Ascend - The Great Books Podcast

Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan
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Welcome to Ascend! We are a weekly Great Books podcast hosted by Deacon Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan. What are the Great Books? The Great Books are the most impactful texts that have shaped Western civilization. They include ancients like Homer, Plato, St. Augustine, Dante, and St. Thomas Aquinas, and also moderns like Machiavelli, Locke, and Nietzsche. We will explore the Great Books with the light of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Why should we read the Great Books? Everyone is a disciple of someone. A person may have never read Locke or Nietzsche, but he or she thinks like them. Reading the Great Books allows us to reclaim our intellect and understand the origin of the ideas that shape our world. We enter a "great conversation" amongst the most learned, intelligent humans in history and benefit from their insights. Is this for first-time readers? YES. Our goal is to host meaningful conversations on the Great Books by working through the texts in chronological order in a slow, attentive manner. Our host Adam Minihan is a first-time reader of Homer. We will start shallow and go deep. All are invited to join. Will any resources be available? YES. We are providing a free 115 Question & Answer Guide to the Iliad written by Deacon Harrison Garlick in addition to our weekly conversations. It will be available on the website (launching next week). Go pick up a copy of the Iliad! We look forward to reading Homer with you in 2024.

  1. 5d ago

    How Plato Shaped Christianity with Dr. Louis Markos

    Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick and Mr. Thomas Lackey sit down with Dr. Louis Markos—author of From Plato to Christ—for a lively, wide-ranging conversation on how Platonic thought prepared the world for the Gospel. From the fullness of time and the meeting of Athens and Jerusalem to C.S. Lewis, classical education, the myths of the Republic, and why even modern Christians still need Plato, this is a rich exploration of the intellectual roots of the faith and the enduring power of the Great Books. Dr. Markos is a whirlwind on a mission. Join us. And THANK YOU again to the Classic Learning Test for sponsoring this episode. Dr. Markos opened by framing his lifelong project of uniting Athens and Jerusalem—the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian inheritances that together shaped the West. He argued that the “fullness of time” was not only political and linguistic but intellectual: Greek philosophy, especially Plato, prepared the human heart for the Gospel through general revelation. God did not ignore the nations; He used reason, conscience, and imagination to plant redemptive analogies that pointed toward Christ. Dr. Markos noted that this recovery is now happening among evangelicals, who are reclaiming the classical tradition just as many secular universities abandon it, and that classical Christian education is quietly reintroducing Plato, the Church Fathers, and a hierarchical view of reality to a generation once wary of anything outside the Bible alone. The conversation then turned to Plato’s specific role as a kind of pre-evangelism. Dr. Markos distinguished Socrates’ negative work of clearing false definitions from Plato’s positive construction of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. He highlighted how the Republic uses the just and unjust man, the city-soul analogy, and the Myth of Er to show that injustice disorders the soul itself—an insight modern students often encounter first in Plato rather than in Scripture. Myths, he explained, are not mere stories for those who cannot grasp philosophy; they incarnate truths that pure dialectic cannot fully express, especially the reality of final judgment and the damage sin does to the soul. Deacon Garlick and Thomas Lackey pressed further on St. Augustine’s decisive Christianization of the Forms: relocating them in the divine Logos and affirming that God knows both universals and particulars, so that Platonic metaphysics is not an alien overlay but something already latent in the New Testament’s language of participation, shadows, and heavenly patterns. The episode closed with C.S. Lewis as the modern bridge who makes Plato accessible to Protestants. Dr. Markos pointed to the heavenly Narnia that is “more real” than the earthly one, the Silver Chair’s psychological undoing of the children’s knowledge of Aslan and the sun, and Lewis’s consistent realism against nominalism. Throughout, the guests returned to the practical stakes of the Republic for first-time readers: follow the through-line that justice is better than injustice even when it costs everything, let the allegory of the cave reorient what counts as real, and treat Plato not as an opponent to be purged but as a candle whose light is completed, not extinguished, by the greater light of Christ. If you’re interested in reading more on how Plato and the broader Hellenized culture impact the Gospel, check out “Do Christians Owe a Debt to Homer” and “How Plato Helped St. Augustine Convert to Christianity.” Good work! Next week we start Book Two of the Republic. Check out our reading schedule for more information. Chapters 00:00 Why discuss Plato’s impact on Christianity 00:28 Myth, sin, and what our actions do to the soul 03:06 Meet Lou Markos and the Athens-Jerusalem connection 04:00 Why poetry’s ambiguity can deepen meaning 07:06 Greek thought and general revelation 09:03 Plato’s influence on Scripture and Christian thought 11:05 Classical education’s return among evangelicals 13:58 Augustine, Aristotle, and the nature of universals 18:20 How Markos came to Plato 18:47 How C.S. Lewis brings Plato to life 22:03 Plato’s ideas, Christian language, and pre-evangelism 25:06 The Silver Chair and the reality behind appearances 29:00 Recovering metaphysics and the unseen world 30:55 Why Christians need the classics and Church Fathers 32:16 Augustine, the candle, and the greater light of Christ 34:51 Advice for reading Plato’s Republic 35:19 The Magi, natural reason, and the journey to faith 41:08 Why the Republic still speaks to modern readers 45:16 Justice, the soul, and the tyrant’s inner slavery 50:10 What Plato’s myths reveal about cosmic justice Keywords Plato and Christianity, Louis Markos, From Plato to Christ, classical education, general revelation, Plato's Republic, Augustine, Christian philosophy, Socrates, metaphysics Lou Markos, Plato, Christianity, Platonic thought, Augustine, Aristotle, C.S. Lewis, The Republic, Chronicles of Narnia, Christian philosophy

