Summer Break at The New Thinkery
The New Thinkery
Since launching in July 2020, The New Thinkery hasn’t taken an extended break—but after nearly five years of weekly episodes, the guys are finally taking a much needed summer pause. The show will return with fresh conversations on political philosophy, literature, film, and more on September 3, 2025, with high-caliber guests on the horizon. In the meantime, revisit your favorite episodes, catch up on ones you may have missed, and spread the word. See you in September, and thank you all for listening in for the past few years!
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Joshua Parens on Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed
The New Thinkery
Josh Parens joins Alex and Greg to discuss his recently released book, . Parens elaborates on a bold interpretation of Maimonides’s Guide of the Perplexed that highlights how the philosopher uses “obstacles” to structure his defense of law, prophecy, and providence. This episode delves into Parens’ middle-ground reading, reframing skeptical and dogmatic extremes as intentionally vague limits that safeguard both revelation and philosophical reason.
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Richard Polt on Heidegger' Origin of the Work of Art
The New Thinkery
This week, a full complement of the guys are back, and are joined by Professor Richard Polt for a deep dive into Heidegger’s The Origin of the Work of Art. Together, they unpack Heidegger’s claims about truth, being, and the unique role art plays in revealing the world. The episode offers an accessible entry point into one of Heidegger’s most challenging—and strangely beautiful—essays. Plus: the virtues of... typewriters?
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Robert Wyllie on Alasdair MacIntyre
The New Thinkery
Greg welcomes Prof. Rob Wyllie back to the show for a thoughtful conversation on the philosophical legacy of Alasdair MacIntyre. Ranging across MacIntyre’s major works—from After Virtue to his reflections on tradition, ethics, and rationality—they consider his influence on contemporary moral philosophy and make an attempt at placing his thoughts intellectually. Recommended reading:
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Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
The New Thinkery
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness offers more than a critique of empire—it’s a meditation on the slipperiness of truth, the fragmentation of self, and the unsettling possibility that meaning is just another European export gone missing. This episode peers into the novella’s narrative hall of mirrors, examining its existential fog, moral vertigo, and the peculiar power of a story that both reveals and withholds in the same breath.
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Ray Bradbury's The Veldt
The New Thinkery
Imagine a Jetsons-esque home that attempts to meet all of your needs while also featuring a room that makes your imagination into reality. Add some behaviorally troubled children imagining bloodthirsty lions into the mix, and you have the setup for Ray Bradbury's The Veldt. In a dystopian tale that would make an excellent episode of Black Mirror, Bradbury explores the pitfalls of tech that robs humanity of purpose. The guys discuss and analyze the story's plot, characters, and more in this week's rerelease.
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Michael McShane on Shakespeare's King Lear
The New Thinkery
Recorded at the most recent , this episode features Michael McShane—educator, writer, and Shakespearean interlocutor—in a wide-ranging discussion of King Lear with both Greg and Alex. The group examine the play’s structural and philosophical dimensions, from the politics of authority and the aesthetics of suffering to questions of justice, recognition, and the limits of language. McShane brings a scholarly yet accessible lens to one of Shakespeare’s most harrowing tragedies. Plus: the guys turn it over to the crowd and field a range of questions from the audience!
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Deacon Harrison Garlick on Gorgias, Part III
The New Thinkery
To celebrate The New Thinkery's 250th episode... David and Alex take the week off. Instead, Greg joins Deacon Harrison Garlick of Ascend - The Great Books Podcast, to take a closer look at the third section of Plato's Gorgias which centers on a dialogue between Socrates and Calicles. The pair follow Socrates as he dismantles the arguments of Callicles, challenging the nature of power, justice, and the good life. As the dialogue intensifies, Socrates draws a stark contrast between the pursuit of pleasure and the pursuit of virtue. Listen in as the guys unpack these timeless questions...
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Bernard J. Dobski on Mark Twain's Recollections of Joan of Arc
The New Thinkery
Professor B.J. Dobski joins Greg and David this week to examine Mark Twain’s Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, a work that stands in stark contrast to Twain’s more familiar satirical writings. Through careful analysis, and using his latest book——as a backdrop, Dobski illuminates Twain’s treatment of virtue, heroism, and historical memory, as well as the novel’s philosophical and political dimensions. The conversation situates Twain’s Joan within broader questions of leadership, sainthood, and the moral imagination.
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Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God
The New Thinkery
This week, Alex and Greg dive into Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God, unraveling its haunting exploration of madness, ambition, and the human condition. They trace the film’s philosophical undercurrents—from existential isolation to the limits of power—set against the backdrop of the unforgiving Amazon. Through sharp analysis and reflective banter, they uncover what Herzog’s fever dream of conquest reveals about the nature of obsession.
info_outlineGreg welcomes Prof. Rob Wyllie back to the show for a thoughtful conversation on the philosophical legacy of Alasdair MacIntyre. Ranging across MacIntyre’s major works—from After Virtue to his reflections on tradition, ethics, and rationality—they consider his influence on contemporary moral philosophy and make an attempt at placing his thoughts intellectually.
Recommended reading:
Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity: An Essay on Desire, Practical Reasoning, and Narrative