"We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to." Dr. Jerry Root, scholar and close friend of the podcast, is back again for our second installment of "Love, Pain, and Grief." This week hosts Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Dr. Root and and Producer Aaron Hill explore The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis. Because all humans wrestle with questions about human and animal pain, suffering, evil, natural disasters, hell, heaven, and the nature of God, Lewis's immensely profound and quotable book will resonate with atheists, agnostics, and even exvangelicals deconstructing their faith.

Over the course of his life, C.S. Lewis wrote several books addressing the most complex and universal human experiences—love, pain, and grief. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with scholar and close friend of the podcast, Dr. Jerry Root, to discuss The Four Loves (1960) by C.S. Lewis. How does Lewis define philia, storge, eros, and agape? Are his definitions accurate? What is the difference between Gift-love and Need-love? Is Need-love bad? How can love be corrupted? Do earthly loves distract from love for God?

Is the Incarnation, like other miracles, a suspension or a reversal of the natural universe? Or, as Lewis writes in "The Grand Miracle," is it "the central chapter" of history such that "every miracle exhibits the character of the Incarnation"? Join Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing as they sit down with Producer Aaron Hill on this special Christmas Day episode to discuss the Incarnation of Jesus Christ; specifically, how it impacted C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, George MacDonald, and the other Wade authors, and how each of them celebrated the Grand Miracle in their writings.

Before Sam can declare "I'm back" at the end of Book VI, Frodo must destroy the ring and Aragorn must be enthroned. But nailing down the climax of The Return of the King proved challenging for J.R.R. Tolkien. How do you destroy the ring and resolve such an epic adventure that took eleven years to compose? In the sixth and final installment of the Into The Lord of the Rings series, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron M. Hill, discuss the many partings of The Nine Walkers and various ways in which hope, in the end, returns to our hero and the beauty of Middle-earth prevails against Sauron's forsaken land.

In the opening of Book V of The Return of the King, Beregond gazes out over Pellenor, realizing that soon, "all realms shall be put to the test, to stand, or fall—under the Shadow." In this fifth installment of our series on The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron M. Hill, explore how each of Tolkien's characters respond to this great test. Will Théoden, Éomer, Éowyn, Denethor, Aragorn, Faramir, Pippin, and Merry be pulled down by the "ever-deepening gloom," will they use others as pawns to accomplish their ends, or will they ride gloriously into battle to face fate with humility and grace?

In a 1944 letter to his son, J.R.R. Tolkien shared his surprise at the sudden entrance of Faramir: "I am sure I did not invent him, I did not even want him, though I like him, but there he came walking into the woods of Ithilien." In part four of the Wade Center Podcast's series on The Lord of the Rings, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron M. Hill, uncover numerous allusions, motifs, and deeper meanings as they retrace the lonely and tragic steps of two little hobbits, Frodo and Samwise Gamgee, and their slippery guide, Gollum (or Smeagol) in The Two Towers.

In the first half of The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien the Company of the Ring scrambles to interpret strange signs as legends, such as the Ents, stride "on the green earth in the daylight." In part three of our series on The Lord of the Rings, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing unpack the allusions, symbolism, deeper meaning, and significance found in Book III, as well as the story behind new characters such as Treebeard, Grima Wormtongue, Eowyn, Theoden, Eomer, Quickbeam, and Gandalf the White.

In this second installment of the Wade Center Podcast's six-part series on The Lord of the Rings, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron M. Hill, dare to delve too deep into the darkening world that is Book II. Follow along as Crystal, Aaron, and David deem the doom of Sauron's ring and discuss the themes, character development, and consequential chapters of the latter half of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy, The Fellowship of the Ring.

The Wade Center Podcast's six-part, in-depth exploration of The Lord of the Rings has arrived precisely when it was meant to—just in time for Tolkien Week and Hobbit Day! In this first installment, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron M. Hill, discuss many of the major themes, characters, and opening chapters of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel about Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, and the Company on Nine's legendary quest through Middle-earth to destroy the Ring of Power.

During his labor to create The Lord of the Rings, an allegorical and autobiographical story came to J.R.R. Tolkien "like a dream." Some have described this short story, titled Leaf by Niggle (1945), as the "the hidden nucleus of Tolkien's work." As the Wade Center Podcast prepares to kick off a six-part, in-depth series on The Lord of the Rings, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing, along with Producer Aaron Hill, sit down to discuss Tolkien's strange, convicting, and revealing tale about a little man named Niggle who cannot stop painting and obsessing over the budding leaves of his ever-growing tree.