The Inklings Variety Hour

Ned Bustard and Matt Wheeler join me to discuss J.R.R. Tolkien's great allegory (or is it?) for the creative process, "Leaf by Niggle"! Enjoy! I am quite excited about this episode. And check out Ned and Matt's stuff! I will post links! I will! In the meantime, I've given you the spelling of their first and last names, above. Notable works include, but are not restricted to: Every Moment Holy, The Lost Tales of Sir Galahad, The Wonder of It All. You're welcome. More episode description to come, but it's been another late night editing, and I have small children who wake up early, you monster! Think of them. Liked the episode? Give us a five-star review. Want to weigh in on the red-hot-button allegory controversy? Shoot me an email: inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com  

Katie Wray Schon joins us to talk about Pauline Baynes, the subject of her new book, Painting Wonder!  It's been a long-held goal of this podcast to devote at least one episode to Pauline Baynes--who, while not an Inkling, illustrated both the Narnia chronicles and many of Tolkien's short stories--in addition to being one of the best illustrators of the 20th Century. Luckily, Katie Wray Schon has just written and published a children's picture book about Baynes' life, and she joins me to talk about both her work and Baynes'. We talk about Baynes' life--her childhood in India, her discovery of storybooks at dreary British boarding school, her work for the British Navy in WWII, and her career as an illustrator. Sadly, many of the non-Narnian books Baynes illustrated or created are now out of print or hard to obtain. They include, but aren't limited to: I Believe: The Nicene Creed Noah and the Ark Questionable Creatures: A Bestiary Good King Wenceslas A Dictionary of Chivalry, by Grant Uden Miracle Plays: Seven Medieval Plays for Modern Players, by Anne Malcolmson All Things Bright and Beautiful The Arabian Nights, by Amabel Williams-Ellis The Snail and the Caterpillar, by Helen Piers Let There Be Light It would be a worthy project for someone (perhaps a new small press, or even an old, big one) to begin publishing these books again.  In the meantime, of course, pick up Katie Wray Schon's book! Thanks for listening, as always! We'll see you again in two weeks! To drop me a note or an episode suggestion, write inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com To encourage all those (okay, mainly me) who make this podcast possible, leave us (or me) a five-star review on itunes!   We've (okay, I've) got a lot more fantastic episodes coming this season, including: Leaf by Niggle with Ned Bustard and Matt Wheeler The Abolition of Man: A Roundtable Discussion Lilith, by George MacDonald The Oxford History of English Literature (O-HEL Yes!) with Katherine Wyma That Hideous Strength with Joseph Weigel Tolkien's Poetry, with Jonathan Geltner Choose-Your-Own-Adventure 80's Narnia Book (That's right), with Matt Wheeler And quite a bit more, but I am tired of listing things...

Sorry for the extra wait for this one!  Eric Geddes, Jonathan Geltner, and Charlie Carter join me to talk Tolkien's Father Giles of Ham. Episode description to come! Many more podcasts on the way this summer! Leave me a review! It's really the only way I know anyone is listening. 

Matt Wheeler rejoins me for our final episode on The Horse and His Boy. More episode description to come! Featuring "Wonder of It All" by Matt Wheeler.

If you would like episodes of The Inklings Variety Hour to come out more often, please do consider leaving us a positive review. Singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler once again joins me to discuss his favorite Narnia book, The Horse and His Boy.  Among other things, we talk about: Hermits and the nature of freedom Allegory and biblical allusion in Narnia Fear as motivation Self-pity as incomplete story Matt's song, "Worn Thin" Enjoy, and join us next week for the conclusion of The Horse and His Boy. Feel free to get in touch with me, as always, at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  Thanks for listening!    

Finishing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "I Sit Beside the Fire and Think." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy this talk with Jonathan Geltner about how Tolkien saves the future. After we're all dead, of course, but you can't have everything... (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy this conversation about the Shire! (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy my talk with Jonathan Geltner about Tolkien's unfinished poem, "The Fall of Arthur." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy my interview with Verlyn Flieger about Splintered Light. (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "Imram." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "The Hoard." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy Smith of Wootton Major, Part 2!   (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon of old episodes. Enjoy this first of two on Smith of Wootton Major! (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Dipping into the Old Winyards this Tolkien reading day! Enjoy this conversation from a few years ago about Tolkien adaptations! Stay tuned...there are about nine more to come today.

The finale of the Till We Have Faces series! Original episode description: Welcome to the finale of Till We Have Faces on The Inklings Variety Hour! Author and speaker Andrew Lazo from Pints with Jack joins Chris and Anika for our final discussion of Till We Have Faces.  It was, as always, a delight and an epiphany, Andrew! Among other things, we discuss: The Four Loves Williams-esque redemption of Orual and Psyche Lewis' poem Reason Names in Till We Have Faces What in the world is Ungit? Orual's last word (hint: it's probably not "arrrgghhh") Joy's role in helping to write (and inspire) TWHF Many, many thanks to Logan Huggins for producing this episode! If you'd like to join one of our conversations, odds are, we'd love to have you!  We'd also love to hear from you, so feel free to email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.   Next time: Hold on to your electric torches! Season Two of The Inklings Variety Hour begins with Prince Caspian!

Musician Matt Wheeler joins me to talk about Chapters 7-8 of The Horse and His Boy, specifically Shasta among the tombs (ghouls ahoy), and Aravis' adventures. At the end of the hour, he's kind enough to share an original waltzy song about Aravis, inspired by a COVID toilet paper run. (Seriously, it's a great song--if you listen to nothing else, listen to it.) Before that, we talk about the following: The right way (or lack thereof) to pronounce Shasta and Aravis (and Aslan) Ghouls, ghouls, ghouls Cats and tombs Lewis' characterization of Lasarleen and Aravis The Tisroc (may he live forever) Freedom Calormene view of Narnian history Lapsed Bear! And after the song, Chris throws a little bit of shade at English pronunciation of foreign words to make himself feel better about the fact that he's been mispronouncing Aslan all his life. For more of Matt's music, click here. See you in two weeks, when Matt Wheeler will rejoin us to talk about the journey across the desert!

More of our series on Till We Have Faces!

Continuing to cover Till We Have Faces! 

It's Season Five of The Inklings Variety Hour, episode one, and you know what that means! Time to return to the enchanting land of-- --record scratch-- --Calormen? That's right, Ed Said. We're kicking off this season the right way, with a little trip to an unprepossessing fisherman's hut and the down-on-his-luck literary ancestor of both a refreshing soft drink and Taran the Assistant Pig-keeper.  I'm only talking 'bout Shasta. Can you dig? You know who else is talking about Shasta? I mean, besides Bree the talking horse (no not that one) who abducts him?  Why, it's Jonathan Geltner, renowned author of Absolute Music, and Joseph Weigel, host of Men with Chests and also an author! Together, we discuss the following subjects: Calormene culture and Narnian culture Literary analogues (or lack thereof) of The Horse and His Boy Formal language and formulaic language The wider world in which Narnia exists Proverbs (Calormene and Narnian) How Tashbaan is awesome Freedom Books we bring up: The Thousand and One Nights Travels in Arabia Deserta David Eddings' Belgariad Series Huck Finn The Prince and the Pauper The Worm Ouroboros The Faerie Queene Copyrighted Music: Original BBC Narnia Theme Mr. Ed theme (not Ed Said) As always, please leave a generous review if you want higher quality or quantity podcasts! This is a labor of love, and I'm currently only able to get something out once every two weeks. See you in two weeks' time, as musician Matt Wheeler joins me to talk (and sing) about his favorite Narnia book.   

Sorry for the late upload, once again! I've been preparing for the new season! The first episode of Season 5, covering The Horse and His Boy, will be coming out in a few days! See you then, and in the meantime, enjoy some more travels in Glome!

Apologies (again) for the late Saturday upload. Here's Part 7 of our Till We Have Faces series. Enjoy! Stay tuned for the first brand new episode of Season 5. We'll start with The Horse and His Boy on March 4 and update with a new episode every two weeks. --------------------------------------------------------- Original description: If you like this podcast, please give us a review in iTunes!  Also, we'd love to hear from you!  Email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.   This week, Chris and Anika discuss Chapters 12 and 13 of Till We Have Faces.  Subjects for discussion include: Santeria and the First Amendment (and also, of course, "Santeria" by Sublime) How Orual-the-author is being changed while telling us about Orual-the-character's refusal to change Possessive love and our tendency to be ruined by strong loves The "ferly" in Middle English literature Is Bardia's fear of the gods practical fear for his safety or fear of the numinous? Orual withholds key evidence! The Fox's theology and soul-houses How true divine nature is foolishness to the Greek and a stumbling block for the Glomian At the end: Various proposals for an '80s fantasy movie based on Till We Have Faces.  (Someone please make a poster of this idea.) Special thanks to my brother Jason Pipkin for the incredible '80s-style synth track used at the end!  Apologies if I overuse it, but I really liked it.  Other music sampled includes: "Our Father" in Aramaic "The Hurrian Hymn" as played by Michael Levy "Santeria," by Sublime "Princes of the Universe," by Queen "Quantum Leap" theme by Mike Post In two weeks, we meet the God of the Mountain!  Talk about numinous and sublime!  

Apologies for the late upload! A new season of The Inklings Variety Hour is coming on Tuesdays in March, starting with The Horse and His Boy.  In the meantime, enjoy this old episode, with one of our first guest-stars, Andrew Lazo, talking about his favorite Lewis book, Till We Have Faces! Original Description: This week, we're talking with Andrew Lazo, author, speaker, and noted Till We Have Faces  and C.S. Lewis scholar.  You can find additional information about Andrew's projects, current and future, at mythoflove.net.  We would like to thank David Bates at Pints with Jack for connecting us with Andrew!  In this episode, Anika, Chris and Andrew discuss some classical and medieval influences on Till We Have Faces, as well as concepts like mortal shame and the way physical and spiritual attitudes alter perception in Lewis' work.  In some ways, this is also a broader view of Till We Have Faces itself, thanks to Andrew's expertise.  Stay tuned for bonus material at the end, where we hear from Andrew about the circumstances of Lewis' writing of Till We Have Faces.  Enjoy the conversation!  We certainly did. Some references in this episode: A Naked Tree, by Joy Davidman   Becoming Mrs. Lewis Over the Rhine (band) Weeping Bay, by Joy Davidman "After Ten Years," from Of Other Worlds by C.S. Lewis Pearl, by the Gawain-poet (Tolkien's translation here)  (Original text here) If you're enjoying The Inklings Variety Hour, drop us a line to tell us so!  You can email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  Also!  Please find us on iTunes and give us a rating if you like us.  Additionally, if you'd ever like to guest star and talk with us about these works (whether you are a scholar or not), we'd love to have you.  If you're listening to this podcast, you are already a kindred spirit, and we would enjoy meeting you.  Just saying.  

A new season of The Inklings Variety Hour is coming your way in March! In the meantime, here's another rerun. Old description: This week, we are still hiking up the enchanting mountain that is Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, hearts dancing all the while.  And why should they not, as we discuss such topics as: Fighting and work as a potential antidote for depression Resurrection as a potential antidote for depression How King Trom is a bro Refusal of joy and its effect on perception Would-be eucatastrophe Landscape, symbolism, and the sticky wicket of literalized metaphor Potential lawsuits Psyche could bring against Redival Recommendations include: cslewisdoodle Hunting the Unicorn: A Critical Biography of Ruth Pitter We'd love to hear from you if you're enjoying the podcast!  We'd also love to have you on the show if you'd like to join us sometime (and don't mind reading a few chapters of Till We Have Faces first)!  Our email is InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.   Next time we will have Till We Have Faces scholar Andrew Lazo on to discuss Chapters 10, 11, and 12!  It will be worth the wait!

From the vaults! More of C.S. Lewis' underrated final novel! Original description: In which Anika and Chris reveal the fairly shallow reason we had for doing Till We Have Faces this year and accidentally endorse human sacrifice.  Mostly, we talk about Chapter 7, in which Orual and Psyche say goodbye, and Chapter 8, in which Orual decides to journey to the mountain and recover Psyche's body.  At issue are whether or not selfish love is still love and whether sacrifice (especially human sacrifice) is effective. Other highlights: Ash Wednesday Anecdotes Anika reads Lewis' poem, "As the Ruin Falls" Till We Have Faces as a text that changes its narrator Finally, inspired by WandaVision, the hosts ask whether Till We Have Faces would make a good sitcom--and what kind of sitcom it would be? Have your own thoughts?  Email us at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you. Music credits: The "Our Father" in Aramaic The Hurrian Hymn "Aase's Death," by Edvard Grieg "The Toy Parade," by Dave Kahn, Melvyn Leonard and Mort Greene "Everywhere You Look," by Jesse Frederick "With a Little Help From My Friends," by Joe Cocker

Enjoy! Original Episode Description:  

Till We Have Faces, Part 2! Here are the original shownotes: In the spirit of Groundhog's Day, Chris and Anika dig into Chapters 3-4 of Lewis' Till We Have Faces, which retells the Cupid and Psyche myth.   We discuss, among other things: The apparent popularity of J.G. Frazer in Glome "Foxy Redival's Flirtations"  Whether we're the worst at what we care about most (and other cheering thoughts) Soup and Religion (and other metaphors) Narrative asides about weeping in Lewis Our ideas for movie adaptations of TWHF Music: The Hurrian Hymn "Our Father" in Aramaic  They say that behind every groundhog is a Shadowbrute requiring human sacrifice.  May the good town officials of Punxsutawney fail to see it this year.  For all our sakes. As always, please give us ratings on iTunes if you enjoy this!  It means a lot to us and helps others find the podcast!  Also--feel free to send us your thoughts at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com Thank you for joining us!   Next time (in two weeks), we will be joined by special guest and Inklings scholar Sorina Higgins!

Sorry about the late upload! Enjoy!   From the original episode description: Welcome back to The Inklings Variety Hour!  It's a new year, and Ungit has only just hatched out of her egg-house (or something), but already, your intrepid hosts are tackling C.S. Lewis' novel, Till We Have Faces (1956)--widely considered the best novel he ever wrote.  Chris, Anika, and Meagan discuss this retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth as only the Inklings Variety Hour can--with lots of digressions, reading of passages, and laughter. If you're enjoying this podcast, we're glad to have you along for the ride, and we'd love to know you!  Drop us a line at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  Ratings on the iTunes store would be most welcome also. Music for this episode includes: The Hurrian Hymn The "Our Father" in Aramaic "Sick Muse" by Metric  

Happy New Year! Kora Burton rejoins Chris to discuss Tolkien's last fairy (or is it faerie?) story, "Smith of Wootton Major" (1967).  Smith of Wootton Major is a short story, a parable about the nature of what Tolkien called “fayery” or “Faerie,” an evocative fairy tale in its own right, as well as a melancholy meditation on the loss of artistic capacity.  Though told simply enough for children to understand its plot, Tolkien called it “an old man's book.”   Thanks as always to Logan Huggins for producing this episode!   If you have any questions or would like to contact us, please do so at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you.

From the Old Winyards: It's Time for the Feast of Good Children (to which not many are invited). ___________________________________ Kora Burton joins Chris to discuss Tolkien's last fairy (or is it faerie?) story, "Smith of Wootton Major."   Smith of Wootton Major (1967) is Tolkien's last work of fiction and was begun as part of an Introduction to an edition of George MacDonald's The Golden Key–an edition that was never published.  Tolkien began by writing a kind of parable about a stupid baker making a cake for children that inadvertently had something faerian in it.  But when he found this illustration was taking on a life of its own, he discarded the introduction entirely and worked on the story–which he realized was in part a critique of the things he did not like about George MacDonald, among other Victorians (still, I find it owes a real debt to The Golden Key and Phantastes, as much as it does to anything medieval).  Smith of Wootton Major is a short story, a parable about the nature of what Tolkien called “fayery” or “Faerie,” an evocative fairy tale in its own right, as well as a melancholy meditation on the loss of artistic capacity.  Though told simply enough for children to understand its plot, Tolkien called it “an old man's book.” One of my favorite history of English podcasts, just in case you want more philology or historical linguistics: https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/ Thanks as always to Logan Huggins for producing this episode!   If you have any questions or would like to contact us, please do so at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you. Next week: We enter Faerie with Smith!

For the first time, all three parts of last year's Christmas play are edited together. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas. Previous description: At last!  Here is the first part of a (Zoom) table reading of my "play" (loosely defined), "An Inklings Christmas Carol."   Two more (longer) parts are to come!  Gee, it's a good thing Christmas begins on December 25, or I'd be out of time. Twelve Tide, etc., etc.! Special thanks to Anika Smith, Sørina Higgins, and Joe Hoffman for reading this episode.  Thanks in general to Sørina's Author's Circle, which you can find out more about (and even join) here.  Hope you enjoy it--keep in mind this is a first draft, none of us are professional actors, and I'm not making a cent off this episode! As with any holiday movie or play, if you keep your expectations low, you'll have a pretty good time! Feel free to send me feedback at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com.  And please rate the show if you like it!

Enjoy this gently used Christmas gift from Ghost of Inklings Variety Hours Past! It's an Inklings Variety Hour Jovial Christmas Extravaganza!  Featuring: A Discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien's Letters from Father Christmas! Chris Pipkin and his children, Davey and Virginia!   Anika Smith! (First half of show)  Meagan Logsdon!  (Second half of show)  A cringeworthy impersonation of an old British person by Chris Pipkin! Bits of music by Steeleye Span and Maddy Prior (The Boar's Head Carol), and Martin Romberg (A Elbereth Gilthoniel), (as well as Virginia Pipkin). Pipkins' Christmas site promoted: 12tide.com Thanks for listening to us this year!  As always, if you enjoy this podcast, recommend it to a friend and give us a review on iTunes.  And please do feel more than free to drop us a line at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you!  Merry Christmas.

Chris is joined by Angela Teal and Marena Bleech of In the Burrow Books to discuss Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows! More episode description to come! In the meantime, enjoy!

Original Description: O.G. Host Anika Smith rejoins the podcast to interview Chris and his beautiful and omnicompetent wife, Glencora, about their new Christmas resource book, Twelve Tide.  Part of what we're trying to do with this book is make Christmas less a single-morning present binge preceded by anxiety and followed by anticlimax--and more a season of twelve days of giving, feasting, and learning to celebrate better. Want an idea of what's in the book? Check out our website, 12tide.com. We are all Niatirbians now (and Lewis was dismayed by godless Christmas cards).  We want to reconcile sacred and "secular" aspects of Christmas and equip people with some old ways to celebrate this season.  Music from this episode includes: George Winston's "The Holly and the Ivy" Bing Crosby's "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" Loreena McKennitt's "The Holly and the Ivy" Choir of Christchurch's "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" Loreena McKennitt's "Gloucestershire Wassail" The Chieftains' "Boar's Head Carol" Maddy Prior's "Coventry Carol" Medieval Baebes' "Adam Lay Ybounden" Maddy Prior's "Wassail!" Also, if you're interested in the Twelve Tide Spotify list Anika suggested on the show, here it is. Stay tuned...I'm done with grading and I'm turning my attention to an Inklings Christmas Carol.  Won't be easy to finish in time, but I'll do my level best.  If you are interested in reading a part for it, feel free to email me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com God bless and keep you this Advent Season. See you at Christmas!

