Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Here, Paul and I discuss Western Civilization through topics as wide-ranging as erotic poetry, stoicism and the ancient world, and the turmoils of the 20th century. From Pericles via Shakespeare to the 21st century, Paul surveys the roots of Western Civilization and defines it geographically and temporally, before reflecting on its most cherished cultural, scientific and political contributions to humanity, and concludes by painting a picture of what the future of Western Civilization may look like in a turbulent world beset by ecological crises.
This interview is but one example of the endlessly rich and varied conversations that Paul has kindly shared with me over the years. I am delighted to be able to count him as a friend.
Gargi Sharma Goel on Economic Policy, India, and her Journey at Oxford
Tony Abbott on Service, Politics, Democracy, and Australia
Anushka Jadhav and Rafaela Viana on the 2024 Education World Forum and Education Policy
Lord Christopher Patten on Oxford and Higher Education, Hong Kong and China, and the Future of Conservatism
Damien Shannon on Universities, Education, and Equity
George Brandis on Liberalism, Australia, Security, and Geopolitics
Bob Carr on Politics, Foreign Affairs, Love, and Grief
Grace Fox on the Seminole Nation and Indigeneity, American History, and Finding Purpose and Happiness
Lord Michael Heseltine on a Century of British Politics, Leadership, Foreign Affairs, and Gardening
Dr. Paul Monk on Democracy, the Classical World, Geopolitics, and Finding One’s Purpose
Dr. Paul Monk on Poetry, Science, and the Classics
Dr. Paul Monk: Reflections on the Defence of Australia
Shane Fitzsimmons on the 2019-20 Australian Bushfires, Leadership, and Natural Disaster Resilience
Tú Lê on Cultural Diversity, Social Justice, Politics, Identity, and Australia
Dr. Paul Monk on the 'Addressable You' in Lyric Poetry
Dr. Paul Monk on Overcoming Cancer
Dr. Paul Monk on Mortality and Meaning
Dr. Paul Monk on the rise of Xi's China
Father Frank Brennan SJ AO on Faith, Law, Social Justice, and Australia
Benson Saulo on Identity, Faith, Family, Social Impact and Living Courageously
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