16Nov
IN THIS REPEAT: An interview from 2015 about a book by various authors focusing on Lewis' relationship with women.
Does C.S. Lewis's life and his writings have anything to say to our world today, especially in relation to females? That's the very issue Women and C.S. Lewis aims to tackle. It does so by gathering together a variety of scholars and thinkers (both men and women) who are very familiar with Lewis to, as its subtitle says, find "what his life and literature reveal for today's culture." William O'Flaherty spoke with Carolyn Curtis, one of the co-editors of the book about this new release for 2015. Contributors include many who have been guests before on the podcast: Dr. Devin Brown, Colin Duriez, Dr. David Downing, Andrew Lazo, Dr. Crystal Hurd, Paul McCusker, Dr. Holly Ordway, Dr. Michael Ward, Dr. Alister McGrath, Dr. Don King and Revd Dr. Malcolm Guite.
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14Nov
IN THIS REPEAT: An interview with Max McLean, founder of Fellowship for Performing Arts and creator of the acclaimed play adaptation of The Screwtape Letters.
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Fellowship for Performing Arts (FPA) is a not-for-profit production company founded by Max McLean. It is known for adapting The Screwtape Letters for the stage, but there are many other excellent plays they have done. In this podcast interview (recorded March 2019), William O'Flaherty spoke with Max about the Screwtape production, the other Lewis-related plays, as well as other shows FPA has done. Hear Max reveal that his adaptation of The Great Divorce will be touring again soon and other interesting details, like how C.S. Lewis dramatically impacted his own life.
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13Nov
IN THIS REPEAT - Learn about a great devotional to help you reflect on Advent.
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C.S. Lewis and his friends, as well as those who influenced him, viewed the Incarnation with wonder and awe. That's why the Christian History Institute and the Marion E. Wade Center came together to release a small, but meaningful booklet entitled The Grand Miracle: Daily Reflections for the Season of Advent. It contains 28 devotions written by as many authors that contain a Scripture quotation, as well as a quotation from either C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorthy L. Sayers, George MacDonald, G.K. Chesterton, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, or Joy Davidman. William O'Flaherty spoke with Dr. Jennifer Woodruff Tait (managing editor of Christian History) about this Advent devotion that can offer an inspiring look at the birth of Christ at any time of the year.
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Keep reading →
12Nov
IN THIS REPOST - Dr. Hal Poe shares about his bio on the early life of C.S. Lewis in Becoming C.S. Lewis.
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How well do you know C.S. Lewis? You probably don't know Jack as well as you think, until you know his early life. Or more accurately, nearly all of Lewis' interests and tastes were formed in his first twenty years. That is the new book by Dr. Harry Lee (Hal) Poe, entitled Becoming C.S. Lewis examines these early years and shows how his youth influenced his later life and writings. This podcast interview features Dr. Poe explaining how he came to write this book (the first of three) and why knowing Jack Lewis (his friends called him "Jack") is best understood by exploring his formative years.
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11Nov
What follows is a podcast of the first part of the panel discussion featuring the males who were speakers at C.S. Lewis: Influence & Relevance Today - An International Symposium of the Presbyterian Heritage Center (PHC) that was held at the Montreat Conference Center November 6-8, 2019. They were Drs. Don King, Jerry Root, David Downing, and Hal Poe. As noted in the introduction, this recording is from my own equipment and not from what the PHC recorded. Doing it this way was the quickest way to get the show out. The second part of this show should be posted a few days after this one (link will be below when it is available). Also, as any official video or other audio is made available then this page will be updated to reflect that information.
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Some of the Books Mentioned:
4Nov
C.S. Lewis and his friends, as well as those who influenced him, viewed the Incarnation with wonder and awe. That's why the Christian History Institute and the Marion E. Wade Center came together to release a small, but meaningful booklet entitled The Grand Miracle: Daily Reflections for the Season of Advent. It contains 28 devotions written by as many authors that contain a Scripture quotation, as well as a quotation from either C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorthy L. Sayers, George MacDonald, G.K. Chesterton, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, or Joy Davidman. William O'Flaherty spoke with Dr. Jennifer Woodruff Tait (managing editor of Christian History) about this Advent devotion that can offer an inspiring look at the birth of Christ at any time of the year.
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27Oct
How well do you know C.S. Lewis? You probably don't know Jack as well as you think, until you know his early life. Or more accurately, nearly all of Lewis' interests and tastes were formed in his first twenty years. That is the new book by Dr. Harry Lee (Hal) Poe, entitled Becoming C.S. Lewis examines these early years and shows how his youth influenced his later life and writings. This podcast interview features Dr. Poe explaining how he came to write this book (the first of three) and why knowing Jack Lewis (his friends called him "Jack") is best understood by exploring his formative years.
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22Oct
IN THIS REPEAT: I have this talk five years ago (2014), when it was the 75th anniversary of the first sermon that Lewis preached. It's now the 80th anniversary!
The following is not an interview, but a talk that I recent gave in TN at the C.S. Lewis Society of Chattanooga. The topic is about when Lewis spoke at church. He gave his first sermon 75 years ago…the debut was in 1939. I provide an overview of what we know about the times he preached and greater details about his first, last and best messages.
7Oct
IN THIS REPEAT: FINAL reminder about an event happening Nov. 6-8, 2019 with a variety of speakers (including Douglas Gresham)
There's a very special gather happening November 6-8, 2019...it's call International Symposium on C.S. Lewis: Influence & Relevance Today. It will be from Wednesday, November 6th until Friday, November 8th in Montreat, NC at the Montreat Conference Center. This podcast interview is with Ron Vinson, who is the Executive Director of the Presbyterian Heritage Center. Speakers at the event are Crystal Downing, David Downing, Diana Glyer, Douglas Gresham, Tom Key, Don King, John Akers, Earl Palmer, and Jerry Root.
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5Oct
IN THIS REPEAT: Here's an essay chat with Dr. Charlie Starr about the shorter work entitled HORRID RED THINGS.
After beginning an occasional series examining a single essay from Lewis in 2012 and doing more than a dozen that year, I ended up doing a lot fewer since that time. The following discussion with Dr. Charlie Starr was first released in April, 2013. It’s on the essay “Horrid Red Things.” The hope is that by listening to this essay chat you will want to read or re-read it. “Horrid Red Things” can be most easily found in a collection called God in the Dock. Charlie has been on several other shows since this essay chat. Be sure to check the links below to hear the other programs.
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18Sep
In this repeat: A conversation with Diana Glyer BEFORE Bandersnatch was released..
2015 has seen the release of several books on, or related to, the Inklings. Are you ready for the most unique among them? Bandersnatch: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings is a forthcoming title (at the time of this post) due out by the end of November. William O'Flaherty caught up with Dr. Diana Glyer in late March at the annual CSLIS conference and chatted with her about the book. It's an adaptation of her previous book about the Inklings, but this one focuses on the creative and collaborative process among the friends and challenges all to become better writers. The book is complemented with original illustrations by James Owen. It was hoped to released this interview months ago, but only recently did the book become available for pre-order; so follow the link below to make sure you get it as soon as it is released!
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3Sep
IN THIS REPEAT: The DVD/Blu-Ray of Tolkien is OUT! Here are some reflections on just the movie release with Diana Glyer and Brenton Dickieson.
In May 2019 a biopic on J.R.R. Tolkien, simply entitled Tolkien was released. While there has been no shortage of opinions on the film, I wanted to add some thoughts on it for those who follow this podcast. Two guests join me to share a hopeful perspective about the movie while acknowledging its shortcomings. They are Dr. Diana Glyer, a respected scholar on Tolkien and Lewis, and Brenton Dickieson who is a Lewis scholar nearing his completion of Ph.D. studies on Lewis.
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Articles/Reviews - Tolkien:
Keep reading →
10Aug
IN THIS REPEAT: My 2013 interview with Colin Duriez on his biography on Lewis.
