Political Philosophy

This is a segment from the third session of a class taught in the Summer of 2026 for the Maurin Academy on Creation, Food and Agriculture. … More Why We Lost Our Sense of Sacrifice (Creation, Food & Agriculture, Public Clip 3)

This is a segment from the second session of a class taught in the Summer of 2026 for the Maurin Academy on Creation, Food and Agriculture. You can join the Maurin Academy's Patreon and get access to this class and all our content recorded, or live and recorded. Get access through Patreon: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy … More How Technical Rationality Breaks Our Bond With Nature (Creatio...

This is a segment from the first session of a class taught in the Summer of 2026 for the Maurin Academy on Creation, Food and Agriculture. … More How Urbanization Caused a (Land) Fertility Crisis Affecting Us All (CFA Public Segment 1)

https://leostrausscenter.uchicago.edu/audio-transcripts/courses-audio-transcripts/ Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy Find out more about our classes and see our schedule here: Political Philosophy Podcast: https://political-philosophy.com Dustbowl Diatribes and Political Philosophy are podcasts of the Maurin Academy, which can be found on almost all podcast platforms! F...

In her public podcast, which you can also find on pretty much all podcast platforms, Laurie has been reading and discussing Leo Strauss's book Persecution and the Art of Writing, and this is the last video on the chapter in the book by the same name. Next time, she'll discuss Strauss's next chapter, on Maimonides' esoteric writing. … More Historicism’s Deadly Effect on Thinking (Persec...

Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy … More Persecution and Horse Logic (Persecution and the Art of Writing, 3)

You can find out more about this class, coming Feb. 4, 2026, here: https://pmaurin.org/antimodern-progress-contradiction-or-christian-alternative/ … More Antimodern Progress: The Ideas of Jacques Maritain (Upcoming Class)

Get in on everything we do: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy … More Why Exoteric Writing? (Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing, 2)

This is the introductory lecture for a series on Persecution and the Art of Writing by Leo Strauss. … More Introduction to Persecution and the Art of Writing by Leo Strauss (New Series)

Dr John Fliter, author of U.S. vs. Darby Lumber Co.: The Triumph of Fair Labor Standards (University Press of Kansas, 2025), is our guest today. The interview covers the history of the struggle for fair labor standards in the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the state of labor today. … More Fair Labor Standards in the United States: A Conversation With Constitutional Law Expert John&#16...

This is my talk from a recent visit to Milwaukee to view Maurin documents at Marquette University. It was part of a Catholic Worker roundtable with Lincoln Rice. It represents my initial thoughts on how Maurin's life, in some ways, is a microcosm of modern dislocation, not any extensive research on Maurin, which is ongoing. … More Dislocation as a Symptom of Modernity: The Case of Peter Maur...

Stephen Paff, host of Democracy Demythologized and author of the Ethnodata blog joined Laurie for a conversation about AI. This is a short segment of a longer conversation and discussion with patrons of the Maurin Academy. … More What AI Means (And Doesn’t Mean) for Our World, with Stephen Paff (Excerpt)

Pastor Caleb Campbell, Desert Springs Bible Church, has published a new book, Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor, with Blackstone Publishing. It is available in paperback, Kindle and Audible editions. https://www.amazon.com/Disarming-Leviathan-Christian-Nationalist-Neighbor/dp/B0DB2NV6F7 … More Pastor Caleb Campbell: Disarming Leviathan

We finish up the discussion of Jerzy Kosinski's novel Being There with "Chauncey Gardiner" being launched into the stratosphere of American power while being an acknowledged complete unknown on both sides of the Cold War. What does this satirical novel have to say about our lack of common sense? … More The Usefulness of Common Sense in the Age of Digital Deception (Being There 6)

On the Maurin Academy's Political Philosophy podcast, Laurie is covering Jerzy Kosinski's Being There, a satirical novel about an image and wealth-obsessed American society bent on the mass narcissism of literally loving a politician. This is part 5 in the series. … More The Vulnerabilities of Democracy in the Age of Image

We continue with our discussion of Jerzy Kosinski's novel, Being There, at the point where "Chauncey Gardiner," mistaken for a wealthy and handsome businessman, meets the President of the United States and the American press--and a desperate heiress. … More Romantic Democracy: The Blind Following the Blind. (Kosinski’s Being There, 4)

We continue with our discussion of Jerzy Kosinski's novel, Being There, at the point where "Chauncey Gardiner" meets EE by accident and gets mistaken for a wealthy and handsome businessman. … More An Empty Signifier Makes an Ideal Lover (Being There, Part 3)

Jerzy Kosinski's "Being There" satirizes American democracy and the influence of electronic media on society. The video reviews the novel's initial chapters, which inspired a film featuring Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine. Additional resources include the Maurin Academy's podcasts and social media for updates on classes and events. … More Victim or Boss? Depends on Your Perspective (Being...

We begin a new series inspired by Jerzy Kosinski's classic novel, Being There (1971). Being There is a satirical and allegorical tale about the adventures of Chance, a simple gardener who has previously lived a sheltered life saturated with television as his main source of human contact. Chance is thrown into the media spotlight by accident, propelling him to the top echelons of American politics,...

This is a segment of an hour long lecture followed by a Q & A session for patrons of the Maurin Academy. To get the entire course and all the courses, reading groups and our lecture series, support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy … More Thomas Aquinas’s Natural Law Theory: Brief Explanation (Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics Public Segment #4)

This is a segment of an hour long lecture followed by a Q & A session for patrons of the Maurin Academy. To get the entire course and all the courses, reading groups and our lecture series, support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy … More The Quality of Friendships: Does it Matter for Politics? Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics Public Segment #3

This is a segment of an hour long lecture followed by a Q & A session for patrons of the Maurin Academy. To get the entire course and all the courses, reading groups and our lecture series, support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/maurinacademy … More Introduction to Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics, Public Segment #2: The Mean Between Extremes

Starting June 19, the Maurin Academy will host a class by Deacon Chris May on Ivan Illich. Here Deacon May discusses who Illich was and why we should know more about him. … More Introduction to Ivan Illich: A New Maurin Academy Class Starting June 17

We finish up Federalist 51 and end the series on Federalist 10 and 51, the basics of American Political Thought. … More The Relationship Between Freedom and Justice (Federalist 51, Part 3)

In Federalist 51, the author asserts that the legislative branch is always the strongest branch in a republic. Why, and is this true? The founders wanted a government that helped people enjoy their liberty, but has the definition of liberty changed? … More American Liberty: How Is It Secured? (Federalist 51 Part 2)