EPISODE · Aug 13, 2026 · 1H 2M
#140 - Stephen Blackwood - The Man Who Built A University Because The West Forgot What Education Is For
from Thinking Class · host John Gillam
Stephen Blackwood is President and Founder of Ralston College in Savannah, Georgia. The Chancellor is Dr Iain McGilchrist. He is on the advisory board for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC). This episode is supported by Aquinas Tuition, which provides bespoke academic tutoring for children who deserve to be stretched, not managed.In this conversation, we think out loud about:— What Blackwood saw inside the Western university system at its highest level that made him believe the existing institutions could not be saved— How Boethius took the seeds of civilisation and cast them into the future from a prison cell — and why that matters now more than ever— Why "the mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be lit" and why Ralston brings students to Samos, Greece, to light them on fire— The deathbed test: did I live as I should have lived? And why no culture that fails to help its people answer that question deserves to endure— Why the universities are the most upstream influence over the degradation of Western culture— The difference between legal protection of free speech and a culture of genuine truth-seeking— What Tocqueville saw in America that Britain is losing, which is to say self-governance as the precondition for democracy— Why Roger Scruton was right that a culture is just the things we have loved, and transmitting it is just teaching others to love them too— What growing up as the eldest of ten on a Canadian farm taught Blackwood about human nature, duty, and what a human being at full gallop looks likeFind Stephen Blackwood and Ralston College:- Website: ralston.ac- Podcast: The Ralston College Podcast- YouTubeRelated episodes you might enjoy:— Iain McGilchrist — There Is A Great Deal Of Ruin In The Western World And This Is Why— Carl Trueman — The West Killed God. Then It Killed Man. Now Something Darker Is Coming— Pierre d'Alancaisez — The Custodians Of Beauty Became Its GravediggersWatch The Call of England, a documentary series retracing a 1927 journey through England to discover what remains of the national inheritance:Watch Episode 1 hereWatch Episode 2 hereThinking Class is a long-form interview podcast on the cultural, historical and civilisational forces shaping England, Britain, the Anglosphere and the wider West. Hosted by John Gillam. ▶ YouTube✍ Substack🎧 Spotify🍎 Apple🐦 XNew episodes every Thursday at 3pm.
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Stephen Blackwood is President and Founder of Ralston College in Savannah, Georgia. The Chancellor is Dr Iain McGilchrist. He is on the advisory board for the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC). This episode is supported by Aquinas Tuition, which provides bespoke academic tutoring for children who deserve to be stretched, not managed. In this conversation, we think out loud about: — What Blackwood saw inside the Western university system at its highest level that made him b...
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#140 - Stephen Blackwood - The Man Who Built A University Because The West Forgot What Education Is For
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