In this episode, Jordan and Brendan travel to Middle Earth to discuss the role of the common man in the fight against evil, worlds born from words, the emboldening of virtue, the imminent approach of glory, the purpose of silly hobbit songs, and what makes a story timeless.

Other Mentions:

• Beowulf

Next episode we will be discussing The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the “If Only” feeling, beauty in the midst of bleakness, the call to adventure, the cost of idealism, director’s cut conspiracies, and the idiocy of semicolons.

What We’re Reading:

• Letters to a Diminished Church by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays by C.S. Lewis
• Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

Other Mentions:

• “All the Pretty Little Horses” (lullaby)
• “All the Wild Horses” by Ray Lamontagne
• Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• Psalm 107

Next episode we will be discussing The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the scandal of grace, beautifully hyperlinked symbolism, the cosmic story arc, the nature of true value, the power of chocolate kisses, and the polite consumption of buttermilk.

What We’re Reading:

• Stoner by John Williams

• The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

• The Iliad by Homer

Other Mentions:

• Psalm 131

Next episode we will be discussing All the Wild Horses by Cormac McCarthy. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss our thought-tormented age, early 20th century Irish politics, the polarizing Modernist legacy of James Joyce, the magic of Thin Places, the tension between a blaze of passion and a life of long fidelity, and whether or not it’s ok to bake a little baby Jesus into your King Cake for this year’s Epiphany Feast.

Mentioned in this episode:

• In Defense of Sanity by GK Chesterton
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre
• You Are not Your Own by Alan Noble
• Thin Places
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
• The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
• “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace

In this special Yuletide episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the supremacy of It’s a Wonderful Life, the clash of Two Kingdoms, Dickens’s delight in language, the role of repentance & remembrance in true conversion, the call for a renaissance in heartfelt sentiment, and the coziness of mulled wine.

Mentioned in this episode:

• It’s a Wonderful Life (dir. Frank Capra)
• Adaptations of A Christmas Carol (Wiki page)
• G.K. Chesterton’s Introduction to A Christmas Carol (1922)
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Join us next episode where we will discuss the short story The Dead by James Joyce.

*Due to some technical difficulties, you may notice poor sound quality at times during this episode. We apologize for the inconvenience and will have the issue resolved for subsequent episodes*

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the difficulty of the short story form, O’Connor’s punishment of hypocrites & use of the grotesque, Nietzsche’s view of monsters, the dreadful irony of grace, and gas-station snacks.

What we’re reading:

• The Cross of Christ by John Stott
• The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr.
• The Christian Imagination ed. by Leland Ryken

Next episode we will be discussing A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this special Halloween episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss their favorite spooky stories, Bradbury’s polarizing prose, the struggle with time & mortality, evil’s inexplicable mystery, and the importance of avoiding carnivals.

Scary Story Picks:

• The Bear & the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
• “Click-clack the Rattle Bag” by Neil Gaiman

Other Mentions:

• John Mark McMillan - “God is Young”

Next episode we will be discussing A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra