SYSK Selects: How The Enlightenment Works

In this episode, Josh, Chuck, and Jerry dive into the Age of Enlightenment—that massive intellectual shift from the 17th to 18th centuries when humanity started prioritizing reason and science over religious dogma. They trace how this movement started centuries earlier with figures like Isaac Newton and evolved through the French salons where radical thinkers like Voltaire plotted to reshape society, ultimately leading to both the American Revolution and the chaotic French Revolution. What makes this episode so compelling is how the hosts connect those historical debates about rationalism versus faith, individual rights versus state power, and cultural progress directly to modern arguments we're seeing play out today on social media and in the news—proving that we're still living in the ripple effects of this world-changing moment.