The C.S. Lewis podcast

Lewis' life was not a bed of roses. However, he was still able to find joy in dark situations. For example, discovering beauty and friendship in Ireland's Country Louth while his brother Warnie was being nursed there for alcohol addiction. Rev Paul Clayton-Lea, author of CS Lewis and the Wee County shares some fascinating personal stories from the Lewis brothers in a talk given at the CS Lewis Group at Ulster’s spring mini symposium. The event was entitled ‘CS Lewis and the Land of His Birth: Re-rooting Lewis in Ulster & the Island of Ireland’. For the CS Lewis Group at Ulster: https://www.ulster.ac.uk/cs-lewis + Subscribe to The CS Lewis podcast: https://pod.link/1560959545 + For more shows, free ebook and newsletter visit our new website + For online learning https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training + For our Premier Unbelievable? Live events + Support the podcast from the USA + Support the podcast from UK and rest of the world

Is CS Lewis relevant today? Can he speak to a post-Christian culture? We hear from Meg Thomson, producer of Freud’s Last Session, a film starring Anthony Hopkins as Sigmund Freud and Matthew Goode as CS Lewis, Dr Jem Bloomfield, an assistant professor at the University of Nottingham and author of Paths in the Snow and Justin Brierley, author of The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God. They joined Ruth on a programme called Free Thinking, which was originally broadcast on the BBC in December 2023 and focused on CS Lewis and his impact today. It was presented by Dr Chris Harding, a cultural historian of Japan, India and East-West connections, based at the University of Edinburgh and was produced by Ruth Watts. The BBC have kindly given us permission to republish the clips featured in this show, but we highly recommend you listen to the full programme. Free Thinking airs on BBC radio 4 on Fridays at 9pm and you can also listen online or on podcast via BBC sounds. To listen to the whole episode of this special CS Lewis Free Thinking on BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gy290n For more on Freud's Last Session, listen to director Matthew Brown speaking to Ruth on episode 163: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/the-cs-lewis-podcast/the-cs-lewis-podcast-163-matthew-brown-what-would-sigmund-freud-and-cs-lewis-discuss/17843.article For more on New Atheism, check out https://www.premierunbelievable.com/, particularly this episode on Coming To Faith Through Dawkins with atheist Alex O'Connor and Professor Alister McGrath: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/unbelievable/unbelievable-coming-to-faith-through-dawkins-part-2-is-there-a-new-new-atheism-alister-mcgrath-and-alex-oconnor/16306.article To hear further insights from Dr Jem Bloomfield on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on episode 188: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/the-cs-lewis-podcast/the-cs-lewis-podcast-188-jem-bloomfield-christmas-in-narnia/18656.article + Subscribe to The CS Lewis podcast: https://pod.link/1560959545 + For more shows, free ebook and newsletter visit our new website + For online learning https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training + For our Premier Unbelievable? Live events + Support the podcast from the USA + Support the podcast from UK and rest of the world

For 23 years JRR Tolkien wrote to his four children as Father Christmas. Dr Holly Ordway, author of Tolkien’s Faith, explores Tolkien's creative, humorous writing around Father Christmas and his companions, including his Polar bear assistant, snow-elves, the Man in the Moon and goblins! How does Tolkien combine fantasy and reality? Are there any familiar Tolkien themes in these letters? + Subscribe to The CS Lewis podcast: https://pod.link/1560959545 + For more shows, free ebook and newsletter visit our new website + For online learning https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training + For our Premier Unbelievable? Live events + Support the podcast from the USA + Support the podcast from UK and rest of the world

How integral was the incarnation for JRR Tolkien? Does Christmas feature in The Lord of the Rings legendarium? How did the Tolkien family celebrate Christmas? Dr Holly Ordway, author of Tolkien’s Faith, shares her thoughts on what Christmas meant to Tolkien and explores a recently discovered poem of his, Noel, which is one of his most overtly Christian works. Listen next week to hear about the imaginative world Tolkien invented when he wrote to his four children as Father Christmas! + Subscribe to The CS Lewis podcast: https://pod.link/1560959545 + For more shows, free ebook and newsletter visit our new website + For online learning https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training + For our Premier Unbelievable? Live events + Support the podcast from the USA + Support the podcast from UK and rest of the world