The Inklings Variety Hour

Matt Wheeler rejoins me for our final episode on The Horse and His Boy. More episode description to come! Featuring "Wonder of It All" by Matt Wheeler.

If you would like episodes of The Inklings Variety Hour to come out more often, please do consider leaving us a positive review. Singer-songwriter Matt Wheeler once again joins me to discuss his favorite Narnia book, The Horse and His Boy.  Among other things, we talk about: Hermits and the nature of freedom Allegory and biblical allusion in Narnia Fear as motivation Self-pity as incomplete story...

Finishing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "I Sit Beside the Fire and Think." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy this talk with Jonathan Geltner about how Tolkien saves the future. After we're all dead, of course, but you can't have everything... (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy this conversation about the Shire! (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy my talk with Jonathan Geltner about Tolkien's unfinished poem, "The Fall of Arthur." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy my interview with Verlyn Flieger about Splintered Light. (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "Imram." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy "The Hoard." (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon: Enjoy Smith of Wootton Major, Part 2!   (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Continuing the Tolkien Reading Day Marathon of old episodes. Enjoy this first of two on Smith of Wootton Major! (From the Old Winyards. Yes, these are reruns.) But a new episode on The Horse and His Boy comes your way in one week!

Dipping into the Old Winyards this Tolkien reading day! Enjoy this conversation from a few years ago about Tolkien adaptations! Stay tuned...there are about nine more to come today.

The finale of the Till We Have Faces series! Original episode description: Welcome to the finale of Till We Have Faces on The Inklings Variety Hour! Author and speaker Andrew Lazo from Pints with Jack joins Chris and Anika for our final discussion of Till We Have Faces.  It was, as always, a delight and an epiphany, Andrew! Among other things, we discuss: The Four Loves Williams-esque redemption o...

Musician Matt Wheeler joins me to talk about Chapters 7-8 of The Horse and His Boy, specifically Shasta among the tombs (ghouls ahoy), and Aravis' adventures. At the end of the hour, he's kind enough to share an original waltzy song about Aravis, inspired by a COVID toilet paper run. (Seriously, it's a great song--if you listen to nothing else, listen to it.) Before that, we talk about the followi...

More of our series on Till We Have Faces!

Continuing to cover Till We Have Faces! 

It's Season Five of The Inklings Variety Hour, episode one, and you know what that means! Time to return to the enchanting land of-- --record scratch-- -- Calormen ? That's right, Ed Said. We're kicking off this season the right way, with a little trip to an unprepossessing fisherman's hut and the down-on-his-luck literary ancestor of both a refreshing soft drink and Taran the Assistant Pig-keeper...

Sorry for the late upload, once again! I've been preparing for the new season! The first episode of Season 5, covering The Horse and His Boy, will be coming out in a few days! See you then, and in the meantime, enjoy some more travels in Glome!

Apologies (again) for the late Saturday upload. Here's Part 7 of our Till We Have Faces series. Enjoy! Stay tuned for the first brand new episode of Season 5. We'll start with The Horse and His Boy on March 4 and update with a new episode every two weeks. --------------------------------------------------------- Original description: If you like this podcast, please give us a review in iTunes!  Al...

Apologies for the late upload! A new season of The Inklings Variety Hour is coming on Tuesdays in March, starting with The Horse and His Boy.  In the meantime, enjoy this old episode, with one of our first guest-stars, Andrew Lazo, talking about his favorite Lewis book, Till We Have Faces! Original Description: This week, we're talking with Andrew Lazo , author, speaker, and noted Till We Have Fac...

A new season of The Inklings Variety Hour is coming your way in March! In the meantime, here's another rerun. Old description: This week, we are still hiking up the enchanting mountain that is Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, hearts dancing all the while.  And why should they not, as we discuss such topics as: Fighting and work as a potential antidote for depression Resurrection as a potential a...

From the vaults! More of C.S. Lewis' underrated final novel! Original description: In which Anika and Chris reveal the fairly shallow reason we had for doing Till We Have Faces this year and accidentally endorse human sacrifice.  Mostly, we talk about Chapter 7, in which Orual and Psyche say goodbye, and Chapter 8, in which Orual decides to journey to the mountain and recover Psyche's body.  At is...

Enjoy! Original Episode Description:  

Till We Have Faces, Part 2! Here are the original shownotes: In the spirit of Groundhog's Day, Chris and Anika dig into Chapters 3-4 of Lewis' Till We Have Faces , which retells the Cupid and Psyche myth.   We discuss, among other things: The apparent popularity of J.G. Frazer in Glome " Foxy Redival's Flirtations "  Whether we're the worst at what we care about most (and other cheering thoughts)...

Sorry about the late upload! Enjoy!   From the original episode description: Welcome back to The Inklings Variety Hour!  It's a new year, and Ungit has only just hatched out of her egg-house (or something), but already, your intrepid hosts are tackling C.S. Lewis' novel, Till We Have Faces (1956)--widely considered the best novel he ever wrote.  Chris, Anika, and Meagan discuss this retelling of t...