives from the Streets derives from his dissertation research and was published by McFarland in 2016.  You can follow him on twitter @Joshphillipsphd

AMI exists because we, like so many, see a problem with the current university system. What is the modern university providing to its students in comparison to what it ought to be providing?  What is the purpose of a university? We just completed an 8 week summer course on John Henry Newman's, "The Idea of a University," to grapple with these questions and come to understand what a university ought to look like.  As promised, here is a sneak peek into the first of 8 classes from this course.  Become a fellow and learn how you can access the entire course and attend more for free!

"What is the best way of life for a human being?" The Republic is the most complete attempt by Plato to articulate and answer this question. It is characteristic of Plato that, in the Republic, questions about human happiness ultimately cannot be separated from questions of education, of the nature of the city, of the various forms of government, of the structure of the human soul, and of the character of the gods and being itself. . This week, we wrapped up an 8 week summer course on this very topic with Sr. Fellow Dr. Pavlos Papadopoulos.  We now present you with the first lecture from this excellent course.  Become a fellow and learn how you can watch the rest of the course and attend more for free!  

Musician and composer, Greg Wilbur of New College Franklin contemplates music within the quadrivium; he explains why music ought to be ordered rightly in education and how it rests in harmony with the other Liberal Arts. He even discusses a little bit of conspiracy theories.  Gregory Wilbur is President and Dean of the College, permanent Trustee, and Senior Fellow at New College Franklin. Over the past years at New College, he has taught courses or sections of Music, Geometry, Cosmology, Moral Philosophy, Poetics, and numerous preceptorials such as The Art of Film, 20th-Century Literature, Hospitality and Cooking, and the Quadrivium. Mr. Wilbur has composed award-winning works for choir, orchestra, film, and corporate worship as well as various commissions. He recently released his fifth CD of congregational hymns called Praise Your Maker.  

“Take courage daughter, the world is not as strong as it seems.”  From the diary of Maria Faustina Brian Fink has returned to the Magnus Podcast to discuss what it means to see reality as it is: to see oneself in order to better understand the enemy, to see the hope in the midst of losing, to see the truth in a poisoned culture, and, ultimately, how to actualize a vision for oneself that is more clear than the illusions of the world. Find Brian on Twitter @b_fink Find Brian on Substack @ bfink.substack.com

This conversation with Dr. Gary Hartenburg looks at education from a bird's-eye view before zooming into talk about virtue, specifically the virtue of prudence, according to Aristotle, and ends with little bit of theology.  Dr. Gary Hartenburg is the Director of the Honors College and an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Houston Christian University. His primary research interests are in ancient philosophy, especially Plato and his student, Aristotle. He enjoys thinking about the history and philosophy of education and recently completed a book on Aristotle's philosophy of education, Aristotle: Education for Virtue and Leisure.  Check out the Honor's College at Houston Christian University. 

Earlier this spring, we hosted a lovely webinar on one of the most playful of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, The Nun's Priest's Tale of Chanticleer and the Fox. Now we're releasing it as a podcast so you too can enjoy it! Listen as Dr. Shannon Valenzuela of UD guides us through this delightful introduction to the poet's quirky (and sometimes shocking) combination of the modes of "ernest and game." Combining barnyard antics with a serious exploration of the purpose of storytelling and approaches to reading, this animal fable is a perfect springtime medley of high spirits and seriousness. Shannon K. Valenzuela, Ph.D., is an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Humanities and English at the University of Dallas. She received her B.A. in English and Classics from the University of Dallas, and her Ph.D. in literature from the University of Notre Dame, where she specialized in the medieval period. She is also an award-winning screenwriter and a novelist, and she is the writer, director, and narrator of the limited television series The Quest, which is produced by the University of Dallas and distributed by EWTN. 

How does man know? What are the roles of signs in knowing? What does “meaning” mean? What does man want to know? What are the objects to knowing? In this episode, Dr. Brian Kemple of the Lyceum Institute discusses these questions and opens the door to many, many more. Come join us down this rabbit hole of discovery. Dr. Brian Kemple holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of St. Thomas, in Houston TX.  He has written two scholarly books (Ens Primum Cognitum in Thomas Aquinas and the Tradition and The Intersection of Semiotics and Phenomenology: Peirce and Heidegger in Dialogue), two public-oriented books (an Introduction to Philosophical Principles and Linguistic Signification: A Classical and Semiotic Course in Grammar & Composition), a number of scholarly articles and a few public-oriented ones, as well. Check out the Lyceum Institute.  Join the Fellowship today!

