In early 2023, I was interviewed by my old University of Chicago compatriot Adrian Guiu for the New Books Network podcast. The topic of the interview was my book On Time, Change, History, and Conversion (Bloomsbury, 2020), part of Bloomsbury’s Reading Augustine series.
Our conversation touches upon the genesis of the project, dating back to my undergraduate days spent reading the works of authors like Paul Ricoeur & Hayden White. We then discuss my interpretation of Augustine on temporality & related issues of realism/idealism, Big-Bang cosmology, notions of progress, the problem of undecidability, and the risks of political quietism. Like the book itself, our podcast conversation links up with modern thinkers such as the physicist Georges Lemaître, the public intellectual Steven Pinker, and the philosopher of history Karl Löwith, as well as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Toni Morrison.
Check out the episode here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/on-time-change-history-and-conversion
And if the episode makes you more interested in the book itself, consider picking up a copy here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/on-time-change-history-and-conversion-9781501356476/
