The Books We Read

C.S. Lewis and Elon Musk views of the universe and humanity differ widely, but we find both to be worth considering. We look at Musk's view of the world through Walter Isaacson's biography called "Elon Musk," and C.S. Lewis' through "Out of the Silent Planet. Elon Musk: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122765395-elon-musk Out of the Silent Planet: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25350.Out_of_the_Silent_Planet Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. The music is from Blue Dot Sessions

After Reagan says, “Can we get a little more nuanced?! Can we have a more interesting conversation than ‘the sky is falling!' We're not political commentators, because that would be boring and lame.” in response to Jaran's report on Rod Dreher's "Live Not by Lies,” we muse on Jordan Peterson's “12 Rules for Life,” prolonging our 35 perilous minutes of talking out loud about books by two controversial characters. In short, we'll go so far as to recommend “12 Rules for Life,” but we think that “Live Not by Lies” is boring.  Live Not by Lies: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53438190-live-not-by-lies  12 Rules for Life: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30257963-12-rules-for-life  Find Reagan at ⁠reaganschrock.com⁠; subscribe to his newsletter at ⁠reaganschrock.substack.com⁠. Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. The music at the beginning and the end is from Blue Dot Sessions. Beethoven's 5th Symphony is a public domain recording.

“Buy a copy right now and go read it,” says Reagan about Frankl's “Man's Search for Meaning.” After his enthusiastic review and recommendation, we morphed into a conversation about Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” which questions man's existance and proposes that it's meaning is “42,” or something like that. Perhaps an epistemological dead end, but at least it has poetry. Man's Search for Meaning: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11.The_Hitchhiker_s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy Find Reagan at ⁠reaganschrock.com⁠; subscribe to his newsletter at ⁠reaganschrock.substack.com⁠. Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. The music is from Blue Dot Sessions

It turns out that the serpentine course of Ahab and Ishmael's hunt for a whale illustrates "man's search for meaning in a world of deceptive appearances and fatal delusions.” Furthermore, Ishmael's taxonomy of whales merely demonstrates "the limitations of scientific knowledge and the impossibility of achieving certainty.” In other words, the book is too long for a good reason. Also, “The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great” by Steven Pressfield is really good. Moby-Dick or, The Whale: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/153747.Moby_Dick_or_The_Whale The Virtues of War: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/73490691-the-virtues-of-war Find Reagan at reaganschrock.com; subscribe to his newsletter at reaganschrock.substack.com. Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. The music is from Blue Dot Sessions.

Jaran and Reagan are back to talk about Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" and Alan Kreider's "The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire." You might hear us being unsure what to do with the arguments in these books. We'd love to hear your thoughts. The Better Angels of Our Nature: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13543093-the-better-angels-of-our-nature  Do Humankind's Best Days Lie Ahead?: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29340854-do-humankind-s-best-days-lie-ahead The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26266696-the-patient-ferment-of-the-early-church Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. The music is from Blue Dot Sessions

We read many worthy books that didn't make it onto the podcast last year. This episode mentions 15 books that we love but didn't mention to you until now. Proper Confidence by Lesslie Newbigin - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/273775.Proper_Confidence The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36072.The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings by Sheri Zook https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56169056-peanut-butter-and-dragon-wings Doing Good Better by William MacAskill https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23398748-doing-good-better Unapologetic by Francis Spufford https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15929332-unapologetic So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13525945-so-good-they-can-t-ignore-you Neither Complimentarian Nor Egalitarian by Michelle Lee-Barnwall https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26266693-neither-complementarian-nor-egalitarian Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34536488-principles The Man Who Was Thursday by G K. Chesterton https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184419.The_Man_Who_Was_Thursday The Clock of the Long Now by Stewart Brand https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33279.Clock_of_the_Long_Now Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/74034.Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning The Platonic Tradition by Peter Kreeft https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30072433-the-platonic-tradition Atheist Delusions by David Bentley Hart https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/863971.Atheist_Delusions The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157466.The_Supper_of_the_Lamb Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. Blue Dot Sessions kindly provided the music in this episode.

Jaran and Reagan are back to talk about Marx's "Communist Manifesto" and Will Durant's "The Lessons of History." We are interested in and somewhat skeptical of the Manifesto, but we're big fans of Durant's book. The Lessons of History: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/174713.The_Lessons_of_History The Communist Manifesto: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30474.The_Communist_Manifesto Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. The music is from Blue Dot Sessions with the exception of Beethoven's 5th Symphony that shows up in the middle.

"That Hideous Strength" by C. S. Lewis is the topic of this episode. We compare "The Space Trilogy" to "Lord of the Rings" (the two trilogies aren't remotely the same), discuss the perils of seeking the inner circle, and jabber about numerous other issues surrounding the book. That Hideous Strength: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100933.That_Hideous_Strength. Get it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3S2uXSc Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock Reagan's website: https://reaganschrock.com/ Reagan's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ReaganSchrock Rocket Sound Effect from Pixabay. The other music is from Blue Dot Sessions.

