Shows / The TAC Podcast
The TAC Podcast
Welcome to the official podcast of Thomas Aquinas College. Each week, senior members of the teaching faculty open a window into the intellectual life of the College through conversations rooted in the Great Books and the pursuit of first principles. Together, they explore the foundational questions that have shaped Western civilization. Grounded in the liberal arts tradition, the podcast invites listeners into the same kind of thoughtful, rigorous dialogue that defines the classroom experience…
Episodes
- The TAC Podcast
Christian Ownership Maximalism - Dr. Tim Reichert | Ep. 37 The TAC Podcast
Dr. Tim Reichert, founder and co-CEO of STAPLE Investments and PhD economist, joins the podcast to discuss his essay on "Christian Ownership Maximalism." We…
- The TAC Podcast
The Most Depressing Book of the Bible (It's Not Job) | Ep. 36 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we turn our attention to Sacred Scripture for the first time, beginning with one of the most enigmatic and brooding books…
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Don Quixote: The Danger of Living for Other People's Eyes | Ep. 35 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we explore Miguel de Cervantes' masterpiece, Don Quixote. Why does a 17th-century novel feel startlingly modern — even…
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Is it Ever Good to be Evil? | Ep. 34 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we dive into Niccolò Machiavelli's classic and controversial political treatise, The Prince. Specifically, we unpack his…
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Buildings Built You - A Conversation with Architect Anthony Grumbine ('00) | Ep. 33 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, host John Finley sits down with architect Anthony Grumbine ('00), alumnus of Thomas Aquinas College and the University of…
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Boethius: The Antidote for Your Suffering | Ep. 32 The TAC Podcast
How do we endure profound suffering, grief, and sudden loss when our world falls apart? In this episode of "The TAC Podcast," we examine Anicius Manlius…
- The TAC Podcast
An Army Chaplain on Faith and Leadership | Ep. 31 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we are joined by Thomas Aquinas College alumnus Father Andrew De Silva—pastor at St. Peter the Apostle Parish in New Jersey…
- The TAC Podcast
Aristotle's Physics: Nature, Motion & Change | Ep. 30 The TAC Podcast
What can Aristotle teach us about the study of the natural world more than 2,000 years after he wrote the Physics? Unlike modern physics, Aristotle's study of…
- The TAC Podcast
Why You Feel Alone | Ep. 29 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of "The TAC Podcast," we explore the "loneliness pandemic," and the fundamental human need for connection, through the lens of Aristotle's…
- The TAC Podcast
The Pope Responds to Artificial Intelligence | Ep. 28 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we explore the groundbreaking social encyclical from Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas, which addresses the rapid rise of…
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Catholics & Communists: Pope Leo XIII's "Rerum Novarum" | Ep. 27 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of "The TAC Podcast," we explore Pope Leo XIII's landmark 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum (On Capital and Labor). This foundational document of…
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The Catholic School Playbook | Ep. 26 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, host John Goyette sits down with Mike Ortner, tech entrepreneur, founder of Capterra, and author of The Catholic School…
- The TAC Podcast
When God asks the Impossible | Ep. 25 The TAC Podcast
What does it really mean to have faith? In this episode of The TAC Podcast: Great Books and First Principles, John Finley and Chris Decaen explore Søren…
- The TAC Podcast
The Odyssey (Spoilers) | Ep 24 The TAC Podcast
Does the new film adaptation of The Odyssey live up to Homer's epic, or does it lose the heart of the story? In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we compare the…
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Is Film "Art"? | Ep 23 The TAC Podcast
What separates a masterpiece from mere entertainment? In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we move beyond film criticism to explore the "first principles" of…
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Can Anyone Actually Teach You Anything? | Ep 22 The TAC Podcast
What does it mean to teach? Can knowledge truly be transferred from one person to another, or must every student ultimately learn for himself? In this episode…
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The Hidden Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Sonnets | Ep 21 The TAC Podcast
Shakespeare's sonnets have captivated readers for more than 400 years. But what makes them some of the greatest poems ever written? In this episode of The TAC…
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The Wisdom of Lincoln's Speeches | Ep 20 The TAC podcast
Abraham Lincoln is remembered for some of the greatest speeches in American history. But what made them so powerful? In this episode of Th e TAC Podcast, John…
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Lincoln, Douglas, and the Moral Soul of America | EP19 The TAC Podcast
Why did Abraham Lincoln believe America could not endure half slave and half free? Why did Stephen Douglas insist that the nation should stop debating the…
- The TAC Podcast
The Devil According to Dante, Milton, Dostoevsky, and Shakespeare
For centuries, some of the greatest writers in the Western tradition have wrestled with a troubling question: What does evil actually look like? In this…
- The TAC Podcast
The Liberal Arts: Luxury or Essential? | E17 The TAC Podcast
Is a liberal arts education a "luxury item" for the elite, or a necessary foundation for the human soul? In this episode of The TAC Podcast, host John Finley…
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Beyond Opinions: We found Objective Truth in the Great Books | E16 The TAC Podcast
"Who can say what truth is?" In a world of competing ideologies and "brain hacks," is it possible to find solid ground on the most important questions of human…
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Modern Ruin: Decoding T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we explore one of the most influential and challenging works of modern literature: T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land." Written…
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Just War in the Nuclear Age: A Conversation with U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch
Is it possible to have a "just war" in an era of nuclear and biological weapons? How does a U.S. Ambassador navigate the "media-induced war" between the Pope…
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Humanity, the Sovereign, and The State of Nature: Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan | E13 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we dive into the dark and radical world of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan. We explore Hobbes's view of the human being as a…
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Slavery's Final Defeat: Race and America's Promise with Dr. Adam Seagrave | E12 The TAC Podcast
Are the writings of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass merely American, or do they belong among the great texts of the Western tradition? Dr. Adam Seagrave…
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Why Ancient Greeks Understood Happiness and We Don't | E11 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, we begin our journey through one of the most influential works in Western philosophy: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. We…
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Suffering, Evil, and The Brothers Karamazov | E10 The TAC Podcast
How can God tolerate such evil in the world, especially the horrors inflicted upon the innocent? In Episode 10 of The TAC Podcast, we dive deep into…
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What is Work For? AI, Leisure, and the Search for Meaning | E9 The TAC Podcast
In this episode of The TAC Podcast, John Finley sits down with longtime friend and former Apple enterprise leader Nathan Haggard to explore the intersection of…
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Shakespeare's Macbeth | E8 The TAC Podcast
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…
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How Copernicus Proved the Sun Was at the Center | E7 The TAC Podcast
In this episode, John and Chris continue their exploration of the heavens, turning to Copernicus, Kepler, and the profound transformation of our understanding…
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The War for Human Minds - An Interview with Matt Peterson | E6 The TAC Podcast
In this episode, John Goyette sits down with Matt Peterson, a TAC alumnus and media executive to explore the rapidly shifting landscape of artificial…
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Jane Austen's Emma | E5 The TAC Podcast
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…
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Plato's Euthyphro | E4 The TAC Podcast
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…
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Mainstream Higher Education is Dead: An Interview with Jeremy Wayne Tate | E3 The TAC Podcast
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…
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Ptolemy's Model of the Solar System | E1 The TAC Podcast
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…
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The Communist Manifesto | E2 The TAC Podcast
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…
- The TAC Podcast
The TAC Podcast - Show Trailer
Welcome to the official podcast of Thomas Aquinas College. Each week, senior members of the teaching faculty open a window into the intellectual life of the…