Ep 08 | The Medieval Mind of My Favourite Storyteller: An Interview with Dr. Jason Baxter

The Commonplace - A podcast by Autumn Kern

Could we have a season about story without touching on my favourite storyteller, the great Jack Lewis? We could not.Many of us know Lewis as the great author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, or Til We Have Faces. Some of us know him as the everyman theologian who gave us the wartime addresses and Mere Christianity. But there’s a lesser-known third part to Lewis: the medievalist. A self-proclaimed dinosaur, Lewis’ mind was of another time and this is the secret reason for the richness of his stories. So, we should all be wondering: What is the medieval mind and how did Lewis form one?I’m joined by Dr. Jason Baxter to discuss the medieval mind of C.S. Lewis and how his “breathing the Middle Ages” might be exactly what we need to regain our footing in a world enchanted with truth, goodness, and beauty.Footnotes for this episodeThe Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis, Jason BaxterDr. Baxter | WebsiteOn Plato’s Timaeus, Calcidius“Meditations in a Toolshed”, C.S. Lewis“On Stories”, C.S. Lewis“De Descriptione Temporum”, C.S. LewisThe Abolition of Man, C.S. LewisThe Divine Comedy, Dante“On Fairy-Stories”, J.R.R. Tolkien__________You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)---------Join the 800+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!Right now, you can join a number of self-paced courses like The Abolition of Man, Charlotte Mason Habits 101, and Virtues and Vices!