Reagan and Jaran talk about a book that was all the rage during their childhoods, "Wild at Heart" by John Eldridge. We try to resist the fashionable move of critiquing this book, but we can't help but conclude, as Reagan said, "Oh boy. I think you might have taken this a little too far."

Reagan talks about Cal Newport's "Digital Minimalism," and Jaran talks about "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman. We resolve that both "doomscrolling" and "doomsday scrolling" aren't good for us (nuclear war isn't either). Find our website: https://thebooksweread.info/ Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends' podcasts. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock The music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions.

"Where was this book my whole life?" asks Reagan as he encounters human depravity in "The Gulag Archipelago." Jaran then reflects on what he's learning about some of the reasons for human disagreement from Jonathan Haidt's "The Righteous Mind." Find our website: https://thebooksweread.info/ Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends' podcasts. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock The three pieces of music in this episode come from Blue Dot Sessions.

No. The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository is in fact not in Canada or South America, nor is it an edition of macOS. Our cultural literacy is being weighed in the balance. Should it be found wanting, we are committed to recovery. In this game show, Sara and Trish guide Jaran and Reagan through a random selection of entries in E. D. Hirsch's New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends' podcasts. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock This episode contains music from Blue Dot Sessions. "Kirkus" appears at the beginning. Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 is from a public domain recording on Archive.org.

Reagan and Jaran both recently read "Jesus and John Wayne" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez. This podcast consists of both hosts responding to this book. We offer a little bit of critique, but mostly interest and appreciation. Jesus and John Wayne: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53121662-jesus-and-john-wayne Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends' podcasts. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock This episode contains music from Blue Dot Sessions. "Kirkus" appears at the beginning and "Lahaina" appears at the end.

Reagan talks about "Tintin in the Congo" by Georges Prosper Remi, better known as Hergé. Jaran talks about Brian Zahnd's news book "When Everything's on Fire." Both books are problematic. One embodies a problem and the other points out problems. We raise several questions in this episode and would love to hear your thoughts. What do you think? Tintin in the Congo: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/235140.Tintin_in_the_Congo When Everything's on Fire: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58154391-when-everything-s-on-fire Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends' podcasts. All the music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions at sessions.blue. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock

What do Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and Cal Newport's "Deep Work" have in common? First, both address threats to our attention and maximum capacity and both have been given airtime on the latest episode of The Books We Read. Brave New World: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5129.Brave_New_World Deep Work: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25744928-deep-work Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends' podcasts. All the music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions at sessions.blue. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock

Jaran talks about Joseph Conrad's “Heart of Darkness,” and Reagan talks about Kevin Horsley's “Unlimited Memory.” Though “Heart of Darkness” is one of the most studied books in academia, many such as China Achebe believe that it is harmful. How have you experienced this book? We want to hear from you. Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends' podcasts. All the music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions at sessions.blue. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock

Reagan and Jaran wax esoteric. Reagan has been been reading N.T. Wright's translation of the New Testament called "The Kingdom New Testament: A Contemporary Translation," and Jaran has been musing about a book he read a long time ago, James Davidson Hunter's "To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World." The Kingdom New Testament: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11531550-the-kingdom-new-testament To Change the World: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7846894-to-change-the-world Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends' podcasts. All the music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions at sessions.blue. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock

Reagan and Jaran are back! Jaran talks about a book that influenced him several years ago, Rod Dreher's “The Benedict Option.” Reagan talks about a book that he recently read called “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon. Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our firends' podcasts. All the music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions at sessions.blue. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock.

E. D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know" has inspired Jaran and Reagan to check up on each other, ensuring that they're appropriately culturally literate. In this episode, they quiz each other's cultural literacy by going through lists of questions on a website designed for this purpose. For the quizes, we used the website "The Literacy Company": http://www.readfaster.com/culturalliteracy/ Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock Some music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions, namely "Kirkus" and "Minutes." That weird music in the middle is licensed under Creative Commons and harvested from this website: https://freesound.org/people/ModulationStation/sounds/392465/

Reagan and Jaran read widely. When they sat down to plan their next sequence of episodes, they realized that they've been reading books that cannot be paired in any coherent way. Consequently, in the coming episodes, our dear listeners will be blessed with commentaries on very diverse books. Jaran talks about Harold Bender's "The Anabaptist Vision" in light of Stephen Dintaman's "The Spiritual Poverty of the Anabaptist Vision," and Reagan tells us about "Socrates: A Man for Our Times" by Paul Johnson. The Anabaptist Vision: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1401627 The Spiritual Poverty of the Anabaptist Vision: http://www.nextreformation.com/wp-admin/documents/Dintaman.pdfhttp://www.nextreformation.com/wp-admin/documents/Dintaman.pdf Socrates: a Man for our Times: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11909371-socrates Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. All the music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Session. Specifically, it includes their pieces called "Rafter," "Kirkus," and "Minutes."

Jaran and Reagan talk about books they've been reading. Jaran read "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis" by J. D. Vance (he read it a long time ago but is only now talking about it), and Reagan read "Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World" by Scott Harrison. Basically, from this podcast, you'll learn that we admire ethically-operated organizations that serve people and that our upward mobility hasn't yet brought us to the point of knowing how to pronounce the names of expensive beverages. Erratum: Jaran said that Vance grew up in Kentucky. He actually grew up in Ohio. Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. All the music in this episode comes form Blue Dot Sessions, namely “Kirkus” and “Minutes," and "Allston Night Owl.”

How would WWII have ended differently without the influence of methamphetamine? We don't know, but we can be pretty sure that it made a serious difference. In this episode, Reagan tells us about Norman Ohler's "Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany," and Jaran uses Shaunti Feldhahn's "For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men" to remind us that men tend to feel insecure. Blitzed: https://www.goodreads.com/hr/book/show/29429893-blitzed For Women Only: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15797975-for-women-only Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock All the music in this episode comes form Blue Dot Sessions, namely “Kirkus” and “Minutes.”

We at The Books We Read care about humanity. Yes we do. That's why we keep you, dear audience, informed about matters like William Shakespeare and Michelle Obama. Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure," probes into the painful ethical choices that humans must sometimes make, and Michelle's "Becoming" sheds light on the humanity of those in power. Becoming: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38746485-becoming Measure for Measure: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91571-Measure_for_Measure Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock All the music in this episode comes form Blue Dot Sessions, namely “Kirkus,” "Oriel," and “Minutes.”

Reagan Schrock and Jaran Miller discuss the books that they've been reading. Despite the weighty (and sometimes unpleasant) issues it raises, reagan discusses William Rycroft's “All Quiet on the West-End Front” quite positively. Despite it's prominent place in the Protestant literary tradition, Jaran discusses John Bunyan's “The Pilgrim's Progress” with a small dose of negative critique. He may not even like the book. All Quiet on the West-End Front: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42116529 The Pilgrim's Progress: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29797 Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://goodreads.com/reaganschrock All the music in this episode comes form Blue Dot Sessions, namely “Kirkus” and “Minutes.”

In this episode of The Books We Read, Reagan Schrock and Jaran Miller discuss two books that they've been reading. Jaran talks about George MacDonald's dark book Lilith, and Reagan tells about Randall Munroe's delightful book What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. What If: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21413662-what-if Lilith: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/268187.Lilith We try to publish a new episode every second Friday, so expect to hear from us again on October 11, 2019. Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock All the music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions, namely "Kirkus" and "Minutes."

In this fourth episode of The Books We Read, Reagan Schrock and Jaran Miller discuss the books they've been reading and thinking about. Reagan discusses C. S. Lewis' "Perelandra” (The Space Trilogy, #2), and Jaran talks about "A Year of Biblical Womanhood" by Rachel Held Evans. We try to publish a new episode every second Friday, so expect to hear from us again on September 27, 2019. Reagan and Jaran are both active on Goodreads and would enjoy interacting with you there. Jaran:  https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller Reagan: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock All the music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions, namely "Kirkus," “Silver Lanyard,” “Lacquer Groove,” and “Minutes.”

In the first episode of The Books We Read, Reagan Schrock and Jaran Miller discussed E. D. Hirsch's Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. In this episode, they quiz each other's cultural literacy by randomly selecting topics in his The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. We try to publish a new episode every second Friday. Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock All the music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions, namely "Kirkus," "Doubled," "Sal's Piano Solo," "Lacquer Groove," and "Allston Night Owl."

In this second episode of The Books We Read, Reagan Schrock and Jaran Miller discuss the books they've been reading and thinking about. Reagan discusses Jere Van Dyk's "Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban," and Jaran talks about "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris. We try to publish a new episode every second Friday, so expect to hear from us again on August 30, 2019. Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock All the music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions, namely "Kirkus," "Doubled," "Sal's Piano Solo," "Lacquer Groove," and "Allston Night Owl."

In this first episode of The Books We Read, Reagan Schrock and Jaran Miller discuss two books that they've been reading. Jaran talks about E. D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know," and Reagan comments on "Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. We try to publish a new episode every second Friday, so expect to hear from us again on August 16, 2019. Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock All the music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions, namely "Kirkus," "Oriel," "Rafter," and "Silver Lanyard."