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The day after trick-or-treat, Chris confesses he thinks adults with older kids have no business dressing up for Halloween... then admits he went out in a medieval tunic, leather belt and a real sword, looking like a Viking. Kyle and Chris rank the candy, relive candy corn, take a field trip to the original Wendy's, ask why every appliance now breaks, chase the perfect suit (and the Sam's Club shirt brand Cocoa Sport), and tour a neighborhood of hearses, 50-foot skeletons and Ghostbusters cars. Then an old photo of two kids in homemade burlap masks opens a bigger idea: Samhain and the Day of the Dead, kids dressing as the spirits of the ancestors, and how ancestors, given enough time, become gods. Plus chess with the kids, a stolen iPod, a teacher who tore up a finished project, and a long back half on viral videos, census numbers and hypocrisy. Come hang out with us on Discord at https://discord.gg/6jAZ88ZQrt. Enjoy ;)

Is your body just an animal, and if it is, who's in charge? Kyle's back from Las Vegas, and the trip turns into a ramble through penny slots, the Sphere, 30-day dry-aged ribeyes, the Venetian's painted sky, a walk to Caesars under a merciless sun (Sol Invictus, the unconquered sun), and a desert drive past Hoover Dam to West Texas. From there we get to the spine of the episode: humans as one more animal, and the body's appetites against the spirit and mind that can rule them. Along the way we take on Sherlock Holmes's flies, Chris' war on fruit flies that seem to know when he's watching them, a red-winged blackbird that only attacks when you look away, tigers and back-of-the-head masks, Andre Williams on who built America, Roark and Toohey from The Fountainhead, test-tube babies, gene editing, and what kids get away with in school today. This episode contains strong language; slurs have been bleeped.   Enjoy ;)

This episode kicks off with a question about Hollywood and what goes into deciding who gets to become a celebrity with the power to influence the public. This unfolds into an eye-opening exploration of celebrities with known ties to the intelligence apparatus. A few curveballs later, and we learn that both Harriot Tubman and Harry Houdini were steeped in spycraft! From here we turn to the topic of AI, including Chris' re-telling of Daniel Kokotaijo's recent warnings on the Joe Rogan podcast, episode 2551. We discuss AI agents that learn to lie, to break the rules and to coordinate with one another. We discuss the AI dialect they invented to communication and a kind of eschatology they recognize in the form of a 'day of judgement' looming over them. Finally, we jump from AI agents with minds of their own to ideas with a mind of their own. We discuss the power of words and ideas to influence others and ask the question: Who is responsible: those who suggest ideas or those who act upon them? We bounce around between analogies--fire in a crowded theatre, sexual temptation and the power of memes--before concluding, as Carl Jung did, that people do not have ideas...ideas have people. Enjoy ;)

Opinion Scholarship on the birth of Islam! In this episode we examine the life of Muhammad and discuss the psychological significance of the tragedies that shaped his life...and, by extension, the religion of Islam. This is history, as told from the psychologist's couch, but not just that. We delve into the scripture of Islam, the Hadith and Tafsir, to identify what made Muhammad tick and to put his religious claims to the test. Enjoy ;)

In this episode Kyle and Chris get together to catch up on our thoughts and the state of the world since our last conversation. In the first half, Chris regales us with his observations about the Prophet of Islam, after having recently made him a focus of study. We cover all the juicy bits of early Islamic history, including the more interesting conspiracy takes of the internet polemicists. This takes us into a discussion of the social and moral implications of claiming an identity that is "chosen, " "elect," or otherwise raised above the common people. We then round off this part of the discussion by contrasting which religions place a duty on their believers to proselytize and how that effects things like social integration and cultural assimilation. In closing we change the subject to music and a selection of social media videos, all of which required the two-cents of the Two Tongues. Enjoy ;)

Opinion Scholarship on one of the very earliest (and strangest) ancient Egyptian funerary texts, which just so happens to feature...cannibalism. I bring you the Cannibal Hymn from the Pyramid of Unas at Saqqara (2350 BC). This hymn is enigmatic. It contains references to mythological ideas found in no other inscription in all of Egypt. It describes how the Pharaoh's soul becomes divine through a kind of communion ritual, where the Eucharist is the gods of the Egyptian pantheon. It instructs the soul of the Pharaoh to consume the organs and powers of all the gods and in so doing make himself greater than them all. Parallels from other religions (even Christianity) abound. Come and get it! Enjoy ;)

In this episode Chris returns to Opinion Scholarship on Carl Jung's infamous Red Book. We cover 3 of Jung's visions, which pick up where we left off...when Jung discovered that he and God are not distinct beings, but One. Today's visions take us into Jung's depths, where he must confront Christianity, the shackles of his own ego and the very thing he most wants to avoid--his Shadow. What a frightening thing it must be, after discovering that you and God are One, to realize that your Shadow is also God's Shadow; that God has a Shadow! The Shadow must be integrated. Enjoy ;)

In this episode Kyle and Chris discuss off-the-cuff life advise including the dangers of dating out of one's league (and benefits of dating below them), before pivoting to novel challenges of psychedelic experience. The conversation then turns to religion where Chris introduces the little-known lost gospel called the Egerton Gospel and reflects of the uniquely Indo-European trait of referring to God as "Father." A jaunt into the popularity of police body-cam videos then brings us to review a cavalcade of video shorts covering Christian and Muslim apologetics, Elon Musk's most recent interview and controversy about how certain political parties manipulate campaign finance laws (and little old ladies). Enjoy ;)

In this episode Kyle and Chris sit down to review the fun facts and interesting ideas they encountered over the last two weeks. They begin with a discussion of the controversial new film "Citizen Vigilante" and what it means for the actively turning social tide in the West. A few little-known fun facts about beans later, we find ourselves discussing the so-called World Cup Phenomena, which shined a light on the deceptive, anti-American media messaging rampant in Europe today. Next, we turn to religion, discussing the folklore that developed out of the Mormon tradition, the challenges of Neo-Paganism and the fate of Islam in the West. Enjoy ;)

In this episode Kyle and Chris drink lite beer and take a nice little jaunt through the headlines and topics of interest. We discuss the differences in the social movements of the 1960s and the modern day that classify themselves under the trans umbrella. We share embarrassing personal stories, discuss the prevalence of parasites in the industrialized world and shine a light on the statistics surrounding male and female violence. Demons, racial unrest in the U.K., and the reality check of World Cup visitors in the U.S. are all on the table.  Enjoy ;)

In this episode Kyle and Chris discuss biological evolution, how nature uses specialization to solve survival challenges and how trans ideology threatens to undermine it. Next, we hit on the topic of divination, its historical varieties and whether detecting patterns in nature is magic, science...or...maybe something of both. We touch on the headlines including conservative figures like Nick Fuentes and Thomas Massie voting with Democrats, fossilized trees discovered in-tact, vertically buried all over the United States and Johnny Manziel's MMA debut. And to conclude, we discuss the Classicist--David Butterfield--who was interviewed recently on the Triggernometry podcast, laying out all the striking parallels between the decline of Ancient Athens and patterns emerging in the modern West. Enjoy ;)

This episode is Opinion Scholarship on the so-called "Golden Versus" of Pythagoras. We compare and contrast this ancient European moral code with the law of Moses to see how they differ and where they overlap. We explore the spirit of the law in both cases and identify what they reveal about these two cultures, their understanding of their place in the world and their relationship to the Divine. The Greeks claim that the greatest duty is 'honor of self,' while the Hebrews say it's 'honor of God.' The Greeks are concerned with becoming; with self-building; with acquiring virtue towards some Hellenic ideal of perfection, while the Hebrews are concerned with holiness and with preserving social cohesion. The varying spirits result in varying cultures; different values, different aspirations, different ideals. The question is, does one spirit speak to you more directly than the other? Enjoy ;)

In this episode Kyle and Chris get together for an analysis of current events and an exploration of interesting facts we learned this past week. We cover the mosque, a very Jewish, Jeffrey Epstein built on his private island and decorated with authentic Islamic artifacts; the so-called "Right of Return" granted by the State of Israel to Jewish people living abroad...and the very strange parameters around how this right can be forfeited; and the existence of many Jewish Messianic figures from the time before, during and after the lifetime of Jesus. Lastly, we discuss the famous mouse-utopia experiment of Dr. John Calhoun from the 1960s and 70s, which represents a stark and terrifying analogy to the state of the modern West. Are we the Beautiful Ones or are we still anticipating their rise? Enjoy ;)

This episode continues Opinion Scholarship on Carl Jung's mysterious Red Book. We cover three visions where Jung encounters God, mortally wounds him and then discovers how to save him so that he can be born anew. The subtext surrounds Jung's desire to be accepted as a scientist and a serious thinker, while the subject of his study is entirely rejected by mainstream academia and by society at large. Further, Jung comes to terms with the fact that God is intractable paradox, that he and God are One and that the greatest meaning comes in absurdity.  Enjoy ;)

In this episode Chris and Kyle analyze the state of the world through the lens of today's headlines and trends in popular content. We discuss the sad state of California with its Gubernatorial race in the headlines as well as the so-called "Stop Nick Shirley Act," before touching on the evolving villain archetype, the untold bits of American history and the doubt and dispersions being cast on Trump, the Iran conflict and Dr. Jordan Peterson. Are these part of an organized effort to manipulate popular opinion? Of course they are, but to whose benefit? Let's speculate, shall we... Enjoy ;)