In his 1987 bestseller, The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom explores how abandoning a Classical education in favor of political correctness leads to indoctrination over independent thinking.
Anya Leonard sees a further erosion of the American mind today, where social media is driving us further and further into isolated silos. Where independent thought and the exchange of ideas is frowned upon.
And under pressure from the ‘woke mob,’ universities are eliminating their Classics departments.
So, what can we do to combat this demolition of the American mind? How can studying history and the Classics reverse this dangerous trend?
Anya is the Founder of Classical Wisdom, a platform dedicated to preserving Classical ideas. She earned an MA in Sociology from the University of Edinburgh and studied at St. John’s College with a double major in Philosophy and the History of Math and Science.
On this episode of The Wiggin Sessions, Anya joins me to share her experience in the Great Books Program at St. John’s and explain how we might distill the wisdom of the Classics to take inspired action now.
Anya explains her decision to travel the globe with her daughter Freida and challenges us to expand our view of the Classics, offering insight around the ancient world as a huge and diverse place.
Listen in for Anya’s take on the parallels between Mao’s China and America today—and learn to leverage the Classics to ‘vaccinate’ yourself against the demolition of the American mind.
Key Takeaways How Anya defines the Classics and her experience in the Great Books Program at St. John’s
What’s important about the Classics and what we can learn from studying the Western cannon
Anya and her husband’s decision to travel the globe with their daughter Freida
What inspired Anya’s essays around her idea of the demolition of the American mind
How social media impacts our brains and drives us into isolated silos
How we might distill the wisdom carried in history and stories to take inspired action now
Anya’s explanation of stoicism and how we can apply its principles in modern life
The guest lecturers Anya is featuring on Classical Wisdom, e.g.: Zena Hitz and Anika Prather
Anya's insight around the ancient world as a huge and diverse place
Anya’s passion for preserving Classical ideas (and the resources she provides to that end)
Connect with Anya Leonard Demolition of the American Mind
Classical Wisdom
Classical Wisdom Speaks
Connect with Addison Wiggin Consilience Financial
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Resources 5-Minute Forecast
Anya Leonard on The Wiggin Sessions EP006
The Closing of the America Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students by Allan Bloom
Emily Wilson’s Translation of The Odyssey
Dan Denning, Anya Leonard and Joel Bowman on The Wiggin Sessions EP013
Kathleen Stock
Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of ‘Brainwashing’ in China by Robert Jay Lifton
Jeffrey A. Tucker at the Brownstone Institute
Anthony A. Long
William B. Irvine
Donald Robertson
Zeno of Citium
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life by Zena Hitz
Dr. Anika T. Prather
The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America by Victor Davis Hanson
Niall Ferguson
James Hankins
Angie Hobbs
Empire of Debt: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis by Will Bonner and Addison Wiggin
The Essential Classics
Classical Wisdom Society
Litterae Magazine
