The Inklings Variety Hour

Another episode from the vaults. Here's the original episode description: 

Recovered from the deeps of time...

It's been too long since we've done podcasts on Tolkien.

I thought I'd record a fairly off-the-cuff episode on Hobbit birthdays in light of Bilbo's and Frodo's shared birthday, September 22.

I'm reading part of Tolkien's Letter 214, which is in response to A.C. Nunn (and never sent), who points out the discrepancy between Gollum expecting a birthday present and Hobbits giving presents on their birthdays. 

The letter is much longer than this (and, quite characteristically, apparently not sent). 

If you want to read more of Tolkien's response, as well as his letters in general, grab a copy of Tolkien's Collected Letters.

Blast from the Icy past!

Original shownotes:

The third and final installment of our conversation on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe enters some interesting territory as Chris, Anika, and Meagan explore Lewis's (inadvertent?) use of Aslan-as-Trickster imagery, proper Narnian politics, and kangaroos. Also witness the precise moment in which the trio realizes that Lewis may have ruined their childhoods.

Works referenced include:

• A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis

Outro poetry sample: "On the Circuit" by W. H. Auden

Email the show! [email protected]

Don W. King joins Chris to talk about Ruth Pitter's Perelandra Spenserian Stanzas!

More episode description to come!

Another nostalgic Saturday rerun episode!

Original shownotes: 

Return to Narnia for the second part of our (three-part) discussion on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Find out the intrepid trio's thoughts on such questions as:

• Why shouldn't we be too hard on Edmund?

Works referenced include:

• Planet Narnia by Michael Ward

As always, the outro poetry sample is from W. H. Auden's "On the Circuit".

Write to us at [email protected]!

Along the way, we discuss other things as well, which I don't have time to mention here.  But you'll like it.  I promise.

Find out more about Sori's class here: ONLINE CLASS: The Architecture of a Short Story | The Oddest Inkling (wordpress.com)

Thought I'd rerun some of these old episodes on Saturdays. Enjoy!

Original shownotes:

Chris, Anika, and Meagan introduce themselves and the podcast before promptly stepping through that magical wardrobe in the first (yes, first) of C. S. Lewis's Narnia chronicles. Why are robins trustworthy? Was Lewis wrong about his preferred reading order for the Narnia books? Will the hosts be able to overcome initial podcast jitters?

Works discussed include:

• The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis

This is the first podcast any of us have done, so if you want to see more of this sort of thing, we’d love five-star reviews with suggestions for improvement!  Or feel free to email us at [email protected].  Tune in next week for Part 2 of our discussion of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.  And bring your coats.  It’s not stealing.

Well, the glass coffin spaceship is sitting there in front of him, giving him that look, but Chris isn't ready to leave Perelandra just yet.

In this episode, he ropes Christiana Hale, author of Deeper Heaven: A Reader's Guide to C.S. Lewis' Ransom Trilogy, into coming on the show to discuss contemplation, enjoyment, poetry, literary allusions, myth, and the figure of Ransom as Martial prophet.

Her book is as interesting and edifying as it is clear and accessible--but don't take my word for it. (And by that I mean, get it for yourself.)

In two weeks, the Perelandra extravaganza continues as Chris welcomes Don W. King back on the show to discuss the cycle of Spenserian poems Ruth Pitter wrote about Perelandra.

Again, I can only really afford to put these out every two weeks. This might change if I pick up a larger audience, so please do recommend the show to your friends and leave five-star reviews, for (Deep) Heaven's sake.

See you all next time, and as always, feel free to email me at [email protected].  

Thanks to all who have left reviews and feedback! Due to a very busy schedule (with school starting, etc.), I can no longer afford to edit/publish this podcast more than twice a month. 

This may change if we pick up more listeners, so keep the positive reviews coming and share with your friends! 

Charlie Carter (Thinklings Podcast) and Joseph Weigel (Men with Chests Podcast) join Chris to talk about the conclusion of Perelandra! Among other things, they discuss:

• The "three tracks" of a Lewis novel

Besides the usual Descript audio, I've included Faure's In Paradisum Requiem

Next time (in two weeks), we'll continue talking about Perelandra with scholar Christiana Hale, whose Deeper Heaven I highly recommend.

Thanks, as always, for listening, and please do drop me a line at [email protected].