Chris invites several guests to talk about the following question in a two-hour roundtable special: To what extent is Lewis' The Abolition of Man prescient or prophetic? I really enjoyed this roundtable discussion between: Nathan Gilmour James LaPeyre Joseph Weigel and Jonathan Geltner I hope you will, too. We talk a lot about the following subjects: What Lewis means by "nature" Whether Lewis is, being coy, retreating into simplicity, playing a "forced card trick" or some other manner of knavish...
Jul 15, 2025•2 hr 4 min•Season 5Ep. 185
The Inklings are often characterized as mostly sedentary men who wrote about people going off on adventures. Yet for a few of them, the highlight of their year was the chance to go on walking tours throughout England. It's unlikely, in fact, that they would have been able to describe the adventures of, say, Elwin Ransom, or the three friends in Night Operation if they didn't take these rambles (and write about them!) from time to time. With me to talk about the Inklings' walking tours are Inklin...
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 184
Joseph Weigel from the Men With Chests podcast joins me to talk about NICE Alchemy! By which I don't mean, "Whoa, that was some really sweet alchemy you were doing just now, dude! NICE!" But rather, the connection between science and magic as practiced by the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.) in C.S. Lewis' final novel in his space trilogy, That Hideous Strength. It's weird stuff. And Merlin's involved, naturally. That guy. This is part discussion, part interview, becaus...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 5Ep. 183
Ned Bustard and Matt Wheeler join me to discuss J.R.R. Tolkien's great allegory (or is it?) for the creative process, "Leaf by Niggle"! Enjoy! I am quite excited about this episode. And check out Ned and Matt's stuff! I will post links! I will! In the meantime, I've given you the spelling of their first and last names, above. Notable works include, but are not restricted to: Every Moment Holy, The Lost Tales of Sir Galahad, The Wonder of It All. You're welcome. More episode description to come, ...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 34 min•Season 5Ep. 182
Katie Wray Schon joins us to talk about Pauline Baynes , the subject of her new book, Painting Wonder ! It's been a long-held goal of this podcast to devote at least one episode to Pauline Baynes--who, while not an Inkling, illustrated both the Narnia chronicles and many of Tolkien's short stories--in addition to being one of the best illustrators of the 20th Century. Luckily, Katie Wray Schon has just written and published a children's picture book about Baynes' life, and she joins me to talk a...
May 19, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Season 5Ep. 181
Sorry for the extra wait for this one! Eric Geddes, Jonathan Geltner, and Charlie Carter join me to talk Tolkien's Father Giles of Ham. Episode description to come! Many more podcasts on the way this summer! Leave me a review! It's really the only way I know anyone is listening.
May 05, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 5Ep. 180
Matt Wheeler rejoins me for our final episode on The Horse and His Boy. More episode description to come! Featuring "Wonder of It All" by Matt Wheeler.
Apr 15, 2025•1 hr 44 min•Season 5Ep. 179
If you would like episodes of The Inklings Variety Hour to come out more often, please do consider leaving us a positive review. Singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler once again joins me to discuss his favorite Narnia book, The Horse and His Boy. Among other things, we talk about: Hermits and the nature of freedom Allegory and biblical allusion in Narnia Fear as motivation Self-pity as incomplete story Matt's song, "Worn Thin" Enjoy, and join us next week for the conclusion of The Horse and His Boy. Fe...
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 178
Finishing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "I Sit Beside the Fire and Think." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!
Mar 26, 2025•7 min•Ep. 177
Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy this talk with Jonathan Geltner about how Tolkien saves the future. After we're all dead, of course, but you can't have everything... (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!
Mar 26, 2025•55 min•Ep. 176
Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy this conversation about the Shire! (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!
Mar 26, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 175
Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy my talk with Jonathan Geltner about Tolkien's unfinished poem, "The Fall of Arthur." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 174
Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy my interview with Verlyn Flieger about Splintered Light. (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 173
Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "Imram." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!
Mar 25, 2025•9 min•Ep. 172
Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "The Hoard." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!
Mar 25, 2025•11 min•Ep. 171
Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy Smith of Wootton Major, Part 2! (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!
Mar 25, 2025•52 min•Ep. 170
Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon of old episodes. Enjoy this first of two on Smith of Wootton Major! (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!
