Episoder

  • “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”

    David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

    We are joined for this episode of Risking Enchantment by Catholic author Eleanor Bourg Nicholson. Eleanor has previously published several Gothic novels including, A Bloody Habit (2018) and Brother Wolf (2021), with her latest novel Wake of Malice set to publish later this year.

    In this episode we discuss our deep love of the novels of Charles Dickens. We explore three of his greatest works, David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby and Great Expectations, each of which follows a young male protagonist through the many adventures, triumphs and pitfalls of his life. In each case we look at the virtues and the failings of these heroes, the Romantic tropes that Dickens employs to characterize them, and the subversions of these that he uses, particularly in the case of Great Expectations.

    Works Mentioned:

    Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

    David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

    Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

    Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

    Dickens: A Critical Study by G.K. Chesterton

    David Copperfield: Ignatius Critical Edition (coming soon) by Charles Dickens

    “The Age of Cant” by Theodore Dalrymple

    What We are Enjoying at the Moment

    Eleanor: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

    Rachel: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

  • But if there’s nothing, if there’s nothingThen what’s that song that keeps hounding me?In the still dark of the morningJust one more cradle down the creekAu revoir my little memoriesThen tell me: this is not your loss, this is your offering

    - Wake, 'Offerings'

    In this episode we are joined again by Shane Jenkins to discuss the album Offerings by Typhoon. Led by singer-songwriter Kyle Morton, the album is a fascinating, at times difficult, but ultimately transfixing examination of the end of a life. It follows various characters through the experience of dementia, sickness and death, allowing the listener to enter into that space through its rich musicality and lyricism. In our episode we pull out some of the imagery of the album, it's literary and biblical references and allusions and address its powerful and important themes.

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Shane Jenkins

    Follow us on social media: @seekingwatson @shanekins

    Shane's Website: https://sjenkin46.wixsite.com/ipofollies/about

    Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

    Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

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

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Works Mentioned

    Offerings by Typhoon

    Hunger and Thirst by Typhoon

    White Lighter by Typhoon

    "Kyle Morton & Typhoon: In Conversation with Great Minds" — The DePaul Humanities Center

    The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

    'Little Gidding', The Four Quartets, by T.S. Eliot

    The Choruses from The Rock by T.S. Eliot

    'The Hound of Heaven' by Francis Thompson

    8 1/2, dir. Frederico Fellini

    Lost in the Cosmos by Walker Percy

    What We're Enjoying at the Moment

    Shane:

    Cargo by Pio Harnett

    Rachel:

    The Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith

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  • Welcome back to Risking Enchantment! For our first episode of 2024, Rachel and Phoebe discuss the place that poetry has in our everyday lives, its importance in our faith, and why it’s good to learn poetry by heart. We highlight some of the poems that have been most impactful in our lives and spotlight some of the great resources for Catholics interested in poetry today.

    Click here for more information about Select Tours: Irish Wisdom and Wonder Pilgrimage with Katie Marquette and Christy Isinger.

    Click here to browse Wiseblood Books.

    Works Mentioned:

    “Have it by Heart”, The Spectator by Douglas Murray

    “Influences”, The Boston Review by Seamus Heaney

    “Christianity and Poetry”, First Things by Dana Gioia

    100 Great Catholic Poems by Sally Read

    “America, and Fall, Needs Poetry”, The American Conservative by Katya Sedgwick

    “Should Catholics care about poetry?”, Catholic News Agency, by Mary Farrow

    “Catholics Need Poetry” Word on Fire by Andrew Tolkmith

    Wiseblood Books

    “The Integral Humanism of Poetry,” Evangelisation and Culture by James Matthew Wilson

    Poems Referenced:

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

    “A Christmas Childhood” by Patrick Kavanagh

    “Wind” by Ted Hughes

    “Advent” by Patrick Kavanagh

    “Little Gidding” by T.S. Eliot

    Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot

    “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost

    “The Road not Taken” by Robert Frost

    “Oíche Nollaig na mBan” by Seán Ó Ríordáin

    “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson

    The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

    Hamlet by William Shakespeare

    “Ceasefire” by Michael Longely

    “The Wasteland” by T.S. Eliot

  • "It is emptiness like the hollow in the reed, the narrow restless emptiness which can have only one destiny: to receive the piper’s breath and to utter the song that is in his heart." - Caryll Houselander

    In our Christmas episode of Risking Enchantment, we are looking at a seasonal devotional classic, Caryll Houselander’s The Reed of God. This small book packs a powerful punch in its meditations on the humanity of Mary, the Mother of God. We discuss its themes of emptiness, the promise of fulfillment and the secrecy of God’s life growing within us. We reflect on how Christmas can be a time of both joy and grief, but that we can bear God into the world in all the small moments and acts of service in our lives.

    We would like to wish all our listeners a very happy Christmas season. Risking Enchantment will return in February 2024.

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson

    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:

    The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander

    A Rocking Horse Catholic by Caryll Houselander

    “Reed of God”, Catholic Insight by Sarah Gould

    “Journey of the Magi” by T.S. Eliot

    “Into the Dark with God”, You Crown the Year with your Goodness by Hans Urs Von Balthasar

    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

    What We’re Enjoying at the Moment

    Phoebe: Christmas Choral Concerts - The Dublin Bach Singers and Culwick Choral Society

    Rachel: “Holy Ghost” and “Manna”, Manna Part: 1 by Chris Renzema

    “52:10” and “The Color Green”, A Liturgy, A Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band by Rich Mullins

    Principium by The Arcadian Wild

  • After an unexpected hiatus, Risking Enchantment is back. In this episode we’re taking a look at some classic family movies and what they can tell us about our attitudes towards growing up, and our modern tendency to stay in a perpetual adolescence. We’re looking at the kingdom of Vulgaria in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, where children are illegal but the toy maker is in high demand from the Baron and Baroness. We are also discussing Jim Henson’s Labyrinth where Sarah goes on a journey to leave behind some of her childish ways, and toys, in order to step up to her responsibilities and make new friends.

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson

    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:

    Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

    Labyrinth (1986)

    “You Have No Power Over Me”: When David Bowie Was Satan (A Tribute Of Sorts)

    "You Remind Me of the Babe With the Power": How Jim Henson Redefined the Portrayal of Young Girls in Fanastial Movies in His Film, Labyrinth

    Everyone needs to grow up

    Childless society gone to the dogs, warns Pope

    "On Three Ways of Writing for Children" by C.S. Lewis

    Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

    "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot

    "How T.S. Eliot Predicted the Coming of Male Millennials"

    "The Drift from Domesticity" by G.K. Chesterton

    What We're Enjoying at the Moment

    Phoebe: A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

    Rachel: Offerings by Typhoon (album)

  • “Fiction is hard if not impossible to write because fiction is so very much an incarnation art
The fact is that the materials of the fiction are the humblest. Fiction is about everything human and we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn’t try to write fiction. It’s not a grand enough job for you.” - Flannery O’Connor

    In this episode we are joined by Shane Jenkins to discuss the mystery of the author Flannery O’Connor. We delve into her personal writing, in her prayer journal, her letters and her essays, in order to try to understand her and her writing. Much touted for her Catholicism, nevertheless many readers, especially Catholic readers, struggle with the bleak and grotesque imagery in her writing. While the power of her fiction stands on its own, in this episode we take a look at how Flannery’s personality, so vivid in her personal writing, helps position and give context to her fiction in a way that opens it up for readers today.

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Shane Jenkins

    Follow us on social media: @seekingwatson @shanekins

    Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

    Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

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

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Works Mentioned

    Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose by Flannery O’Connor

    The Habit of Being by Flannery O’Connor

    Prayer Journal by Flannery O’Connor

    The Complete Short Stories by Flannery O’Connor

    Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

    Bishop Barron Presents | Ethan and Maya Hawke - Understanding Flannery

    Wildcat (2023)

    Flannery O'Connor Collection, Word on Fire Classics

    What We’re Enjoying at the Moment:

    Shane:

    Typhoon

    The 1975

    John Lucas

    Rachel

    The Bear

  • “The perfect stillness of the night was thrilled by a more solemn silence. The darkness held a presence that was all the more felt because it was not seen. I could not any more have doubted that He was there than that I was. Indeed, I felt myself to be, if possible, the less real of the two.”—William James

