In this episode of  Socrates Dialogues with Mary Harrington, Harrington is joined by author and professor Spencer Klavan to explore the enduring conversation between Athens and Jerusalem, asking what Plato might have to do with Tertullian, and why it still matters. Drawing on the great books and the tension between the life of the mind and the life of the world, they unpack the four central crises of modernity: the body, meaning, religion, and political order. Offering an exclusive preview of Klavan’s forthcoming book, the discussion turns to the power of language as the meeting point between mind and matter, and revisits the story of the Tower of Babel as both a historical touchstone and a striking lens for understanding today’s fractured cultural landscape.

In this episode of Socrates Dialogues, Mary Harrington is joined by author Freya India for a candid and culturally incisive conversation on the growing commodification of women in the digital age. They trace how social media, pop culture, and influencer platforms, from Call Her Daddy to Cardi B, have reshaped the expectations placed on young women. At the center is the rise of the “Instagram face,” a curated, hyper-perfected ideal that blurs individuality and encourages constant self-surveillance. This conversation explores what it means to internalize an ever-present gaze and questions the modern mental health industry’s role, suggesting future generations may look back with alarm at how deeply it reinforced these pressures on young girls.

In this episode of Socrates Dialogues with Mary Harrington, novelist Lionel Shriver joins Harrington for a wide-ranging and incisive conversation on her novel A Better Life and the deeper cultural longings it exposes. Together, they probe the enduring myth of “a better life” and how it shapes modern views on immigration in both the United States and the United Kingdom. They also dive into the fertility crisis, shifting expectations around modern masculinity, and broader social currents redefining family, identity, and belonging in the West. Thought-provoking and unflinching, this dialogue explores what we mean when we seek a better life, and whether the promise still holds.

In this Socrates Dialogues conversation with Mary Harrington, James Orr joins her as he traces his journey from the life of the mind to the heart of public affairs, reflecting on how a scholar becomes a political advisor without abandoning the pursuit of truth. Through this conversation, James Orr explores the meaning of scholasticism and its enduring influence, the shaping power of philosophy on the intellectual life of Europe, and the lasting political visions of Aristotle and Plato as they echo into modernity. Moving between the ancient and the contemporary, the abstract and the practical, the discussion wrestles with one of philosophy’s most enduring questions: the tension between existence and essence – and what it means for how we live, govern, and understand society today.

In this spirited dialogue, host Mary Harrington is joined by historian and bestselling author Tom Holland to explore why Rome’s long shadow still falls across the modern imagination, and why Americans are particularly drawn to learning about this great empire. Drawing from Holland’s latest book, Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age, the two discuss the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind. The conversation also ranges from Athens to Jerusalem to Rome, examining how these cities helped forge the moral and political grammar of the West. Along the way, they venture through the legacy of the Persian Empire, the upheavals of the Crusades, and how those ancient impulses continue in the minds of modern people.

Is it possible to be a Christian and be a feminist? In this Socrates Dialogues conversation, Mary Harrington and guest Louise Perry explore that provocative question while reflecting more widely on the current ideological moment. Perry recounts her experience studying social anthropology at a “woke” university where progressive theories — from gender ideology to feminism and beyond — were presented as unquestioned fact. The two discuss everything from the sexual revolution to online culture to worldwide falling birth rates. And in an age dominated by screens and constant commentary, they suggest that stepping offline — building families and cultivating long-form thought, for example — may be the real cultural rebellion.

Has modern scientific thought distanced us from beauty, embodiment, and even our own lived experience of the world? Mary Harrington sits down with artist Jonathan Pageau for a conversation that is as deep as it is wide-ranging conversation, tracing symbolism from Dante to memes to gargoyles, and more. The discussion also touches on the personal: the role of origin stories in shaping our bearings and daily life. The two also reflect on the peril of reducing beauty to mere mechanism, and how, in attempting to explain everything, we may inadvertently hollow the world of meaning and unsettle the mind itself.

In this premiere episode of Socrates Dialogues with Mary Harrington, author and broadcaster Justin Brierley joins her to explore the shifting terrain of the New Atheist movement and the surprising cracks forming in its once-confident certainties. Drawing on years of conversations and cultural observation, he examines what he calls a “quiet revival”—a renewed openness to faith, meaning, and transcendence emerging beneath the surface of our secular age.

In this episode of Socrates Dialogues with Mary Harrington, she is joined by philosopher and writer Nina Power, who examines the changing philosophies of education and academic life, questioning the sustainability of what she describes as the “Ponzi scheme” of woke institutional culture. She reflects on the value of intellectual freedom, the dignity of varied vocations, and the necessity of a society that honors different paths, priorities, and forms of excellence beyond the narrow confines of elite academia.