The General Eclectic

Rod and Kale discuss the seemingly chronic breakdown of infrastructure in a variety of fronts, from churches and schools, to literal infrastructure, namely, the derailment in Palestine, Ohio. Our leadership class is more concerned about addressing historical injustices than dealing with chemical spills and competency breakdowns. The house is on fire, and our leaders are fixated on window-dressings. Are these the new luxury beliefs? They then move on to talk about Peter Zeihan's The End of the World Is Just the Beginning. What happens economically and politically when a populace has lost faith in the future? If people in the culture no longer have the faith and commitment to sacrifice and even die for it, what happens to the future? discussed: -Synod in for the Church of England -train derailment in Palestine Ohio -Peter Zeihan -Genesis and "be fruitful and multiply" -McIntyre and Christian Smith -kids as a luxury good

Rod and Kale discuss the retreat of Christianity and its replacement with Neo-paganism, which is really just old Paganism in a slightly different register. Too often people dabble in alternate spiritualisms, yet fail to account for the non-benign. Christianity's ascent was based on the power of miracles, more powerful than existing pagan magic. Modern Christianity has fallen in love with the idea. Ideas do not convert, but experiences do. The allure of psychedelics opens people up to a reality, but a reality that is unearned and thus dangerous.   Topics and Links:   Rod's post on Dark Enchantment: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/psychonauts-plinths-re-paganizing-pop-culture/ Robert Knapp's Dawn of Christianity: https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Christianity-People-Magic-Miracles/dp/0674976460 Edward Watt's Final Pagan Generation: https://www.amazon.com/Final-Pagan-Generation-Christianity-Transformation/dp/0520379225/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Rod and Kale meet up to talk about two topics: Cardinal McIlroy's call for changes in the sexual teachings of the Catholic Church, and the horrific tragedy of a young woman killed after a night of drinking and debauchery.   This is a two part show, but connected with our culture's continuing difficulty of making sense out of the sexual revolution.   Topics and Links:   -Cardinal McIlory's piece in America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/01/24/mcelroy-synodality-inclusion-244587 -Rod's post on McIlroy: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/cardinal-screwtape/ -What does "communion" mean? -Rod on Andrew Sullivan's Dishcast: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/lesprit-descalier-dishcast-edition/ -"In This House We Believe" at walmart: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-elite-class-who-hates-life/ -Young Woman in Baton Rouge killed: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11675153/TikTok-bar-Madi-Brooks-seen-shows-students-swigging-straight-bottles.html -Louise Perry's Case Against the Sexual Revolution: https://amzn.to/4066Ln7 -What we do with our bodies matters -Sex and the City is 25 years old! -Binge drinking is connected to the meaning crisis -Freedom in Chastity

Rod and Kale record a conversation about the prophetic vision of Lewis' That Hideous Strength as a way into the notion of the Experience Machine, and the allure of the blue-pill versus the red-pill. See the links below for all the titles they discuss.   Connecting Lewis with Iain McGhilchrist, they jump off into a discussion about Left Hemispheric bias and the turn towards madness in modernity.   The stakes are high; no higher than humanity and the forces that would blithely take us into the post-human.   Topics (in order) with links (affiliated):   - That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis: https://amzn.to/3kjKKRk - The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist: https://amzn.to/3XG0yMB - The Matter With Things by Iain McGilchrist: https://amzn.to/3kv0LEf - Hartmut Rosa on Resonance: https://amzn.to/3J1pBpE - Rod on the Experience Machine: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/robert-nozicks-experience-machine/ - Rod on Young Christian and Eager to Escape: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/young-christian-and-eager-to-escape/  - Churchill: "we build our buildings, and they in turn build us" - Homo Deus and the prophets of post-humanity - the idea of embodied reality in Crawford's Soulcraft book: https://amzn.to/3ZQupUw - The World Beyond Your Head: https://amzn.to/3XpImHm - The Disintegration Machine vs. the Experience Machine - Hierophany at Chartres - Paul Connerton's How Societies Remember: https://amzn.to/3ku3o9m - Is our "holy story" really profane?  

Kale and Rod kick off season 3 to discuss liminal thinkers and the breaking up of old frames to see through, and the emergence of new ones. Standing inside and outside affords new perspectives.They go on to discuss Rod's attendance at the funeral for Pope Benedict XVI, what he saw, and how to make sense out of this giant of the 20th century. Are we in the time of Antichrist? Jumping off from Seewald's magisterial biography of Ratzinger/Benedict, we talk about what he meant and what he means.topics and links (some of these are affiliate links, fyi): -Mary Harrington (@moveincircles) and Louise Perry (@louise_m_perry) as rethinkers from alternate priors: Mary's Feminism Against Progress and Louise's The Case Against the Sexual Revolution. -Joseph Ratzinger's New Paganism address -Rod's 2002 NR Cover story on Catholicism and The Netherlands -the myth of the "Panzer Pope" and the gentle, monk-scholar -Rod's Benedict "Lessons from the funeral" and here -Robert Knapp's The Dawn of Christianity -Ratzinger and the rise of the time of AntiChrist -Sochi The Secret of Benedict -NT Wright's Revelations for Everyone -Benedict as katechon -Peter Seewald's Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the Biography of Benedict

Rod and Kale sit down for a discussion looking forward to the coming year. The first half revolves around the war in Ukraine, the circus of Trumpland and his wobbling strength, the ongoing masque of the groomer clown shows and the "friend-enemy distinction" enchanting the Right.In part two, Rod and Kale tack to a discussion about the weak Christian response to the rising tide of neo-paganism. Is this the "final Christian generation?"They look to patterns, rather than outward signs, and see a hope in the coldest darkest days of the year.Links: -Freddie Sayers and John Mearshiemer: "we're screwed!" -NYT on Charlene Richard -Kingsnorth's Basilisk -Rod on St. Cecilia and Paganism

Rod and Kale pick up their discussion from last week about the ancient substructure of Christendom, and how an understanding of the transformation from pagan to christion sexual morality altered the very concept of free will and the imago dei. Figuring out "what time it is" has become paramount.   Topics: - Rod on "Sex and the Final Christian Generation" - Last week's episode on the ancient churches of Revelation - Kyle Harper's From Shame to Sin, a book about the transformation of sexual morality - a discussion on "how we got here" and then "from where did here originate" - Freud and Rieff - Something is wrong with the cultural scripts - Yoel Roth as a condensed symbol of our cultural decadence

Rod is fresh off a trip to Turkey, visiting the Seven Churches of the Book of Revelation. Walking the places of the early church helps bring home the "realness" of these ancient lands.   Topics: -Turkey and the Seven Churches -the early church as the challenge to the established order -touching real things in real places -Book of Revelations is written for us -Tish Harris Warren NYT piece on "getting along" -Edward Watts' Final Pagan Generation -there is no such thing as "post-religious"; myth is not optional -Idol worship and worshipping in the metaverse -technologies blind us -NT Wright's Revelation for Everyone -burden of being an image-bearer -Twitter is happening (minute 48), and Team Nothingburger is all over it -dark spirits of race resentment  

Rod and Kale engage in a conversation about the manifestations of the dark hearts of our culture. They discuss the repugnant ideas that result from a curated discussion about real things. The demons of white supremacy reemerge in the wake of the race essentialism ideology these past few years, along with other hauntings.   What happens when you are not free to talk out loud? Can we step back from the darkness?   Topics: -Thomas Achord affair and so-called confession -Broken cultures and a broken political discourse -Rocket Man bad -Ketman and Robin Keller and another zoom call from hell -Douglas Wilson and bold conversation vs the soft, fuzzy, bougie chatter -Malcolm X and the move to moderation and maturity -Balenciaga ad campaign to sexualize children -Radical evil is real and all around us -Santa Muerte and the pattern of breakdown -Louise Perry's masterpiece

Rod and Kale meet up for their weekly check in to discuss the aftermath of the red-wave-that-wasn't.   They focus their discussion on the sex and age delta and the strange case of abortion politics, post Roe. The truly post-Christian landscape emerges more clearly as the under 30 cohort show deep left preferences. Obama's "Life of Julia" campaign was a winning pitch.   They tack from election talk to a discussion about cultural transmission, and the cut-off for the rising generations. People are more malleable the less they feel attached to an inheritance.   Ultimately, stories and narrative are vital to any hope for a renaissance of enchantment. We must reconnect.   Links:   Most Dangerous Post Election Lie from Rod Life of Julia from Obama's re-election campaign Louise Perry's book on the Sexual Revolution Zimmerman's Family and Civilization  

Rod and Kale preview the midterm elections.

Rod and Kale talk about the shifting conversations about culture, authority, costs, and ruin. Rod learns how to read through an enchanted lens, and also gives up caring about being called a fascist.   Topics covered: Live Not By Lies on Paperback; Communism's invisible crimes; uncounted costs; Hollywood goes broke on woke; woke preaching comes for David; the loss of credible authority in public health; the Bulwark goes full affirm and unveils the truth; Chris Rufo and the Origins of Drag Queen Story Hour; Heather Heying's piece trying to wake up Mama Bears; what is real in the wake of Dylan Mulvaney; Matthieu Pageau's Cosmos; the sexual revolution and the abuse of the real; Rod's Sex after Christianity; meaning is intrinsic to matter, contra to modernity; aborting Jesus is a-okay; Macintryre' crucial turning point; "Rod Dreher, American Fascist"?   

    Rod and Kale kick off their weekly show with a discussion about the darkness hovering just below the surface. FBI chaplains, covering abuse, the compelling nature of the trans narrative and cultural boredom.   We move on to discuss Hanby's Metaphysical Catastrophe and the need for real authority.   -conversations with an FBI Chaplain and the darkness under the surface -the evil you fight works on you; you are changed by what you fight -the compelling nature of the trans narrative -power of sexuality outside of norms -affluence and boredom, and the preconditions for cultural collapse -The Beautiful Ones -Hartmut Rosa's Resonance, and the limitations of the material -need to Struggle and the First Man and the Underground man -Need for norms and the creation of idiots -the limits of conservative legalism -Hanby's Metaphysical Catastrophe and the lack of Authority -McGilchrist's Left Hemisphere temptation -Shigilov's plan -Matthieu Pageau and the Language of Creation -Hopkin's Grandeur of God and Hiedegger's Standing Reserve -Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: the balance of power and meaning -We must contend with the fact that our world is not Christian -the law absent spirit is tyranny; the Grand Inquisitor -are we all just LARPing? -Avatar Politics and senate races -Megyn Kelly and Trump's position of primacy -Statesmanship -Synod on Synodality extension and a defacto Vatican III -"good guys" and "bad guys" -Peter and Paul's listening tours  

Rod and Kale return to discuss the latest in the ongoing ferment of cultural churn. Rod is settling into his new digs in Budapest and they discuss notions of exile and disrupted homecomings. Taking Dante as a jumping off point, they go on to discuss Rod's departure from Louisiana and the tragic dimensions of life.   Topics covered:   -Dante -Exile,  -Dante, and another man's stairs -Learning how to suffer -Learning how to love correctly -Erik Kaufman's latest on Political Demography -Kids and Culture: necessary transmissions -Philip Reiff -Need for "Friction" -Looming energy crisis -Ian McGhilchrist -Louise Perry -Crimes of Noticing   Rod's GOODBYE, LOUISIANA. I TRIED Rod's FORGETTING HOW TO BE A CIVILIZATION Kale on "NORMS"   Kale's Substack THE UNDERNEATH  

Rod and Kale return after a hiatus to discuss: war continues in Ukraine, and a dark and cold winter awaits potential breakup of the European Union? do the elites truly believe that they "create their own reality"? institutions continue to lie and burn through cultural capital; what is left to trust? can the organs of cultural transmission be salvaged? English departments as one-time de facto theology departments Kale's trip to Oxford and the statements of faith St. Michel, or "The Wonder" learning to inhabit a space, and the appreciation of old things

Rod and Kale meetup to discuss all things TGE after Rod's travel sagas land him back in England and then Budapest.   Topics covered, in order: - Oxford and Cambridge adventures; no more atheists - WEIRD folks are the outliers who must contend with the robustness of belief - insufficiency of pure materialism - snuff with Cardinal Muller - English Christianity, Malcolm Guite and Martin Shaw's conversion to the "true myth" - liturgies and Christian dreaming - Thin Spaces and Thin Experiences - "re-wilding" of Christianity - necessity for metaphysics and the insufficiency of mere politics - policy disputes as a substitute for real talk about what we are for - importance of attention - lost America and the return of the 80's - dignity done: Tiara Mack and performative senatorial twerking - Rod on the Jordan Peterson podcast - divorce and the Dark Wood   LINKS: Read and subscribe to Kale's new substack  Read and subscribe to Rod's substack  Mary Harrington on Satanism

Kale sits down with Tara Ann Thieke to discuss The Machine, Spirits, Technology and the struggle to be human.   In the first half of the show they talk about what it could mean to be in a "post-Christian" world and the limits of the liberal order, and in particular what the implications are for people raised in this order and the reality of the meaning crisis. In the second half they talk about spirits.    Topics covered: Ellul and Illich Edith Stein paying attention to the face as an antidote to memes human person as Icon rather than thing or instrument curating your own social media game Spirits and compulsion Millennials have been lied to Benedict Option for those who have "timed out" the spirit of Ahriman Buffered and Porous models no neutrality in the spirit world

The guys discuss the aftermath of yet another mass shooting, the rush to assign blame and score it, and the need to create a sense of control in the face of American nihilism. They move on to talk about the world given to us by our elites, and the loss of the wisdom of "how to live."   In the second part they get into things more personal, in the context of the breakdown of authority, and Rod's own "domicide."   Links: Jonathan Pageau on Sacrifice Joshua Mitchell's America's Awakening Auron MacIntyre TWEET Alison in New Orleans

Rod and Kale are joined by filmmaker, podcaster, and best-selling children's author Matt Walsh of DailyWire.com to discuss his new hit movie “What is a Woman?”   The interview is the first half, followed by a debrief between Rod and Kale in the second. 

Rod and Kale have Yoram Hazony on to talk about his just released book "Conservatism: A Rediscovery."   They discuss: - Can Conservatives learn to Conserve? - Post-fusionism and Cultural Transmission - Public and Personal realms - No real "Neutrality" - Honor creates a world - Freedom above all and the dissolution of Family - Woke as a placeholder for the loss of tradition - Post WW2 cultural trauma - The Bible's centrality - The successes of Enlightenment Rationalism - Institutional capture - False nazi smears and "postures versus arguments" - Fight for restoration not revolution - Yoram's personal turn to Conservatism through lived tradition   Read Rod at his blog at The American Conservative More from Rod at roddreher.substack.com More from Kale at kalezelden.substack.com

Rod and Kale return after a 6 week sabbatical to cover what has been going on politically, culturally, and personally in the past six weeks.   The talk: -Jerusulem -Russia and Ukraine -Orban -Media Class Blindness -Enemies as Parasites -our New Media Disinformation Tsar -Roe v. Wade -Spanish Civil War -Statecraft -Purity Politics -Pilgrimage and physical reality   Kale has started "The Underneath," a new Substack at: kalezelden.substack.com    Links: Prelude to a Tragedy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu5f9hp0IP4 The Subversive Podcast: https://alexkaschuta.com/subversive-podcast

