In which the CenterForLit staff embarks on a quest to discover the Great Ideas of literature in books of every description: ancient classics to fresh bestsellers; epic poems to bedtime stories. This podcast is a production of The Center for Literary Education and is a reading companion for teachers,…
Listeners of BiblioFiles: A CenterForLit Podcast about Great Books, Great Ideas, and the Great Conversation that love the show mention: center for lit, great books, literature, eavesdropping, homeschool, stimulating, great conversations, reader, picked, recommendations, modern, allows, taught, deeply, mother, children, teaching, teacher, soul, ideas.
The BiblioFiles: A CenterForLit Podcast about Great Books, Great Ideas, and the Great Conversation is a truly exceptional podcast that delves into the world of literature and thought-provoking discussions. Hosted by the Andrews family, this podcast creates an atmosphere of sitting around a family dinner table, engaging in captivating conversations that are both entertaining and enlightening. Each episode brings forth winsome and edifying discussions that leave listeners yearning for more.
One of the best aspects of this podcast is the way it combines entertainment with intellectual stimulation. The Andrews family has a knack for making their discussions both enjoyable and thought-provoking. They tackle big questions in life and art, leading listeners to ponder deeper meanings within literature. Their series on great questions and episodes on subjects like apple picking and homeschooling showcase their ability to engage with important topics in a compelling way.
Another great aspect of The BiblioFiles is that it fosters a sense of community among its listeners. Listeners feel like they are part of the "true North" Minnesota clan, eagerly awaiting each new season. The Andrews family's inviting demeanor makes all listeners feel welcome and included in the conversation. As one review mentioned, even teenagers can enjoy this podcast, proving its accessibility to a wide range of ages.
Furthermore, this podcast not only dives into literature but also explores faith and the search for truth, beauty, and goodness. It seamlessly weaves these themes into their discussions, creating an enriching experience for both believers and non-believers alike. The faith interwoven throughout the episodes adds another layer of depth to an already intellectually stimulating podcast.
While it is difficult to find any negative aspects about The BiblioFiles, if there was one slight downside it would be that not everyone may agree with all the books or ideas discussed. However, even if listeners do not always share the same opinions as the hosts, they still benefit from hearing different perspectives and gaining new insights. The podcast encourages open-mindedness and critical thinking, allowing listeners to reflect on their own beliefs and expand their literary horizons.
In conclusion, The BiblioFiles: A CenterForLit Podcast about Great Books, Great Ideas, and the Great Conversation is a must-listen for any literature lover or anyone seeking intellectual stimulation. It combines entertainment with thought-provoking discussions, creating an atmosphere of warmth and inclusivity. Whether you are a homeschooling parent, a student, or simply someone who appreciates great books and ideas, this podcast is sure to captivate your attention and leave you longing for more.
In the final episode of our season on Juvenile and YA Fiction, the entire CenterForLit crew gathers to reminisce about how they got hooked on reading as children. We also discuss how to go about guiding young readers through the current environment of juvenile and YA literature. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs! American Adventure Stories for Boys Forever Island by Patrick D. Smith A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter John Paul Jones by Vincent Brown The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis The Cat of Bubastes by G.A. Henty Eragon by Christopher Paolini Mara: Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne The Box Car Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner The Borrowers by Mary Norton The Littles by John Peterson The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem Stuart Little by E.B. White The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall Please join the Facebook group and subscribe to our Substack Newsletter! We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
Emily joins Ian in this episode to talk about our first author who writes solely in the YA genre: John Green. They discuss what makes his work so different from others we've covered this season and what that means for parents and readers who want to benefit from his rich, literary voice. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs! Turtles All the Way Down Longing for an Absent God: Faith and Doubt in Great American Fiction by Nick Ripatrazone Vlog Brothers Crash Courses “Has this artist ever seen a baby?” Heavyweight #37: John Green The Anthropocene Reviewed Looking for Alaska The Fault in our Stars Paper Towns An Abundance of Katherines A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Please join the Facebook group and subscribe to our Substack Newsletter! We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
In this episode, Megan joins Ian to talk about the magic of Jeanne Birdsall's Penderwicks series. They discuss what it is about this series that appeals so well to audiences of all ages and what that can teach us about good writing for young readers. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs! The Penderwicks Boxed Set The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy The Penderwicks on Gardam Street The Penderwicks at Point Mouette The Penderwicks in Spring The Penderwicks at Last Harry Potter Boxed Set Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt Please join the Facebook group and subscribe to our Substack Newsletter! We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
What can CenterForLit's favorite children's author teach us about the difference between juvenile and YA fiction? Adam and Missy sit down with Ian in this episode to talk about what makes the work of Gary D. Schmidt so special. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs! BiblioFiles Episode #19: An Interview with Author Gary D. Schmidt Orbiting Jupiter Okay for Now The Labors of Hercules Beal Straw Into Gold Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy The Wednesday Wars Just Like That A Long Road on a Short Day by Elizabeth Stickney and Gary D. Schmidt Pay Attention, Carter Jones Please join the Facebook group and subscribe to our Substack Newsletter! We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
The next genre we're discussing this season has a special place in Andrews family lore. By tradition, each new generation is handed a mystery novel as they come of age to encourage a lifetime love of reading. Adam joins Ian in this episode to discuss his own affinity for the genre, and the two reminisce about their first encounters with detective fiction. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs! The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Complete Father Brown Mysteries by G.K. Chesterton Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers Bleak House by Charles Dickens The Hardy Boys Starter Set Encyclopedia Brown Box Set by Donald J. Sobol In the Woods by Tana French The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz Nancy Drew Starter Set Please join the Facebook group and subscribe to our Substack Newsletter! We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
No other genre has been influenced by the emergence of YA fiction quite like dystopian literature. In this episode, Megan and Emily join Ian to compare recent dystopian contributions aimed at young adults like Divergent and The Hunger Games to 20th century classics like 1984 and Lord of the Flies. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs! The How to Eat an Elephant podcast The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins The Mazerunner by James Dashner Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Divergent by Veronica Roth 1984 by George Orwell Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Utopia by Sir Thomas More Plato's Republic Lord of the Flies by William Golding The Giver by Lois Lowry Red Rising by Pierce Brown We by Yevgeny Zamyatin Dune by Frank Herbert Foundation by Isaac Asimov The Space/Ransom Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis Please join the Facebook group and subscribe to our Substack Newsletter! We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
Emily and Megan join Ian for a conversation about our culture's fascination with the monstrous. They discuss how we progressed from the beasts of Greek and Anglo-Saxon mythology all the way to love-struck vampires and werewolves, and they ask why it is that humans remain so intrigued with the mystery and danger of the Other. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs! The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy Twilight by Stephanie Meyer Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Dracula by Bram Stoker Ovid's Metamorphoses Beowulf Grimm's Fairytales The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis Coraline (2009) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan The Oath by Frank Peretti The Cooper Kids Adventures by Frank Peretti This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti The Dark by Lemony Snicket and John Klassen Macbeth by William Shakespeare Edgar Allan Poe Short Stories The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell Fairytale by Stephen King Stranger Things (Netflix original) Wednesday (Netflix original) Please join the Facebook group and subscribe to our Substack Newsletter! We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
In this episode, Ian and Megan sit down to talk about what is arguably the most popular genre among young readers today: fantasy literature. They discuss the history leading up to the state of fantasy today, the unique thematic features of world-building, and their own childhood obsession with these books. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs! The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald The Light Princess by George MacDonald Phantastes by George MacDonald The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien “The Quangle Wangle's Hat” by Edward Lear Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis The Space/Ransom Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis The Shanara Chronicles by Terry Brooks The Pendragon Series by D.J. Machale The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica by James A. Owen Eragon by Christopher Paolini Inkheart by Cornelia Funke Redwall by Brian Jacques The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame “On Fairy-Stories” by J.R.R. Tolkien Please join the Facebook group and subscribe to our Substack Newsletter! We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
The first corner of juvenile literature we are exploring this season is historical fiction! Adam (our resident historian) and Missy (the one who stuffed the Andrews shelves full of historical fiction titles) join Ian for a conversation about what makes a good contribution to this genre, how the art of literature relates to the study of history at this age level, and which titles stand out as family favorites. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs! A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Rabble in Arms by Kenneth Roberts The Cat of Bubastes by G.A. Henty Les Miserables by Victor Hugo The How to Eat an Elephant podcast Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfield Paradise Lost by John Milton “Paul Revere's Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Lost King (2023) Richard III by William Shakespeare The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare Anson's Way by Gary D. Schmidt The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey by Rosemary Sutcliff Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt The Chosen (2019-) Please join the Facebook group and subscribe to our Substack Newsletter! We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
BiblioFiles is back! To launch our season on Juvenile and YA Fiction, Adam and Missy join Ian for a conversation about the state of literature for young readers today. What is the difference between a “juvenile” and “YA” classification? Should such a differentiation between genres exist in the first place? The CenterForLit Directors talk about the history of the split, their concerns for such specialization in the publishing industry, and a few ways they also see YA fiction currently being used for good. Referenced Works: You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our Bookshop.org affiliate program! Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton Divergent by Veronica Roth “The Case for Good Taste in Children's Literature” by Meghan Cox Gurdon Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt Lord of the Flies by William Golding Please join the Facebook group We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.
BiblioFiles is back at long last with a new season on juvenile and YA fiction! Look for our first episode to drop on Friday September 15th. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633 We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
In this wrap-up episode to our season “At the Moves,” the CenterForLit crew members take turns casting their own literary film adaptations and offering final thoughts on the genre. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
This week we're talking about what differentiates a film from a miniseries. Using our beloved BBC production of War and Peace, we discuss the strengths that this increasingly popular form brings to the art of adaptation. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
British director Joe Wright has a unique ability to use cinematography in his film adaptations to convey what is otherwise only communicable in words. The CenterForLit crew discuss his use of the medium, the great Pride and Prejudice debate, and more in this episode of BiblioFiles. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
n this episode, we form a mutual admiration society around a CenterForLit hero: Sir Kenneth Branagh. We talk about his directorial principles on the topic of film adaptation, why we think he's great, and why some people disagree with us. Conversation ranges from Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing to Cinderella and Branagh's Agatha Christie ambitions. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
In this episode, Missy presents the CenterForLit crew with what is, in her opinion, a bad film adaptation: the visually stunning 2008 rendition of The Tale of Despereaux. We try to pinpoint what it is that actually causes an adaptation to fail, even when the cinematic elements are on point. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
In this episode of BiblioFiles: At the Movies, Emily takes a shot at defending a work of responsive art. Thus far the CenterForLit crew has said that a good film adaptation at least echoes the themes of the original, but what happens when a director uses a story to say something different from the author?Learn more about Teaching the Classics.Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Missy takes centerstage in this episode of BiblioFiles to discuss what is arguably the best film adaptation of all time: the 1962 rendition of To Kill a Mockingbird. The crew discusses what makes this classic so great, and takes a chance to hash out the differences between the mediums of novel and film.Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
The discourse around Amazon's Rings of Power has been fraught. So in this special crossover episode between Close Reads and BiblioFiles, David Kern and Ian Andrews try to figure out what works, what doesn't, and why the conversation has been they way it is.Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Adam compares notes on the 1974 and 2013 adaptations of The Great Gatsby. Then the CenterForLit crew considers whether or not a director has a responsibility to stay faithful to the text, and the extent to which a classic story can be effectively updated for contemporary audiences. Learn more about CenterForLit's Online Academy.Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Megan is first in the hot seat to give us her rankings of three Little Women film adaptations. We talk about the relative values of the different movies and, to our own peril, discuss whether or not it's possible to improve on a work of literature without doing violence to it. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
BiblioFiles is back! In the first episode of our new season, the CenterForLit crew sits down to wrap their heads around what makes a good film adaptation. What distinguishes the mediums of film and literature? And what does a movie version need to do to appease the angry mob of book lovers? Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Ian and Emily tease the upcoming season of BiblioFiles, set to begin airing on Friday August 26th. We'll be talking all about the process of adapting books for the big screen: the good, the bad, and the ugly.Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Surprise! We're jumping into your podcast feed with a special bonus episode this week. Ian recently interviewed Leslie and Carey Bustard, the masterminds behind the recently published essay collection, Wild Things and Castles in the Sky: A Guide to Choosing the Best Books for Children from Square Halo Books. Leslie and Carey talk about their vision for encouraging others to share God's kingdom in all of its beautiful variety with the children in their lives through good books and thoughtful reading. Visit their website to get a hold of this beautiful book (which includes an essay from our very own Missy Andrews!) for yourself.(P.S. Watch out next week for a special announcement about our upcoming second season!)Learn more about Leslie and Carey, and Square Halo Books:– https://www.squarehalobooks.com/– Carey Bustard on Instagram @taxicab– Cultivating Project Online Journal– Story Warren– Poetic Underpinnings– Calla Press– The Square Halo Podcast– Anselm SocietyWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
