In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, Jesse Hake—joined by guests Dr. Brian Williams and Jake Tawney—explores the pressing question of AI and human formation in the classroom. Framed by the classical vision of education as the formation of the whole person, the conversation challenges the assumption that efficiency, output, or technological adoption should drive educational practice. Drawing on…

In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, Jesse Hake speaks with Dr. Patrick R. Manning about his book Be Still and Know: Contemplative Practice for Christian Schools and Educators. Drawing from the deep wells of the Christian contemplative tradition—from the Desert Fathers and Mothers to Benedictine, Ignatian, and Dominican spirituality—Manning argues that contemplation is not foreign to…

In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, host Jesse Hake—joined by Scholé Academy Director Dr.Joylynn Blake—welcomes the leaders of Scholé Academy’s three Houses of Study: Monika Minehart, Fr. Nathan Dickinson, and Presb. Maria Koulianos. As representatives of three great Christian traditions, Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican, these classical educators engage in a rich conversation on soul craft, or spiritual formation…

In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, Jesse Hake speaks with Dr. Shannon Valenzuela about her new course releasing this spring on medieval literature and the harmonics of story. Beginning with Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy and culminating in Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dr. Valenzuela shows how medieval authors understood stories as reflections of cosmic order, proportion, pattern, and harmony—a “story…

In this Christmas-season episode, Jesse Hake speaks with author, retired parish priest, and former university chaplain Addison Hodges Hart about Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, and the meaning of the Nativity, drawing on stories and poetry ranging from Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas, C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and “The Turn of the Tide”,…

In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, philosopher D. C. Schindler joins Jesse Hake for a conversation on the metaphysical and theological foundations of classical education. Interview questions address epistemology, anthropology, the nature of true authority, and the dangers of mixing culture wars and Christian nationalism with classical education. Drawing from thinkers like Balthasar, Pieper, and…

In this conversation, Jesse Hake welcomes Dr. Christopher Perrin to explore leadership in the virtue and liberal arts tradition. Drawing from the ClassicalU courses Leadership and the Liberal Arts and Essential School Leadership, Dr. Perrin reflects on how classical and Christian traditions of virtue shape a truly human vision of leadership—one rooted not in dominance but in service,…

In this wide-ranging conversation, sociologist, educator  and ClassicalU course presenter Angel Adams Parham joins Jesse Hake to explore the idea of an “American classical education.” Drawing, in part, upon her work on “The Black Intellectual Tradition” and Women in the Liberal Arts Tradition, Angel makes a compelling case for expanding our understanding of classical education to include voices like…

In this rich and wide-ranging conversation, scholar Louis Markos joins host Jesse Hake to discuss his upcoming ClassicalU course, and forthcoming companion book on Dante’s Divine Comedy. Markos explores Dante’s visionary architecture of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, not merely as allegory, but as a deeply experiential and spiritually transformative journey. Sharing his creative process for writing in…

In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, host Jesse Hake interviews John Mays, the founder of the Novare Science curriculum. The discussion centers around Mays’ new course, “Cultivating Wonder Throughout the School” as a help to educators integrating a sense of wonder and mystery into their teaching across various subjects. Mays shares his journey from focusing on…