The Re-Enchantment Book Club

The Lottery
In this episode, Jordan and Brendan debate what defines a Dystopia; they also discuss the day they’ll beat their swords into plowshares, the shadow side of redemptive reality, the human capacity for violence, the “what the heck is going on here” feeling, an ill-fated cupcake, and the counter-catachesis of the Christian life.  
 
What We’re Reading:
So We Read On by Maureen Corrigan
That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
 
Other Mentions:
The Twilight Zone
Black Mirror
Dystopian Fiction
 
Next episode we will be discussing Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. We hope you join us!
 
Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry
Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the nature of dignity, the soul-crushing need to justify your existence, the cost of disordered loves, ambiguous epiphanies, the inherent value of humanity, the classist admiration for English lords, and whether or not they would have made good butlers.
 
What We’re Reading:
The Cost of the Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
The Second Coming by Walker Percy
 
Other Mentions:
Tom Waits - “Ruby’s Arms”
Luke 11, Matthew 23
Unreliable Narrators
Foils
 
Next episode we will be discussing The Lottery  by Shirley Jackson. We hope you join us!
Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry
Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan gush over the scarcity of admirable literary heroes, the value of patient writing, the struggle to understand the world, the tension between perishable beauty and the far side of eternity, the power of sacramental blessing, and the art of peeling onion layers.
 
What We’re Reading:
A River Runs Through It by Norman McLean
Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart by Russ Ramsey
True Grit by Charles Portis
Other Mentions:
John Calvin - Institutes of the Christian Religion 
Epistolary Novel Form 
Romans 7:18-20
 
Next episode we will be discussing The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. We hope you join us!
 
Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry
Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the reintegrated life in a disintegrated world, the law of the jungle vs. the ministry of reconciliation, what’s caught instead of taught, seeking peace by loving people instead of ideas, the paradox of love & power, and the good earthiness of vegetables.
 
What We’re Reading:
The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula LeGuin
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
The Book of Hours by Rainer Maria Rilke
 
Next episode we will be discussing Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. We hope you join us! 
 
Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry
Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the role of college professors in book enjoyment, the profundity of childlike faith, the need for unconditional connection, the loneliness and heartache of the world, the power of simple acts of kindness, feelings too big for our bodies, and the sweet tartness of a Florida staple. 
 
What We’re Reading:
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon 
The Last Gentleman by Walker Percy
Providence by John Piper
Other Mentions:
Song Exploder Podcast
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 
Rich Mullins - "We're Not as Strong as We Think We Are"
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood
 
Next episode we will be discussing Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. We hope you join us! 
 
Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry
Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan travel to Middle Earth to discuss the role of the common man in the fight against evil, worlds born from words, the emboldening of virtue, the imminent approach of glory, the purpose of silly hobbit songs, and what makes a story timeless.
 
Other Mentions:
Beowulf 
 
Next episode we will be discussing The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. We hope you join us! 
 
Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry
Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the “If Only” feeling, beauty in the midst of bleakness, the call to adventure, the cost of idealism, director’s cut conspiracies, and the idiocy of semicolons.
 
What We’re Reading:
Letters to a Diminished Church by Dorothy L. Sayers
Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays by C.S. Lewis
Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
 
Other Mentions:
“All the Pretty Little Horses” (lullaby)
“All the Wild Horses” by Ray Lamontagne 
Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes 
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Psalm 107
 
Next episode we will be discussing The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien. We hope you join us! 
 
Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry
Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the scandal of grace, beautifully hyperlinked symbolism, the cosmic story arc, the nature of true value, the power of chocolate kisses, and the polite consumption of buttermilk.
 
What We’re Reading:
Stoner by John Williams
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
The Iliad by Homer
Other Mentions:
Psalm 131
 
Next episode we will be discussing All the Wild Horses by Cormac McCarthy. We hope you join us! 
 
Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry
Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss the duality of man, the gamble of letting Death narrate your story, the power of words to bring life or death, picking a good Pilsner, and cologne ads.
 
What we’re reading:
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
The Great Passion by James Runcie
How God Became King by N.T. Wright
Recapturing the Wonder by Mike Cosper
A Theory of Everything (That Matters) by Alister McGrath
Other Mentions:
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
The Prophets by Abraham Heschel
Fred Rogers
 
Next episode we will be discussing The Gilded Six Bits by Zora Neale Hurston. We hope you join us! 
 
Music by Brendan Michael and Will Berry
Podcast Graphic designed by Alex Morra

In this episode, Jordan and Brendan discuss our thought-tormented age, early 20th century Irish politics, the polarizing Modernist legacy of James Joyce, the magic of Thin Places, the tension between a blaze of passion and a life of long fidelity, and whether or not it’s ok to bake a little baby Jesus into your King Cake for this year’s Epiphany Feast.
 
Mentioned in this episode:
 
In Defense of Sanity by GK Chesterton
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre
You Are not Your Own by Alan Noble 
Thin Places
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
“This is Water” by David Foster Wallace