Books of Titans Podcast

What is the good life? This is the question addressed in Philebus, one of Plato’s later dialogues, written in the late 350s BC. Philebus and his counterpart Protarchus (a pupil of Gorgias) argue for pleasure as the highest pursuit and good. Plato (through Socrates) argues for wisdom and knowledge. Can either of these be the sole pursuit of the life well-lived? The goal of the dialogue is to rank pleasure and wisdom.Plato quickly establishes the necessity for a third option in this quest - a mixture of pleasure and wisdom. It’s impossible to have pleasure without thought and memory and a life solely dedicated to wisdom would be a bit dry. However, pleasure by its nature is unlimited, and therefore cannot be ranked or measured.Plato then distinguishes between true and false pleasures. True pleasures are those that don’t involve pain (like witnessing a sunset or hearing a beautiful piece of music). False pleasures are those based upon false beliefs (like I’m going to win the lottery), bad measurement/distance (another beer now will hurt in the morning), and relief from pain (showing the absurdity of hedonism that more pain leads to more pleasure).Plato concludes with a ranking or Ladder of Goods:* Goodness in Moderation* In Beauty* In Intellect and Reason (Wisdom from the beginning)* Knowledge* Good/True Pleasures (Pleasure from the beginning, only false pleasures are not allowed)The key point in this dialogue is that the good life does not consist of getting more of either of the initial pursuits, pleasure or wisdom. Instead, it consists of getting the correct balance between the two. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s episode 7 covering my 2026 read-through of the Bible. I talk about the ideas that have stuck out to me while reading the New Testament books of the Gospels, Acts, Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.Show Notes:Dr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark): This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

This special mid-week episode is a deep dive into the musical Hadestown, Anaïs Mitchell’s folk opera that reimagines the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in a haunting, jazz-inflected underworld. Last week, I had the joy of playing violin in the on-stage band for a series of local youth-theater performances of Hadestown, and sharing the stage with my daughter made the entire experience unforgettable.During preparation, I became captivated by the music, the storytelling, and the rich threads of Greek mythology woven throughout Hadestown. I also discovered that the show’s writer published a book, Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown, which opens a window into the creative process behind the musical.In this episode, I explore:* The Greek myths at the heart of Hadestown* The subtle ways the musical reshapes and reimagines those myths* The connection points between this story and narratives found in the BibleThis musical moved me in a way that very few others ever have.Audio RecordingsOriginal Broadway Cast RecordingSpotify / Apple MusicLive from LondonSpotify / Apple MusicThis one is my personal favorite but it only contains about half of the songs. Hermes is played by a female and she just absolutely kills it. I love her passion.Talking Hadestown: Commentary & SongsSpotify / Apple MusicThis is a neat recording where Anaïs Mitchell talks about some of the songs from Hadestown.The BookWorking on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown by Anaïs MitchellThe Band This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s episode 4 covering my 2026 read-through of the Bible. I talk about the ideas that have stuck out to me while reading the books of Ezekiel, the 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi), and the Psalms. I also highlight some overarching themes so far from this reading.Show Notes:Purchase The Intertextual Tanakh from Landmark Booksellers.Dr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

Here’s episode 2 covering my 2026 read-through of the Bible. I talk about the ideas that have stuck out to me while reading the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and Samuel. I also highlight some overarching themes so far from this reading.Show Notes:Purchase The Intertextual Tanakh from Landmark BooksellersDr. Jason Staples’ Suggested Bible Reading Order (start at the 1hr 16 minute mark) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

READING YEAR THEME: GREEK PHILOSOPHYI’ll be spending most of 2026 ploughing the depths of Plato and Aristotle. I divide eating reading year into semesters:* Spring Semester - March - June* Summer Break - July* Fall Semester - August - November* Winter Break - DecemberI start each year reading straight through the Bible during January & February. The versions I’m using this year are The Intertextual Tanakh (tah knock), Bibliotheca (The Latter Prophets, The Writings, The Apocrypha, and The New Testament)Spring Semester Book List (Subject to Change)I started Plato during Fall Semester last year. I’ll be continuing on, but am first taking a look at philosophers before Plato since he keeps referencing them. I’ll then return to the 20 or so dialogues of Plato that I have remaining within the Complete Works set.* The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and the Sophists* Early Greek Philosophy* Heraclitus Fragments* The Greek Sophists* Plato: Complete Works* The Republic / Bloom* A Commentary on Plato’s Meno / Jacob Klein* From Plato to Christ / Louis Markos* The Cave and the Light / Arthur HermanSummer BreakI’m going to dedicate the month of July to Gilgamesh. I love that epic so much and am going to read some of the books pictured above. I’ve been collecting anything I find about Gilgamesh and it’s time to read those books. If you know of other books related to Gilgamesh that I must read, please let me know in the comments below.Fall Semester (Subject to Change)If I finish reading Plato during the Spring Semester, I’ll begin reading Aristotle in the Fall Semester. Like Plato, I’m planing on reading the complete works of Aristotle. I realize that’s excessive and may change my tune, but why not. He’s one of the greatest philosophers of all time.* The Complete Works of Aristotle Volume 1 / Hackett* The Complete Works of Aristotle Volume 2 / Hackett* From Aristotle to Christ / Louis MarkosWinter BreakI’m going to explore another area of interest during December - Trees! I know nothing about these strange things surrounding us outside and simply want to know more. I don’t have a list yet, so suggestions are welcome. There’s only one book so far that I keep seeing over and over again:* The Hidden Life of TreesShort Great Books Reading GroupI lead a reading group in Franklin, TN and this year we’ll be covering the following books, so I’ll be interspersing these books with the list above. More details here.* A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor - Jan 12* The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol - Feb 2* Our Name is Dare by Kev Coleman - March 2* One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn April 6* Medea by Euripides - May 4* Apology (Defense of Socrates) by Plato - June 1* Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis - July 6* Billy Budd by Herman Melville - August 3* My Antonia by Willa Cather - September 7 (Labor Day)* Candide by Voltaire - October 5* Jason and the Golden Fleece by Apollonius - November 2* The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann - December 7 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

The Braveheart film has had an outsized impact on my life. It first sparked a deep interest in the country of Scotland, that try as I might, I cannot shake. It inspired me to purchase a set of bagpipes and then learn how to play them. But it also had deeper implications in the areas of faith and living.In this book, the author of both the novel Braveheart as well as the screenplay that became the famous film, Randall Wallace, provides an autobiography that shows a close connection between his life and the Braveheart story. It’s an exploration of fatherhood, faith, and truth. And I loved it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe

I started reading through the complete dialogues of Plato this year. I came to a point where I realized that Plato was referencing philosophers who came before him and I didn’t know anything about them or their ideas. I took a break from Plato to consider these philosophers who gave the seeds to Plato’s philosophy.These philosophers are called the Presocratics and the Sophists. They are Pre-Socrates in that their ideas precede Socrates, not necessarily that they preceded him historically. The Presocratic philosophers discussed in this podcast episode lived between 600 - 400BC. Socrates lived between 469 - 399BC.I read The First Philosophers with a translation and introduction by Robin Waterfield. In the introduction, Waterfield says “Presocratic thought was holistic : it was an attempt to give a systematic account of the whole known universe and all its major features.” They cover ideas such as the soul, happiness, and the makeup of things. You can see not only their intellectual method but also their ideas in the dialogues of Plato.In this episode, I cover four of my favorite Presocratic philosophers (Heraclitus, Parmenides, Pythagoras, and Empedocles) and some of their ideas. I also share the one thing that stuck out to me the most about these fathers of philosophy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.booksoftitans.com/subscribe