The Inklings Variety Hour

Absolute Music, with Jonathan Geltner

The second of a two-part conversation with author Jonathan Geltner--about his highly-acclaimed debut novel, Absolute Music--a literary novel about fantasy and faith, among other things. 

Among other things, we discuss:

• Mythologizing or reenchanting Cincinnati and Pittsburgh
• The Inklings, of course
• Music
• Art, order, and chaos
• D&D Campaigns in the Middle of a Realist Novel
• Humphrey Carpenter's The Inklings
• If the Inklings were a D&D Party...

If you'd like a copy of Absolute Music, go here.

If you'd like to see Jonathan Geltner's author page at Slant, go here.

If you'd like to follow his Substack, go here.

Finally, please do email us at Inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com and leave us a review on iTunes.

Next week: Back to the actual Inklings!  Sorina Higgins rejoins us for a Charles Williams Q&A!

Many thanks to Logan Huggins for producing this episode!  Listeners, this is the last episode I have that Logan has edited, and I'd like to thank him for all of his hard, excellent, unpaid work on this podcast! 

The Neverending Story

If this automatically downloaded and says it is 1 hour 30 minutes long, it is the wrong version of the episode. Delete the episode and redownload.

Sorry for the inconvenience! (Or, if you're a hardcore fan, you're welcome for the exclusive, behind-the-scenes raw podcast.)

Initially, an unedited version of this episode was uploaded.  The newer version is a lot more fun to listen to. 

Inklings Variety Hour welcomes author Jonathan Geltner to the show to discuss The Neverending Story!  

Yes, The Neverending Story is a 1979 children's novel by Michael Ende, who was never an Inkling, and it was made famous by the 1984 movie which Ende disavowed.  We get it.

But we really, really love synth.

In all seriousness, Inklings fans should read this underrated book, as it has much to say about the virtues and perils of imagination and other worlds.  

Among other things discussed: 

• The Catholic Imagination Conference
• 1980s Fantasy Films
• The Second Half of The Neverending Story and the dangers of fantasy
• The evolution of the term "fantasy"
• Carl Conrad Coreander and Chesterton's/Dickens' "MOOR EEFFOC"
• Possible military implications of Falkor coming to Vancouver
• Fantasy as part of reality, rather than an escape from it
• "Fantastica: It just sounds better in German"
• Geography and Landscape in Fantasy

Tomorrow, we will post a bonus episode discussing Jonathan's own highly acclaimed debut novel, Absolute Music.  Both conversations are part of a larger discussion about fairy stories, fantasy, and imagination.  

This episode masterfully produced by Logan Huggins.  There are a few more sonic treasures like this sprinkled throughout the season--enjoy them!  Chris continues to try to grapple with the basics of editing for future episodes--but that, as they say, is another story, and will be told another time.

Dawn Treader, Part 2

Episode description to come!  It's late!

 

(Sorry about some of the audio quality!  I'm learning!--Chris)

Dawn Treader, part 1

As Season Three of the Inklings Variety Hour begins, worlds collide! 

David Bates, of Pints with Jack fame, is hoisted aboard our primitive, deckchairless podcast, as we set sail for sweeter waters!

Why, you can almost feel the sea air! Bracing!

Also joining up with us, we have Eric Geddes from the snowy wastes of Phoenix--whom you might remember from our Christmas episode!

Enjoy part 1 of our two-part coverage of Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  Among other topics, we discuss:

• Whether (and why) this is where Narnia really takes shape
• That amazing first line--and Harold and Alberta's special underwear
• How to repel germs and insects--Lewis brothers style!
• Voyage of the Dawn Treader as satire-turned-adventure tale
• The Miseducation of Eustace Clarence Scrubb
• The genre and structure of this satire-turned-adventure tale-turned-immram
• The superiority of the low-budget BBC adaptation of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Eustace's diary and grade-grubbing
• Slavery, moral fads, "progress" in an egg, bureaucracies, and "efficient" committees--versus pomp and ceremony
• Eustace as Edmund dialed up to 11
• The endragoning of Eustace and fiends in human shape
• Sir Gowther
• How we would create a Star Trek-style adaptation of Voyage of the Dawn Treader...in space (er, Heaven).  Eat your heart out, Gene Roddenberry and Michael Ward!

