Critical Readings

Released on 2 September 2019:

Having concluded Paradise Lost, the panel moves from the poetry of Milton to the opposing views of one of his contemporaries, examining John Dryden, and his panegyric Astræa Redux, written to celebrate the restoration of Charles II to the throne.

Released on 26 August 2019:

The panel concludes Paradise Lost with an examination of Adam’s hope and despair, differences between Michael and Raphael, biblical kingship, the worthy triumph of Christ, and–finally–the quality of Milton as an author and Paradise Lost as a work.

Released on 19 August 2019:

The panel tackles the difficult problems of Adam’s guilt, the nature of heavenly justice and its parallels with English Common Law, Milton’s conception of the natural order, and Adam’s acceptance of guilt and act of contrition for the sin of disobedience.

Released on 12 August 2019:

The panel discusses the ninth book of Paradise Lost, with a special focus on Milton’s depictions of gender roles, guilt and innocence, division of labour, and free will, to determine how the balance of Original Sin is divided amongst Adam and Eve.

Released on 5 August 2019:

The panel considers whether the Garden of Eden required a robust space exploration programme (yes), whether Angels are real (yes), whether human beings turn into angels when they die (no), whether Dr. Cooper is an Anglophile (no)… oh, and Milton, too!

Released on 29 July 2019:

The panel examines the moment of creation, the etymological development of atheism and chaos, divine warnings against transgressing the proper bounds of intellectual curiosity, and the potentially physical nature of Creation’s hymn of praise to its Maker.

Released on 22 July 2019:

The panel welcomes Zac Watson as special guest to discuss questions about Paradise Lost, before examining the War in Heaven, Classical cosmogeny, Satan’s parodic inventiveness, angelic biology, and an unlikely connexion to Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles.

Released on 15 July 2019:

Clinton and Dr. Cooper examine the fifth book of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, with a particular focus on Milton’s Arian Christology and whether Satan is a reactionary against a revolutionary God who is rhizomatic in the sense of Deleuze and Guattari.

Released on 8 July 2019:

The panel examines John Milton’s prosody (particularly in the light of Dr. Johnson’s comments) and reflects upon his troublesome Christology and potentially Arian leanings, before proffering the merest hint of a speculation about Milton’s Mariology.

Released on 1 July 2019:

The panel discusses the third book of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, with special attention on aspects including the ambiguously diabolical imagery of the opening, and Milton’s philosophical approaches to the problem of evil, free will, and predestination.