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A Conversation with Jason Baxter

Angelina Stanford, Thomas Banks, and Cindy Rollins talk to me about literature, the relevance of medieval cosmology, and Lewis. We become instant friends. Here’s a description of the show:

On The Literary Life Podcast this week, our hosts Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks sit down for a special conversation with Jason Baxter, author of The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis. Jason is a speaker, writer, and college professor who writes primarily on medieval thought and is especially interested in Lewis’ ideas. You can find out more about him and his books at JasonMBaxter.com.

Our hosts and Jason discuss a wide range of ideas, including the values of literature, the sacramental view of reality, why it is important to understand medieval thought, the “problem” of paganism in Lewis’ writings, and how to approach reading ancient and medieval literature.

• DONALD KRAYBILL on how the Amish "negotiate" with modernity as communities by making decisions about the uses of technology
• THADDEUS KOZINSKI on the dubious claim within liberalism that public life can be well-ordered by entirely neutral (non-transcendent) principles
• DAVID BENTLEY HART on how "two-tier Thomism" deviates from historic Christian understanding of the relationship between God and Creation
• NIGEL BIGGAR on recognizing problems with the notion of "natural rights," without denying the importance of rights understood as granted within social and political contexts
• RAVI SCOTT JAIN on reconfiguring science and the teaching of science within the framework of natural philosophy, natural history, and natural science
• JASON BAXTER on how C. S. Lewis’s imagination was shaped by texts from the Middle Ages

“The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis” – After Hours with Dr. Jason M. Baxter

“Many people know Lewis as a fiction writer and as an apologist, but fewer know him as a medievalist. Dr. Jason Baxter unpacks what that means and why it’s important.”

Interview with Jake McAtee

“The latest installment of an ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein. Jason M. Baxter joins the podcast to discuss his recently published book, An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual Life.”

“Dr. Baxter and I discuss the C.S. Lewis few ever talk about, the dangers of presentism, and how the medievals aren’t at all like the common stereotypes. Plus, for the second podcast in a row football comes up.”

March 2o22: Steve Brown and Michael Jahosky interviewed me about Medieval Mind.

Two very different styles of interviewing!

A Beginner's Guide to Dante (featuring Jason Baxter).

In this episode, David Kern chats with Jason Baxter, a professor and writer from Wyoming Catholic College, about his new books, A Beginner's Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy. This seeks to help "readers better appreciate and understand the complexity and layers of meaning of Dante's spiritual masterpiece." Topics of conversation include the challenges of teaching Dante today, Dante's modern moment, why the Divine Comedy is worth loving, and much more..

“I think Dante would have been heartbroken to know that we get more excited about his mud pit fights in Inferno than we do about his glorious divine dance of Paradiso.”

Guests on Volume 145: David I. Smith, on Christian teaching as a set of practices that accords with Christian content; Bruce Hindmarsh, on the rise of the conversion narrative in early Evangelicalism; Jason Baxter, on the psychological subtlety in Dante’s Divine Comedy; John Fea, on the entanglement of American evangelicals and politics; Laurie Gagne, on the spiritual longing of French philosopher Simone Weil; and Matthew O'Donovan, on singing Renaissance polyphony with Stile Antico.

Inferno or Paradiso? On Introducing Students to the Divine Comedy

Dr. Jason Baxter, Academic Dean at Wyoming Catholic College and author of The Beginners Guide to Dante’s Divine Comedy offers his thoughts on how to introduce students to the Divine Comedy. By forcing the Divine Comedy (and many other “Great Works”) on our boys without the proper groundwork, we risk cheating them of a profound encounter. But there is value, and this is an introduction worth making. How do we go about it?