Next week: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, part 2!

Special thanks to Logan Huggins for amazing work editing/producing this episode!  Enjoy it while you can, folks--he won't be able to edit the next episode, which means Chris will try his hand!

If you like The Inklings Variety Hour, please leave us a good review on iTunes or elsewhere!  Also, please do write in--a big thank you to those who have!  We'd love to meet you!  (Inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com).  

I'm also always looking for new cohosts or others who would like to contribute to this project, either through editing or social media.  It's been a bit like the ship of Theseus, but if you'd like to hop aboard for a few episodes, I'd love to have you!  

After The Voyage of the Dawn Treader part 2, we'll be talking with J.D. Peabody, the author of the new middle-grade book series, The Inkwell Chronicles--which expands our idea of "the Inklings" and stars "Ronald, Jack, and Dot" as supporting characters.  Feel free to start reading now!

Season 3 Trailer

Season 3 is coming!  Enjoy this hastily-assembled trailer by Chris.

Join us Tuesday for the first of a two-parter on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

And yes, we will be covering The Never Ending Story for an episode this season--even though it's not by any Inklings--because it is a wonderful and often-overlooked book.  We'll also be covering a few very recent novels that have something to do with the Inklings.  It's how we roll here at the Variety Hour.

Excited?  Concerned?  "Delirious with joy"?  Write us and say so: Inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you.

Apologies to David of Pints with Jack for our general cheekiness.  Some soundbites are just too good not to use in a trailer.

An Inklings Christmas (”Inklings Variety Hour Christmas Spectacular Extravaganza”)

Enjoy an off-season holiday bonus episode!  Merry Christmas!  Season 3 is coming in February, but in the meantime, please feel free to email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com

For this bonus episode, Chris is joined by Logan, Kora, and Eric to talk about Christmas and the Inklings.

We'll talk a bit about Christmas memories and rituals that involve the Inklings. We'll delve into holiday poetry, fiction, and satire by Williams, Tolkien, and Lewis. And finally, we'll try our hand at creating an Inklings-related Hallmark-style Christmas movie, ending with a trailer put together by none other than Logan Huggins.

Works discussed include:

• "Christmas," by Charles Williams
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
• Smith of Wootton Major, by J.R.R. Tolkien 
• Letters from Father Christmas, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• “Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus,” by C.S. Lewis

Topics discussed include: 

• Coming to Inklings Variety Hour Season 3
• What makes a Christmas movie a Christmas movie?
• Who best embodies the spirit of Christmas in Lord of the Rings?
• Lewis' reverential rejuvenation of flat secular characters (such as Father Christmas); nature of solemnity
• Two (reconcilable? irreconcilable?) aspects of Christmas
• Barbie in the Nutcracker and "Faerie"
• Yuletide in Middle Earth

Thanks as always to Logan Huggins for making me sound a lot less awkward than I would in real life! And for adding the great music! And for maintaining the Youtube Channel!  (Note: At the end of the show, I thank "both Kora and Eric," because Logan had to step off slightly early.)

If you want to find a new way to celebrate Christmas as a season rather than a day-long binge, please check out the site Chris does with his wife, Glencora: www.12tide.com

And as always, please do not hesitate to email us at Inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com with ideas for what you'd like to see in Season 3!

Merry Christmas!

The Princess and the Goblin Part 3 (Season 2 Finale)

The previous version of this audio file left out the final seven minutes of the episode.  Those responsible have been sacked.  Hopefully this re-upload will fix all.

Happy Labor Day! 

This episode goes out to all you miners toiling away for the Princess' King-Papa, who is so benevolent that no unions are needed.  Also, to all you goblins--may your heads be as tough as your feet are tender.  Excelsior!

It's taken us more time than we thought it would, but here, as promised, is the final episode covering George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin.  Please do leave us a review on iTunes or some other podcast service if you haven't already--this is how other people find out about the podcast.

