Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Hosted by Harrison Garlick and Dcn Garlick and Deacon Harrison Garlick · Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan
4.9from 229 ratings
- 157
- Episodes
- 26
- Transcribed
- 229
- Ratings
- Weekly
- Cadence
- 2023
- First episode
- 78K
- YouTube views
About Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Welcome to Ascend! We are a weekly Great Books podcast hosted by Deacon Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan. What are the Great Books? The Great Books are the most impactful texts that have shaped Western civilization. They include ancients like Homer, Plato, St. Augustine, Dante, and St. Thomas Aquinas, and also moderns like Machiavelli, Locke, and Nietzsche. We will explore the Great Books with the light of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Why should we read the Great Books? Everyone is a disciple of someone. A person may have never read Locke or Nietzsche, but he or she thinks like them. Reading the Great Books allows us to reclaim our intellect and understand the origin of the ideas that shape our world. We enter a "great conversation" amongst the most learned, intelligent humans in history and benefit from their insights. Is this for first-time readers? YES. Our goal is to host meaningful conversations on the Great Books by working through the texts in chronological order in a slow, attentive manner. Our host Adam Minihan is a first-time reader of Homer. We will start shallow and go deep. All are invited to join. Will any resources be available? YES. We are providing a free 115 Question & Answer Guide to the Iliad written by Deacon Harrison Garlick in addition to our weekly conversations. It will be available on the website (launching next week). Go pick up a copy of the Iliad! We look forward to reading Homer with you in 2024.
- Publisher
- Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan
- Category
- arts · education · history
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 26 Dec 2023
- Latest episode
- 27 Oct 2026
Latest episodes
26 of 157 episodes have a transcript.
27 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT
How Plato Shaped Christianity with Dr. Louis Markos
20 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT
Republic Book One: Thrasymachus with Dr. Gregory McBrayer (336a-354c)
13 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT
Republic Book One: Polemarchus (331e-336a)
Inside a recent episode
How Plato Shaped Christianity with Dr. Louis Markos
Published 27 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] But when it comes to real reason, OK, and watch out for real science, OK, keep up on pseudoscience and social science and all that nonsense. But not the real. You know, there's been some terrible things amongst the real physicists, you know, the John Lennox types who sees through to the truth. Right. So I think that's what Lewis did. Lewis showed us we can get. And I really think that in America. Lewis went to the sort of reform Calvinist and said, you know what? You can use your imagination and emotion as well. Meanwhile, he's going to the charismatics and saying, you know, you can use your reason as well. […]
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See plansWho has been a guest on Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
- Dr Louis Markos
- Gregory McBrayer
- Frank Grabowski
- Thomas Lackey
- Alex Priou
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
- YouTube views
- 78,369
- Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
- Apple Podcasts (US)
- 4.9 / 5
- 129 ratings
- Spotify
- 4.9 / 5
- 100 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 67 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
- Quality
- 62
- Social presence
- 0
- YouTube
- 85
- Engagement
- 98
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Questions about Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Who hosts Ascend - The Great Books Podcast?
Harrison Garlick and Dcn Garlick and Deacon Harrison Garlick host the show. Published by Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Where can I read transcripts?
26 of 157 episodes have a transcript on Pod Engine. Full transcripts are available with a Pod Engine plan.
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