The CenterForLit crew wraps up our first official season of the new and improved BiblioFiles with a look back at where we've been. We talk about the relationship between questions and answers in literature, and how that relationship influences the way we approach contemporary works of art. Be sure to stay tuned to the end to find out what you can expect from season 2! Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Referenced Works:– The Buried Giant and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro– Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury– The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab– Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan– The Genius Under the Table by Eugene Yelchin– Pelican Society MembershipShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
For our last Great Question this season, we're taking up “What is love?” and we promise not to hurt you. We look over a variety of love stories from vastly different periods in literary history, and are surprised to find a common thread through them all. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Referenced Works:– Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy–Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis– Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers– Miranda (2009-2015), written by Miranda Hart– The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien– The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis– Modern Love (2019), Amazon Prime– A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken– The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri– The End of the Affair by Graham Greene– Fiddler on the Roof, music and lyrics by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick– Crazy, Stupid Love (2011), written by Dan Fogelman–“Who Are We Fooling?” by Brooke Fraser–The Odyssey by Homer– Ulysses by James JoyceShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Our next Great Question leads us on a romp through some old CenterForLit favorites. We're asking, “What is friendship?” And we look at some of the best friendships in literature, adding a couple of contemporary examples along the way, in pursuit of identifying what C.S. Lewis meant when he said friendship “has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Referenced Works:– “On Friendship” in The Prophet by Khalil Gibran– The Office (2005-2013), NBC– The Professor and the Madman (2019), directed by Farhad Safinia– The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester– The Wind and the Willows by Kenneth Grahame– The Chosen by Chaim Potok– The Sandlot (1993), directed by David Mickey Evans– The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis– Great Expectations by Charles DickensShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
In this episode the CenterForLit crew looks at what is perhaps the most universal of all the questions: the problem of pain. It goes something like this, “If we live in a world governed by a good and just God, why do innocent people suffer?” We trace a common desire for justice and revenge in works of art old and new, and look for signs of hope that one day our wrongs will be righted. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Referenced Works:– You've Got Mail (1998), directed by Nora Ephron– While You Were Sleeping (1995), directed by John Turteltaub– Man Up (2015), directed by Ben Palmer– That Awkward Moment (2014), directed by Tom Gormican– The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), directed by Clint Eastwood– Philadelphia Story (1940), directed by George Cukor– The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis– Amadeus (1984), directed by Miloš Forman– Jacob Collier/Chris Martin Sparks performance– The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevksy– Inglorious Bastards (2009), Django Unchained (2012), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and 2 (2004), Pulp Fiction (1994) by Quentin Tarantino– Between Noon and Three by Robert Farrar Capon– Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy: How to Philosophize with a Pair of Pliers and a Blowtorch, edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad– Hamlet by William Shakespeare– The Book of Job– Straw into Gold and Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt– Pelican Society MembershipShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
It had to come up eventually. In this episode, the CenterForLit crew tackles the question, “What is a good death?” But what could easily have become a morose conversation quickly becomes an occasion for joy and laughter with a little help from the Christian tradition. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Referenced Works:– Pride and Prejudice (1995), screenplay by Andrew Davies– The Bishop's Wife (1947), directed by Henry Koster– Enchanted April (1991), directed Mike Newell– Midnight in Paris (2011), directed by Woody Allen– Harry Potter (2001-2011), Warner Bros. Pictures– “Prediction-based neural mechanisms for shielding the self from existential threat” by Zidermanm, Lutz, and Goldstein– “The Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” by Sam Bush– “An Ode to Middle Age” by James Parker– The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy– Peace Like a River by Leif Enter– The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis– The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien– Charlotte's Web by E.B. White– A Quiet Place (2018), directed by John Krasinski– Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis– The Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright– A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens– Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand– Paradise Lost by John Milton– “Death be not proud” by John DonneShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
In today's episode, the CenterForLit crew tackles the next question in our series of conversations about the Great Questions of art and literature. This time we're asking, “What is a good life?” Nobody wants to come to the end of their life and feel it has been wasted. But how can we be sure we'll be satisfied? We look for answers in all kinds of places as we meditate on the significance of this question.Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633 Referenced Works:– Teaching the Classics: A Socratic Method for Teaching Literature– “Why Georgia” by John Mayer– Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry– The Moviegoer by Walker Percy– Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), written by John Patrick Shanley– The Queen's Gambit (2020), created by Scott Frank and Allan Scott– The Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your Dreams by Derek Jeter– Middlemarch by George Eliot– Great Expectations by Charles DickensShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Scripture tells us that God made man in his image, but what does that mean? If man is not god, what part of human nature reflects his creator? The CenterForLit crew dives into another of the tradition's great questions, and the answers they suggest might not be what you expect.Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Referenced Works:– Bladerunner (1982), directed by Ridley Scott– Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick– Westworld (2016-present), created by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan– I, Robot by Isaac Asimov– The Terminator (1984), directed by James Cameron– The Great Tradition, edited by Richard Gamble– “On Education for Children” by Erasmus– The Secret History by Donna Tartt– Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh– Rope (1948), directed by Alfred Hitchcock– Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis– A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle– Beowulf– “To Build a Fire” by Jack London– The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton– In Tune with the World: A Theory of Festivity by Josef Pieper– A Theology of Reading: The Hermeneutics of Love by Alan JacobsShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Our season on “The Great Questions” continues with an episode in which we ask, “What is man?” As our attention turns from the heavens to earth, Shakespeare is a natural companion, and we find some new and unexpected voices to add to the conversation along the way!Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Referenced Works:– Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), directed by Wes Anderson– “Every Riven Thing” by Christian Wiman– Rev. (2010-2014), created by Tom Hollander and James Wood– “That Nature is a Herclitean Fire and of the comfort of the Resurrection” by Gerard Manley Hopkins– Hamlet, King Lear, and Henry V by William Shakespeare– The Pelican SocietyShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
In the second episode of our series on “The Great Questions,” we ask the natural follow-up question to “Is there a god?” If there is a god, what is he like? We talk about humanity's obsession with this question and where it comes from, discuss literature's particular relationship to contemplating the nature of God, and look to examples old and new to see how artists have wrestled with the question through the ages. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Referenced Works:– The Truman Show, directed by Peter Weir– “Holy” by Justin Bieber– “False God” by Taylor Swift– “God is a woman” by Ariana Grande– Between Noon and Three: Romance, Law, and the Outrage of Grace by Robert Farrar Capon– Miranda (2009-2015), written by Miranda Hart– Frankenstein by Mary Shelley– The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde– Moby Dick by Herman Melville– Teaching the ClassicsShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
We're opening our season on “The Great Questions” by asking the most important question of them all: “Is there a god?” In this episode, the CenterForLit crew talks about why this question is important, even if someone already believes they have the answer. Then they look to works of art, new and old, to see how culture wrestles with the problem now, and how we have wrestled with it in the past. Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/333790777396633Referenced Works:– “The ‘I Surrender' List by Ethan Richardson, The Faith & Doubt Issue – “I Wake Close to Morning” by Mary Oliver– Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri– The Young Pope (2016), directed by Paolo Sorrentino– The Power and the Glory by Graham Green– Godric by Frederick Buechner– The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky– War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy– The How to Eat and Elephant podcastShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
BiblioFiles is coming back! On Friday January 14, 2022, we'll be debuting the first of ten episodes from our new season on “The Great Questions.” In this trailer, Ian and Emily explain the thought process behind the updated version of the show and what you can expect going forward.
