The Color of Dust

Jack and Seth host the final episode of The Color of Dust, reflecting on the last two years of conversations with Sam, what we set out to do, and what's next. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit colorofdust.substack.com

In this episode, we team up with Dr. Matt Miller (Matt was on episode 34 ) to continue our conversation about The Rolling Rood Screen (for context, listen to episode 70, More < 1 ). We were very excited to learn about a similar project he began some years ago called The Center for Needless Splendor … Because our projects have a similar spirit and angst, we knew it would be fitting to seek his coll...

It is a human necessity to make art, to tell a story. It is as important to us as food is. Join us as we talk about art that is slow to unfold, and how it is that we are images that need to make images. Toward the end of the episode, we talk about Seth’s forthcoming book of poems, Call Out Coyote . This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to...

We continue our journey with the table top painting by Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) called The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. Today we talk about lust or luxuria . Thanks for visiting The Color of Dust, and please consider subscribing. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit colorofdust.substack.com

We continue our journey with the table top painting by Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) called The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. Today we talk about acedia or sloth, using Jack’s recent music endeavors as a prompt for the discussion. Be sure to listen to the end to catch a ‘revelation’ about the painting that we discover! Thanks for visiting The Color of Dust, and please consider subs...

We especially miss those we have lost during holidays and anniversaries. Today we consider the poem Last Words by Michael Symmons Roberts, which was written to commemorate the first anniversary of 9/11. One of the purposes of physicality, says Dr. Thomas Dilworth during our conversation, is the expression of love. He traces love through the motifs of touch, Paradise Lost , the Crucifixion, and the...

In this episode, we discuss gluttony, or gula , from the table top painting by Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) called The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. Gluttony does not have to do exclusively with overeating, but with anything done to excess or for the wrong reasons. There is much to explore in this portion of the painting, and we’d love to hear what you think about it. Thanks for v...

Today, December 7, 2025, marks the 150th anniversary of the wreck of the Deutschland, the event on which Gerard Manley Hopkins based the first of his ‘mature’ poems, which was written shortly after the tragedy. After becoming a Jesuit priest in 1868, Hopkins had decided not to write poetry anymore, but this event, along with some nudging by one of his superiors, catapulted him back to pen and pape...

Anger, envy, and now greed! We continue our journey around the table top painting by Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) called The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. Today we meditate on avaricia , avarice, which is greed. Our conversation takes an unexpected and exciting turn, as we offer an interpretation that contradicts what’s normally concluded about this portion of the painting. We’ve...

Finally, the episode on art interpretation, the evil eye, envy, and truck-nuts that you’ve been waiting for! In this episode, we continue our meditation on the table top painting by Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) called The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. Our focus today is invidia —no, that’s not a pharmeceutical company—but it is envy. “Two dogs over one bone seldom agree,” goes the...

How do you handle your anger? Are you the explosive type? The brooding type? The kind who suppresses? However you handle it, we think you’ll enjoy our conversation about anger as we consider the first of the seven deadly sins depicted by Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516) in his painting The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. The first little section of this painting, known as Ira (the Latin...

December 7, 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the wreck of the Deutschland, the event on which Gerard Manley Hopkins based the first of his ‘mature’ poems, which was written shortly after the tragedy. After becoming a Jesuit priest in 1868, Hopkins had decided not to write poetry anymore, but this event, along with some nudging by one of his superiors, catapulted him back to pen and paper. The s...

It was our joy to have Andy Squyres on The Color of Dust. Andy is a beloved musician and poet, who speaks with candor and wisdom. His website is AndySquyres.com , and he has a lively Instagram account. Here is the image used for the talking points of this episode…and our apologies to Amy! Chapters 00:00 Opening Reflections and Prayer 01:47 Introducing Andy Squyres 07:36 Transitioning from Ministry...

We discuss Wendell Berry’s poem “Do Not Be Ashamed.” This is a repost of episode 35, and we thought it would be fitting to share again. We’ll be back next time with a new episode. Below you will find the full poem. Do Not Be Ashamed by Wendell Berry You will be walking some nightin the comfortable dark of your yardand suddenly a great light will shineround about you, and behind youwill be a wall y...

Dr. Thomas Dilworth joins The Color of Dust to talk about the poem Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins. This poem is a celebration of all things dapple, including the relationship between God and his creation. Dr. Dilworth explains how Hopkins seeks to renew our old religious cliches in a way that had never been done before: by pointing to all things strange. Not only will this conversation help...

Today, we begin our exploration of The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things by Hieronymus Bosch , who was a Dutch painter (c. 1450-1516). Below you will find the two paintings we referenced during this episode, as well as the chapter headings. Chapters 00:00 Jack plays his concertina 03:12 The Role of Music in Memory 06:11 Exploring Hieronymus Bosch’s Art 09:02 Approaching the Painting Intui...

As we discuss in this episode, some of our listeners share the same discontent as we do about being an artist and/or person of faith and feeling like you always have to chase the algorithm. Our technological rat race is unsettling, to say the least, and dehumanizing, to speak more honestly. Jack hijacks this episode right at the start to talk with us about a solution—and it involves all of us. He...

Those of us who are troubled about what we’re seeing unfold around us—and even in our own lives—often feel overwhelmed at what to do. How do we “push back” against rampant materialism, encroaching technology, and insufferable meaninglessness. Even those of us with faith may go through long, empty stretches of wondering where God is to be found in the day-to-day struggle. The answer may be nearer t...

There’s nothing fancy about this episode: we talk about tools—the kind of tools that you can have a one to one relationship with. Artists use tools; and tools help to make us human. We discuss tools in the Bible, the difference between tools and machines, the cyclical nature of tools, Wendell Berry’s principles for adopting new technology, and much more. Tools carry stories with them, and they con...

While I hope Gerard Manley Hopkins would at least humor my title pun, I am more confident he would enjoy this discussion I had with Dr. Thomas Dilworth about “The Windhover,” a stunning poem written by Hopkins in 1877, which was the same year he was ordained as a Jesuit priest. What begins with a pedestrian thinking he “caught” a Kestrel (Windhover) in flight one morning, turns out to be a theopha...

We outline several comparisons in today’s episode, such as between painting and photography, ultimately to discern what art is “doing” and how to celebrate each kind of creativity. The artforms that we discuss, from poetry to ballet, entail a kind of resistance that is absent from most modern technologies. We spend the second half of the conversation exploring one of Jack’s recent drawings of Mary...

Here is a clip from episode 66 with Paul Pastor, in case you missed it. In less than seven minutes, he will change your view of modern technology and motivate you to reconsider what we mean by “better.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit colorofdust.substack.com

In this episode, Seth connects with his friend, Paul Pastor. We talk about The Locust Years , a book of poems published by Wise Blood Books , which is illustrated by our previous guest, Michael Cook . We get into a stirring conversation with Paul, which includes a lifegiving “rant” about firewood. We asked Paul to read three of his poems from the new collection, so you can experience his poems in...

Dr. Thomas Dilworth joins us today to talk about the poem “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889). After discussing the life of Hopkins and his early influences, we move through the poem line by line. Following our discussion, we have a special audio recital of the poem by our own Seth Wieck. Below you will find both the poem and the music chosen for this episode. As Kingf...

We continue our discussion of “The Break,” giving particular attention to AI. More than ever, we lay our cards on the table about the direction we think our culture is headed. Take a look at the chapter headings below to see the ground we cover. Chapters 00:00 Exploring the Concept of the Break 03:45 The Intersection of Art and Technology 10:23 AI and the Nature of Beauty 20:31 The Role of Art in...