SPLANCHNICS: The Society for the Preservation of Literature, the Arts, Numinosity, Culture, Humor, Nerdiness, Inspiration, Creativity & Storytelling

Clare and Hannah talk about the importance of art and creativity in our world. Stories are not “lies, breathed through silver” but are ways of conveying Truth. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links and other resources to help you find and enjoy the things we talked about on this episode! Note that some of these may include “affilia...

My dear chap, it is never a bad time to talk about Dorian Gray. He was made to be worshipped. He's a minor minor gentleman, you know. Join Clare and Hannah for their first book club episode of Season 2. Join us as we discuss Oscar Wilde, Aestheticism, Hedonism, and other vocabulary words that will make you sound really really smart! The Picture of Dorian Gray can be found at our Bookshop.org...

Clare and Hannah continue their epic journey through their 21 favorite movies. That's 21 for each of them, so according to their math skills, that's 57 movies... or thereabouts. Our movies include such famous lines as, "Do, or do not. There is no try," "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti," and "Waffles! She's frozen with fear!"  Yea...

In this first episode of our second season, we return from our holiday break to geek out about our top 21 favorite movies. We chose that number for no particular reason, obviously. We won't give away any of the movie titles, but here are some hints: a llama in a diner, Grabthar's Hammer, and the man who cried, "RIIIICK!" Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and p...

Clare and Hannah review some classic anime like Akira and Princess Mononoke , try to say "my hovercraft is full of eels" in Japanese and, as an all-powerful wizard once did, ask, "what's the point of living if I can't be beautiful?" We are certainly not experts on the subject of anime, but as always, we talk about it with great enthusiasm! Intro and outro music (“Spla...

Clare and Hannah talk about the horror genre, its influence on society, and why the genre that is often disregarded as "trash" and "pulp" is actually really important to our development as human beings. We also discuss dualism, the possibility of a haunted ball pit, and finally promote the book that Clare wrote! Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed...

Clare and Hannah take a look at some of their favorite poetry and try to analyze it together. Very wholesome. We feel smarter already. Some of the poets featured include E.E. Cummings, Dylan Thomas, and Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Vogon Galactic Constructor Fleet. Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to...

Hey, thanks for the shoutout, Loth Wolf Pack! Here's a shoutout for your shoutout: The Loth Wolf Pack is a group of content creators in the Chicago area who geek out about Star Wars Destiny on their YouTube channel. Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We pr...

Clare and Hannah visit Brideshead Revisited, our book club book for July and August. You'll laugh, you'll cry. We won't go so far as to say it'll change your life, but you'll think about it a little bit afterward. Well…it might change your life.  Warning: This episode contains excessive amounts of ridiculous British accents. Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh, is availa...

In a little sidebar during our Season 1 episode on Star Trek (Splanchnics…the Final Frontier…), Clare and Hannah talk about how delightful it is to have kids who play hide-and-seek in grocery stores. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links and other resources to help you find and enjoy the things we talked about on this episode! Note...

Clare and Hannah geek out about Star Trek: The Original Series. We reveal Mr. Spock's side hustle as an auto mechanic, discover that space hippies have had way more of an impact on our lives than we realize, and that anything can become an android if you spin it fast enough. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links and other reso...

Three generations sit down at the microphone this week. We are joined by special guest Annie Walker-Bright, Clare's mother and Hannah's "Nanny," as we call her. We talk about what it's like to be British in America, which seems to be mostly having your order misunderstood in restaurants. Our title comes from the 1988 film, A Fish Called Wanda , starring John Cleese, Jamie...

Clare and Hannah tackle another fiction genre: the suspense thriller! Clare also educates Hannah on the difference between popular fiction and literary fiction.  Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links and other resources to help you find and enjoy...

Clare and Hannah gush about Ray Bradbury's short novel, Fahrenheit 451, its relevance today, and how important it is to pass on what we have learned to future generations. "Pass on what you have learned. Strength. Mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is."  -Yoda Bradbury’s classic work of dystopian fiction is available a...

Clare and Hannah share their Top Five lists for the sci-fi genre. This could be your reading list for the year. Hannah's List: I, Robot by Isaac Asimov Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Never Let Me Go by Kasuo Ishiguro Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card Bonus extras: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M....

Clare and Hannah talk about dragon lore across civilizations. Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links and other resources to help you find and enjoy the things we talked about on this episode! Note that some of these may include “affiliate” links to...

Our next Splanchnics book club episode will be released on June 26th! Here's a hint: the book is about books. The book is about firemen.  Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links and other resources to help you find and enjoy the things we talke...

Clare and Hannah continue to geek out about C.S. Lewis' last work of fiction, and what it says about becoming our true selves. If you’d like to have your own copy of Till We Have Faces, you can find it at our Bookshop.org store , in both the Splanchnics Book Club section and the C. S. Lewis section. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We pro...

In their first Splanchnics book club episode, Clare and Hannah talk about C.S. Lewis' final work of long fiction: Till We Have Faces , a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth. If you’d like to pick up your own copy of this amazing novel, go to Clare’s Bookshop.org store . It’s in the Splanchnics Book Club section AND in the C. S. Lewis section (yes—our beloved CSL has his own section in our...

Clare and Hannah talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of book-to-movie adaptations. Clare writes about books, movies, TV shows, various and sundry nerdy things on her website, www. ClareTWalker.com . If you’d like to pick up your own copies of the books and movies mentioned in this episode, head on over to Clare’s Bookshop.org shop! Scroll around and you’ll find many of these items for a dis...

Clare and Hannah talk about dystopias in literature, cinema, and real life! Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links and other resources to help you find and enjoy the things we talked about on this episode! Note that some of these may include “affil...

Clare and Hannah continue their discussion about tabletop gaming by describing three types of gamers you may encounter out there in the wild! They also go off on a tangent about Star Wars Destiny, of course. Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links a...

Hannah has been promising herself she's going to read more since she finished college, and that hasn't happened yet! Maybe a podcast will keep her accountable and prevent her brain from growing soft and malleable... You, too, can join the quest to read more. Every month, Clare and Hannah will be reading a new book and discussing it in the final podcast of the month. We begin in May with...

Clare and Hannah went off on a tangent about bizarre moments in their respective Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. They also sing the praises of Travis Willingham. Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links and other resources to help you find and enjoy...

Clare and Hannah geek out about their favorite tabletop games, celebrate the 25th anniversary of Settlers of Catan, and reminisce about how game nights became a family tradition. Special thanks to Brian from Jank It Up Fuzzball for the merch! Intro and outro music (“Splanchnics Riff)” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker. We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message!...