Even More Listener Questions, Answered [Teaser]

May 18, 2026 · 5m

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy. As always, listeners asked more mailbag questions than we could respond to in one episode, so we continue answering them here for subscribers. In this second round we take up: a playlist of KYE's Straussian-related episodes; (Straussian) esoteric writing versus (French) death of the author and the art of writing (and interpretation); prose style—what it is, why it matters, its relationship to poetry, and the rhythms of Norman Maclean; a "Straussian" reading of Steely Dan; and why liberalism is (mostly) worth defending. Thank you to everyone who attended our live event in NYC on Thursday! We had a great time. Sources: Leo Strauss, Persecution and the Art of Writing (1952) — Thoughts on Machiavelli (1958) Stanley Rosen, Hermeneutics as Politics (1987) Wallace Stevens, " The Snow Man ," Poetry , Oct 1921 Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories (1976) — The Norman Maclean Reader (2008) Edmund White, Nocturnes for the King of Naples (1978) Marilynne Robinson, Gilead (2004) W.H. Auden, " Friday's Child ," (1958) Sam Adler-Bell, " Can Liberalism Stop Being So Darn Liberal? " The New R…

On this episode

Nobody's credited on this episode yet.

The show's regulars