The Ralston College Podcast

In this lecture for the Temenos Academy in London, delivered on June 19th, 2019, Stephen Blackwood offers a powerful reading of the ancient Roman writer Boethius and his magnum opus The Consolation of Philosophy. After tracing the Ancient Greek roots from which it draws, Blackwood sketches the Consolation's investigation of how the individual can attain self-possession and true fulfillment amidst injustice, misfortune, distraction, and the inexorable movement of time. Blackwood also shows how this perennially influential book, written as its author faced unjust imprisonment and torture, relates the inner life of the individual and the wider cultural renewal with which it is intrinsically connected. Ralston College: www.ralston.ac Don't forget to subscribe!

Dr Jordan Peterson speaks with Dr Stephen Blackwood about our cultural inflection point and higher education, as well as Solzhenitsyn, redemption, and the hunger for meaning.

Renowned intellectuals Jordan Peterson and Roger Scruton discuss the importance of imagination, rejecting idolatrous ideologies, and the significance of truth, beauty, and goodness. They explore the concept of the transcendent, power dynamics and sexuality, the role of literature in promoting understanding and reconciliation, reflections on memory and gratitude, the unfolding of the self in literature and music, and the importance of gratitude and recognizing efforts.

Are we living through an era of madness? Stephen Blackwood sits down with best-selling author Douglas Murray to discuss manifestations of madness in contemporary culture. They explore the metaphysical system sustaining present ideologies, consider the necessity of meaning and forgiveness, and move beyond to discuss the transcendent values and works of art that enlighten, and perhaps offer an antidote for, the madness of the present. Works mentioned: Literature: T. S. Eliot, especially The Four Quartets; Philip Larkin; C. Day-Lewis; Shakespeare Music: Palestrina; Orlando Gibbons; Thomas Tallis, especially Spem in Alium and Lamentations of Jeremiah; Gustav Mahler, especially Symphony No. 3; Igor Stravinsky; Olivier Messiaen; Johannes Brahms, piano; Benjamin Britten; Michael Tippett