The Plunge with Derek Holser

Seers Of A New Age: Owen Barfield | Max Leyf Treinin

Welcome to Episode Two in our 12-week series:
 
Owen Barfield: The First & Last Inkling
 
 
In today's episode, Max Leyf Treinin, a certified Rolfer and Professor of Philosophy from Anchorage, Alaska, joins me and provides tremendous insight into the work of Owen Barfield, his connection to Rudolf Steiner, the evolution of human consciousness, language, and our need for reintegration of the whole human.
 
 
Max is an exceptional thinker and communicator with a gracious spirit and a winsome soul.
 
 
His most recent book, co-written with Landon Loftin, is entitled What Barfield Thought: An Introduction to the Work of Owen Barfield.
 
 
He is the author of a number of books on Meaning, Philosophy, and Poetry. You can check out all of his books at the link below:
 
https://tinyurl.com/328eu9e4
 
Learn more about Max at "the Way of the Elbow" website: https://www.alaskarolf.com/about
 
Check out his posts at Substack and his website:
https://theoriapress.wordpress.com/author/maxleyf/
 
 

Owen Barfield: The First & Last Inkling | Introductory Episode

Welcome to our newest series.
Owen Barfield: The First & Last Inkling.
 
 
This episode provides a brief introduction to Barfield's life and work. In the weeks to come, we will host thoughtful conversations with 10 different guests, each providing a unique perspective on Barfield's philosophy, spirituality, and the imagination.
 
 
We will discuss the influence of Rudolf Steiner on Barfield, the interaction between C.S. Lewis and Barfield (dubbed "The Great War"), and Barfield's understanding of the evolution of consciousness. No person is complete without the full integration of reason and imagination, and Barfield provides ample evidence for this reality, as well as meaningful guidance for humanity's participation in a transcendent future. 
 

Lightglider Origins: Technology, Faith, and Virtue

Today's episode is a special bonus! Joining me is my good friend and co-author of Bryce and the Lost Pearl, the first book in the Lightglider Origins series, a seven-book Middle Grade fantasy fiction series published by New Growth Press.
 
In this episode, Zach and I discuss the work of cultivating a faithful imagination in the next generation, and the importance of story in technology, faith and virtue. 
 
To learn more about Zach and the Lightgliders, go to https://lightgliders.com
 
To order your copy of Bryce and the Lost Pearl, go to https://tinyurl.com/2pzuwcp5
 
 
 

Surprised by Joy: The Great Divorce | Jess Lederman

Welcome to the 9th and Final Episode in our series on C.S. Lewis's novel, The Great Divorce. Join us as we explore the ideas presented by Lewis in this fantastic tale, a dream vision, written in response (according to Lewis) to William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
 
Today's conversation features Jess Lederman. In this episode, Jess and I discuss how he came to faith in Jesus Christ, how The Great Divorce portrays purgatory, the difficulty with some ideas presented by Reformed theology, C.S. Lewis's rendering of George MacDonald, and why Jess believes we will all inevitably be surprised by joy. 
 
Jess is the creator of https://www.worksofmacdonald.com
 
He is the author of Hearts Set Free: An Epic Tale of Love, Faith, and the Glory of God's Grace
https://tinyurl.com/4w4jumry
 

Surprised by Joy: The Great Divorce | Jess Lederman

Welcome to the 9th and Final Episode in our series on C.S. Lewis's novel, The Great Divorce. Join us as we explore the ideas presented by Lewis in this fantastic tale, a dream vision, written in response (according to Lewis) to William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
 
Today's conversation features Jess Lederman. In this episode, Jess and I discuss how he came to faith in Jesus Christ, how The Great Divorce portrays purgatory, the difficulty with some ideas presented by Reformed theology, C.S. Lewis's rendering of George MacDonald, and why Jess believes we will all inevitably be surprised by joy. 
 
Jess is the creator of https://www.worksofmacdonald.com
 
He is the author of Hearts Set Free: An Epic Tale of Love, Faith, and the Glory of God's Grace
https://tinyurl.com/4w4jumry
 

The Moment Contains All Moments: A Conversation w/Joel Wentz on Lewis's Great Divorce

Welcome to Episode 8 of 9 in our series on C.S. Lewis's novel The Great Divorce. 
 
