The Inklings Variety Hour

We have a lot more new episodes waiting for you, including a trip to the borders of Faerie with George MacDonald, a Night Operation with Owen Barfield, and a House by the Stable with Charles Williams!  And a lot more.   But here's the thing...all of those episodes need to be edited by yours truly. And it's the last week of the semester, and I have a lot of grading (and parenting) to do, so, it's t...

This poetry Thursday, we're taking on "Surprised by Joy," the sonnet by William Wordsworth that gave Lewis' 1955 memoir its title.  But beyond a title, does the poem have any connection to Lewis' ideas about joy, grief, and love? Probably, yes.   Thanks again to Sørina Higgins for selecting and reading this week's (and last week's) poem! Here's the poem, by the way: Surprised by Joy by William Wor...

As always, if you enjoy this program, please leave us a five-star review on iTunes.     Dr. Katherine Wyma joins Chris to talk about how Lewis' writing reflects his experiences in World War I.  In particular, she suggests that his writing about World War II may be a form of narrative therapy that helped him cope with psychological wounds from the previous war. Katherine mentions a few books listen...

Enjoy this short, early poem by Charles Williams! Many thanks to Sørina Higgins for reading (as well as her counsel and help with this podcast generally). Find Williams' poem and her commentary (from ten years ago, nearly exactly) here: On Meeting Shakespeare | The Oddest Inkling (wordpress.com) Next week: Tolkien and Lewis and the World Wars!

If you're enjoying The Inklings Variety Hour, then... please... leave us a review with five stars on iTunes or Apple Music, or whatever. Yes, we're talking to you through these shownotes,  and it's all very eerie and annoying. *ahem* Middle-grade author J.D. Peabody rejoins Chris to talk about The Inkwell Chronicles: Race to Krakatoa, the second book in his Inkwell Chronicles series.   You may wan...

This week, we've got another by Tolkien.  You can find it in Tales from the Perilous Realm, which collects The Adventures of Tom Bombadil in which it was originally published. Again, the idea for this format comes from "The Daily Poem," so check it out if you haven't already done so. See you Tuesday!

The finale of our series on The Silver Chair!  We have a lot of great stuff to say, but I have a ten-month-old with an ear infection and it is the last month of the semester, so I will have to write a summary later!  This is also not as scrupulously edited as other episodes are--so savor the authenticity! My guests are Eric Geddes, Jonathan Geltner (whose blogs you should find and whose books you...

Was Auden an Inkling? No. No, he wasn't. But have we played him reading a stanza of this poem (in which he mentions Williams and Tolkien) every week we've published an episode?   Yes. Yes, we have. So here's the whole thing in full, for the sake of sweet context. Again, I am absolutely stealing the pattern of Poetry Thursdays from the wonderful Daily Poem podcast by Goldberry Studios.  Listen to i...

If you're enjoying The Inklings Variety Hour and want to support the show without paying us a dime, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes.   Feel free to follow us on Instagram: @inklingsvarietyhour And shoot us an email to tell us that our work this week has not been in vain: inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com .   This week, Chris is joined by a panoply of first-time and returning guests, such...

If you're enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving us a review on itunes.  If you're not, you probably have better things to do with your time than to bother with reviews! As always, feel free to email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com! Welcome back to Poetry Thursday. Here's something from the planet Mercury for you all! Also, the show now has an Instagram--follow us @inklingsvarietyhour F...

If you enjoy this podcast, please rate us on iTunes and leave a positive review. If you'd like to reach out to us or suggest ideas for an episode, email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com .  We'd love to hear from you. Also, we have an Instagram account now.  Follow us at inklingsvarietyhour. Chris resumes his conversation with Jonathan Geltner and Eric Geddes about the first half of Lewis' fourt...

Welcome again to the new "Poetry Thursday" feature of The Inklings Variety Hour. This week, we're reading a poem by Ruth Pitter, someone who was not an Inkling but knew C.S. Lewis and a few of the other Inklings.  I had Don W. King on the show to talk about her, and you can find that interview here . You can find the poem I read here , by the way. And here's a book of Pitter's poetry . I hope you...

If you're enjoying The Inklings Variety Hour, please leave us a five-star review on .  We'd also love to hear from you--email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com .   Chris' wife, Glencora, joins him to talk about chapters 3 and 4 of The Silver Chair. Among other things, we discuss: The Signs and Sudden Quizzes Muppet Silver Chair (not really a thing, but it should be) The Many Types of Narnians Kn...

We're trying a new thing this season--each Thursday, I plan to release a brief recording of a poem by one of the Inklings.  This is more or less directly inspired by the excellent podcast,  The Daily Poem by Goldberry Studios, so check it out and subscribe if you want more of this sort of thing. The poem this week is "Imram," by J.R.R. Tolkien. You can find a text of the poem here . You can find i...

Please leave a five-star review of this podcast if you enjoy it.  We'd also love to hear from you--feel free to send us an email at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com .   Welcome to Season Four!   Chris is joined by Eric Geddes and author Jonathan Geltner to discuss Chapters 1 and 2 of the fourth book in the Narniad (is that what we're calling that now?), The Silver Chair.  Among other things, we discu...

The last (weirdest) part of Chris' "An Inklings Christmas Carol."  Oh, didn't realize it was still Christmas, did you? Well, it is , but it's getting close to Epiphany, time of magi and revelations.   Happy Twelfth Night! Thanks again to Sørina Higgins and her talented authors' circle , of which I am a part. Feel free to join us. Write me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com if there are specific thin...

Enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas! Part 3 will post in a week or so (which is, by the way, still Christmastide ). Thanks to Joe Hoffman, Ed Powell, and Sørina Higgins for their talents and help. Apologies for the occasionally poor audio quality.  We did the best we could! Email me at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com . If you like the show, I'd love to hear from you.  

At last!  Here is the first part of a (Zoom) table reading of my "play" (loosely defined), "An Inklings Christmas Carol."   Two more (longer) parts are to come!  Gee, it's a good thing Christmas begins on December 25, or I'd be out of time. Twelve Tide, etc., etc.! Special thanks to Anika Smith, Sørina Higgins, and Joe Hoffman for reading this episode.  Thanks in general to Sørina's Author's Circl...

Happy November 29, or as it's newly-known in Jack-conscious circles, C.S. Lewis Reading Day! Join William O'Flaherty and Chris as we play Schroeder to C.S. Lewis' Beethoven in a "Crossover Extravaganza" that is sure to have you schlepping down to your local library to crack open some of our favorite works by Lewis! (Ah! Still fresh! And intoxicating!) William and Chris will both be attending a Liv...

Just a quick announcement about some bonus content coming your way in the next few weeks: If you want to hear the first part of my conversation with William O'Flaherty, check out his podcast, All About Jack .  The second part will arrive on C.S. Lewis Reading Day, right here on The Inklings Variety Hour. If you want to watch the Livestream conversation between myself and a whole bunch of other C.S...

In this special edition of The Inklings Variety Hour, Sørina Higgins joins me to discuss an exciting discovery she made while perusing Charles Williams' manuscripts at the Marion E. Wade Center. Come to hear about the new Charles Williams poetry and manuscripts; stay to hear a brief discussion about whether Williams should be "canceled."  Follow Sørina's work at https://theoddestinkling.wordpress....

Verlyn Flieger rejoins me to talk about her first important work--and really the first very important work on J.R.R. Tolkien's  The Silmarillion -- Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World . I was really excited to have this conversation, as I read this book just under two decades ago and it not only introduced me to Barfield's ideas , but also made The Silmarillion far more interes...

Sorry for the late post!  Sorry also that this is mostly (but not entirely) old material.  Despite that, it took a long, long time to edit! I wasn't happy with the way the audio turned out in Part 2 of Voyage of the Dawn Treader earlier this season, so this is my attempt to rectify that!  It should be much easier to hear us talk--with a lot less deafening music and waves.  Also, if you have a long...

Chris speaks with Dr. Sørina Higgins about her developing short story collection, Shall These Bones Breathe? We also talk a bit about writing and the creative process.  If you'd like to read Sørina's stories--and even help shape them--just go to www.buymeacoffee.com/higginssorina For more on her scholarly work, check out her blog, The Oddest Inkling . If you enjoy The Inklings Variety Hour, please...

Just a quick ad for a story I've published in Flash Fiction Magazine.  You can find it here . Enjoy! If you like it and want to support a collection of similar stories I'm developing, just go here .