Logan and Chris sound off on the last third (or so) of George MacDonald's most famous children's book.  Among other things, we discuss what heroism should look like for Christians (following our great-great-grandmother's thread), and what to do when others don't see the same reality as you (hint: don't stamp their feet).  We also come up with inventions that could save us during the next goblin invasion.  It's coming, folks.

There were a few audio problems when Chris read, so a few of the readings from the book are instead from the late, great Andy Minter's fantastic Librivox recording, which--I'm sure I don't need to tell you--is in the public domain.  There were a few technical difficulties, and we didn't have time to re-record the episode, though we've finessed some things, so I think you'll enjoy it.

We have a lot of great stuff coming in Season 3, which we'll kick off with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  We have lots of plans, but be sure to let us know what else you'd like to see at Inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  Thanks for listening, and we'll see you again in a few months!

Between now and then, feel free to check out our Youtube channel, where we currently have episodes (with excellently goofy graphics assembled by Logan Huggins) and will have a few other goodies as we continue to develop it.

Thanks again to Logan for editing/producing this episode!  Chris added the Andy Minter bits, as well as the "Goblin Town" song by Rankin Bass at the end, so if that sounds rough to anyone, it's my fault, not his.

Until next season, see you in Goblin Town.  I'll be the guy spitting rhymes and wearing uncomfortable shoes.

Running Up That Hill (Stranger Th[Inkl]ings Bonus Pop Culture Pod)

Please do rate and share this podcast if you like it--it's the best way to help other people find it.  We'd love to hear from you--email us at Inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  

We also have a new Youtube channel, so please do subscribe--we'll be publishing clips and extras there pretty soon.  Thanks to Logan for his work on it!

Chris, Anika, and Meagan, the original Inklings Variety Hour crew, reunite to talk about Season 4 of Stranger Things, Kate Bush and the power of music, parallels between Stranger Things and the Inklings' work, the show's (possibly exaggerated?) portrayal of the "Satanic Panic," John Hughes, popular kids, and eighties movies, nerds and experts, D&D, Harry Potter, Pentecostals, Jack Chick and Charles Williams, and whether Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's most quoted line might not help everyone be a little bit saner.

Thanks to Logan Huggins for producing this episode--and doing it with style and panache!

Thanks also to author David L. Carter, a friend of the show, who was listening to "Running Up That Hill" before it was popular.  

Next week: Stay tuned for the last episode of Season 2, as we finish talking about The Princess and the Goblin.  Seriously--it has been recorded and is coming.

The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: A Conversation with Jason M. Baxter

Breaking News: We have a Youtube channel now.  It has full podcasts and clips, but probably not many videos of us actually recording.  It's worth checking out.

If you enjoy this podcast and want other Inklings fans to find it, please do leave us a review on iTunes or favorite us on Overcast or other podcast services.

We'll wrap up our discussion of The Princess and the Goblin in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, enjoy this interview with medieval scholar Jason M. Baxter about his new book, The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind.

This book, more than any I've read before, helped me see Lewis' work (fiction as well as non-fiction) as one great overarching, coherent project to make the past accessible to the present, not only intellectually, but imaginatively and emotionally.  I highly recommend it.

If you like this book, I also recommend Dr. Baxter's book on Dante, which is a very useful guide.  I've read it a few times.

As always, many thanks to our producer, Logan Huggins, for spinning sonic straw into gold.  If you missed our previous episode on The Princess and the Goblin, do yourself a favor and listen.  We're quite proud of it.

Also as always, if you have questions or want to get in touch with us, email us at Inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you.

The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald, Part 2

Anika Smith and Logan Huggins join Chris to discuss the second part of The Princess and the Goblin.  There are profound spiritual moments, as well as pop culture Easter eggs galore.  Enjoy.  

More detailed description to come!

Also--because Chris is going to a conference in England and Logan is moving house, we will have a brief hiatus for the next two weeks or so.  Do not fear--we will be back with the conclusion of The Princess and the Goblin.  

Thanks as always to Logan for editing the episode!

And please feel free to email us at Inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com or to leave a review if you'd like to give us feedback.  We'd love to hear from you.