This week: we are super excited to welcome Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson (@HootenWilson) to our program! Her credentials speak for themselves: Jessica Hooten Wilson is Louise Cowan Scholar in Residence at the University of Dallas in the Classical Education and Humanities Graduate Program. She is the author of three books: Giving the Devil his Due: Flannery O’Connor and The Brothers Karamazov, which received a 2018 Christianity Today book of the year award; Walker Percy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and the Search for Influence; and Reading Walker Percy’s Novels. In 2019 she received the Hiett Prize for Humanities from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. She is co-editor of the volume Solzhenitsyn and American Culture: The Russian Soul in the West, a collection of essays on the legacy of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Currently, she is preparing Flannery O’Connor’s unfinished novel Why Do the Heathen Rage? for publication. You can learn more at her website http://www.jessicahootenwilson.com. Needless to say, I was thrilled to have her stop by the podcast for a deep dive into Flannery O’Connor’s shortest of short stories — “Why Do The Heathen Rage?”

This week: in light of the worldwide protests on the heels of the murder of George Floyd, the conversation surrounding race, racism, and systemic oppression of persons of color is simply too big and too important to ignore. Flannery O’Connor herself wrote extensively about many of these matters throughout her fiction in stories we’ve explored in the past and others that we will revisit in closer detail in the weeks and months ahead. But for this week’s episode, we’re returning for the second half of an exclusive detour into a powerful short story by Eugenia Collier, a person of color and a noted author in her own right, called “Sweet Potato Pie.” By using this paired texts approach, we’ll better be able to see what the world of O’Connor’s day was like, and develop a closer contextual understanding of the everyday reality of #OwnVoices authors who — like O’Connor — wrote during the Civil Rights movement of the mid-20th century. Our guest this week is South Carolina-based educator, administrator and podcaster Sloan Joseph (@psloanjoseph) — host of the “Greater Is In Me” podcast and champion of the #InformInspireInfluence hashtag. You can find a copy of Collier’s short story online by visiting: https://www.bpi.edu/ourpages/auto/2017/10/14/55813476/Sweet%20Potato%20Pie-Collier.pdf.

This week: in light of the worldwide protests on the heels of the murder of George Floyd, the conversation surrounding race, racism, and systemic oppression of persons of color is simply too big and too important to ignore. Flannery O’Connor herself wrote extensively about many of these matters throughout her fiction in stories we’ve explored in the past and others that we will revisit in closer detail in the weeks and months ahead. But for this week’s episode, we’re taking an exclusive detour into a powerful short story by Eugenia Collier, a person of color and a noted author in her own right, called “Sweet Potato Pie.” By using this paired texts approach, we’ll better be able to see what the world of O’Connor’s day was like, and develop a closer contextual understanding of the everyday reality of #OwnVoices authors who — like O’Connor — wrote during the Civil Rights movement of the mid-20th century. Our guest this week is South Carolina-based educator, administrator and podcaster Sloan Joseph (@psloanjoseph) — host of the “Greater Is In Me” podcast and champion of the #InformInspireInfluence hashtag. You can find a copy of Collier’s short story online by visiting: https://www.bpi.edu/ourpages/auto/2017/10/14/55813476/Sweet%20Potato%20Pie-Collier.pdf.

This week: we’ve invited Mr. Jonathan Spike (@JonathanSpike) back to finish our conversation about one of Flannery O’Connor’s lesser known stories, “A Stroke of Good Fortune.” Before he was a Technology Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, Jon was a high school English teacher. And as the host of the LaughED podcast, he knows a thing or two about funny business — which makes him the perfect guest for this short story that’s loaded with a few pretty great punchlines of its own! Spoiler: O’Connor’s saved the biggest joke for last.

This week: we’ve invited Mr. Jonathan Spike (@JonathanSpike) to join the fun for a closer look at one of Flannery O’Connor’s lesser known stories, “A Stroke of Good Fortune.” Before he was a Technology Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, Jon was a high school English teacher. And as the host of the LaughED podcast, he knows a thing or two about funny business — which makes him the perfect guest for this short story that’s loaded with a few pretty fantastic jokes of its own!

This week: religion teacher and noted youth ministry speaker Mike Tenney (@PKMikeyT) joins us to make sense of the back half of Flannery O’Connor’s “Greenleaf.” Spoiler: it doesn’t end well for at least one of the main characters.

This week: what happens when you cross two old college friends with a runaway bull? Join religion teacher and noted youth ministry speaker Mike Tenney (@PKMikeyT) while we do our best to tackle Flannery O’Connor’s “Greenleaf” — a powerful meditation on a kill or be killed approach to Christianity.

This week: we’re wrapping up our study of Flannery O’Connor’s “Revelation,” and welcoming back the one and only Ms. Victoria Bonutti (@MissBdjo) a teacher of English and religion based out of northern Virginia to help us realize the error of our ways. Join us as we explore the second half of of this apocryphal Come-to-Jesus tale!

This week: we’re taking a deep dive into “Revelation,” and welcoming Ms. Victoria Bonutti (@MissBdjo) a teacher of English and religion based out of northern Virginia to help us see the light. Join us as we tackle the first half of this powerful close-call-to-a-conversion story!

This week: we’re wrapping up our two-part discussion of “Everything That Rises Must Converge!” Questions of culture, class, and racial privilege all mix together to reach a boiling point in one of O’Connor’s most enduring short stories, and so we’ve invited Louisiana-based educator Dr. Kris Mecholsky (https://krismecholsky.weebly.com/) — a researcher at LSU who specializes in Crime Fiction Studies, Adaptation Studies, and Southern Studies — to help us make sense of this perfect storm.

This week’s story: Everything That Rises Must Converge! Questions of culture, class, and racial privilege all mix together to reach a boiling point in one of O’Connor’s most enduring short stories, and so we’ve invited Louisiana-based educator Dr. Kris Mecholsky (https://krismecholsky.weebly.com/) — a researcher at LSU who specializes in Crime Fiction Studies, Adaptation Studies, and Southern Studies — to help us make sense of this perfect storm.

This week’s story: A Circle in the Fire! To finish unpacking all of the symbolism and spirituality that this story contains, we’re joined by Richmond-based religion teacher Julia Strukely (@MsStrukely1) — who holds two degrees from The Catholic University of America including an undergraduate degree in media studies and her M.A. in theology.

This week’s story: A Circle in the Fire! And since we’re kicking off our podcast with all of this symbolism and spirituality to unpack, we’re joined by Richmond-based religion teacher Julia Strukely (@MsStrukely1) — who holds two degrees from The Catholic University of America including an undergraduate degree in media studies and her M.A. in theology.