Colin Duriez is what you might call "an expert to the experts." He is among the top writers/scholars on not only C.S. Lewis, but also J.R.R. Tolkien. Just releasing now is his book C.S. Lewis: A Biography of Friendship. William O'Flaherty spoke with him about this title and why he chose to portray the life of Lewis through his friends.
3Aug
IN THIS REPEAT: An interview from 2013 about the final major biography on Lewis from that year. It's with Dr. Devin Brown, author of several popular Inklings-related books.
This is the third and last new biography on C.S. Lewis for 2013, the 50th anniversary of his death. This episode is with Dr. Devin Brown and his book entitled A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C.S. Lewis. Previously Devin has been my guest speaking about The Christian World of The Hobbit.
25Jul
IN THIS REPEAT: My interview with Walter Hooper from summer 2016.
The following is the complete interview (nearly 60 minutes) with Walter Hooper. It was recording in his home on July 20, 2016. As you likely know, Walter has been the central figure since the death of C.S. Lewis in making sure Lewis' writing that were published in his life were reprinted and also Hooper has edited the majority of material from Lewis that was previously unpublished. His C.S. Lewis - A Companion and Guide gives the best single volume summary of the works of Lewis and key facts about his life.
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Fellowship for Performing Arts (FPA) is a not-for-profit production company founded by Max McLean. It is known for adapting The Screwtape Letters for the stage, but there are many other excellent plays they have done. In this podcast interview (recorded March 2019), William O'Flaherty spoke with Max about the Screwtape production, the other Lewis-related plays, as well as other shows FPA has done. Hear Max reveal that his adaptation of The Great Divorce will be touring again soon and other interesting details, like how C.S. Lewis dramatically impacted his own life. 
C.S. Lewis and his friends, as well as those who influenced him, viewed the Incarnation with wonder and awe. That's why the Christian History Institute and the Marion E. Wade Center came together to release a small, but meaningful booklet entitled The Grand Miracle: Daily Reflections for the Season of Advent. It contains 28 devotions written by as many authors that contain a Scripture quotation, as well as a quotation from either C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorthy L. Sayers, George MacDonald, G.K. Chesterton, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, or Joy Davidman. William O'Flaherty spoke with Dr. Jennifer Woodruff Tait (managing editor of Christian History) about this Advent devotion that can offer an inspiring look at the birth of Christ at any time of the year.
What follows is a podcast of the first part of the panel discussion featuring the males who were speakers at C.S. Lewis: Influence & Relevance Today - An International Symposium of the Presbyterian Heritage Center (PHC) that was held at the Montreat Conference Center November 6-8, 2019. They were Drs. Don King, Jerry Root, David Downing, and Hal Poe. As noted in the introduction, this recording is from my own equipment and not from what the PHC recorded. Doing it this way was the quickest way to get the show out. The second part of this show should be posted a few days after this one (link will be below when it is available). Also, as any official video or other audio is made available then this page will be updated to reflect that information.
There's a very special gather happening November 6-8, 2019...it's call International Symposium on C.S. Lewis: Influence & Relevance Today. It will be from Wednesday, November 6th until Friday, November 8th in Montreat, NC at the Montreat Conference Center. This podcast interview is with Ron Vinson, who is the Executive Director of the Presbyterian Heritage Center. Speakers at the event are Crystal Downing, David Downing, Diana Glyer, Douglas Gresham, Tom Key, Don King, John Akers, Earl Palmer, and Jerry Root.
In May 2019 a biopic on J.R.R. Tolkien, simply entitled Tolkien was released. While there has been no shortage of opinions on the film, I wanted to add some thoughts on it for those who follow this podcast. Two guests join me to share a hopeful perspective about the movie while acknowledging its shortcomings. They are Dr. Diana Glyer, a respected scholar on Tolkien and Lewis, and Brenton Dickieson who is a Lewis scholar nearing his completion of Ph.D. studies on Lewis.