“We can't teach the humanities unless the students have been humanized." In this episode, Dr. Jared Staudt discusses the text, Newman's Idea of A University, and begs the question, ”What does it mean to explore reality?” He challenges educators and teachers to not become complacent, classical educators, but to seek the beautiful alongside their students and provide them with an education that grounds them in both tradition and reality.  Dr. Jared Staudt is teaching a course in the Magnus Fellowship this summer on Newman's Idea of a University, the book that is the fruit of Newman's difficult venture as an Englishman creating a University in Ireland. Learn more, join the Fellowship, and register for the free 8 week course.  Check out his recently published book.      

Across the sea, Charles III has just been coronated King of England and much ado was made in his and his country's honor.  On our homeland, America is, as always, in the throes of her own democratic controversies.  Now on the podcast, we asked Dr's Pavlos Papadopoulos and Joseph Pearce to discuss this question: Democracy or Monarchy: Is one the better form of government? You will want to listen to this conversation.  Just announced: Dr. Papadopoulos will be teaching a course for us this summer on Plato's Republic! Learn more! More from Dr. Pearce here. Enjoying the podcast? Please rate and review!

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Zena Hitz; tutor at St. John's College, author of Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life, and Co-founder and President of the Catherine Project. Listen as she discusses what it means to live the good life. Learn more about St. John's College & check out their own podcast, Continuing the Conversation

“The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way: But to return, and view the cheerful skies, In this the task and mighty labor lies.” - from The Aeneid of Virgil The Magnus Podcast returns with Dr. Matthew Bianco of the CiRCE Institute. Listen to this enlightening discussion on Plato and the allegory of the cave, and wonder and the demise of a vacuous society.  Dr. Matthew Bianco is the Chief Operations Officer for the CiRCE Institute, where he also serves as a head mentor in the CiRCE apprenticeship program. He is married to his altogether lovely high school sweetheart, Patricia. Dr. Matt Bianco has a PhD in Humanities from Faulkner University's Great Books Honors College. He is the author of Letters to My Sons: A Humane Vision for Human Relationships. Learn more about CiRCE! Join the Fellowship now! It's free and always will be. 

We now bring you Spy Wednesday Bonus Episode 2, continuing in the theme of Holy Week. This is an excerpt from our own John Johnson's course in the Magnus Fellowship: In the end was the word: Eschatology, Mimesis, and the Beloved Disciple.  Remember that all donors giving just $25/month have access to the recordings for the rest of this course, and all the rest of the courses in the Magnus Fellowship. Join the Magnus Fellowship today; it's free and always will be.   

In honor of Spy Wednesday, we are bringing you two back to back episodes today, both lectures by your favorite podcast host, the Founder and  Executive Director of our own institute, John Johnson. The first comes from a talk John delivered at a recent convocation of Catholic leaders in New Jersey sponsored by the Diocese of Camden:Tradition and Betrayal: Responding to the Scandal  Enjoy, share, and stay tuned for the second lecture! Remember: 20 % off The Sufferings and Glory of Christ! Magnusinstitute.org for more!

"Wherever he can find any possibility of doubt, he is going to call it downright false." Up now: Descartes and The Search for Certainty with Fr. Owen Carroll.  Enjoy these lectures given by Fr. Owen Carroll to a small group of retired religious in his private retirement home.  Purchase Fr. Carroll's book, The Sufferings and Glory of Christ: A Meditation on Holy Week to Ascension today and get 20% off now through Ascension! Head to the website to learn more!  

"We see that Abraham is chosen, Abraham this one man with his clan around him... it's promised to him that in him all nations, that is, all the rest of humanity... will find their blessedness in him." We now bring you Omnes Gentes, with Fr. Owen Carroll.  Enjoy these lectures given by Fr. Owen Carroll to a small group of retired religious in his private retirement home.  Purchase Fr. Carroll's book, The Sufferings and Glory of Christ: A Meditation on Holy Week to Ascension today and get 20% off now through Ascension! Head to the website to learn more!      

“The Amaryllis has been doing many living acts within itself. Nourishing, growing, flowering itself, in the same way that when I take a sip of water,  am I not very much like the plant nourishing itself?”  We now bring you episode 3, The Amaryllis with Fr. Owen Carroll.    Lecturer Fr. Owen Carroll is one of the foremost experts on Thomas Aquinas and one of the greatest living teachers on the life of Christ. After praying to remain hidden his whole life, he has now entrusted his unpublished work and lectures with us. We are pleased to bring you these lectures given to a small group of retired religious (many, like Fr. Carroll, in their 90s)! We hope you will enjoy and share these lessons that are as charming as they are profound. Subscribe to get them throughout the season.  Purchase Fr. Carroll's book, The Sufferings and Glory of Christ: A Meditation on Holy Week to Ascension today and get 20% off now through Ascension! Head to the website for more!    

 As Great Lent continues… so do podcasts with Fr. Owen Carroll.  Today's being “Liturgy, Authority, and Living Scripture.” Lecturer Fr. Owen Carroll is one of the foremost experts on Thomas Aquinas and one of the greatest living teachers on the life of Christ. As St. Bernard of Clairvaux is the last of the patristics, Fr. Carroll is said to be the last medieval schoolman. After praying to remain hidden his whole life, he has now entrusted his unpublished work and lectures with us. We are pleased to bring you these lectures given to a small group of retired religious (many, like Fr. Carroll, in their 90s)! We hope you will enjoy and share these lessons that are as charming as they are profound. Subscribe to get them throughout the season.  Purchase Fr. Carroll's book, The Sufferings and Glory of Christ: A Meditation on Holy Week to Ascension today and get 20% off now through Ascension! Head to the website for more!  

We are taking a break from our regular episodes to give you lectures appropriate to this season of Lent. The author of our inaugural publication, The Sufferings and Glory of Christ, Fr. Owen Carroll is one of the foremost experts on Thomas Aquinas and one of the greatest living teachers on the life of Christ. Now, after years of teaching, studying, and writing, he is  focused on giving lectures and sharing his wisdom. We are sharing these with you.  Look for these this entire Lenten season as you prepare to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord. The first of these is called, "The Foundations of the Five Ways.”   Fr. Owen Carroll (b. 1930), after graduate and priestly studies in Canada, Paris, and Rome, taught philosophy and theology for over fifty years at Saint Mary's College and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in California. As St. Bernard of Clairvaux is the last of the patristics, Fr. Owen Carroll was the last medieval schoolman. Purchase his book, The Sufferings and Glory of Christ: A Meditation on Holy Week to Ascension today and get 20% off now through Ascension! Head to the website for more!

In this final episode of season two, meet Eric, a Student Fellow, friend of the Institute, and successful business man who is here to discuss the value of a "useless" degree and the importance of a Liberal Arts education in any endeavor. Stay tuned for season three, and in the meantime, use this break to catch up on any episodes you may have missed.  You can give to the Great Campaign here: https://magnusinstitute.org/give/

Happy third day of Christmas! Continue this joyous feast by listening to the first half of our recent webinar on On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius.  Dr. David Arias, Dr. Matthew Walz and Mr. Dale Ahlquist joined us for an informative and beautiful conversation on the great text.  You can watch the entire webinar on our YoutubeChannel here! Give to the Great Campaign here.

Please take a listen to this 3 minute announcement from the host of the Magnus Podcast and Executive Director of the Institute, John Johnson.    Merry Christmas to our followers, fellows, and donors alike.   Stay tuned for a Christmas episode.   

If beauty awakens the Divine, what does it mean for a culture when it is deficient in beauty? How do we return beauty to its proper place in the quadrivium? How do we restore beauty to a culture void of wonder? In this episode, John and Larissa discuss beauty (and the lack) in education with Dr. Shannon Valenzuela.   Shannon K. Valenzuela, Ph.D., is an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Humanities and English at the University of Dallas. She received her B.A. in English and Classics from the University of Dallas, and her Ph.D. in literature from the University of Notre Dame, where she specialized in the medieval period. She is an award-winning screenwriter and a novelist, and she is the writer, director, and narrator of the limited television series The Quest, which is produced by the University of Dallas and distributed by EWTN.    Learn more about The Quest    Please give to the Albertus Magnus Institute. Only with your help can we keep education as free as it is freeing. 

