The Two Tongues Podcast

In this episode Chris explores the ideas of the ancient Greek, Neoplatonic philosopher--Iamblichus--through his correspondence with an ancient Egyptian priest. Iamblichus does something no philosopher did before him, at least not to such a degree; he questioned religious orthodoxy, expressed skepticism about the legitimacy of religious ritual and sacrifice and even of the priesthood itself. Along...

In this episode Chris engages with the ideas of author--Brian Cranely, in his book The Call of Wonder. He discusses the importance of the human experience of wonder and awe as a catalyst for opening one's mind to realities greater than oneself. He then moves to the Western philosophical tradition to trace how we have wrestled with the idea of 'greater realities,' leading to Plato's idea of forms a...

In this episode Kyle and Chris reflect on the tragic death of Charlie Kirk. We discuss the state of discourse in the United States, the prevalence of debate over discussion and the slow progress of leftist totalitarianism and identity politics. We ask the question: How do we diagnose the cause of this new stream of anti-Western political violence? And after we're done licking our wounds, we ask: W...

In this episode Chris interviews author Brian Cranely about his new book 'The Call of Wonder'. Brian studied biomedical engineering and built a career in the field before heeding the call of wonder, which put is professional career on hold in favor of divinity school where we received his graduate degree along with a heaping helping of philosophy! Brian's unique background, weighted equally in the...

In this episode Chris brings Opinion Scholarship on stories told about Jesus that appear in the historical record, but not in the canonical Bible. We explore weird tales from Jesus' childhood recorded in Gnostic gospels, refutations of Christ told by the Greeks and Jews of the first, second and third centuries AD, and lastly we explore the Talmud where uncanny tales of Jesus appear. Was Jesus a so...

In this episode Chris brings us Opinion Scholarship on the ideas of Astronomer Bernard Haisch, as outlined in his book--The God Theory. We follow Haisch as he strings together a series of ancient, esoteric ideas side-by-side with parallel ideas in quantum and theoretical physics. We discuss the phenomena of consciousness, the creation of the cosmos and the so-called zero-point field, culminating i...

In this episode Chris and Kyle get together to review the headlines and share their thoughts on the stories of the day, the direction of culture and the state of politics. We focus on three main topics with plenty of banter in-between: Is Trump really considering mass amnesty? And if so, what does that imply for the goals of the MAGA movement? What is going on with the Trump administration's lates...

In this episode Chris brings us Opinion Scholarship on the work of Federico Faggin and Bernard Haisch, which surround reconciling quantum physics and philosophical Idealism with religious ideas of Spirit and the realm of spirit. We explore the philosophical assumptions of modern science along with their many shortcomings and discuss how changing these assumptions could pop the cork on the whole qu...

In this episode the Two Tongues do a bit of storytelling. Chris opens by describing an uncanny middle-age experience of living out the role of his own father, but then things digress. Chris shares a story of trauma involving the accidental discharge of a firearm. We discuss the phenomena of 'fear-induced orgasm,' Stockholm syndrome and the strangeness of kinks. And only then, after everyone is goo...

This episode revolves around "Resentment" as a human motivation. We begin with a discussion of a debate conducted by two AI's on the topic of Capitalism vs Socialism and remark on how whinny, nit-picky and generally ungrateful the Socialist bot's arguments were. From here we move into the topic of racial violence in South Africa, apartheid and the history of Rhodesia. Here we again find ourselves...

In this episode Kyle and Chris reunite after several weeks off. They discuss Chris' family vacation to the frontier lands of West Texas and his friggin' sweet cowboy hat. They then turn to their latest YouTube rabbit-holes including what Chris calls his 'ASMR,' which turns out to be time-lapse videos of landscaping and antique restoration. What's more satisfying than a good 'before-and-after' phot...

In this episode Kyle and Chris return to the topic of current events. We talk about Trump's tariffs and the reactionaries in the news media. Are there chinks beginning to appear in the armor of MAGA enthusiasm? Maybe, maybe not, but according to Chris, it's too soon to tell. Are we dealing with the art of the deal through the haze of strategic uncertainty or are the markets poised to take us all d...

In this episode Chris brings us Opinion Scholarship on the Creation myths of ancient Greece. We begin with an exploration of so-called "Old Europe" and a cavalcade of archeological evidence of the Great Mother Goddess religion that prevailed in the Stone Age. From there we follow Author--Robert Graves--as he reconstructs from ancient sources the oldest Creation myths of Greece; following the symbo...

