Podcast appearances and mentions of jason baxter

On The Literary Life Podcast this week, Angelina and Thomas are pleased to have special guest Dr. Michael Drout joining them to discuss his book The Tower and the Ruin: J. R. R. Tolkien's Creation. Together they talk about the background for writing this book and who Drout intended his audience to be. They also share thoughts on the current academic trends and the state of the humanities and literary studies in higher education. Other topics they cover include high modernism, literary criticism, realism and fantasy, and critical reviews of Tolkien's work. Don't forget to share this episode with the hashtag #LitLifeTolkien on Facebook or Instagram to be entered to win a copy of The Tower and the Ruin! There is still time to join a few more live sessions of this year's Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. As always, these sessions are also recorded, so you can purchase lifetime access and view the past videos anytime! Finally, you can also still sign up for Dr. Michael Drout's "Viking and Old Norse Culture" and get the recordings for the opening classes you may have missed. For the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/313. 

Welcome to an another great episode from the archives of The Literary Life podcast! This week we bring you an interview our hosts had with special guest Dr. Vigen Guroian, retired professor of Religious Studies and Orthodox Christianity at the University of Virginia and author of twelve book and numerous scholarly articles. Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks discuss with Dr. Guroian the new edition of his book, Tending the Heart of Virtue. They start out talking about how the first edition of this book came about, which leads into a discussion about the current approach to fairy tales and children's stories in both academia and the publishing industry.  Other topics of conversation include the problem with reducing stories down to a moral, story as mystery, the place of fairy tales in classical education, and the Biblical literacy of the authors of fairy tales. Dr. Guroian also shares his thoughts on people like John Ruskin and Rudyard Kipling. Finally, he shares some suggestions on finding good editions of fairy tale collections.  There is still time to register for this year's upcoming annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. To view the full show notes, including book links, visit https://theliterary.life/312. 

If I asked the question “Does literature matter?”, I suspect most people would quickly answer “Yes.” But if I asked “Why does literature matter?”, I think most of us would stutter in response. We probably don't know how to give an account of the importance of literature, even if we have a sense that it certainly does matter. Jason Baxter helps us respond to that second, harder question. His book, Why Literature Still Matters is both accessible and profound. In the span of some 80 pages, he gives us ways to not just think and speak about the importance of literature, but also to feel and remember why literature matters.For some additional conversations with Jason on our show, please see the show notes for links to an episode about Dante, and a second to an episode about C. S. Lewis in relation to Dante and other Medieval thinkers.Follow-up Resources:Why Literature Still Matters by Jason Baxter“The Heartbeat of Dante's Comedy, with Jason Baxter,” podcast episode via Church Life Today“C.S. Lewis from Dante and the Medieval World, with Jason Baxter,” podcast episode via Church Life TodayChurch Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

Fr. Mitch and Jason M. Baxter discuss a way to counter the “digital apocalypse,” by re-introducing people to great literature and its “sister-arts” of music and art.

Steve Ray visits to finish up the 3 part series on The Baptism of the Lord. Shrines and Wonders walks with St. Francis through Assisi, and talk with Joan Lewis live from Vatican City. Plus, Dr. Jason Baxter sits down in the second hour to talk why literature and pilgrimage is important to the Faith, and previews an upcoming film "The Way of St. Cuthbert" that premiers Saturday night at 10ET on EWTN Television!

This week on The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina and Thomas are joined by their friend and colleague Dr. Jason Baxter to talk about his newest book coming soon from Cassiodorus Press, Falling Inward. After sharing their commonplace quotes, Angelina asks Jason why he wanted to update and republish this work that he originally wrote several years ago. They discuss what is different about the idea of falling inward versus navel gazing, the role of the teacher in approaching literature in a humane way, why we should seek a pre-modern cosmology, what kinds of topics Jason explored in this book, and so much more! There is still time to register for this year's upcoming annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. You can view the full show notes for this episode at https://theliterary.life/311. 

On this week's "Best of The Literary Life Podcast" episode, host Angelina Stanford is joined by friends and fellow readers Cindy Rollins, Emily Raible, and Jone Rose to discuss how to deal with overwhelm with your literary life. Angelina opens the conversation with the acknowledgment that everyone has moments when they feel overwhelmed by the amount of things to read and to know. Jone talks about how she tries to avoid comparing herself and her reading life to that of others. Emily shares her eye-opening understanding after starting out discouraged about being "behind" in her self-education journey. Cindy talks about how she has seen the Enemy twist something that is a good gift and made it into a negative. Other encouraging and helpful ideas they discuss are the following: motivation of making connections, how to work up to more challenging books, protecting your brain and attention span, learning to enjoy the feast, and continuing the literary life for the long haul. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. Finally, you can also sign up now for upcoming classes such as Dr. Michael Drought's "Viking and Old Norse Culture." For full show notes, including quotes, book links, and this week's poem text, please visit https://theliterary.life/310. 

For this final episode of the 2025 season on The Literary Life Podcast, we bring you a special year-end conversation with Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks all about their year in reading. Thomas talks about how most of his reading was tied to classes he taught. Cindy and Angelina talk about the reasons they didn't read as many books as they usually do in a year. They share some of their favorite non-fiction reads of the year, books that surprised them, and fiction highlights. In the course of the conversation, our hosts also make several points about reading in the literary tradition and avoiding public judgment of other people's choices in books. The House of Humane Letters Christmas sale is still on! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. Finally, you can also sign up now for upcoming classes like "Abiding in the Fields: Spenser, Milton, and the Pastoral Poetic Tradition" taught by Dr. Anne Phillips, or Dr. Michael Drought's "Viking and Old Norse Culture." To check out the full show notes for this episode, including all the books referenced, please visit https://theliterary.life/309. 

On this week's episode of The Literary Life, Thomas and Angelina bring you a preview of the books we will discuss on the upcoming season of the podcast. First, Angelina explains their approach to the podcast as they approach this next year, then she and Thomas share what literary topics and book discussions you can be looking forward to in 2026. In addition, if you are looking for a reading challenge created by our Friends and Fellows for 2026, you can find it on Patreon when you join for free! The House of Humane Letters Christmas sale is live now! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/308. 

This week on The Literary Life podcast, we are dipping back into the archives to bring you a delightful conversation from 2019 in which our Literary Life podcast hosts chatted all about their past year in books, as well as what they hoped to read in the coming year. Cindy, Angelina and Thomas began by sharing some commonplace quotes from books they read in 2019. They discussed their strategies for planning their reading goals and how they curate their "to be read" lists. Each of our hosts also shared some highlights from their year in books. Angelina then introduced The Literary Life Podcast 20 for 2020 Reading Challenge. She talked about how to approach this reading challenge. Then our hosts talked a little about each category in the challenge and gave some of their possible book picks for the challenge. Cindy mentioned a list of Shakespeare's plays in chronological order. She also has a list of "Books for Cultivating Honorable Boys." Happening now–the House of Humane Letters Christmas sale! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. For the full show notes for this episode, including book links, quotes, and today's poem, please visit our website at https://theliterary.life/307. 

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and one of our "best of" episodes from the vault! Due to the busyness of the holiday season, we thought this would be the perfect time to bring you a replay from our archives instead of starting a brand new book discussion series. This week, we re-air the inaugural episode of The Literary Life, in which Cindy and Angelina introduce the podcast and what they mean when they talk about having a "literary life." Each of them share how stories have shaped their personal lives, as well as how they believe stories have the power to shape culture. You can find and listen to the other 3 introductory episodes of The Literary Life mentioned in this replay at the links below- Episode 2: The Interview Episode Episode 3: The Importance of Detective Fiction Episode 4: Gaudy Night, Ch. 1-3 Happening now–the House of Humane Letters Christmas sale! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. Finally, you can also sign up now for upcoming classes like "Abiding in the Fields: Spenser, Milton, and the Pastoral Poetic Tradition" taught by Dr. Anne Phillips, or Dr. Michael Drought's "Viking and Old Norse Culture." For the full show notes of this episode, including quotes, book links, and this week's poem, please visit https://theliterary.life/306. 

On this week's episode of The Literary Life podcast, Angelina Stanford, Thomas Banks, and Atlee Northmore talk about their favorite film adaptations of books they like and why they think these are worthy adaptations. Genres of movies they discuss include adaptations of classic books, kids and family films, film noir favorites, beloved directors, and so much more. They also share some "hot takes" on movies they liked better than the books, and vice versa. We hope this lighthearted, chatty episode will be a little treat for your listening enjoyment during this holiday season. Join us back here again next week for the beginning of our new series on Moliere's Don Juan. Happening now–the House of Humane Letters Christmas sale! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. For the full show notes of this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/305. 

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and our series on Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Angelina Stanford, Thomas Banks, and Ella Hornstra open the conversation by sharing their commonplace quotes, then jump into the book discussion with some connections between Huxley and Lewis Carroll and how Brave New World is like Alice in Wonderland. Angelina also teaches about the medieval conception of the tripartite soul and how it relates to this story, as well as making some distinctions between literary satire and parody. They talk about more of the pictures of Freudian principles as illustrated in this society, as well as the way in which the characters live like machines. Ella goes into a little introductory information on Shakespeare's The Tempest and its connections to Brave New World to keep in mind as we continue reading. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. Also, we are excited to announce the upcoming spring course with Dr. Michael Drout, Viking and Old Norse Culture. Learn more and register at HouseofHumaneLetters.com. To view the full show notes for this episode, including book links, quotes and more, please visit https://theliterary.life/302. 

One philosopher of our time claims that "today, the experience of beauty is impossible." Dr. Jason Baxter, director of the Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College, begs to differ. Dr. Baxter joins us on HeightsCast to unpack his latest book, Why Literature Still Matters, which looks at why such a claim might feel true in our digital age. Then, he talks us through why and how we should reclaim our experiences of beauty for the health of our soul. Chapters: 00:03:34 The experience of beauty 00:08:44 Byung-Chul Han: the possibility of beauty today 00:15:41 Marc Auge: still living in the Enlightenment experiment 00:20:46 The soul is not a machine 00:24:57 Our task as parents, educators 00:35:05 Likes and emojis: the simplification of our interior life 00:49:23 A near-death experience in Sardinia 00:56:24 Beauty and mental health 00:57:40 Franny and Zooey: interiority matters 01:03:41 Recommended reading Links: Why Literature Still Matters by Jason Baxter Help! Where do I go from here? Part I: Poetry by Jason Baxter Beauty Matters, Substack for Jason Baxter jasonmbaxter.com featuring articles and lectures Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College Saving Beauty by Byung-Chul Han Non-Places: An Introduction to Supermodernity by Marc Auge The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich A Letter to Our Daughter by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan "A Prayer for My Daughter" by W. B. Yeats Recommended reading: "Burnt Norton" from Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger "A Hill" by Anthony Hecht "Advice to a Prophet" by Richard Wilbur The Loss of the Creature by Walker Percy Middlemarch by George Eliot Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro Also on the Forum: Breathing Narnian Air: Loving Modernity as a Medievalist featuring Dr. Jason Baxter Receiving Beauty: A Liberal Arts Education featuring Dr. George Harne Order and Surprise: On Beauty and the Western Tradition featuring Dr. Lionel Yaceczko Featured Opportunities: Mustard Seed Communities The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (January 7-9, 2026 / May 6-8, 2026)

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast with Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks! They are joined by Ella Hornstra for the beginning of a new series on Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Thomas and Ella kick off the book discussion with a little biographical background on Huxley and dispel the myth that he belonged to the Bloomsbury Group. Angelina gives some literary history of the period in which Huxley wrote, as well as some thoughts on satire as a response to an age of overwhelming optimism. She also highlights the literary and cultural influences that Huxley satirizes in this novel, including Wells, Ford, and Freud. Visit the HouseofHumaneLetters.com to sign up for all the upcoming and past mini-classes and webinars taught by Angelina, Thomas, and their colleagues! Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. To view the full show notes for this episode, including commonplace quotes and today's poem, please visit https://theliterary.life/301. 

Dr Jason Baxter at our 2025 Fall Conference: The Divine Word in Human Words, Theology as Poetry

On this week's episode of The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina Stanford is joined as always by Thomas Banks and Cindy Rollins for the opening of their series on Bram Stoker's Dracula. Today our hosts focus on the background and historical context for this piece of literature, as well as going over the highlights of the first two chapters. They talk about the question of the role of the monster in literature in modernity versus its historical interpretation. Understanding the form of the Gothic novel and the time period in which this book was written are important aspects of approaching Dracula.  Keep listening next week for more about how to read this book. We will be covering chapters 3-7.  To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/296.  Get the latest news from House of Humane Letters by signing up for their e-newsletter today! We are excited to announce this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, “The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human”. Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks.

Today on The Literary Life podcast Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks continue their two-part series on Christina Rossetti's narrative poem “Goblin Market.” They begin discussing this poem by connecting it with the larger conversation on art and the literary tradition, pointing out the flaws of modern ways of reading. Angelina emphasizes the importance of understanding this poem, as well as other classic works of fantasy, in terms of the fairy world and how symbolism and allegory work in fairy tales. After these preliminary thoughts, they go into more detail about this poem, including the obvious picture of the Fall, the vampire imagery, other Scriptural allusions, and the false versus the true Eucharist. Join us back here next week for our Dracula series reboot and more examples of how to read well! And for the full show notes for this week's episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/295.  Visit the HouseofHumaneLetters.com to sign up for all the upcoming and past mini-classes and webinars taught by Angelina, Thomas, and their colleagues! We are excited to announce this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, “The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human”. Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks.

Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast! This week we begin a brief, two-episode series covering Christina Rossetti's narrative poem "Goblin Market." Our hosts, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks, look at the life and family background of Christina Rossetti, highlighting her devout Christian faith as key to understanding her poetry. Thomas shares the dates for the Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite periods in terms of art and literature. Angelina asks what the form of this poem is as we approach this together, and she and Thomas propose a few connections and preliminary ideas they have about "Goblin Market" before we dive into the full text. Join us next week as they walk through the poem together and further discuss how to read this work as well as so much more! Visit the HouseofHumaneLetters.com to sign up for all the upcoming and past mini-classes and webinars taught by Angelina, Thomas, and their colleagues! We are excited to announce this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. And to view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/294. 

