MindMatters

Many of our most basic assumptions about life, values and reality itself come to us from the thinking and writing of some of our best known philosophers. But what if some of those leading figures were only ever capable of understanding reality with what Ian McGilchirst might consider half a brain, and what Andrew M. Lobaczewski called a schizoidally impoverished worldview? How would we even know?...

Primarily known for his philosophy of history, British philosopher R.G. Collingwood's life was cut short in 1943 at the age of 53. As Ray Monk puts it, his replacement by Gilbert Ryle " changed the course of philosophy forever ," and it in a good way. Collingwood's clear, expansive, and incisive style was replaced by the ratiocentric style of the analytic philosophers. But desp...

How many scientists engage in unethical behavior? Does peer review even work? What is the reproducibility crisis? The "white hat" bias? Science has acquired a reputation of mythical proportions, but there are enough skeletons in the closet to warrant some skepticism about its many claims. At its best, science in an indispensable means of approaching truth, but at its worst it can be shor...

Peter Jackson’s excellent new documentary Get Back provides an inside view of one of legendary rock band The Beatles' last recording sessions and their final public performance. Inspired by our viewing of the three-part documentary, today on MindMatters we discuss our thoughts about not only the Beatles and the nature of creativity, but also musical giant John Lennon’s incredible artistry, th...

History is rarely cut and dried, but important historical events are quite often portrayed in a very limited context, providing a very narrow understanding of how the world actually works. Or how the omission of a certain set of facts can almost completely upend our ‘map of reality’; the commonly understood factors which brought about the Russian Revolution of 1917 being just such a story.  When w...

Today on MindMatters we give a preview of what's to come in 2022, including some of the books we've been reading: Richard Spence's "Wall Street and the Russian Revolution" and Iain McGilchrist's "The Matter with Things." We also respond to a reader comment. Are we ignoring the dangers of rightwing authoritarianism and overplaying the dangers on the left? 

MindMatters is back! On this New Year's episode, we discuss the work of Michael McConkey on the managerial revolution in the West, its relevance for ponerology, and McConkey's new substack " The Circulation of Elites ," which discusses all these topics. Tune in for insights on the "new class", why it provides the perfect cover for political psychopaths, the fundamenta...

When is a stop sign just a stop sign, and not a hidden message from your mother? Why are we excited about new things, only to become bored with them when the novelty wears off? This week on MindMatters we discuss the book The Molecule of More by Dr. Daniel Lieberman and Michael E. Long. During the discussion we cover the fine line between creativity and madness, how it is that most of what we tell...

What happens when you combine the investigative mentation of Sherlock Holmes with the adventurous spirit Indiana Jones? Join MindMatters today as we find out! We are joined by solver of mysteries and detective of antiquities Russell Gmirkin, author of two groundbreaking books on the composition of the Old Testament, and another soon to be published. In his first book, Russell boldly argued that th...

Gurdjieff escaped the Russian Empire during the outbreak of mass madness otherwise known as the Great Russian Revolution. He lived and taught in France during the Nazi occupation. But the connection between Gurdjieff, the Fourth Way, and totalitarianism isn't much discussed, so on this episode of MindMatters we welcome back Alan Francis of the International School of the Fourth Way to discuss...

Wherein your MindMatters hosts share their brain thoughts on recent news and random things, like the death of Norm MacDonald, death itself, humor, Nicki Minaj, and why Klaus Schwab needs his own action figure.  MindMatters on odysee: https://odysee.com/@MindMatters:4  Audio on BuzzSprout: https://mindmatters.buzzsprout.com/

Today on MindMatters we interview renowned American philosopher Nicholas Capaldi, author of numerous books, including The Art of Deception and the definitive biography of John Stuart Mill . Recently retired, Professor Capaldi reflects on his experiences teaching, the increasingly oppressive climate in American universities, the political philosophy of Mill, and why things have gotten so crazy in t...

Was the fall of Soviet communism 30 years ago a liberation, or just the replacement of one totalitarian ideology with another? Today on MindMatters we interview Polish philosopher Zbigniew Janowski about his recent book, Homo Americanus: The Rise of Totalitarian Democracy in America . In a quest to understand current trends in American society and politics, Professor Janowski revisited the classic...

Language. We use it to speak, obtain information and enrich our minds. We’re immersed in it every day and would find it nearly impossible to communicate and exist in the ways that we’re used to without it. And yet the use of language - and all its  varied and nuanced components - are very largely taken for granted by us until we take a step or two back to think about how language works, how incred...

During the Cold War, the world's liberal democracies, like the USA, were widely perceived as the bastion of freedom, especially to those behind the Iron Curtain. But the past three decades have caused many to revise their views. With the rise of totalitarian thinking and practice in the West in those years, the question must be asked: what happened? Professor of Philosophy and conservative po...

For some it is the holiest book, they only one you'll ever need. For others it is a tool of conquering. Some find in it the loftiest values, others only the basest superstitions. Today on MindMatters we delve into this contradictory world of interpretations: religion as a source of extrinsic morality, or a call to the spark of divinity within, or somewhere in between. Perhaps, just like human...

Does history really repeat? If so, how, and why? We discussed the "fourth turning" on a previous episode of MindMatters. According to Strauss and Howe, the United States has entered a time of crisis which could see societal collapse, revolution, or war. However, their theory has its problems. While suggestive on the descriptive level, it has not been scientifically supported. Enter Peter...

As things continue to get worse culturally and politically, it pays to ask oneself how far one will go. What are the limits to my obedience to authority? At what point do I become what I hate? To avoid becoming a monster, the first step is to draw some red lines: things we simply will not do. But will we actually stick to them, or simply go along with the crowd when the challenge proves too diffic...

Arthur Versluis, professor of religious studies at Michigan State University, is the author of many books and an expert on Western mysticism and esotericism, especially the Christian theosophic tradition. He's also an expert on the intellectual origins of totalitarianism, the subject of his excellent 2006 book, The New Inquisitions . Today on MindMatters we talk with Arthur about a range of s...

You thought the Targaryens were bad...  Extreme avarice. Fratricide. Megalomania. Debauchery. Genocide. At the height of its power and influence ancient Rome was led by some truly crazy and terrifying people. Caligula and Nero come to mind as the most famous, but they had a lot of company: men (and women) whose unbridled ambition and wielding of power were employed to absolutely horrible and destr...

As we continue to observe the ever-encroaching signs of ‘woke’ thinking, ideology, language, behavior, and political policy in western society we find it necessary to take a step back and ask ourselves: what is wokism actually a sign of? What undergirds it, stratifies it and gives its “power”? And more specifically, what are the underlying psychological conditions and deficiencies among so many -...

The ‘re-organization’ of the world’s societies, cultures, economies and politics seem to be occurring at an ever rapid clip. Groups like the WEF, UNESCO, the WHO and other hugely influential and interconnected bodies all seem to be telling us, and the governments of the world, ‘how it's going to be’, and why it is ‘all for our own good’. A relatively small group of individuals are actually re...

The 2010s and 2020s are a crisis point in Western societies - a time that has the potential to give birth to something better than what came before, or something much, much worse. Today on MindMatters we're going cyclical. The hysteroidal cycle from Lobaczewski's Political Ponerology , generational theory from Strauss and Howe's The Fourth Turning . And along the way, we take a gand...

Despite the plethora of anecdotes and scientific studies suggesting the existence of an 'afterlife,' the Western world as a whole is still largely in the dark about this all-important subject. Though good information does continue to present itself, there are many who are all-too-willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater - with a bucket of dogma informed by scientific materialism....

Today on MindMatters we have the pleasure of speaking with multiple New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh. Mary is the author of over ninety historical romance novels and dozens of novellas. In this wide-ranging discussion Mary shares her thoughts on romance, her writing process, the nature of inspiration, and the meaning and purpose with which she imbues her novels. There's a reason...