Christians Reading Classics
Christians Reading Classics is a podcast that explores classic literature through a Christian perspective, hosted by author and classicist Nadya Williams. Each episode features interviews with experts who share insights on enduring works across literary, theological, and children's genres. The show aims to reawaken listeners' imagination and appreciation for timeless books, encouraging a deeper engagement with God's world. It is produced by Mere Orthodoxy.
Episodes
Billy Budd, with Christine Norvell
A beautiful story can still be brutal, and Billy Budd proves it. Christine Norvell, author of The Sycamore Fig Tree, joins to discuss Melville’s unforgettable portrait of a sailor who seems almost made for admiration—which makes his tragedy that much more thought-provoking.Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work
Aristotle, with Philip Freeman
Aristotle is everywhere in Western civilization, but most of us meet him as a difficult assignment instead of a real human being with a complicated story. We sit down with classicist and biographer Philip Freeman, author of Aristotle: The First Teacher, to follow Aristotle from an out-of-the-way town in northern Greece to the intellectual pressure cooker of Plato’s Academy and then into his own am
Howard Thurman For Our Time with Myles Werntz
We’re joined by Miles Werntz, associate professor of theology at Abilene Christian University and editor of Nothing Can Separate Us: Healing for Souls and Nations, a reader of Thurman’s writings. Together we trace Thurman’s story from the segregated South to Morehouse and Howard University, through his journey to India to meet Mahatma Gandhi, and into his bold experiment of founding one of America
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, with Daniel McInerny
The complicated struggle of faith is no new phenomenon. Philosopher and novelist Daniel McInerny joins today to revisit Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited and ask why this Catholic classic still feels like it is describing our own age, our own friendships, and our own hunger for beauty. Along the way, we tackle a surprisingly practical question for readers and writers alike: what is a classic, re
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, with Eric Hutchinson
Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor known for his philosophical insights, penned his thoughts in a private notebook that became one of the most enduring classics of Western literature. In this episode, Nadya Williams speaks with Eric Hutchinson, Associate Professor of Classics at Hillsdale College, to delve into the essence of Aurelius's Meditations and the Stoic principles that shaped his lif
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, with Daniel K. Williams
In this episode, we explore the enduring power of C.S. Lewis's 'Mere Christianity' and its place in the broader history of Christian apologetics. Daniel K. Williams, a historian and expert in apologetics, shares insights into what makes a work of apologetics a classic, how Lewis's work has influenced generations, and the evolving landscape of Christian defense strategies.Christ
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, with Matt Stewart
Wallace Stegner scholar Matt Stewart talks with Nadya Williams about why quiet novels can hit harder than flashy ones and how Crossing to Safety turns friendship, academia, and marriage into real drama. We also ask what makes a classic, how books survive by luck as much as merit, and why long obedience in relationships might be the rarest plot of all.Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from M
A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter Miller with Brad Birzer
A monastery in the desert preserves the shattered remnants of civilisation after nuclear fire, and the relics include something chilling: the technical knowledge that could destroy the world all over again. That is the dark engine driving Walter M. Miller Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz, and it is why this 1959 post-apocalyptic science fiction classic still refuses to go stale.Christians Reading Cl
Notes on the State of Virginia by Thomas Jefferson, with Cara Rogers Stevens
Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia is one of those rare books that can feel like a museum archive, a political manifesto, and a personal notebook all at once, and it still shapes how Americans argue about freedom. We sit down with historian Cara Rogers Stevens (Ashland University), author of the award-winning Thomas Jefferson and the Fight Against Slavery, to ask a basic but uncomfortable
Nolan's Odyssey and Epics with Jonathan Geltner, Eric Hutchinson, and Rob Wyllie
A Hollywood blockbuster can make “The Odyssey” feel like a parade of monsters and set pieces but Homer’s epic is stranger, quieter, and more demanding than that. We sit down with poets and scholars Jonathan Geltner, Eric Hutchinson, and Rob Wyllie to ask a deceptively basic question: what is an epic, really? The answer takes us from dactylic hexameter and oral performance to the way epic poetry ca
Augustine - Enchiridion and Morals of the Catholic Church with Joseph Lanier and Travis Montgomery
A pastor asks Augustine for a short summary of the Christian life, and Augustine delivers a compact handbook that is so honest it practically stops mid-sprint when it reaches love. That tension, between real-life limits and real spiritual depth, is where our conversation lives today. We are joined by Joseph Lanier and Travis Montgomery, co-authors of *Every Perfect Gift: Classical Virtues for Chri
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky with Maria Baer
A foggy train pulls into St Petersburg and two young men face each other across a third-class carriage. That opening scene from Dostoevsky’s The Idiot is our doorway into a novel that refuses to let anyone stay comfortable, especially when a pure-hearted man starts telling the truth in rooms built on performance.Nadia Williams talks with writer and reporter Maria Baer to talk about why 21st-centur
Jack London: An American Classic with Elizabeth Stice
Elizabeth Stice, professor of history at Palm Beach Atlantic University, joins to discuss Jack London as an American classic. They explore London's wild life — oyster pirate, hobo, Klondike adventurer — and how it shaped works like Call of the Wild, White Fang, John Barleycorn, and Martin Eden. Stice unpacks the tension between London's socialist sympathies and social Darwinist streak, a
The Declaration of Independence and the Classics with Brad Birzer
A single sentence can reorder a civilization, and “we hold these truths to be self-evident” is one of those sentences. Nadya Williams sits down with historian Dr Brad Birzer to read the Declaration of Independence closely and ask why it still sends a jolt through American politics, moral imagination, and public life 250 years later.Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and i
The Declaration of Independence with Matthew Spalding and Jake Meador
The Declaration of Independence is only a few paragraphs long, but it tries to do something enormous: justify a political break while teaching a moral vision of human equality, liberty, and rightful government. Nadya Williams and Jake Meador sit down with Dr Matthew Spaulding of Hillsdale College, a leading scholar of the Declaration and author of The Making of the American Mind, to read the docum
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis with Oliver Traldi
What does it mean to love someone well — and what does it cost when that love curls inward? Nadya Williams and Oliver Traldi discuss C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces, tracing how Lewis reframes the myth of Cupid and Psyche to expose the jealousy beneath even the most devoted love, the limits of philosophy before the divine, and what it means to render an account of your own life.—Christians Re
East of Eden with Philip Bunn & Matthew H. Young
Steinbeck's East of Eden returns the Cain and Abel story twice over, tracing original sin, mimetic desire, and the fragile hope encoded in timshel across the arc of early American history. Philip Bunn and Matthew H. Young join host Nadya Williams to read Steinbeck as political theorist, moral cartographer, and reluctant humanist.—Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy an
James Fenimore Cooper with Dr. Wayne Franklin
James Fenimore Cooper gets filed away as “important” long before many of us actually read him, and that gap is the problem we wanted to solve. I’m joined by Dr. Wayne Franklin, one of the leading Cooper scholars and the author of major biographies of Cooper, to talk about what makes a classic live past its own pages. His definition sticks with me: a classic is a book that, once you start it, you r
The Journals of Lewis and Clark with Craig Fehrman
We treat the Lewis and Clark journals as a true American classic, reading them for voice, humour, and human detail rather than just as a schoolbook summary. With historian Craig Furman, we follow the expedition through science, hardship, Native diplomacy, and the moral complexity that the journals preserve in plain sight.—Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener
Augustine's Confessions with Joey Sherrard
We sit with Augustine’s Confessions and feel how a 1,600-year-old prayer still names our restlessness with uncomfortable accuracy. We talk with pastor and author Joey Sherrard about reading Confessions as praise and truth-telling, and about remembering Augustine as a working pastor rather than a distant genius.—Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported.