Author Jonathan Geltner and newcomer James Lapeyre join Chris to discuss the question that has doubtless kept all of us awake in the pre-dawn hours: Who was more of a Romantic: C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien? Yes, the stakes have never been higher. We also talk generally about how the Inklings' view of their own roles overlapped with (and were influenced by) those of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Romantics. To what extent were the Inklings the real Romantics of their own age? I really enjoyed this conversation. Thanks to both James and Jonathan for coming on the show.  Apologies to all of you for the poor sound quality of my microphone. Also, a little more than halfway through, the Internet goes out--apologies for that, though we do find our footing pretty quickly thereafter. Many, many thanks to James for fixing the sound so that I'm actually intelligible here. Check out his substack at otterhat.substack.com/. Check out Jonathan's at jonathangeltner.substack.com/ I appreciate everyone's patience for this episode! Circumstances have conspired so that I have less time to edit since the semester ended, but I'll keep grinding these out occasionally if you all keep listening! I'll also try to keep putting out the old episodes Saturdays. Also! As always, my wife and I have a Christmas site and a Christmas book. If you're looking for ways to celebrate Advent and Christmas that both engage with the storehouse of tradition available to us--while allowing you and your family to forge your own Christmas traditions, you might find them helpful! The basic premise is that rather than having one day of Christmas (so much pressure!), we spread gift-giving out over the traditional twelve days of Christmas and pair it with reflection and other activities. It's really worked wonderfully for our family. As always, email me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com if you have thoughts! And give us a five-star rating on iTunes (why not, it's Christmas) if you like what you hear. Also, I am planning to record on The Horse and His Boy this month (to be released at the beginning of Season 5 in March). If you'd like to join us to talk about it, just let me know!

Apologies for the audio quality on this one! It's the very first podcast Anika and I recorded, along with my wife, Glencora! It dates from 2018, when audio was much rougher. I'm sure you remember. Cleaned up what I could. Minimal swearing, too. I thought I'd post it in preparation for the C.S. Lewis Reading Day livestream.  You can find it here: C. S. Lewis Reading Day 2024 - Pints With Jack  

Join me (and a few other Lewis podcast hosts) on the Pints with Jack C.S. Lewis Reading Day Livestream. You can find it here: C. S. Lewis Reading Day 2024 - Pints With Jack Thanks, as always, to Pints with Jack, for their generosity and initiative! 

Sorry for the late Saturday upload! Another classic in the War in Heaven series. Welcome back!  In this final episode covering Charles Williams' spiritual thriller, War in Heaven, we discuss the conclusion of the book!  What does Charles Williams have in common with J.K. Rowling?  Is Gregory the Satanist the secret protagonist of this book?  And finally, what do you do if a priest falls down dead in the middle of mass, but it was a really pleasant service otherwise?  Stay tuned next time for a bonus episode, after which we will be talking about J.R.R. Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories."   If the Inklings squaring off against Aleister Crowley tickles your fancy, please do go pick up a copy of Heaven's War by Micah Harris with art by Michael Gaydos!

From the past! Original description: This is part four of our five-part discussion of War in Heaven, Charles' Williams' modern take on the Holy Graal Quest.  In the chapters we discuss this week, Gregory Persimmons drives Barbara Rackstraw insane using "the ointment," in order to obtain both the Graal and Barbara and Lionel's son, Adrian.  The guardians of the Graal willingly trade the Graal for Barbara's sanity, only to have her cured by an unexpected visitor...who is somehow the Graal himself.  It's not who you think.  In this episode, Satanism meets pessimism, devotion to relics meets humanism, and everybody meets Prester John.    9/22: Happy Hobbit Day!  We're talking about Charles Williams, but we do mention the hobbits (with reference to homeliness and attachment to objects) in a few places.     Works referenced:   War in Heaven, by Charles Williams;   "Hermeticism and the Metaphysics of Goodness in the Novels of Charles Williams," by Scott McLaren (Mythlore);   The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend, by Alan Lupack;     Music:   "Venus," by Gustav Holst   "Lohengrin," by Richard Wagner   "Princes of the Universe" by Queen.    (Here's the intro that I parody.  Note: Inklings Variety Hour does not formally endorse the USA show "Highlander"--based on the movie of the same name--even if it was awesome.)   _Thank you_ to those of you who have left reviews and ratings on iTunes and elsewhere!  Please don't hesitate to drop us a line if you'd like--we'd love to know who you are and what you're interested in hearing us cover in the future!  Our email is InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com. 

If you already listened to this, my apologies!  I think my releasing it the afternoon before Halloween (rather than the week before) meant that it wasn't on many people's radar.  I'm quite proud of it (and worked hard on it), so I'm re-releasing. I know it's not Halloween anymore, but, hey--it's also not Christmas, and you don't see that deterring most businesses from playing Bing Crosby.  

Another classic from the vaults.  Original description:  This week, we're covering Part III of Charles Williams' supernatural thriller, War in Heaven, in which the good guys (The Archdeacon, Kenneth Mornington, and the Duke) steal the Graal back from Gregory Persimmons, who desires to use it for his own dark purposes.  They then must pray to prevent the Graal from being magically disintegrated from a long distance by Manasseh and Dmitri, two more advanced members of Gregory's shady organization.  We'll also witness a friendship blossoming between all three of our protagonists, talk about how holy and unholy detachment can help make for a very exciting* plot, throw a little shade at King Henry VIII, discuss pagan interpretations of the Graal, and speculate about how P.G. Wodehouse may have been the secret ingredient in Gregory's eventual redemption.  This conversation went well over an hour--if you simply can't get enough of Charles Williams, you're in for a treat.  And hang around (if you'd like) for some bonus material at the very end--should be worth a laugh or two.  I mean, we laugh, anyway.   Music from Lohengrin by Wagner, Mercury by Holst, Venus by Holst, and, of course, "Take the Land," by Don Potter.   We reference William Blake's poem, "And did those feet in ancient time," which speculates on the very strange legend that the boy Jesus may have been taken to England by Joseph of Arimathea at some point--presumably a pre-Graal excursion for Joseph (I don't think even Blake believed this, though).  "And did those feet" was set to music by Sir Hubert Parry as "Jerusalem," an anthem/hymn that helped revive the drooping nationalism of British troops during World War I and remains popular to this day.   If you haven't read any of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series, we encourage you to drop everything and do so as soon as possible.     Finally, this podcast will probably be more fun for you if you read along with us.  Feel free to pick up a copy of Charles Williams' War in Heaven!   If you're enjoying these episodes and have constructive feedback, we'd love to hear from you!  Our email is InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  Feel free also to leave us a review on iTunes if you want to see more of this sort of thing.

Cryptids in Narnia! Parody of the excellent Camp Monsters podcast. Happy Halloween! inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com  

Another dip back into the old vaults for the second episode covering War in Heaven. Original shownotes:  We begin this second part of our series on War in Heaven with the Archdeacon's words to the Holy Graal (yes, that's how it's spelled).  We end as a Georgia thunderstorm knocks out the Internet.  In between, we discuss Chapters 4-8 of Charles Williams' supernatural thriller. You can find War in Heaven here.  It is pretty inexpensive to buy on Kindle ($0.99 the last I checked). Other than the usual Lohengrin/Jazz mash-up, the music used is from Uranus, one of the pieces in Gustav Holst's Planets suite. The poetry excerpt at the end is from "On the Circuit," by W.H. Auden (read by the author). Stay tuned for Part 3 next week!   If you're enjoying these episodes and have constructive feedback, we'd love to hear from you!  Our email is InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  Feel free also to leave us a review on iTunes if you want to see more of this sort of thing.

J.D. Peabody joins Chris once again, this time to talk about the third and (for now) final installment of his Inkwell Chronicles series: Operation Bungaree.   Here's the link to the book from JD's page.   We've still got a lot of episodes for Season 4. Thanks for the very kind five-star reviews! At the moment, it's all I can do to juggle my teaching load and editing/releasing twice a month, but please do keep the ratings and reviews coming, and as always, email me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com with any responses, requests, or ideas. Next time: The Inklings and Romanticism!

Here's another Saturday rerun. Original shownotes here: This is the first of a series of conversations on Charles Williams' 1930 novel, War in Heaven, in which the Holy Graal (yes, that's how it's spelled here) is discovered in a tiny church in the English countryside.  Hijinks and shenanigans ensue, along with a heavy dose of black magic, car chases, and ecumenism.  You'll also find out whether the hosts would prefer to read a book called Christianity and the League of Nations or Foxy Flossie's Flirtations.  We'll be covering the first three chapters of War in Heaven, which you can purchase here if you want to read along. Most of our conversation this episode will be about Charles Williams' life, interest in the occult, and influence.  A few works mentioned include: The Third Inkling, by Grevel Lindop The Oxford Inklings, by Colin Duriez The Fellowship, by Philip and Carol Zaleski Hell, by Dorothy Sayers Taliessin Through Logres and The Region of the Summer Stars, by Charles Williams The Figure of Beatrice, by Charles Williams To read the first letters Lewis and Williams wrote to each other, go here! Stay tuned for Part 2!  If you're enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving us a review, as it is the best way to ensure the podcast will continue.  Also, feel free to drop us a line at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  

An old favorite: This week, we follow up on our discussion of Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories" by applying some of his ideas to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  We're trying to assess whether (despite Tolkien's low view of it), Lewis' children's tale actually works as a Tolkienian "Fairy Story."  Works mentioned include: On Fairy Stories The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe The Black Bull of Norroway Preface to Paradise Lost (when discussing Primary v. Secondary Epic) Chris also promotes the blog he and his wife do--12tide.com--that includes resources to help people celebrate a twelve-day Christmas Season.    If you enjoy this podcast, please recommend it to a friend and give us a review on iTunes.  And please do feel more than free to drop us a line at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you!

Jonathan Geltner and Søri Higgins join Chris to discuss Arthurian Torso--a collection of Charles Williams' Arthuriana (his poems and a non-fiction book) edited by C.S. Lewis. We'll be discussing and reading a few favorite poems and marveling at what Williams managed to achieve. Stick around for some broad-brush critical history of Arthurian myth in general and speculation as to whether the fantasy genre has killed it. (Way to go, Tolkien!) You can read Jonathan's stuff at Romance and Apocalypse | Jonathan Geltner | Substack and check out his debut novel here. You can read more of Søri's stuff here, and here, and some of her books here. Also, if you want Williams' poetry and the Torso is a bit too pricey, she's edited those too, here. Many thanks for the kind reviews of the podcast! Please keep them coming! And as always, feel free to reach out to me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.

Another episode from the vaults. Here's the original episode description:  Join Anika, Meagan, and Chris for the second half of our discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories."  Among other things, we talk about the nature of originality, the way that stories re-enchant and recover reality for us, the nature of true escapism and modernity, the Gift of Illuvatar and whether anyone actually wants to live forever--probably--also, whether Tolkien really did believe in fairies, the idea of consolation, how joy is more poignant than grief, the parts of the Lord of the Rings that make us cry, fairy stories, myth, and the Gospel, how the temporal and material helps us recover the eternal--and, of course, Frodo of the Nine Fingers and His Ring of Doom!  So strap on your steel shoes and prepare to climb the glassy hill of robust conversation with us.   You can find this essay in a number of places, but this is a pretty nice edition.   Next time, we'll be applying some of the ideas from "On Fairy Stories" to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in order to determine, once and for all, whether it is a fairy story, and whether Tolkien is departing from his own standards in disliking it.  It's full circle time!  If you enjoy this podcast, recommend it to a friend and give us a review on iTunes.  And please do feel more than free to drop us a line at InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com.  We'd love to hear from you.

Recovered from the deeps of time...  

It's been too long since we've done podcasts on Tolkien. I thought I'd record a fairly off-the-cuff episode on Hobbit birthdays in light of Bilbo's and Frodo's shared birthday, September 22. I'm reading part of Tolkien's Letter 214, which is in response to A.C. Nunn (and never sent), who points out the discrepancy between Gollum expecting a birthday present and Hobbits giving presents on their birthdays.  The letter is much longer than this (and, quite characteristically, apparently not sent).  If you want to read more of Tolkien's response, as well as his letters in general, grab a copy of Tolkien's Collected Letters.

Blast from the Icy past! Original shownotes: The third and final installment of our conversation on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe enters some interesting territory as Chris, Anika, and Meagan explore Lewis's (inadvertent?) use of Aslan-as-Trickster imagery, proper Narnian politics, and kangaroos. Also witness the precise moment in which the trio realizes that Lewis may have ruined their childhoods. Works referenced include: A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri Outro poetry sample: "On the Circuit" by W. H. Auden Email the show! InklingsVarietyHour@gmail.com