Mar 25, 2025•29 min•Ep. 169
Dipping into the Old Winyards this Tolkien reading day! Enjoy this conversation from a few years ago about Tolkien adaptations! Stay tuned...there are about nine more to come today.
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 168
The finale of the Till We Have Faces series! Original episode description: 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...
Mar 22, 2025•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 167
Musician Matt Wheeler joins me to talk about Chapters 7-8 of The Horse and His Boy, specifically Shasta among the tombs (ghouls ahoy), and Aravis' adventures. At the end of the hour, he's kind enough to share an original waltzy song about Aravis, inspired by a COVID toilet paper run. (Seriously, it's a great song--if you listen to nothing else, listen to it.) Before that, we talk about the following: The right way (or lack thereof) to pronounce Shasta and Aravis (and Aslan) Ghouls, ghouls, ghoul...
Mar 18, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 5Ep. 166
More of our series on Till We Have Faces!
Mar 15, 2025•35 min•Ep. 165
Continuing to cover Till We Have Faces!
Mar 08, 2025•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 164
It's Season Five of The Inklings Variety Hour, episode one, and you know what that means! Time to return to the enchanting land of-- --record scratch-- -- Calormen ? That's right, Ed Said. We're kicking off this season the right way, with a little trip to an unprepossessing fisherman's hut and the down-on-his-luck literary ancestor of both a refreshing soft drink and Taran the Assistant Pig-keeper . I'm only talking 'bout Shasta. Can you dig? You know who else is talking about Shasta? I mean, be...
Mar 04, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Season 5Ep. 163
Sorry for the late upload, once again! I've been preparing for the new season! The first episode of Season 5, covering The Horse and His Boy, will be coming out in a few days! See you then, and in the meantime, enjoy some more travels in Glome!
Mar 01, 2025•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 162
Apologies (again) for the late Saturday upload. Here's Part 7 of our Till We Have Faces series. Enjoy! Stay tuned for the first brand new episode of Season 5. We'll start with The Horse and His Boy on March 4 and update with a new episode every two weeks. --------------------------------------------------------- Original description: If you like this podcast, please give us a review in iTunes! Also, we'd love to hear from you! Email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com . This week, Chris and Anik...
Feb 22, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 161
Apologies for the late upload! A new season of The Inklings Variety Hour is coming on Tuesdays in March, starting with The Horse and His Boy. In the meantime, enjoy this old episode, with one of our first guest-stars, Andrew Lazo, talking about his favorite Lewis book, Till We Have Faces! Original Description: This week, we're talking with Andrew Lazo , author, speaker, and noted Till We Have Faces and C.S. Lewis scholar. You can find additional information about Andrew's projects, current and f...
Feb 15, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 160
A new season of The Inklings Variety Hour is coming your way in March! In the meantime, here's another rerun. Old description: This week, we are still hiking up the enchanting mountain that is Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, hearts dancing all the while. And why should they not, as we discuss such topics as: Fighting and work as a potential antidote for depression Resurrection as a potential antidote for depression How King Trom is a bro Refusal of joy and its effect on perception Would-be eu...
Feb 08, 2025•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 159
From the vaults! More of C.S. Lewis' underrated final novel! Original description: In which Anika and Chris reveal the fairly shallow reason we had for doing Till We Have Faces this year and accidentally endorse human sacrifice. Mostly, we talk about Chapter 7, in which Orual and Psyche say goodbye, and Chapter 8, in which Orual decides to journey to the mountain and recover Psyche's body. At issue are whether or not selfish love is still love and whether sacrifice (especially human sacrifice) i...
Feb 01, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 158
Enjoy! Original Episode Description:
Jan 25, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 157
Till We Have Faces, Part 2! Here are the original shownotes: In the spirit of Groundhog's Day, Chris and Anika dig into Chapters 3-4 of Lewis' Till We Have Faces , which retells the Cupid and Psyche myth. We discuss, among other things: The apparent popularity of J.G. Frazer in Glome " Foxy Redival's Flirtations " Whether we're the worst at what we care about most (and other cheering thoughts) Soup and Religion (and other metaphors) Narrative asides about weeping in Lewis Our ideas for movie ada...
Jan 18, 2025•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 156