In this episode, I am joined by medieval scholar and author, Jason Baxter. Dr. Baxter is the Director of the Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College and the author of many books, including a new translation of Dante and The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis. Dr. Baxter and I discussed The Medieval Mind, C. S. Lewis as medievalist, and why he had a medieval mind. We also talk about how Lewis' thoughts could be applied to modern science. Everyone needs to go out and read Lewis and then read Dr. Baxter's The Medieval Mind. For a list of his books, check out Jason Baxter's website: https://www.jasonmbaxter.com/*************************************************************************************************************Follow me on Twitter @AaronIrberSubscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@imightbelieveinfaeries7563Subscribe to my Substack for updates on the show, essays, and more!Donate to my Patreon - I Might Believe in Faeries https://www.patreon.com/imightbelieveinfaeriesLike my Facebook page - I Might Believe in FaeriesBattle Of The Creek by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Logo Art by Linnea Kisby************************************************************************************************************* This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aaronirber.substack.com/subscribe

My Co-Founder, Jason Baxter, joins me once again to discuss the growth at FOSTR and how our team is thinking about the future of AI inside companies. Since our last conversation, Jason has sharpened his perspective on where the real value lies for businesses—moving beyond surface-level AI use cases to building the infrastructure that allows organizations to actually compound knowledge over time. We dig into how FOSTR is solving the data problem, why knowledge graphs are critical, and what it means for the next wave of AI adoption in business. We discuss: Why messy data is the biggest barrier for companies adopting AI The role of knowledge graphs in creating context and compounding company knowledge Why CEOs need to think about AI as infrastructure, not just a tool What's next for FOSTR as it rolls out to more companies Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:52) - How FOSTR has evolved since the last time Jason was on the show (00:10:02) - FOSTR's infrastructure stack (00:21:51) - The importance of clean data (00:28:03) - FOSTR's Knowledge graph (00:44:00) - How FOSTR would work in a Real Estate Brokerage firm (00:49:34) - Who owns the data? (00:57:34) - What's coming from FOSTR in the next 45-60 days Links: Request early access to FOSTR - https://fostrai.com/ Reach out to ceonetwork@fostrai.com for notifications on the Slack Community Launch Chris on Social Media: Chris on X: https://x.com/fortworthchris Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepowerspodcast/   Watch POWERS on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://www.powerspod.com/ Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO POWERS is produced by https://www.johnnypodcasts.com/

Today on the show, Dr. Jason Baxter joins us to talk about his recent (partially published, still ongoing) translation of Dante's epic trilogy. The author of seven books, Jason is now the Director of the Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College, and spends his time helping to form hearts, minds, and souls to receive beauty. Read Jason's writings here: https://jasonmbaxter.substack.com/?r=11vmtg&utm_campaign=pub-share-checklist Buy Inferno here: https://angelicopress.com/products/the-divine-comedy-inferno?srsltid=AfmBOoowHAqUCHyz8Mg5muZ1c0UbdByz4srrm510-AKSKs4ayUT78s4- Buy Purgatorio here: https://angelicopress.com/products/the-divine-comedy-purgatorio/?variant=51602407555390

Many of us have learned to see the world differently because of C. S. Lewis. But how did Lewis learn to see the world the way he did? From whom did he learn to see the marriage of the spiritual and material, of heavenly things right along with scientific things? If we go in search of answers to such questions, we find ourselves plunged into the Medieval world and encountering, among others, Dante.In his book, The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis, Jason Baxter helps us uncover the influence of great books on Lewis's great mind. Dr. Baxter joins me to continue our conversation which began on his work of translating Dante, to move now from Dante to Lewis, who was himself a man who lived in modern times but was not of those times.Follow-up Resources:The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind, by Jason M. BaxterLearn more about Dr. Baxter's work at https://www.jasonmbaxter.com/Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

Translating Dante is not a matter of rendering words in one language for words in another language. Indeed, no act of translation is so direct or basic. But as with Dante's Comedy when the style itself is part of the art – the sound of the thing, the movement, the embodiment – the translator needs to feel as much as think, relying on sense along with knowledge. Why? Because the hope of giving us – the readers of a translation – an encounter with the great good found in the art depends on the more holistic, more full-bodied work of scholarship and personality, at once.Jason Baxter has studied Dante for years and written on him before, including with his marvelous and illuminating book, A Beginner's Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy. Now he is completing the work of translating the master's poem for English readers that brings us into not just what the poem says, but what it feels like. Follow-up Resources:Inferno, A New Translation by Jason M. BaxterPurgatorio, A New Translation by Jason M. BaxterA Beginner's Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy, by Jason M. BaxterLearn more about Dr. Baxter's work at https://www.jasonmbaxter.com/Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

This week on The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina and Thomas are once again joined Dr. Jason Baxter, author of Why Literature Still Matters. In this episode, our hosts sit down with Dr. Baxter for a chat about a wide variety of topics, including teaching the old books, reading poetry to understand it, the delight of teaching students at HHL, their hot takes on hot takes, making reading recommendations, and translating Dante, and so much more. We will be back next week with a "best of" episode covering Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Garden Party," and after that we begin a fun new series on The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit our website at https://theliterary.life/283. 

This week on The New Mason Jar, Dr. Jason Baxter returns to the podcast to talk with Cindy and Dawn about Dante as part of a new series of Mothers Education Course episodes When Dr. Baxter was first introduced to Dante's Divine Comedy Why Dr. Baxter thinks Dante wrote this work in the form of epic poetry? How this translation is different than other modern English translations Does the language and mood of Inferno feel different from that in the Purgatorio? Why Jason chose the artwork he did for the covers of his translations Jason's encouragement for the busy homeschool mom in approaching Dante Hear more from Dr. Baxter in Cindy's summer discipleship which you can still register for here: Morning Time for Moms 2025 Summer Discipleship: Life Together You can also sign up for Jason's summer class at TheHouseofHumaneLetters.com To view the full show notes for this episode, including quotes and book links, please visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/113. 

