Is it possible that war, for all its horror, once played a vital role in human flourishing—and that its disappearance has left a cultural and spiritual void?

In this episode, we explore the provocative thesis that war has historically served not only as an engine of destruction, but as a forge for meaning and social cohesion. Drawing on J. Glenn Gray’s The Warriors, with insight from William James, Nietzsche, and Durkheim, we examine what modern society loses when it loses war—not just as a military phenomenon, but as a psychological and cultural one.

What happens to masculinity when its most historically sanctioned outlet evaporates? What fills the vacuum when existential struggle is no longer a shared reality? And could space exploration become the next great crucible that gives our civilization meaning without violence?

This is not an argument for militarism—but a call to confront what war once offered, and to ask what might replace it in a civilization that seeks to remain vital.

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A century ago, Oswald Spengler warned that Western civilization was entering its final phase—not from war or catastrophe, but from cultural exhaustion.

In The Decline of the West, he argued that every great society passes through organic stages of growth and decay—and the West, he claimed, had already entered winter.

In this episode of Context, we revisit Spengler’s audacious and unsettling vision. We explore the patterns he identified—technocracy, Caesarism, the erosion of civic virtue—and ask whether Spengler’s predictions still hold up. Are we watching a great civilization fade… or transform?

Topics include:

• Spengler’s life, method, and seasonal model of civilization

• Parallels between ancient Rome and the modern West

• Technological achievement vs. cultural vitality

• Why memory and myth matter for renewal

• The possibility of rebirth—and what spring might require

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To unlock *supporter-only episodes, join me on Patreon, or subscribe in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

We often think global power is all about armies and technology. But what if the most decisive battles are fought through stories?

In this episode of Context, we explore the concept of narrative warfare—the battle over how nations interpret their past, define their identity, and imagine their future.

From Manifest Destiny to the 1619 Project, from China’s “Century of Humiliation” to Russia’s myth of the “Third Rome,” we examine how national stories shape the world order—and what happens when a superpower like America stops believing in its own.

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This is a short preview of a supporter-only bonus episode.

In this episode, I explore the psychological and philosophical reasons we keep projecting something human into our machines. From ancient automata to Boston Dynamics, from Descartes to modern AI, we’ve been building mechanical reflections of ourselves for centuries.

But why? What does it say about us that we want our machines to seem alive—even when we know they aren’t?

🎧 To hear the full episode, head to: https://patreon.com/bradcoleharris

We didn’t cure boredom—we erased it. And in doing so, we may have lost one of the most quietly powerful forces in human development.

In this episode of Context, I explore boredom as a lost human experience—not a problem to eliminate, but a signal for reflection, imagination, and growth. From ancient philosophers to Enlightenment thinkers, boredom once played a vital role in the human condition.

But today, it’s nearly extinct. Our lives are saturated with stimulation, leaving little space for silence, solitude, or introspection. What happens when we’re never bored—never still, never alone with our thoughts?

We’ll look at the cultural disappearance of boredom and what that tells us about our distracted age. And we’ll consider why boredom might be worth reclaiming—not just for our creativity, but for our humanity.

🎧 Support the show and access bonus episodes at https://patreon.com/bradcoleharris

The SEC was created to protect investors—but is it now protecting incumbents instead? In this episode of Context, we explore the rise of unelected bureaucracies and their hostility to innovation, using crypto regulation as a lens into a larger democratic dysfunction.

From the roots of the administrative state to today’s battle between blockchain pioneers and entrenched financial regulators, we explore how bureaucratic overreach can derail progress—and what it would take for America to rediscover its courage to build.

Topics include:

• SEC vs. Ripple Labs and Coinbase

• Regulatory capture and the death of oversight

• Blockchain, XRP, and the Internet of Value

• American innovation and bureaucratic stagnation

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In this episode, we examine Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, a chilling warning about how societies drift into tyranny—not through force, but through the seductive promise of central planning.

Written in the shadow of fascism and communism, Hayek’s argument is more relevant than ever: when the state takes control of the economy, it inevitably takes control of our lives. What begins as progress can end in oppression.

This is the road to serfdom.

If you like this stuff and you'd like to hear more, please support my work on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bradcoleharris