🦜 The Western Traditions Podcast
@www.western-traditions.org@rss-parrot.net
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Telling the Story of Western Civilization
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Episode IX.07: Post-Apocalypse Now
https://robertpaxton.podbean.com/e/episode-ix07-post-apocalypse-now/
Published: March 26, 2026 21:49
A reflection on the post-apocalyptic trend in modern fiction, starting with an epiphany experienced while rereading Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian. The speaker explores technological trends in history, prehistory and the future, from Gobekli Tepe to the…
Episode XIB.018 - The Story of Jacob: Part Four
https://robertpaxton.podbean.com/e/episode-xib018-the-story-of-jacob-part-four/
Published: March 19, 2026 18:55
Jacob returns to the Promised Land, after surviving the reunion with his brother Esau. He meets a muysterious stranger and earns a new name at the river Yabbok. His daughter, Dinah, is violated near Shechem. His sons stir up trouble for him as they try to…
Episode XIB.017 - The Story of Jacob: Part Three
https://robertpaxton.podbean.com/e/episode-xib017-the-story-of-jacob-part-three/
Published: February 21, 2026 21:26
Jacob reaches the middle of his life and comes into conflict with Laban, his father-in-law. He gathers his wives and household and returns to the Promised Land. Digressions on repetition in Scripture and the flexible morality of the Patriarchs.
Episode XIB.016 - The Story of Jacob: Part Two
https://robertpaxton.podbean.com/e/episode-xib016-the-story-of-jacob-part-two/
Published: January 27, 2026 04:09
Jacob begins his odyssey, traveling to the lands of the East, where his uncle Laban and his cousins live. The fragile youth becomes a man. He marries Leah and Rachel, and has numerous children through them and their handmaids.
Episode III.23 - The Third Punic War: African Apocalypse
https://robertpaxton.podbean.com/e/episode-iii23-the-third-punic-war-african-apocalypse/
Published: January 11, 2026 22:20
Carthago delenda est. Marcus Cato dies before he can see his apocalyptic dream come true. Scipio Aemilianus rises to the office of consul and leads the Roman legions in their final assault on the city of Carthage.
Episode III.22 - Marcus Cato and the Decline of the Roman Republic
https://robertpaxton.podbean.com/e/episode-iii22-marcus-cato-and-the-decline-of-the-roman-republic/
Published: January 2, 2026 02:50
Marcus Cato makes memorable observations on the decline of Roman traditions. Wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer men. The author reflects on the changing nature of the Roman upper and lower classes and on the decline of the…
Episode III.21 - Greek Culture and Roman Society
https://robertpaxton.podbean.com/e/episode-iii21-greek-culture-and-roman-society/
Published: December 17, 2025 19:09
The victors of the Macedonian wars bring back more than treasure and tribute. Greek culture flows into Roman society. Men like Flamininus and Aemilius Paulus embrace it. Marcus Cato reviles this Greek immigration of values and ideas.
Episode XIB.015 - The Story of Jacob: Part One
https://robertpaxton.podbean.com/e/episode-xib015-the-story-of-jacob-part-one/
Published: December 14, 2025 14:53
The scriptures transition from the grand story of Abraham to the very human, realistic story of a family torn, a dying father, a scheming mother and two brothers in conflict. The tale of Jacob and Esau begins.
Episode III.19 – The Second Punic War V: The War in Spain
https://www.western-traditions.org/episode-iii-19-the-second-punic-war-v-the-war-in-spain/
Published: December 1, 2025 11:22
Publius Cornelius Scipio the Younger, someday to be known as Scipio Africanus, engages and defeats the Carthaginians in Spain. He stands for election to the consulship, demanding the right to carry the war into Africa. The charismatic young hero is…
Episode IX.06 – The Tyranny of Mediocrity
https://www.western-traditions.org/episode-ix-06-the-tyranny-of-mediocrity/
Published: November 8, 2025 17:38
In which the speaker meanders from topic to topic, skirts dangerously close to misogyny, espouses various unorthodox viewpoints and talks a lot about sex. Mostly, though, he rages against the walls of the prison that he built around himself.