Surprise! We're breaking our long silence to give you a special interview with historian and author Robert Tracy McKenzie (Wheaton College) on the topic of his new book from InterVarsity Press, We the Fallen People: The Founders and the Future of American Democracy. In this bonus episode, Adam speaks with his friend and former professor about the relationship between history and politics, as well as the similarities between sound historical and literary study. We'll be making an announcement about our new BiblioFiles season soon, but in the meantime, we hope you enjoy this conversation!Referenced Works:– We the Fallen People: The Founders and the Future of American Democracy by Robert Tracy McKenzieShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
BiblioFiles is taking a sabbatical – but not to fear! When we return, we're coming back bigger and better than ever.In the meantime, be sure you're subscribed to the channel so you don't miss our new season when it launches, as well as some little surprises we have planned for while we're gone.
Left to their own devices, Ian, Emily, and Megan decide to make the show all about themselves…literally. In this episode, the Andrews Junior talk about their CenterForLit journeys, discuss what they have been reading, and each share one dark secret.Referenced Works:– The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne– Moby Dick by Herman Melville– How to Eat an Elephant podcast– Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts– Apropos of Nothing by Woody Allen– Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L'Engle– Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri– The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien– Her Interactive– Don't Starve TogetherShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
At CenterForLit we often say that literature provides an avenue for exploring the differing perspectives of the Great Conversation from the safety of our own homes. But if art is powerful to persuade the heart and not just the mind, is it also dangerous? In this episode, we discuss the power of art and potential safeguards for reading. Referenced Works:– BiblioFiles Episode #5: What is Art?– Plato's Republic– Utopia by Thomas More– Aesop's Fables– Hans Christian Andersen Fairytales– War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy– The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery– Watership Down by Richard Adams– The Chosen by Chaim Potok– A Theology of Reading: The Hermeneutics of Love by Alan JacobsShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Adam and Missy go it alone in this episode dedicated to exploring the topic of redemptive or sacrificial love. Why is it so prevalent in literature? How do we interpret the reader's instinctive relief when it shows up? What does it mean when it's absent? The CenterForLit directors explore these issues and more without interruption from the second generation. Referenced Works:– Peace Like a River by Leif Anger– Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë– The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky– A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens– “Today is Friday” by Ernest Hemingway–The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald– Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand– Straw Into Gold by Gary D. Schmidt– The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis– Watership Down by Richard Adams– The Black Arrow and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson– The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare– Emma by Jane Austen– Middlemarch by George EliotShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Which must be converted first – the mind or the soul? In this episode, the CenterForLit crew discusses N.T. Wright and the proper place of apologetics in faith. We pit evidentiary apologetics against Tolstoy's more experiential perspective, and consider the role art may play in conversion. Referenced Works:– The How to Eat and Elephant podcast– War and Peace and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy– The Resurrection of the Son of God by N.T. Wright– Mockingbird on AbreactionShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Which picture book will rule them all? In this episode, the Andrews clan agrees upon rules for evaluating picture books and then enters combat with the picture book gladiator of their choice. Who will come out victorious? Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopReferenced Works:– Amos and Boris by William Steig– All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan– The Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman– Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco– Everyone Poops by Tarō Gomi– Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey–”Diver caught in whale ‘poonado'”– All My Friends Are Dead by Avery MonsenHonorable Mentions:– One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey– The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats– The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base– Ship of Dreams by Dean Morrissey– Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine by Evaline Ness– Letting Swift River Go by Jane Yolen,– Cinnamon, Mint, and Mothballs by Ruth Tiller – Brave Irene by William SteigWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
