The Literary Life Podcast

Welcome back to The Literary Life Podcast and our series on Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. This week Angelina and Thomas discuss chapters 20-26, especially looking at the character of Bertha and the symbolism of "the woman in the attic." They talk more about the medieval idea of the well-ordered person in contrast to the person ruled by the passions, as well as how Bertha is a mirror for Jane's inner turmoil. Angelina highlights more ways in which we see glimpses of the stories of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella in this section, as well as a hint at Sleeping Beauty. Other ideas Thomas and Angelina bring out are the story of Griselda, Jane's journey of the soul, images of the Garden of Eden, and so much more! You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past. Find everything at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, where you can also sign up for the HHL newsletter to stay in the loop about all the latest happenings! You can pre-order Jason Baxter's new book Falling Inward in its revised and expanded 2nd edition now! Also, if you missed it, here is the podcast episode in which he shares more personal thoughts on how this book came to be. And to view the full show notes for this episode, head over to https://theliterary.life/322.

On The Literary Life Podcast this week, Angelina and Thomas cover chapters 13-19 of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Today's episode includes more discussion of the important symbols and images in these chapters. Angelina highlights the stories of Bluebeard, Beauty and the Beast, and Cupid and Psyche and their connections to this book. She and Thomas also talk about the trope of the "reformed rake" and how it relates to Brontë is setting up that possibility here. In these chapters we see more fire images, as well as several things that point to this story as a journey of the soul for both Jane and Mr. Rochester. You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past. Find everything at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, where you can also sign up for the HHL newsletter to stay in the loop about all the latest happenings! Don't forget to visit https://theliterary.life/321 for the full show notes for this episode!

On today's episode of The Literary Life Podcast with Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks, we continue our series on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Before jumping into chapters 6-12, Angelina and Thomas re-cap chapter 5 so that they can keep the entire Lowood School storyline together. They discuss the character of Helen and how she mirrors Jane, as well as the images of fire and ice throughout this book. In looking at the character of Miss Temple, they also highlight her as the picture of a well-ordered person. When Jane arrives at Thornfield, we find more fairy tale and Gothic novel elements, specifically the reference to the story of Bluebeard. Finally, when Mr. Rochester is introduced, Angelina shares some thoughts on the medieval understanding of the soul and the passions. Registration is now open for all year-long classes at The House of Human Letters! You can also check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past. Find everything at HouseofHumaneLetters.com. Please visit our podcast website for the full show notes on this episode: https://theliterary.life/320.

Welcome to The Literary Life Podcast with Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. This week we begin our much-anticipated series on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë! After sharing their commonplace quotes, Angelina and Thomas set the stage for this book by covering some of Charlotte Brontë's personal and literary background. Angelina points out some symbolic things that we will be looking for in this book, as well as the important fact that it is a journey story. They also discuss the history and characteristics of the Gothic novel. In discussing the first five chapters of Jane Eyre, Angelina again highlights repeated scenes that will show Jane's spiritual development throughout the story, while Thomas makes some comparisons of this book to other stories such as Mansfield Park and Pamela. You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past, at HouseofHumaneLetters.com. Click here to find the episodes we published covering Anne Brontë's book Agnes Grey. You can also listen to our series on Mansfield Park here. For the full show notes on this episode, including book links, today's poem, and commonplace quotes, please visit https://theliterary.life/319.

Today on The Literary Life podcast, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks are here to offer some helpful ideas for reading Shakespeare plays and how to approach the Bard. They start off sharing their own stories of first being exposed to Shakespeare. Next, Thomas and Angelina address the idea that Shakespeare is too high-brow for the ordinary reader. Angelina also gives her hot take on whether you should watch or read a Shakespeare play first. She also tells some stories about reading the Bard with her children and students. Some other helpful topics they cover are the different types of plays and their forms, the cosmology behind the plays, and potential problems with some modern interpretations of Shakespearean drama. Please visit our website to view the full show notes for this episode with links to previous episodes we have done on Shakespeare, as well as the books mentioned as resources in this discussion: https://theliterary.life/318. Join us back again here next week when we begin our series covering Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë! You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past, at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.

This week on The Literary Life podcast, we are excited to bring back a special episode from the vault: The Literary Life of Charlotte Mason! Along with Angelina, Thomas, and Cindy, we also have Donna-Jean Breckenridge and Karen Glass of the AmblesideOnline Advisory. They start the conversation by sharing who Charlotte Mason was and what her background was. Karen also talks about how and why Mason developed her practices and philosophy and her educational foundation, the PNEU. Donna-Jean mentions the interesting ephemera belonging to Charlotte Mason housed at the Armitt Museum in Ambleside. Finally, the talk turns to how widely Miss Mason read and how important books were to her throughout her whole life. You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past, at HouseofHumaneLetters.com. Registration is also opening on a rolling basis for Year-Long Classes over the next several weeks, so pop over there now to see what is coming up! Find the full show notes for this episode at https://theliterary.life/317 for all the book links, poem, and commonplace quotes!

