The Plunge with Derek Holser

Welcome to Episode Two in our Summer Replay Series. Today's conversation features Laura Van Dyke, Owen A. Barfield, Landon Loftin, and Max Leyf. The discussion covers some biographical elements of Owen Barfield's life, along with his work on the imagination, his "Great War" with C.S. Lewis, and his lifelong pursuit of anthroposophy, as developed by the philosopher Rudolf Steiner.   To view the ent...

Welcome to Episode One in our Summer Replay Series. Today's conversation features Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson, Kerry Dearborn, Chris Green, and Jordan Daniel Wood.         The discussion ranges from George MacDonald's conception and practice of true community, his theology of aging, suffering, and death, and his portrayal of the afterlife through his great novel Lilith.         To view the entire conv...

Welcome to Episode 6, our final installment in our series William Blake: Mystic for Modernity.       Today's guest is Valentin Gerlier. Valentin is a scholar, songwriter, and musician, and our conversation is a poetic and lyrical gem. Full of light and wisdom, like William Blake himself! Valentin is Head of Creative Cultures Pathway at Schumacher College, where he teaches the Poetics of Imaginatio...

Welcome to Episode Five in our latest series: William Blake: Mystic for Modernity. As we continue to explore the life and majesty of William Blake, I am joined by a returning Plunge favorite: Landon Loftin. This conversation explores G.K. Chesterton's thoughts on William Blake. Two great souls interacting for us today, mediated by the ever-insightful Landon Loftin!         Landon Loftin has a BA i...

Welcome to Episode Four in our latest series: William Blake: Mystic for Modernity. As we continue to explore the life and majesty of William Blake, I am joined by a returning Plunge favorite: the Inimitable Ron Dart!         Ron has had an abiding interest in Blake since his teens in the 1960s. Ron was on staff with Amnesty International in the 1980s, taught in the department of POLSC at Universit...

Welcome to Episode Three in our latest series: William Blake: Mystic for Modernity. As we continue to explore the life and majesty of William Blake, I am joined by a most enchanting guest: Susanne Sklar.        Susanne Sklar, PhD, is a leading international authority on William Blake, with a particular focus on his final illuminated masterpiece, Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion (1804–1...

Welcome to the second episode in our latest series, William Blake: Mystic for Modernity. William Blake (1757–1827) was a visionary English poet, painter, and printmaker of the Romantic Age.     Jason Whittaker is a writer and academic at the University of Lincoln, who spends his time alternating between visions of William Blake and writing about digital media. The author and editor of twenty books...

Welcome to the first episode in our latest series, William Blake: Mystic for Modernity. William Blake (1757–1827) was a visionary English poet, painter, and printmaker of the Romantic Age.       My guest today is Mark Vernon. Mark is a writer and psychotherapist. A keen podcaster, including over 100 dialogues with Rupert Sheldrake, and a columnist with The Idler, he speaks regularly at festivals a...

Welcome to Episode Twelve in our Animals in Literature series. Today's conversation features a fun, nostalgic, endearing discussion of Christopher Robin and his friends in The Hundred Acre Wood, created by A.A. Milne.         Today's guest is returning Plunge favorite and great friend, Brenton Dickieson.         Brenton is a father, husband, friend, university lecturer, and freelance writer from P...

Welcome to Episode Eleven in our Animals in Literature Series. Today's guest is the Rev. Dr. Olga-Maria Cruz, to regale us on the glories, virtues, and meaning in the novel Watership Down. Watership Down by Richard Adams is widely celebrated for its phenomenal world-building, authentic characters, and deep moral revelations. In this rabbit-centric world, a small band must survive the wilds, and ho...

Welcome to Episode Eleven in our Animals in Literature series. Today's episode features a riveting and rambling conversation about The Redwall Series, by Brian Jacques. This beloved series features many anthropomorphic creatures (mostly of the burrowing type) and has served as a great guide to heroic living for young people of the past two generations.          Joining me and enlightening me is re...

Welcome to Episode 9 in our Animals in Literature Series. This series aims to explore the origins, conventions, and meanings we find in stories featuring anthropomorphic animals.          Today's guest is Sørina Higgins, PhD. Sørina and I discuss Charles Williams' novel The Place of the Lion, and his Inkling counterpart C.S. Lewis' novel That Hideous Strength (with a particular emphasis on Mr. Bul...

Welcome to Episode 7 in our Animals in Literature series. This series aims to explore the origins, conventions, and meanings we find in stories featuring anthropomorphic animals.          Today's guest is Simon Horobin, PhD. Simon and I discuss a number of the creatures of Narnia, from C.S. Lewis's beloved book series. Featured topics include the brave Reepicheep, the steadfast Mr. and Mrs. Beaver...

Welcome to Episode 7 in our Animals in Literature series. This series aims to explore the origins, conventions, and meanings we find in stories featuring anthropomorphic animals.         Today's guest is David Bentley Hart, PhD. David and I share a lively conversation featuring iconic characters from Lewis Carroll's mind. Featured topics include Alice, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the resurge...

Welcome to our Easter interlude, as we take a one-episode hiatus from our Animals in Literature series. Joining me once again is the effervescent and egalitarian Jordan Daniel Wood.        Jordan and I discuss the events of the weekend, beginning with Good Friday, through Holy Saturday, and on to Resurrection Sunday. As always, he provides thoughtful insights from Maximus, Origen, the Bible, and h...

Welcome to Episode 6 in our Animals in Literature series. This series aims to explore the origins, conventions, and meanings we find in stories featuring anthropomorphic animals. Joining me for today's conversation on all things CATS! in stories is Laura Burnett, a newcomer to The Plunge. We discuss the cat Church from Stephen King's Pet Sematary, the unnamed cat in Coraline, Dr. Seuss's The Cat i...

Welcome to Episode 5 in our Animals in Literature series. This series aims to explore the origins, conventions, and meanings we find in stories featuring anthropomorphic animals. Joining me today is Elizabeth Hardy as we conclude our chapter-by-chapter journey through the beloved Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. Elizabeth is an instructor of English at western North Carolina's Mayland Community Coll...

Welcome to a bonus episode, special edition of The Plunge. Today's guest is Micah Johnson, author of the New York Times Bestselling Middle-Grade Novel AKU: Journey to Ibra. Micah and I discuss his inspiration for creating AKU's first novel, the meaning and purpose he discovered in telling the tale, and the hope he has for the next generation of dreamers. Micah Johnson is a former MLB player turned...

Welcome to Episode 4 in our Animals in Literature series. This series aims to explore the origins, conventions, and meanings we find in stories featuring anthropomorphic animals. Joining me today is Elizabeth Hardy as we continue our chapter-by-chapter journey through the beloved Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. Elizabeth is an instructor of English at western North Carolina's Mayland Community Coll...

Welcome to Episode 3 in our Animals in Literature series. This series aims to explore the origins, conventions, and meanings we find in stories featuring anthropomorphic animals. Joining me today is Elizabeth Hardy for the second in our multi-part conversation about the beloved Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. Elizabeth is an instructor of English at western North Carolina's Mayland Community Colleg...

Welcome to Episode 2 in our Animals in Literature series. This series aims to explore the origins, conventions, and meanings we find in stories featuring anthropomorphic animals. Joining me today is Elizabeth Hardy for the first in our multi-part conversation about the beloved Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.          Elizabeth is instructor of English at western North Carolina's Mayland Community C...

Welcome to Episode One in our series Animals in Literature. This series aims to explore the origins, conventions and meaning found in stories featuring anthropomorphic animals. How the beloved fables and literary masterpieces featuring animals who live and talk as humans do blur the lines between childhood and adulthood while holding up a mirror to our humanity.        Joining me today is a return...

Welcome to Episode Eighteen in our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series. Today's conversation explores the transformation of Smeagol into Gollum, and entertains the possibility that maybe Smeagol found his way back to the light at the bottom of the fires of Mt. Doom... Leah Holser returns for her second appearance on The Plunge. Enjoy our spirited discussion of the implications of discovering the...

Welcome to Episode Seventeen in our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series. Today's conversation shines the spotlight on the dark lord himself, SAURON.          Turner Burnett returns for his third appearance on The Plunge. We explore the meaning and nature of evil, Sauron's backstory, the power of the Ring, and the eternal temptation of mortal men.           Turner Burnett is a husband, father, wri...

Welcome to Episode Sixteen in our Tolkien's Greatest Characters series. Today's conversation shines the spotlight on two central characters in the Fellowship: Boromir & Gimli.       My guest, Chris Tansey, shares how each character has inspired him at different points in his life, and offers us a deeper appreciation for literary figures in our lives.          Chris Tansey is a middle school En...