The Bookening

Support us here! In this episode our heroes attempt to do another fun little trial episode to close out their Harry Potter series, and somehow it turns into a weightier late night discussion. At the end, nothing is decided but everyone is still friends (spoilers). ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

We're still doing our HP books vs movies next week! Meanwhile, our heroes take on detective author Robert Galbriath aka ... J. K. Rowling, with a little help from their good pal Dani M. ( support the McNeilly ministry here so Dani can afford food for little Moses). Brandon is away buying his wife a car, but he manages to roll in at the very end to help with Donor Shout Outs. Support The Bookening...

Our heroes answer some listener mail and continue their discussion of the morality of Harry Potter. Plus our good friends Ben and Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaia help with donor shout-outs for some reason. Support us here! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode our heroes discuss the morality of the Harry Potter universe, or lack thereof?????????? Support our heroes here! ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support our heroes here! At long last, our heroes actually talk about the book series Harry Potter in their Harry Potter series. Yay! There's a lot to unpack about Potter, and our heroes do it with their customary wit and wisdom. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support us here! Should Christians read Harry Potter ? Last week, our heroes did their best to argue that no, they should not. This week they do their best to argue it's mostly fine. Will they succeed or will this series end here?????????????? ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Support The Bookening here! Should Christians read Harry Potter? Our heroes make a decent case today that they should not. But hopefully that's not the last word on the subject or we will have to cancel this series. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Yes, it's our 100th episode. Thanks to everyone who listens and everyone who supports. Couldn't do it without ya! To celebrate, our heroes are doing the most requested book (series), about the boy who lived himself, Harry Potter. Brandon gets to context in under 3 minutes, and our heroes begin what promises to be a lively discussion about all things Potter with Brandon waving his magic wand of con...

Our heroes don't have a good track record with movies. In fact, they've never liked one in a completely unqualified manner. But now they're watching a stone cold classic, Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep. Will this break the Bookening movie curse???????????????? 00:01 Nathan forgets to introduce us 03:53 We watched The Big Sleep ! 05:11 Nathan gives some context 10:00 Nathan continues to rant 15:26 De...

This time it's personal. No, really. It is. Yep, Nathan has a relationship with this one. You'll hear all about it. Also donor shout-outs come at the very end. So that's a thing. Support our heroes here , and experience the joy of the following chapters: 00:01 General awesomeness 02:50 Baggage 09:45 Nathan doesn't want to talk about Chandler 12:09 Succeeding in a formula 15:44 Modern poetry 18:04...

Sorry, those of you who like long episodes, this one came in a little short. But on the plus side .... THE BOOKENING TALKS ABOUT THE GREATEST AUTHOR OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!! Support us here! CHAPTERS: 00:00 Pleading introduction 07:50: Contextual Texan begins 09:13 Biography 18:20 Theme 21:52 Detective novel 24:51 A brief break for donor shout-outs! 28:30 Revenge of the Pulps 42:38 Down these mean s...

In this special bonus announcement episode, our heroes reveal what beloved book they're reading for their 100th episode celebration. Then a special guest shows up and threatens to derail their plans. It's complicated but basically we have several episodes on, yes, Harry Potter planned but we MUST get over $500 on Patreon in order to release them. Sign up to support us today! ★ Support this podcast...

Here we are, continuing our discussing of The Odyssey. You probably knew that. Support us here! This is an interesting episode because at a certain point it kinda sounds like we're beating up on the classical movement. But actually we're not doing that, exactly, so just bear with us here and don't get offended, because we obviously weren't talking about YOU. :) 02:22 Donor Shout-outs 07:05 Mytholo...

Our heroes dig into The Odyssey in this episode, say smart things, and begin their dissertation on how the whole thing is about hospitality. Support our heroes here! 3:58 Donor Shout-outs 07:32 Lawrence of Arabia 09:16 Structure 13:20 Baggage 18:20 Blue flippin' stick 20:10 Page-turner 28:16 Characters that are dynamic (yeah yeah, you try and write these chapter marker titles) 32:00 Did the suitor...

Finally! Our heroes are discussing The Odyssey! Sing to me, O Contextual Texan! 00:29 Nathan does none of his normal schtick + AVENGERS SPOILERS 05:25 Donor Shout-outs 10:04 Contextual Texan begins 12:05 An intro to Homer 18:00 He never existed? 22:48 Who did folks used to say Homer was? 25:00 Greece 29:00 Higher criticism 36:10 Homeric question 44:00 We continue to debate who wrote the darn thing...

AVENGERS SPOILERS AT ABOUT 20:00 Our heroes are prepping for a big discussion of The Odyssey . It turns out their old nemesis (?) C.S. Lewis had lots to say about epic poetry, so they begin there. Also they answer a listener query about their Remains of the Day episode. A certain important Pastor who is a Master of Reading is notably absent from this episode, but we promise this will NOT become a...

Well. It's come to this. It would be a pleasure to burn ... HBO's terrible movie of Fahrenheit 451. It was really bad. And our heroes recorded an episode detailing all the ways that it stunk. Then ... the episode had technical problems. So (because schedules were tight) we recorded this slightly shortened redo. Sorry, it couldn't be longer, but frankly ... it got what it deserved. ★ Support this p...

Our heroes thought it would be fun to review the new Fahrenheit 451 HBO movie, which is something they will do, assuming it's not too HBOy. But in order to justify doing that, they had to review the book, which they didn't particularly have fond memories of. But it may or may not have held up better than they remembered. Listen! Help Jake build a mechanical hound! 00:00 Sundry matters 06:25 Donor...

Our heroes very much liked this book, and in this episode they talk about it, contrasting it with some of the other, lesser children's books they've read. 00:00 The show begins 03:43 Jake's baggage 05:03 Brandon's baggage 10:20 Bookening baggage 13:45 Nathan's baggage 14:45 Fundamentals!!!! 20:37 What makes this book so great? 24:33 Irony done well 30:29 Nathan closes the loop 33:06 Representative...

Jake's children need shoes! This is kind of a weird episode, as Jake is MIA, and Nathan and Brandon have an extended discussion of what constitutes good style, using E. B. White's classic Elements of Style as a jumping off point. So that's pretty much what happens. If you're the sort of person who wonders where our heroes get off saying Ready Player One has BAD style, this is the episode for you!!...

Due to some horrible computer error, all the chapter markers got wiped out, so no chapter markers for this one. Sorry about that. But suffice to say, our heroes really like Charlotte's Web, and Brandon starts doing context for it about five minutes into the episode, and our heroes use that as jumping pad for lots of interesting things, and then the episode is done. Thanks for listening! :) Buy our...

Help Brandon pay his gambling debts! Hey. It's a movie review of a movie that our heroes surprisingly (to them at least) didn't like all that much. Here are the things that happen: 00:00 The show begins 01:04 Operatic donor shout-outs 04:08 We were disappointed by this movie 07:11 Lame ambiguity resolution 12:33 They Hollywooded it! 18:46 Lame tension resolution 23:04 Anthony Hopkins 25:34 Emma Th...

Buy Nathan socks! In this episode, our heroes continue to discuss Remains of the Day. It's a pretty great book. Our heroes have wise insights and stuff. Here is your table of contents: 00:00 The episode begins 03:12 Donor Shout-outs 08:00 Diary form 11:49 Useful naval gazing? 13:10 The right choice of form 14:18 Nice little analog metaphor 15:00 Endings 16:27 Gradesaver quiz 26:42 Dignity 31:02 Se...

Don't let Jake and Brandon's kids go hungry! In this episode our heroes discuss Remains of the Day and decide it is even better than Close Reads. Sorry, Close Reads! :) 00:00 General Awesomeness 03:55 Donor Shout-outs 05:47 Apology for donor shout-outs that just happened 06:47 Context begins 10:38 Biography 11:54 Between two cultures 19:38 Setting 21:47 Influences 24:31 "Process" 27:37 Emotional t...

Make sure our heroes can afford to go to crummy movies for years to come! This is a podcast in which our heroes review the film Ready Player One. One of them liked it, one of them was ambivalent, and one was almost as grumpy about it as he was about the book. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★