We like to discuss the great ideas of literature, but what do we do when those abstractions fail to hold up to real life problems–even when the abstractions are true? In this episode, the CenterForLit crew discuss Timothy Keller’s article in The Atlantic on facing his own death. We put him in conversation with other thinkers, and reflect on how their ideas hold up in the face of mortality. Referenced Works;– “Growing My Faith in the Face of Death” by Timothy Keller– The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy– “My Heart Rebels” and The Last Puritan by George Santayana– “Each and All” by Ralph Waldo Emerson– Hope in Times of Fear: Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter by Timothy KellerShop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopIs the most important or most famous of an author’s works the first one you should read? In this episode, the CenterForLit crew discusses the idea of “gateway books.” What is the best way to get to know an author? Referenced Works:– War and Peace, Anna Karenina, The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy– How to Eat an Elephant podcast– Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare– “A Clean, Well Lighted Place”, “Today is Friday”, The Old Man and the Sea, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway– D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire– Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb– Moby Dick, Billy Budd by Herman Melville– The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne– Wise Blood, The Violent Bear it Away, “Revelation”, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor– The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, At the Back of the Northwind, Phantastes by George MacDonlad– The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis– Chanticleer and the Fox by Barbara Cooney– The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer– The Sound and the Fury, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner– The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark TwainWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopAdam is taking over another episode of “What Are We Reading?” having just finished a whale of a tale. He talks about the benefits of waiting until 52 to read Moby Dick, whether or not Ahab is a sympathetic character, and he makes a case for persevering through the cetology chapters. Referenced Works:– Moby Dick by Herman Melville– shmoop.comWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWhat is the most effective way to work change in the world? The CenterForLit crew contemplates this question by discussing James K.A. Smith’s recent article for The Christian Century. We look at the difference between philosophy and art, and examine the role of story in the career of a Christian. Referenced Works:– Mockingbird Ministries– The Mockingcast– “I’m a philosopher. We can’t think our way out of this mess.” by James K.A. Smith– Moby Dick by Herman Melville– The Christian Century: The Century SeriesWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
Aaron Andrews, our resident journalist, is back on BiblioFiles to discuss his recent opinion piece concerning the Dr. Seuss controversy with Adam and Ian. We talk about what it looks like for a charitable reader to encounter offensive material, a reader’s relationship to a troubling past, and why it’s difficult to have civil conversations about sensitive issues these days. Referenced Works:– “In Defense of Dr. Seuss” by Aaron Andrews– And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss– BiblioFiles #101: Personal Density and Breaking Bread with the Dead (WAWR)– Breaking Bread with the Dead by Alan JacobsWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
New Criticism is a literary theory developed in America during the 20th century by thinkers whose influence can still be felt in the way we talk about literature today. In this episode, the CenterForLit crew attempts to describe the movement in layman’s terms while discussing the positive and negative implications of the way New Critics read.Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopReferenced Works:– Literary Theory: An Introduction by Terry Eagleton– The New Criticism by John Crowe Ransom– “Are Poetica” by Archibald MacLeish– Seven Types of Ambiguity by William EmpsonWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
There has been a lot of argument recently around a New York Times article that articulated the position of Classicist Dan-el Padilla Peralta. He believes the underlying presumptions of his academic field are flawed and irreparable, and therefore it should be allowed to die out. In this episode of BiblioFiles, the team attempts to give due respect and consideration to Peralta’s argument while working through our own position on the issue. Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopWorks Referenced:– “He Wants to Save Classics From Whiteness. Can the Field Survive?” by Rachel Poser– “Opinion: Why I won’t surrender the classics to the far right” by Shadi Bartsch– Breaking Bread with the Dead by Alan Jacobs– “Lessons of the long-distance runner” by Anthony DanielsWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
What is art? Leo Tolstoy thinks he knows! The How to Eat an Elephant cast is taking over BiblioFiles this week to talk about Tolstoy’s interesting take on his own chosen career. Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopReferenced Works:–How to Eat an Elephant podcast– What Is Art? by Leo Tolstoy–War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy–Gilead by Marilynne RobinsonWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
C.S. Lewis called literature the salve that heals the wound of individuality. In this episode, the CenterForLit crew discusses what that wound might be, and how it is that literature goes about healing it.Shop BiblioFiles: www.centerforlit.com/the-bibliofiles-shopReferenced Works:– An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis– The Tempest and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare– Faust by Goethe– Frankenstein by Mary Shelley– David Copperfield and Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens– The Plague by Albert Camus– 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell– One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn– Brave New World by Aldous Huxley– The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne– Beowulf– Watership Down by Richard Adams– The Hiding Place by Corrie ten BoomWe love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing i.andrews@centerforlit.com, or you can visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the conversation.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
