He certainly knows his stuff. It's a bit like when I talk to
chilledchimp about any of her pet subjects, they both can quote chapter and verse, give references and generally make you aware of how many people have been thinking about the same thing. Being a mathematician, my approach has always been that the result counts more than who said it. I don't think I'd get very far in humanities, or at least, I'd have to train myself to remember these things.The talk was about many things. One of the core ideas was about the difference between progressive and traditional political thought, sometimes called left and right, which either aim at a Utopia in the future or hark back to one from the past.
Magicians have been claimed for both sides. Magic is about imposing your will, politics too. The practice might be different but the desired result is often the same.
The Golden Age that bother pro- and re-gressives aim at is all about a narrowing down of the options, the possibilities, until everyone submits to the same will - preferably the magicians/politicians ("I only want to hear helpful things", TB). It's no wonder that utopia is always fleeting, or that I prefer the liberating of possibilities that is an-archy.
chilledchimp raised the interesting point about occult knowledge that as soon as you tell anyone it's not occult any more. The Christians had the dilemma as to whether to provide the bible to the people. They chose not to but printing forced their hand. The Internet is a similar breaker of traditions, giving knowledge to everyone. Of course, the problem now is that it's hard to tell the useful from the dross. And the structure is not protestant, that of direct communion with knowledge. Knowledge is obtained through intercession with the saints of savoir, the opinion makers, the media, the interested parties, the lobbyists. 