In their warm up, Kale and Rod talk about the Slap Heard 'Round the World at this year's Oscars and the snoozefest it has become. They move into a discussion of the deeper implications of the question: "what is a woman?"   Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson professed her inability to answer the question at the confirmation hearings, and they talk about the deeper implications of why this matters, especially in our current moment.    They then talk about the NatCon Conference in Brussels, and especially the bold speech of Eva Vlaardingerbroek as well as Alex Kaschuta, host of The Subversive Podcast and their critiques of Western Liberalism. The question is serious: will it hold?   Have we lost Western Civilization's "default settings"? Or are we doomed to continue to toil in the world of Crowley?   They move on to discuss Iain McGilchrist and his vision of purpose encoded in the natural world. Can we rediscover our purpose, or are we simply waiting for the barbarians to take us? Are we stuck in Necropolis?   They finish up on a conversation about the prophetic role of the church, and the need for moral leadership. What do we do when these, too, are captured?   Links: KJB and What is a Woman?: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/woman-man-ketanji-brown-jackson-woman-gender-ideology-fight-against-evil/ The Vicar's Wife's Lament: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/frustrated-laywoman-to-anglican-leaders-find-your-spines/ Subversive Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AORn2H3hCSs TGE Show with Helena: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52WFFekjcSc&t=4s The City in History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_in_History

In this episode of The General Eclectic, Rod and Kale talk about the spreading and manufacture of cultural confusion on several fronts: gender ideology and the culture war, surrogacy and the gaming of procreation, the corruption of institutional churches, and the confusion over the war in Ukraine.   Rod attended a seminar with Eric Kaufman who argues that all conservative energy must be directed towards the culture war, as the demographic reality is staggeringly grim. The capture of "the kids" proceeds apace and there is no time for version of that old lie: "the kids will grow up when they enter the real world."   Complacency is abnegation.   Links: Swim Not By Lies: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/swim-not-by-lies-lia-thomas/ Woke at Disney: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/walt-disney-conservative-employees-closet-dont-say-gay/ Eric Kaufmann speech: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/eric-kaufmann-peril-of-culture-war-complacency/ Judith Rich Harris: https://www.amazon.com/Nurture-Assumption-Children-Revised-Updated/dp/1439101655 Mary Harrington: https://unherd.com/thepost/where-are-dave-rubins-babies-coming-from/

Kale and Rod are joined by Helena, a young woman who has gone through a harrowing personal journey. Her testimony takes us into the world of Tumblr and the alternate reality of fandom, social justice ideology, and transgenderism. At 15 she begins the process of becoming a trans person online and decides to become trans in "meat space," fighting with her parents and making the decision through "informed consent" to begin a regimen of testosterone. After a drawn out spiral she acknowledges that she's made a terrible mistake and begins the process of making sense out of what happened. She's a witness and a prophet.   Links: Helena's By Any Other Name: https://lacroicsz.substack.com/p/by-any-other-name?s=r Our Episode on "Liturgies": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PpKbx5k3es

Rod and Kale talk about the war in the context of the Anglo and Chinese polarity and the West's demand to be moral versus the Chinese demand to be obeyed. Why does the West have Billionaires, but Russia has Oligarchs?   They go on to discuss the fragility of civilizational networks and the fragility of global economics.   Will Twitter spark World War III? Lindsey Graham's takes to twitter and calls on a would-be Brutus.   They go on to discuss technology and a post-human future, the logic of transhumanism, and John the Savage.   They close on a discussion of Russian art and moral panic, and the simplified scripts we use to make sense of the complex world.     Links: Orban Interview: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/viktor-orban-interview-mandiner/ Fifth Column Taibbi episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/348-w-matt-taibbi-richard-perle-in-new-jersey-putin/id1097696129?i=1000552854933 Aaron Renn on Gen Xers: https://aaronrenn.substack.com/p/generation-x-finally-steps-into-the?r=57as1&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email Matthew Crawford: http://www.matthewbcrawford.com/new-page-1-1 Helena's Substack: https://lacroicsz.substack.com/p/by-any-other-name?s=r Paul Kingsnorth: https://emergencemagazine.org/fiction/the-basilisk/ Kale's article "Things Are Broken": https://onepeterfive.com/things-are-broken-we-need-to-upgrade-our-sense-making-apparatus/ Scruton's Video Essay: https://vimeo.com/549715999

Rod and Kale are joined by Paul Vanderklay, pastor and YouTuber, to discuss Rod's latest project on Enchantment.   Rod starts off with his story of Saint Galgano and the sword in the stone as a way of laying out his new project. These fantastic stories are the living testimony of the very strange God and the stories of those men and women called to bear witness. In Modernity, we have lost our ability to see fully and as a result we live in the disenchanted world that delimits and occludes the spirit. Any move towards re-enchantment must somehow include the enlightenment, and thinkers like Iain McGilchrist provide us a path back. In part, the recognition that "the whole story" or the "subtraction story" of Charles Taylor is, too, a myth.   They talk about Jordan Peterson as "the unauthorized exorcist of the Gospel of Mark", Charles Taylor, Tonya Luhrman, Blaise Pascal, Sam Harris, Dallas Willard, Michel Houellebecq, BJ Campbell, Steve Skojec, and others.   Links: Paul's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/PaulVanderKlay

Kale is joined by Paul Rossi, independent school teacher turned activist. They discuss what is going on in our nation's most elite schools, and their radical transformation through critical race theory praxis. What is "religious" about the DEI training? Paul offers an insight from the inside out. As he says toward the end, "I want to start a revolution" in order to save the schools from capture.   In between this conversation about schools and DEI, Kale and Paul talk about liberal learning and what schools are for, and how a solid education in the wisdom traditions can be a kind of inoculation. As Paul admits, "there are no secular solutions" to what we are going through. We hope you enjoy.   Paul's piece on Bari Weiss' Substack: https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/i-refuse-to-stand-by-while-my-students?utm_source=url Paul's exposure of the People of Color Conference through NAIS: https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/02/project-launch-unmasking-national-association-of-independent-schools/ https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/02/project-launch-unmasking-national-association-of-independent-schools/ Communism Doesn't Know How: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5HZvOSvLzM students learn to lie Polyanna curriculum: https://pollyannainc.org/ from the Golden Rule to the Platinum Rule private schools are not immune will the bill come due? meaning trumps non-meaning

In this episode, Rod and Kale discuss the underlying issue of "telos"—the end or purpose of a thing—as a necessary guide for action, whether in the context of the military or schools or any institution. What can you ground a culture or civilization upon? Is self-definition enough? Is desire sufficient? They move into a discussion of curated narratives and then into Sam Brinton, the BDSM enthusiast and new Biden appointee. What are the grounds for us to object?    They end with a discussion of liturgies. We all have liturgies—modes of scripted and often unconscious behaviors that "create" us or form us. What do our own personal and public liturgies create in and through us?   Topics: War and Perspective "Critical Military Theory"  Fog of War, and the myth of administrative control "We create our own reality" When ideals clash with the telos What is a School for? Sam Brinton Narrative Suppression Pageau and the Liturgies of Sin Liturgies form and imply telos Normalizing Kink Auden watches a movie with Germans Liturgies of the death works and classical liberalism the long spirits that form us     Links: https://taskandpurpose.com/opinion/critical-military-theory/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fog_of_War

In this episode of the podcast, Kale and Rod have a conversation in three parts: Russia and Ukraine, the use and abuse of Dialogue in Church and culture matters, and Rod's work on Enchantment.   The first section is a discussion of the escalation of war rhetoric surrounding Russia and Ukraine, and the chorus of foreign policy voices seeming to cheerlead another conflict. It always seems to be Munich for a certain type of D.C. pundit. Kale presses Rod to discuss his loss of faith in foreign wars twenty years ago with the Iraq debacle. What are we left with when narratives collapse? Can we see outside of our own bubbles?   The second section focuses on dialogue done in good faith versus dialogue with bad faith actors. Why does dialogue mask actual and important differences of not just policy, but arguments over the very basis of reality?   In the third section, Rod discusses his work in enchantment, his reading of Hartmut Rosa and the idea of "resonance", and a podcast between Jordan Peterson and Chloé Valdary.

Rod and Kale sit down to discuss the conspicuous displays of the anniversary of January 6th, and the power of political liturgies to manufacture consensus. Should January 6th be mentioned in the same breath as Pearl Harbor and 9/11? What motivates the public displays of our media class? What really happened, and who controls what we ultimately think about it?   They go on to discuss: the rhyming of January 6 with the Gunpowder Plot how do you know if you've been captured by your own script? what do our "priors" reveal and obscure to us? are these public scripts controllable, and how will the CCP fare? the "incentives code" and the Soviet Union and contemporary China scapegoating of the "unvaxxed" and the precursors to soft totalitarianism why isn't the gospel compelling to young ears? If you have questions or suggestions, you can contact the show at thegeneraleclectic@gmail.com

Rod and Kale are joined by Sean Clifford, proud husband, father of four, and an anti-pornography advocate. He is CEO of Canopy, a company dedicated to the safety of families and children amidst the scourge of online pornography. We discuss why many parents and leaders are not equipped to deal with the hyper-novelty of what Sean calls "new porn." In other words, this is not your fathers stash of girlie magazines. High def, ubiquitous, and easy access video porn is everywhere, and it has its design on our attention and ultimately our souls. Sean talks about the ratchet effect, and the way in which new porn shapes your desires and dominates your attention. The science on online porn use is clear, and many are suffering. They go on to talk about the "failure to launch" many young men are facing, and what possible role porn plays. Are we equipped to deal with hyper-novelty in the virtual/sexual realm? Sean has launched a company called Canopy.us, and the impressive AI they deploy to work with families struggling to utilize the good of technology, without the filth. Check it out.

Rod and Kale bring on writer and social critic Tim Stanley to discuss his book on Tradition. Tim argues for the dynamism of Tradition versus the bone-sifting endemic to various forms of "Traditionalism". They go on to discuss the notion that conservatism is more an instinct rather than a series of policy prescriptions.    Tim's book: Whatever Happened to Tradition?: History, Belonging and the Future of the West: Stanley, Tim: 9781472974129: Amazon.com: Books

We open with this podcast with a discussion about good books, and why we read what we read, and in particular, how fiction can draw you in, grab you, and give experience. Reading fiction is no mere escapist cope, but rather an invitation into other worlds and broadened horizons, a kind of pilgrimage of the imagination.   In the second half, Rod pivots to talk about the rise of DMT and other hallucinogens, and the coming mainstreaming of these kinds of "religious hacks." Are they "real," or are they mere phantoms of the mind. These questions move us into a discussion about spiritual realities, and the relative cultural naivete of the modernist delusions. We are participants in the meaning-deserts of modernity, and old books might provide a way to re-enter into the mysteries of creation.       Links:   Carl Trueman podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OulW5T-9pgY&t=11s Mary Harrington podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-PANVg0QR0&t=4s How God Becomes Real by T. M. Luhrman: https://www.amazon.com/How-God-Becomes-Real-Invisible/dp/0691164460/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1639595917&sr=8-2 That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis: https://www.amazon.com/C-S-Lewis-Fairy-Tale-Grown-Ups/dp/B00HTK8EQQ/ref=sr_1_4?crid=ZOSQNBP0TBVM&keywords=that+hideous+strength+by+c.s.+lewis&qid=1639596153&sprefix=that+hide%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-4 R. L. Wilkins' "Church As Culture": https://www.firstthings.com/article/2004/04/the-church-as-culture Leon Kass' The Hungry Soul: https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Soul-Eating-Perfecting-Nature/dp/0226425681 Charles Taylor's The Secular Age: https://www.amazon.com/Secular-Age-Charles-Taylor/dp/0674986911/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=charles+taylor&qid=1639596347&s=books&sr=1-1    

Mary Harrington, contributing editor at Unherd, writer and self-professed "Reactionary Feminist", joins Rod and Kale today to discuss both her speech at NatCon 2 as well as her "conservatives in the mist" reportage of the scene in Orlando. Mary has coined several terms that are useful in the discussion of what is going on and where are we going: meat-lego memeplex, bio-libertarianism, and reactionary-feminism. She describes three basic approaches to the death of modernism: Trads, Cads, & RadFems.   The wide-ranging conversation covers plenty of ground. In the second half, they discuss the return of the grooming gangs nightmare in the U.K., and the unwillingness of so many to look at the actual costs of our system built upon consent and sexual liberalism.   They end up with an exchange on the purpose and direction of conservatism: is it enough to be "anti-woke", or is there something else necessary.   Topics discussed: NatCon 2; Atheism of Progress; economic transitions and the ongoing sex wars; the limits of neoliberal transactionalism; satanism as self help; satanism and the puritans, bio-libertarianism; sex differences; sexual liberalism; consent; grooming gangs, bio-surveillance and meat avatars.    Links:  The American Right's civil war - UnHerd The sexual revolution killed feminism - UnHerd How Satanism conquered America - UnHerd Reactionary Feminist: Reactionary Feminist   You can find her at Unherd.com and on twitter.com @moveincircles

Rod and Kale are joined by Carl Trueman, professor and author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. Carl gives a big picture overview of the book, particularly as regards the loss of the sense of a Sacred Order. Carl makes the claim that the battle for our time is one over the imagination, and the fallout over the disconnect with the real. They discuss the implications for our culture, the raising of children, and the future of our children.   Topics and books discussed: Philip Rieff; Triumph of the Therapeutic; Hamlet; Dante; Reformations; Percy Bysshe Shelley; Paradise Lost; technology and the divorce from real relationships; Christianity and Pride Activism; Abigail Shrier; Schleiermacher; Integralism; Theonomism; Tom Holland's Dominion; mass psychosis; Michael Hanby; technology; the sexual revolution

In this episode Rod and Kale discuss Liquid Modernity as the acidic solvent upon the foundations of civilization. We are witnessing the pulling apart of the patterns of life, the ties that bind, the warp and woof of communities, all in the name of liberation.   The implicit nihilism at the core of these modern ideologies must be challenged by a re-assertion of our divine callings. We must create life where we are. Jordan Peterson's unique ability to speak to those caught in the clutches of nihilistic despair should be built out and amplified.   Topics discussed: The Rittenhouse narrative Liquid modernity Queer theory and the transvaluation of value Church of England's contempt for a call for more babies The rise of NB's and the reprogramming of our social algorithms Jordan Peterson and the neutering of the male.

In this episode Rod and Kale discuss the surprising Republican victory in Virginia and his recent trip to the National Conservatism Conference in Orlando. In the aftermath, the questions arise as to what will a conservative coalition look like in the future. What kind of tent can be built to include the integralists on the one hand, and the "classical liberal" non-religious? What would a viable coalition look like?   In the next section, they discuss the doubling down of progressive media in the wake of the pushback in Virginia. Is this the "Chris Rufo" citizen-activist election? Why can't the media admit that CRT is a real thing?    They finish up talking about Ibram X. Kendi's tweet that gave away the game, and the new University of Austin.

