In this interview of Joseph Pearce on Sounds and Words, we spend the first part of the podcast discussing C.S. Lewis' conversion from atheism to theism, then finally to Christianity (with the help of J.R.R. Tolkien and Hugo Dyson). Of course, we also talk a great deal about his splendid book C.S. Lewis and the Catholic Church. In the course of the conversation we also explore the marvelous fiction of Lewis and Tolkien, as well as their associated motion pictures. In the podcast's second half, we take a close look at Joseph Pearce's poetry. He also graces listeners with a reading of several works from Divining Divinity, A Book of Poems.
About Joseph Pearce
A native of England, Joseph Pearce is Director of Book Publishing at the Augustine Institute, and editor of the St. Austin Review, editor of Faith & Culture, series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions, senior instructor with Homeschool Connections, and senior contributor at the Imaginative Conservative. His personal website is found at jpearce.co.
The internationally acclaimed author of many books, which include bestsellers such as The Quest for Shakespeare, Tolkien: Man and Myth, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde,C. S. Lewis and The Catholic Church, Literary Converts, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile and Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc, Joseph Pearce is a world-recognized biographer of modern Christian literary figures. Hisbooks have been published and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Croatianand Polish.
Pearce has hosted two 13-part television series about Shakespeare on EWTN, and has also written and presented documentaries on EWTN on the Catholicism of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He has participated and lectured at a wide variety of international and literary events at major colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Europe, Africa and South America.
Behind this Podcast
There's nothing quite like doing a podcast from home. Sometimes things don't always go according to plan, though, and that was actually one of the themes of this particular interview. Have you ever listened to PDQ Bach on the Air? Well, let's just say a few things went very wrong pretty quickly in this little audio adventure. When my Garage Band software application first mysteriously stopped recording shortly after the interview began, I should have realized that it was "Houston, we have a problem" moment, but we persevered. Frantically, hitting the record button every so often was a unique way to way to do the podcast, after all.
Of course, that wasn't the only little technical issue. Making sure that I had turned the ringer off on my phone next to my (not so) trusty iMac, I was somewhat surprised when it loudly rang in my ear. After throwing the phone a short distance, I detected a dreaded sound outside my office door. Unknown to Joseph Pearce on the other side of the line (sitting somewhere in a nice, quiet, and tranquil university office, I imagine), our part Siamese cat named Dante had decided it was high time to open this particular door for a routine inspection. As soon as that characteristic door handle swat began, I was up and managed to lock said door before the cat and his ever-watchful Newfoundland companion (named Chesterton, of course) could enter my man cave. It's not that I don't appreciate animals, you see, but having Dante and Chesterton in the same small room...would be nearly as distracting as having Dante and G.K. Chesterton in the same small room. Less cigar smoke perhaps...
Just when things began to seem ready to calm down slightly, Zoom, the meeting software I was depending upon to speak with Mr. Pearce across much of the continental United States, stopped zooming altogether. It didn't just slow its zoom; its zoom was there one moment and mysteriously gone the next. About the same time, my iPhone began to signal an exciting new text message. It's possible my particular reply was not the kindest or gentlest thing I've ever texted (during a podcast, at least).
In the end, though, we made it through successfully. I must also add that Joseph Pearce could not have been more kind, gracious, and patient.
After I finished repairing my recorded audio, I was thankful to have only lost about 5% of the interview. Unfortunately, however, this does include the first question, which was to have been "Given Lewis' Irish upbringing, what do you believe his early impressions or feelings were about Catholicism?"
Suffice to say that Joseph Pearce's response was insightful and brilliant--and altogether lost. The good news? Even though it may have begun in "medias res," I think the podcast remains an outstanding conversation that explored C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Pearce's own wonderful and insightful poetry.
PS. I think I also solved the mystery of my errors on both Garage Band (using audio files like repeatedly used Word templates) and the Zoom problem, which was likely caused by limiting the meeting schedule to an hour. This being the case, I'm sure Joseph is ready for Part 3 of our audio adventure... Joseph? Joseph? Can you hear me now?
