Is the Age of the Weak Man Over? w/ Joshua Gibbs

Joshua Gibbs, director of the Classical Teaching Institute and host of the In the Trenches podcast, joins the show for a conversation covering Chesterton tweed, high school dating, Augustine’s City of God, and the future of classical education. He argues that the timid, deferential man held up as an ideal a decade ago has finally been discredited, and that pop culture is the enemy every parent and teacher has to help their kids fight.

Main Ideas:

* The cultural ideal of the timid, deferential man has collapsed because it was tried and it failed—declining marriage and birth rates show it never delivered what it promised.

* Pop culture isn’t entertainment kids go looking for; it’s an enemy they fight daily, and teachers and parents serve them by knowing exactly what they’re up against.

* Classical education is poised to split over sex-segregated schooling and technology, with a smaller group breaking away under a new name.

* Faking maturity is a normal part of growing up—young people have to try on adult responsibilities and look foolish doing it before those responsibilities become real.

Resources Mentioned:

* Gibbs Classical — Joshua’s online classes, including Augustine’s Confessions this fall and City of God in the spring

* The Classical Teaching Institute

* In the Trenches podcast

* Joshua Gibbs’s books

Chapters: