Wade Center

Dorothy L. Sayers describe autobiography as "dangerous business" in The Mind of the Maker . To write one is either "a mark of great insensitiveness to danger or of an almost supernatural courage." In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss the autobiographies written by three and half of the Wade Center authors. What are the pitfalls of t...

Are miracles merely "a series of disconnected raids on Nature" or are they "the various steps of a strategically coherent invasion?" C.S. Lewis explores philosophical and historical arguments surrounding Biblical and contemporary accounts of signs and wonders in  Miracles: A Preliminary Study (1947). In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing discuss Lewis's fascinating book includi...

Less than a year after his conversion, C.S. Lewis wrote The Pilgrim's Regress in only two weeks while visiting his friend Arthur Greeves in Ireland. Lewis's thick landscape of literary allusions, quotes, and philosophical criticism has long thwarted interested readers. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to pull back the curtain on Lewis's al...

These days, discussions about demons and temptation are an uncommon occurrence—at least sober ones. In this week's episode, Dr. Jerry Root sits down with Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing to discuss The Screwtape Letters (1942) by C.S. Lewis. What inspired Lewis to write this series of letters from Screwtape to his nephew. Wormwood? And what can we learn about ourselves, temptation, and the slow a...

"Come further up and further in." After telling us of first things in The Magician's Nephew , Lewis finally reveals the last things—the end times—of Narnia. Join Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing as they conclude a seven-part series on The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. In this final episode, David and Crystal explore profound truths in The Last Battle about salvation, the selfish misuse of G...

The Magician's Nephew was one of the most difficult books for Lewis to finish in the Narnia series. Why? In this sixth Into Narnia episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing explore the wonder and dangers contained within  The Magician's Nephew . What inspired Lewis to write about Uncle Andrew, Jadis (the White Witch), the dying world of Charn, the Deplorable Word, the Wood Between the Worlds, and...

Aslan lies at the back of every story in Narnia. In the fifth novel in The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis weaves a tale of separated twins, mistaken identity, escaping slaves, vast desserts, and a desperate escape to the North. Join Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing as they discuss  The Horse and His Boy . This week David and Crystal sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to unpack Lewis's fascinatin...

Rillian and Puddleglum and Glimfeather, oh my! The unique cast of giants, gnomes, knights, and witches sets  The Silver Chair  by C.S. Lewis apart. Join Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing as they unpack the adventures of Eustace and Jill Pole in this fourth novel from The Chronicles of Narnia with Producer Aaron Hill. Follow along as the Downings unpack references to George MacDonald and Lilith , t...

"Where the waves grow sweet, Doubt not, Reepicheep, There is the utter East." This week Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to explore the meaning and message of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,  the third installment in the The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis . Join Crystal and David as they discuss the  Sehnsucht and sanctification, dragons and Dufflepuds, stars...

What can talking animals possibly teach us about evil, belief, and apostasy in this age of cynicism? Join Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing as the Wade Center Podcast continues to explore the meaning and message of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. This week David and Crystal sit down with Producer Aaron Hill for a fascinating discussion about Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia  and the na...

Why did C.S. Lewis, an Oxford professor, write children's books? And what is Father Christmas doing in Narnia? Join C.S. Lewis expert, Dr. David C. Downing (author of Into the Wardrobe ) and Dr. Crystal Downing as the Wade Center Podcast begins a seven-part series to explore the meaning and message of The Chronicles of Narnia. In this first episode, David, Crystal and Producer Aaron Hill journey i...

Can a detective novel without a grisly murder be any good? If Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers is any indication: Yes! In this episode, Dr. Crystal Downing—an expert on Sayers—sits down with Dr. David C. Downing and Producer Aaron Hill to discuss one of Sayers most unique, and perhaps best, novels. Crystal unravels the threads that make  Gaudy Night such a witty, deep, and insightful story. What i...

C.S. Lewis's last novel, Till We Have Faces , is nothing like the Chronicles of Narnia . It is perhaps Lewis's most complex, profound, and misunderstood work. Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing discuss this uniquely modern and meaningful novel with Producer Aaron Hill. How are we to interpret the actions of Orual and Pscyhe, and what is Lewis trying to say through the narrative and characters in Ti...

Is the Incarnation, like other miracles, a suspension or a reversal of the natural universe? Or, as Lewis writes in "The Grand Miracle," is it "the central chapter" of history such that "every miracle exhibits the character of the Incarnation"? Join Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing as they sit down with Producer Aaron Hill on this special Christmas Day episode to discuss the Incarnation of Jesus...

Over 100 years ago, the world was dealing with the aftermath of The Great War (and a terrifying global pandemic). In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss the life-changing impact of The Great War on each of the Wade authors, as well as the ways that World War I surfaces in novels such as  The Lord of the Rings  by J.R.R. Tolkien and  T...

Community has been hard to find in 2020. Lockdowns and travel restrictions have made it hard to connect. As we wrap up our second season, Crystal and David sit down with producer Aaron to remember our favorite episodes and celebrate the community we've enjoyed in 2020. Thank you to all the new listeners who have joined us in 2020! We look forward to 2021 and to all the great conversations we will...

Dorothy L. Sayers used edgy, often hilarious metaphors to shock people into seeing the truth of ancient Christian doctrines in a new light. In this week's episode, Dr. Crystal Downing talks with David and Aaron about her new book and how Sayers can help 21st-century Christians find new ways to talk and think about faith and culture. Purchase a copy of Subversive: Christ, Culture, and the Shocking...

Many Inklings fans know and love J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis both for their imaginary worlds (Narnia and Middle-earth)  and  for their legendary friendship. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Ron Reed —Founding Artistic Director of Pacific Theatre in Vancouver, BC—to discuss his play, Tolkien,  which dramatizes how Jack and Tollers became such close companion...

"Stand! Stand where you are ... ," C.S. Lewis bellows into the tape recorder. In this third installment of The Lost Lewis Tapes, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss the final novel in the Ransom Trilogy and to listen to excerpts of Lewis narrating Merlin's interrogation of Elwin Ransom from Chapter 13 of That Hideous Strength . Purchase and listen to all...

In a quiet room at the Kilns in August 1960, C. S. Lewis recorded three audio tracks on a portable reel-to-reel tape deck. In one of those tracks, Lewis reads from Perelandra for 27 minutes, narrating in a mesmerizing and confident voice Elwin Ransom's arrival on the watery planet Venus. In this second installment of The Lost Lewis Tapes, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aa...

Before he was known as a children's author, C.S. Lewis wrote science fiction. Listen to never-before-heard audio recordings of Lewis reading from his Ransom Trilogy in this exciting three-part series on Out of the Silent Planet ,  Perelandra and That Hideous Strength . In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss the first novel, Out of the...

Most Inklings fans see George MacDonald through the lens of C.S. Lewis. Others enter MacDonald's novels through diverse doorways. In this week's episode Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss this 19 th century Scots author. Why was George MacDonald so important to Lewis? Why is he considered controversial? Are his writings still relevant today?

Whether it is a game of Clue or an episode of Sherlock on the BBC, everyone loves to solve a good murder mystery. In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to put the detective fiction of Dorothy L. Sayers and G.K. Chesterton under a magnifying glass, and to interrogate their famous fictional sleuths, Lord Peter Wimsey and Father Brown.

If you are a serious C.S. Lewis fan, you likely know and love The Chronicles of Narnia, the Ransom Trilogy, and apologetics books such as  Mere Christianity.  But have you read The Discarded Image or An Experiment in Criticism ? In this week's episode, Dr. Jerry Root discusses his latest book,  The Neglected C.S. Lewis , with Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing. Jerry Root explains what we can learn...

Before he was famous for his books, C.S. Lewis was one of the most well-recognized voices in Britain because of his broadcasts on 'the wireless.' In this week's episode, Drs. Crystal and David C. Downing sit down with Producer Aaron Hill to discuss the radio broadcasts of Dorothy L. Sayers and C.S. Lewis, two of the first lay theologians invited to talk about Christianity on BBC Radio during World...