Love is an innate desire of every human being, but how do you define it and what is its purpose in relationships? Michael Knowles and Spencer Klavan take you through one of the most collective philosophical texts on love in Western literature: Plato’s The Symposium.

Hour 1

The Book Club with Michael Knowles

Spencer Klavan: The Symposium by Plato

Could anyone have predicted the future of America 200 years ago? Alexis de Tocqueville foresaw a society fraught with materialism and “soft despotism" in his classic study of self-governance, freedom, and equality, Democracy in America. Pete Peterson, Dean of the Pepperdine School of Public Policy, and Michael Knowles discuss what we can learn from de Tocqueville’s prophetic words.

Pete Peterson: Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

What happens if you follow your heart, pursuing love and happiness above all else, devoid of duty or virtue? Nothing good according to Leo Tolstoy, author of Anna Karenina. Inez Stepman, senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Forum, joins Michael Knowles for a deep dive into this great literary work about fidelity, marriage, and betrayal.

Inez Stepman: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

The American Revolution led to the birth of a new, free nation, while the French Revolution led to blood and terror. What was the difference and what can we learn from history before it’s rewritten or forgotten entirely? Political theorist and Bible scholar Yoram Hazony joins Michael Knowles for a discussion about Edmund Burke’s treatise “Reflections on the Revolution in France.”

Yoram Hazony: Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke

Something is deeply amiss in contemporary American culture. Young people have lost touch with reality and become trapped by moral relativism. Is post-modern education to blame? Education expert Max Eden joins Michael Knowles for an eye-opening discussion of Allan Bloom’s unexpected bestseller  
This video was made possible through our partnership with Dallas Baptist University. To learn more about DBU, please visit  




Max Eden: The Closing of the American Mind

In a world without consequences, are humans naturally good or is there darkness within us all? Laruen Chen sits with Michael Knowles to discuss the classic novel 

Lauren Chen: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Why should Biblical literacy matter today? What happens to society when people fear public opinion more than God? Joining Michael Knowles in this episode of The Book Club is the author of the best-selling Bible commentary in America, Dennis Prager. They discuss the enduring relevance of the Book of Exodus, history’s most powerful story of slave liberation—and moral direction from God. 
This video was made possible through our partnership with Dallas Baptist University. 

Dennis Prager: The Book of Exodus

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Is history repeating itself? Set during the French Revolution, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities offers parallels to American Society today. PragerU’s Allen Estrin joins Michael Knowles on this episode of The Book Club to explore the novel’s stark contrasts of fate vs. free will, tyranny and excess, and life and death.

Allen Estrin: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Jane Eyre  In our fast-paced world, it’s tough to make reading a priority. At 

Madeleine Kearns: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

On this episode of The Book Club, Michael Knowles and Farah Jimenez discuss Race and Culture, Thomas Sowell’s powerful analysis on why culture has a profound impact on the socioeconomic outcomes of different minority groups. Is systemic racism really to blame? In our fast-paced world, it’s tough to make reading a priority. At least it used to be. At Thinkr.org, they summarize the key ideas from new and noteworthy nonfiction, giving you access to an entire library of great books in bite-size form. Read or listen to hundreds of titles in a matter of minutes: start your free trial today at https://thinkr.org/

Farah Jimenez: Race and Culture by Thomas Sowell

What if you could listen in on a conversation between two devils? C.S. Lewis’s "The Screwtape Letters" takes you through letters between Screwtape, a high-ranking demon in the underworld, and his inexperienced nephew, Wormwood, and their plan to deceive man into sin and ultimately hell. Michael Knowles and Seth Dillon of The Babylon Bee discuss Lewis’s satirical masterpiece on this episode.  In our fast-paced world, it’s tough to make reading a priority. At least it used to be. At 

Seth Dillon: The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

In our fast-paced world, it’s tough to make reading a priority. At least it used to be. At Thinkr.org, they summarize the key ideas from new and noteworthy nonfiction, giving you access to an entire library of great books in bite-size form. Read or listen to hundreds of titles in a matter of minutes: start your free trial today at Thinkr.org.

Matt Walsh: The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

Broken families are detrimental to society— it’s been proven throughout history. Douglas Murray and Michael Knowles summarize William Shakespeare’s tragedy, King Lear, and its themes of power, justice, blindness, and chaos played out through the severed relationship between a father and his children.

In our fast-paced world, it’s tough to make reading a priority. At least it used to be. At Thinkr.org, they summarize the key ideas from new and noteworthy nonfiction, giving you access to an entire library of great books in bite-size form. Read or listen to hundreds of titles in a matter of minutes: start your free trial today at Thinkr.org.

Douglas Murray: King Lear by William Shakespeare

Is a life of duty and self-sacrifice noble or ridiculous? What can 21st-century readers take away from Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life, one of the great English novels? Heather Mac Donald joins Michael Knowles for a discussion of George Eliot’s comprehensive tale of marriage, idealism, loyalty, and profligacy in a nineteenth-century English town.
In our fast-paced world, it’s tough to make reading a priority. At least it used to be. At Thinkr.org they summarize the key ideas from new and noteworthy nonfiction, giving you access to an entire library of great books in bite-size form. Read or listen to hundreds of titles in a matter of minutes: start your free trial today at Thinkr.org.

Heather Mac Donald: Middlemarch by George Eliot

Galileo proved that the Earth revolved around the sun and was punished for challenging existing scientific theory. Are we seeing parallels today? Brian Keating and Michael Knowles discuss Galileo’s The Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems and how modern scientists still face vilification if they challenge the ideological narrative.

Brian Keating: The Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo

Biblical illiteracy is at an all-time high. Many Americans believe the Bible is archaic, even irrelevant to the changing culture. In this episode, Bishop Robert Barron and Michael Knowles take you through Genesis, the first book of the Bible, to uncover foundational truths about mankind and human civilization.

Bishop Robert Barron: Genesis

A man who has nothing left to lose is led through hell, purgatory, and heaven in this incomparable masterpiece, bringing together examinations of politics, history, redemption, desire, theology, faith, and philosophy. Dante scholar Catherine Illingworth joins Michael Knowles to discuss his favorite work of art ever composed: Dante’s Divine Comedy.

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