Today's episode is with Co-Founder, Jason Baxter, to introduce our latest venture, FOSTR AI—a company built to solve one of the most pressing challenges facing businesses today: how to implement AI in your business in a meaningful, aligned, and scalable way. We unpack the fragmented state of AI adoption across small to mid-sized businesses and explain why most organizations, despite interest, are either stuck in experimentation or using disconnected tools that don't move the business forward.  FOSTR AI is the answer to that problem—an execution intelligence layer that creates a company's “digital twin,” aligning AI usage with team structure, goals, and strategy from day one. We discuss how FOSTR helps companies: - Onboard and operationalize AI in a matter of minutes - Centralize AI usage across teams while maintaining control, security, and context - Reduce risk from siloed tools and misaligned AI use Links: FOSTR AI - https://fostrai.com/ Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:00:52) - Introducing FOSTR (00:02:40) - The Challenges Businesses Face with AI Today (00:05:14) - How Companies and Employees Are Misusing AI (00:10:29) - Additional Challenges (00:12:33) - How FOSTR Is Creating Alignment Between Companies and AI Solutions (00:25:57) - Where FOSTR Is in Its Life Cycle (00:30:39) - How to Get in Touch With, Work At, or Invest in FOSTR Chris on Social Media: The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO  The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Today, we finish lower hell. Dcn. Harrison Garlick is joined by Dr. Jason Baxter of Benedictine College to discuss cantos 6-11 of Dante's Inferno.Check out thegreatbookspodcast.com for other great books!Check out our Patreon for our 80+ Question & Answer guide to the Inferno.From our guide:27. The Third Circle of Hell – Gluttony (Canto 6) Musa explains the third circle and the contrapasso, “the shades in this circle are the gluttons, and their punishment fits their sin. Gluttony, like all the sins of incontinence, subjects reason to desire; in this case desire is a voracious appetite. Thus, the shades howl like dogs—in desire, without reason; they are sunk in slime, the image of their excess. The warm comfort their gluttony brought them in life here has become cold, dirty rain and hail.”[1] The beast Cerberus—a “three-headed doglike beast”—dwells in the third circle.[2] The beast both represents the sin of gluttony through its own immense appetite and further punishes those shades in the third circle as he “flays and mangles” the shades of that circle.[3] Musa also notes “with his three heads, he appears to be a prefiguration of Lucifer and thus another infernal distortion of the Trinity.”[4] On their way toward the fourth circle, Dante the Pilgrim asks Virgil whether the punishment of the souls in hell will be increased or lessened on the Final Judgment.[5] Virgil explains that the pain of those in hell will be “more perfect” after the Final Judgment, as the souls in hell will be reunited with their bodies after the bodily resurrection.[6]30. The Fourth Circle of Hell – the Prodigal & Miserly (VII)As Virgil and the Pilgrim enter into the fourth circle of hell, they are greeted by Plutus (Pluto), the Roman god of wealth, who speaks incoherently and whom Virgil dismisses by calling him “cursed Wolf of hell.”[1] The reference to “wolf” recalls the she-wolf at the beginning and reminds the reader the Pilgrim is still journeying through the circles of sins related to incontinence. Here the Pilgrim sees shades “to the sound of their own screams, straining their chests, they rolled enormous weights, and when they met and clashed against each other… screaming ‘Why hoard?,' the other side, ‘why waste?'”[2] The Pilgrim sees the contrapasso of the miserly and the prodigal, who, forming two semi-circles, push their heavy weights (symbolizing their material wealth) and shove against each other (as their disordered uses of wealth were opposite).[3] Virgil teaches the Pilgrim about Lady Fortune, who serves as an angel of God determining the fortunes of men and nations.[4] Note that Lady Fortune is often depicted with a wheel, and that this circle of hell resembles a giant broken wheel of the shades that mismanaged their...

Why does literature still matter in our modern world? In this episode, ISI's Conservative Conversations welcomes scholar Jason Baxter to discuss his latest book, Why Literature Still Matters. Baxter explores how great literature shapes our moral imagination, cultivates wisdom, and connects us to timeless truths. From Dante to C.S. Lewis, he reveals how classic works offer profound insights into human nature, virtue, and beauty—insights that are increasingly neglected in today's culture.Join us for a thought-provoking conversation on why preserving the literary tradition is essential for the future of civilization.

We are reading the Inferno together! Dcn. Harrison Garlick is joined by Dr. Jeremy Holmes of Wyoming Catholic College to give an introduction to Dante's Inferno and discuss the first canto. Visit thegreatbookspodcast.com for more information.Reading Schedule for Lent 2025:Introduction & the Dark Woods1. Intro & Canto 1 (3.4.25) with Dr. Jeremy Holmes (Wyoming Catholic)Vestibule of Hell, Limbo & Lust2. Cantos 2-5 (3.11.25) with Dr. Jennifer Frey (TU) and Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson (Pepperdine).Gluttony, Spendthrift/Hoarders, Wrathful/Acedia & Heretics3. Cantos 6-11 (3.18.25) with Dr. Jason Baxter of Benedictine College.Violence: Against Neighbor, Self & God4. Cantos 12-17 (3.25.25) with Fr. Thomas Esposito, O. Cist., of the University of Dallas.Simple Fraud: Pits 1-75. Cantos 18-25 (4.1.25) with Noah Tyler, CFO of CLT, and Gabriel Blanchard, Staff Writer for CLT.Simple Fraud: Pits 8-106. Cantos 26-31 (4.8.25) with Dr. Donald Prudlo (TU)Complex Fraud: The Traitors7. Cantos 32-34 (4.15.25) with Evan Amato.Questions from our Reader's Guide:What is the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri?The Divine Comedy (or the Comedy as Dante called it) tells the story of Dante the Pilgrim's penitential journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven in three volumes or canticles: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. It is called a comedy in the classical sense of ending well, as opposed to tragedy which ends poorly. Dante the Poet masterfully weaves together Holy Scripture, Greco-Roman mythology, Aristotle, Roman history, St. Thomas Aquinas, and more to present the reader an excellent map of the human soul and its loves. “It is the Summa Theologiae in poetry,” says Dr. Prudlo, “and I think it's one of the greatest, greatest achievements, single achievements by a human being that's ever been attained.”What is the Inferno?The Inferno tells of Dante's pilgrimage through hell alongside his pagan guide, the Roman poet Virgil. The Inferno is less an eschatological treatise attempting to explain the actual geography of hell and more a moral tale on the reality of human desire and the soul. It not a mystical vision akin to St. John's Revelation or the ecstasies of St. Teresa of Avila. As such, Dante the Poet will place mythological characters in hell, like the three-headed dog Cerberus or the Roman god of the underworld, Pluto. The purpose is not literal but pedagogical. In a similar fashion, the placement of a soul in hell, like a Pope Nicholas III or Helen of Troy, is not a eschatological claim of who is actually in hell but a moral one. Everything in the Inferno is intended to instruct us in virtue and the proper rectitude of the soul.Why should we read Dante's Inferno?The Inferno is an invitation to examine your soul. Dante the Poet is a master of the soul and its loves. He tears away the acceptable veneer on human desire and exposes the ugly reality of sin and its transformative effect upon the human soul into something imploded and bestial. And Dante the Poet invites the reader to contemplate his or her soul and its loves within an ordered whole. As stated, the Divine Comedy is St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae is poetic form, and Dante the Poet weaves together Holy Scripture, Aristotle, mythology, astronomy, and more into one intelligible cosmos. Reality is intelligible and holds lessons for our sanctification and salvation. We are invited to become...

It's Oscars week and also the 25th anniversary of American Beauty somehow winning Best Picture for the all-time movie year that was 1999. On this week's episode, Seth attempts to suffocate Sam Mendes's dark dramedy with its stupid floating plastic bag (with the help of Jason Baxter). We get into the protagonist being a wannabe pedophile, the script's horrendous scenes, the lack of comedic editing, bad improv scene-level acting, it's regressive nature despite thinking it's super edgy, stolen Austin Powers bits, how many 1999 films do elements of what it's failing at way, way, way better, and more.