Rod and Kale are joined by New York Times columnist (and friend) Ross Douthat to discuss his new book The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness & Recovery. His harrowing account opens up spaces for rethinking what we think we know, the limitations of official accounts, and the deep mysteries of the buffered and porous self.   Links: Charles Taylor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Secular_Age Michael Specter's The Lyme Wars: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/07/01/the-lyme-wars Ross's Substack preview: https://douthat.substack.com/p/the-deep-places-a-preview  Rod's Blog Post: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/ross-douthat-the-deep-places-tick-bite-prophet-lyme/

Rod and Kale talk about Elizabeth Zerofsky's piece in the New York Times about the postliberal American Right. In the conversation, they wonder out loud if the "normie" reaction from center-right and center-left stems from a disgust-reaction to the Heretic. Rod and other writers like TAC's Sohrab Ahmari dare to critique the capital "L" Liberalism of American Conservatism, and look to someone like Viktor Orban who is not squeamish about the business of Statecraft.   Despite Rod being called "An Aging Hipster," the piece is quite fair.And though Rod considers himself largely "un-cancelable" due to The American Conservative, he was initially nervous. Fortunately, she accurately portrayed what these figures on the postliberal Right think. Wokeness has become the default operating system of the Cathedral, and having a fair hearing in the most significant platform is a big deal. What leaves classical liberalism so vulnerable to the illiberal left? State power is a fact and conservatives need to take it seriously as Statecraft.   The left has moved into "Error Has No Rights" territory, so that anyone in opposition to their desires is a Heretic, a kind of left-wing Integralism.   Rod will be speaking about these topics at the upcoming National Conservatism Conference.   Links: Zarofsky piece:The Viktor Orban Effect: Why U.S. Conservatives Love Hungary - The New York Times (nytimes.com)  Christoper Caldwell: https://www.amazon.com/Age-Entitlement-America-Since-Sixties/dp/1501106899 George Nash: https://www.amazon.com/Conservative-Intellectual-Movement-America-Since/dp/1933859121   JD Vance piece: Stop Treating Left-Wing Advocacy Groups Like Charities | Opinion (newsweek.com) Shrier: When the State Comes for Your Kids | City Journal (city-journal.org) National Conservatism Conference: National Conservatism Conference Bari Weiss: Opinion | Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Rod joins Kale to discuss several new eruptions of the ongoing culture wars: the latest kerfuffle at Yale and another sign that a Civil War (of sorts) is closer than we may want to believe. Our fragile infrastructure as a potential flash point, showing our vulnerabilities are all too available, notes Malcolm Kyeyune.    The Biden administration seems to be playing a game of chicken with their mandates and the airlines. The whole vaccine narrative appears to be much more unstable than either Rod or Kale initially thought. Our Medical and Scientific establishment is not doing themselves any favors in their hard move towards ideology.   Rod has been predicting the slide into Soft Totalitarianism, and we seem to be racking up evidence on a daily basis.   We are being lied to continuously.  Civil War? What Would US Civil War Look Like? - The American Conservative Hormone Skepticism:Ideological Medicine Undermines Trust - The American Conservative Yale Trap House of Horrors: Soft Totalitarianism's Legal Brigade - The American Conservative Prof. Kingsfield: After Obergefell, Revisiting Prof. Kingsfield - The American Conservative Jon Gruden is a Sinner: NFLPA to petition NFL to release all emails from Washington Football Team investigation after Jon Gruden's resignation (espn.com)

Rod and Kale talk about Robert Nozick's Experience Machine thought experiment. A longtime teacher tweeted out her shock that after years of teaching this to the class, a majority of her students decided that they would prefer the simulacrum to the real thing—they would prefer the pleasant lie to the painful truth. They hash out what this could mean from a cultural standpoint and the long-term effects of the lost Wisdom culture.

What happens when you put an Anglican, an Eastern Orthodox, and a Catholic in a zoom room?   Kale and Rod are joined by Fr. Daniel French, Anglican priest and podcaster at Irreverend. They discuss the possible Green Passports, church shutdowns, and the specter of having to take the church underground.    Do we know our faith? Are confessional divisions suddenly much less important. is the need to band together and have a Christianity of the Gulag.   With state encroachment in the offing, what is the limiting principle? Are our co-religionists ready for what's coming?

Kale hosts a conversation with Rod and Michael Brendan Dougherty, senior writer at National Review. They discuss: Orban, Fidesz, and the "conservative fascination with Hungary." Is corruption a form of statecraft? The Fog Machine of the Culture War What will be left for posterity? Progressives aren't happy

Rod and Kale catch up after Rod's return from Italy and his meeting with Pope Francis. They talk about: The aftermath of Hurricane Ida's destruction of Louisiana Meeting Pope Francis during his trip to Rome The Ruling class's conflation of Nazi liberation with LGBTQ+ initiatives Do members of Conservative Inc. understand how far the Overton Window has shifted? Academic disruptions at Princeton, and Catholic schools Bostock violation Noone really wants to be weird, especially the W.I.E.R.D. Lewis' Inner Ring Rod's pilgrimage to Galgano    

Kale is joined today by his brother Mark Zelden, a long-time Capitol Hill guy, to discuss the Trump administration from the inside. Mark talks about the differences between Trump and the so-called Republican Establishment, and his own journey from skeptic to supporter.   They discuss the unintended consequences of free trade, the unexpected Trump win, the move to the transition team, and the shocking experiences of the first crazy days especially after the Russia storm hits hard two weeks into the transition.    Mark and Kale move on to talk about polarization, and Trump as a symptom and not a cause. This polarization has been manufactured, and it's roots reach back over 30 years oftentimes inadvertently caused by otherwise understandable reforms. The surrounding culture of members of congress altered the politics.   Seeing Trump in the context of Obama illuminates and exposes these already grooved trends. The character that haunts all of these long trends is of course President Biden, nearing the half-century mark of time in Washington. Mark closes on why he thinks the President will not be removed, and why Trump will be elected in 2024. Buckle up.

