We start where we left off in Part 1: Dostoevsky the romantic wakes up and realizes he lives in the underground, filled with resentment, frustrated ambition, and tormenting idols. The underground man struggles to break free in the character of ...

A review of the life and works of the great Fyodor Dostoevsky following René Girard's book Dostoevsky: Resurrection from the Underground. A masterpiece of literary criticism in its own right, this book brings edifying and brilliant ins...

René Girard's mysterious quote on masochist reasoning being a model of scientific induction. Connecting masochistic conclusions about the nature of the universe to that of the scientist. What logical genius may have in common with masochism – t...

The Devil is trending. Talk of demons can be heard from Tucker Carlson, theorists on UFOs and AI, right-wing podcasters interviewing exorcists, and the Psychedelic Renaissance aficionados. So I go over what I recently wrote about the devil on m...

Gregory Bateson's double bind as the cause of schizophreniaRené Girard on the double bind as a universal human experienceGirard's notion of the haunting double as the source of the double bind and central cause a...

Last episode for the summer. Shakespeare snobbery. Two audiences of Shakespeare: the mob and the initiates. Two layers in Othello and Hamlet: romanticism and mimesis. Othello: thirst for the exotic and the death wish. Hamlet: ...

René Girard wrote a book of literary criticism of Shakespeare titled "Theatre of Envy: William Shakespeare." The book makes centuries of Shakespeare critics look like fools while confirming the bard himself as a monumental literary figure. This...

Christ's admonitions to turn the other cheek, love thy enemy, etc., from the Sermon on the Mount unsettle many brave Christians. We interpret these admonitions conclusively with the help of René Girard's mimetic exegesis. Take courage soldier! ...

Mexico: A Girardian analysis of Mel Gibson's movie ApocalyptoChina: Girardian notes on Terracotta Warriors and pandasRome: The Gladiator movie; the origin of gladiatorial gamesGreece: The origin of the ancient Ol...

L'appel du vide -- the call of the void; or as Nietzsche says, "If you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back at you" A mimetic theory interpretation of the call of the void: inflamed (rather than mortifi...

René Girard's understanding of the symbiosis of imitation and innovation.In traditional societies, imitation was encouraged, innovation was discouraged; in modern society, it is the opposite; why?Imitation and innovation ...

Modernity is the precious product of Western Christian Tradition. It is good. You can't and you don't want to go back to some fanciful "trad" era. The aim should be to learn how to navigate the novel challenges of our exciting though perilous t...

An early reader of The Modern Malaise tunes into Boreas Podcast to talk about his personal journey through the shadowy valleys of male coming-of-age, one that included many – or rather all – of the challenges covered in the book: an ob...

Girardian takes on racismHow white racism is unique: blindness to violence and genteel insistence on "scientific objectivity"Racism as sadomasochism that ends up in self-destruction and/or mixing with the "inferior"<...

"Eternal Recurrence" of Nietzsche and pre-Socratic philosophers, history repeating itself, and the victimary mechanism, or "Satan casting out Satan"; A big part of "trad Christian Twitter" as a swinging of the "infernal pendu...

Keynes as prophet of mature capitalism, against its rival religion of communism. The arcane language of economics sages. Mythologies that economics/capitalism supplanted (and that's a good thing). Nature of mythologies old and new: how they mak...

What is it that makes us uniquely human? Thinking (homo sapiens)? Organizing (homo economicus)? Symbols (“the symbolic species”)?I propose that it is desire in Girardian sense — we are homo desiderans: t...

What is the one single basic principle of all war strategy?The answer is given from readings of René Girard's mimetic theory together with Sun Tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and the Bible.  I suggest how to apply it in modern lif...

A Girardian angle on the stock market. Yes, the market is irrational, and no, it's not because we have "herd instincts" and other traces of evolutionary survival instincts, but because we are mimetic. Investing is like romance. Girard's mimetic...

Conspiracy theories getting out of hand on the right.Separating sound skepticism from "esoteric" conspiracy theories.Esoteric conspiracy theories as leftover of archaic paganism.Conspiracy theorising is witch hun...

Girardian takes on addiction.Beyond the biochemistry, brain science, and environmental triggers.The pursuit of deviated transcendence.The tormenting obstacle; obsessive or repetitive stumbling.Addiction ...

Exploring the connection between the black pill (resigned mindset) and embracing or rejecting "the flesh." Why scientism is an embracing of the flesh. Why the black pill is a demonic lie that should be rejected and protected against.

Some personal background on how I ended up writing and talking so much about Christianity. Reading some of Dostoevsky's "Grand Inquisitor" and discussing the big question of individual freedom versus belonging. 

Exploring Jews in the role of Girard's archaic scapegoats: magical outsiders who blend in and either bless the community with white magic or curse it with black magic, and how Jews react and act in this role.

George is back with Virgil for Season 3 of the enchanting, enlightening Boreas Podcast! The episode was recorded around Christmastime 2023. We discuss the katechon, one of the concluding topics in our new book,