The Ralston College Podcast

Latest Episodes
Ep. 27 - Alan Charles Kors: Voltaire’s ‘Philosophical Letters,’ Part II
Ralston College presents a lecture by Alan Charles Kors on Voltaire's great work 'The Philosophical Letters.' Profoundly impressed by the English scientific and philosophical revolutions of the sevent
Ep. 26 - Alan Charles Kors: Voltaire’s ‘Philosophical Letters,’ Part I
Ralston College presents a two-part series of lectures by Alan Charles Kors on Voltaire's great work 'The Philosophical Letters.' Profoundly impressed by the English scientific and philosophical revol
Ep. 25 - Theodore Dalrymple on H. G. Wells's 'The Time Machine'
Ralston College presents a lecture delivered on March 17th, 2022 by Theodore Dalrymple (aka Anthony Daniels) on H. G. Wells’s extraordinary 'scientific romance,' 'The Time Machine'. A brilliant seer
Ep. 24 - Vernon Smith: Self-Interest Reconsidered
Stephen Blackwood speaks with the Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Vernon L. Smith. They begin by defining and exploring commonly misunderstood economic terms—markets, capitalism, equilibrium—and
Ep. 23 - Iain McGilchrist: The Coincidence of Opposites
Ralston College presents a lecture delivered on October 26th, 2021 by Dr Iain McGilchrist followed by a discussion with Dr Stephen Blackwood and questions from the audience. In his lecture Dr McGilchr
Ep. 22 - Marwa Al-Sabouni: Architecture as a Matter of Life or Death
Ralston College presents a conversation between Stephen Blackwood and award-winning architect and author Marwa Al-Sabouni, followed by an audience Q&A. A voice of penetrating clarity and prophetic pow
Ep. 21 - Alexander Stoddart: Culture as Communion with the Dead
In Part II of their discussion Stephen Blackwood and Alexander Stoddart speak about the transhistorical community of past, present, and future. Stoddart explicates his Schopenhauerian view of art as life-denying and thus paradoxically able to help us...
Ep. 20 - On Becoming Alan Dershowitz
Ralston College presents a conversation between Stephen Blackwood and Alan Dershowitz, followed by an audience Q & A. The discussion begins with Professor Dershowitz describing the early influences that awakened his appreciation for civil...
Ep. 19 - Victor Davis Hanson on Who Killed Homer
Have we killed Homer for good? Stephen Blackwood and historian-farmer Victor Davis Hanson examine the state of the contemporary West by returning to its ancient Greek origins. They explore the richness of its first principles, including self-critique,...
Ep. 18 – Andrew Doyle on Free Speech and Why It Matters
Ralston College presents a lecture with Andrew Doyle followed by a discussion and audience Q & A with Stephen Blackwood. Doyle discusses his new book, ‘Free Speech and Why it Matters,’ and offers trenchant examples of recent curtailment of the...