Author: Thomas Fleming

1

Reason vs. Passion

Robert E. Lee, who in so many ways epitomized the highest ideas of Christian civility, summed up the common feeling in his famous statement that, “Duty is the most sublime word in our language,” adding the injunction: “Do your duty in all things.  You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.”

2

Poem by a Reactionary Bohemian

This poem by Alec Wilder was read at the composer’s funeral.  Wilder is best known for several popular songs, especially “I’ll Be Around” (recorded by his friend Frank Sinatra) and “While We are Young,” but he also wrote chamber music pieces generally condemned as “unoriginal.”

13

In Search of Honest Journalists

If we were to take on Diogenes as our role model, as we attempt to shine our light in the nooks and crannies of American journalism, whom could we name?  To make the game more amusing, we should, in addition to picking out the eccentrics, also have to name a famous contemporary who typified the regime lackeys that are the true heirs of Pulitzer and Hearst.

3

The Cardinal Virtues , Introduction

The Virtues, which were once the foundation of all serious moral thought, have been reduced by modern philosophers to a set of abstractions that mean little to men and women wrestling with the problems of everyday life. In this podcast, listeners are introduced to the robust and living conceptions that animated Plato and Aristotle, Cicero and Thomas Aquinas