“Our will is always for our own good, but we do not always see what that is; the people is never corrupted, but it is often deceived.” Jean Jacques Rousseau True…or false?  Listen to John interview Dr. Emily B. Finley, author of the newly released book, “The Ideology of Democratism," in which Finley posits that the west has been deceived into a false understanding of democracy that is far removed the true meaning of the word. This enchanting, imaginative “democracy,” has its roots in Enlightenment thinkers, specifically Rousseau and The Social Contract. So what does this mean for America? What does this mean for democracy?  Listen now and learn more. Check out the book here! The Albertus Magnus Institute seeks to make a freeing education accessible to all. Please give to our annual fundraiser: The Great Campaign.  Give more. Learn more.  https://magnusinstitute.org

The Magnus Fellowship continues! Enjoy this glimpse into week one of Senior Fellow, Dr. Hudson's course, “George Bernanos: The Man and His Work.” This is much more than a sneak peak; it's our longest glimpse yet as Dr. Hudson goes deep into the life of one of the most prominent French novelists of the 20th century.  Find out here how you can watch the rest of this course and access all archived courses- over 40 hours of  exceptional classes with some of the top educators in liberal learning.  Join the Magnus Fellowship for an education that is as free as it is freeing.  Don't forget that we are in the thick of our annual fundraiser- The Great Campaign. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support the Magnus Fellowship and the Fellows and courses therein. 

This week we turn three years old!  This episode of the Magnus Podcast honors the Feast Day of our namesake, St. Albert the Great, celebrates our third birthday, and launches the Great Campaign. Please consider joining the Magnus Fellowship and/or giving to the Great Campaign today! With your help, we can continue to liberate the Liberate Arts.  

Revisit The Waste Land with us. Once again, we are offering you a glimpse into the Magnus Fellowship; this time with Senior Fellow, Dr. Freeh's class, “The Waste Land Revisited: T.S. Eliot's Diagnosis of Modernity.” Find out how you can catch the rest of this course AND access all archived courses- over 40 hours of exceptional classes with some of the top educators in liberal learning.  Join the Magnus Fellowship for an education that is as free as it is freeing. 

Enjoy this sneak peak into the Fellowship - week one of Senior Fellow, Dr. Esolen's course, In the Beginning Was the Word: Poetry and Christology in the Gospel of John.   Find out how you can catch the rest of this course AND access all archived courses- over 40 hours of exceptional discussions and lectures with some of the top educators in liberal learning.   Join the Magnus Fellowship for an education that is as free as it is freeing. 

What is metaphysics? Is it philosophy or science? Is it witchcraft or wizardry? Is it inalterable or constantly changing? Why has it been reinterpreted and misunderstood in today's culture? How do we return metaphysics to its proper place in the order of knowing and learning? Dr. David Arias is a professor of philosophy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, NE. Prior to coming to Nebraska, Dr. Arias taught philosophy, theology, natural science, mathematics, literature, and various other subjects for eleven years at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA. Dr. Arias has published in both scholarly and popular venues. His main areas of scholarly interest are natural philosophy and metaphysics.He is happily married to Jennaya Arias and together they are the blessed parents of fourteen children. Dr. Arias will be teaching his fourth course for the Magnus Fellowship this coming spring! You can find snippets of his past courses, Metaphysics I, Metaphysics II, and Philosophy of Nature, on earlier episodes of the Magnus Podcast. Donors giving just $25/month have access to ALL archived courses. Subscribe to the emails and/or become a fellow, donor, or both here.  

"Humankind, full of all creative possibilities, is God's work. Humankind alone is called to assist God. Humankind is called to co-create." -Hildegard Von Bingen This week's episode features Dr. Matthew Smith - the founder and president of the new Hildegard College. Named for Hildegard Von Bingen, Hildegard College was founded to create both exceptional thinkers and extraordinary creators; at Hildegard College the desire is that all students become polymaths. Learn now how they're setting out to accomplish this goal. The college is currently accepting applications for its inaugural freshman class. Learn more @ Hildegard.college   

     The modern understanding of mathematics is disenchanting and fragmented. Dr. Andrew Seeley is here to talk about mathematics within the ancient understanding of the quadrivium and the greater context of the human person.      Dr. Andrew Seeley is a Tutor at Thomas Aquinas College in California, Director of the Arts of Liberty Project at University of Dallas, Executive Director of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education, and on the Board of Directors for the Albertus Magnus Institute. A 1987 graduate of Thomas Aquinas, Dr. Seeley received his Licentiate from the Pontifical Institute in Medieval Studies (Toronto) and a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto (1995). His dissertation was a study in St. Thomas's teaching about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. He is also on the National Policy Advisory Board for the Catholic High School Honor Roll, Wyoming Catholic College's Catholic Scholars Advisory Board, and a number of Catholic liberal arts schools around the country.  https://artsofliberty.udallas.edu https://catholicliberaleducation.org Find out how you can watch his Euclid course in the Magnus Fellowship https://magnusinstitute.org/courses/a-tour-of-euclids-elements/