Episodes
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Episode 19: Robert E. Lee and the Courage to Quit (Tom Richey Podcast #19)
Today, someone waved a Confederate flag inside the United States Capitol after storming into the building. Perhaps, this individual should take some advice from Gen. Robert E. Lee, who chose to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia rather than to waste the lives of his men when it was clear…
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Baby Yoda: Beyond Good and Evil (Tom Richey Podcast #18)
Baby Yoda, known as "the Child" on the Mandalorian, has been an internet sensation and meme powerhouse. Although he's super cute, some of his behavior has prompted fans to wonder whether he is being tempted by the Dark Side (https://screenrant.com/mandalorian-baby-yoda-force-choke-dark-side).…
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Boris Johnson and the Courage to Deliver Brexit (Tom Richey Podcast #17)
"If he's a clown, he's a clown with courage." Boris Johnson has experienced a string of defeats in his first week in Parliament as prime minister. He's distinguished himself as the only British prime minister to lose his first three votes in Parliament. Although things look grim for Boris, at the...
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George Washington and the Battle of Long Island (Tom Richey Podcast #16)
George Washington was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," according to Light Horse Harry Lee. In the United States, he is known as the Father of our Country. But Washington was not always victorious. In August of 1776, George Washington suffered a…
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The Price of the Horse (Tom Richey Podcast #15)
According to his biographer, Arrian, Alexander the Great "was a man like no other man has ever been." What made Alexander this kind of man? It was a combination of his personal traits, his willingness to take risk, and his way of knowing when a moment of impact was in front of him. In this…
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The Book of the Courtier (Tom Richey Podcast #14)
Baldassare Castiglione wrote the Book of the Courtier in order to advise young men how to win the favor of a ruler and become his trusted advisor. He believed that the courtier should be a fighting man, but also one who is well-rounded and learned in the Greek and Roman classics. The Book of the...
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Democracy in America (Tom Richey Podcast #13)
It's always a pleasure to have Dr. Greg Sadler as a guest on this podcast. In this episode, we discuss the current state of American democracy with recurring references to Alexis de Tocqueville, the nineteenth century French tourist, historian, and philosopher who wrote Democracy in America.…
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The New Authoritarianism (Tom Richey Podcast #12)
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Prof. Salvatore Babones of the University of Sydney, who has recently published The New Authoritarianism: Trump, Populism, and the Tyranny of Experts. While some scholars have raised red flags and compared the rise of Donald Trump to the rise of...
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Yellow Vests (Tom Richey Podcast #11)
In this episode, I reflect on the Yellow Vest protests in France and their relevance to history and the nature of popular government. Emmanuel Macron's government recently passed a fuel tax in order to fund investment in renewable energy and the result has been the largest and most violent…
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WWI 100 Years Later (Tom Richey Podcast #10)
On the 100th anniversary of the World War I Armistice, on which we observe Veterans Day in the US and Europe observes Armistice Day, I talked with Robert Marshall from Reading Through History about the legacy of World War I. Music Credit: TJ's Bar Fight courtesy of John Fulford Music
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Why I Voted (Tom Richey Podcast #9)
While I anticipated that my declaration of intent not to vote would create some vigorous and healthy debate, I had no idea it would create the firestorm of controversy that it did in some corners. But let's not forget all of the great people who approached me constructively and persuaded me to...
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Why I'm Not Voting (Tom Richey Podcast #8)
I am a social studies teacher and I do not plan to vote in the upcoming election. Let's make a teachable moment out of this! Is it a teacher's job to tell people to vote or is it a teacher's job to encourage students to think critically about their political participation? I think that the latter...
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Should I Vote? (Tom Richey Podcast #7)
I have the honor to be joined again by Dr. Gregory Sadler, YouTube's favorite philosopher-in-residence. Dr. Sadler and I discussed the current political climate and my own struggles with whether or not to vote in the upcoming election with references to Aristotle and John Stuart Mill. If you…
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Mark Zuckerberg: Renaissance Man (Tom Richey Podcast #6)
Say what you want about Mark Zuckerberg, but the guy's been successful? What is responsible for this success? I think that it owes something to his classical education that was focused on the study of ancient Rome. This kind of education has its roots in the Renaissance and is still used by the...
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Jimmy Carter: Classical Republican (Tom Richey Podcast #5)
After reading an article about Jimmy Carter recently published by the Washington Post, I began reflecting on how Carter presents a model of classical republicanism on the model presented by the ancient Romans - specifically in the person of Publius Valerius Publicola. Music Credit: TJ's Bar Fight...
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The Presidency as a Republican Institution (Tom Richey Podcast #4)
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron lectured a boy who called him "Manu" at a ceremony to honor heroes of the French Resistance. This is a good moment to think about the presidency as a republican institution and why the president of a country should be addressed respectfully even in a...
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Philosophy and Confederate Monuments (Tom Richey Podcast #3)
In this episode, I chat with Dr. Greg Sadler, an expert on philosophy who I've collaborated with on YouTube on a few occasions. Greg and I share our perspectives on Confederate memory colored by Greg's extensive knowledge of philosophy, with special attention to Stoic philosophy. More about Dr....
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The Battle of Lake Trasimene (Tom Richey Podcast #2)
While watching the epic battle scene at the end of last Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones, I was reminded of a similar battle during the time of the Roman Republic. The Battle of Lake Trasimene was one of the most horrific defeats ever suffered by the Roman Army after the Roman consul…
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Classical Cold Showers (Tom Richey Podcast #1)
I've heard a lot of entrepreneurs talk about taking cold showers as part of their morning routine, but they're not discovering anything new. In ancient Greece, the comic playwright, Aristophanes, criticized philosophers for encouraging young people to take hot baths. Let's learn a bit from modern...
About this show
I've been making YouTube videos for years and after some encouragement from friends and fans, I'm going to try my hand at podcasting. I plan to share my thoughts here on how history and philosophy influence my life on a regular basis.
Hosted by
Tom Richey
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