The Optimistic Curmudgeon

10/12/2024

New episode is out! This one features Dr. Catherine Ruth Pakaluk speaking about her book, Hannah's Children. Don't miss this one!

Dr. Catherine Pakaluk tells the story behind her book Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth. The birth rate decline is not a result o...

29/10/2024

How is dark money influencing the federal government? Have teachers' unions broken American public education? What is the administrative state? All these questions and more in this week's episode with Tyler O'Neil of the Daily Signal! Tyler discusses his forthcoming book, The Woketopus! Find out all about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2y6zqTLiWg&t=2s

Thanks to America's Christian Credit Union for sponsoring this week's episode!

Tyler O'Neil discusses his forthcoming book The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government. Covid policy, education, budget funding,...

22/10/2024

So excited to share this week's conversation on the podcast! I sat down with Emily Jashinsky of UnHerd for a great conversation about p**n, transhumanism, big tech, and the loneliness epidemic. Why exactly do these pieces all fit together? Why aren't we paying more attention to the addictive properties of p**nography? What are the moral limits of capitalism? Can a person morally consent to abuse? These questions and more make for a great conversation! LITC - the audio came out great, but Youtube has a bit of a lag. Both links are in the comments!

16/10/2024

Great conversation with Sean Hadley on Ten Books that Form the Moral Imagination for this week's episode of The Optimistic Curmudgeon! Homer, Vergil, Dante, Spenser, Milton, Sophocles, Malory, Lewis - check out our discussion of core poetic images from each author. LITC.

And with an opening discourse on Russell Kirk's three kinds of imagination. Perfect for .

The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal

09/10/2024

This week's new The Optimistic Curmudgeon episode is an interview with Uriesou Brito! I learned a lot about CREC, about the difficulties of doing ministry in the negative world, and a new exegesis of Ephesians 6! It was a great episode! Tagging Brenda Purington and Sean Hadley. LITC.

30/09/2024

The wait is over! You've been missing it; you couldn't stand not having it in your life. At long last, The Optimistic Curmudgeon is back for Season 7! New episodes begin today, and will release weekly for the next ten weeks.

Today's conversation: Michael Young kicks us off with a conversation about Roger Scruton, Aesthetics, Beauty, and the longings of the human soul. I've got a new podcast intern, and a new approach to thumbnails and editing! Check the video out - LITC.

17/09/2024

Tyler O'Neil discusses his forthcoming book tracing dark money influences on the federal government. Who exactly is in charge of the federal government? How deep does the Deep State go? Tyler brings the investigative receipts.

15/08/2024

The 2024 Olympics were a fascinating snapshot of globalist culture. They opened with the blasphemous tableau, offering "Blue Bacchus" as the feast for the nations. They closed with two men duking it out for the Women's Boxing gold medal. What's going on in our moment? Cultural apologist Annie Brownell Crawford joined me for a beautiful discussion of the symbolic meaning of the 2024 opening ceremony, with specific focus on the meaning of the drag queen Last Supper tableau. For all my friends who want to focus on that scene coming from a different painting, we get into that as well. This was a long conversation, but really fun. LITC.

30/07/2024

I've been thinking a lot about the Paris blasphemous Last Supper tableau over the last couple of days. It seems significant, and I reached out to Annie Brownell Crawford to see if she wanted to podcast together to discuss this cultural moment. Join us today at 1pm EST for the conversation - LITC.

02/07/2024

Very excited to record today with Dr. Mike Young! I took Dr. Young's aesthetics class at Faulkner,and today's we'll be podcasting together about Sir Roger Scruton's book, Beauty: A Very Short Introduction! If you're able to, join us live at 3pm today! LITC.

28/06/2024

If you missed last night's debate between Biden and Trump, and/or missed the Optimistic Curmudgeon Debate Afterparty, have no fear! I recorded the conversation I had with Jason Jewell, Winston Brady, Nick Higgins, Keith Foskey, and Allen Mendenhall. It was a late night, but we had a great conversation about golf, Biden's failure to speak coherently, and more! LITC.

27/06/2024

The presidential debate with vs is tonight, at 9pm EST. And that means Optimistic Curmudgeons will be livestreaming commentary, analysis, and evaluation. You already know what and will say - come listen to what Jason Jewell, Winston Brady, Allen Mendenhall, Keith Foskey, and Nick Higgins make of the debate! Odds are good they will spot the gaffes AND point us to wise ways to evaluate politics. LITC.