Young Heretics

Welcome to Young Heretics, the classical education you didn't know you were missing. It's Good Friday...in the year 1300. And also now! Because Dante's Divine Comedy is a poem for all time and our time. Today we are (finally!) beginning our Young Heretics journey through this masterpiece, following Dante's pilgrim step by step as he wanders from the straight and true way into a dark and dangerous adventure that will lead him, ultimately, to the heights of heaven. We'll talk about gu(w)elphs, gh(w)ibellines, art, theology, and of course Studio Ghibli memes. Join me on this new adventure!
Check out Klavans on the Culture, my new podcast with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://youtu.be/ZJpXAoIlbxI?si=3uzICi-kmeShxezu
Sign up for Hebrew, Greek, or Latin courses at the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/heretics/
Listen to Inferno read aloud on the Digital Dante site: https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/sound/bausi-readings/
Check out Jonathan Pageau on Dante: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/dantes-inferno-the-course
Get the Durling and Martinez translation: https://amzn.to/47zWZPK
Get the Anthony Esolen translation: https://amzn.to/4sgKLTj

Welcome back!! Happy 2026!! After a holiday hiatus, we're starting the year off strong with the Second Annual Inkling Awards for Literary Excellence. As an exciting new term of teaching kicks off for me at the University of Austin, TX, It's a good time to be thinking about some of the best questions: why should we read? How should we read? And how much? Without further ado, here are Dr. Klavan's rules of thumb for reading, the best books I read last year, and the books I'm looking forward to in 2026. Plus: C.S. Lewis on why you should read old books.
Check out my cover essay in First Things on Virgil's Aeneid: https://firstthings.com/in-the-footsteps-of-aeneas/
Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com

It's the most wonderful time of the year: that's right, the Lent of St. Martin! Okay okay, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but the lead-up--known as the season of Advent--is an unbelievably rich tradition filled with deep meaning. On this Young Heretics special, I explain the big ideas of Advent through the surprising history of everyone's favorite song of the season, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." And God bless us, every one! 
Read my co-authored essay with Andrew Klavan (no relation) on AI: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/07/ai-idols-consciousness-religion-llms/
Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com

It's time to talk about the shocking, the dramatic, the THRILLING and also, the kind of confusing end of Virgil's Aeneid. What a journey it's been! The story is never truly over, but as we leave Aeneas behind we have to ask--did Virgil mean for it to end this way? With Turnus' blood spilled ruthlessly on the ground and after that, the dark? Some say no--this is an incomplete ending that would have horrified the Emperor Augustus. I say yes--and Augustus would have been delighted. What do you say? 
Check out our new Sponsor, Alithea Travel: https://www.alitheatravel.com/tours/strength-and-virtue
Read my latest essay on AI cand ancient Jewish wisdom: https://www.civitasinstitute.org/research/ai-and-the-divine-test 
Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com

The planets are aligning, the moment is almost here, the fates are sealed...or are they?? Today, in our penultimate episode, right as Aeneas looks poised to take up the mantle of his destiny and live out the greatness that Augustus will one day inherit, everything seems to fall apart. The Gods throw up their hands, and the Rutulians go ferociously to war against the Trojans. Can it be that Virgil actually doesn't want us to know what happens next? Can it be the future of Rome is not as guaranteed as it seemed to be? Find out on this episode--plus, advice for writers to hone their skills.
Check out our new Sponsor, Alithea Travel: https://www.alitheatravel.com/tours/strength-and-virtue
Read my latest essay on why AI can't do your writing for you: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com/p/writing-is-thinking
Order Light of the Mind, Light of the World (and rate it five stars): https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com