A discussion with Jason Baxter, Nicholas Colloff and Mark Vernon.The Abolition of Man is a series of three lectures given by C.S. Lewis in defence of objective value, arguing that modernity has undermined our humanity by uncoupling intellect from instinct. With hearts divorced from minds, first the world empties of presence, then life empties of meaning and people become “men without chests”.That Hideous Strength is a fictionalised version of the abolition, exploring the impact of transhumanism, aggressive rationalism, absent gods, and an inability to contemplate and know reality as it is.Till We Have Faces also tells of a world in which humanity is veiled and power rules, though in which gods make unexpected appearances and humanity is restored by learning to bear the weight of being once more.How do these works account for today? What remedies do they offer? Why might we keep reading them?0:00 Introductions01:47 The core ideas of The Abolition of Man04:46 All truths cannot be relative!09:38 The need for an aesthetic education12:13 Owen Barfield on objectivity and subjectivity 20:02 Chivalry and recovering spiritual practices28:25 A time in which everything is real30:56 The core ideas in That Hideous Strength39:48 The uninvited powers of material times41:48 The need for wisdom communities44:25 Why the Arthurian weaves in the story?49:10 Learning about and learning from53:21 Lewis's violence and the eruption of power56:48 The core ideas in Till We Have Faces59:45 The retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche01:01:52 When truth is too much to bear01:04:07 The recovery of humanity and the face of God01:06:02 The value of myth and moving from the linear01:09:30 Remaking or merely copying? A thought on Notre Dame01:11:17 Emptying and the fullness of divine presence01:12:58 Jane and Mark in the bridal chamber01:15:35 When everything is the face of GodJason is Professor and Director of Center for Beauty and Culture, Benedictine College. For more - www.jasonmbaxter.comFor more on Nicholas Colloff - https://ncolloff.blogspot.comFor more on Mark Vernon - www.markvernon.com

January 24th, 2025 - We welcome back Brent Haynes to talk Trump's freeing of pro-lifers and declassification of the JFK files. Then we're joined by Jason Baxter to discuss Dante's Inferno. TheStationOfTheCross.com/ACT  

This week on The New Mason Jar podcast, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with Dr. Jason Baxter about his new book Why Literature Still Matters published by Cassiodorus Press How Jason wrote this book and the style of his writing as if to a specific, live audience Why Jason wrote about the importance of beauty, art, and literature in terms of our current culture Why is there a sense of urgency about the message of reconnecting with the old books and ideas How Jason's Substack "Beauty Matters" serves to illuminate his book What type of literature Jason thinks may be making a comeback To view the full show notes for this episode, complete with quotes and links to books, visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/100/.

“The air of Narnia had been working upon him … and all his old battles came back to him, and his arms and fingers remembered their old skill. He was King Edmund once more.” In this week's wide-ranging discussion, Dr. Jason Baxter talks about fellow Medievalist C. S. Lewis's ideas of story and history—and how those ideas matter for the education and formation of a thoroughly modern people. What can today's “classical revival movements” learn from Lewis? Chapters: 3:56 C. S. Lewis's library 6:31 His theory of stories: mining ancient jewels 14:49 His theory of history: a post-Christian world 17:14 Modern man's trouble with pre-modern texts 20:09 Embracing modernity and tradition 25:45 Making virtue attractive 33:49 How to “teach” a passion 42:45 Why a new translation of Dante 49:51 Wounded by beauty Links: jasonmbaxter.com featuring articles and lectures Beauty Matters, Substack for Jason Baxter The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis: How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind by Jason Baxter The Divine Comedy: Inferno translated by Jason Baxter Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College Also on the Forum: A Doctor, a Lawyer, and a Cop Walk into a Boys School, episode two of Heights Forum Faculty Podcast What Fiction Is For featuring Joe Breslin Inferno or Paradiso? On Introducing Students to the Divine Comedy featuring Jason Baxter

Matt and Jason Baxter discuss his upcoming book "Why Literature Matters" We are a 501C3 organization and rely on your support. Please consider giving at https://tacticalfaith.com/donate/ Thank You for listening!

Paul Kingsnorth, Rod Dreher, and Jason Baxter engage in a dialogue concerning Paul's talk. If you enjoy this content, please consider making a donation at https://tacticalfaith.com/donate/ Thanks!

This week on The Literary Life Podcast we are pleased to bring you a conversation hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks had with Dr. Jason Baxter, author of the new book Why Literature Matters from Cassiodorus Press. You can find out more about Dr. Baxter and his other books at JasonMBaxter.com. Together they discuss how this book came about and the importance of knowing who your audience is. They share some hopes for this book to reach those who don't understand why literature is still worthwhile in our current culture. Angelina brings up the challenges of reading in this fast-paced, consumeristic age. Jason uses metaphors of gardening and learning a piece of music to think about reading and understanding as a process requiring time and perseverance. Please visit our website for complete show notes including commonplace quotes, book links, and this week's poem at https://theliterary.life/251/. 

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast! Due to a scheduling conflict, this week we are re-airing a previous episode with Dr. Jason Baxter, author of the new book Why Literature Matters from Cassiodorus Press. Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks sit down for a special conversation with Jason Baxter. Jason is a speaker, writer, and college professor who writes primarily on medieval thought and is especially interested in Lewis' ideas. You can find out more about him and his books at JasonMBaxter.com. Our hosts and Jason discuss a wide range of ideas, including the values of literature, the sacramental view of reality, why it is important to understand medieval thought, the "problem" of paganism in Lewis' writings, and how to approach reading ancient and medieval literature. To see all the books and get the full show notes for today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://www.theliterary.life/250/.

On this week's episode of The Literary Life podcast, we are excited to bring you a new conversation with hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks and their guest Dr. Jason Baxter. They open the discussion with some thoughts on why Dante has had renewed popularity in recent days. Jason talks about the big questions that poets seek to answer, and what some of the obstacles modern readers might have when approaching Dante for the first time. Thomas asks whether Dante had a precedent for making himself a character in his own epic. Angelina brings up the question of what it means that The Divine Comedy is poetry rather than some other genre. Other topics they discuss are Dante's cosmology, his psychological precision, how to approach The Divine Comedy for the first time, and Jason's own translation work. To see all the books and links mentioned in today's episode, visit our website for the complete show notes here: https://theliterary.life/241/.

Could we have a season about story without touching on my favourite storyteller, the great Jack Lewis? We could not.Many of us know Lewis as the great author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, or Til We Have Faces. Some of us know him as the everyman theologian who gave us the wartime addresses and Mere Christianity. But there's a lesser-known third part to Lewis: the medievalist. A self-proclaimed dinosaur, Lewis' mind was of another time and this is the secret reason for the richness of his stories. So, we should all be wondering: What is the medieval mind and how did Lewis form one?I'm joined by Dr. Jason Baxter to discuss the medieval mind of C.S. Lewis and how his “breathing the Middle Ages” might be exactly what we need to regain our footing in a world enchanted with truth, goodness, and beauty.Footnotes for this episodeThe Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis, Jason BaxterDr. Baxter | WebsiteOn Plato's Timaeus, Calcidius“Meditations in a Toolshed”, C.S. Lewis“On Stories”, C.S. Lewis“De Descriptione Temporum”, C.S. LewisThe Abolition of Man, C.S. LewisThe Divine Comedy, Dante“On Fairy-Stories”, J.R.R. Tolkien__________You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)---------Join the 800+ mother-teachers in Common House (It's like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!Right now, you can join a number of self-paced courses like The Abolition of Man, Charlotte Mason Habits 101, and Virtues and Vices!