  2. Oct 20

    Republic Book One: Thrasymachus with Dr. Gregory McBrayer (336a-354c)

    Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick and guest Dr. Gregory McBrayer dive into the fiery third part of Book One of Plato’s Republic: the showdown between Socrates and the sophist Thrasymachus. Thrasymachus bursts onto the scene “hunched up like a wild beast,” roaring that justice is nothing more than “the advantage of the stronger.” What follows is a masterclass in Platonic drama and pedagogy—complete with forced feedings, blushing, and precision battles over definitions—as Socrates methodically unravels the sophist’s position. And THANK YOU again to the Classic Learning Test for sponsoring this episode. Dr. McBrayer and Dcn. Garlick explore why this confrontation matters so much. They compare Thrasymachus to the even more ferocious Callicles of the Gorgias (which Dr. McBrayer also discussed with Dcn. Garlick on Ascend) and discuss whether Socrates truly refutes him or merely “out-sophists the sophist.” They also go back and forth on the famous shepherd-and-sheep analogy, the arts-versus-money-making distinction, and the early hints of the philosopher-king and city-soul analogy. Along the way they surface deeper questions that haunt the rest of the dialogue: Is justice a real thing or merely a name the powerful give to their own advantage? Why does Plato bookend the Republic with religious myths? And how much of Book One is a deliberate deconstruction meant to clear the ground for Glaucon’s more serious challenge in Book Two? More Resources on Plato’s Republic: How to Read PlatoReading schedule, podcast calendar, and more!GUIDE: 12 Questions on Book One of Plato’s RepublicRepublic Bk 1: Intro, Prologue & Cephalus with Dr. Alex Priou (327a-331d)Republic Bk 1: Polemarchus with Dr. Grabowski & Thomas Lackey (331e-336a) Whether you’re a first-time reader still finding your footing or a returning student who wants to wrestle with one of the most famous attacks on justice in the Western tradition, this conversation models how to read Plato slowly, dramatically, and in good company. Tune in for sharp analysis, unexpected humor, and a clear sense of why Thrasymachus still feels so familiar—and so dangerous—today. Be sure to check out our entire reading schedule, so you can be sure to read alongside us. A good path is before us. Let’s take it and ascend. Chapters 00:00 — Introducing Thrasymachus and the end of Book One 13:00 — Thrasymachus and Callicles: comparing the “nasty” challengers 21:00 — Thrasymachus’s dramatic entrance—and why to take him seriously 31:00 — “Justice is the advantage of the stronger” 40:00 — Ruling as an art, and Socrates’ argument 52:00 — The shepherd, the sheep, and Thrasymachus’s shifting claims 66:00 — The soul, leadership, and the reluctant ruler 81:00 — The penalty of being ruled by someone worse 93:00 — Justice, injustice, and Thrasymachus’s defeat 106:00 — What Book One establishes—and what it leaves unresolved

  3. Oct 13

    Republic Book One: Polemarchus (331e-336a)

    Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we continue our slow, beautiful pilgrimage through Plato’s Republic. Last week Dr. Alex Priou walked us through the opening and the dialogue with Cephalus. This week we focus on Polemarchus, Cephalus’ son who inherits his father’s argument. We are joined by two excellent guides: Dr. Frank Grabowski, Dean of Faculty at Holy Family Classical School, and Mr. Thomas Lackey, independent scholar and a longtime friend of the podcast. Today, we ask what is owed and to whom. “Shall I be your heir?” Polemarchus takes his father’s definition and attempts to provide a standard: Friends owe friends some good and nothing bad. Notice that the concepts of friendship and the good enter the Republic. Polemarchus’ name means war-lord, and the opening of the Republic made him look like political force, maybe even tyranny (commanding Socrates to wait). In the argument, however, he shows himself to be a good-faith interlocutor. Lackey notes that the Piraeus will later be the center of the revolt against the Thirty Tyrants (the puppet government set up by Sparta over Athens after the Peloponnesian War), and that Polemarchus will die by drinking hemlock (the same death Athens will later condemn Socrates to). The line about being “an heir” applies more directly to Cephalus, but in a way could apply to Socrates as well—Polemarchus is an heir to Socrates, someone who loves wisdom and then dies by drinking hemlock. Further Resources to Help You Read the Republic: GUIDE: 12 Questions on Book One of Plato’s RepublicRepublic Bk 1: Intro, Prologue & Cephalus with Dr. Alex Priou (327a-331d)How to Read PlatoReading schedule, podcast calendar, and more! Justice means to benefit friends and harm enemies. That is the Greek cultural default observed in the Oresteia and in Oedipus at Colonus. Socrates then asks: what is the art for? The man useful for keeping a deposit is also useful for stealing it. Then the harder question: Is a friend the man who seems good, or the man who is good? The one who decides can be wrong. The last turn is on the word harm. A first reader may hear a pacifist. Horses and dogs that have been harmed become worse in the virtue of horses and of dogs—but the just man cannot make a man more unjust. After they agree not to harm anyone, they call themselves partners in battle—a notable juxtaposition. The conversation is interrupted before Polemarchus can fully work through his aporia, his bewilderment. Be sure to check out our entire reading schedule, so you can be sure to read alongside us. A good path is before us. Let’s take it and ascend. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the dialogue and main themes 02:06 Who is Polymachus and his background 11:55 Polymachus inherits his father's argument on justice 20:54 Definitions of justice: giving to each what is owed 27:20 The significance of logos in the dialogue 35:34 Expanded definitions of justice and their implications 42:16 The role of techne and moral knowledge in justice 52:25 The teleology and purpose of justice 01:02:53 Historical and cultural context of the characters 01:17:22 The development of the concept of Arete 01:23:04 The objective versus voluntaristic understanding of justice 01:28:35 Humor and pedagogical style in Plato's dialogues 01:31:03 Conclusion and preview of next week's discussion

  4. Oct 6

    Republic Book One: Intro, Prologue & Cephalus with Dr. Alex Priou (327a-331d)

    Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we start our slow, beautiful pilgrimage through arguably the most important book in Western philosophy: Plato’s Republic. It is about justice and whether justice is more profitable to the soul than injustice—but along the way it provides rich conversations on the soul, virtue, education, metaphysics, and the afterlife. If you read this book and read it well, it will change your life. And we have an excellent guide and mentor to walk us through the opening of Plato’s Republic and the dialogue with Cephalus in Book One (327a-331d), Dr. Alex Priou who currently serves as a professor of political philosophy at the University of Austin. Today we start something life-changing. Plato is philosophy. To summarize a famous line, all of Western philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato, and Plato’s Republic is his masterwork. He does not offer you a sterile, intellectual idea that is neat to contemplate—he makes claims on your soul. For Plato, philosophy is transformative. The goal of the pursuit of wisdom is to have a good soul, a beautiful soul. Further Resources to Help You Read the Republic: GUIDE: 12 Questions on Book One of Plato’s RepublicHow to Read PlatoReading schedule, podcast calendar, and more! “I went down to the Piraeus.” The famous opening line gives you much to contemplate, and Dr. Alex Priou is a wonderful guide. We have the verb of descent, which will be important to the entire text, and we have the Piraeus, the port of Athens, which is hosting a new festival to a new goddess. Moreover, Socrates narrates the entire Republic to an unnamed listener who never interrupts… but this allows Socrates to give commentary on the argument he otherwise could not. Dr. Priou shows us how the prologue to the Republic is simple but rich with meaning—a great introduction to how Plato teaches. In the house of Cephalus, age, wealth, and the old myths give the first account of justice. Asked the greatest good of his money, the old metic does not speak of friends or food. He speaks of the myths he laughed at when he was young, and of the peace of facing them without unpaid debts. Justice, for him, is telling the truth and giving what one owes. Socrates asks whether you return a borrowed weapon to a man who has gone mad. Cephalus cannot defend the rule he has lived by. He laughs, leaves the argument to his son, and goes back to the sacrifices. Cephalus leaves, but his conversation will haunt the entire Republic—as the text begins with a descent and religious myth and will end with an ascent and a religious myth. Be sure to check out our entire reading schedule, so you can be sure to read alongside us. Also, thank you to the CLASSIC LEARNING TEST for sponsoring our first month of Plato’s Republic. They are a really excellent group of people trying to change the landscape of education in America. Go check them out. A good path is before us. Let’s take it and ascend. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Plato's Republic and guest Dr. Alex Priou 02:01 Why read Plato's Republic today? 04:05 Historical and dramatic context of the dialogue 06:05 Dr. Priou's background and love for Plato 08:00 The purpose of the Republic and its themes 10:03 The setting and composition of the dialogue 11:57 The character of Cephalus and traditional justice 14:01 The significance of the Myth of the Cave 15:49 The pedagogical method of Plato's dialogues 18:13 The role of myths and poetry in philosophy 19:57 The purpose of the Republic and its relevance today 22:11 The character of Polemarchus and justice as friendship 23:50 The challenge of understanding the dialogue's structure 26:12 The importance of rereading Plato's works 28:07 The character of Thrasymachus and cynicism 30:06 The significance of Socrates' narration style 32:06 The allegory of the cave and ascent to truth 34:13 The role of myth and poetry in conveying truth 35:47 The balance between tradition and innovation in the Republic 37:51 The practical purpose of the dialogue 40:00 The limits of human knowledge and the form of the good 42:03 The political and moral lessons of the Republic 43:57 The significance of justice as a personal and political virtue 46:12 The character of Cephalus and his traditional views 48:02 The transition from traditional to philosophical justice 49:59 The role of Socrates in guiding the dialogue 51:56 The importance of self-knowledge and inner reflection 54:05 The myths of the afterlife and their philosophical purpose 55:58 The ongoing relevance of Plato's Republic Join us next week as we continue our studies on Plato's Republic!

  5. Sep 29

    How to Read Plato

    Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we are preparing to read Plato’s Republic (we start next week!). Before turning to that long and demanding text, we ask a simple question: how do you read Plato well? Plato does not write treatises or lectures. He writes dialogues, and the setting, the characters, the irony, and even the moments of confusion (aporia!) are part of the teaching. The podcast takes up the questions that help a first-time reader get started on the right foot. Overall, however, we do not read Plato to “be smart” or brag we’ve read Plato. We read Plato to have a beautiful soul. We take him seriously as a teacher who can help us pursue the true, good, and beautiful. Here is a list of the major questions that are discussed on the podcast today: Why read Plato?Why is the drama important?Are the dialogues historical transcripts?What is the Socratic method?What is Socratic irony?What is the art of dialectic?What is aporia?What is eros?What is pleonexia?What are the parts of the soul? Again, we read Plato to better understand the good life and to have a good, healthy soul. Be sure to check out the MASTER CALENDAR for our reading schedule for Plato’s Republic. Also, if you’re interested in a deeper dive into eros, see "Rediscovering Holy Eros” (one of the most popular articles on Ascend). Moreover, you can read more about pleonexia and its dangers at “The Greatest Threat to Your Freedom is You.” Last week, to prep for the Republic, we published “How to Read Plato’s Republic like C.S. Lewis.” Finally, regarding Socratic irony, read “How a Man Pretending to be Drunk Helps You Read Plato.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to reading Plato and its significance 01:00 Why reading Plato is essential for philosophy 02:20 Understanding Plato's teaching through dialogues 06:29 Preparing for the Republic: preliminaries and questions 09:07 Why read the Republic and its moral importance 13:23 How to approach reading Plato's dialogues 26:06 The Socratic method and dialectic explained 33:01 Understanding Socratic irony and its purpose 39:31 Recognizing patterns in Socratic teaching 47:11 Eros, love, and the soul in Plato 55:43 Upcoming plans for studying the Republic Next week we start Plato’s Republic! Everything you need to know is here: "How to Read Plato's Republic with Ascend."

  6. Sep 22

    Bartleby, the Scrivener by Melville

    Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we end Short Story September with “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” by Melville - a seemingly simple tale about men in a law office that becomes a puzzling, existential tale. Dcn. Garlick is joined by two excellent guests: Mr. Joey Bremer, a teacher at Holy Family Classical School and an iconographer studying at the King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts in London, and “Montana” of Montana Classical College, an anonymous scholar who runs an X account that shares incredible insights on Melville’s Moby Dick. Overall, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” is a perplexing, existential tale that tends to quietly unsettle you by revealing the realities of modern life. CHECK OUT THE NEW ASCEND BOOK CLUB This episode of Ascend takes up Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street,” a quiet, unsettling tale whose central figure answers nearly every request with the same spare formula: “I would prefer not to.” The conversation lingers on the contrast between that stubborn preference and the narrator’s own softness—an elderly lawyer who prizes the easiest way of life, cannot quite govern his office, and keeps mistaking indecision for charity. Names, nicknames, dull eyes, and the cramped windows that look onto other walls all become clues: who in this world still possesses a will, and who has already been reduced to a role? Listeners are invited to sit with the story’s larger questions rather than resolve them. What does the monotonous labor of copying do to a man? How does a commercial, conventional life flatten thumos and leave even well-meaning people lukewarm? Why does Bartleby’s refusal feel at once more human and more deathly than the quirks of his co-workers? Drawing on the textures of Moby-Dick and the aporetic spirit of Plato, the discussion treats the tale as a puzzle that rewards patient attention—an invitation to notice what modernity may have done to the soul, and to return to the text itself with sharper eyes. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Melville and 'Bartleby' 00:12 Introduction to the episode and main themes 02:05 Biographical context of Melville's life 03:47 Overview of 'Bartleby the Scrivener' 06:54 Themes of monotony and human will 09:59 Character analysis: the narrator and Bartleby 14:57 Philosophical and literary connections 20:05 Implications for modern life and office culture 25:00 Concluding thoughts and interpretations 44:30 Dark passages and existential reflections in 'Bartleby' 45:25 Repetition of life and the prison of modernity 46:24 The loneliness of Bartleby and the narrator's solitude 46:56 Prison as a metaphor for societal dehumanization 48:02 Bartleby's awareness of death and existential insight 50:24 The role of the dead letters office and existential suffering 51:29 Melville's possible critique of modernity and capitalism 53:06 The dehumanizing nature of copying work and modern labor 55:07 Bartleby's refusal as act of will and control 57:47 Reason, preference, and the will in Bartleby's choices 01:00:20 The significance of small acts and existential meaning 01:02:19 Melville's relationship with Plato and classical philosophy 01:09:24 The philosophical underpinnings of Melville's critique 01:12:10 The aporetic nature of the story and open-ended interpretation 01:15:15 Comparison with other literary characters and philosophical figures 01:18:36 Fate, free will, and the acceptance of mortality 01:21:55 Melville, Plato, and the modern crisis of human nature 01:24:52 Final reflections on the story's philosophical depth and relevance CHECK OUT THE NEW ASCEND BOOK CLUB

  7. Sep 15

    NEW BOOK CLUB and Neil Gaiman’s “Chivalry” with H.E. Eduard Habsburg

    We have BIG NEWS! We have launched the new Ascend Book Club! Ascend: The Great Books Podcast has partnered with “The Ascent” here on Substack to transform it into the new Ascend Book Club to offer you the most comprehensive online book club focused on reading the great books and living a beautiful, virtuous life. You’ll receive the same great content as before but with much more—which now includes: Weekly podcast and videos on the great booksWeekly articles on the great booksIn-depth, detailed pdf guides on the great booksA monthly LIVE Q&A for supporters We are also publishing years of articles, guides, videos, and other resources to the new site and organizing them by work and author so they are easy to find—tons of resources on Homer, Hesiod, the Greek plays, Plato, Dante, and more. You could start reading many great books today with the Ascend library. Check out our new website, the Ascend Book Club, and join us today! Join our reading group and study the great books with us! Our next big read is Plato’s Republic this October, check out How to Read Plato’s Republic with Ascend for everything you need to know. Chivalry with H.E. Eduard HabsburgToday on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick and His Excellency Eduard Habsburg, Archduke of Austria and former Hungarian ambassador to the Holy See, discuss Neil Gaiman’s short story “Chivalry.” Before they turn to the text, Eduard speaks with warmth and candor about his family’s eight centuries of Catholic identity, the vocation of family in an atomized age, his decade in Rome, and an unexpected love of stories that runs from screenplays and Ghibli films to the understated magic of Gaiman. What follows is a close, affectionate reading of a story in which the Holy Grail turns up in an Oxfam shop, Sir Galahad knocks on a widow’s door for tea, and the most English understatement imaginable meets Arthurian quest. Together they trace Mrs. Whitaker’s loneliness and ritual, the knight’s unironic goodness, Marie’s transformation, the slugs in the garden, the three gifts of youth and immortality, and the moment an old woman quietly refuses what does not belong to her life. Eduard reads the tale as homage to Englishness and as a call to accept the adventure when it arrives, while Deacon Garlick asks whether that same ordinariness can also flatten what ought to remain extraordinary. It is a warm conversation on the charming short story, “Chivalry.” Reading ScheduleWe are currently finishing SHORT STORY SEPTEMBER! Next week, we will discuss “Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Melville, the author of Moby Dick, with two excellent guests. Read it this week and join the conversation! We’ll then have an introduction to Plato’s Republic on 9.29.26 and launch into Plato’s Republic on 10.6.26. Check out How to Read the Republic with Ascend for everything you need to know. You can read the great books with the Ascend Book Club! Join us. Dcn. Harrison Garlick lives in rural Oklahoma with his wife and five children. He serves as a deacon at Holy Family Cathedral and as Chancellor & General Counsel for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa. Follow him on X at Dcn. Garlick or Ascend.

