Boreas Podcast

Mexico: A Girardian analysis of Mel Gibson's movie ApocalyptoChina: Girardian notes on Terracotta Warriors and pandasRome: The Gladiator movie; the origin of gladiatorial gamesGreece: The origin of the ancient Olympic Games

L'appel du vide -- the call of the void; or as Nietzsche says, "If you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back at you" A mimetic theory interpretation of the call of the void: inflamed (rather than mortified) desire leads to sadomasochism, leads to an urge to dash ourselves before the terrible and awesome model-obstacleCall of the void in romantic pursuit and poverty (fo

René Girard's understanding of the symbiosis of imitation and innovation.In traditional societies, imitation was encouraged, innovation was discouraged; in modern society, it is the opposite; why?Imitation and innovation game in science, the arts, business, and geopoliticsBad imitation: resentment of the rival and cargo cults

Modernity is the precious product of Western Christian Tradition. It is good. You can't and you don't want to go back to some fanciful "trad" era. The aim should be to learn how to navigate the novel challenges of our exciting though perilous times, not give up on them.

An early reader of The Modern Malaise tunes into Boreas Podcast to talk about his personal journey through the shadowy valleys of male coming-of-age, one that included many – or rather all – of the challenges covered in the book: an obsession with Nietzsche, a body-building buddy group, online dating, and money Twitter. His impressions and advice on making it through.

Girardian takes on racismHow white racism is unique: blindness to violence and genteel insistence on "scientific objectivity"Racism as sadomasochism that ends up in self-destruction and/or mixing with the "inferior"You are whom you f*** so if you want to keep your race pure get used and comfortable with hating your own people.Scale back on globalisation.

"Eternal Recurrence" of Nietzsche and pre-Socratic philosophers, history repeating itself, and the victimary mechanism, or "Satan casting out Satan"; A big part of "trad Christian Twitter" as a swinging of the "infernal pendulum" from the heathen idols of wokism to a heathen interpretation of Christianity as a violent religion;Religious fear mongering as bottom-shelf cowardice and

Keynes as prophet of mature capitalism, against its rival religion of communism. The arcane language of economics sages. Mythologies that economics/capitalism supplanted (and that's a good thing). Nature of mythologies old and new: how they make you feel good early on, and what happens when they run their course.

What is it that makes us uniquely human? Thinking (homo sapiens)? Organizing (homo economicus)? Symbols (“the symbolic species”)?I propose that it is desire in Girardian sense — we are homo desiderans: the desiring humans.Artificial intelligence versus the desiring human.Wordcels, shape rotators, and a third way.

What is the one single basic principle of all war strategy?The answer is given from readings of René Girard's mimetic theory together with Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and the Bible. I suggest how to apply it in modern life.Also, there is a discussion of military history and how war changed through to modern times. Were Sun Tzu and Machiavelli cynics? Were European aristocrats wh