Whether it is a game of Clue or an episode of Sherlock on the BBC, everyone loves to solve a good murder mystery. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to put the detective fiction of Dorothy L. Sayers and G.K. Chesterton under a magnifying glass, and to interrogate their famous fictional sleuths, Lord Peter Wimsey and Father Brown.
Aug 21, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 17
If you are a serious C.S. Lewis fan, you likely know and love The Chronicles of Narnia, the Ransom Trilogy, and apologetics books such as Mere Christianity. But have you read The Discarded Image or An Experiment in Criticism ? In this week's episode, Dr. Jerry Root discusses his latest book, The Neglected C.S. Lewis , with Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing. Jerry Root explains what we can learn about C.S. Lewis by reading his neglected works, especially those on literary criticism, and how those...
Aug 07, 2020•48 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Before he was famous for his books, C.S. Lewis was one of the most well-recognized voices in Britain because of his broadcasts on 'the wireless.' In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss the radio broadcasts of Dorothy L. Sayers and C.S. Lewis, two of the first lay theologians invited to talk about Christianity on BBC Radio during World War II. Lewis's broadcasts would go on to be published as a best-selling book, Mere Christianity , ...
Jul 24, 2020•49 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Did the Inklings influence each other? According to C.S. Lewis, "No one ever influenced Tolkien—you might as well try to influence a bandersnatch." With her two books The Company They Keep (2008) and Bandersnatch (2015), Dr. Diana Pavlac Glyer has turned Lewis's denial on its head. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Glyer to discuss her groundbreaking work on the creative collaboration of the Inklings and how aspiring authors and artists can develop their own...
Jul 10, 2020•55 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Most people think of C. S. Lewis as a logician and level-headed theologian. Yet Lewis’s fascination with Christian mysticism can be discovered throughout his books and letters. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss how C.S. Lewis's abiding interest in mysticism shaped his writings and his own spiritual life. Explore this side of Lewis further with the help of Dr. David C. Downing's book, Into the Region of Awe (2005). Click on the lin...
Jun 26, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 13
As a young girl Kathy Keller, then Kathy Kristy, boldly wrote a series of letters to C.S. Lewis. Those letters along with Lewis's books played a pivotal role in Kathy's conversion and later in her ministry. Kathy is the wife of Timothy Keller the Founding Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. In this week's episode Drs. Crystal and David Downing interview Kathy remotely about her letters to Lewis, her unique journey to faith, and the influence of several other Wade authors lik...
Jun 12, 2020•43 min•Season 2Ep. 12
C.S. Lewis labeled himself a Christian Romantic, but what is Romanticism? And how did it influence not just Lewis, but all of the Wade authors? This week Drs. Crystal and David Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss Romanticism as a literary and cultural movement and to explore these questions. This week's episode features so many great references to amazing paintings, poems, books, and Romantic figures that we've created a list for you. Click on the link below to explore all the w...
May 29, 2020•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 11
Andrew Peterson adorns the dark of our fallen world with the light of Christ through his award-winning music and novels. Drs. Crystal and David Downing sit down with Andrew this week to discuss his recently released book Adorning the Dark, conversing about homemade maple syrup along with what he has learned about the creative process from Wade Center authors such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, George MacDonald, and G.K. Chesterton.
May 15, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 10
You may know him as the poet whose work inspired the Broadway musical, and now infamous movie, Cats. T.S. Eliot, though, is widely recognized as one of (if not the ) best poets of the twentieth century for his Modernist classics such as "The Waste Land" (1922) and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915). Drs. Crystal and David Downing sit down to discuss T.S. Eliot's involvement in the Modernist movement and specifically how Wade authors like C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton reacted against M...
May 01, 2020•52 min•Season 2Ep. 9
The genius of J.R.R. Tolkien is both inspiring and intimidating. How do you write, let alone revise, an epic fantasy like The Lord of the Rings ? Drs. David & Crystal Downing sit down in this week's episode to explore various ways that Tolkien revised and rewrote The Lord of the Rings , and what aspiring writers can learn from his early drafts. You definitely won't want to miss the many rejected character names.
Apr 17, 2020•41 min•Season 2Ep. 8
How do you share your faith in an increasingly post-Christian world? This week Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with leaders from C.S. Lewis Institute to discuss the challenges of defending the faith and making disciples in today’s intellectual climate. President Joel S. Woodruff and Karl “KJ” Johnson, Director of the C.S. Lewis Institute in Chicago, explain the genesis of their organization and how it seeks to live out the legacy of C.S. Lewis.
Apr 03, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Over the last week, people have been turning to our authors, especially Lewis, for wisdom about how to live in this new coronavirus age. We felt like it was important to slow things down this week and ask, "what would our authors say in a situation like this?" Many of them, like Lewis, Tolkien, and Sayers, lived through two world wars and the Spanish Flu. Join Crystal and David as they sit down with our close friend Jerry Root to discuss how the Wade authors might respond to this global crisis....
Mar 20, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 6
How can we possibly see the story of Jesus with fresh eyes this Lenten season? In this week's episode Dr. Crystal Downing sits down to discuss Dorothy L. Sayers's play-cycle on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, The Man Born to Be King . Dr. Christine Colón (English Professor, Wheaton College) and Marjorie Mead (Associate Director, Marion E. Wade Center) unpack how Sayers used her skills as a playwright to help an entire generation of Britons rediscover this ancient yet still rel...
Mar 06, 2020•44 min•Season 2Ep. 5
When is a dragon more than a dragon? In this week's episode Dr. David C. Downing (Co-Director of the Marion E. Wade Center and co-host of our podcast) sits down with Crystal and Producer Aaron Hill to discuss his inaugural lecture which compared the imaginary worlds created by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien in their respective novels. Does the way that Lewis and Tolkien use dragons reveal something more fundamental about the way they approached world-building and the realm of imagination?
Feb 21, 2020•42 min•Season 2Ep. 4
The Czech Republic is one of the most atheistic countries in Europe, if not in the world. Despite this, many Czech people enjoy the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Dr. Pavel Hošek (Charles University in Prague) to discuss the impact of these two British Christian authors on the Czech people as well as his own spiritual journey.
Feb 07, 2020•48 min•Season 2Ep. 3
How do you adapt a literary work like The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien? Many fans of Tolkien's novels also love the movies which were directed and produced by Peter Jackson. Yet, as we discussed last week, movies and books are two entirely different mediums. Not everything on the page can make it into the movie. This week our two in-house Tolkien experts—Wade Archivist Laura Schmidt and Wade Co-director David C. Downing—join Crystal to discuss the challenges that Peter Jackson faced in ad...
Jan 24, 2020•38 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Instead of reading novels, more and more people are watching movies and epic TV shows. With Oscar season upon us, we are focusing on movies this January with two special episodes. This week Dr. David C. Downing and Producer Aaron Hill sit down with our very own Co-director, Dr. Crystal Downing to discuss her recent inaugural lecture on Dorothy L. Sayers and cinema as well as her work on how Christians can communicate unchanging truths through ever-changing mediums like movies. Join us on January...
Jan 10, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 1
You never truly know someone until you know where they are from: where they grew up, went to school, and have lived. Places shape us. In this week's episode, Dr. Jerry Root sits down with Drs. Crystal and David Downing to discuss how visiting the places from C.S. Lewis's life can shed light on the Oxford don. How did these locations inspire various characters, locations, and plot elements in Lewis's fiction? Take an audio trip to the British Isles and follow in Jack's footsteps.
Dec 27, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 29
One year ago the Wade Center Podcast interviewed Douglas Gresham about his stepfather, C.S. Lewis! In this week's episode, Crystal and David sit down with producer Aaron Hill to look back at our best, funniest, and surprisingly profound moments from our almost 30 episodes in 2019. Thank you to all our listeners. You have helped our humble podcast reach tens of thousands of fans in over 60 countries around the world! We look forward to 2020 and to all the great conversations we will have about th...
Dec 13, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 28
What can detective novels teach us about community? Dorothy L. Sayers expert, Dr. Christine Colón (Professor of English at Wheaton College) returns to the podcast to talk about her new book, Choosing Community: Action, Faith, and Joy in the Works of Dorothy L. Sayers , based on her 2017-2018 Hansen lectures. Also joining this week's discussion on the theme of community in the work of Sayers is one of the contributors to the book, Dr. Tiffany Eberle Kriner, Associate Professor of English at Wheat...
