The Dorothy L. Sayers Podcast

You can't always go it alone. Even scholars - especially scholars? - need help. Learn how Sayers both received and rejected help on her writing.

Simple mistakes are one thing. Not doing your research is another. Judging others wrongly when you haven't done your research is monstrous. In this episode, Sayers introduces us to Monster Error.

Most people enjoy reading dialogue, but this episode tells us some surprising ways to use dialogue in your own writing. Listen and learn about how Sayers used dialogue as description and also in non-fiction. Also, we'll enjoy a bit of dialect and finish up the episode with some Diet Coke.

Do your words always have to be clear? Sayers tells us when to clarify what we say and when to let it be obscure. We will look at her essay, "Poetry, Language, and Ambiguity," as well as from her letters and novels to see how word choice can elevate even if it doesn't enlighten.

Season 4 is about writing. As one of the most accomplished authors of the early 20th century, Sayers is a good person to teach us how to write. In this episode, we learn the value of concrete - how something solid and tangible can wake us up. On the other hand, abstract words and cliches lull us to sleep. Join us as we learn Sayer's opinion from two articles: "Ink of Poppies" and &qu...

In this short episode, we learn about Lord Peter's pedigree and also hear the voice of his friends through a discussion of two books: The Wimsey Family and The Wimsey Papers. If you're just getting to know Lord Peter, this is a good place to learn just how real he is, fictionally speaking. It's also a good place to learn about some creative publishing during World War II.

In this episode, we are continuing our conversation with Dr. Brown. We'll be addressing Sayers's essay, "The Other Six Deadly Sins," her play about pride, and also get a recommendation from Dr. Brown about some of Sayers's works that aren't widely published.

Have you heard the phrase Seven Deadly Sins but didn't know what they were? Or would you like to read Sayers' novels at a deeper level? Please join me as I interview Dr. Janice Brown, who gives us an intro into the Seven Deadly Sins and how Sayers wrote them into (or out of) of her novels.

You'd like to read more Sayers but don't know what to choose? This short episode is for you. We'll talk about her different types of work and give a short description of each, along with some recommendations for which of her Peter Wimsey novels to read - and not to read - first.

Lindsey and Selah talk about the influence of that great writer of "literary nonsense," a little bit about Carroll's life itself, and a little bit about the power of a well-placed quotation.

When Sayers tries her hand at satire, the result is a hilarious and head-scratching little volume entitled Even the Parrot . Lindsey and her guest Selah discuss what Sayers was thinking and along the way, wrestle with the nature of satire itself.

"How Free is the Press?" sounds like a pretty bland title, but it was surprisingly hard to find. And its role in the Dorothy L. Sayers legacy turns out to be critical...for India.

In 1951, Sayers wrote a play called The Emperor Constantine . Though it was only performed two times (interrupted by the death of King George VI), it was a hit among "the common man" and the educated. In this episode, Lindsey will talk about what made the play so enjoyable, both for Sayers herself and her audience. And if you've ever imagined what the dialogue between Arius and Athan...

Are women human? Or are they women? Yes and yes. But is one category treated as more significant than the other? Join us in working through Sayers' speech, entitled "Are Women Human?" and some of her controversial thoughts regarding that topic. 

This completes our three-part series on the afterlife via Sayers, via Dante. Listen to this episode to hear a positive view of Purgatory--even if you don't believe in it yourself--and how we can apply it even now, to our own lives. Also, learn something how some 13th century Florentine siblings got themselves spread throughout Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell.

What is Hell? It's a place, yes. But it's also an attitude. It's when we call something evil when it's actually good. Hell's not just a place where people are tortured. It's a place of hostility toward the whole world and all that is good in it. Take a few minutes and learn more about what Sayers, using Dante, believes hell to be.

Everyone knows Heaven that to describe Heaven as simply a cloud and a harp is childish. But what is it, exactly? Sayers tries to answer that question -- or at least, help us understand how Dante answered that question. In her 1948 lecture, "The Meaning of Heaven and Hell," she gives everyone (regardless of his or her affection for Dante) a different and convicting way to think about the realm of G...

Trinities are all around us, according to Sayers's masterpiece, The Mind of the Maker. In this episode, we'll discuss how Sayers shows us that the Trinity isn't a foreign idea, and it's not abracadabra (as Thomas Jefferson says). Rather, the relationship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is as familiar as the book on your shelf. 

In part 2 of this interview, we get Gina's thoughts on how, or if, we should separate a writer's work from his personal life, as well as her insights on how C.S. Lewis respected women and best practices for our own research. And of course, we learn more about the relationship of Sayers and Lewis themselves. 

Dorothy and Jack is a biography of friendship. Most of us have heard of C.S. Lewis' group of friends called The Inklings, but Lewis enjoyed other significant friendships, including a respectful and jovial connection with Dorothy L. Sayers. In this interview with author Gina Dalfonzo, we hear her elevator pitch for the book, why physical distance in a friendship isn't always a bad thing, and also w...

There are no bad questions, are there? Yes, there probably are. Sayers, Chesterton, and Lewis all have something to say about asking questions that shouldn't be asked. In this episode, we draw from Sayers' Mind of the Maker , Chesterton's "Why I am a Catholic," and Lewis' A Grief Observed in order to train ourselves in the detection of such conversational crimes. 

Maybe you don't care about Sayers or don't like her writing. But the truth is that she has more to offer us than her books. Her life had qualities we can admire, as well as challenges we might share: we've all had to leave early to cook dinner,  though only a few of us have ever kept a pig for slaughter. In this episode, we get more biographical with Sayers as we discuss five reasons why we c...

Once you've successfully written murder mysteries, lay theology, radio dramas, and stage dramas, what else is left? Why not try your hand at re-interpreting a treasured western classic? This is what Sayers did toward the end of her life: she fell in love with Dante's Divine Comedy , and her obsession with it led to copious research and, ultimately, a new translation. In this episode, we talk about...

In this episode, we  read a striking scene from Sayers's play, The Just Vengeance. We learn more about how to share each other's burdens, at least according to Sayers and Charles Williams. And we wonder "What is the advantage of willful suffering?"

Sayers had a friend named Charles Williams, who had a theory called Coinherence. This man and his idea figured largely in her later work. In this episode, we learn a bit about Williams and a lot about what Coinherence is, how it works, and, truth be told, how it can help us in our hour of need. On the surface, it's one of those general, pleasant ideas that we all assume is true. But Williams gave...