The Literary Life Podcast

Angelina Stanford Thomas Banks
  • 4.7 (1.2K)
  • BOOKS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Not just book chat! The Literary Life Podcast is an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well and the lost intellectual tradition needed to fully enter into the great works of literature. Experienced teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks (of www.HouseOfHumaneLetters.com) join lifelong reader Cindy Rollins (of www.MorningtimeForMoms.com) for slow reads of classic literature, conversations with book lovers, and an ever-unfolding discussion of how Stories Will Save the World. And check out our sister podcast The Well Read Poem with poet Thomas Banks.

  1. 4D AGO

    The Tower and the Ruin with Dr. Michael Drout

    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.

    1h 48m

  2. JAN 20

    "Best of" - Fairy Tales and Children's Literature with Dr. Vigen Guroian

    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.

    1h 29m

  3. JAN 13

    "Falling Inward" with Dr. Jason Baxter

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

    1h 13m

  4. JAN 6

    "Best of" - What to Do When The Literary Life Feels Overwhelming

    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.

    1h 38m

  5. 12/30/2025

    Our Literary Lives of 2025

    For this final episode of the 2025 season on The Literary Life Podcast, we bring you a special year-end conversation with Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks all about their year in reading. Thomas talks about how most of his reading was tied to classes he taught. Cindy and Angelina talk about the reasons they didn't read as many books as they usually do in a year. They share some of their favorite non-fiction reads of the year, books that surprised them, and fiction highlights. In the course of the conversation, our hosts also make several points about reading in the literary tradition and avoiding public judgment of other people's choices in books. The House of Humane Letters Christmas sale is still on! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. 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 like "Abiding in the Fields: Spenser, Milton, and the Pastoral Poetic Tradition" taught by Dr. Anne Phillips, or Dr. Michael Drought's "Viking and Old Norse Culture." To check out the full show notes for this episode, including all the books referenced, please visit https://theliterary.life/309.

    1h 41m

  6. 12/23/2025

    Preview of The Literary Life Season 8

    On this week's episode of The Literary Life, Thomas and Angelina bring you a preview of the books we will discuss on the upcoming season of the podcast. First, Angelina explains their approach to the podcast as they approach this next year, then she and Thomas share what literary topics and book discussions you can be looking forward to in 2026. In addition, if you are looking for a reading challenge created by our Friends and Fellows for 2026, you can find it on Patreon when you join for free! The House of Humane Letters Christmas sale is live now! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. 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. To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/308.

    53 min

  7. 12/16/2025

    "Best of" – Our Year in Reading

    This week on The Literary Life podcast, we are dipping back into the archives to bring you a delightful conversation from 2019 in which our Literary Life podcast hosts chatted all about their past year in books, as well as what they hoped to read in the coming year. Cindy, Angelina and Thomas began by sharing some commonplace quotes from books they read in 2019. They discussed their strategies for planning their reading goals and how they curate their "to be read" lists. Each of our hosts also shared some highlights from their year in books. Angelina then introduced The Literary Life Podcast 20 for 2020 Reading Challenge. She talked about how to approach this reading challenge. Then our hosts talked a little about each category in the challenge and gave some of their possible book picks for the challenge. Cindy mentioned a list of Shakespeare's plays in chronological order. She also has a list of "Books for Cultivating Honorable Boys." Happening now–the House of Humane Letters Christmas sale! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. 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. For the full show notes for this episode, including book links, quotes, and today's poem, please visit our website at https://theliterary.life/307.

    1h 46m

  8. 12/09/2025

    "Best of" – What Is the Literary Life?

    Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and one of our "best of" episodes from the vault! Due to the busyness of the holiday season, we thought this would be the perfect time to bring you a replay from our archives instead of starting a brand new book discussion series. This week, we re-air the inaugural episode of The Literary Life, in which Cindy and Angelina introduce the podcast and what they mean when they talk about having a "literary life." Each of them share how stories have shaped their personal lives, as well as how they believe stories have the power to shape culture. You can find and listen to the other 3 introductory episodes of The Literary Life mentioned in this replay at the links below- Episode 2: The Interview Episode Episode 3: The Importance of Detective Fiction Episode 4: Gaudy Night, Ch. 1-3 Happening now–the House of Humane Letters Christmas sale! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed. 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 like "Abiding in the Fields: Spenser, Milton, and the Pastoral Poetic Tradition" taught by Dr. Anne Phillips, or Dr. Michael Drought's "Viking and Old Norse Culture." For the full show notes of this episode, including quotes, book links, and this week's poem, please visit https://theliterary.life/306.

    47 min
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Hosts & Guests

4.7
out of 5
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About

Not just book chat! The Literary Life Podcast is an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well and the lost intellectual tradition needed to fully enter into the great works of literature. Experienced teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks (of www.HouseOfHumaneLetters.com) join lifelong reader Cindy Rollins (of www.MorningtimeForMoms.com) for slow reads of classic literature, conversations with book lovers, and an ever-unfolding discussion of how Stories Will Save the World. And check out our sister podcast The Well Read Poem with poet Thomas Banks.

Information

  • Creator
    Angelina Stanford Thomas Banks
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    312
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ©Cindy Rollins 2019
  • Show Website
    The Literary Life Podcast

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