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Socrates in the City is the acclaimed series of conversations on “life, God, and other small topics,” hosted by Eric Metaxas. Starting with the philosopher Socrates’s famous words that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” Metaxas thought it would be valuable to create a forum that might encourage busy New Yorkers in thinking about the bigger questions in life. He founded Socrates in the City in 2000. Metaxas is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of MARTIN LUTHER, IF YOU CAN KEEP IT, BONHOEFFER, AMAZING GRACE, and MIRACLES. His books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The New Yorker, and Metaxas has appeared as a cultural commentator on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. He is the host of The Eric Metaxas Radio Show, a nationally-syndicated radio program heard in more than 120 cities around the U.S. and via podcast in over 80 countries.
What is the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Are these simply historical documents, or could they reflect something divinely inspired? In this conversation, Socrates in the City host Eric Metaxas sits down with Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry Arnn to explore the spiritual architecture of America’s founding in his book, The Founder’s Key. Drawing from his deep scholarship, Dr. Arnn illuminates how the bold creativity behind the American experiment was rooted in timeless truths—and how its carefully crafted separation of powers reflects both human humility and a reverence for divine order.
The post Larry Arnn: The Progressive Assault on the American Idea first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Is there an ethical way to approach the boundaries and limitations of humanity? William Hurlbut is a Senior Research Scholar in the Dept. of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and an Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Neurobiology at Stanford University Medical Center as well as an expert on the intersection of theology and science. He joins Socrates in the City host, Eric Metaxas, to discuss the dangers of genetic engineering, embryonic testing, and both the international and ethical complications of it all. Through this insightful conversation, Hurlbut shares the new developments in transhumanism and explores the boundaries of humanity.
The post William Hurlbut: The Boundaries of Humility first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Do all roads lead to Rome? And do all paths lead to faith? Ross Douthat, a New York Times Opinion columnist joins Socrates in the City host Eric Metaxas to discuss his new book, Believe, and share his case for why a renewed religious society aligns better with scientific data, history, and our desires for something beyond ourselves. Through his book, Douthat shares the popular arguments against religion, the relationship between faith and science, and how his own personal experience of faith has shifted and grown over time.
The post Ross Douthat: Why Everyone Should Be Religious first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Has toxic empathy led modern Christians to live in a Stockholm Syndrome-like way towards an opposing world? John West, Vice President of the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, where he also serves as Managing Director of the Institute’s Center for Science & Culture, shares how the overwhelming influence of toxic empathy and desire to appease popular culture can be fatal to our faith. Using the famous Stockholm bank robbery of the 1970, West joins Socrates in the City host Eric Metaxas, to discuss how Christians have subconsciously grown up in cultural captivity, and how we can rebel against it.
The post John West: Stockholm Syndrome Christianity first appeared on Socrates in the City.
What do Woody Allen, Dostoevsky, and Cain and Able have in common? What are the underlying psychological themes and influences in modern horror? Andrew Klavan, an award-winning writer, screenwriter, and media commentator joins Socrates in the City host Eric Metaxas to discuss his new book, The Kingdom of Cain. Klavan explores how artists’ imaginative engagement with the darkness can point the way to living beautifully in the midst of a tragic world. Using the frame of three historic murders, he examines how the transformation that occurs in art grants us a vision for how transformation can take root in our lives.
The post Andrew Klavan: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Is the West in decline? Dr. James Lindsay is the author of books like Cynical Theories, The Marxification of Education, and most recently, The Queering of the American Child. He joins Socrates in the City host, Eric Metaxas to discuss his experiences in uncovering the hypocrisy of academic journals and the critical theory, cultural and academic marxism, and other hidden agendas these publications endorse. They explore how these trends are impacting academia in the West and beyond.
The post James Lindsey: Exposing the Insanity of Modern Academia first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Iain McGilchrist is a former Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, an associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists to name a few. A leading scholar in the field of neurology he has published original research on neuroimaging in schizophrenia, the phenomenology of schizophrenia, and is the author of, The Master and his Emissary:The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. He joins Socrates in the City host, Eric Metaxas to discuss the myths and misconceptions between the left and right hemispheres of our brain. McGilchrist highlights the importance of understanding the balance within our brains, and how this has shaped and changed Western Civilization.
The post Iain McGilchrist first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Headmaster of Michaela school, Katherine Birbalsingh sits down with host Eric Metaxas to discuss the challenges of speaking about the deficiencies in the UK school system and how it led her to begin her school and initiate a reform of Classical Education against the ‘soft bigotry of low expectations’.
The post Katherine Birbalsingh: Is Classical Education the Key to Reviving the West? first appeared on Socrates in the City.
What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What does the world of philosophy have to do with the world of religion? Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Divinity, Dr. James Orr joins host Eric Metaxas to have a conversation on the Twilight of the West, the relationship between orthodoxy and orthopraxy, and the enduring influence of Hellenistic and Hebraic thought in our enlightened world.
The post James Orr: Maintaining Orthodoxy in an Evolving West first appeared on Socrates in the City.
Is the West inherently bad? Konstantin Kisin, Writer, social commentator, co-host of TRIGGERnometry and comedian, sits down with Socrates in the City host Eric Metaxas to discuss how the rise of ‘woke culture’ undermines the multifaceted history of the West. They explore the limits of free speech, the balance between fear and change, and the relationship of shame and truth.
The post Konstantin Kisin: Can Western Civilization Survive without Free Speech? first appeared on Socrates in the City.