Properly understood, the imagination is not something you escape to; it’s something you draw upon every day to make decisions, understand events, and communicate.

This week on HeightsCast, Dr. Matthew Mehan explores the purposes of the imagination and the habits of wit and wisdom that help us insightfully process our world. We may think of the imagination at odds with reality. But, he says, cultivating the imagination actually makes us more capable, “wittier” thinkers about reality.

00:03:05 Defining the imagination
00:05:31 “Good mother wit”
00:08:25 How LLMs undermine the wit
00:11:05 Beyond the “moral imagination”
00:15:33 Imagination of the Founding Fathers
00:20:03 Aesop and governing your animal spirits
00:24:28 The mistakes of Naturalism
00:27:57 18th century ABCs
00:32:13 Role models for the civic imagination
00:40:38 Who chooses what goes in
00:43:26 Reality educates us
00:46:39 Recommendations for parents
00:52:24 Metaphor control: guarding your hope
01:02:33 Humor and joy

mythicalmammals.com, Matthew Mehan’s website

“Restoring America’s Founding Imagination” by Matthew Mehan

Mr. Mehan’s Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals by Matthew Mehan

The Handsome Little Cygnet by Matthew Mehan

The Plutarch Podcast by Tom Cox

Illustrated Aesop’s Fables by Aesop, with an introduction by G. K. Chesterton

Fifty Years on the Old Frontier by James Cook

Saints Series Podcast by The Merry Beggars

The Boy Stories Series by Tom Longano

Metaphor Control: A Modest Hope for Civilization by Matthew Mehan

Shaping Your Son’s Moral Imagination (article) by Alvaro de Vicente

Shaping Your Son’s Moral Imagination (lecture) featuring Alvaro de Vicente

Seeing History: On Using Images in the History Classroom by Kyle Blackmer

Convivium for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 13-15, 2025)