On The Literary Life podcast this week, Angelina and Thomas are back with this second episode on the play Don Juan by Moliere. After sharing their commonplace quotes for this week, Thomas kicks off the discussion of the play with a definition of the farce and how it applies to this play. They share more notable passages of Don Juan as they highlight related literature and stories from across Europe, the archetypes and stock characters represented by Sganarelle, and the value of the comedic form. They also talk about other works that were influenced by this play. Don't forget to check out the complete show notes for this episode at https://theliterary.life/316.

Today on The Literary Life podcast, Angelina and Thomas begin a new series discussing Moliere's farcical play Don Juan. They open the discussion with some background on Moliere's plays in general, as well as other drama of this time period, then the origins of the story of Don Juan itself. After this introduction, Thomas and Angelina read some of the play and discuss some of the key characters and ideas presented in the opening acts. If you missed this year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human", you can still purchase the recordings at HouseofHumaneLetters.com. Don't forget that you can find the full show notes for this episode at https://theliterary.life/315.

On this "Best of The Literary Life" episode from the vault, our hosts discuss their favorite poems and poets. Cindy starts off by sharing the early influences on her developing a love of poetry. Thomas also shares about his mother reading poetry to him as a child and the poetry that made an impression on him as a child. Angelina talks about coming to poetry later in life and how she finally came to love it through learning about the metaphysical poets. Cindy and Thomas talk about the powerful effect of reading and reciting poetry in meter. Thomas also brings up the potential of hymn texts as beautiful, high-ranking poetry. From classic to modern, they share many poems and passages from their most beloved poetry, making this a soothing, lyrical episode. If you want to learn more, check out Thomas' webinar How to Love Poetry in addition to the Well Read Poem podcast archives. For the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/314.

On The Literary Life Podcast this week, Angelina and Thomas are pleased to have special guest Dr. Michael Drout joining them to discuss his book The Tower and the Ruin: J. R. R. Tolkien's Creation. Together they talk about the background for writing this book and who Drout intended his audience to be. They also share thoughts on the current academic trends and the state of the humanities and literary studies in higher education. Other topics they cover include high modernism, literary criticism, realism and fantasy, and critical reviews of Tolkien's work. Don't forget to share this episode with the hashtag #LitLifeTolkien on Facebook or Instagram to be entered to win a copy of The Tower and the Ruin! There is still time to join a few more live sessions of this year's Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. As always, these sessions are also recorded, so you can purchase lifetime access and view the past videos anytime! Finally, you can also still sign up for Dr. Michael Drout's "Viking and Old Norse Culture" and get the recordings for the opening classes you may have missed. For the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/313.

Welcome to an another great episode from the archives of The Literary Life podcast! This week we bring you an interview our hosts had with special guest Dr. Vigen Guroian, retired professor of Religious Studies and Orthodox Christianity at the University of Virginia and author of twelve book and numerous scholarly articles. Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks discuss with Dr. Guroian the new edition of his book, Tending the Heart of Virtue. They start out talking about how the first edition of this book came about, which leads into a discussion about the current approach to fairy tales and children's stories in both academia and the publishing industry. Other topics of conversation include the problem with reducing stories down to a moral, story as mystery, the place of fairy tales in classical education, and the Biblical literacy of the authors of fairy tales. Dr. Guroian also shares his thoughts on people like John Ruskin and Rudyard Kipling. Finally, he shares some suggestions on finding good editions of fairy tale collections. There is still time to register for this year's upcoming annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. To view the full show notes, including book links, visit https://theliterary.life/312.

This week on The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina and Thomas are joined by their friend and colleague Dr. Jason Baxter to talk about his newest book coming soon from Cassiodorus Press, Falling Inward. After sharing their commonplace quotes, Angelina asks Jason why he wanted to update and republish this work that he originally wrote several years ago. They discuss what is different about the idea of falling inward versus navel gazing, the role of the teacher in approaching literature in a humane way, why we should seek a pre-modern cosmology, what kinds of topics Jason explored in this book, and so much more! There is still time to register for this year's upcoming annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. You can view the full show notes for this episode at https://theliterary.life/311.

On this week's "Best of The Literary Life Podcast" episode, host Angelina Stanford is joined by friends and fellow readers Cindy Rollins, Emily Raible, and Jone Rose to discuss how to deal with overwhelm with your literary life. Angelina opens the conversation with the acknowledgment that everyone has moments when they feel overwhelmed by the amount of things to read and to know. Jone talks about how she tries to avoid comparing herself and her reading life to that of others. Emily shares her eye-opening understanding after starting out discouraged about being "behind" in her self-education journey. Cindy talks about how she has seen the Enemy twist something that is a good gift and made it into a negative. Other encouraging and helpful ideas they discuss are the following: motivation of making connections, how to work up to more challenging books, protecting your brain and attention span, learning to enjoy the feast, and continuing the literary life for the long haul. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. Finally, you can also sign up now for upcoming classes such as Dr. Michael Drought's "Viking and Old Norse Culture." For full show notes, including quotes, book links, and this week's poem text, please visit https://theliterary.life/310.

For this final episode of the 2025 season on The Literary Life Podcast, we bring you a special year-end conversation with Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks all about their year in reading. Thomas talks about how most of his reading was tied to classes he taught. Cindy and Angelina talk about the reasons they didn't read as many books as they usually do in a year. They share some of their favorite non-fiction reads of the year, books that surprised them, and fiction highlights. In the course of the conversation, our hosts also make several points about reading in the literary tradition and avoiding public judgment of other people's choices in books. The House of Humane Letters Christmas sale is still on! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. Finally, you can also sign up now for upcoming classes like "Abiding in the Fields: Spenser, Milton, and the Pastoral Poetic Tradition" taught by Dr. Anne Phillips, or Dr. Michael Drought's "Viking and Old Norse Culture." To check out the full show notes for this episode, including all the books referenced, please visit https://theliterary.life/309.

On this week's episode of The Literary Life, Thomas and Angelina bring you a preview of the books we will discuss on the upcoming season of the podcast. First, Angelina explains their approach to the podcast as they approach this next year, then she and Thomas share what literary topics and book discussions you can be looking forward to in 2026. In addition, if you are looking for a reading challenge created by our Friends and Fellows for 2026, you can find it on Patreon when you join for free! The House of Humane Letters Christmas sale is live now! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/308.

This week on The Literary Life podcast, we are dipping back into the archives to bring you a delightful conversation from 2019 in which our Literary Life podcast hosts chatted all about their past year in books, as well as what they hoped to read in the coming year. Cindy, Angelina and Thomas began by sharing some commonplace quotes from books they read in 2019. They discussed their strategies for planning their reading goals and how they curate their "to be read" lists. Each of our hosts also shared some highlights from their year in books. Angelina then introduced The Literary Life Podcast 20 for 2020 Reading Challenge. She talked about how to approach this reading challenge. Then our hosts talked a little about each category in the challenge and gave some of their possible book picks for the challenge. Cindy mentioned a list of Shakespeare's plays in chronological order. She also has a list of "Books for Cultivating Honorable Boys." Happening now–the House of Humane Letters Christmas sale! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. For the full show notes for this episode, including book links, quotes, and today's poem, please visit our website at https://theliterary.life/307.

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and one of our "best of" episodes from the vault! Due to the busyness of the holiday season, we thought this would be the perfect time to bring you a replay from our archives instead of starting a brand new book discussion series. This week, we re-air the inaugural episode of The Literary Life, in which Cindy and Angelina introduce the podcast and what they mean when they talk about having a "literary life." Each of them share how stories have shaped their personal lives, as well as how they believe stories have the power to shape culture. You can find and listen to the other 3 introductory episodes of The Literary Life mentioned in this replay at the links below- Episode 2: The Interview Episode Episode 3: The Importance of Detective Fiction Episode 4: Gaudy Night, Ch. 1-3 Happening now–the House of Humane Letters Christmas sale! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. Finally, you can also sign up now for upcoming classes like "Abiding in the Fields: Spenser, Milton, and the Pastoral Poetic Tradition" taught by Dr. Anne Phillips, or Dr. Michael Drought's "Viking and Old Norse Culture." For the full show notes of this episode, including quotes, book links, and this week's poem, please visit https://theliterary.life/306.

On this week's episode of The Literary Life podcast, Angelina Stanford, Thomas Banks, and Atlee Northmore talk about their favorite film adaptations of books they like and why they think these are worthy adaptations. Genres of movies they discuss include adaptations of classic books, kids and family films, film noir favorites, beloved directors, and so much more. They also share some "hot takes" on movies they liked better than the books, and vice versa. We hope this lighthearted, chatty episode will be a little treat for your listening enjoyment during this holiday season. Join us back here again next week for the beginning of our new series on Moliere's Don Juan. Happening now–the House of Humane Letters Christmas sale! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. For the full show notes of this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/305.

Today on The Literary Life podcast, Angelina, Thomas, and Ella cover the final chapters of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. They begin the conversation considering the ending of the story and mistakes readers may make in thinking it is a despairing ending. Angelina asks the question "how does Huxley tell us to interpret the ending?" They also dig deeper into the rest of the last few chapters, including more instances of parody, religion and self-denial, and so much symbolism! Be sure to head over to our website at https://theliterary.life/304 to check out all the links and additional information in the show notes for today's episode.

This week on The Literary Life podcast, Angelina, Thomas, and Ella continue discussing Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. They begin engaging with the text today by talking more about satire and parody as elements in this story. While recapping the major plot points in these chapters, they go deeper into the character of John the Savage, the ways in which this story is like a distorted reflection of The Tempest and Othello, as well as so many other Shakespeare references. Come back again next week for our final episode in this series as we cover the final chapters of Brave New World! Don't forget to check out our show notes page for links to books mentioned, commonplace quotes, and today's poem! https://theliterary.life/303.

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and our series on Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Angelina Stanford, Thomas Banks, and Ella Hornstra open the conversation by sharing their commonplace quotes, then jump into the book discussion with some connections between Huxley and Lewis Carroll and how Brave New World is like Alice in Wonderland. Angelina also teaches about the medieval conception of the tripartite soul and how it relates to this story, as well as making some distinctions between literary satire and parody. They talk about more of the pictures of Freudian principles as illustrated in this society, as well as the way in which the characters live like machines. Ella goes into a little introductory information on Shakespeare's The Tempest and its connections to Brave New World to keep in mind as we continue reading. Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. Also, we are excited to announce the upcoming spring course with Dr. Michael Drout, Viking and Old Norse Culture. Learn more and register at HouseofHumaneLetters.com. To view the full show notes for this episode, including book links, quotes and more, please visit https://theliterary.life/302.

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast with Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks! They are joined by Ella Hornstra for the beginning of a new series on Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Thomas and Ella kick off the book discussion with a little biographical background on Huxley and dispel the myth that he belonged to the Bloomsbury Group. Angelina gives some literary history of the period in which Huxley wrote, as well as some thoughts on satire as a response to an age of overwhelming optimism. She also highlights the literary and cultural influences that Huxley satirizes in this novel, including Wells, Ford, and Freud. Visit the HouseofHumaneLetters.com to sign up for all the upcoming and past mini-classes and webinars taught by Angelina, Thomas, and their colleagues! Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. To view the full show notes for this episode, including commonplace quotes and today's poem, please visit https://theliterary.life/301.

On The Literary Life podcast this week, Angelina, Cindy and Thomas are back to wrap up their series on Bram Stoker's Dracula. They open with their commonplace quotes then begin diving into the major plot points and the connections being made. Angelina and Cindy discuss what happens to Mina, especially in relation to the idea of the New Woman versus the Angel in the House. Thomas and Angelina talk about Dracula's background and his connection with Satan seen more clearly here at the end of the book. They all share thoughts on the Christian images that are increasingly brought out as the story line progresses. To check out the latest classes and offerings from Angelina, Thomas and their colleagues, you can visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com. You can also find out what Cindy is up to over on her website, MorningTimeforMoms.com. Don't forget to head over to https://theliterary.life/300/ to view the full show notes for this episode, including book links, commonplace quotes, and this week's poem.

Our hosts are back on The Literary Life podcast today to continue our series on Bram Stoker's Dracula. This week we are covering chapters 12-17, and in the introduction to this episode, Angelina, Cindy and Thomas discuss the purpose of the Gothic novel in reorienting us to realize there is more to the world than the physical and empirical. As they cover the plot in these chapters, other ideas shared are the effective blending of modern technology with ancient wisdom in fighting evil, the many mythological and fairy tale elements in this story, the contrast between the true woman and the false woman, the parallels to Paradise Lost, and so much more. Be sure to check out all that is happening at The House of Humane Letters and Morning Time for Moms in this season so you don't miss out on all their current offerings! Also, check out the full show notes for this episode on our podcast website at https://theliterary.life/299.

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast today and our series on Bram Stoker's Dracula. This week Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks cover chapters 8-11 of the book. Angelina explains both the "New Woman" and "Angel in the House" ideas of the Victorian era and makes some observations about Dr. Seward's interactions with Renfield in contrast to the nuns ministrations to Jonathan Harker. We are also introduced to Dr. Van Helsing in this section of the book as the foil for Dracula, and we quickly learn that he is more than just a medical man. Our hosts discuss Stoker's own medical knowledge and both the historical and metaphorical context of the blood transfusion procedures in these chapters. Be sure to check out all that is happening at The House of Humane Letters and Morning Time for Moms in this season so you don't miss out on all their current offerings! And to view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/298.