Chris is joined by Cassandra Nelson, an affiliate fellow in literature at the Lumen Center in Madison, Wisconsin, an associate fellow at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, and the author of A Theology of Fiction (Wiseblood Books, 2025). They discuss the life and thought of Sr. Mariella Gable, a Benedictine nun who had an under-appreciated influence on Catholic literary fiction during the 20th century. They also talk about the relationship between theology and literature, the work of Betty Wahl and J.F. Powers, and more. Show notes:

• • Cassandra’s new book, A Theology of Fiction, and the 2022 First Things essay on which it is based
  • Sr. Mariella Gable’s anthologies of Catholic fiction
  • J.F. Powers’s collected short stories
  • The Lumen Center’s website
  • Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read) 

Time stamps:
2:56     Sr. Mariella Gable’s conception of Catholic fiction
23:20   Sr. Mariella’s controversies and influence
29:31   A theology of comedy
35:15   Betty Wahl and J.F. Powers
45:20   Reading as a spiritual practice and the moral dimension of fiction
56:55   Cassandra’s recommendations
 
This episode is brought to you by Root & Branch, the only bed linens designed especially for guest rooms.
 
Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.
 
Produced by Sean Doolan and Otis Wilbury.

Chris is joined by his AEI colleague Thomas Chatterton Williams, whose latest book Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse was published earlier this month. The two discuss Thomas’s analysis of the events and ideas that led to the protests, riots, and all-around madness of the summer of 2020; cancel culture and the importance of free expression; the concept of race and its relation to cultural heritage; and more.
 
Show notes:

• Thomas’s new book, Summer of Our Discontent
• The Harper’s Letter
• Thomas’s previous book, Self-Portrait in Black and White
• Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read)

 
Time stamps:
2:36     Reflecting on the summer of 2020
6:13     The promises and shortcomings of the Obama era
14:32   The “Great Awokening” and the rise of Trump
21:07   Cancel culture and the cult of anti-racism
36:35   The Harper’s Letter and the fight for free expression
42:47   Post-racialism and cultural heritage
50:22   From January 6 to October 7
56:09   Charting a path forward
 
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Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.
 
Produced by Sean Doolan.

Chris is joined by Jennifer Frey, professor of philosophy in the department of philosophy & religion at The University of Tulsa, and former Dean of the Honors College at TU. They discuss the university’s recent decision to eliminate her position as dean and restructure the Honors College, the power dynamics at play within university governance, and the value of liberal education more broadly.

 
·         Jennifer’s X thread announcing her departure as Dean
·         Jennifer’s New York Times essay recounting her experience
·         Lee Trepanier’s response to Jennifer’s essay
·         Stanley Fish’s essay in The Lamp, and Jennifer’s response to it
 

Time stamps:
1:12           Jennifer’s introduction and professional background
4:52           Jennifer’s success with the University of Tulsa’s Honors College
20:11         Why TU’s administration killed the Honors College
25:24         Structural shortcomings of university governance
35:29         Liberal education and the datafication of the university
43:07         Higher education as the pursuit of wisdom

 
Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Chris talks to Ronnie A. Grinberg, associate professor of history at the University of Oklahoma, about the anti-communist Jewish intellectuals who helped shape post-war American culture and politics. How did this remarkable group of writers—which included such prominent figures as Lionel Trilling, Diana Trilling, Irving Howe, Midge Decter, and Norman Podhoretz—take shape? What were their various opinions about topics like communism, feminism, and masculinity? How do their ideas continue to inform our political and cultural discourse?
 
Find out more about Ronnie’s new book, Write Like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals, here.
 
This episode is brought to you by 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read)

Ross Benes, author of 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times, joins Chris to explain how professional wrestling, video games, a face-painted hip-hop duo, and other low culture from 26 years ago can help us understand where we are today. 
 
Show Notes:
·         Ross’s website: https://www.rossbenes.com/
·         Ross on X: https://x.com/rossbenes?lang=en
·         Chris’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Novels-Conservatives-Will-Probably-Havent/dp/1510782397

In this special episode, the poet and critic Dana Gioia delivers a talk titled “Conservatives and Culture: A Failure of Imagination.” Recorded as a part of AEI’s American Dream Lecture Series, Gioia’s talk is an important assessment of why the right abdicated the arts, the disastrous consequences of that withdrawal—and how conservatives can reclaim the relevance they once had in American culture. “Conservatives need to have the skill and courage to live by their own values,” Gioia says. “It’s time for us to dare to say yes.” After his talk, Dana joined Chris for a conversation to dig deeper into the topic and fielded questions from the audience at AEI. Don’t miss it!

Show Notes:
·          Video of the event
·          Dana Gioia’s website
·          Chris’s review of Dana’s poetry collection, Meet Me at the Lighthouse
·          Oh, and Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read)!

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Chris introduces his brand-new book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read). Why should conservatives—or anyone—bother reading fiction? How did Chris select the novels to write about? And which ones did he choose, anyway? The answers to these questions, and many others, are finally revealed!
 
Show Notes:
Chris in The Dispatch: “Why Conservatives—and Everyone Else—Should Read Novels”
Chris in The Washington Examiner: “Zora Neale Hurston and the Fate of the Black Conservative”
The Ricochet boys talk to Chris about the book: “A Novel Approach”
 
Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Best-selling author Rod Dreher talks to Chris about his latest book, Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age. Rod explains why we’ve lost the ability to see the transcendent around us and how we can rediscover enchantment. What do UFO’s, demons, and beauty have to do with this? Listen and find out!Show Notes:

• Rod’s new book: Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age
• Rod’s Substack, Rod Dreher’s Diary
• Documentary version of Live Not By Lies on Angel.com
• Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), available to order now!
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Hymn before Sun-rise, in the Vale of Chamouni”; Percy Shelley, “Mont Blanc: Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni”

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Chris’s brother, Father Paul Scalia, joins the show to discuss the significance of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter, and how Catholics in particular celebrate this most important (and for priests, most exhausting) week in the liturgical calendar. Father Scalia also recounts his road to the priesthood, shares his favorite Christian apologists and novelists, and discusses the state of the Catholic Church in America.

Show Notes:
· Father Scalia’s books: That Nothing May be Lost: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion; Sermons in Times of Crisis: Twelve Homilies to Stir Your Soul (editor)
· Father Scalia at The Catholic Thing
· Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), available to order now!

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Chris talks to Fisher Derderian, founder and executive director of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, about how politics and patronage shape American art. How did the CIA use abstract expressionism as a cultural weapon during the Cold War? How have culture-shaping institutions and public funds moved from supporting artistic greatness to enforcing political compliance? How can more supporters of cultural excellence reform existing institutions—and create their own? Plus, Fisher shares his thoughts about the great Sir Roger Scruton.

Show Notes:
· Fisher’s Substack, Dux Culturae
· Fisher’s non-profit, The Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation
· The art of Jacob Collins and the Grand Central Atelier
· Oh, and Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), is available to pre-order on Amazon!

This episode is brought to you by BizniCorps: navigating enterprise solutions for greater value-add! Special thanks to AEI’s Maggie Obriwin for making the last ten minutes sound less like a lo-fi indie record from the early 2000s. 

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.