In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the reintegrated life in a disintegrated world, the law of the jungle vs. the ministry of reconciliation, what’s caught instead of taught, seeking peace by loving people instead of ideas, the paradox of love & power, and the good earthiness of vegetables.

What We’re Reading:

• The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula LeGuin
• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
• The Book of Hours by Rainer Maria Rilke

Next episode we will be discussing Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the role of college professors in book enjoyment, the profundity of childlike faith, the need for unconditional connection, the loneliness and heartache of the world, the power of simple acts of kindness, feelings too big for our bodies, and the sweet tartness of a Florida staple.

What We’re Reading:

• Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford
• The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon
• The Last Gentleman by Walker Percy
• Providence by John Piper

Other Mentions:

• Song Exploder Podcast
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Rich Mullins - "We're Not as Strong as We Think We Are"
• Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

Next episode we will be discussing Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan travel to Middle Earth to discuss the role of the common man in the fight against evil, worlds born from words, the emboldening of virtue, the imminent approach of glory, the purpose of silly hobbit songs, and what makes a story timeless.

Other Mentions:

• Beowulf

Next episode we will be discussing The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the “If Only” feeling, beauty in the midst of bleakness, the call to adventure, the cost of idealism, director’s cut conspiracies, and the idiocy of semicolons.

What We’re Reading:

• Letters to a Diminished Church by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays by C.S. Lewis
• Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

Other Mentions:

• “All the Pretty Little Horses” (lullaby)
• “All the Wild Horses” by Ray Lamontagne
• Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• Psalm 107

Next episode we will be discussing The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the scandal of grace, beautifully hyperlinked symbolism, the cosmic story arc, the nature of true value, the power of chocolate kisses, and the polite consumption of buttermilk.

What We’re Reading:

• Stoner by John Williams

• The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

• The Iliad by Homer

Other Mentions:

• Psalm 131

Next episode we will be discussing All the Wild Horses by Cormac McCarthy. We hope you join us!

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss our thought-tormented age, early 20th century Irish politics, the polarizing Modernist legacy of James Joyce, the magic of Thin Places, the tension between a blaze of passion and a life of long fidelity, and whether or not it’s ok to bake a little baby Jesus into your King Cake for this year’s Epiphany Feast.

Mentioned in this episode:

• In Defense of Sanity by GK Chesterton
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre
• You Are not Your Own by Alan Noble
• Thin Places
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
• The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
• “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace

In this special Yuletide episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the supremacy of It’s a Wonderful Life, the clash of Two Kingdoms, Dickens’s delight in language, the role of repentance & remembrance in true conversion, the call for a renaissance in heartfelt sentiment, and the coziness of mulled wine.

Mentioned in this episode:

• It’s a Wonderful Life (dir. Frank Capra)
• Adaptations of A Christmas Carol (Wiki page)
• G.K. Chesterton’s Introduction to A Christmas Carol (1922)
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Join us next episode where we will discuss the short story The Dead by James Joyce.

*Due to some technical difficulties, you may notice poor sound quality at times during this episode. We apologize for the inconvenience and will have the issue resolved for subsequent episodes*

Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry

Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra