The Inklings Variety Hour

Oct 30 2024 100 ep. 52 mins 19
The Inklings Variety Hour Podcast artwork

Welcome to “The Inklings Variety Hour,” where fans and scholars discuss the lives and works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and the works and authors that inspired them.

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Camp Narnia: The Gangurru (Halloween Bonus-Camp Monsters Parody)

Oct 30 2024 26 mins  
Cryptids in Narnia! Parody of the excellent Camp Monsters podcast. Happy Halloween! [email protected]

From the Old Winyards: War In Heaven, Part 2 (Saturday Rerun)

Oct 25 2024 69 mins  
Another dip back into the old vaults for the second episode covering War in Heaven. Original shownotes: We begin this second part of our series on War in Heaven with the Archdeacon's words to the Holy Graal (yes, that's how it's spelled). We end as a Georgia thunderstorm knocks out the Internet. In between, we discuss Chapters 4-8 of Charles Williams' supernatural thriller. You ca

Operation Bungaree (Inkwell Chronicles Book 3)

Oct 21 2024 47 mins  
J.D. Peabody joins Chris once again, this time to talk about the third and (for now) final installment of his Inkwell Chronicles series: Operation Bungaree. Here's the link to the book from JD's page. We've still got a lot of episodes for Season 4. Thanks for the very kind five-star reviews! At the moment, it's all I can do to juggle my teaching load and editing/releasing twice

From the Old Winyards: War In Heaven, Part 1 (Saturday Reruns)

Oct 18 2024 58 mins  
Here's another Saturday rerun. Original shownotes here: This is the first of a series of conversations on Charles Williams' 1930 novel, War in Heaven, in which the Holy Graal (yes, that's how it's spelled here) is discovered in a tiny church in the English countryside. Hijinks and shenanigans ensue, along with a heavy dose of black magic, car chases, and ecumenism. You'll also find

From the Old Winyards: Is Narnia a Fairy-Story? (Saturday Rerun)

Oct 11 2024 84 mins  
An old favorite: This week, we follow up on our discussion of Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories" by applying some of his ideas to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. We're trying to assess whether (despite Tolkien's low view of it), Lewis' children's tale actually works as a Tolkienian "Fairy Story." Works mentioned include: On Fairy Stories The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe The B

Arthurian Torso

Oct 07 2024 69 mins  
Jonathan Geltner and Søri Higgins join Chris to discuss Arthurian Torso--a collection of Charles Williams' Arthuriana (his poems and a non-fiction book) edited by C.S. Lewis. We'll be discussing and reading a few favorite poems and marveling at what Williams managed to achieve. Stick around for some broad-brush critical history of Arthurian myth in general and speculation as to wh

From the Old Winyards: On Fairy Stories, Part 2: Recovery, Escape, Consolation (Saturday Rerun)

Oct 04 2024 65 mins  
Another episode from the vaults. Here's the original episode description: Join Anika, Meagan, and Chris for the second half of our discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories." Among other things, we talk about the nature of originality, the way that stories re-enchant and recover reality for us, the nature of true escapism and modernity, the Gift of Illuvatar and wheth

From the Old Winyards: Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories," Pt 1 (Saturday Rerun)

Sep 27 2024 87 mins  
Recovered from the deeps of time...

An Unexpected Podcast: On Hobbit Birthdays

Sep 22 2024 11 mins  
It's been too long since we've done podcasts on Tolkien. I thought I'd record a fairly off-the-cuff episode on Hobbit birthdays in light of Bilbo's and Frodo's shared birthday, September 22. I'm reading part of Tolkien's Letter 214, which is in response to A.C. Nunn (and never sent), who points out the discrepancy between Gollum expecting a birthday present and Hobbits giving prese

From the Old Winyards: Into the Wardrobe Pt 3 (Saturday Rerun)

Sep 20 2024 55 mins  
Blast from the Icy past! Original shownotes: The third and final installment of our conversation on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe enters some interesting territory as Chris, Anika, and Meagan explore Lewis's (inadvertent?) use of Aslan-as-Trickster imagery, proper Narnian politics, and kangaroos. Also witness the precise moment in which the trio realizes that Lewis may have