The Christian Humanist Podcast

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Episode 91: Dystopian Fiction Dec 04, 2012

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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.

Episode 90: The Crusades Nov 27, 2012

Show notes

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.

Episode 89: Flannery O'Connor Nov 13, 2012

Show notes

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."

Episode 88: Sermons Nov 06, 2012

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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.

Episode 87: Death Oct 30, 2012

Show notes

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.

Episode 86: Chess Oct 23, 2012

Show notes

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.

Episode 85: Federalist Papers 67, 69, 74, 77 Oct 16, 2012

Show notes

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.

Episode 84: Federalist Papers 52, 54, 62, 66 Oct 09, 2012

Show notes

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.

Episode 83: Federalist Papers 8-10 Oct 02, 2012

Show notes

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!

Episode 82: The Ocean Sep 25, 2012

Show notes

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.

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