    In this episode of Risking Enchantment, we are delighted to welcome back Katie Marquette, host of the podcast Born of Wonder, to talk about the experience of liminal spaces, what it means to encounter the numinous, and how we interpret this in our lives of faith. We discuss the Eucharist as the meeting point between heaven and earth, but also the moments of the 'thinning of the veil' to be found in nature and even our own homes.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Katie Marquette

    Listen to Katie’s podcast: Born of Wonder

    Follow Rachel on social media: @seekingwatson

    Follow Katie on social media: @bornofwonder

    Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

    Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

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

    Rachel was also previously a guest on the Born of Wonder podcast. To listen to that episode, click here: Falling in Love with Words: Nora Ephron and You’ve Got Mail with Rachel Sherlock

    Works Referenced:

    Born of Wonder: S4:9 EP51: The Lure of the Edge and Trying to Capture it

    Born of Wonder: S4:10 EP52: Thin Places: Lifting the Veil Between Heaven and Earth

    A Photographer at the Ends of the Earth

    Thomas Joshua Cooper | The World's Edge

    Rudolf Otto's 'Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans' of the Numinous Experience

    Otto on the Numinous

    November: A Thin Place

    The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis

    The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis

    'Effing the Ineffable' by Roger Scruton

    Letters to Malcolm by C.S. Lewis

    The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham

    What We're Enjoying At the Moment:

    Katie: Three Blind Mice by Agatha Christie

    Rachel: House of David by Molly O'Mahony

  • "The man on his holiday becomes the man he might have been, the man he could have been, had things worked out a little differently. All men are equal on their holidays: all are free to dream their castles without thought of expense, or skill of architect. Dreams based upon such a delicate fabric must be nursed with reverence and held away from the crude light of tomorrow week."

    - R.C. Sherriff

    For our first official episode back, Rachel and Phoebe reflect on the importance of holidays, and the unique opportunity they hold to show virtue and love for your family or fellow travelers. We discuss R.C. Sherriff's tender portrayal of the small family moments on their traditional trip to the sea in The Fortnight in September, and we return to Elizabeth von Arnim's The Enchanted April to look at how selfishness and a need to protect one's own experience and comfort takes away from the spirit of generosity necessary for a good holiday.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson

    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:

    The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff

    The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

    'The War on Holidays' Utopia of Usurers, by G.K. Chesterton

    What's Wrong with the World by G.K. Chesterton

    What we’re enjoying at the moment:

    Phoebe: Evangelium Conference

    Rachel: Open mic nights

  • "First become a person" - St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

    This bonus episode is the recording of a talk I gave over this summer for the Youth 2000 summer festival on Catholic womanhood.

    The slides discussed in the talk can be found by clicking the following link: Presentation Slides

    To find out more about Youth 2000 Ireland and their mission click here: Youth 2000

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    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

  • “Healing is impossible in loneliness; it is the opposite of loneliness. Conviviality is healing. To be healed we must come with all the other creatures to the feast of Creation.” - Wendell Berry

    In this, our last episode before the summer break, Phoebe is back to discuss some of our favourite children’s literature. We explore the theme of health and healing, in Goodnight Mr. Tom and The Secret Garden, and how both stories show the importance of nature and community in human flourishing. Looking to the writing of Wendell Berry we discuss how our health, our environment and our society are all interconnected, and how our faith informs how we should cultivate all three of those strands of life.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson

    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:

    Goodnight Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian

    The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

    The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

    Heidi by Johanna Spyri

    ‘Health is Membership’ by Wendell Berry

    The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry by Wendell Berry

    Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

    What we’re enjoying at the moment:

    Phoebe: The appendices discs to The Lord of the Rings extended edition

    Rachel: Sam Amidon (musician)

  • “My films show the world’s beauty. Beauty otherwise unnoticed.”

    - Hayao Miyazaki

    In this episode of Risking Enchantment I'm joined by animator Robyn Conroy to discuss the highly acclaimed Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation company whose films offer a deep sense of the goodness of life and the beauty of nature.

    Studio Ghibli is cornerstone of Japanese entertainment culture, and has reached a global audience with films like Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, and Howl’s Moving Castle. It has been instrumental in preserving the tradition of 2D animation and the vast artist talent on show in its films has been a powerhouse of inspiration for all kinds of film makers. In this episode, Robyn and I discuss Studio Ghibli’s founder, Hayao Miyazaki and how he brings audiences into his worlds of goodness and beauty. Miyazaki brings together a love of the natural world, a commitment to close observation, and a belief in the goodness of life itself. While not creating stories from a specifically Christian perspective, Miyazaki’s films are filled with wonder and awe in God’s creation, and a deep sense of morality and virtue.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Robyn Conroy

    Follow Rachel on social media: @seekingwatson

    Follow Robyn on Instagram: @robynconroyart

    Watch Robyn’s short film: The Beekeeper

    Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

    Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

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

    Related Episode:

    Over the Garden Wall: Finding Dante in the UnknownStranger Things in Stranger Times: Nostalgia in the Digital AgeThe Prince of Egypt: An Epic in AnimationCartoon Saloon: Celtic and Christian CoexistenceHowl's Moving Castle and the Fascination of Fairy Stories

    Works Referenced:

    NausicaÀ of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

    My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

    Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

    Whisper of the Heart (1995)

    Princess Mononoke (1997)

    Spirited Away (2001)

    Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

    Ponyo (2008)

    The Red Turtle (2016)

    “Miyazaki's Reality” by Michael Toscano, First Things

    “The worlds of Hayao Miyazaki” by Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films

    “Animated Nature: Aesthetics, Ethics, and Empathy in Miyazaki Hayao's Ecophilosophy” by Pamela Gossin

    “Studio Ghibli Finds the True, the Good and the Beautiful” by Michelle McDaniel, National Catholic Register

    ‘“The Earth Speaks to Us All”: A Critical Appreciation of Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s Shintƍ Environmental Philosophy’ by Adam Barkman, Christian Scholar’s Review

    Hayao Miyazaki | The Mind of a Master

    The Conflicting Ideals of Hayao Miyazaki | Video Essay

    Spirited Away Production Notes

    “The Ecological Imagination of Hayao Miyazaki: A Retrospective on Four Fantastical Worlds” by Isaac Yuen, Orion Magazine

    “Hildegard of Bingen's Lament for the Environmental Crisis Caused by Human Sin” by Nathaniel Campbell, Church Life Journal

    The Poems and Prose of Gerard Manly Hopkins

    Maxims II

    What We’re Enjoying at the Moment

    Rachel: Cargo by Pio Hartnett

    Robyn: Djo

  • Apologies for re-releasing this old episode, there was a technical issue which needed to be resolved. New episode of Risking Enchantment coming soon. Thank you for your patience!

    “You may learn something, and whether what you see be fair or evil, that may be profitable, and yet it may not. Seeing is both good and perilous.”

    The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

    In this episode of Risking Enchantment we’re discussing one of our favourite topics: The Lord of the Rings. We’re taking a look at the way Tolkien’s characters are often forced to make decisions and take action with very limited information. We also explore Tolkien’s theme of the tendency to despair that can be caused by receiving too much information, especially through magical means, a theme with great relevance today especially when drawn in comparison to technology and the transmission of news online. We look at the way that Tolkien’s interest in this element of his story impacts his writing approach, crafting the books in their leapfrogging narrative style, as well as the possible origins of this interest in his work as a signal’s officer in World War 1.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson

    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 Referenced

    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

    The Lord of the Rings (dir. Peter Jackson) Appendices Bonus Material

    “JRR Tolkien, World War One Signals Officer” by Elizabeth Bruton

    The Road to Middle Earth by Tom Shippey

    Dracula by Bram Stoker

    What we’re Enjoying at the Moment

    Phoebe: Dracula by Bram Stoker

    Rachel: Winters in the World by Eleanor Parker

    Both: Living (2022, dir Oliver Hermanus)

  • “Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life. You don't have to live forever. You just have to live.” - Tuck Everlasting

    In this episode, Rachel and Phoebe explore a variety of stories that explore the desire for immortality, and the challenge of embracing the reality of death. Beginning from perhaps a surprising starting point, the teen fantasy film Tuck Everlasting, we move into the depictions of the temptations to grasp eternal life in J.R.R. Tolkien’s work and in C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew. We draw out the parallels to the conceptions of unfallen Man in the Bible. We also discuss how we need to embrace the time that is given us, not to grasp on to our youth but to look forward to the future, both in this life and the next.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson

    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

    Tuck Everlasting (2002)

    Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

    The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

    The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

    Leaf by Niggle by J.R.R. Tolkien

    The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

    Tolkien’s Modern Reading by Holly Ordway

    The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien edited by Humphrey Carpenter

    About Time (2013)

    ‘"The Gift of Death": Tolkien's Philosophy of Mortality’ by Grant C. Sterling

    Groundhog Day and the Meaning of Time, Born of Wonder podcast

    What we’re Enjoying at the Moment

    Phoebe: Good Evening, Mrs Craven: The Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes by Mollie Panter-Downes

    The Thing about Austen podcast

    Rachel: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

  • ‘Out of the east came the Magi bearing gifts,

    hastening in their journey to the Christ child;

    but now Irish scholars arrive from western lands,

    bringing their precious gifts of learning’.

    - Sedulius Scottus

    As we’re approaching the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, we’re turning our focus to the patron saints of Ireland, St. Patrick and St Brigid. Greg Daly joins us to discuss the modern conceptions and celebrations of these saints: who they were as historical figures, who they weren’t as pagan deities, and how to approach their many miracle stories from our current perspective. We delve into the incredible achievements and faith of early Christian Ireland, and highlight the issues around the current trend of erasing faith from the celebration of Irish saints and Irish history in general.

    Wishing our listeners a very happy St. Patrick’s Day.

    “LĂĄ FhĂ©ile PĂĄdraig sona duit!”

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Greg Daly

    Follow me on social media: @seekingwatson

    Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

    Follow Greg on social media: @GregDalyIC, @thirstygargoyle

    http://thethirstygargoyle.blogspot.com/

    Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

    Find out more about Leaven Magazine at https://leavenmagazine.ie/

    Works Mentioned:

    A History of the Irish Church 400-700 AD

    The Life of St. Brigid of Kildare by Cogitosus

    “Distant glimmerings of Irish light”, Leaven by Fr Conor McDonough

    “An unlikely saviour: Without folklore and folk traditions, Catholicism in Ireland might not have survived centuries of persecution and oppression”, Leaven by Francis Young

    Ireland's Golden Age: 'The work of angelic, not human, skill’

    “The New Paganism” by Hilaire Belloc

    Heretics by G.K. Chesterton

    What we’re enjoying at the moment:

    Greg: Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series)

    Rachel: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

  • “[H]ope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”

    The Shawshank Redemption

    In this episode of Risking Enchantment, Rachel and Phoebe discuss one of the most highly acclaimed and best beloved films of all time, The Shawshank Redemption. Released in 1994, it slowly grew to prominence, now dominating the top rank on lists of best movies. What draws audiences to this story of Andy Dufrense, a quiet man sent to prison for the murder of his wife and her lover? We explore the film’s themes of hope and the building up of a rich inner life, as well as its masterful storytelling and even the biblical influences to be found in its symbolism.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson

    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 Referenced

    The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

    The Passion of the Christ (2004)

    Bishop Barron: Andy Dufrense as a Christ figure

    The Hidden Meaning of the Shawshank Redemption

    Shawshank's Hollowed-Out Bible

    On Fairy-Stories by J.R.R. Tolkien

    Spe salvi by Pope Benedict XVI

    The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

    What We’re Enjoying at the Moment

    Phoebe: Calamity Jane

    Rachel: To Catch a Thief / The Stella Cinema, Dublin

  • “[T]he Middle Ages
was in some ways immeasurably more humane and creative than its modern successors. It was happy to see human life as fully part of the natural world, shaped by the cycles of the sun and moon and the seasons; it was able to articulate a belief that material considerations, convenience, and economic productivity are not the highest goods, and not the only standards by which life should be lived.” - Eleanor Parker, A Clerk of Oxford

    For this first episode of 2023, I’m delighted to be joined by Eleanor Parker, author of Winters in the World: A Journey Through the Anglo-Saxon Year. Eleanor teaches Old and Middle English literature at Brasenose College, Oxford as well as being columnist for History Today and many other publications. She is known online, especially on Twitter for her blog A Clerk of Oxford.

    In our discussion, we delve into the experience of the seasons in Anglo-Saxon England, how they perceived the natural world around them through poetry and literature, and how they integrated the seasons with their faith through the liturgical year. We also speak about our modern experience of the seasons, what has changed, and what has remained the same for over a thousand years, and what we can learn from the Anglo-Saxons about living the year well.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Eleanor Parker

    Follow me on social media: @seekingwatson

    Follow Eleanor on Twitter: @ClerkofOxford

    Click the links below to buy her books

    Read her blog, Clerk of Oxford

    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 referenced:

    Winters in the World: A Journey through the Anglo-Saxon Year by Eleanor Parker

    Conquered: The Last Children of Anglo-Saxon England by Eleanor Parker

    ‘A Clerk of Oxford’ blog - Eleanor Parker

    Easter in Old English Poetic Imagination - Risking Enchantment

    “'This doubtful day of feast or fast': Good Friday and the Annunciation”, A Clerk of Oxford, Eleanor Parker

    “The sad loss of our common rituals”, Unherd, Eleanor Parker

    The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

    Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature by C.S. Lewis

    The Menologium

    Maxims II

    The Wanderer

    Things We're Enjoying at the Moment

    Eleanor: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (audiobook)

    Rachel: Collected Longer Poems by W.H. Auden

  • "All these things happen on Christmas Eve, they are all told of on Christmas Eve. For ghost stories to be told on any other evening than the evening of the twenty-fourth of December would be impossible in English society as at present regulated. Therefore, in introducing the sad but authentic ghost stories that follow hereafter, I feel that it is unnecessary to inform the student of Anglo-Saxon literature that the date on which they were told and on which the incidents took place was—Christmas Eve." - Jerome K. Jerome

    In our Christmas episode of Risking Enchantment, Rachel and Phoebe discuss the history of Christmas ghost stories, their popularity in the Victorian era and the impact of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. We also look at the ghostly elements that can be drawn out of the nativity story and how spooky stories can actually help us enter into the spirit of the season.

    We hope you enjoy the episode and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and blessings for the new year ahead.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Phoebe Watson

    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 referenced:

    A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

    The Lamp magazine - Christmas Ghost Story Competitions

    After-Supper Ghost Stories by Jerome K. Jerome

    "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" Ghost Stories by M.R. James

    The Mezzotint (TV Movie 2021)

    "How Fear Departed the Long Gallery", Ghost Stories by E.F. Benson

    The Goblin Who Stole a Sexton by Charles Dickens

    For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio by W.H. Auden

    "Into the Dark With God: A Christmas Meditation on the Incarnation, for a Troubled World" by Hans Urs Von Balthasar

    The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton

    "The History of Christmas Ghost Stories" by Francis Young

    Winters in the World by Eleanor Parker

    The Snowman (1982)

    Shadows by George MacDonald

    Things We're Enjoying at the Moment

    Phoebe: The Story Story Podcast

    Rachel: Little Women (1994) and Dickens Audiobooks

  • "A story that was a metaphor for American capitalism in the tale of a great king with three sons: the oldest was given his passion and aggressiveness, the second his sweet nature and child-like qualities, and the third his intelligence, cunning, and coldness. Suddenly I saw the story as one of succession and power."

    - Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Notebook

    In this episodes, I’m delighted to be joined by Katie Marquette, host of the Born of Wonder podcast. We’re discussing one of our favourite films, The Godfather. We explore the film’s themes of power, the desire for justice, and the complexity of family loyalty. We discuss the film’s artistic achievement and how it utilizes its Catholic backdrop to powerful effect.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Katie Marquette

    Listen to Katie’s podcast: Born of Wonder

    Follow Rachel on social media: @seekingwatson

    Follow Katie on social media: @bornofwonder

    Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

    Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

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

    Rachel was also recently a guest on the Born of Wonder podcast. To listen to that episode, click here: Falling in Love with Words: Nora Ephron and You’ve Got Mail with Rachel Sherlock

    Works Referenced:

    The Godfather, Part 1

    The Godfather, Part 2

    “At 50 years, 'The Godfather' still impacts how Hollywood depicts gangs, violence”, National Catholic Report

    “The Godfather’s two endings: Lighting a candle and the wrong side of the door”, Decent Films

    “Cycle of Sin: Christian Themes in The Godfather”, Critics at Large

    The Godfather: How Michael Corleone Evolves

    What We’re Enjoying at the Moment:

    Katie: The Autumn Season

    Rachel: Castle Howard: Into the Woods - A Fairytale Christmas

    Laysongs by Chris Thile

  • “The Unknown is at turns gothic and autumnal, grim and threatening or comforting and even silly, with seasons of harvest and hearth giving way to snow and silence.”

    - Martin Cahill

    In this episode of Risking Enchantment I'm joined by professional animator Robyn Conroy to discuss the little known gem of autumnal animation that is Cartoon Network's 2014 Over the Garden Wall.

    The story centres on two brothers, Wirt and Greg, who find themselves lost in strange woods, adrift in time, in a place called The Unknown. With the help of Beatrice, an impatient bluebird they travel through this mysterious place encountering strange and eerie situations in search of a way home. Throughout their journey, they outwit a series of minor antagonists, yet The Beast— an unidentifiable, manipulative monster — consistently looms in the brothers’ shadows, waiting for their moment of weakness.

    In the episode we discuss our love for the show and it's grounding in the virtues of hope and self-sacrifice, as well as the rich tapestry of literary and artistic allusions which form a backdrop to the story. In particular we look at how the series draws on Dante's Inferno, and how show creator Patrick McHale embraces nostalgia and Americana in order to create a uniquely American fairy tale for the modern age.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Robyn Conroy

    Follow Rachel on social media: @seekingwatson

    Follow Robyn on Instagram: @robynconroyart

    Follow the podcast on Instagram: @riskingenchantmentpodcast

    Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

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

    Robyn's previous episodes on Risking Enchantment include:

    Stranger Things in Stranger Times: Nostalgia in the Digital AgeThe Prince of Egypt: An Epic in AnimationCartoon Saloon: Celtic and Christian Coexistence

    Works Referenced:

    Over the Garden Wall (2014)

    “Over the Garden Wall Deep Dive: Background & Cultural Context” by Bella Trucco

    The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

    ‘“Where have we come and where shall we end?”: An Examination of Patrick McHale’s Over the Garden Wall as a Contemporaryof Patrick McHale’s Over the Garden Wall as a Contemporary Otherworld JourneyOtherworld Journey’ by Kayla Justice

    Over the Garden Wall is Dante's Inferno (Symbolism Analysis) by Trey the Explainer

    Is Over The Garden Wall About Having Faith? by PBS Digital Studios

    What We’re Enjoying at the Moment

    Robyn: Midnights by Taylor Swift

    Rachel: The Fortnight in September by R.C. Sherriff

  • “There is something in us, as storytellers and as listeners to stories, that demands the redemptive act, that demands that what falls at least be offered the chance to be restored." - Flannery O'Connor

    For this episode of the podcast we're doubling up the Sherlocks as Rachel is joined by her brother Michael to discuss the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. In this episode we place the film in the tradition of the Southern Gothic genre and talk about the influence of Flannery O'Connor on the film's story and storytelling technique. We delve into O'Connor's use of violence and grace, and analyze the role of God in our yearning for both justice and mercy.

    Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

    Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Michael Sherlock

    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 Referenced:

    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

    A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

    Mystery and Manners by Flannery O'Connor

    'How Three Billboards went from film fest darling to awards-season controversy' by Alissa Wilkinson

    'Beyond Grief and Anger: A Review of “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”' by Fr. Damien Ference

    "Three Billboards, Flannery O’Connor, and Hope" by Philip Bunn

    The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor

    The Habit of Being by Flannery O'Connor

    What We’re Enjoying at the Moment

    Michael: Breaking Bad

    Rachel: Machine Gun Kelly, Mainstream Sellout Tour