The Fleming Foundation Cultural Commentary

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Latin, Episode 0: Latin’s Dead, so Why Study It?

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In this origin episode of the podcast, Dr. Fleming discusses the importance of studying a dead language in general, why this particular “dead” language is so vitally important for those focused on the patrimony of the West, and provides some practical points and names some possible texts for study. Original Air Date: November 25, 2015 Show Run Time: 26 minutes Show Guest(s): Dr. Thomas Fleming Show Host(s): Stephen Heiner The Fleming Foundation · Latin, Episode 0: Latin’s Dead, so Why Study It?   Transcript available now for Charter Subscribers and a la carte purchase. The Fleming Foundation Presents Latin℗ is...

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The Wonders of Wallington: Two

Back in 1834, while still in India, cousin Charles Trevelyan had married Hannah Moore Macaulay, sister of Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, the great Whig historian of England and author of The Lays of Ancient Rome, who was then a member of the supreme council of India.  What a combination!  Their only son, who inherited his father’s baronetcy, was Sir George Otto Trevelyan, Bt. (1838–1928), in his day a major Liberal politician strongly in favor of reforming the House of Lords, of giving women the vote,  and—true to family principle—total abstinence.  He published the life and letters of his...

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The Best Revenge, Episode 0: Introduction

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“How to live well in a dying age” is an old theme for the founders of The Fleming Foundation, and in this podcast series, Dr. Fleming and his friends will be exploring a variety of ways of living creatively and escaping the melancholy that seems to afflict so many conservatives and reactionaries. This series will explore some of the minor arts of living, from wilderness cooking to writing poetry, making beer, and watching old movies. Nil desperandum. That is Latin for “Despair not!” Original Air Date: November 24, 2015 Show Run Time: 32 minutes Show Guest(s): Dr. Thomas Fleming Show...

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Christianity and Classical Culture, Episode 0: Government Will Not Save Us

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In this origin episode of the podcast Dr. Fleming talks about the inexorable and necessary link between Christianity and classical culture: why the superstructure of the best of the pagan world often provided good foundations for Christian beliefs, teachings, and practices. Original Air Date: November 23, 2015 Show Run Time: 20 minutes Show Guest(s): Dr. Thomas Fleming Show Host(s): Stephen Heiner Transcript available now for Charter Subscribers and a la carte purchase. More Transcripts available here. Christianity and Classical Culture℗ is a Production of the Fleming Foundation. Copyright 2015. All Rights are Reserved.

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Cicero IV: An End and a Beginning

END OF CICERO Cicero played an ambiguous role in the final years of the republic.  He loyally supported Pompey in the vain hope that he would uphold the old order, but he also allowed himself to be courted by Caesar.   He was out of Rome, as governor of Cilicia, in the period leading up to the civil war, but he bravely refused an attractive invitation to join Caesar, but gradually faded out of the picture.  When the plot against Caesar was formed in 44, Cicero was not even invited to join: The conspirators did not trust him. He did...

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The Wonders of Wallington: One

As the nations of the west slip into an amnesiac sink, knowing neither who they are, where they come from, or what their role in the maintenance of humane civilization is supposed to be, it is inevitable, I suppose, that one starts looking for the source of the intellectual virus that has so successfully turned what used to be western brain matter into pink sludge.  In a large general way one can call the disease liberalism, though the destruction we are now witnessing is the effect of the mutations of liberalism that we call socialism and progressivism. As we think...

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From Under the Rubble, Episode 0: Introduction

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Dr. Fleming explains the theme of the series, invoking the example of Russian dissidents who were not content to criticize specific policies of the USSR but zeroed in on the flawed principles on which the regime rested. The USA, which began as a constitutional republic, has tended more and more to accept the principles of the French Revolution. Even conservatives accept leftwing theories of equality and human rights as the cornerstone of their ideology. To resist the radicalization of America, we must debunk the false principles that justify the destruction of authentic American liberties. Original Air Date: November 20, 2015...

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Greek Interview with Thomas Fleming

Thomas Fleming was recently interviewed (10 November) by Nikolaos Hidiroglou for the Greek newspaper Ελεύθερη Ώρα (Eleftheri Ora).  Is Donald Trump the man for the job in the White House for the Republicans? The “Grand Old Party” has been fielding impossible presidential candidates that have made Republicans a political joke:  Bob Dole, John McCain,  Mitt Romney.  Perhaps the worst was George W. Bush, who won two elections, squandered money and lives on a pointless and fruitless war in Iraq, and bankrupted his country.  How could Trump do any worse?   Trump’s great strength is his candor:  He openly talks of...

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Meditations of a Dog: Getting Ready for Greece

We used to have a dog named Robert or, to be more precise Robert the Bruce.  Robert was a Scottish Terrier of a particularly independent mind.  Though he obeyed me, loved my life, and loyally guarded the family, it would be misleading to say we owned him.  The reverse was closer to the truth.  If previous Scotties in the family had been “jaunty,” as almost all of them are, Robert went them one better in being cocky or, rather, arrogant. Although each of us was of two minds about Robert, we all agreed at his funeral, as we drank the ...

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Wednesday’s Child: Letter from Munich

I am writing this from Munich, a place known universally since September 30, 1938, for democracy’s sacrifice of strategic interest — or honor, for that is what strategic interest is in the life of individual or nation — to tactical advantage. The advantage, during the next few weeks or months, would benefit a politician, Chamberlain, and his party; the sacrifice, in the course of the century, would mean the death of hundreds of millions and half of Europe in chains. Before going any further, however, I should like to apologize for this choice of subject.  I had been hoping that...