Project Cosmos: Conversations on the Future of Civilization
Project Cosmos is a new series from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) that brings together leading thinkers for candid, in-depth conversations about politics, culture, history, and the fate of the American regime.
Hosted in an informal, living-room setting, each episode feels less like a panel discussion and more like stepping inside a private exchange among some of today’s most influential intellectuals. Together, they explore urgent questions:
- What is the common good in 21st-century America?
- Has liberalism failed, and what comes after it?
- Can the administrative state be reformed—or must it be dismantled?
- Should Americans embrace a stronger executive power?
- What lessons can we learn from Rome, the Founders, and modern history?
From executive authority and Caesarism to community, culture, and the role of elites, Project Cosmos offers unfiltered discussions at the highest level.
Project Cosmos: Conversations on the Future of Civilization
Enchanting the Machine: Liturgy, Technology, & Wonder
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Join host Johnny Burtka with Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, Peter Leithart, Hans Boersma, and Zachary Porcu for a deep conversation about re-enchantment in our technological age. This roundtable explores the revival of liturgical Christianity, the spiritual dimensions of technology, and what it means to live in an enchanted world.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - What is enchantment?
7:22 - Tolkien, WWI, and "death and the machine"
23:33 - How did materialism become dominant?
36:14 - Constantine and converting pagan culture
51:37 - Technology as spiritual warfare
1:11:00 - Asceticism and spiritual formation
1:25:25 - The Incarnation and cosmic transformation
1:29:27 - What do we do? Practical steps forward
Featured Topics: Tolkien, liturgy, sacramental ontology, the Reformation, technology and Babel, saints' lives, the Jesus prayer, AI and attention, neo-paganism
Recorded live at ISI's Christmas Open House on December 15, 2025, at Butterworth's in Washington, DC.
A production of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute | isi.org
ProjectCosmos #Enchantment #Christianity #Theology #Tolkien #Technology