On episode 254, we welcome Aaron Poochigian to discuss his new translation of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Aaron's struggles with addiction and how the book helped him in recovery, suffering as stemming from interpretations of rather than facts about the world, meaning as stemming from virtue rather than reputation, learning to accept all of nature to manage suffering, applying the concept of 'strange beauty' to discover it everywhere, and the psychotherapeutic elements of Stoic philosophy.

Aaron Poochigian is a poet, classics scholar, and translator who lives and writes in New York City. His work has appeared in such newspapers and journals as The Financial Times, The New York Review of Books, and Poetry Magazine. He's the author of Four Walks in Central Park: A Poetic Guide to the Park, and his translations include Stung with Love (Penguin UK). His new translation, available now, is Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.

| Aaron Poochigian |

► Website | https://www.aaronpoochigian.com

► Twitter | https://x.com/Poochigian

► Meditations Book | https://amzn.to/4tO7Uyr

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On episode 253, we welcome Christopher Mathias to discuss the meaning of fascism and what ANTIFA is, fascism's ideological roots in greed and domination, the Charlottesville protests, fascist masking and the threat of being charmed by appearances, whether we owe it to fascism to allow for open debates, whether fascists care about finding the truth, if it's possible to differentiate between conservatives and fascists at this point, and why members of ANTIFA would disagree with being labeled extremists.

Christopher Mathias is a journalist covering the far right. Previously a senior reporter at HuffPost, he's done work for the Guardian, MSNBC, Zeteo, and WNYC. His reporting chronicled the rapid radicalization of the GOP, and has helped unmask white supremacist cops, soldiers, teachers, and politicians. Mathias was a Deadline Awards finalist for feature writing. His new book, available now, is called To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right.

| Christopher Mathias |

► Twitter | https://x.com/letsgomathias

► Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/letsgomathias.bsky.social

► To Catch a Fascist Book | https://amzn.to/3OaBNJj

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On episode 252, welcome Benjamin Saltzman to discuss the gesture of turning away, the shame and grief behind it, how it became a moral topic, turning away in art and Timanthes's lost painting of Agamemnon, Plato's tripartite concept of the soul and turning away as a mark of confusion, rigidity and steadfastness as signs of courage and character, cognitive flexibility and knowing when to turn away, Hannah Arendt and misinterpreting averted gazes as the foundation of totalitarianism, and understanding aversion without its moral trappings.

Benjamin A. Saltzman is associate professor of English at the University of Chicago, where he coedits the journal Modern Philology. Saltzman is the author of Bonds of Secrecy: Law, Spirituality, and the Literature of Concealment in Early Medieval England and the coeditor of Thinking of the Medieval: Midcentury Intellectuals and the Middle Ages. His new book, available April 6, 2026, is called Turning Away: The Poetics of an Ancient Gesture.

| Benjamin A. Saltzman |

► Website | https://www.bsaltzman.com

► Twitter | https://x.com/b_a_saltzman

► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/b_a_saltzman

► Turning Away Book | https://bit.ly/TurningAwayBook

Use the code "UCPNEW" for a 30% discount on Turning Away when ordering from the link above!

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