In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss our thought-tormented age, early 20th century Irish politics, the polarizing Modernist legacy of James Joyce, the magic of Thin Places, the tension between a blaze of passion and a life of long fidelity, and whether or not it’s ok to bake a little baby Jesus into your King Cake for this year’s Epiphany Feast.

Mentioned in this episode:

In this special Yuletide episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the supremacy of It’s a Wonderful Life, the clash of Two Kingdoms, Dickens’s delight in language, the role of repentance & remembrance in true conversion, the call for a renaissance in heartfelt sentiment, and the coziness of mulled wine.

Mentioned in this episode:

Join us next episode where we will discuss the short story The Dead by James Joyce.

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the difficulty of the short story form, O’Connor’s punishment of hypocrites & use of the grotesque, Nietzsche’s view of monsters, the dreadful irony of grace, and gas-station snacks.

What we’re reading:

• The Cross of Christ by John Stott

Next episode we will be discussing A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. We hope you join us! 

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this special Halloween episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss their favorite spooky stories, Bradbury’s polarizing prose, the struggle with time & mortality, evil’s inexplicable mystery, and the importance of avoiding carnivals.

Scary Story Picks:

• The Bear & the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Other Mentions:

• John Mark McMillan - “God is Young”

Next episode we will be discussing A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. We hope you join us! 

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the complex & bittersweet relationship with Home, the pronunciation of “Kunstlerroman,” getting to know your neighbors, the line between poetry & prose, Mexican street food, and whether this book is technically even a novel.

What we’re reading:

• Trust by Hernan Diaz

• 100 Poems by Seamus Heaney

• The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Other Mentions:

• The Iowa Writer’s Workshop (MFA program)

Next episode we will be discussing Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. We hope you join us! 

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan acknowledge their limited perspective; they also discuss the slow & frustrating work of justice, the effects of dehumanization, Gaines’s use of seemingly futile repetition, and the power of southern comfort food.

What we’re reading:

• A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

Next episode we will be discussing The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. We hope you join us! 

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this debut episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss homesickness, pretentious German words, Lewis’s profound love of horses, the “around the corner” feeling, cockney accents, and the absurdity of adulthood.

What we’re reading:

• The Need to be Whole by Wendell Berry

• A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

Other Mentions:

• The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

• “Sehnsucht”

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra