The Literary Life Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 339: Ask Us (Almost) Anything Jul 28, 2026

Show notes

This week on The Literary Life Podcast, our hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks return from their summer break with a fun "Ask Us (Almost) Anything" episode. The questions they answer include the following:

How does Mr. Banks choose the poem for the end of each episode?
How do they go about finding sources of good secondary research or literary criticism?
How did Angelina first learn about alchemy in the literary tradition?
Is Mr. Banks any relation to the sculptor Thomas Banks?
Can you give a brief definition of each of the building blocks of stories?
What exactly is the "objective correlative"?
Is re-reading important in the literary life and, if so, what makes it profitable?
How do you keep up with the many images when reading?
How should an author approach trying to write in the literary tradition?
How do you deal with reading slumps?
What is your favorite book?
How do you defend an education in the humanities in an age obsessed with STEM?
How many books do you own?
Does Angelina actually hate John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress?
And more….

Don't forget to check out everything going on over at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay up to date on all the upcoming new summer classes and webinars.

View the full show notes for this episode, including quotes, book links, and this week's poem at https://theliterary.life/339.

Episode 338: "The Vulture" by Samuel Johnson – Short Story Summer Remix Jul 21, 2026

Show notes

Welcome to the final episode of our summer series on short stories and essays! Today your hosts Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins are joined once again by Thomas Banks for their discussion of Samuel Johnson's essay "The Vulture." Before getting into the meat of the essay, Angelina talks about why she disagrees with her own commonplace quote on the purpose of poetry. In the process, she gives us a brief history of literary periods from the classical to the neoclassical and enlightenment.

Thomas shares some more biographical information on Samuel Johnson and his work. Cindy highlights both the important place and the danger of satire, which is a popular neoclassical form and the one used in Johnson's essay. The discussion ends with thoughts on why Johnson's essay was finally not included with the others in The Idler collection, as well as what his purpose may have been in writing "The Vulture."

To check out the current offerings at The House of Humane Letters, as well as Thomas Banks' poetry webinar mentioned in this episode, please visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com.

And for the full show notes on this episode, please visit our podcast website at https://theliterary.life/338.

Episode 337: "The Celestial Omnibus" by E. M. Forster – Short Story Summer Remix Jul 14, 2026

Show notes

On this week's episode of The Literary Life, we continue our series of replays from our Summer of the Short Story with a discussion of "The Celestial Omnibus" by E. M. Forster. Angelina and Cindy tell why they love this short story so much and how it encapsulates their own ideas about literature. Thomas gives us some biographical background on E. M. Forster. We get a brief look at the plot of the story, as well as some discussion of how allegorical Forster makes this story. Angelina highlights the idea presented in "The Celestial Omnibus" that what we see in fairy land is more real than what we see in our own world.

Other themes our hosts bring up include modern educational theory, wonder and innocence, using poetry versus enjoying it, and literary critique contrasted with experiencing literature. Their conversation hinges around the contrast between Mr. Bons' pride and pretension and the boy's humility and sincerity. This story embodies everything that The Literary Life podcast is all about, so we hope you enjoy both the story and this episode!

To get the replay of Thomas' webinar on How to Love Poetry, as well as the current and upcoming summer classes mentioned in this episode, please visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com.

Check out the full show notes for this episode on our website at https://theliterary.life/337.

Episode 336: "Why I Write" by George Orwell - Short Story Summer Remix Jul 07, 2026

Show notes

For this week's installment of our Short Story Summer Remix, we revisit a conversation Angelina and Cindy had covering George Orwell's essay "Why I Write." Our hosts kick off the discussion about how much they each identify with Orwell's description of his childhood. In his story of learning to write, we see many aspects of a good education, even his inclination to imitate other authors. An important point Angelina brings up is Orwell's own struggle against the calling he felt to write, in contrast to having an ambition to do so. Angelina brings up a related story about musician Gregory Alan Isakov, and Cindy reiterates the idea of why we need leisure in order to find our vocation.

Cindy and Angelina also bring out some of the qualities Orwell possessed that make a good writer. Maturity as a human being and as a master of a craft are crucial to certain forms of writing, as Orwell points out about his own work. Other topics of conversation include truth-telling in writing, the motives for writing according to Orwell, and the growing process of writers.

If you want to find replays of the 2019 Back to School online conference referenced in this episode, you can purchase them in Cindy's shop at MorningTimeforMoms.com. For replays of the How to Love Poetry webinar with Thomas, as well as all the current and upcoming classes at HHL you can find those at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.

Check out the schedule for the podcast's summer episodes on our Upcoming Events page.

And to view the full show notes for this episode, please visit our website at https://theliterary.life/336.

Episode 335: "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant – Short Story Summer Remix Jun 30, 2026

Show notes

In this week's Short Story Summer Remix from Season 1, Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins discuss Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace." Before getting into the short story discussion, Cindy and Angelina chat about what a "commonplace book" is and how they each go about recording quotes and thoughts.

First off, Angelina gives us a little background on the author Guy de Maupassant and some information on French naturalism. Then she digs into her thoughts on how this story is a fairy tale in reverse and what that might mean in context. Cindy points out the perfection of de Maupassant's writing and his economy of style. They also bring up some of the formal elements of the story, particularly the key role the reversal takes in the plot. The main themes they find in "The Necklace" touch on common human struggles with ambition, discontentment, loss, suffering and gratitude.

Check out the schedule for the podcast's summer episodes on our Upcoming Events page.

Sign up for the newsletter at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay in the know about all the exciting new things we have coming up!

Don't forget that you can find the full show notes for this episode at https://theliterary.life/335.

Episode 334: "The Adventures of a Shilling" by Joseph Addison – Short Story Summer Remix Jun 23, 2026

Show notes

Today on The Literary Life, we continue our summer short story series of episodes from the archives. In this episode, Cindy Rollins and Angelina Stanford are joined by Angelina's husband, Thomas Banks. This week's selection for our summer series is Joseph Addison's "The Adventures of a Shilling."

Their conversation kicks off with an attempt at defining the "essay" form and giving a brief history on its development. Thomas shares a little background information on Joseph Addison and his writing, as well as several other essayists who came before and after Addison. Thomas also talks about why essays are a significant part of his reading life. The conversation also spins off into a discussion of the importance of how we spend our leisure time.

Finally, our hosts chat about this week's essay, which gives highlights of England's history from the perspective of a silver coin. Addison's tale is full of humor and satire, as well as layers of social commentary and pathos.

For the full show notes on this episode, including book links, quotes, and today's poem, please visit https://theliterary.life/334.

If you want to connect more with Cindy, you can visit MorningTimeforMoms.com. You can also check out Angelina and Thomas' current classes and summer events at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.

Check out the schedule for the podcast's summer episodes on our Upcoming Events page.

Episode 333: "The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield - Short Story Summer Remix Jun 16, 2026

Show notes

This week on The Literary Life, we continue our Summer of the Short Story replay series. On today's episode, Cindy and Angelina discussed Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Garden Party." They start with how Cindy found this story and the connections she was making to Little Women. Angelina gives a brief biographical sketch of Katherine Mansfield and highlights how Mansfield's own illness and death give us insight into how she deals with death in this story. Angelina walks us through how she looks at the use of figurative language and images, such as the Garden of Eden. They also touch on "The Garden Party" having the same structure of moving toward a moment of epiphany that we saw in "Araby."

Cindy brings up the disconnect between the world of the women at home and the working people outside the home, as well as between the classes in this story. They talk about the importance of Laura's new hat as a symbol of one type of person she can become. Another image that Angelina and Cindy take a look at is the descent from the garden into darkness. They discuss the parallels from the beginning of the story and the end of the story, as well as Laura's movement from innocence to experience, from blindness to sight.

Keep up to date on the current classes and offerings from both Cindy and Angelina by visiting their websites, MorningTimeforMoms.com and HouseofHumaneLetters.com. Also, for the full show notes on this episode, head over to our podcast page at https://theliterary.life/333.

Episode 332: "A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls" by G. K. Chesterton, Short Story Summer Series Remix Jun 09, 2026

Show notes

On The Literary Life today we continue our re-airing of a series from our "Summer of the Short Story" that originally aired way back in Season 1 of the podcast! This week's episode features Angelina Stanford and Cindy Rollins discussing G. K. Chesterton's essay "A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls."

Angelina opens with a brief history of the Victorian era and the more prevalent availability of the novel to the masses. She also gives several examples of the "penny dreadful." Cindy and Angelina discuss why they agree with Chesterton that people need these simple, even formulaic stories. They remind us that childhood is a time for good books, not a time to worry about reading all the "Great Books."

Another topic that Cindy and Angelina chat about is the importance of developing imagination. They talk about the truth that fiction and story-telling are necessary parts of human culture. Cindy highlights the importance of the heroic adventure stories for boys. Angelina brings out the point that the elite critic is out of touch with the masses who long for stories of good winning over evil. The penny dreadful should not be judged as art, since that was never what it was intended to be.

If you want to find replays of the 2019 Back to School online conference referenced in this episode, you can purchase them in Cindy's shop at MorningTimeforMoms.com. You can also find out about all the current classes and summer events happening at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.

For the full show notes on this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/332.

Episode 331: "Araby" by James Joyce – Short Story Summer Series Remix Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

This week on The Literary Life we begin revisiting a series from our "Summer of the Short Story" that originally aired way back in Season 1 of the podcast! Today we return to Episode 11, in which Angelina and Cindy enjoyed a discussion of the short story "Araby" by James Joyce.

Delving into "Araby," Angelina talks about the history and development of the short story form. Cindy gives a little of her own background with reading James Joyce and why she loves his short stories. Angelina and Cindy also discuss the essential "Irishness" of this story and all the tales in The Dubliners. Angelina walks us through the story, highlighting the kinds of questions and things we should look for when reading closely. Themes discussed in this story include: blindness and sight, light and darkness, romanticism, religious devotion, the search for truth, money, courtly love, and the knight's quest.

Check out the schedule for the podcast's summer episodes on our Upcoming Events page.

View the complete show notes for this episode at https://theliterary.life/331.

Episode 330: Where to Start with Ancient Literature with Dr. Anne Phillips May 26, 2026

Show notes

This week on The Literary Life Podcast, our hosts seek to answer your questions about reading ancient literature. Angelina and Thomas and joined by their colleague, Dr. Anne Phillips, and together they cover some of the most frequently asked questions about diving into the ancients, including the following:

Which epic should a person start with, and why?
How should kids be introduced to the epics?
What is a good place to begin reading the Greek dramatists?
Where to begin becoming familiar with Greek myth?
Where should someone start to dip into ancient history?
What if a person wants to read ancient philosophy?

Don't forget to check out everything going on over at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay up to date on all the upcoming new summer classes and webinars. Also, you can visit Cassiodorus Press to order Dr. Jason Baxter's newest books, and get on the email list so you don't miss any publication news!

Finally, if you want to view the full show notes for this episode, including links to books and authors mentioned, as well as today's poem and quotes, please visit https://theliterary.life/330.

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