Rod and Kale discuss Rod's upcoming trip to Italy to promote Live Not By Lies as well as a trip to San Galgano and the strange story that has been part of Rod's life for the last few years. They move on to discuss an impending hostage crisis in Afghanistan, and the deep resonances with the Iran situation when Rod was a kid. He wonders if we are moving into our own version of the "Chernenko Years." Chernenko is the image Rod uses of the teetering Gerontocratic mess of late Soviet decline. We too are run by a gerontocracy, and they discuss why have we been unable to cycle this generation through. They move on to discuss Kyeyune's essay "Farewell to Bourgeois Kings and the sad truth that our elites are no longer effective. What they are doing simply no longer works.    They move on to discuss the long-term effects of people being mediated through social media, and the growing rift between the real and the virtual. We are overwhelmed by complexity. What role do the pattern-watchers have in making sense of the madness? How does the truth get translated?   Mentioned in this episode:   Keyune's essay: https://tinkzorg.wordpress.com/2021/08/16/farewell-to-bourgeois-kings/ Carl Trueman: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Triumph-Modern-Self-Individualism/dp/1433556332 The Big Short: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Short-Inside-Doomsday-Machine/dp/0393338827/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+big+short&qid=1629980900&s=books&sr=1-2 The Benedict Option: https://www.amazon.com/Benedict-Option-Strategy-Christians-Post-Christian/dp/0735213305/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+benedict+option&qid=1629980940&s=books&sr=1-1 Live Not By Lies: https://www.amazon.com/Live-Not-Lies-Christian-Dissidents/dp/0593087399/ref=pd_bxgy_1/139-4770705-8318864?pd_rd_w=8rsGn&pf_rd_p=c64372fa-c41c-422e-990d-9e034f73989b&pf_rd_r=JFA4X70W1MZANGGKQH72&pd_rd_r=a7db35fc-082c-42bc-96e7-880a2ef75684&pd_rd_wg=ext9X&pd_rd_i=0593087399&psc=1

Rod and Kale discuss the immediate aftermath of the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan and the 20 years in the making debacle. How did this happen, and who is to be held accountable? They discuss the resonances between this disgraceful exit and the exit from Vietnam. Will there be a hostage crisis in the aftermath? Does this catastrophe reveal a breakdown in our intelligence capabilities, our diplomacy, our political will and overall sense-making?   They they transition to a discussion of social media's role not only in public virtue signaling amongst the elites, but the increasing role the virtual spaces play in our ongoing cultural crisis. What have all these things done to the collective trust?     Mentioned in this episode:   Tuchman's March of Folly: https://www.amazon.com/March-Folly-Troy-Vietnam/dp/0345308239 Kipling's The Gods of the Copybook Headings http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_copybook.htm Andy Bacevich: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/07/books/review/after-the-apocalypse-andrew-bacevich.html Laura Jadeed: https://laurajedeed.medium.com/afghanistan-meant-nothing-9e3f099b00e5

Rod and Kale discuss: 1. The sad phenomenon of a culture that has lost hope--why don't we want kids? 2. Mid-century Madness and the failures of the post-Christian cultural elites 3. The Pillar story fall-out and the need for full disclosure   Links: Rod on Helmut Kentler: The Second Coming Of Helmut Kentler | The American Conservative Benjamin Boyce de-trans stories: (1) DeTrans Stories - YouTube Pillar Fallout: From Pillar To Post | The American Conservative

Rod is back and joins Kale to discuss two main topics: the revelation of government surveillance using the Pegasus software and Pope Francis' latest Motu Proprio undermining the Traditional Latin Mass. Institutional rot continues to make itself visible, both with governments and with churches.    Rod's story on Pegasus: Pegasus And 'The End Of Privacy' | The American Conservative Rod's story on Pope Francis: 'Et Tu, Francisce?' | The American Conservative

Kale is joined today by Dr. Larry Chapp, blogger and retired professor, in discussing Ross Douthat's latest piece at First Things. The mid-century inspired accommodation between Catholicism and American liberal democracy is fraying, so that the existing "liberal" and "conservative" camps no longer appear operative. Emergent are four basic subgroups: populists, integralists, benedictines, and tradinistas. Larry and Kale go to discuss why the old friction-less detente is in need of an upgrade, and why the message of faith must recapture the goodness, the essential attractiveness, of the Good News. Enjoy.   Links:   Douthat First Things piece: Catholic Ideas and Catholic Realities by Ross Douthat | Articles | First Things We Hold These Truths: We Hold These Truths by John Courtney Murray (goodreads.com) Larry's Blog: Gaudium et Spes 22 – Dr. Larry Chapp Links to our former discussions: (1) Kale Zelden - YouTube