Cassiodorus and Classical Education with Joseph Griffith and Joshua Kinlaw
Cassiodorus is the kind of historical figure who should be famous and somehow isn’t: a high-level Roman statesman who walks away from power and spends his later life trying to save Christian learning from collapse. That turn gives us one of the most unusual education texts in the Western tradition, Institutions of Divine and Secular Learning, a “book about books” written to stand in for teachers w
Petrarch's Canzoniere with A. M. Juster
Petrarch's Canzoniere — 366 poems written over 40 years in pursuit of a woman named Laura — introduced the sonnet to European literature and helped move poetry from Latin into the vernacular. It is also, as A.M. Juster's new translation makes plain, a deeply Augustinian collection: raw, confessional, and unresolved. Nadya Williams talks with Juster about the art of poetic translation, th
The Great Gatsby with Katy Carl
A century after its publication, The Great Gatsby still demands more of readers than its first audience was prepared to give. This conversation explores why Fitzgerald's third novel flopped in 1925, how its three-act tragic structure works, and what it means to read its vices and virtues with Christian eyes. Along the way: Fitzgerald's complicated Catholic formation, the role of beauty
Great American Sermons with John Wilsey and Daniel K. Williams [FULL EPISODE]
What does it mean for a nation to read its own sermons? This America 250 conversation takes up four of them — Winthrop's A Model of Christian Charity, Edwards's Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Lincoln's Second Inaugural, and King's Mountaintop Sermon — tracing covenant and city-on-a-hill exceptionalism, the personal terror of revival preaching, Lincoln's strange theo
Thomas Aquinas For Protestants with Miles Smith
Can a Protestant read Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae without converting to Catholicism? Nadya Williams welcomes Miles Smith IV (Hillsdale College) to take up the question currently churning on social media. Miles argues yes — and that the more interesting question lies upstream: what do Christians do with Aristotle? Along the way, they consider the Summa's 13th-century context, its r
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne with Jeff Bilbro | American 250
Nadya Williams and Jeff Bilbro discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter — its Puritan setting, Hawthorne's fraught ancestry, and the novel's three responses to sin: moralistic judgment, escapist relativism, and Hester's redemptive middle path. They also touch on Hawthorne's friendships with the Transcendentalists, the dangers of cancel culture, and Jeff's for
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain with Ivana Greco and Dixie Dillon Lane
Nadya Williams, Ivana Greco, and Dixie Dillon Lane discuss Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer — 150 years old this year — as a window into antebellum American childhood, the timeless challenge of raising boys, and what it means to read classics across generations. Why does Twain's rapscallion hero outlast Sid in the cultural imagination? What does Aunt Polly's long-
Moby Dick by Herman Melville with Christina Bieber Lake
Nadya Williams and Christina Bieber Lake discuss Moby Dick — why Americans should read it, what Melville understood about arrogance and the uncontrollable, and how the novel's humor, sprawling cetology chapters, and the famous doubloon scene all serve a single theme: the tragedy of trying to master what cannot be mastered. — Get the free ebook Spiritual Formation for the Family by going to ht
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand with David Kee
Nadya Williams and David Kee discuss Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged — its origins, philosophy, and enduring relevance for American Christians. Kee, a business professor at Harding University who teaches the novel, traces Rand's objectivism, the tension between individualism and collectivism, and what a Christian engagement with her work requires. — Christians Reading Classics is a podcast f
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen with Beatrice Scudeler
Jane Austen's most underrated novel is also her most serious. In this conversation, books editor Nadya Williams and essayist Beatrice Scudeler explore what Mansfield Park has to say about virtue, vocation, wealth, and the formation of character -- and why Fanny Price, the novel's quiet, overlooked heroine, may be Austen's most carefully drawn moral portrait. — Get the ebook Spirit
The Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle with Sabrina Little | America 250
Nadya Williams and Sabrina Little explore Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics — its account of virtue as habit, the teleological shape of a good life, and how athletics and daily practice form character. Little connects Aristotle to Aquinas, parenting, and her own work as an elite ultramarathoner and philosopher. — Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and i
Wuthering Heights with Evie Solheim
Nadya Williams and Evie Solheim discuss Wuthering Heights, what makes it a gothic classic, why Emily Brontë's moral ambiguity still provokes, how the novel speaks to a generation starved for romance, and why the new film adaptation trades subtlety for TikTok-style spectacle. Also: Anna Karenina, Virginia Woolf, and Greta Gerwig's Narnia. — Get the Mere Orthodoxy ebook, Spiritual Formatio
Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe with Obbie Tyler Todd | America 250
Nadya Williams and Obbie Tyler Todd explore Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin as part of season two's focus on classics American Christians should read for America's 250th. They discuss the Beecher family's influence, the Fugitive Slave Law as the book's impetus, Stowe's deeply scriptural approach to critiquing slavery, the Christ-likeness of Uncle Tom,
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley with Katelyn Walls Shelton | America 250
Nadya Williams and Katelyn Walls Shelton discuss Aldous Huxley's Brave New World — its haunting parallels to embryo selection, reproductive biotechnology, and pleasure-maximizing culture — and what Christians should make of a novel that reads less like dystopian fiction and more like this morning's news. - Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-suppo
The Education of Henry Adams with Leah Libresco Sargeant | America 250
Nadya Williams, Books Editor for Mere Orthodoxy, talks with Leah Libresco Sargeant, author of The Dignity of Dependence, about Henry Adams's The Education of Henry Adams—specifically the chapter "The Dynamo and the Virgin." They explore Adams's experience of the sublime at the 1900 Paris World Fair, his unresolved spiritual longings, what his Unitarian background reveals about
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass with Shilo Brooks | America 250
Dr. Shilo Brooks joins Nadia Williams to explore Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845), examining how this 60-page masterwork remains profoundly relevant for understanding liberty, education, and authentic Christianity. Brooks illuminates how Douglass's self-taught literacy became an act of spiritual and intellectual liberation—proving that "educat
America 250: Books American Christians Should Read | Season 2 Preview
In this preview episode for Season 2 of Christians Reading Classics, host Nadya Williams sets the stage for an ambitious exploration of books that American Christians should read in honor of America's 250th birthday in 2026. Opening with Thomas Jefferson's 1771 letter to Robert Skipwith about building his Monticello library, Williams frames the season around a central question: What ro
Reading Ancient Pagans As Modern Christians
Nadya Williams explores the myth of Tantalus and its implications on the nature of success and temptation. She delves into how Tantalus' horrific actions reflect the seductive nature of victory and the potential consequences of testing divine powers. Nadya highlights the duality of success as both a reward and a burden, emphasizing the need for caution in the pursuit of greatness.Christians R
The Scandal of the Christian Imagination
As we wrap up season 1 of Christians Reading Classics, Nadya reflects on the scandal of the Christian imagination and the role of reading classic books in forming a nourished imagination.Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supported. If you would like to support this work, become a Mere Orthodoxy Member today at http://mereorthodoxy.com/membership.Listen an
T.S. Eliot - The Hollow Men with Eric Hutchinson
Nadya Williams and Eric Hutchinson delve into T.S. Eliot's poem 'The Hollow Men', exploring its themes, complexities, and the nature of classic literature. They discuss what defines a classic, the challenges of appreciating poetry today, and how to cultivate an appreciation for it. The conversation also touches on the role of poets in society and the importance of art and poetry in
C.S. Lewis - The Great Divorce with Dr. Leslie Baynes
Nadya Williams and Dr. Leslie Baynes explore the works of C.S. Lewis, particularly focusing on 'The Great Divorce.' They discuss the definition of a classic, the significance of free will, and the themes of choice and divine grace in Lewis's writing. The conversation also touches on Lewis's influences, his relationships with women, and the timeless messages found in his works t
Dorothy L. Sayers - Gaudy Night with Carolyn Weber
Nadya Williams and Carolyn Weber explore the literary significance of Dorothy L. Sayers' 'Gaudy Night', discussing its themes of women's roles in academia, the intersection of murder mysteries and theology, and the nature of what constitutes a classic. They look into Sayers' complex character, her contributions to literature, and the broader implications of her work in the
Flannery O'Connor - A Good Man Is Hard To Find with Jon Parrish Peede
Nadya Williams and Jon Parrish Peede discuss the literary legacy of Flannery O'Connor, exploring her impact on American literature and the theological themes present in her work. They highlight the Southern Gothic genre, O'Connor's unique storytelling style, and the reader's engagement with her stories. It also touches on her reception over the years and personal reflections on
Sinclair Lewis - It Couldn't Happen Here with Daniel K. Williams
