Posts

Tucker Goodrich on Good and Bad Fats, Intermittent Fasting

Is there room for self-defense in Jesus’ worldview of nonviolence? In this episode, David Gornoski explains the true meaning of Habeas Corpus and why the West must revive this concept to survive. Plus, Tucker Goodrich joins the show to talk about whether butter and cheese can prevent heart attacks; good and bad fats; intermittent fasting; […]

The Gospel Defeat of Violent Contagion

How can we possibly choose peace when people around us want to use political coercion and state violence against us? David Gornoski explains why the key to living nonviolently is the imitation of Jesus. How does Christianity transform a culture’s violent history? Is victimism a spinoff of Christianity? What is the best method to break […]

THINGS HIDDEN 48: Jean-Michel Oughourlian on Mimetic Desire in the Global Pandemic

In this latest THINGS HIDDEN conversation, David Gornoski and Shannon Braswell sit down with returning guest, Jean-Michel Oughourlian, the co-author of Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World. Mr. Oughourlian talks about his two upcoming books Alterity and The Work that Heals. How do we reconcile individuality and collective identity, especially in the light […]

THINGS HIDDEN 47: Christ Beyond Metaphysics with Anthony Bartlett

In this brand new THINGS HIDDEN conversation, David Gornoski is joined by Anthony Bartlett who talks about his new book Theology Beyond Metaphysics. Why do we need a theology beyond metaphysics? How is the Christian Logos radically different from its Greek predecessor? Is the world capable of critiquing violence without Christianity? Why does the old […]

THINGS HIDDEN 45: Prof. Peter Barber on How Jesus Differs from Myth

In this special THINGS HIDDEN conversation, David Gornoski catches up with the author of Jesus and Myth, Professor Peter Barber. Together, they look into the world of religion and myths. Professor Barber talks about his introduction to the work of Rene Girard; how Christ subverts and inverts the pattern of ancient myths; how media plays […]

How Not to Apply Rene Girard to Current Events

David Gornoski starts the episode by deconstructing a misinterpretation of Rene Girard’s mimetic theory and explaining how we can avoid further misinterpretations. Is it possible to be exposed to Girard’s work and still scapegoat others? What are the latest Orwellian revelations coming out of Australia? Are parents finally standing up for their children against tyrannical […]

THINGS HIDDEN 44: Why We Want with Luke Burgis

THINGS HIDDEN! David Gornoski sits down with Luke Burgis, the author of Wanting, for a conversation on the anthropology of desire. Luke and David talk about the introduction to the work of Rene Girard; rivalry in relationships; mimesis in social media; the untold story about Ferrari and Lamborghini; the physics aspect of mimesis and its […]

The Origin of the Hospital

While recognizing that the current global crisis is largely steeped in a divorce between medicine and ethics, it is important to step back and look at how the medical profession has evolved in history. What gave healthcare the universal appeal as we know today? Why is it that healthcare is looked at by many to […]

THINGS HIDDEN 42: Reading Rene Girard During the COVID-19 Pandemic With Geoffrey Shullenberger

David Gornoski sits down with Geoffrey Shullenberger of the Outsider Theory podcast in this latest THINGS HIDDEN conversation. The two look at pandemic politics, the scapegoating of Trump, and cancel culture through the anthropological lens of Rene Girard. How does Girard’s paradoxical approach to religion undermine modern-day academia? Are we living in the most Girardian […]

THINGS HIDDEN 41: Mark Sunwall on the Kantian Origin of Our Present Chaos

In this special THINGS HIDDEN conversation, David Gornoski sits down with Professor Mark Sunwall, an anthropologist and economist. Did Kantianism–the philosophical tradition passed down from Immanuel Kant–destroy western civilization? Did anthropogenic explanations for human institutions sow the seeds for our present state of chaos? Where did the postmodern theory of the social construct start from? […]