Combat and Classics is a series of podcasts and online seminars that explores the nature of man in conflict and cooperation through socratic dialogue and the great books. For more info visit 
Xenophon and the Greek host begin their march north, out of the Persian king's territory, through the icy highlands of Armenia, until at last, from a mountain, they catch sight of "the sea! the sea!" So how do the demands of the terrain and weather impose necessities on the Greeks, and how does Xenophon deal with these necessities? Is this easier, or harder, than Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics Ep. 53 Xenophon’s “Anabasis” Book 3
The Greek army has been beheaded: all its generals are dead. The remaining soldiers lie down on the ground in despair. And Xenophon has a dream, one that somehow leads him to reanimate the Greeks and start them on their march north out of Persia. Brian, Shilo, and Jeff talk about how Xenophon revives the troops, why he's in Persia, and whether he disobeyed Continue Reading …
Whose Country Is It? Whomever It Inhabits
Subscribe to more of my writing at https://www.wesalwan.com Follow me on Twitter King Laius died at the Cleft Way, where he got in the way of an emigrant to Thebes who happened also to be his son. The prophecy was that Oedipus would be the death of Laius, and it was in the name of avoiding this fate that father and son worked together to seal it. Yet what truly made Continue Reading …
Episode 149: Plato’s “Crito”: A Performance and Discussion
Broadway bigwigs Walter Bobbie and Bill Youmans perform Plato's dialogue in which Socrates awaits his execution after being convicted by an Athenian jury of corrupting the youth and dissing the gods. Given that the verdict was clearly unjust, should Socrates take up Crito's offer to help him escape the city? Socrates says no: given that he's lived his whole life benefitting by Continue Reading …
Ep. 149: Plato’s “Crito”: A Performance and Discussion (Citizen Edition)
Authentic Broadway bigwigs Walter Bobbie and Bill Youmans perform Plato's dialogue in which Socrates awaits his execution after being convicted by an Athenian jury of corrupting the youth and dissing the gods. Given that the verdict was clearly unjust, should Socrates take up Crito's offer to help him escape the city? Socrates says no: given that he's lived his whole life Continue Reading …
Episode 142: Plato’s “Phaedrus” on Love and Speechmaking
Socrates hangs out in the country flirting with his buddy Phaedrus. And what is this "Platonic" love you've all heard about? Well, you use the enticement of desire not to rush toward fulfillment, but to get all excited about talking philosophy. Phaedrus starts off reading a speech by renowned orator Lysias (actually Plato's invention parodying the style of this real guy) Continue Reading …
Ep. 142: Plato’s “Phaedrus” on Love and Speechmaking (Citizen Edition)
Socrates hangs out in the country flirting with his buddy Phaedrus. And what is this "Platonic" love you've all heard about? Well, you use the enticement of desire not to rush toward fulfillment, but to get all excited about talking philosophy. Phaedrus starts off reading a speech by renowned orator Lysias (actually Plato's invention parodying the style of this real guy) Continue Reading …
Socrates’ Attack on Rhetoric in the “Gorgias”
I have never shared the vitriol in Plato's dialogues for rhetoric. I understand why he goes after people for holding what he considers to be untenable positions, particularly if they are teachers or otherwise influencers of others. But only insofar as they hold beliefs which don't accord with his own or if they appear to have a methodology or agenda that is Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 69: Plato on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy
This is a short preview of the full episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more Continue Reading …
Episode 69: Plato on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy (Citizens Only)
On Plato's Dialogue, "Gorgias" (380 BCE or so). Why philosophize? Isn't it better to know how to persuade people in practical matters, like a successful lawyer or business leader? Plato (speaking as usual through Socrates) thinks that the "art" of rhetoric (persuasive speeches) isn't an art at all, in the sense of something that requires an understanding of one's subject Continue Reading …
Topic for #69: Plato’s “Gorgias” on Rhetoric vs. Philosophy
Listen to the episode. Back in ancient Athens, the big-name intellectuals were not the philosophers and proto-scientists we remember today, but the sophists, who taught people how to argue and make speeches in front of courts of law and groups of people. Plato (speaking as usual through his teacher Socrates) thought this to be a vastly overrated skill, because it's Continue Reading …
Being Old in a Democracy: Peter Lawler on Plato and Us
Why is oldness found so repulsive in our culture today? Why do old people feel so compelled to make themselves look like worse versions of young people through plastic surgery? The easy answer is 'it's natural', i.e., youth gives a competitive Darwinian advantage, so if we have the bio-technology available to keep ourselves younger we gotta go for it! However, one of the most Continue Reading …
Myles Burnyeant (and Bryan Magee) on Plato
Here's another old Bryan Magee video where he interviews Myles Burnyeant: Watch on YouTube. Anyone who's listened to our Plato episodes will find nothing new in this first clip, which is just about who Plato and Socrates were, how Socrates died, and what Plato's dialogues look like. Around 5 minutes in, Burnyeant lays out the evolution from the early dialogues through Continue Reading …
Episode 18: Plato: What Is Knowledge? (Citizens Only)
On the Theaetetus and the Meno, two dialogues about knowledge. We're returning to Plato for a somewhat more thorough treatment than we gave him in Episode 1. This should be considered part two (Hume being #1) of three discussions intended to convey the main conflict in the history of epistemology between the empiricists (like Hume) and the rationalists (like Plato). We Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 18: Plato: What Is Knowledge?
This is a 34-minute preview of a 2 hr, 18-minute episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat Continue Reading …
Episode 1: “The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living.”
Discussing Plato's "Apology." This reading is all about how Socrates is on trial for acting like an ass and proceeds to act like an ass and so is convicted. Big surprise. On this our inaugural discussion, Mark, Seth, and Wes talk about how philosophers are arrogant bastards who neglect their children, how people of all political stripes don't usually examine their Continue Reading …
Episode 1: “The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living”
Discussing Plato's "Apology." This reading is all about how Socrates is on trial for acting like an ass and proceeds to act like an ass and so is convicted. Big surprise. On this our inaugural discussion, Mark, Seth, and Wes talk about how philosophers are arrogant bastards who neglect their children, how people of all political stripes don't usually examine their Continue Reading …