The Inklings Variety Hour

As he discusses the third part of Prince Caspian, the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia, Chris is joined once more by three special guests:

• Logan Huggins, our producer (who did yet another amazing job with this episode)
• Mez Blume, author of Churchill's S.O.C.K.s and several other excellent books
• Sophie Burkhardt, from the podcast Beneath the Willow Tree

Among other things discussed:

• Caspian's advisors versus Miraz's advisors
• Honour (with a "u")
• Nikabrik, "talking plainly," and ends-justifies-means logic
• Fan Fiction Assignment: Caspian the Werewolf King
• Are badgers patient?
• How to challenge someone to a duel with style, Mr. Smith (hint: spell "abhominable" with an "h")
• "Would a coward have this?"
• The weak shaming the strong and Caspian's army versus Miraz's army
• Does Aslan hate infrastructure?
• Rivers, gods, and The Dry Salvages
• Miss Prizzle and the Magic School Bacchus
• Re-enchanting a modern setting within Narnia
• Childlike faith, waiting for the romp, and walking through the door

To hear Sophie Burkhardt's podcast (which has lots of MacDonald and Chesterton), go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beneath-the-willow-tree/id1574579754

To check out Mez Blume's books, go here: https://mezblume.com/

If you want to email us, we'd love to hear from you.  Write to Inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com

Stay tuned!  Next week, we'll be discussing Tolkien's last fairy story, "Smith of Wooton Major"!  

(I am releasing this episode again, just in case your podcatcher is being stubborn and refuses to yield the raw episode I inadvertently uploaded this morning--Chris)

As he discusses the second part of Prince Caspian the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia, Chris is joined by three special guests:

• Logan Huggins, our producer (who did yet another amazing job with this episode)
• Mez Blume, author of Churchill's S.O.C.K.s and several other excellent books
• Sophie Burkhardt, from the podcast Beneath the Willow Tree

(Apologies to our listeners--and Logan--for uploading the unedited version at first this morning!  That is entirely my fault, and I promise you will enjoy this one more--Chris)

Join us as we discuss Lewis' occasionally awkward but profound Narnian novel.  Among other things, we talk about:

• What stars and trees have in common
• Becoming a beast and George MacDonald's The Princess and Curdie
• Re-enchantment of (and human rule over) nature
• Aslan's Socratic rebukes
• Aslan's breath as the "ruach" that moves the trees
• Growing up without "growing up"
• Lewis on chivalry
• Play as the possible redemption of Susan
• Aslan and the gods
• Tolkien and Lewis as Lego Masters and Narnia as a grafted world

As always, if you have questions and contributions, feel free to email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you.

For the view that the Bacchic "romp" is a response to Tolkien, see Joe R. Christopher, "J.R.R. Tolkien: Narnian Exile," in Mythlore 55(Autumn 1988), pp. 41-42. 

To hear Sophie Burkhardt's podcast (which has lots of MacDonald and Chesterton), go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beneath-the-willow-tree/id1574579754

To check out Mez Blume's books, go here: https://mezblume.com/

 

Stay tuned next week for our final Prince Caspian podcast! 

As he discusses the second part of Prince Caspian the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia, Chris is joined by three special guests:

• Logan Huggins, our producer (who did yet another amazing job with this episode)
• Mez Blume, author of Churchill's S.O.C.K.s and several other excellent books
• Sophie Burkhardt, from the podcast Beneath the Willow Tree

(Apologies to our listeners--and Logan--for uploading the unedited version at first this morning!  That is entirely my fault, and I promise you will enjoy this one more--Chris)

Join us as we discuss Lewis' occasionally awkward but profound Narnian novel.  Among other things, we talk about:

• What stars and trees have in common
• Becoming a beast and George MacDonald's The Princess and Curdie
• Re-enchantment of (and human rule over) nature
• Aslan's Socratic rebukes
• Aslan's breath as the "ruach" that moves the trees
• Growing up without "growing up"
• Lewis on chivalry
• Play as the possible redemption of Susan
• Aslan and the gods
• Tolkien and Lewis as Lego Masters and Narnia as a grafted world

As always, if you have questions and contributions, feel free to email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you.

For the view that the Bacchic "romp" is a response to Tolkien, see Joe R. Christopher, "J.R.R. Tolkien: Narnian Exile," in Mythlore 55(Autumn 1988), pp. 41-42. 

To hear Sophie Burkhardt's podcast (which has lots of MacDonald and Chesterton), go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beneath-the-willow-tree/id1574579754

To check out Mez Blume's books, go here: https://mezblume.com/

 

Stay tuned next week for our final Prince Caspian podcast! 

Season Two begins with a long-awaited return to Narnia!

Logan Huggins (who also edited and produced this episode) joins Chris to talk about the first few chapters of Prince Caspian.  Among other things, we discuss:

• Searching for "Old Narnia" in a meandering sequel
• The awkwardness of being a former grown-up
• How did Trumpkin, Nikabrik, and Trufflehunter become roommates?
• Why the book is still better than the movie
• Why Prince Caspian should be read second--after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
• Prince Caspian as a Narnian "Book of Acts"
• Garfield Minus Garfield
• The number of characters and nature of community
• Entering frame tales in Narnia

(I apologize for my very poor attempt at a British accent in the readings, but it would have been far more distracting to hear the children's dialogue in an unapologetically American accent.  By Jove.)

