In this episode, our hosts discuss Shakespeare's Macbeth, one of the most haunting and powerful tragedies in the Western tradition. Set against a world of prophecy, ambition, guilt, and bloodshed, the conversation explores the mysterious interplay between supernatural evil and human freedom, asking how Macbeth becomes both agent and victim in his own destruction. Through close attention to the weird sisters, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth's own moral unraveling, the episode considers some of the play's deepest questions: How does temptation work? What is the relation between evil and self-deception? How can ambition corrupt courage, loyalty, and even reason itself? As the discussion unfolds, Shakespeare's tragedy emerges not only as a political drama, but as a profound meditation on conscience, manhood, despair, and the mystery of evil. This conversation invites listeners into a serious and searching engagement with one of Shakespeare's greatest works and the enduring human questions it raises. Subscribe for new episodes each week.

In this episode, John and Chris continue their exploration of the heavens, turning to Copernicus, Kepler, and the profound transformation of our understanding of the cosmos. What begins as a seemingly simple question—why doesn't it feel like the Earth is moving?—opens into a deeper inquiry about observation, explanation, and the nature of scientific truth. Without new instruments or discoveries, Copernicus proposes a radical shift: not new data, but a new perspective. By placing the Earth in motion, he transforms what once appeared as irregularities into intelligible patterns. Subscribe for new episodes each week.

In this episode, John Goyette sits down with Matt Peterson, a TAC alumnus and media executive to explore the rapidly shifting landscape of artificial intelligence, digital technology, and the future of education. As AI reshapes the job market and disrupts entire industries, the conversation turns to a surprising claim: that a liberal education is not becoming obsolete, but increasingly necessary. What does it mean to think, write, and speak well in an age where machines can imitate these abilities? And why are employers beginning to value precisely those human capacities that technology cannot replace? The discussion also ventures into deeper territory—examining the nature of digital media, the power of algorithms, and the growing tension between human agency and technological influence. From the collapse of traditional education models to the question of how to live well in a world saturated by screens, our hosts consider whether technology will serve the human person—or quietly begin to master him. Rooted in the Great Books tradition and the lived experience of liberal education, this episode offers a timely and searching reflection on AI, media, and the enduring importance of forming the mind and character in pursuit of the good life. Subscribe for new episodes each week.

In this episode, John and Chris discuss Jane Austen's Emma, a novel at once comic, subtle, and morally penetrating. Through the story of one remarkable young woman, the conversation explores friendship, marriage, self-knowledge, social life, and the quiet but demanding work of virtue in ordinary human relationships. Set in the small world of village life, Emma may seem far removed from our own, yet its questions remain deeply familiar: How well do we really know ourselves? What does genuine care for others require? How should intelligence, affection, imagination, and pride be ordered in a good life? As the discussion unfolds, the episode considers Austen's insight into character, her portrayal of moral growth, and the ways everyday interactions can become the setting for both vice and virtue. This conversation offers a thoughtful look at one of Austen's greatest novels and the enduring truths it reveals about human nature, love, and the formation of the soul. Subscribe for new episodes each week.

In this episode, we explore Plato's Euthyphro, a brief but profound dialogue that raises enduring questions about piety, justice, truth, and the nature of the divine. Set in the shadow of Socrates' trial, the conversation explores what it means to live rightly before God, whether piety is grounded in divine command or in the truth of things, and why these questions still matter. The discussion offers listeners a window into the kind of thoughtful, searching conversation that defines Thomas Aquinas College. Subscribe for new episodes each week. Go to www.thomasaquinas.edu/podcast to learn more!

What is The Communist Manifesto, and what kind of argument does it advance? In this episode, we examine Marx and Engels' brief but historically consequential text as a work of political rhetoric grounded in a broader historical claim: that the "mode of economic production and exchange" constitutes the foundation of social and intellectual life, and that human history is best understood as a sequence of class antagonisms. We consider the Manifesto's attempt to present this thesis not merely as a programmatic platform, but as an ostensibly empirical account of historical development, culminating in a call for revolutionary action. The conversation also addresses Engels' comparison between Marx's proposition and Darwin's theory of evolution, exploring the implications of construing social order through struggle, competition, and material conditions rather than through appeals to universal human nature, moral principle, or transcendent ends. We discuss Marx's distinctive emphasis on praxis, including the claim that the task of philosophy is not primarily contemplative understanding but transformative action. Finally, we evaluate the Manifesto from two perspectives: (1) its underlying philosophical anthropology (materialism, the status of religion, and the critique of the family) and (2) its historical prognosis. We ask how Marx's predictions should be assessed nearly two centuries later, with particular attention to the revolutionary experiments of the twentieth century and the role of modern technological and economic development in moderating or reshaping the conditions Marx regarded as inevitable. Topics include: * The Manifesto as persuasion: thesis, objections, and political aims * Class struggle and economic determinism as historical explanation * Engels' Darwin analogy and the logic of "evolution" in history * Reform versus revolution and the rationale for coercive overthrow * Marx on property, the family, and religion * Retrospective assessment: Russia, China, and the "did it happen?" question #CommunistManifesto #Marx #Engels #PoliticalPhilosophy #Modernity #HistoryOfIdeas #ClassicalEducation

Why devote an entire semester to Ptolemy when his cosmology is, in a fundamental respect, false? In this episode, we discuss Ptolemy's Almagest as one of the most ambitious and intellectually disciplined attempts to give a comprehensive, mathematically rigorous account of the visible cosmos. Although the geocentric hypothesis ultimately proves incorrect, Ptolemy's achievement remains exemplary: he constructs a predictive model grounded in careful observation, geometric reasoning, and a principled commitment to explaining celestial phenomena through uniform circular motion. We consider why the Almagest has enduring pedagogical value. First, it compels students to inhabit a worldview whose plausibility emerges from ordinary experience: the apparent rotation of the heavens, the fixity of the North Star, and the seasonal variation of the night sky. Second, it demonstrates how scientific inquiry proceeds through the disciplined reconciliation of theory with anomalies, as Ptolemy introduces eccentrics, epicycles, and refined astronomical parameters to preserve intelligibility and predictive power. Third, it illuminates the historical logic of discovery: Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton do not merely "replace" Ptolemy, but respond to and build upon the technical and conceptual problems his work articulates. The conversation also addresses Ptolemy's striking philosophical claims about astronomy: its proximity to theology (as an inquiry into the divine order manifest in celestial regularity), its moral significance (formation of the soul through contemplation of proportion and order), and its elevation of mathematical reasoning as a paradigmatic mode of knowledge. Topics include: * The Almagest as a comprehensive astronomical theory: observation, geometry, and prediction * Why geocentrism is initially plausible and intellectually serious * Uniform circular motion as an explanatory principle * Eccentrics and epicycles: anomaly, refinement, and theoretical tension * Precision in ancient astronomy: measuring the year and celestial phenomena * Ptolemy, contemplation, and the formative dimension of scientific study * Historical continuity: how later astronomy emerges through response to Ptolemy #Ptolemy #Almagest #Astronomy #HistoryOfScience #ClassicalEducation #GreatBooks #Mathematics #ThomasAquinasCollege

Is mainstream education failing the next generation?

In this episode of the TAC Podcast, we sit down with Jeremy Wayne Tate, founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test (CLT), to explore how standardized testing has reshaped American education — and why a classical alternative may be the key to renewal.

From the rise of the SAT and Common Core to the growing influence of AI in classrooms, Tate argues that tests don't just measure education — they drive it. As reading lists shrink, calculators replace mental math, and ChatGPT writes student essays, what happens to real learning?

We discuss:

• How the SAT and ACT transformed curriculum

• Why great books matter more than ever

• The danger of reducing education to job training

• AI, cheating, and the collapse of intellectual formation

• The revival of classical education nationwide

• Whether this moment is a true renaissance

In a time of cultural fragmentation and technological upheaval, this conversation asks a deeper question: What is education for?If the future of work is uncertain, perhaps the future belongs to those formed in wisdom, virtue, and first principles.

Subscribe for weekly conversations on Great Books and First Principles.

#ClassicalEducation #GreatBooks #LiberalArts #AI #EducationReform #CLT #ThomasAquinasCollege