Nov 29, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 27
J.R.R. Tolkien called him a witch doctor; C.S. Lewis called him a saint. Who was Charles Williams, the oddest Inkling? In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing discuss Charles Williams, editor at Oxford University Press and practitioner of occult magic, with Sørina Higgins (Sørina is a Ph.D. candidate at Baylor University, faculty member at Signum University, and editor of the Williams blog, " The Oddest Inkling "). Who was Williams? What did Lewis, Tolkien, and the other Inklin...
Nov 15, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 26
What would happen if people could leave Hell and visit Heaven? In this week’s episode, Dr. David Downing sits down with Dr. Jerry Root to discuss C.S. Lewis’s spiritual fantasy about inhabitants of hell who visit take a bus ride to the outskirts of heaven, The Great Divorce . Where did Lewis get the idea(s) for the book? What was Lewis trying to say about who ends up in heaven and hell? Learn more about the special ballet performance of “The Space In Between,” based on The Great Divorce by C.S. ...
Nov 01, 2019•39 min•Season 1Ep. 25
In our second bonus episode, Patti Callahan Henry, author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis , interviews Dr. Crystal Downing about why C.S. Lewis chose Joy and how Dorothy L. Sayers helped Lewis appreciate brilliant, fiery women bristled against cultural gender expectations. This episode originally aired on Patti's new podcast on October 21, 2019. Check out her 7-part series, Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis , and listen to other episodes of her podcast, as Patti explores in-depth the improbable an...
Oct 28, 2019•21 min
In this special bonus episode, Patti Callahan Henry, author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis , interviews Dr. David Downing about the grief of C.S. Lewis after the death of his wife, Joy Davidman Lewis, as well as its impact on Lewis's future writing, and ultimately, his faith. This episode originally aired on Patti's new podcast on October 14, 2019. Check out her 7-part series, Behind the Scenes of Becoming Mrs. Lewis , and listen to other episodes of her podcast, as Patti explores in-depth the improbabl...
Oct 21, 2019•44 min
How does creativity work? What does it mean that we are created in the image of a Creator God? Professor of Art at Wheaton College, David Hooker, sits down with David and Crystal this week to discuss how he uses The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L. Sayers to teach a trinitarian theology of art to his students. David also addresses how he handles the "what does it mean" question as an artist? Also, how can you give your artwork a life of its own?
Oct 18, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 24
How do you bring C.S. Lewis to life? Max McLean, well-known voice and stage actor, sits down with Crystal and David this week to discuss his stage adaptations of The Screwtape Letters , The Great Divorce , and now Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis. Listener's may recognize McLean's voice as the narrator of The Listener's Bible in the ESV, NIV, and KJV translations. His production company, Fellowship of Performing Arts, is responsible for stage adaptations of the aforementioned books by Lewis as wel...
Oct 04, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 23
How can G.K. Chesterton’s Everlasting Man help us interpret ancient cave paintings in North America through a Christian lens? In this episode, Associate Professor of Art History, Dr. Matt Milliner sits down with Crystal and David to offer a preview of his upcoming Hansen Lecture on October 3, 2019. In an effort to ‘do what Chesterton did,’ Dr. Milliner offers a Christ-centered reading of recently uncovered, ancient cave paintings in North America.
Sep 20, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 22
How do you translate into Russian the English novels of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton, or George MacDonald? This week, Dr. Olga Lukmanova sits down with David and Crystal to discuss the challenges and triumphs of both translating and teaching the Wade authors to students in Russia.
Sep 06, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 21
How do you adapt a book like The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis into a ballet? Julianna Rubio Slager, Artistic Director for Ballet 5:8, sits down with Crystal and David to discuss her company’s upcoming performance of The Great Divorce for the Wheaton College Artist Series on November 1st, 2019. Julianna and the Downings explore the themes and characters from Lewis’s supernatural tale about heaven and hell that still resonate with audiences today as well as how to translate them for the stage. Tick...
Aug 23, 2019•35 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Many know that Joy Davidman, C.S. Lewis’s wife, converted to Christianity as an adult. Joy’s Jewish identity and background, however, are often overlooked. Dr. Andrew Barron, Director of Jews for Jesus Canada, sits down with Crystal and David Downing to discuss Joy’s “Jewish mind” and her influence on Lewis later in life.
Aug 09, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 19