Nadya Williams and historian Daniel K. Williams examine Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel "It Can't Happen Here," analyzing its treatment of democracy, authoritarianism, and religion's political role. Their discussion covers what qualifies a work as a literary classic, the historical circumstances surrounding Lewis's writing, and how his observations about democratic instit
The Heart of a Dog - Mikhail Bulgakov with Vika Pechersky
Nadya Williams and Vika Pichersky delve into Mikhail Bulgakov's 'Heart of a Dog,' exploring its themes, characters, and the critique of Soviet society. They discuss the nature of classics, the challenges of translation, and the moral questions raised by the transformation of a dog into a human. The conversation highlights the relevance of Bulgakov's work in contemporary discuss
C. S. Lewis - That Hideous Strength with Philip D. Bunn and Ronni Kurtz
Nadya Williams discusses C.S. Lewis's novel 'That Hideous Strength' with experts Philip Bunn and Ronni Kurtz. They explore the themes of the book, its place in Lewis's Space Trilogy, and the significance of literary classics. The theological implications of Lewis's work, character analysis, the role of academia, and the ethical considerations surrounding technology are dis
Alexis de Tocqueville - Democracy in America with John Wilsey
Nadia Williams speaks with church historian John Wilsey about Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," marking its 190th anniversary. They explore what makes this political work a classic, Tocqueville's aristocratic background and surprising observations about American equality, religion's central role in preserving democratic freedom, and why American conservatives
The Nicene Creed with Shawn Wilhite and Coleman Ford
Nadya Williams talks with theologians Coleman Ford and Shawn Wilhite about the Nicene Creed, marking its 1700th anniversary. They explore what makes a theological work a "classic," the historical background of the Council of Nicaea, the meaning of key Christological terms, and how to "think Nicenely" in the Christian life. The discussion blends history, theology, and practical
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Return of the King with Kirsten Sanders
Nadya Williams talks with theologian Kirsten Sanders about J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King, exploring its vision of good and evil, the tragic imagination, and the "faith of hobbits." They discuss why classics endure, the theological depth of Tolkien's world, the moral resonance of small acts of faithfulness, and the book's bittersweet ending. Chapters 00:03 – Tolki
Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland with John Shelton
Nadya Williams and guest John Shelton explore Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on its 160th anniversary. They discuss what makes a book a "classic," the balance between whimsy and seriousness, Carroll's satirical brilliance, and the enduring cultural impact of Alice. The conversation highlights themes of logic, absurdity, moral imagination, and the shaping
Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little House on the Prairie with John Fry and LuElla D'Amico
In this episode of Christians Reading Classics, Nadya Williams talks with historian John Fry and children's literature scholar LuElla D'Amico about Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. They explore what makes a children's book a classic, Wilder's life and historical context, the collaboration with her daughter Rose, and the enduring moral and cultural resona
Ignazio Silone - Bread and Wine with Geoffrey Kurtz
Nadya Williams talks with Geoffrey Kurtz about Ignazio Silone's Bread and Wine, exploring its political, spiritual, and literary significance. They discuss what makes a classic, Silone's shift from communism to a more open-ended moral vision, the novel's blend of politics and clandestine faith, and the transformation of its protagonist, Pietro Spina, through solitude and friendship.
A. A. Milne - Winnie the Pooh with Ivana D. Greco and Dixie Dillon Lane
Nadya Williams is joined by Ivana Greco and Dixie Dillon-Lane to explore Winnie-the-Pooh as a children's classic. They discuss what makes a book timeless, how Milne's humor and characterization capture the child's mind, the role of family lore and shared cultural touchstones, and how to navigate classics that don't click with every child. Chapters 00:03 – Origins of Winnie-the-
G.K. Chesterton - The Everlasting Man with Timothy Larsen
Nadya Williams interviews Dr. Timothy Larsen on G.K. Chesterton's The Everlasting Man, exploring its enduring insights on humanity, Christ, and the joy of Christian apologetics. They discuss what makes a "classic," Chesterton's playful paradoxes, his cultural context after WWI, and how to approach the book today. Key Idea: Chesterton re-narrates the human story and the gospel w
Introducing: Christians Reading Classics
Welcome to Christians Reading Classics! A new Mere Orthodoxy podcast hosted Nadya Williams. In this introductory episode, you'll learn what this podcast is all about and what you can look forward to. If you love classic books, or are even interested in learning more about them, you're in the right place.Christians Reading Classics is a podcast from Mere Orthodoxy and is listener-supporte
