The Power Line Show, Ep. 119: “An Extended Discourse”—An Origin Story with William B. Allen

I think this edition of the podcast is going to be my very favorite episode for a long time to come, and you’ll see why if you get into it. Along with two guest hosts—John and Elizabeth Eastman—I sat down a few days ago for an extended conversation with William B. Allen, a teacher and thinker who defies easy description. All three of us were students of Bill’s way back in the 1980s, and when chance and/or Providence put us all together again with Bill this week in Boulder, Colorado, it was clear we needed to do a podcast.

This “origin story” conversation takes us from Bill’s youth all the way through to the present Age of Trump. We talk a lot about education, political philosophy, the influence of key thinkers such as Harry Jaffa, Martin Diamond, and many many others. We have a lot of laughs along the way in this conversation, but above all I think you will come away with a sense of the excitement of discovery in Bill’s classrooms because they were serious, and you’ll also acquire a sense of why a generation of students are so devoted to him.

For the exit bumper music for this episode I chose the old Blues Image tune “Ride, Captain, Ride,” because the refrain fits perfectly the occasional mystery ship that our great Capital Allen commanded. We’d have missed a lot if we hadn’t formed the classroom fellowship with him:

Ride, captain ride upon your mystery ship
Be amazed at the friends you have here on your trip
Ride captain ride upon your mystery ship
On your way to a world that others might have missed. . .

“We’re callin’ everyone to ride along to another shore
We can laugh our lives away and be free once more”

As always you can listen to the show here or download it from our hosts at Ricochet. Please subscribe to Power Line in iTunes (and leave a 5-star review, please!).

Still more of Bill Allen in action in the classroom.

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