In this episode Chris and Kyle conclude their exploration of the infamous Ted Kaczynski manifesto titled: “Industrial Society and It’s Future.” The later section covered in this episode hinges on one existential dialectic--Technology or Freedom?  We discuss Kaczynski's opinion about the nature of freedom and how it's preservation is inconsistent with the endless advancement of technology. What wil...

How does a child math prodigy with an Ivy League pedigree turn into a domestic terrorist? What could drive such a person to sacrifice their future? For what end? What could possibly be worth it? How about saving the world? In this episode we discuss Ted Kaczynski aka the UNABOMER. Straight to the horses mouth, we let Ted tell his side of the story, reading through his infamous 50 page manifesto ti...

In this episode Chris brings us Opinion Scholarship on the theology of ancient Egypt. This was a fascinating exploration of Egyptian religious hymns and inscriptions which speak of the Creation of the cosmos. We encounter such gods as Ptah, Amun, Atum and Re who stand firmly in the position of Supreme Being. But, how does classical Egyptian polytheism reconcile the notion of God with the gods? Thr...

In this episode we risk offense in the name of having an authentic (albeit pointless), bourbon fueled conversation. You know? Like in the old days, before politics crept into every corner of our lives. To accomplish such a feat, we bring in the old guard and talk to a real life boomer. Does Bill care about political correctness? Does he self-censor? Absolutely not. Does he say inflammatory things...

Kyle and Chris wrap us season 4 with a contemplative episode. We have a strange discussion about religious sacrifice, focusing on the Christian notion that you should give yourself to God. We wonder what it means to 'give ones life to God' and contemplate suicide as an act of worship. We go from Kenosis to the Buddhist monk Luang Pho Daeng who died in the act of meditation. We sprinkle in a bit of...

In this episode Chris brings us Opinion Scholarship on Carl Jung's infamous Red Book. We review four of Jung's visions and analyze their symbolic meaning. This takes us on an adventure through a hostile desert and, with the help of embodiments of his imagination, to the stream of the living. We follow this stream encountering symbols of God from ancient Egypt and Greece until we come at last to a...

In this episode we check all the forbidden boxes, talking about identity politics and race relations, dual citizenship and divided allegiances, energy and personality and, of course, a controversial dose of religion. What is the risk of allowing non-naturalized citizens the right to vote? How about those with dual citizenship? What are the risks of emphasizing diversity over assimilation? And what...

In this episode Chris brings us Opinion Scholarship on the ancient Greek god--Dionysus. All due credit to Neal Sendlak of the YouTube show "Gnostic Informant" for much of the historical details presented today. (If you haven't checked out Gnostic Informant, you should!) I discuss the classical myth of Dionysus versus older, secretive myths preserved by the followers of Orpheus. We compare the two...

In this episode Kyle and Chris reunite after many, holiday weeks off...and there's much to catch up on. We discuss Chris' introduction to Jesse Lee Peterson, review the 2024 film "Nosferatu," and rave about the new podcast "The Telepathy Tapes." From here we turn to Chris' anxiety about aging, which takes the form of bitterness toward the new classes of actors and political talking heads, which ar...

In this episode Chris brings us Opinion Scholarship on the effects of starvation on human beings. We discuss the Minnesota Starvation Experiment of the 1940s, which leads into the aggregated data and meta-analysis of altered states of consciousness available through the Altered States Database (alteredstatesdb.org). Both sources report that mystical experiences arise spontaneously in subjects who...

In this episode Chris brings us Opinion Scholarship on the idea of a supreme, monotheistic God as expressed in the Neoplatonic idea of "The One" or "The Monad." We explore the commonalities between Christian Monotheism and Neoplatonism and speculate on the fertile ground for the emergency of this idea prepared by the pre-Socratics and Plato himself. We take a deep dive into Plotinus, Porphyry and...

In this episode Chris reconnects with friend of the show--Daniel Torridon of the Onion Unlimited podcast. We talk about U.S. politics in the new Trump era and the English perspective on it; we compare and contrast U.S. and U.K. political parties and platforms...and then pivot to our mutually favorite subject--Religion. Daniel discusses his journey from a repressive upbringing as a Jehovah's Witnes...