On this week's episode of The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina and Thomas continue their series of discussions on Anne Brontë's novel Agnes Grey. They open the conversation about this novel with some thoughts on the differences between Agnes Grey and Jane Eyre and Anne and Charlotte Brontë. Angelina poses the question as to whether this novel crosses the line into didacticism or if it stays within the purpose of the story and the art. In discussing the education of Agnes' charges in these chapters, Angelina has a chance to expand upon the upbringing of Victorian young women. She and Thomas discuss the position of the curate and Agnes' spiritual seriousness, as well as the characters of Weston and Hatfield as foils for each other. Thomas closes out the conversation with a question as to whether Agnes Grey is as memorable a character as Jane Eyre or Catherine Earnshaw and why that is. Check out the schedule for the podcast's summer episodes on our Upcoming Events page. In July, Dr. Jason Baxter will be teaching a class titled “Dostoyevsky's Icon: Brothers Karamazov, The Christian Past, and The Modern World”, and you can sign up for that or any of the HHL Summer Classes here. Sign up for the newsletter at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay in the know about all the exciting new things we have coming up! Commonplace Quotes: In wit, as nature, what affects our hearts/ Is not the exactness of peculiar parts;/ ‘Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call,/ But the joint force and full result of all. Alexander Pope, from “An Essay on Criticism” In any case, it is Charlotte Brontë who enters Victorian literature. The shortest way of stating her strong contribution is, I think, this: that she reached the highest romance through the lowest realism. She did not set out with Amadis of Gaul in a forest or with Mr. Pickwick in a comic club. She set out with herself, with her own dingy clothes and accidental ugliness, and flat, coarse, provincial household; and forcibly fused all such muddy materials into a spirited fairy-tale. G. K. Chesterton, The Victorian Age in Literature My Heart Leaps Up By William Wordsworth My heart leaps up when I beholdA Rainbow in the sky:So was it when my life began;So is it now I am a man;So be it when I shall grow old,Or let me die!The Child is father of the man;And I wish my days to beBound each to each by natural piety. Book List: Ten Novels and Their Authors by W. Somerset Maugham 1984 by George Orwell The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Charlotte Mason Hugh Walpole George Eliot Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

Today on The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks begin a new book discussion series covering Anne Brontë's Victorian novel Agnes Grey. This week they are giving an introduction to the social and literary climate in which Anne was writing, as well as discussing chapters 1-5 of the book. Thomas shares a little information on Utilitarianism, and Angelina talks about how this affected the literature of the Victorian period. She also points out that the Brontës were writing in the medieval literary tradition rather than the didactic or realistic style, and as such we should look for symbols and metaphors in their journey of the soul. Thomas and Angelina explore the background of the Brontë sisters, discuss the position of the governess in this time period, and compare Agnes Grey to other governess novels. Diving into the first five chapters of this book, Angelina and Thomas look at the life of young Agnes Grey and at her family. In treating the characters in the early chapters, they talk about Agnes Grey's first forays into the life of the governess, the horrid children in her care, their irresponsible parents, and more. Check out the schedule for the podcast's summer episodes on our Upcoming Events page. If you haven't heard about Cindy Rollins' upcoming Summer Discipleship series, you can learn more about that over at MorningTimeforMoms.com. In June Mr. Banks will be teaching a 5-day class on St. Augustine, and in July Dr. Jason Baxter will be teaching a class on Dostoevsky. Also, don't miss the launch the HHL publishing wing, Cassiodorus Press! Sign up for the newsletter at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay in the know about all the exciting new things we have coming up! Commonplace Quotes: Truth is the trial of itself,/ And needs no other touch. Ben Jonson The previous literary life of this country had left vigorous many old forces in the Victorian time, as in our time. Roman Britain and Mediæval England are still not only alive but lively; for real development is not leaving things behind, as on a road, but drawing life from them, as from a root. Even when we improve we never progress. For progress, the metaphor from the road, implies a man leaving his home behind him: but improvement means a man exalting the towers or extending the gardens of his home. G. K. Chesterton, The Victorian Age in Literature Ganymede By W. H. Auden He looked in all His wisdom from the throneDown on that humble boy who kept the sheep,And sent a dove; the dove returned alone:Youth liked the music, but soon fell asleep. But He had planned such future for the youth:Surely, His duty now was to compel.For later he would come to love the truth,And own his gratitude. His eagle fell. It did not work. His conversation boredThe boy who yawned and whistled and made faces,And wriggled free from fatherly embraces; But with the eagle he was always willingTo go where it suggested, and adoredAnd learnt from it so many ways of killing. Book List: George MacDonald Charles Dickens Lewis Carroll Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot Tom Jones by Henry Fielding Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe Adam Bede by George Eliot Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier The Infernal World of Bramwell Brontë by Daphne Du Maurier Thomas Hardy Villette by Charlotte Brontë Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Esther Waters by George Moore Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

I couldn't be more excited to release today's episode that shares in great detail how Fort is thinking about and using AI. Jason and I discuss our proprietary operating system, FOS, and how we're leveraging AI to build Fort's next chapter. We've been building this technology for years and now the fun really begins. Jason Baxter joined Fort in 2015, bringing more than 25 years of real estate industry experience, an acute passion for entrepreneurship, and a vision for transforming big ideas into reality. As Chief Executive Officer/President, Jason oversees Fort's strategic vision and execution of acquisitions, finances, and annual planning. In addition, Jason oversees the Fort Leadership Team and Investment Committee. Chris is a serial entrepreneur with 19 years of real estate development and investment experience. He founded Fort and to date, the company has invested over $2.1B in Class B industrial, commercial, multifamily, student housing, and land development projects throughout the state of Texas and the Sunbelt. In 2016, Chris made the decision to focus on Class B Industrial full time and that is where the firm has dedicated the majority of its resources since. On this episode, Chris and Jason discuss: Finding a single source of truth Building Fort's AI thesis Examples of Foster at work Links: Fort in the WallStreet Journal - Harnessing the Power of Advanced Data FOS Overview Foster Overview Fort: https://bit.ly/FortCompanies Follow Fort on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-companies/ Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:00:42) - The importance of technology (00:05:00) - Finding the single source of truth (00:09:24) - Building Fort's AI thesis (00:11:48) - How the world uses AI vs. how Fort uses AI (00:18:15) - Examples of Foster at work (00:28:35) - What does Foster think Foster is? (00:31:46) - Why does all this matter? Chris on Social Media: X: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/45gIkFd   Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0 Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO 

On today's episode of The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina and Thomas wrap up their series on the satirical comedy Tartuffe by Jean-Baptiste Moliere. If you want to listen in to the read along of this play, you can view replays on the readings on the House of Humane Letters YouTube channel. Angelina and Thomas start off the conversation on the play reviewing the idea of enchantment and the classical structural elements of this play as suggested by Aristotle. We finally meet Tartuffe himself, and Angelina and Thomas both cringe and laugh at his over-the-top antics. Check out the schedule for the podcast's summer episodes on our Upcoming Events page. In June Mr. Banks will be teaching a 5-day class on St. Augustine, and in July Dr. Jason Baxter will be teaching a class on Dostoevsky. Angelina will also be teaching a class on Harry Potter in August! Also, don't miss the launch the HHL publishing wing, Cassiodorus Press! Sign up for the newsletter at HouseofHumaneLetters.comto stay in the know about all the exciting new things we have coming up! Commonplace Quotes: Moliere…reached perfection through a strange apprenticeship of vagabondage following an excellent middle-class birth among the tradesmen of Paris, imprisoned for debt, tramping the roads with the strolling players, starting his own small theater and failing, meeting men of every kind…In that knowledge he became a master. Hilaire Belloc, from Monarchy: A Study of Louis XIV A man is angry at a libel because it is false but at a satire because it is true. G. K. Chesterton Fools are my theme. Let satire be my song. Lord Byron The Burial of Moliere By Andrew Lang “Dark and amusing he is, this handsome gallant, Of chamois-polished charm, Athlete and dancer of uncommon talent— Is there cause for alarm In his smooth demeanor, the proud tilt of his chin, This cavaliere servente, this Harlequin? “Gentle and kindly this other, ardent but shy, With an intelligence Who would not glory to be guided by— And would it not make sense To trust in someone so devoted, so Worshipful as this tender, pale Pierrot? “Since both of them delight, if I must choose I win a matchless mate, But by that very winning choice I lose— I pause, I hesitate, Putting decision off,” says Columbine, “And while I hesitate, they both are mine.” Book List: An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde Don Juan by Moliere Don Juan by Lord Byron Enthusiasm by Ronald Knox Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

Today on The Literary Life Podcast, we bring you another episode in our “Best of” series in which Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks discuss the importance of reading old books. They begin the conversation by addressing head on the idea that old books are irrelevant. They touch on the fact that when we use the phrase “old books” we mean not just any piece of literature from the past, but those which have stood the test of time.  It's not too late to join us for the sixth annual Literary Life Online Conference, “Dispelling the Myth of Modernity: A Recovery of the Medieval Imagination” happening this week! During the live or later series of webinars, we will seek to dis-spell the Myth of Modernity and gain eyes to see and ears to hear Reality as it truly is. Speakers include Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, and Kelly Cumbee, in addition to Angelina and Thomas. Commonplace Quotes: So, when his Folly opens The unnecessary hells, A Servant when He Reigneth Throws the blame on some one else. Rudyard Kipling I am informed by philologists that the “rise to power” of these two words, “problem” and “solution” as the dominating terms of public debate, is an affair of the last two centuries, and especially of the nineteenth, having synchronised, so they say, with a parallel “rise to power” of the word “happiness”—for reasons which doubtless exist and would be interesting to discover. Like “happiness”, our two terms “problem” and “solution” are not to be found in the Bible—a point which gives to that wonderful literature a singular charm and cogency. . . . On the whole, the influence of these words is malign, and becomes increasingly so. They have deluded poor men with Messianic expectations . . . which are fatal to steadfast persistence in good workmanship and to well-doing in general. . . . Let the valiant citizen never be ashamed to confess that he has no “solution of the social problem” to offer to his fellow-men. Let him offer them rather the service of his skill, his vigilance, his fortitude and his probity. For the matter in question is not, primarily, a “problem”, nor the answer to it a “solution”. L. P. Jacks, Stevenson Lectures  Most of all, perhaps, we need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about it, but because we cannot study the future, and yet need something to set against the present, to remind us that the basic assumptions have been quite different in different periods and that much which seems certain to the uneducated is merely temporary fashion. A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village; the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age. C. S. Lewis To Walter de la Mare  by T. S. Elliot The children who explored the brook and found A desert island with a sandy cove (A hiding place, but very dangerous ground, For here the water buffalo may rove, The kinkajou, the mungabey, abound In the dark jungle of a mango grove, And shadowy lemurs glide from tree to tree – The guardians of some long-lost treasure-trove) Recount their exploits at the nursery tea And when the lamps are lit and curtains drawn Demand some poetry, please. Whose shall it be, At not quite time for bed?… Or when the lawn  Is pressed by unseen feet, and ghosts return Gently at twilight, gently go at dawn, The sad intangible who grieve and yearn; When the familiar is suddenly strange Or the well known is what we yet have to learn, And two worlds meet, and intersect, and change; When cats are maddened in the moonlight dance, Dogs cower, flitter bats, and owls range At witches' sabbath of the maiden aunts; When the nocturnal traveller can arouse No sleeper by his call; or when by chance An empty face peers from an empty house; By whom, and by what means, was this designed? The whispered incantation which allows Free passage to the phantoms of the mind? By you; by those deceptive cadences Wherewith the common measure is refined; By conscious art practised with natural ease; By the delicate, invisible web you wove – The inexplicable mystery of sound. Book List: The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L. Sayers The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis The Giver by Lois Lowry The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CindyRollinsWriter. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

This week on The Literary Life, our hosts talk about their favorite poems and poets. Cindy starts off by sharing the early influences on her developing a love of poetry. Thomas also shares about his mother reading poetry to him as a child and the poetry that made an impression on him as a child. Angelina talks about coming to poetry later in life and how she finally came to love it through learning about the metaphysical poets. Cindy and Thomas talk about the powerful effect of reading and reciting poetry in meter. Thomas also brings up the potential of hymn texts as beautiful, high-ranking poetry. From classic to modern, they share many poems and passages from their most beloved poetry, making this a soothing, lyrical episode. If you want to learn more, check out Thomas' webinar How to Love Poetry. We hope you will join us for the sixth annual Literary Life Online Conference, “Dispelling the Myth of Modernity: A Recovery of the Medieval Imagination.” You can visit the HHL Facebook page or Instagram to find the post to share and enter our giveaway for a $20 discount code! During the live or later series of webinars, we will seek to dis-spell the Myth of Modernity and gain eyes to see and ears to hear Reality as it truly is. Speakers include Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, and Kelly Cumbee, in addition to Angelina and Thomas. Commonplace Quotes: The knowledge-as-information vision is actually defective and damaging. It distorts reality and humanness, and it gets in the way of good knowing. Esther Lightcap Meek Perhaps it would be a good idea for public statues to be made with disposable heads that can be changed with popular fashion. But even better would surely be to make statues without any heads at all, representing simply the “idea” of a good politician. Auberon Waugh When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax a little and use more normal means of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock–to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you use large and startling figures. Flannery O'Connor Reading in War Time by Edwin Muir Boswell by my bed, Tolstoy on my table; Thought the world has bled For four and a half years, And wives' and mothers' tears Collected would be able To water a little field Untouched by anger and blood, A penitential yield Somewhere in the world; Though in each latitude Armies like forest fall, The iniquitous and the good Head over heels hurled, And confusion over all: Boswell's turbulent friend And his deafening verbal strife, Ivan Ilych's death Tell me more about life, The meaning and the end Of our familiar breath, Both being personal, Than all the carnage can, Retrieve the shape of man, Lost and anonymous, Tell me wherever I look That not one soul can die Of this or any clan Who is not one of us And has a personal tie Perhaps to someone now Searching an ancient book, Folk-tale or country song In many and many a tongue, To find the original face, The individual soul, The eye, the lip, the brow For ever gone from their place, And gather an image whole. Book List: A Little Manual for Knowing by Esther Lightcap Meek The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake The Book of Virtues by William Bennett Cautionary Tales for Children by Hilaire Belloc When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne Now We are Six by A. A. Milne Emma by Jane Austen Oxford Book of English Verse ed. by Arthur Quiller-Couch Immortal Poems of the English Language ed. by Oscar Williams Motherland by Sally Thomas Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CindyRollinsWriter. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

In anticipation of our upcoming sixth annual Literary Life Online Conference, “Dispelling the Myth of Modernity: A Recovery of the Medieval Imagination,” this week we are re-airing a previous episode with Jason Baxter, our conference's special keynote speaker. Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks sit down for a special conversation with Jason Baxter, author of The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis. Jason is a speaker, writer, and college professor who writes primarily on medieval thought and is especially interested in Lewis' ideas. You can find out more about him and his books at JasonMBaxter.com. Our hosts and Jason discuss a wide range of ideas, including the values of literature, the sacramental view of reality, why it is important to understand medieval thought, the “problem” of paganism in Lewis' writings, and how to approach reading ancient and medieval literature. Commonplace Quotes: My part has been merely that of Walter Scott's Old Mortality, who busied himself in clearing the moss, and bringing back to light the words, on the gravestones of the dead who seemed to him to have served humanity. This needs to be done and redone, generation after generation, in a world where there persists always a strong tendency to read newer writers, not because they are better, but because they are newer. The moss grows fast, and ceaselessly. F. L. Lucas It is the memory of time that makes us old; remembering eternity makes us young again. Statford Caldecott It is my settled conviction that in order to read old Western literature aright, you must suspend most of the responses and unlearn most of the habits you have acquired in reading modern literature. C. S. Lewis, from “De Descriptione Temporum” What then is the good of–what is even the defense for–occupying our hearts with stories of what never happened and entering vicariously into feeling which we should try to avoid in our own person?…The nearest I have yet got to an answer is that we seek an enlargement of our being. We want to be more than ourselves…[In] reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do. C. S. Lewis Victory by C. S. Lewis Roland is dead, Cuchulain's crest is low, The battered war-rear wastes and turns to rust, And Helen's eyes and Iseult's lips are dust And dust the shoulders and the breasts of snow. The faerie people from our woods are gone, No Dryads have I found in all our trees, No Triton blows his horn about our seas And Arthur sleeps far hence in Avalon. The ancient songs they wither as the grass And waste as doth a garment waxen old, All poets have been fools who thought to mould A monument more durable than brass. For these decay: but not for that decays The yearning, high, rebellious spirit of man That never rested yet since life began From striving with red Nature and her ways. Now in the filth of war, the baresark shout Of battle, it is vexed. And yet so oft Out of the deeps, of old, it rose aloft That they who watch the ages may not doubt. Though often bruised, oft broken by the rod, Yet, like the phoenix, from each fiery bed Higher the stricken spirit lifts its head And higher-till the beast become a god. Book List: Beauty in the Word by Stratford Caldecott An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis The Art of Living: Four Eighteenth Century Minds by F. L. Lucas Transposition by C. S. Lewis The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis Til We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis The Divine Comedy by Dante Nicholas of Cusa The Life of St. Francis of Assisi by St. Bonaventure The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius Confessions by St. Augustine Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

Today on The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks are joined by Atlee Northmore to explore the various screen adaptations based on Howards End by E. M. Forster. They begin the discussion with the question of what is the good of translating one art form, in this case a book, into another art form, such as a screen play. They talk about the beauty of the Merchant Ivory film adaptation, while critiquing the casting and chemistry of the cast, sharing their favorite and least favorite scenes. In contrast, they praise the BBC-Starz series for its excellent adaptation, although it missed some important things that the 1992 film did include. Atlee also highlights some of the ways in which the screen adaptations serve as subtle visual cues for ideas from the story. In the end, Angelina, Thomas, and Atlee share thoughts on enjoying a film as a stand-alone work of art versus judging it as an adaptation of a novel. There are still spots open in many of the classes at House of Humane Letters, so if you or your student are interested in taking something, head over to houseofhumaneletters.com to register today! We hope you will join us for the sixth annual Literary Life Online Conference, “Dispelling the Myth of Modernity: A Recovery of the Medieval Imagination.” You can visit the HHL Facebook page or Instagram to find the post to share and enter our giveaway for a $20 discount code! During the live or later series of webinars, we will seek to dis-spell the Myth of Modernity and gain eyes to see and ears to hear Reality as it truly is. Speakers include Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, and Kelly Cumbee, in addition to Angelina and Thomas. Commonplace Quotes: Every poet, in his kind, is bit by him that comes behind. Jonathan Swift, from “Critics” Narrative prose, especially the novel, has taken, in modern societies, the place occupied by the recitation of myths and fairy tales in traditional and popular societies. Furthermore, the ‘mythic' structure of certain modern novels can be discerned, demonstrating the literary survival of major mythological themes and characters. Mircea Eliade Now, doesn't it seem absurd to you? What is the good of the ear if it tells you the same as the eye? Helen's one aim is to translate tunes into the language of painting and pictures into the language of music. It's very ingenious, and she says several pretty things in the process, but what's gained, I'd like to know? E. M. Forster, from Howards End Cargoes By John Masefield Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir, Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine, With a cargo of ivory, And apes and peacocks, Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine. Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus, Dipping through the tropics by the palm-green shores, With a cargo of diamonds, Emeralds, amythysts, Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores. Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack, Butting through the channel in the mad March days, With a cargo of Tyne coal, Road-rails, pig-lead, Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays. Book and Link List: From Pharos from Pharillon by E. M. Forster Howards End (1992) Howards End (BBC-Starz) Howards End Episode 1 The Remains of the Day The English Patient Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

Welcome to The Literary Life Podcast and the final episode in our our series on Howards End by E. M. Forster. Today Angelina and Thomas seek to sum up the book and wrap up their thoughts on the way Forster weaves this story. The open with some comments on the almost allegorical nature of Howards End, then talk about the words “only connect” and their meaning in the context of the book. They discuss the problem of Helen and Leonard's relationship and the romance of pity. Other topics of the conversation are the crisis point between Mr. Wilcox and Margaret, the contrast between Charles and Tibby, the fate of Leonard Bast, and the future of Howards End. We hope you will join us for the sixth annual Literary Life Online Conference, “Dispelling the Myth of Modernity: A Recovery of the Medieval Imagination.” During the live or later series of webinars, we will seek to dis-spell the Myth of Modernity and gain eyes to see and ears to hear Reality as it truly is. Speakers include Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, and Kelly Cumbee, in addition to Angelina and Thomas. Commonplace Quotes: Life without dragons would be tame indeed. Desmond MacCarthy, “The Poetry of Chesterton” Howards End is a novel of extraordinary ambition and wide scope. Written in prose with the texture of restrained poetry, it is consummately controlled and sure of purpose. It is Forster's most complexly orchestrated work to its date, and it smoothly manipulates imagery and symbolism, plot and character, into an organic whole. In so doing, it gracefully integrates social comedy, metaphysical explorations, and political concerns. Howards End tests Forster's liberal humanism, finds it wanting, and proposes a marriage of liberal values to conservative tradition. Without destroying the practical contributions of progressivism, it forcefully attacks the mindless materialism that yields rootlessness and spiritual poverty. Claude J. Summers, from E. M. Forster Finis By Marjorie Pickthall Give me a few more hours to pass With the mellow flower of the elm-bough falling, And then no more than the lonely grass And the birds calling. Give me a few more days to keep With a little love and a little sorrow, And then the dawn in the skies of sleep And a clear to-morrow. Give me a few more years to fill With a little work and a little lending, And then the night on a starry hill And the road's ending. Book List: Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB