The Firestone Files

In episode fifty-seven, Dr. Firestone welcomes Pastor Eric Capaci back for a second conversation about his background and his candidacy for mayor of Hot Springs, Arkansas. They discuss his years in ministry, education, and business, along with the experiences that led him to run for office again. Capaci shares his views on the mayor’s role, local development, transparency, and communication with residents.The Firestone Files: Letters to My Grandchildren is a podcast hosted by Dr. Chris Firestone. In it, Dr. Firestone uses his expertise in philosophy and worldview to bring answers to profound questions to bear on the mundane of life through personal anecdotes and family stories.Dr. Firestone is Vice President of Academic Excellence and Strategic Partnerships as well as Director of The Great Writings Honors Program at Champion Christian College in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He is Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, and former Director of the Humanities Division at Trinity College in Trinity International University, where he taught and conducted research for over twenty-five years.Facebook: The Firestone FilesYouTube: @FirestoneFilesSpotify: The Firestone FilesInstagram: @TheFirestoneFilesTwitter: @FirestoneFilesTikTok: @thefirestonefiles

In episode fifty-six, Dr. Firestone welcomes longtime family friend Laurie to reflect on their lengthy, intergenerational friendship and the legacy of faith that shaped both families. They trace Chris's upbringing on Chicago's South Side, his early church experiences, and the pivotal mentorship of high school coach Larry Stillwell, who guided him toward a deeper commitment to Christ and influenced his decision to attend Trinity International University. The conversation explores how these formative relationships laid the groundwork for a lasting friendship in ministry and family life.The Firestone Files: Letters to My Grandchildren is a podcast hosted by Dr. Chris Firestone. In it, Dr. Firestone uses his expertise in philosophy and worldview to bring answers to profound questions to bear on the mundane of life through personal anecdotes and family stories.Dr. Firestone is Vice President of Academic Excellence and Strategic Partnerships as well as Director of The Great Writings Honors Program at Champion Christian College in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He is Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, and former Director of the Humanities Division at Trinity College in Trinity International University, where he taught and conducted research for over twenty-five years.Facebook: The Firestone FilesYouTube: @FirestoneFilesSpotify: The Firestone FilesInstagram: @TheFirestoneFilesTwitter: @FirestoneFilesTikTok: @thefirestonefiles

In episode fifty-five, Dr. Firestone carries the Charlie Kirk material out of the studio and into a room full of high schoolers, one year to the day after Kirk's death. He puts the three points of orientation — the Bible, the Western intellectual tradition, and the American founding documents — in front of an audience young enough to still be choosing what they will stand on, and he makes the case that faith seeking understanding is not one option among many but the ordinary human way of knowing anything at all. Working from Kirk's own convictions that there is no neutral vantage point and that no one is a finished product, the episode asks what a seventeen-year-old actually inherits from a man who took questions at a folding table, and what it would cost to accept that inheritance.The Firestone Files: Letters to My Grandchildren is a podcast hosted by Dr. Chris Firestone. In it, Dr. Firestone uses his expertise in philosophy and worldview to bring answers to profound questions to bear on the mundane of life through personal anecdotes and family stories.Dr. Firestone is Vice President of Academic Excellence and Strategic Partnerships as well as Director of The Great Writings Honors Program at Champion Christian College in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He is Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, and former Director of the Humanities Division at Trinity College in Trinity International University, where he taught and conducted research for over twenty-five years.Facebook: The Firestone FilesYouTube: @FirestoneFilesSpotify: The Firestone FilesInstagram: @TheFirestoneFilesTwitter: @FirestoneFilesTikTok: @thefirestonefiles

In episode fifty-four, Dr. Firestone examines Charlie Kirk’s three fixed points of orientation — the Bible, the Western intellectual tradition, and the American founding documents — as they shape his campus dialogues. He revisits the four philosophical commitments he shared with Kirk, linking them to Kant’s four human superpowers. The episode analyzes clips where Kirk deploys cosmological, moral, teleological, and ontological arguments for God’s existence in conversation with students.The Firestone Files: Letters to My Grandchildren is a podcast hosted by Dr. Chris Firestone. In it, Dr. Firestone uses his expertise in philosophy and worldview to bring answers to profound questions to bear on the mundane of life through personal anecdotes and family stories.Dr. Firestone is Vice President of Academic Excellence and Strategic Partnerships as well as Director of The Great Writings Honors Program at Champion Christian College in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He is Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, and former Director of the Humanities Division at Trinity College in Trinity International University, where he taught and conducted research for over twenty-five years.Facebook: The Firestone FilesYouTube: @FirestoneFilesSpotify: The Firestone FilesInstagram: @TheFirestoneFilesTwitter: @FirestoneFilesTikTok: @thefirestonefiles

In episode fifty-three, Dr. Firestone reflects on the first anniversary of the Firestone Files by recounting an in-depth phone conversation with Charlie Kirk in late 2023. He describes their discussion of Immanuel Kant's philosophy, the concept of a Lyceum-style educational program, and the planned classroom visit that never occurred due to Kirk's death. Firestone connects their dialogue to his decades of work on an affirmative reading of Kant and the challenges facing Christian higher education.Dr. Firestone's past episodes on the work and philosophy of Charlie Kirk can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9_AVU89VH0&list=PL82LUY9b9WIv394HE9h9YrU5XsTMAad7oThe Firestone Files: Letters to My Grandchildren is a podcast hosted by Dr. Chris Firestone. In it, Dr. Firestone uses his expertise in philosophy and worldview to bring answers to profound questions to bear on the mundane of life through personal anecdotes and family stories.Dr. Firestone is Vice President of Academic Excellence and Strategic Partnerships as well as Director of The Great Writings Honors Program at Champion Christian College in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He is Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, and former Director of the Humanities Division at Trinity College in Trinity International University, where he taught and conducted research for over twenty-five years.Facebook: The Firestone FilesYouTube: @FirestoneFilesSpotify: The Firestone FilesInstagram: @TheFirestoneFilesTwitter: @FirestoneFilesTikTok: @thefirestonefiles