The Inklings Variety Hour

From the Old Winyards: On Fairy Stories, Part 2: Recovery, Escape, Consolation (Saturday Rerun)

Another episode from the vaults. Here's the original episode description: 

Join Anika, Meagan, and Chris for the second half of our discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories."  Among other things, we talk about the nature of originality, the way that stories re-enchant and recover reality for us, the nature of true escapism and modernity, the Gift of Illuvatar and whether anyone actually wants to live forever--probably--also, whether Tolkien really did believe in fairies, the idea of consolation, how joy is more poignant than grief, the parts of the Lord of the Rings that make us cry, fairy stories, myth, and the Gospel, how the temporal and material helps us recover the eternal--and, of course, Frodo of the Nine Fingers and His Ring of Doom!  So strap on your steel shoes and prepare to climb the glassy hill of robust conversation with us.

 

You can find this essay in a number of places, but this is a pretty nice edition.

 

Next time, we'll be applying some of the ideas from "On Fairy Stories" to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in order to determine, once and for all, whether it is a fairy story, and whether Tolkien is departing from his own standards in disliking it.  It's full circle time!  If you enjoy this podcast, recommend it to a friend and give us a review on iTunes.  And please do feel more than free to drop us a line at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you.

From the Old Winyards: Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories," Pt 1 (Saturday Rerun)

Recovered from the deeps of time...

 

An Unexpected Podcast: On Hobbit Birthdays

It's been too long since we've done podcasts on Tolkien.

I thought I'd record a fairly off-the-cuff episode on Hobbit birthdays in light of Bilbo's and Frodo's shared birthday, September 22.

I'm reading part of Tolkien's Letter 214, which is in response to A.C. Nunn (and never sent), who points out the discrepancy between Gollum expecting a birthday present and Hobbits giving presents on their birthdays. 

The letter is much longer than this (and, quite characteristically, apparently not sent). 

If you want to read more of Tolkien's response, as well as his letters in general, grab a copy of Tolkien's Collected Letters.

From the Old Winyards: Into the Wardrobe Pt 3 (Saturday Rerun)

Blast from the Icy past!

Original shownotes:

The third and final installment of our conversation on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe enters some interesting territory as Chris, Anika, and Meagan explore Lewis's (inadvertent?) use of Aslan-as-Trickster imagery, proper Narnian politics, and kangaroos. Also witness the precise moment in which the trio realizes that Lewis may have ruined their childhoods.

Works referenced include:

• A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
• The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Outro poetry sample: "On the Circuit" by W. H. Auden

Email the show! InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com

Prose and Poetry in Perelandra, with Don W. King

Don W. King joins Chris to talk about Ruth Pitter's Perelandra Spenserian Stanzas!

More episode description to come!

From the Old Winyards: Into the Wardrobe Pt 2 (Saturday Rerun)

Another nostalgic Saturday rerun episode!

Original shownotes: 

Return to Narnia for the second part of our (three-part) discussion on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Find out the intrepid trio's thoughts on such questions as:

• Why shouldn't we be too hard on Edmund?
• How exactly does Father Christmas fit into this story, anyway?
• Why is it so important to remember to wipe your sword?

Works referenced include:

• Planet Narnia by Michael Ward
• Boxen by C. S. Lewis

As always, the outro poetry sample is from W. H. Auden's "On the Circuit".

Write to us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com!

Pop-up Episode: Study Short Stories with Søri Higgins (Live! Almost!)

Søri Higgins joins me to discuss her new class on short stories, opening tomorrow. 

Along the way, we discuss other things as well, which I don't have time to mention here.  But you'll like it.  I promise.

 

Find out more about Sori's class here: ONLINE CLASS: The Architecture of a Short Story | The Oddest Inkling (wordpress.com)

 

 

From the Old Winyards: Into the Wardrobe Pt 1 (Saturday Rerun)

Thought I'd rerun some of these old episodes on Saturdays. Enjoy!

 

Original shownotes:

Chris, Anika, and Meagan introduce themselves and the podcast before promptly stepping through that magical wardrobe in the first (yes, first) of C. S. Lewis's Narnia chronicles. Why are robins trustworthy? Was Lewis wrong about his preferred reading order for the Narnia books? Will the hosts be able to overcome initial podcast jitters?

 

Works discussed include:

• The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
• The Company They Keep, by Diana Pavlac Glyer
• The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis
• “On the Circuit,” by W.H. Auden

 

This is the first podcast any of us have done, so if you want to see more of this sort of thing, we’d love five-star reviews with suggestions for improvement!  Or feel free to email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  Tune in next week for Part 2 of our discussion of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  And bring your coats.  It’s not stealing.

Deeper Heaven and Perelandra with Christiana Hale

Well, the glass coffin spaceship is sitting there in front of him, giving him that look, but Chris isn't ready to leave Perelandra just yet.

In this episode, he ropes Christiana Hale, author of Deeper Heaven: A Reader's Guide to C.S. Lewis' Ransom Trilogy, into coming on the show to discuss contemplation, enjoyment, poetry, literary allusions, myth, and the figure of Ransom as Martial prophet.

Her book is as interesting and edifying as it is clear and accessible--but don't take my word for it. (And by that I mean, get it for yourself.)

In two weeks, the Perelandra extravaganza continues as Chris welcomes Don W. King back on the show to discuss the cycle of Spenserian poems Ruth Pitter wrote about Perelandra.

Again, I can only really afford to put these out every two weeks. This might change if I pick up a larger audience, so please do recommend the show to your friends and leave five-star reviews, for (Deep) Heaven's sake.

See you all next time, and as always, feel free to email me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  

Perelandra, Part 5: The End

Thanks to all who have left reviews and feedback! Due to a very busy schedule (with school starting, etc.), I can no longer afford to edit/publish this podcast more than twice a month. 

This may change if we pick up more listeners, so keep the positive reviews coming and share with your friends! 

Charlie Carter (Thinklings Podcast) and Joseph Weigel (Men with Chests Podcast) join Chris to talk about the conclusion of Perelandra! Among other things, they discuss:

• The "three tracks" of a Lewis novel
• Culmination in Dante's Paradiso and the influence of the Divine Comedy 
• Tor, Ransom, and Christ
• The Green Knight and "The Anthropological Approach"
• Flora and fauna
• Why it's a coffin
• Venus as a place where God brings non-dying people
• Venus as Third Heaven
• The Two Witnesses
• Changing Room Montage of the Gods
• Gender and Spirits
• Seven Genders
• The Truth of Myth
• Two Ways of Looking at Myth
• Repetition of Stories

Besides the usual Descript audio, I've included Faure's In Paradisum Requiem

Next time (in two weeks), we'll continue talking about Perelandra with scholar Christiana Hale, whose Deeper Heaven I highly recommend.

Thanks, as always, for listening, and please do drop me a line at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.