At the end of our year at the Center, we offer an extended lecture on Post-modernism, and set of ideas closely related to Modernism, and to a degree outdated now, as we are moving into a new era, too new to name completely. In this first half of a long episode that we have broken into two parts, we ask faculty member Jack Vowell to give us the highlights of this year's lecture on post-modern thought, and in it Hodges and Vowell consider the effect that the assumptions of Modernism have had on our day, including sowing the seeds of a kind of irrationality that seems to be influencing our debates today.

Continuing the last episode, Hodges continues to lay out his four-points of "paleo-conservative" thought, taken from Burke, Eliot, Kirk, and others. The need for #3 intergenerational community, and for #4, common religion as a pre-requisite for healthy society. One mistake: In the recommendation portion of the podcast, Hodges refers from memory to a portion of TS Eliot's FOUR QUARTETS, saying that the quote he recalled was in the second section of East Coker - it is in the fourth section of East Coker.

One of our most popular episodes has been the one we did on Socialism. We thought that the word "Conservative" has lost some of its meaning today, so we decided to address the essence of what some have called "Paleo-conservativism" in distinction to "Neo-Conservativism." Hodges and Vowell discuss the essences of Edmund Burke's "moral imagination" which he pits against the "idyllic imagination" found in the works of Rousseau, and lived out in the bloodbath of the French Revolution and the following Reign of Terror. The four points of the moral imagination that Hodges recounts are: the view that man is basically fallen, that life is tragic, that mankind needs a view of community that transcends our own generation, and that society requires a common belief about religion. This episode covers the first two, while the latter two are included in the next episode.

Why would God require that we not covet? Is it for our benefit somehow? Or maybe it is just so that God won't have to listen to us whine? What if the answer to most of our social conflicts today is as simple as keeping the tenth commandment? In another solo podcast, Director Hodges muses about the meaning and application of the call God gives to resist the temptation to desire what others have.

GK Chesterton -- remember him? -- said once, that "Art is like morals: you have to draw the line somewhere." In this episode, Director Hodges goes solo again offering a meditation on drawing moral lines. Are we SURE that we are not falling into traps laid by our Enemy when we demonize others over political and social issues, pointing fingers, claiming injustices, accusing others? How would our Lord have us address injustices and wrongs? They are real. aren't they? Of course they are real injustices and wrongs - otherwise they would not need to be forgiven.

How did we get to the point of skepticism about reason? Do we trust our reason to give us a picture of reality? Or do we allow our fears, passions, concerns, anxieties, and experiences to lead us more than trusting our reason? What is the place for the imagination in reasoning? Are the two in opposition? Director Hodges gives a meditation on Reason and the Imagination, discussing how we can best apprehend the transcendent God through metaphor.

Can we still afford to have children? Are we putting them off for good reasons? What about the future generations? Hodges and Vowell discuss whether children are an asset or a liability in a technological society. What are the benefits of career over homemaking? How have we lost sight of the importance of the home? Could it be this is the fruit (or lack thereof) of the sexual revolution? Lower birthrates, but higher sexual confusions, pornography, sexual slavery, prostitution, divorce rates, and later marriages all because we are bored with sex?

What with several of the candidates for the US Presidency claiming to actually BE Socialists, we thought it would be good to discuss the characteristics of Socialism in all its manifestations. Hodges and Vowell address the misguided assumption that all human problems can be solved by way of the federal government. Once accepted as true, this assumption makes the claims of Socialism far more compelling, as the essence of Socialism is the promise of Utopia here and now. Who can argue against free education, free health care, and a guaranteed basic income for all? To be against these things is to appear self-centered and expose one to all sorts of insulting labels (racist, sexist, homophobe, bigot, et c.). But aren't there two things to consider here? Diagnosis AND Treatment? Can't one agree to a diagnosis without endorsing the latest proposed Socialist solutions? Hodges recommends Hayek's writings on economics, and Vowell recommends Roger Scruton's writings, in particular, On Beauty (renamed Oxford Very Short Introduction to Beauty.)

Being ironic is the way of our world. But is it possible to be "hip" enough to tell and know the truth? If we "see through" everything, as CS Lewis asks, how is it any different than being blind? When does our cynicism end and our genuine enjoyment begin? Happy New Year From the Center!

It is Advent, and ALMOST Christmas! So we thought we would do a special Christmas episode where we recall Christmases from years past, discuss favorite recipes, Christmas songs, Christmas movies, do each others' hair...well, ok, not really that... but sometimes we need a break from talking about cultural Marxism and warning of the dangers of land wars in Asia...so come join us! Hear a few tunes, and allow us to wallow a bit in nostalgia!