The Optimistic Curmudgeon

Faith, Fantasy, and the Imagination, with Brent Weeks (8x6)

Bestselling author Brent Weeks explains how he got into writing, from where he draws inspiration, how he builds characters, and details hidden in the Night Angel trilogy, the Lightbringer series, and the Kylar Chronicles. Brent comments on issues in modern publishing, Brandan Sanderson, and in general welcomes viewers into his world as an author. Brent is one of the best living fantasy authors; he is deeply shaped by C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and his years at Hillsdale College. How do you write strong female characters with authentic femininity? What advantages are there to writing male characters for reading men? Where does Dante come in? As a sincere, convictional Christian, Brent writes excellent mainstream epic fantasy. Don't miss his story about publisher responses to Kip the Brave being fat!

Links to Brent's Books:

Night Angel - https://shorturl.at/N8QCN

Lightbrigner - https://shorturl.at/qU92o

Kylar Chronicles - https://shorturl.at/KYqtq

Brent's website - https://www.brentweeks.com/

Sponsor Links:

America's Christian Credit Union - https://americaschristiancu.com/personal/ 

 

C.S. Lewis and Communication - with Dr. Steve Beebe (8x5)

Dr. Steve Beebe, author a variety of communication textbooks and discoverer of a Lewis project co-written with Tolkien about language, discusses C.S. Lewis's methods of communicating in both written and verbal communication. Beebe argues that Lewis followed five habits that helped him be a powerful communicator. We too can learn to communicate like C.S. Lewis.

Here is Dr. Beebe's book, C.S. Lewis and the Craft of Communication - https://www.amazon.com/C-S-Lewis-Craft-Communication/dp/1433172348

Sponsor Links America's Christian Credit Union - https://americaschristiancu.com/personal/

 

Marriage, Contraception, and Modernity: A Conversation with Dr. Michael Ward on C. S. Lewis and THS (8x4)

Dr. Michael Ward discusses his essay in Life on the Silent Planet: Essays on Christian Living from C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy. The conversation focuses on themes of marriage, contraception, and Lewis's cosmological mythology. Lewis predicted so many of our modern ills, and Dr. Ward's research helps us reckon with the woes of modernity. Dr. Ward walks us through the history of contraception within Protestant theological consideration, and then traces Lewis's engagement with those ideas in Abolition of Man and That Hideous Strength.

Link to Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis - https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Narnia-...

Link to After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's Abolition of Man - https://www.amazon.com/After-Humanity...

Link to Life on the Silent Planet: Essays on Christian Living from C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Silent-Pl...

Sponsor Link

Many thanks to the C.S. Lewis Institute for sponsoring this episode! Check out their Fellowship here: https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/fell...

The C.S. Lewis Institute Fellows Program offers a year of intensive discipleship that leads to significant life-change. Unlike many discipleship programs, the Fellows program focuses on discipleship of both heart and mind. It involves Bible Study, classic readings, lectures, group processing, personal spiritual mentoring and accountability – all in the context of a small group of like-minded believers. This year-long program is designed for those who want to live as fully committed disciples of Jesus Christ and make an impact for Him in the world.

Lewis, Love, and Lear: A Conversation with Dr. Sarah Waters (8x3)

Dr. Sarah Waters explains Lewis's love for Shakespeare, and the conversation focuses on King Lear as an inspiring source source text. She traces Lewis's use of Hamlet and King Lear, with an eye towards the theme of love in Lewis's thought. Waters proves that the better we know Shakespeare, the more easily we see what Lewis is doing.

Follow Dr. Waters on X at @srawaters

Resource mentioned in the show: "Lewis, Lear, and The Four Loves" in An Unexpected Journal (Dec. 14, 2022): https://anunexpectedjournal.com/lewis-lear-and-the-four-loves/

Sponsor Links America's Christian Credit Union - https://americaschristiancu.com/personal/ 

Life on the Silent Planet - with Rhys Laverty (8x2)

Rhys Laverty, Senior at Ad Fontes, Senior Managing Editor at Davenant Press, and Director of Communications at the Davenant Institute, describes his work on Life on the Silent Planet: Essays on Christian Living from C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy. Rhys explains the need for a volume of literary essays on Lewis's Ransom Trilogy, his experience beginning to read Lewis seriously, and then explains three approaches to pleasure highlighted in Perelandra. The Ransom Trilogy, Rhys argues, has direct bearing on helping Christians follow Christ more closely.

Mentions in episode:

Life on the Silent Planet Amazon purchase link: https://shorturl.at/QM68d

Davenant Institute: https://davenantinstitute.org/

Follow Rhys on X here - https://x.com/RDLaverty 

Sponsor Links

America's Christian Credit Union - https://americaschristiancu.com/personal/ 

The Re-Enchanting Inklings, with Dr. Josh Herring (8x1)

Josh Herring introduces Season 8 of The Optimistic Curmudgeon as a themed season around the idea of re-enchantment as modeled by the Inklings. He argues that the most important move Conservatives can make in this moment, when the Right is ascendant, is to rediscover how to tell excellent stories. C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Owen Barfield remind us that through stories we rediscover the complexity of reality.

Sponsor Links America's Christian Credit Union - https://americaschristiancu.com/personal/ 

The Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation - with James Orr (7x10 - season finale!)

Dr. James Orr discusses his friendship with Sir Roger Scruton, his work with the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, philosophy, and theology. It's a marvelous conversation that covers a breadth of topics. Enjoy! Topics of conversation include:

- Islam and the West

- The Face of God

- Fighting Communists by teaching philosophy in Hungary

- Scrutopia

- CS Lewis, friendship, and The Four Loves

- Architecture and "Building Better, Building Beautiful"

- Wine, terroir, and place

- The origin story of the Roger Scruton Legacy

- The relationship between Sir Roger and practical politics

- Performing Sir Roger's opera!

- Scruton's ecology

- JD Vance's VP debate

- The impact of overturning CHEVRON on the EPA

- Jordan Peterson winning the Scruton Prize

- Is Jordan Peterson a conservative? Is he a Christian? Thoughts on He Who Wrestles with God?

- How do function and essence relate in the perception of beauty? - Protestants and beautiful churches

- Why have the Scruton lecture become the Oakeshott lectures?

- Just how many books did Sir Roger write?

Find James Orr on X at  @jtworr .

Check out the work of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation here: https://www.scruton.org/

Thank you to America's Christian Credit Union for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to check out their website here: https://americaschristiancu.com/every/

 

God and Science - with Spencer Klavan (7x9)

Spencer Klavan of  @YoungHereticsShow  discusses his newest book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World. Does science actually support the idea of a godless universe? What happens to the universe when an intelligent mind is present? Why is a classicist writing a book about science? We get into all these questions, and a fun digression on theology, hermeneutics, and #evolution. Great conversation!

Link to buy the book: https://shorturl.at/d7bNF

 

Choosing to Have Children and Defying the Birth Dearth - with Catherine Pakaluk (7x8)

Dr. Catherine Pakaluk tells the story behind her book Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth. The birth rate decline is not a result of policy changes, and cannot be fixed by policy. Dr. Pakaluk conducted a qualitative studying to discover why women choose to have large families. She describes her findings, and tells some of the stories from her research. There is a clear cost of having children, and the turning point for mothers came in seeing each child as a gift and being open to the gift of another child. This was a great conversation!

This episode is sponsored by the Acton Institute and their podcast, Acton Line. Acton Line is a weekly interview podcast from the Acton Institute featuring a wide variety of guests whose work and expertise help to move us toward a free and virtuous society. From theology and philosophy to economics and law, church and state to business and culture. Acton Line brings the Acton Institute’s unique synthesis of piety and technique to every sphere of life. For engaging and illuminating conversations that connect good intentions with sound economics subscribe to Acton Line on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify or anywhere else you listen to fine podcasts.

Links: Hannah's Children: https://shorturl.at/RfSKH

The Acton Institute: https://www.acton.org/

Acton Line: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_ufxTLt-Fs&list=PL2YhagjmWvB8HoOCzJ-tY-Y1CVqdC8wgn

 

America's Nuclear Future - with Emmet Penney (7x7)

Emmet Penney discusses America's failing electrical power grid, the possibilities of a nationwide network of nuclear power plants, and the way those power plants would restore dignity to the American workforce. Penney has opinions on which nuclear model should be template - listen to find out! We also briefly discuss his journey out of the Democratic Party, and hopes for what a Trump administration can do. We recorded this well before the 2024 election.

#nuclear #energy #politics #crisis #Electricity #TrumpAdministration

This episode is sponsored by America's Christian Credit Union - check them out here: https://americaschristiancu.com/every/

Emmet's Substack: https://nuclearbarbarians.substack.com/

Follow Emmet on X here: https://x.com/nukebarbarian