The Inklings Variety Hour

Race to Krakatoa (Inkwell Chronicles), with J.D. Peabody

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Yes, we're talking to you through these shownotes, 

and it's all very eerie

and annoying.

*ahem*

Middle-grade author J.D. Peabody rejoins Chris to talk about The Inkwell Chronicles: Race to Krakatoa, the second book in his Inkwell Chronicles series.  

You may want to read the book before listening--or feel free to listen to get an idea of how another author draws on the work of the Inklings to create his own excellent middle-grade fiction. It's pretty inspiring.

Stick around post "credits" to hear Mr. Peabody talk with Chris' 10-year-old son.  

Here, by the way, is Jeff's secret Inkwell Chronicles invisible ink page.  Worth looking through.

Apologies for the late posting! Life has been a perfect storm of grading, kids getting sick, meetings, etc.  

Also--we're on Instagram now.  Follow us @inklingsvarietyhour and feel free to respond there.

As always, email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you.

Poetry Thursday: "The Hoard," by J.R.R. Tolkien

This week, we've got another by Tolkien.  You can find it in Tales from the Perilous Realm, which collects The Adventures of Tom Bombadil in which it was originally published.

Again, the idea for this format comes from "The Daily Poem," so check it out if you haven't already done so.

See you Tuesday!

The Silver Chair, Part 5: Malice in Underland

The finale of our series on The Silver Chair!  We have a lot of great stuff to say, but I have a ten-month-old with an ear infection and it is the last month of the semester, so I will have to write a summary later!  This is also not as scrupulously edited as other episodes are--so savor the authenticity!

My guests are Eric Geddes, Jonathan Geltner (whose blogs you should find and whose books you should buy), and Joseph Weigel (whose podcast you should listen to). My wife Glencora also makes a brief appearance.

You can now find us on Instagram @inklingsvarietyhour.  We'd love to hear from you.

Next week, we'll be talking to J.D. Peabody about his middle-grade fantasy, The Inkwell Chronicles: Race to Krakatoa.  Feel free to look it up and give it a read before then or wait until you hear the episode.

As always, email me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com, and please leave a five-star review on iTunes if you're enjoying the podcast.

Poetry Thursday: "On the Circuit," by W.H. Auden

Was Auden an Inkling?

No. No, he wasn't.

But have we played him reading a stanza of this poem (in which he mentions Williams and Tolkien) every week we've published an episode?  

Yes. Yes, we have.

So here's the whole thing in full, for the sake of sweet context.

Again, I am absolutely stealing the pattern of Poetry Thursdays from the wonderful Daily Poem podcast by Goldberry Studios.  Listen to it and be enlightened, if you like this sort of thing.

Next time: We wrap up our Silver Chair discussion!

The Silver Chair, Part 4: How to Cook For Forty Giants

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And shoot us an email to tell us that our work this week has not been in vain: inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.

 

This week, Chris is joined by a panoply of first-time and returning guests, such as Eric Geddes, Jonathan Geltner, Joseph Weigel, and Glencora Pipkin, to talk about The Silver Chair, Chapters 7-9.  Hopefully you'll find our many digressions refreshing and stimulating--not irritating and uncomfortable, like so many irregular trenches carved into a hill.

Among other things, we discuss:

• Whether we're more afraid of heights or depths (we'd love to hear from you on this question).
• Chris feels vindicated that Lewis had trouble finding a name for this book.
• The V-structure (see Planet Narnia) of The Silver Chair
• The Faerie Queene and the fringes of England and Narnia
• Sources, and Eric's hypothesis about "Narnia and the North"
• Education and The Silver Chair
• Loss of Agency Resulting from Comfort
• The Nature of Dreams
• The Children's Cascading Epiphanies!
•  Humor and Tension in Harfang
• "It's a Cookbook!"
• "It's only cannibalism if your meal was hnau."
• Education as instilling virtue

Here's a link to Jonathan Weigel's podcast, "Men with Chests": Men with Chests on Apple Podcasts

Here's a link to Jonathan Geltner's substack, blog, and books.

 

This Thursday: A poem!  By one of the Inklings, probably!  You'll know when I do!

Next week: Finale of The Silver Chair!

 

Poetry Thursday: "The Birth of Language," by C.S. Lewis

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As always, feel free to email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com!

Welcome back to Poetry Thursday.

Here's something from the planet Mercury for you all!

Also, the show now has an Instagram--follow us @inklingsvarietyhour

Feel free to let me know if there are poems by Inklings you'd really like to hear.  

We'll be back Tuesday with more of The Silver Chair!

In the meantime, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Happy Easter to you! Cristos Anviat!

 

The Silver Chair, Part 3: Glum and Glamour

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If you'd like to reach out to us or suggest ideas for an episode, email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you.

Also, we have an Instagram account now.  Follow us at inklingsvarietyhour.

Chris resumes his conversation with Jonathan Geltner and Eric Geddes about the first half of Lewis' fourth Narnia book, The Silver Chair.

Among other things, we discuss:

• A bit more of Chapter 4, "Parliament of Owls."
• Rilian's Predicament: Oedipal or just Literary?
• Puddleglum: Origins
  • Fred Paxford
  • John Studley's Bad Translation of Hippolytus (16th Century, OHEL)
  • Geographical
  • Literary American "Indian Guides"
• English dourness, Thorin and Company, and Dickens
• Rock Giants at Play in The Silver Chair and The Hobbit
• Jill and Eustace: Pilgrims or T-r-r-r-r-avelers?
• The Ever-r-r-r-Glamorous Art of R-Trilling
• Parallels with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Other Romances, such as:
  • Lanval, by Marie de France
  • Sir Orfeo (based on Orpheus but with Fairies--here's Tolkien's translation)
• Post-script: Arthurian Torso

Thanks to Jonathan Geltner and Eric Geddes for a great conversation. Follow Jonathan's work at his blog and his substack, and buy his book.

 

This Week's Poetry Thursday: C.S. Lewis' "The Birth of Language."

 

Next Tuesday: Joined by Joseph Weigel from the Men with Chests podcast, we'll discuss civilized giants!  And maybe we'll even get to the Underworld. Stay tuned!

 

Coming this Season:

Perelandra, more podcast crossovers (Thinklings, Men with Chests), Arthurian Torso, "The Golden Key," Inkwell Chronicles: Race to Krakatoa, Lewis and Tolkien and a whole lot more. 

Poetry Thursday: "The Sparrow's Skull," by Ruth Pitter

Welcome again to the new "Poetry Thursday" feature of The Inklings Variety Hour.

This week, we're reading a poem by Ruth Pitter, someone who was not an Inkling but knew C.S. Lewis and a few of the other Inklings.  I had Don W. King on the show to talk about her, and you can find that interview here.

You can find the poem I read here, by the way.

And here's a book of Pitter's poetry.

I hope you enjoy--if you do, please leave a five-star review on iTunes so that others will be more likely to find the show.

Also, please feel free to write me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com if you have ideas for poems you would like to hear read on the show.

The idea for the format of Poetry Thursday is ripped pretty shamelessly from The Daily Poem, which is a great podcast.

 

The Silver Chair, Part 2: Owlectric Boogaloo-whoo

If you're enjoying The Inklings Variety Hour, please leave us a five-star review on .  We'd also love to hear from you--email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  

Chris' wife, Glencora, joins him to talk about chapters 3 and 4 of The Silver Chair. Among other things, we discuss:

• The Signs and Sudden Quizzes
• Muppet Silver Chair (not really a thing, but it should be)
• The Many Types of Narnians
• Knowledge, Experience, Recognition
• Meditation in a Toolshed
• The Nature of Wisdom?
• Chaucer's Parliament of Fowls and other ancient/medieval works referenced in Chapter 4...also Keats.
• Fetching green caps that say "Oui"

Hopefully you'll enjoy this episode, which is slightly more lighthearted and relaxed than usual.  Also, happy birthday to Glencora!

If not, I'll be back with Eric and Jonathan next week to talk about Puddleglum!

 

Next: 

• Poetry Thursday: "The Sparrow's Skull," by Ruth Pitter

This Season:

Shows on their way include:

• Interview with J.D. Peabody about The Inkwell Chronicles: Race to Krakatoa
• C.S. Lewis and World War I
• Interview with Connor Salter about Bill Gresham
• George MacDonald's "The Golden Key"
• Owen Barfield
• Perelandra
• Arthurian Torso
• And quite a bit more. Stay tuned and let me know what else you'd like to see.

 

Apologies for any sound problems on this one!  We were in the same room, and I am not a professional sound guy.

Poetry Thursday: "Imram," by J.R.R. Tolkien

We're trying a new thing this season--each Thursday, I plan to release a brief recording of a poem by one of the Inklings. 

This is more or less directly inspired by the excellent podcast, The Daily Poem by Goldberry Studios, so check it out and subscribe if you want more of this sort of thing.

The poem this week is "Imram," by J.R.R. Tolkien.

You can find a text of the poem here.

You can find it reprinted in Sauron Defeated in the History of Middle Earth Series.

Do you have a favorite poem by one of the Inklings (or someone associated with them in some way) that you'd like to hear read on the podcast?  Feel free to shoot me an email if so, at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com

As always, give us a five-star rating if you want to encourage us to keep doing what we do.

See you Tuesday for The Silver Chair, Part 2!