  8. Sep 8

    Red Shadows: A Savage Tale of Solomon Kane with Alberto Fernandez

    Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick is joined by the always wonderful Alberto Fernandez to discuss "Red Shadows," a salvage tale of Solomon Kane by Robert E. Howard. Check out our website for our reading schedule, articles, written guides, and more. Dcn. Garlick and Alberto discuss Robert E. Howard’s 1928 Solomon Kane tale “Red Shadows,” a pulp adventure chosen as a lively Short Story September “palette cleanser” after heavier classical reading. Howard (1906–1936), the Texas-born creator of Conan the Barbarian, produced hundreds of stories in a short life. Alberto first encountered him through the 1960s–70s Lancer paperbacks with Frank Frazetta covers. Kane, Howard’s only recurring explicitly Christian series character, is described as a grim Puritan-Cavalier mix with pagan and philosophical streaks—“God’s angry swordsman”—a remorseless wandering avenger who rights wrongs he encounters by chance. The story opens in the French countryside when Kane finds a dying young Catholic woman assaulted by bandits led by Le Loup (“the Wolf”). The stranger’s death prompts Kane’s vow that “Men shall die for this,” launching a relentless pursuit that takes him from France across Europe to the West African jungle. There the narrative juxtaposes Kane’s grim, driven sense of justice (he sees himself as a “vessel of wrath”) against Le Loup’s cynical evil, tribal politics, the witch-doctor N’Longa, voodoo, jungle drums, and “blood memory.” Unlike the mirthful, vitalistic Conan, Kane is cold and mysterious even to himself. The climax features a duel framed as cosmic justice versus injustice, followed by a second, primal coda in which a gorilla avenges his mate—showing that nature itself can enact justice and that Kane often needs allies to complete vengeance. Alberto highlights Howard’s youthful ambition (he wrote the story at 21), his debt to adventure writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs and H. Rider Haggard, and the way Africa becomes a recurring, almost inescapable landscape in later Kane tales. He recommends the Del Rey edition and especially the later novella “Wings in the Night” as Howard’s finest Kane story. Both hosts note the stories’ value as high-energy, well-crafted adventure that can later be shared with sons, and they close by pointing listeners toward the next Short Story September episode on Neil Gaiman’s “Chivalry.” Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Robert E. Howard and Solomon Kane 02:13 Howard's Background and Literary Influence 04:37 The Character of Solomon Kane and His Morality 08:36 Howard's Philosophy and Moral Duality 11:02 Why Red Shadows Was Chosen for Discussion 14:48 Beginning of the Story: France and the Dying Girl 16:52 Stranger Motif and the Western Influence 19:10 Cain's Vengeance and Inner Drive 22:50 Primal Justice and the African Setting 26:53 Howard's Use of Africa and Its Significance 32:52 Howard's Publishing Journey and African Themes 36:07 The Role of Ilonga and African Characters 43:49 Eternal Forces: Justice and Injustice 45:58 The Ending: Gorilla and Primal Justice 50:49 Howard's Final Warning and Blood Memory 54:41 Recommended Follow-up Stories and Howard's Legacy Keywords Solomon Kane Red Shadows, Robert E. Howard Solomon Kane, Ascend Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick, Alberto Fernandez, Weird Tales 1928, pulp fiction, sword and sorcery, God’s angry swordsman, Conan the Barbarian comparison, Tower of the Elephant, Le Loup the Wolf, N’Longa witch doctor, G’loka the Gorilla Slayer, Short Story September, Del Rey Solomon Kane, Wings in the Night, Moon of Skulls, Hills of the Dead, Puritan avenger, vengeance for a stranger, West Africa jungle, blood memory, jungle drums, Howard pulp adventure, 16th century historical fantasy, Christian hero pulp fiction, Frank Frazetta, Centaur Press Solomon Kane, Lancer paperbacks, Argosy rejection, eighty dollars Weird Tales, grim Puritan Cavalier, vessel of wrath, justice versus injustice. NEXT WEEK we discuss Neil Gaiman's "Chivalry" with His Excellency Eduard Habsburg, the Archduke of Austria.

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About

Welcome to Ascend! We are a weekly Great Books podcast hosted by Deacon Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan. What are the Great Books? The Great Books are the most impactful texts that have shaped Western civilization. They include ancients like Homer, Plato, St. Augustine, Dante, and St. Thomas Aquinas, and also moderns like Machiavelli, Locke, and Nietzsche. We will explore the Great Books with the light of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Why should we read the Great Books? Everyone is a disciple of someone. A person may have never read Locke or Nietzsche, but he or she thinks like them. Reading the Great Books allows us to reclaim our intellect and understand the origin of the ideas that shape our world. We enter a "great conversation" amongst the most learned, intelligent humans in history and benefit from their insights. Is this for first-time readers? YES. Our goal is to host meaningful conversations on the Great Books by working through the texts in chronological order in a slow, attentive manner. Our host Adam Minihan is a first-time reader of Homer. We will start shallow and go deep. All are invited to join. Will any resources be available? YES. We are providing a free 115 Question & Answer Guide to the Iliad written by Deacon Harrison Garlick in addition to our weekly conversations. It will be available on the website (launching next week). Go pick up a copy of the Iliad! We look forward to reading Homer with you in 2024.

Information

  • Creator
    Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    157
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan
  • Show Website
    Ascend - The Great Books Podcast

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