As always, feel free to email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, or comments.

Next time: Prince Caspian Part 2!

Welcome to the finale of Till We Have Faces on The Inklings Variety Hour!

Author and speaker Andrew Lazo from Pints with Jack joins Chris and Anika for our final discussion of Till We Have Faces.  It was, as always, a delight and an epiphany, Andrew!

Among other things, we discuss:

• The Four Loves
• Williams-esque redemption of Orual and Psyche
• Lewis' poem Reason
• Names in Till We Have Faces
• What in the world is Ungit?
• Orual's last word (hint: it's probably not "arrrgghhh")
• Joy's role in helping to write (and inspire) TWHF

Many, many thanks to Logan Huggins for producing this episode!

If you'd like to join one of our conversations, odds are, we'd love to have you!  We'd also love to hear from you, so feel free to email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  

Next time: Hold on to your electric torches! Season Two of The Inklings Variety Hour begins with Prince Caspian!

We're back!

This is a long-overdue, if abbreviated, first part of a two-part conclusion to Till We Have Faces.  

We're a little less Ent-ish about our discussion than we normally are, and we manage to get through four whole chapters in one episode.  Hasty much?

Even so, we find things to linger on as Orual herself speeds through some of the highlights of her rule in Glome, beginning with her duel against Argan and ending with an explanation for why she is writing this book in the first place.

Have feedback?  Fanfic?  A deep desire to be part of the show?  Tell us all about it by writing to InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  We'd love to meet you, and I will eventually reply.  I promise.  

High thanks and praise to Logan Huggins for producing this episode!

We'll be back next week to end our discussion of Till We Have Faces with friend of the show Andrew Lazo (who pops in at the end of this episode)!  Stay tuned!

Not quite in time for his death-day (or even the anniversary of his death-day), here is a reading of four poems by C.S. Lewis.

We at the Inklings Variety Hour hope to be back soon.  In the meantime, enjoy this reading of "Our Daily Bread," "Cliche Came Out of its Cage," "Science-fiction Cradlesong," and "Here The Whole World," all by C.S. Lewis. 

Happy C.S. Lewis Day!  Feel free to drop us a line at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com. 

We hope to be back soon! 

If you're enjoying The Inklings Variety Hour, please give us a rating on iTunes.  We'd also love to hear from you about what you'd like to see on the show.  Email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  

This week, we welcome Meagan Logsdon back to discuss C.S. Lewis' final novel, Till We Have Faces, Chapters 16 and 17.  Among other topics, we cover:

• Orual's veil and vulnerability
• Did Orual sacrifice Psyche just a bit more than King Trom?
• Orual as Lewis' most well-drawn character (contrasted with others)
• Arnom: Fresh-faced young priest or radical assassin?
• Is Trunia more like Erroll Flynn or Wile E. Coyote?
• "Queening It": Vocation as fulfillment or distraction?
• How would we design a mini-Glome at Epcot?
• Transplanted Appendix: Some small talk about cicadas, birds, and other horrors (originally at the top of the show) has been moved to the end.

Next week, we'll be talking about the "Prologue" of Charles Williams' Taliessin Through Logres.  Then, in two weeks' time, we'll be discussing Till We Have Faces Chapters 18-19.  It's duel time!

This special bonus episode commemorating Charles Williams' passing features the triumphant return of Meagan Logsdon (whose birthday coincides with her hero's death-day--can somebody say "substitution"?).

We are also joined by my wife, Glencora, as we discuss "Taliessin on the Death of Virgil," published as part of Williams' poetry cycle, Taliessin Through Logres, a reworking of the Arthurian myth in Williams' inimitable and complex modern poetic style.  The episode features two readings of the poem--one at the beginning and one at the end.  (I borrowed this practice from the podcast The Daily Poem, which is well worth checking out.)

As we do our best to unravel the meaning of this poem, we make reference to the ideas of both Andrew Stirling MacDonald and friend of the show, Sorina Higgins.  

If you enjoyed this, be sure to let us know.  We may do poetry more often in the weeks to come.

If you're enjoying these podcasts, feel free to drop us a line and let us know at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  We'd appreciate a review on iTunes as well, as this will help others find out about us!

This week, Chris and Anika discuss Chapters 14 and 15 of Till We Have Faces, where we find ourselves face-to-face with the God of the Mountain.  Topics include:

• Mountains v. Sea
• Psyche's childlikeness and Orual's childishness
• Does Psyche sin or not?
• The nature of the God of the Mountain
• How gods can change the past
• Foolish question of the week: What if Narnia and Glome merged?

Music for this week: 

"Our Father" in Aramaic

"The Hurrian Hymn," played by Michael Levy

"Kater Street Rag" by Bennie Moten

 

Stay tuned!  Saturday, we have a special episode to commemorate Charles Williams' death!