The Great Books Reading Group will take on Paul Kingsnorth’s book Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity starting on the first Thursday of February, the 5th, 7-8:30 p.m. US Central Time, on our Patreon platform at the Trainee ($1) level or above, and we invite you to join us! Laurie Johnson and Kent Shultz will take turns leading the discussion. Reading is encouraged, but not required.
On Thursday, October 2, at 7 p.m. US Central Time, David and Laurie will be back to discuss Chapters 3-5 (finishing Part 1) of Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. This is a classic originally published in 1985 which is all too relevant today. We are now living in the full-blast of what Postman was trying to describe and warn about back in the ’80’s. It’s a good time to reflect on what he said, in the context of what we know now.
The Great Books reading group led by Laurie Johnson starts a new book, Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, in September. The group meets monthly to discuss how media shapes public discourse, urging critical engagement with complex ideas. Supporting the group costs as little as $1 per month on Patreon.
We need a solid understanding of ethics now more than ever, and knowing Aristotle’s Ethics can help us with that. Starting May 19, Dr Laurie Johnson will lead a four week series on Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics, with an emphasis on its use in Christian theology and practice in the final session. The class will take place on four Mondays: May 19 & 26th, June 2 & 9. Readings will be supplied but reading is not mandatory.
Laurie Johnson was recently interviewed by Jeffrey Church of the Political Theory Review podcast about her book, The Gap in God’s Country.
Spencer and Laurie talk to Dave McKerracher of Theory Underground about his book, Timenergy, and also his plans for farming.
Dr. Laurie M. Johnson discussing themes from her new book, subtitled A Longer View On Our Culture Wars, focusing on solving political disputes. This session dealt with direct action vs. the charity model.
Claire Provost and Matt Kennard are investigative journalists, and together they have produced a wide-ranging account of how governments, NGO’s and global corporations collude to extract wealth from taxpayers, workers and the poorest of the poor. The overall lesson of this book is that corporate governance has replaced liberal democratic government in the developed world, and in the developing world, colonial overlordship has given way to international corporate power.
Spencer and Laurie talk with Benjamin Studebaker about his new book, Legitimacy in Liberal Democracies. Studebaker will give a speech for the Maurin Academy March 3, 2025.
Chris Orozco, former member of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, is featured in Laurie’s new book The Gap in God’s Country: A Longer View On Our Culture Wars, as an example of someone who struggled with religious strong-arming and left a church whose doctrine increasingly reflected ideological possession.