Risking Enchantment

“The glory of colour, which was his chief gift, is a strange blend of dark beauty and almost spectral luminosity.” - A.Kelly   In this episode Rachel and Phoebe put a spotlight on one of Ireland’s great artists: Harry Clarke. Famed for his stained glass art, Clarke’s work can be found in churches throughout Ireland, exhibiting his astounding use of colour and his distinctive figurative style. We d...

"I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King In this episode, Jacob Moran returns to join me on a dive back into Middle-Earth, this time to explore the character of Frodo Baggins. Even among fans of The Lord of t...

"I was feeling like I never was young Followed a dream and a strange desire You picked me up in the dead of the night And gave me a chance to move on inside of your mystery" - You're Still a Mystery, Bleachers   In this February episode of Risking Enchantment, Matthias Conroy joins after a five year absence to talk about one of our favourite bands and albums, Strange Desire by Bleachers. Bleachers...

"[T]he life and work of the Forerunner, especially as presented in the gospel of John, greatly illuminates the poetic character of Christian life—indeed of all life" - Dwight Lindley, "The Poetics of John the Baptist"   Risking Enchantment is back for 2025 and for our first episode of the year we’re taking a look at St. John the Baptist. We discuss a fictionalised depiction of his imprisonment by...

"I can imagine that if there existed a God who loved, the devil would be driven to destroy even the weakest, most faulty imitation of that love. Wouldn’t he be afraid that the habit of love might grow, and wouldn’t he try to trap us all into being traitors, into helping him extinguish love." - Graham Greene   This episode of Risking Enchantment features a recording of paper given by Rachel Sherloc...

“I am not a reformer nor an embalmer! I am not a ‘reformer’ (by exercise of power) since it seems doomed to Sarumanism. But ‘embalming’ has its own punishments.” -J.R.R. Tolkien   For this episode we are delighted to be joined by Dr. Holly Ordway, Fellow of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute. We discuss her recent title, Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography, which traces Tolkien’s e...

“I'm capable of a great jerk, an effort, and then a relaxation—but steady, every-day goodness is beyond me. I must be a moral kangaroo!” -Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell   In our final episode before the summer break, Phoebe and Rachel are joined by their good friend, and long-time Risking Enchantment listener, Jacob Moran, to discuss his favourite novel: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth...

“Joyful singing and music is likewise a constant invitation to believers and to all people of good will to work hard to give humanity a future rich in hope.” -Pope Benedict XVI   In this episode we are joined by Katie Marquette, host of the Born of Wonder podcast. We discuss our love of music, what can learn about the human desire to write new songs about our common experiences, and how participat...

"We are watchful for works written in a contemporary idiom that yet reach the roots of fundamental questions, that honor the almost three-thousand-year-long conversations committed to these questions, and that incite our hunger for the splendor of truth." Masthead for Wiseblood Books We are delighted to welcome to the podcast Mary Finnegan, deputy editor at Wiseblood Books, a small Catholic press...

“What does the Lord want of me?  Of course, this is always a great adventure, but life can be successful only if we have the courage to be adventurous, trusting that the Lord will never leave me alone, that the Lord will go with me and help me.”     – Pope Benedict XVI For this episode of Risking Enchantment, Rachel and Phoebe discuss Arthur Ransome’s series of children’s books known as the Swallo...

“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”   David Copperfield, Charles Dickens   We are joined for this episode of Risking Enchantment by Catholic author Eleanor Bourg Nicholson. Eleanor has previously published several Gothic novels including, A Bloody Habit (2018) and Brother Wolf (2021), with her latest...

But if there’s nothing, if there’s nothing Then what’s that song that keeps hounding me? In the still dark of the morning Just one more cradle down the creek Au revoir my little memories Then tell me: this is not your loss, this is your offering - Wake, 'Offerings' In this episode we are joined again by Shane Jenkins to discuss the album Offerings by Typhoon. Led by singer-songwriter Kyle Morton,...

Welcome back to Risking Enchantment! For our first episode of 2024, Rachel and Phoebe discuss the place that poetry has in our everyday lives, its importance in our faith, and why it’s good to learn poetry by heart. We highlight some of the poems that have been most impactful in our lives and spotlight some of the great resources for Catholics interested in poetry today.   Click here for more info...

  "It is emptiness like the hollow in the reed, the narrow restless emptiness which can have only one destiny: to receive the piper’s breath and to utter the song that is in his heart." - Caryll Houselander In our Christmas episode of Risking Enchantment, we are looking at a seasonal devotional classic, Caryll Houselander’s The Reed of God. This small book packs a powerful punch in its meditations...

After an unexpected hiatus, Risking Enchantment is back. In this episode we’re taking a look at some classic family movies and what they can tell us about our attitudes towards growing up, and our modern tendency to stay in a perpetual adolescence. We’re looking at the kingdom of Vulgaria in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where children are illegal but the toy maker is in high demand from the Baron and...

“Fiction is hard if not impossible to write because fiction is so very much an incarnation art…The fact is that the materials of the fiction are the humblest. Fiction is about everything human and we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn’t try to write fiction. It’s not a grand enough job for you.” - Flannery O’Connor In this episode we are joined by Shane...

“The perfect stillness of the night was thrilled by a more solemn silence. The darkness held a presence that was all the more felt because it was not seen. I could not any more have doubted that He was there than that I was. Indeed, I felt myself to be, if possible, the less real of the two.” —William James In this episode of Risking Enchantment, we are delighted to welcome back Katie Marquette, h...

"The man on his holiday becomes the man he might have been, the man he could have been, had things worked out a little differently. All men are equal on their holidays: all are free to dream their castles without thought of expense, or skill of architect. Dreams based upon such a delicate fabric must be nursed with reverence and held away from the crude light of tomorrow week." - R.C. Sherriff   F...

"First become a person" - St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross This bonus episode is the recording of a talk I gave over this summer for the Youth 2000 summer festival on Catholic womanhood. The slides discussed in the talk can be found by clicking the following link: Presentation Slides To find out more about Youth 2000 Ireland and their mission click here: Youth 2000   Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin M...

“Healing is impossible in loneliness; it is the opposite of loneliness. Conviviality is healing. To be healed we must come with all the other creatures to the feast of Creation.” - Wendell Berry   In this, our last episode before the summer break, Phoebe is back to discuss some of our favourite children’s literature. We explore the theme of health and healing, in Goodnight Mr. Tom and The Secret G...

“My films show the world’s beauty. Beauty otherwise unnoticed.” - Hayao Miyazaki   In this episode of Risking Enchantment I'm joined by animator Robyn Conroy to discuss the highly acclaimed Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation company whose films offer a deep sense of the goodness of life and the beauty of nature. Studio Ghibli is cornerstone of Japanese entertainment culture, and has reached a glo...

Apologies for re-releasing this old episode, there was a technical issue which needed to be resolved. New episode of Risking Enchantment coming soon. Thank you for your patience!   “You may learn something, and whether what you see be fair or evil, that may be profitable, and yet it may not. Seeing is both good and perilous.”   The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien   In this episode of Risk...

“Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life. You don't have to live forever. You just have to live.” - Tuck Everlasting   In this episode, Rachel and Phoebe explore a variety of stories that explore the desire for immortality, and the challenge of embracing the reality of death. Beginning from perhaps a surprising starting point, the teen fantasy film Tuck Everlasting, we move into the depicti...

‘Out of the east came the Magi bearing gifts, hastening in their journey to the Christ child; but now Irish scholars arrive from western lands, bringing their precious gifts of learning’. - Sedulius Scottus As we’re approaching the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, we’re turning our focus to the patron saints of Ireland, St. Patrick and St Brigid. Greg Daly joins us to discuss the modern conceptio...

“[H]ope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies” The Shawshank Redemption In this episode of Risking Enchantment, Rachel and Phoebe discuss one of the most highly acclaimed and best beloved films of all time, The Shawshank Redemption. Released in 1994, it slowly grew to prominence, now dominating the top rank on lists of best movies. What draws audiences to this stor...