Episodes
6 days ago
6 days ago
"We are watchful for works written in a contemporary idiom that yet reach the roots of fundamental questions, that honor the almost three-thousand-year-long conversations committed to these questions, and that incite our hunger for the splendor of truth."
Masthead for Wiseblood Books
We are delighted to welcome to the podcast Mary Finnegan, deputy editor at Wiseblood Books, a small Catholic press which fosters works of fiction, poetry, and philosophy. In our episode today we discuss the process of publishing, how to strive for excellent in craft while encouraging new writers, and publishing as a vocation. We dive into Dana Gioia's essay "The Catholic Writer Today" and address the problems facing Catholic writing and publishing in our current times.
Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Mary Finnegan
Follow us on social media: @seekingwatson @maryraphaela
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast
Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com
Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast
Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod
Wiseblood Books: https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/
University of St Thomas: Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing
Dappled Things: https://www.dappledthings.org/
Works Mentioned
"The Catholic Writer Today" by Dana Gioia - Article in First Things
The Catholic Writer Today by Dana Gioia - Monograph by Wiseblood
Mystery and Manners by Flannery O'Connor
"Christianity and Poetry" by Dana Gioia - Article in First Things
Christianity and Poetry by Dana Gioia - Monograph by Wiseblood
Under Satan's Sun by Georges Bernanos
The Demons: A Double-Volume Novel by Heimito von Doderer
Seneca: The Madness of Hercules, Translated and Introduced by Dana Gioia
Memory's Abacus: Poems by Anna Lewis
Painting Over the Growth Chart: Poems, by Dan Rattelle
Works of Mercy by Sally Thomas
How to Think Like a Poet by Ryan Wilson
What We're Enjoying at the Moment
"A Theology of Fiction" by Cassandra Nelson
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Saturday Mar 30, 2024
The Spirit of Adventure in Swallows and Amazons
Saturday Mar 30, 2024
Saturday Mar 30, 2024
“What does the Lord want of me? Of course, this is always a great adventure, but life can be successful only if we have the courage to be adventurous, trusting that the Lord will never leave me alone, that the Lord will go with me and help me.”
– Pope Benedict XVI
For this episode of Risking Enchantment, Rachel and Phoebe discuss Arthur Ransome’s series of children’s books known as the Swallows and Amazons series. These books are full of wonder and imagination as well as practical detail, as they follow a group of children spending their holidays in the Lake District of northern England. The children sail, set up camp, climb mountains and have many delightful adventures. In our podcast discussion we explore the importance of this sense of adventure for both children and adults, and how this relates to our spiritual lives and how we embrace God’s plan for us. We discuss the balance of duty and responsibility with the sense of freedom that this kind of adventuring perspective brings, and we highlight the connection with Creation that can come from being out in nature.
Works mentioned in this episode
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome
Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Matilda by Roald Dahl
‘Swallows and Amazons for Ever!’ Slightly Foxed, by Jim Ring
Spe Salvi by Pope Benedict XVI
S2:9 EP18: Wonder in a Digital Age, Born of Wonder podcast
“Swallows, Amazons and Adventure, Part 1” by Jon Sparks
“Oxford Junior Dictionary’s replacement of ‘natural’ words with 21st-century terms sparks outcry”, The Guardian, Alison Flood
What We’re Enjoying at the Moment:
Phoebe: BBC’s Hildegard von Bingen - In Portrait (1994)
Rachel: Knitting
Sunday Mar 10, 2024
The Great Expectations and Romantic Ideals of Dickens's Heroes
Sunday Mar 10, 2024
Sunday Mar 10, 2024
“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”
- David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
We are joined for this episode of Risking Enchantment by Catholic author Eleanor Bourg Nicholson. Eleanor has previously published several Gothic novels including, A Bloody Habit (2018) and Brother Wolf (2021), with her latest novel Wake of Malice set to publish later this year.
In this episode we discuss our deep love of the novels of Charles Dickens. We explore three of his greatest works, David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby and Great Expectations, each of which follows a young male protagonist through the many adventures, triumphs and pitfalls of his life. In each case we look at the virtues and the failings of these heroes, the Romantic tropes that Dickens employs to characterize them, and the subversions of these that he uses, particularly in the case of Great Expectations.
Works Mentioned:
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Dickens: A Critical Study by G.K. Chesterton
David Copperfield: Ignatius Critical Edition (coming soon) by Charles Dickens
“The Age of Cant” by Theodore Dalrymple
What We are Enjoying at the Moment
Eleanor: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Rachel: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
This Mortal Coil: An Album of Loss and Subtraction, ‘Offerings’ by Typhoon
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
But if there’s nothing, if there’s nothing
Then what’s that song that keeps hounding me?
In the still dark of the morning
Just one more cradle down the creek
Au revoir my little memories
Then tell me: this is not your loss, this is your offering
- Wake, 'Offerings'
In this episode we are joined again by Shane Jenkins to discuss the album Offerings by Typhoon. Led by singer-songwriter Kyle Morton, the album is a fascinating, at times difficult, but ultimately transfixing examination of the end of a life. It follows various characters through the experience of dementia, sickness and death, allowing the listener to enter into that space through its rich musicality and lyricism. In our episode we pull out some of the imagery of the album, it's literary and biblical references and allusions and address its powerful and important themes.
Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Shane Jenkins
Follow us on social media: @seekingwatson @shanekins
Shane's Website: https://sjenkin46.wixsite.com/ipofollies/about
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast
Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com
Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast
Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod
Works Mentioned
Offerings by Typhoon
Hunger and Thirst by Typhoon
White Lighter by Typhoon
"Kyle Morton & Typhoon: In Conversation with Great Minds" — The DePaul Humanities Center
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
'Little Gidding', The Four Quartets, by T.S. Eliot
The Choruses from The Rock by T.S. Eliot
'The Hound of Heaven' by Francis Thompson
8 1/2, dir. Frederico Fellini
Lost in the Cosmos by Walker Percy
What We're Enjoying at the Moment
Shane:
Cargo by Pio Harnett
Rachel:
The Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
Poetic Vision: The Catholic Case for Everyday Poetry
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
Thursday Feb 08, 2024
Welcome back to Risking Enchantment! For our first episode of 2024, Rachel and Phoebe discuss the place that poetry has in our everyday lives, its importance in our faith, and why it’s good to learn poetry by heart. We highlight some of the poems that have been most impactful in our lives and spotlight some of the great resources for Catholics interested in poetry today.
Click here to browse Wiseblood Books.
Works Mentioned:
“Have it by Heart”, The Spectator by Douglas Murray
“Influences”, The Boston Review by Seamus Heaney
“Christianity and Poetry”, First Things by Dana Gioia
100 Great Catholic Poems by Sally Read
“America, and Fall, Needs Poetry”, The American Conservative by Katya Sedgwick
“Should Catholics care about poetry?”, Catholic News Agency, by Mary Farrow
“Catholics Need Poetry” Word on Fire by Andrew Tolkmith
“The Integral Humanism of Poetry,” Evangelisation and Culture by James Matthew Wilson
Poems Referenced:
“The Lovesong of J.Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
“A Christmas Childhood” by Patrick Kavanagh
“Wind” by Ted Hughes
“Advent” by Patrick Kavanagh
“Little Gidding” by T.S. Eliot
Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost
“The Road not Taken” by Robert Frost
“Oíche Nollaig na mBan” by Seán Ó Ríordáin
“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
“Ceasefire” by Michael Longely
“The Wasteland” by T.S. Eliot
Friday Dec 22, 2023
The Reed of God and the Potent Emptiness of Advent
Friday Dec 22, 2023
Friday Dec 22, 2023
"It is emptiness like the hollow in the reed, the narrow restless emptiness which can have only one destiny: to receive the piper’s breath and to utter the song that is in his heart." - Caryll Houselander
In our Christmas episode of Risking Enchantment, we are looking at a seasonal devotional classic, Caryll Houselander’s The Reed of God. This small book packs a powerful punch in its meditations on the humanity of Mary, the Mother of God. We discuss its themes of emptiness, the promise of fulfillment and the secrecy of God’s life growing within us. We reflect on how Christmas can be a time of both joy and grief, but that we can bear God into the world in all the small moments and acts of service in our lives.
We would like to wish all our listeners a very happy Christmas season. Risking Enchantment will return in February 2024.
Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson
Follow me on social media: @seekingwatson
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast
Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com
Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast
Works Mentioned:
The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander
A Rocking Horse Catholic by Caryll Houselander
“Reed of God”, Catholic Insight by Sarah Gould
“Journey of the Magi” by T.S. Eliot
“Into the Dark with God”, You Crown the Year with your Goodness by Hans Urs Von Balthasar
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
What We’re Enjoying at the Moment
Phoebe: Christmas Choral Concerts - The Dublin Bach Singers and Culwick Choral Society
Rachel: “Holy Ghost” and “Manna”, Manna Part: 1 by Chris Renzema
“52:10” and “The Color Green”, A Liturgy, A Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band by Rich Mullins
Principium by The Arcadian Wild
Sunday Dec 10, 2023
Childish or Childlike: Labyrinth and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Growing Up
Sunday Dec 10, 2023
Sunday Dec 10, 2023
After an unexpected hiatus, Risking Enchantment is back. In this episode we’re taking a look at some classic family movies and what they can tell us about our attitudes towards growing up, and our modern tendency to stay in a perpetual adolescence. We’re looking at the kingdom of Vulgaria in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where children are illegal but the toy maker is in high demand from the Baron and Baroness. We are also discussing Jim Henson’s Labyrinth where Sarah goes on a journey to leave behind some of her childish ways, and toys, in order to step up to her responsibilities and make new friends.
Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson
Follow me on social media: @seekingwatson
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast
Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com
Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast
Works Mentioned:
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Labyrinth (1986)
“You Have No Power Over Me”: When David Bowie Was Satan (A Tribute Of Sorts)
Childless society gone to the dogs, warns Pope
"On Three Ways of Writing for Children" by C.S. Lewis
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
"The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot
"How T.S. Eliot Predicted the Coming of Male Millennials"
"The Drift from Domesticity" by G.K. Chesterton
What We're Enjoying at the Moment
Phoebe: A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
Rachel: Offerings by Typhoon (album)
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
The Mystery and Manners of Flannery O’Connor
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
“Fiction is hard if not impossible to write because fiction is so very much an incarnation art…The fact is that the materials of the fiction are the humblest. Fiction is about everything human and we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn’t try to write fiction. It’s not a grand enough job for you.” - Flannery O’Connor
In this episode we are joined by Shane Jenkins to discuss the mystery of the author Flannery O’Connor. We delve into her personal writing, in her prayer journal, her letters and her essays, in order to try to understand her and her writing. Much touted for her Catholicism, nevertheless many readers, especially Catholic readers, struggle with the bleak and grotesque imagery in her writing. While the power of her fiction stands on its own, in this episode we take a look at how Flannery’s personality, so vivid in her personal writing, helps position and give context to her fiction in a way that opens it up for readers today.
Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Shane Jenkins
Follow us on social media: @seekingwatson @shanekins
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast
Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com
Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast
Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod
Works Mentioned
Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose by Flannery O’Connor
The Habit of Being by Flannery O’Connor
Prayer Journal by Flannery O’Connor
The Complete Short Stories by Flannery O’Connor
Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor
Bishop Barron Presents | Ethan and Maya Hawke - Understanding Flannery
Wildcat (2023)
Flannery O'Connor Collection, Word on Fire Classics
What We’re Enjoying at the Moment:
Shane:
Typhoon
The 1975
John Lucas
Rachel
The Bear
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
The Sublime Mystery of Thin Places: Numinous Experiences and Liminal Spaces
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
“The perfect stillness of the night was thrilled by a more solemn silence. The darkness held a presence that was all the more felt because it was not seen. I could not any more have doubted that He was there than that I was. Indeed, I felt myself to be, if possible, the less real of the two.”
—William James
In this episode of Risking Enchantment, we are delighted to welcome back Katie Marquette, host of the podcast Born of Wonder, to talk about the experience of liminal spaces, what it means to encounter the numinous, and how we interpret this in our lives of faith. We discuss the Eucharist as the meeting point between heaven and earth, but also the moments of the 'thinning of the veil' to be found in nature and even our own homes.
Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod
Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Katie Marquette
Listen to Katie’s podcast: Born of Wonder
Follow Rachel on social media: @seekingwatson
Follow Katie on social media: @bornofwonder
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast
Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com
Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast
Rachel was also previously a guest on the Born of Wonder podcast. To listen to that episode, click here: Falling in Love with Words: Nora Ephron and You’ve Got Mail with Rachel Sherlock
Works Referenced:
Born of Wonder: S4:9 EP51: The Lure of the Edge and Trying to Capture it
Born of Wonder: S4:10 EP52: Thin Places: Lifting the Veil Between Heaven and Earth
A Photographer at the Ends of the Earth
Thomas Joshua Cooper | The World's Edge
Rudolf Otto's 'Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans' of the Numinous Experience
The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis
'Effing the Ineffable' by Roger Scruton
Letters to Malcolm by C.S. Lewis
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
What We're Enjoying At the Moment:
Katie: Three Blind Mice by Agatha Christie
Rachel: House of David by Molly O'Mahony
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Rest and Recreation: Holidays and the Opportunity for Holiness
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
"The man on his holiday becomes the man he might have been, the man he could have been, had things worked out a little differently. All men are equal on their holidays: all are free to dream their castles without thought of expense, or skill of architect. Dreams based upon such a delicate fabric must be nursed with reverence and held away from the crude light of tomorrow week."
- R.C. Sherriff
For our first official episode back, Rachel and Phoebe reflect on the importance of holidays, and the unique opportunity they hold to show virtue and love for your family or fellow travelers. We discuss R.C. Sherriff's tender portrayal of the small family moments on their traditional trip to the sea in The Fortnight in September, and we return to Elizabeth von Arnim's The Enchanted April to look at how selfishness and a need to protect one's own experience and comfort takes away from the spirit of generosity necessary for a good holiday.
Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod
Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson
Follow me on social media: @seekingwatson
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast
Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com
Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast
Works mentioned:
The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
'The War on Holidays' Utopia of Usurers, by G.K. Chesterton
What's Wrong with the World by G.K. Chesterton
What we’re enjoying at the moment:
Phoebe: Evangelium Conference
Rachel: Open mic nights