The Literary Life Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 319: "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, Intro and Ch. 1-5 Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 318: How to Read Shakespeare Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 317: "Best of" – The Literary Life of Charlotte Mason Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

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!

Episode 316: "Don Juan" by Moliere, Acts 2-5 Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 315: "Don Juan" by Moliere, Introduction and Act 1 Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 314: "Best of" - Our Favorite Poems Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 313: The Tower and the Ruin with Dr. Michael Drout Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 312: "Best of" - Fairy Tales and Children's Literature with Dr. Vigen Guroian Jan 20, 2026

Show notes

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.

Episode 311: "Falling Inward" with Dr. Jason Baxter Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

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!

You can view the full show notes for this episode at https://theliterary.life/311.

Episode 310: "Best of" - What to Do When The Literary Life Feels Overwhelming (Ep. 231) Jan 06, 2026

Show notes

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.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected