Magdalen College: From the Summit

In this episode, President Messmore interviews Magdalen professor Dr. Almanzar about his new book "When the Earth was Flat"–a work Anthony Esolen calls "The best book about boyhood I have ever read." The pair discuss motivations for writing, why the provocative title, personhood and originality, homeschooling in small-town USA, growing up before the internet, technology as a distraction, and so much more. Click play to enter a world of nostalgia as we reflect on a time gone by.

To order a copy of Almanzar's book, click here and contact the publisher.

Two Magdalen students join Dr. Messmore in the studio to discuss the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, G. K. Chesterton, and C. S. Lewis. Andrew Kays and Luke Sherman explore the role of Christian fiction in advancing Christ’s mission in the world. To what extent did Tolkien, Chesterton, and Lewis make use of allegory? Why did they think that fantasy helps us to rediscover the world’s beauty? How does reading myth fit a college’s mission of seeking truth? This historic episode will deepen your appreciation for the power of myth and will impress you with the quality of Magdalen’s students!

If the doctrine of the Trinity were dropped as false, how would your daily faith and life be different? In this episode, Dr. Almanzar interviews President Messmore on the College's recent consecration to the Blessed Trinity. What is a consecration, why consecrate a college to the Trinity, why is this doctrine important for understanding the nature of God as love, and what are the implications for us? These are just some of the questions addressed in this episode, which also includes a brief analysis of Rublev’s famous icon of the Trinity.

To view Dr. Messmore's address, click here.

In this episode, Anthony Esolen, Professor and Writer-in-residence at Magdalen College is interviewed by President Ryan Messmore. They discuss Dr. Esolen's recent article in The Catholic Thing about how students find freedom on our mountain home of Mt. Kearsarge, NH. What is true freedom? How is freedom related to the notion of telos or purpose? And why is it liberating for students to study works by authors who followed Christ as well as those who didn’t?

In this episode, Dr. Messmore discusses the academic mission of Magdalen College, explaining why it’s so important to see the world as being created by the Logos who is Love.

In this episode, Dr. Messmore interviews Dr. FitzGerald about his background and journey to becoming Magdalen's Academic Dean. The two discuss the recent First Things Intellectual Retreat, which is held each summer in New York City with Magdalen College faculty members leading the seminars. This year's theme was "Solidarity", and Messmore and FitzGerald revisit some of the questions and insights that stemmed from the retreat.

In this inaugural episode, Dr. Ryan Messmore sits down for an interview about relaunching the podcast and beginning a new year at Magdalen. President Messmore delivers a message of hope along with updates about many of the exciting things that are happening at the College. Stay tuned for the next episode with our academic dean, Dr. FitzGerald, and regular interviews with Dr. Anthony Esolen.

"The human things come first."  Anthony Esolen discusses his reading and teaching of Václav Havel's "Power of the Powerless" (with asides on Hannah Arendt and C.S. Lewis) and the dangers of "political knitting clubs."  He also considers the parallels between excellent brewing and excellent teaching while also noting how the Catholic faith and liberal education be taken up for ideological reasons.  Finally, he introduces and reads his dramatic-epistolary monologue "Saint Paul to Gamaliel" from his poem The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord.

Links of potential interest:

The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord

Esolen's essay "Resisting the Totalitarian Power of Politicization"

Video of Anthony Esolen's "The Boethius Option"

C.S. Lewis, "Learning in War Time"

Pope Saint John Paul II, Centesimus Annus

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago

Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts

Anthony Esolen discusses an upcoming essay in First Things on hymn texts and an article for Chronicles Magazine on fascist imagery in American federal art and sculpture.  He also considers the Vipers' Tangle by Francois Mauriac, a book he is currently teaching in his Honors Colloquium, "The Literature of Spiritual Crisis."  How might such a book shape how we see marriage and the world, directing our decisions?  Finally, he introduces and reads his surprising dramatic monologue "The Demoniac from Gadara" from his poem The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord.

Links of potential interest:

The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord

Video of Anthony Esolen's "The Boethius Option"

Riccardo Bacchelli's Lo sguardo di Gesù

Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts

Anthony Esolen discusses his recent lecture "The Boethius Option" elaborating on Boethius as a model for cultural and political engagement as well as the examples of St. Benedict and St. John Bosco.  He also takes up the critical role that imagination, literature, and song play in the formation of our character and the character of our children.  Finally, he introduces and reads a new hymn-poem "I shall arise, and seek my Father's house" (to be sung to the tune "Old 124th") from his poem “The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord.” 

Links of potential interest:

The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord

Video of Anthony Esolen's "The Boethius Option"

Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture

Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts