The Christian Humanist Podcast

David Grubbs moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about dystopian fiction, mainly novels. After establishing the relationships between utopian and dystopian texts, the trio digs into the peculiarly modern conditions that yield this postmodern genre, digging into the marks of the really good and the notably bad specimens of dystopia. Among the texts, writers, and other realities discusssed are 1984, Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale, The Hunger Games, William Gibson's Cyberspace trilogy, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Handmaid's Tale, and Atlas Shrugged.

Michial Farmer moderates a conversation with David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour on the Crusades, the wars of European Christians against Muslims, Jews, and Eastern Christians in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. Starting with the wars that preceded Pope Urban's famous sermon and moving forward through a century and a half, the discussion explores the theological as well as the social realities surrounding the first, third, and children's crusades before discussing the rhetorical character of "Crusades" in twenty-first century Christian discourse.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and David Grubbs about Flannery O'Connor. A favorite of the academy and of Christian readers, O'Connor presents a vision of reality where the spirit and human agency are just as real as social forces, a revolt of sorts against much fiction of the mid-twentieth century. Among the stories and essays discussed are "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," "The Grotesque in Southern Fiction," "Revelation," and "Good Country People."

David Grubbs moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about the history and genre of the sermon. Beginning with Biblical examples and moving into the patristic and medieval periods, the conversation involves both sermon-speakers and sermon-hearers as we discuss what happens when a sermon gets preached. Among the texts, preachers, and other realities discussed are "A Divine and Supernatural Light," John Chrysostom, Launcelot Andrews, revision, and the lectionary.

Michial Farmer moderates a conversation with David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour about death as a concept, running from Biblical takes on death (there are several) and running from Greco-Roman to existentialist conceptions of human demise, with a significant spell spent on the transition from medieval memento-mori traditions into Enlightenment conceptions of medicine as exclusively the art of staving off death. Among the texts, writers, and other realities discussed are Psalm 90, the death of Bede, the death of Caedmon, Tom Paine's "The Age of Reason," Heidegger's "Being and Time," and Paradise Lost.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and David Grubbs about chess. Long regarded as the mark of an educated person, skill in chess requires, as the Humanists discover, both a strong grasp of mathematical possibilities and a keen awareness of contingency as the character of human reality. Among the texts, artists, and other realities engaged are the Ruy Lopez chess manual, T.S. Eliot, the Hardy Boys, Thomas Middleton, Garry Kasparov, the etymology of "checkmate," and The Wire.

David Grubbs moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about some of the Federalist Papers dealing with the presidency. At the heart of the discussion is the gradual evolution of the office in response to technological and other social changes, most notably the rise in the twentieth century of the standing army. Among the writers, texts, and other realities we take on are Alexander Hamilton, Janissaries, standing militaries, the presidential pardon, and Barbary Pirates.

Michial Farmer moderates a conversation with David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour about some of the Federalist Papers dealing with the House of Representatives and the Senate. After a discussion of relationships between constitutional and casuistic law, the Humanists delve into the particularly Madisonian character of the bicameral legislature, making sure to praise the Enlightenment and take swipes at current Congressmen along the way. Among the texts and other realities discussed are the Constitution, K Street, the First Amendment, the House, and the Senate.

Nathan Gilmour moderates the first of three conversations with David Grubbs and Michial Farmer about the Federalist Papers. Some of the best artifacts of political philosophy from the founding of the republic, this week's newspaper articles dig into questions of standing armies; states' sovereignty and national identity; and the roots and control of political factions. Listen in and hear the Humanists say nice things about the Enlightenment!

David Grubbs moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about the ocean, the sea, and other large bodies of salty water. Digging into the Greco-Roman and Northern-European etymologies before exploring mythological and other literary representations, the trio talks about teh modern oceanographic picture of things as another, interesting, rhetorical presentation of the same reality. Among the texts, artists, and other realities we discuss are Homer, Hokusai, Moby Dick, Dante, Captains Courageous, Debussy, and the rhetoric of science.

Michial Farmer moderates a discussion with David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour about realism, a term so nebulous that even literary reference books don't like it. In the course of things we talk about medieval and modern connotations of the word as well as how modern realism spans architecture, painting, sculpture, music, fiction, and all sorts of interesting media. Among the texts, artists, and other realities we discuss are Stephen Crane, Manet, Debussy, Ranke, Henry James, and Dreiser.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a discussion with Michial Farmer and David Grubbs about pirates, those maurauding sea-robbers who have been with the human race ever since we figured out to move valuable things across the water. At the core of our discussion is the tension between the free-spirited folk hero most recently celebrated in Jerry Bruckheimer movies and the actual, brutal criminals that history give us. Among the pirates, artifacts, and other matters discussed are Treasure Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, Blackbeard, privateering, Tortuga, and Han Solo.

David Grubbs moderates a discussion of Dr. Nathan Gilmour's dissertation Ethical Succession, an exploration of theology and literature. We take on the question of literature as theology, ponder whether Nathan was entirely unfair to Luther and Calvin, and talk about the process of writing and defending a doctoral dissertation. Among the writers, texts, and concepts discussed are Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, The Rape of Lucrece, David Bentley Hart, Plato, Luther, Calvin, and Erasmus.

Nathan Gilmour hems and haws for eleven minutes, responds to some listener feedback, and otherwise makes a fool of himself. Apologies for the bad sound quality--this didn't go through Michial Farmer.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a discussion with David Grubbs and Michial Farmer about the transition from being a graduate student to being a faculty member. Drawing on the previous academic year, in which David and Michial joined the ranks of small Christian colleges, the discussion ranges from escaping the departmental "silo" to establishing a persona not as someone who's going to be a professor some day but who is one now. Among the realities discussed are dissertation writing, committee work, teaching loads, becoming a guiding force for an intellectual community, and why David Grubbs has such a cool office.

Michial Farmer moderates a discussion with Nathan Gilmour and David Grubbs about some really terrible movies that claim to be based on some really good books. After trash-talking some real duds, the trio discusses what it means to appropriate a book for the screen and even some of the films and TV series that do so especially well. Among the films discussed are Beowulf, Branaugh's Hamlet, Troy, Robin Hood, King Arthur, Contact, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Demi Moore's The Scarlet Letter.

Nathan Gilmour and Michial Farmer chat about David Brooks's 2001 essay "One Nation, Slightly Divisible" and the political metaphors of "red" and "blue" America that arose in its wake. At stake in our discussion is the extent to which regional-level sociological analysis emerges from observation and the extent to which it frames observation. Among the texts and other interesting entities discussed are "One Nation, Slightly Divisible," college towns, Mitt Romney, John Kerry, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Al Gore. (Wow. We really did get political this time!)

Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour hold forth abut Fyodor Dostoevsky's grand novel The Brothers Karamazov. We dig into the main characters (and every character is a main character in Dostoevsky), the big questions of atheism and miracles, and the consequences of atheism. Among the scenes, characters, and other artifacts discussed are The Grand Inquisitor, Ivan as Christian Atheist, Alyosha the compelling Christian character, and the devil.

Nathan Gilmour and Michial Farmer hold forth abut George Marsden's 1997 book The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship. The main points of discussion are the extent to which the academy that Marsden saw in 1997 has persisted in the fifteen years since and what has changed; the difficulties of prognosticating change in college; and ways and extents to which Christian scholars are making their mark now. Among the writers and artifacts discussed are George Marsden, James Berlin, digital journals, and the Golden Rule.

Michial Farmer moderates a discussion with David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour (until Gilmour has to leave for a meeting) about the genre autobiography, its roots, and what separates the good ones from the mediocre ones. At stake in our discussion are the problems of presenting one's own self and the narration of interiority, and along the way we also dig into questions of the ways in which memoirs should be true. Among the writers and artifacts discussed are Augustine's Confessions, The Autobiography of Ben Franklin, Jean Jacques Rousseau, A Million Little Pieces, and the difference between autobiography and memoir.

David Grubbs moderates a discussion with Michial Farmer and David Grubbs about Dante, specifically about some of the background and context that makes Dante a more enjoyable read. We take on the theology, philosophy, poetry, and other influences on the Florentine poet, and we include in the discussion those works after Dante that shed light retrospectively. Among the writers and artifacts discussed are Virgil, Aristotle, St. Thomas, T.S. Eliot, and Hart Crane.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a conversation with David Grubbs and Michial Farmer about about the documentary hypothesis, a tool that Bible scholars have used, abused, and disputed for some hundred and thirty years. At stake are the character of Biblical inspiration and the operation of God in the world, and we have a good discussion not only about historical reactions to the theory but also regarding the theological ramifications. Among the writers and artifacts discussed are The Fundamentals, Prolegomenon to the History of Israel, and Biblical Scholarship.

Michial Farmer moderates a conversation with David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour about about patience, the length of will that Aristotle linked to anger and Paul to persecution. Perhaps the most troubled of the three virtues that we've discussed so far, much of our conversation has to do with why we always feel the need to apologize for patience. Among the writers and artifacts discussed are Job, Aristotle, the Stoics, Fabius Maximus, Chaucer's Clerk's Tale, and Galatians.

David Grubbs moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about about valor or courage, the virtue of responding well in the face of onrushing danger. Beginning with the grammar of the Hebrew stative verb (it's related, we promise), the conversation moves through medieval conceptions and on into the possibility or impossibility of courage in a world of mechanized war and standing armies. Among the writers and artifacts discussed are Joshua (the biblical book), Summa Theologica, Tolkien, Tennyson, Wilfred Owen, Camus, and the Iliad.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a conversation with David Grubbs and Michial Farmer about about humility, that particularly Christian virtue that was a vice to the Greeks and a rot to Nietzsche. The conversation situates medieval conceptions of humility as syntheses of Pauline and Aristotelian teachings and proposes that precisely such a robust medieval moral philosophy stands to correct both the abuses of imposed "humility" and late-modern critiques of the same. Among the texts and thinkers discussed are Philippians, Summa Theologica, Nietzsche's The Antichrist, The Lord of the Rings, Walt Whitman, and Paradise Lost.

Michial Farmer moderates a conversation with David Grubbs and Dr. Nathan Gilmour about epistemology, the philosophical investigation of how we know what we know. A central concern of philosophy since the 17th century and a valid question before that, epistemology comes in a definite range of options. Among the thinkers and ideas discussed are Plato, Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Pierce, Kuhn, and micro-fairies.

David Grubbs moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and David Grubbs about the hero's companion, a figure known in modern comic books as the sidekick. Whether spurring ancient heroes on to great deeds or providing the reader a surrogate in modern fiction, the sidekick is always good for a helping hand (or, in the case of children's movies, actually to save the day). Among the texts and other artifacts discussed are Beowulf, Gilgamesh, The Iliad, the Lone Ranger, Teen Titans, Huckleberry Finn, and Big Trouble in Little China.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a discussion with David Grubbs and Michial Farmer about the Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The strong development of nationalism, a deep love for the imagination, the cult of the artist as solitary individual, and other developments stay with us even today. Among the artists, artifacts, and other stuff discussed are the American and French Revolutions, the Enlightenment, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Grimm Brothers, Lord Byron, the artist's biography and its importance to the Romantics, and other such things.

Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour discuss Phillip Cary's book Good News for Anxious Christians, a popular-press theology book dedicated to countering what Cary calls "The New Evangelicalism." Focusing on their own interactions with high school and college students in the evangelical world, the hosts talk about Cary's particularly timely warnings against moral irresponsibility and the anxiety that comes when consumerism gets together with Christian piety.

Nathan Gilmour and Michial Farmer discuss Scott Crider's book The Office of Assertion, a composition textbook rooted in classical rhetorical traditions. Moving freely between their own teaching practices and the differences between classical and contemporary educational theory, the discussion digs into Aristotle's responses to Plato, the Renaissance of classical rhetoric as a response to rhetoric's decline in the academy, and other matters of education and rhetoric.

Michial Farmer gives a rundown of the best music from the year 2011.

David Grubbs recites the new Christmas classic, the Saint Nicholas Smackdown.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a discussion on the Christmas classic "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. Along the way the discussion ranges from philosophical and literary backgrounds all the way to whether Dickens is an agent of secularization when it comes to the Christian holiday. Among the writers and ideas discussed are Thomas Malthus, Pliny the Younger, Tiny Tim, Genesis, Christ among the children, and when ghosts started carrying chains around.

Michial Farmer moderates a discussion with David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour about what books they'd bring with them if they were stranded on a desert island. So that the description doesn't give away the books, this text shall end here.

David Grubbs moderates a discussion with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about the world of the academic conference, digging into their antecedents, their peculiarities, and why Gilmour doesn't much like them. The last third of the episode is dedicated to dreaming up better ways to do conferences. Among the ideas, people, and stereotypes we dig into are Plato's Symposium, the Royal Society, the MLA, the blustering pedant, the perpetual sneer, and the academic conference's drinking problem.

Nathan Gilmour moderates the beginning of a discussion with David Grubbs and Michial Farmer (Gilmour had a meeting to make, so the others finished it up) about environmentalism, Christian responses to the same, literary treatments of the natural world, and other groovy stuff. Among the texts and ideas discussed are Genesis, Romans, Augustine, Leonardo da Vinci, Baruch Spinoza, and naive city-slicker environmentalists.

Michial Farmer apologizes for some technical difficulties that have prevented this week's episode from airing and announces some plans for the immediate future.

Michial Farmer and Nathan hold forth on Reality Television, demonstrating once more Gilmour's lack of connection with pop culture. We take on the origins in the documentary format, the shift from documentary's high self-regard to reality TV's self-awareness as entertainment, and discuss why it's alright (according to Farmer) to mock a divorce if it's a Kardashian divorce. Among the TV shows, thinkers, and other ideas we take on are An American Family, The Real World, The Weakest Link, The Soup, Survivor, conservative localism, celebrity narcissism, Mythbusters, and Project Runway.

David Grubbs moderates a discussion with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about the apocalypse, apocalyptic literature, and otherwise about the end of things. Working our way from Biblical apocalyptic to modern-day end-of-the-world stories, we focus on the assumed philosophies of history that inform each sort of apocalyptic. Among the texts, ideas, and writers we discuss are Revelation, Daniel, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Dante's Purgatory, Shakespeare's Henry V, Walker Percy's Love in the Ruins, and WALL-E.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a discussion with Michial Farmer and David Grubbs about the Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound, traditinally attributed to Aeschylus. Prometheus is a character whose career makes sense in the context of Greek henotheism, becomes unintelligible at the height of Christian literary sensibility, and makes a comeback in some interesting ways as modernity overtakes classical Christianity as the dominant intellectual context in literature. Among the texts, writers, and ideas we discuss are Aeschylus, Boethius, Dante, Milton, Shelley, the New Atheism, and Dostoevsky.

Michial Farmer moderates a discussion with David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour about Athenian tragedian Euripides and two of his plays. Euripides is the "bad boy" among Greek playwrights, and we talk a bit about his strange biography before digging into his horrendous pictures of gods. Among the texts, writers, and ideas we engage are comedians as biographers, deus ex machina, gods as allegories, Platonic and Aristotelian readings of tragedies, and Melville.

David Grubbs moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about Greek tragedy as a genre and specifically about Sophocles, the most-read artist in the genre. Along the way we focus on the broad range of readings that Sophocles has inspired, all the way from Aristotle to Freud. Among the texts, writers, and ideas we discuss are Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Aristotle's Poetics, Freud's Interpretation of Dreams, Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a discussion with David Grubbs and Michial Farmer about Internet discourse, the vices that seem to inhere in Internet exchanges, and why a long online discussion is probably at some point going to involve Hitler. Although technology is always on the table, rhetoric is really the name of the game. Among the writers, ideas, and other bad habits we discuss are psychologizing one's opponent, posting manifestos on Facebook, making people into devils, exhibiting classical virtue in online life, and acknowledging just how wise John Mark Reynolds can be when he gets Platonic on your head.

Michial Farmer moderates a discussion with (Comrade) Nathan Gilmour and (Ayatollah) David Grubbs about the strange relationships between political parties and Christian confession in America. One of the central questions (that we try really hard to answer) is whether and to what extent partisan identity stunts moral reasoning. Among the ideas and phenomena we discuss are the U.S. Constitution, the Abolition movement, the Social Gospel, Focus on the Family, whether or not the current Christian Left deserves that title, and some suggestions for how Christians can relate to political parties.

David Grubbs moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about the history, role, and changing face of libraries. Our conversation involves, among other things, Farmer debunking yet another myth about the American founders and Gilmour telling a story involving Touret's Syndrome and a colostomy bag. Among the writers, libraries, andother interesting bits we discuss are Bede, Ben Franklin, academic databases, public libraries, seminary libraries, and the Internet's relationships with modern libraries.

nNathan Gilmour moderates a discussion with Michial Farmer and David Grubbs about civil wars, starting with the Absalom revolt (which seldom gets called a civil war) and ending with the Sunni/Shi'ite conflicts in Iraq (which erroneously get called civil wars, according to Grubbs). Along the way we wrestle with the tensions between the duty to one's countrymen and dedication to ideas and individuals that characterize each such struggle. Among the wars, people, and other artifacts that we discuss are the Roman Civil War, the English Civil War, the American Civil War, and Hank Williams Secundus.

Michial Farmer moderates a discussion with David Grubbs and Nathan Gilmour about the fascinating period known as the Enlightenment. Using the theme of compartmentalization, the Humanists attempt to articulate connections between the scientific, philosophical, political, and religious tendencies of thinkers between the late seventeenth and the early nineteenth centuries. Among the texts, ideas, and intellectuals we discuss are Rene Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Adam Smith, David Hume, John Locke, Isaac Newton, Immanuel Kant, Emanuel Swedenborg, and Jonathan Edwards.

David Grubbs moderates a conversation with Michial Farmer and Nathan Gilmour about intellectuals within the Church, some of the ways that intellectuals have related to the Church, and some suggestions about how intellectuals might relate to the Church. We take on the advantages and the drawbacks of the monk, the hermit, and the philosopher-king models along the way, and Gilmour manages to alienate church-planters one more time. Among the texts, authors, and ideas discussed are Plato, Milton, Emerson, Pope Gregory the Great, John Calvin, church planting, and congregational life.

Nathan Gilmour moderates a conversation with David Grubbs and Michial Farmer about... the Christian Humanist Podcast! We recount the roots of the show, the sorts of episodes that we tend to record, and the fights that always seem to show up when people write nice things about our show. Among the ideas and episodes we discuss are the curator episodes, the triptychs, the Christian Humanist Blog, and the future of the project. See www.christianhumanist.org for an index, by episode number, of the shows discussed.

Michial Farmer moderates a discussion with Nathan Gilmour and David Grubbs about Nathan's recent book Theological Dramatics: Two Christological Case Studies. Along with some discussions of John Milton's Paradise Regained and Aemelia Lanyer's Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (the two texts that the book discusses), the conversation ranges into the relationships between poetry, sermon, and criticism; and church and academy. Among the texts, ideas, and writers that we discuss are John Milton, Aemeila Lanyer, the possibility of Christian literary criticism, New Historicism, and Jesus poems.