Hillsdale College K-12 Classical Education Podcast Kathleen O'Toole & James Hankins: The Golden Thread & Teaching the Western Tradition
Feb 16, 2026
Kathleen O'Toole, Associate Vice President for K-12 Education who leads classical curriculum work, chats with James Hankins, a humanities scholar and textbook author. They explore the Greco-Roman roots of Western culture, how later eras revived classical learning, and why schools should restore the Western tradition. They also debate modernity, civic education, architecture as history, and reading deeply for wisdom.
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West Is A Living Tradition
- Western tradition is a nested succession of civilizations that preserved Greek and Roman culture through conquest and adaptation.
- Examples: Romans adopted Greek learning; Germanic kings and Charlemagne consciously preserved Latin classics to sustain governance and law.
Angkor Wat Visit Shows What Happens Without Preservation
- Hankins recounts visiting Angkor Wat to illustrate civilizations lost when successors don't preserve culture.
- He found scant Khmer sources, contrasting that with continuous preservation in the West via subsequent peoples.
Barbarism As A Loss Of Civic Bonds
- Barbarism is anything that unravels bonds of love and loyalty and makes people worse morally and socially.
- Hankins contrasts historical barbarians with modern forces (like disruptive tech) that erode temperance and civility.
