The Back of the Book

For this special Christmas episode, Chris is joined by Joseph Bottum, a distinguished man of letters who has written extensively about the Yuletide season. They discuss the significance of the holiday and the festivities (both old and new) associated with Christmas, its various literary portrayals over the years, and Jody’s own Christmas essays and tales.Show notes:Jody's book of Christmas-themed essays and tales, Frankincense, Gold, and MyrrhJody's memoir of Christmases of his youth, The Christmas PlainsJody's Christmas essays for First Things, The Lamp, Law & Liberty, Public Discourse, and The Wall Street JournalJody's Christmas EP, Grace and GladnessTime stamps:1:39 – The literary qualities of Christmas15:45 – The opulence and "thickness" of Christmastime25:38 – Jody's literary influences and the tradition of the Christmas story33:40 – Dickens as "the great unconscious novelist"43:29 – Jody's Christmas tales and Chesterton's poem "The House of Christmas"Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.Produced by Sean Doolan.

Chris is joined by Jordan Castro, a novelist, essayist, and the deputy director of the Cluny Institute. They discuss Jordan’s new novel, Muscle Man, as well as the discontents of academia, Jordan’s literary influences, the place of fiction in contemporary America, and their favorite campus novels.Show notes: Jordan’s new novel, Muscle ManJordan’s essay on weightlifting for Harper’sJordan’s previous novel, The NovelistThe Cluny InstituteTime stamps: 1:52 – Portraying the embodied life9:58 – Violence and the Gothic20:18 – Mimesis in academic culture29:31 – Writing complex characters41:09 – Are men reading fiction?48:08 – Genre and influencesOpening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.Produced by Sean Doolan.

For this special Thanksgiving episode, Chris is joined by Meir Soloveichik, the Rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel (the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States) and the director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. They discuss the Jewish origins of the Thanksgiving holiday, the history of Jews in America, and the current plight of antisemitism in American politics. Show notes:For Solly’s writing about Thanksgiving, see here and here.Solly’s recent essay for Mosaic, “The Christian-Jewish Alliance and Its Enemies”The recent volume to which Solly contributed, Jewish Roots of American LibertyGeorge Washington's letters to the Hebrew congregations in Newport and SavannahGet Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), here.Time stamps: 1:41 – Origins of Thanksgiving and the history of Solly’s congregation12:22 – The significance of religious liberty for early Jewish Americans23:33 – Hebraic roots of the American founding40:05 – Antisemitism on the American left and right53:12 – Maintaining gratitude in the face of hardshipOpening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.Produced by Sean Doolan.

The critic and literary biographer Frances Wilson drops by to discuss her exceptional new book, Electric Spark: The Enigma of Dame Muriel. She and Chris talk about the fascinating life and early career of Muriel Spark, including her development as a novelist, tumultuous family life, and journey to religious belief. This is an especially fun conversation about one of the 20th century’s greatest—and slipperiest—novelists.Show notes:Frances’s book, Electric Spark: The Enigma of Dame MurielChris’s review of Electric Spark for the Washington ExaminerSome of Chris’s other essays about Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Mandelbaum Gate; (his book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), includes a chapter about another Spark novel).Martin Stannard’s authorized biography of SparkSpark’s memoir, Curriculum VitaeTime stamps:0:34 – Muriel Spark's background and literary style (with a digression about Frances’s and Chris’s favorite Spark novels)11:00 – Grappling with slippery biographical details18:07 – Spark's early life and family28:49 – Doppelgängers and doubling36:15 – Peculiar day jobs and resulting entanglements51:05 – Conversion to CatholicismOpening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.Produced by Sean Doolan and R. Rubin.

Chris is joined by Bryan A. Garner: grammarian, lexicographer, and author of The Etcher: The Life and Art of Oskar Stoessel. They discuss Stoessel’s life and work, how he managed to etch portraits of FDR and eight Supreme Court justices, and what compelled Bryan to write about him. They also talk about Bryan’s recent defense of originalism against a strange new critique, his career as a grammarian, and the origins of his collaboration with Justice Scalia. Show notes: Bryan’s new book, The Etcher: The Life and Art of Oskar StoesselBryan’s two recent columns for National Review, on Jill Lepore and H.W. FowlerBryan’s coauthored books with Justice Scalia, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts and Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges Time stamps: 1:50 –⁠ “Who was Oskar Stoessel?”6:08 –⁠ Oskar’s early career and the nature of etching15:19 –⁠ Oskar’s remarkable time in the United States28:20 –⁠ Oskar’s return to Austria, later life, and legacy37:42 –⁠ Defending originalism from a new critique44:20 –⁠ Becoming a grammarian