"[T]he life and work of the Forerunner, especially as presented in the gospel of John, greatly illuminates the poetic character of Christian life—indeed of all life"

- Dwight Lindley, "The Poetics of John the Baptist"

Risking Enchantment is back for 2025 and for our first episode of the year we’re taking a look at St. John the Baptist. We discuss a fictionalised depiction of his imprisonment by Henriette Brey, a 20th-century Catholic writer, as well at looking at how this foremost of saints is represented in art and how his very life and divine mission gives us a lens to understand art from a Christian perspective.

Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson

Important Links:

• The new Risking Enchantment Substack account: https://riskingenchantment.substack.com/

  Sign up as a paid subscriber in order to receive our monthly newsletter of recommendations.

• The video of the conference panel featuring my talk: “The Ends of the Affairs: Medieval Ideals, Modern Trysts, and the Offering of Redemption in the Works of Graham Greene and T. H. White”

  FC24: A Hint of an Explanation – Graham Greene

• The chapter discussed in this episode: “Out of the Depths” When The Soul Is In Darkness: A Book For Those That Labor And Are Burdened by Henriette Brey

Follow me on social media: @seekingwatson

Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast

Works Mentioned

“Out of the Depths” When The Soul Is In Darkness: A Book For Those That Labor And Are Burdened by Henriette Brey

“The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot

“The Poetics of John the Baptist”, by Dwight Lindley - Dappled Things

L’Apparition by Gustave Moreau

Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald

John the Baptist by Donatello (V&A Hall of Casts)

Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci

Bacchus by Leonardo da Vinci

What We’re Enjoying at the Moment

Phoebe: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

12 Angry Men

Rachel: When Harry Met Sally

Word on Fire Bible Series

"I can imagine that if there existed a God who loved, the devil would be driven to destroy even the weakest, most faulty imitation of that love. Wouldn’t he be afraid that the habit of love might grow, and wouldn’t he try to trap us all into being traitors, into helping him extinguish love."

- Graham Greene

This episode of Risking Enchantment features a recording of paper given by Rachel Sherlock at this year's Fall Conference held by the de Nicola Institute for Ethics in Culture in Notre Dame University, held in conjuction with the Biennial Catholic Imagination Conference. the theme was Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination. The focus of the conference was on the literary arts and so this paper was part of a panel on the author Graham Greene.

Host: Rachel Sherlock

Follow Rachel on social media: @seekingwatson

Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

Find out more about the conference: https://ethicscenter.nd.edu/programs/fall-conference/2024-ever-ancient-ever-new/

Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast

Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

“I am not a reformer nor an embalmer! I am not a ‘reformer’ (by exercise of power) since it seems doomed to Sarumanism. But ‘embalming’ has its own punishments.”

-J.R.R. Tolkien

For this episode we are delighted to be joined by Dr. Holly Ordway, Fellow of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute. We discuss her recent title, Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography, which traces Tolkien’s experience of the Catholic faith throughout his life, how he integrated it into his daily practices, his personal life and his work. We discuss his early religious experiences, his opinions on changes in the liturgy, and the ways he integrated his work and faith in his translation work especially on the Book of Jonah.

Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Dr Holly Ordway

Follow Rachel on social media: @seekingwatson

Follow Holly on social media: @HollyOrdway

Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

Find out more about Holly at http://www.hollyordway.com/

Sign up for our email list at www.rachelsherlock.com/podcast

Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

Works Mentioned

Tolkien’s Faith: A Spiritual Biography by Dr Holly Orday

Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages by Dr Holly Ordway

The Letters of J.R.R Tolkien

Tolkien and the Great War by John Garth

What We’re Enjoying at the Moment

Holly: The Three Investigators Series by Robert Arthur, Jr.

Rachel: The End of the Affair by Graham Greene