Today's conversation features Joel Wentz. In this episode, Joel and I discuss the miracle of the redemption of disordered desires, why The Great Divorce is a great book for a neighborhood book club, the proper terror of A Wrinkle in Time, and possible reasons for the manner in which Lewis portrayed George MacDonald's theology of the ultimate redemption of all people (Christian universalism).
 
Joel and his wife Jill live with their two children in Portland, Maine. Joel has been in vocational ministry for 12 years. Joel spent 8 years as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and he has served for the past 4 years in his current role as teaching pastor at Missio Dei Church.  https://www.mdchurch.org
 
Joel is also a musician, a big fan of tabletop games and an avid reader. He reviews books and occasionally interviews authors on his YouTube channel "Books and Big Ideas". 
 
https://www.youtube.com/@JoelWentz

This Life Is Merely The First Page: A Conversation w/Elizabeth Hardy on Lewis's Great Divorce

Welcome to Episode 7 of 9 in our series on C.S. Lewis's novel The Great Divorce. Join us as we explore the ideas presented by Lewis in this fantastic tale, a dream vision, written in response (according to Lewis) to William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
Today's conversation features Elizabeth Baird Hardy. Elizabeth is Instructor of English at western North Carolina's Mayland Community College. In addition to composition and literature courses, she teaches humanities courses including Myth in Human Culture and Introduction to Film.
 
In this conversation, Elizabeth and I discuss the ongoing recovery in her hometown from Hurricane Helene, the coincidence of our recording on the date of C.S. Lewis's death (and JFK's assassination), the pitiful tiny-ness of Hell, and the overwhelming solid bigness of Heaven. 
 
Elizabeth is the author of Milton, Spenser, and the Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for C.S. Lewis Novels.  (https://www.amazon.com/Milton-Spenser-Chronicles-Narnia-Literary/dp/0786428767)
 
 
She also frequently writes literary and popular culture criticism and has contributed to numerous collections focusing on the work of C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling, and well as on topics as diverse as The Hunger Games and Star Trek. 
 
A popular presenter, she contributes to a variety of programs and podcasts and depending on the day, can be found sharing about eighteenth-century medicinal plants, World War II Victory Gardens, or literary alchemy. 
 
To donate to Feeding Avery Families, click here:
https://feedingaveryfamilies.org/support-faf/

Hide No More: A Conversation w/Stephen Dunning on Lewis's Great Divorce

Welcome to Episode 6 of 9 in our series on C.S. Lewis's novel, "The Great Divorce." Join us as we explore the ideas presented by Lewis in this fantastic tale, a dream vision, written in response (according to Lewis) to William Blake's "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell."
 
 
Today's conversation features Stephen Dunning. Stephen received his PhD in literature from the university of Cambridge, which he attended as a Commonwealth scholar. For many years, he was an English instructor at Douglas college in New Westminster, British Columbia. In 2007 he joined the English faculty of Trinity Western University and he taught there until 2017.
 
 
Stephen is the author of The Crisis and the Quest, a Kierkegaardian reading of Charles Williams and many articles on modern British and Canadian literature. He co-founded the Inklings Institute of Canada in 2013 with his colleague Monika Hilder.
 
 
Along with his continued participation in Inklings Institute events, he keeps busy by writing stories for his grandchildren and their friends and by singing in a choral group.
 
 
Stephen also is a writer of fiction and his new series, The Perilous Times Saga, will be released in the first half of 2025 with book one entitled, Suzy and the Magic Turnip.

The Gift of the Magi: A Christmas Interlude

Merry Christmas from the Plunge!We interrupt our regularly scheduled series to bring you a special Christmas edition of The Plunge. Today's episode features a reading of that beloved Christmas tale of love and generosity - O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi.
 
 
The Gift of the Magi was first published in the New York Sunday World in December 1905, and was later included in his 1906 short story collection "The Four Million."
 
 
For more on the life of the author and the circumstances surrounding the creation of this story, check out the link below:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-o-henrys-gift-magi-180973840/
 

The Great & Terrible Afterlife: A Conversation w/Karen Scheffler on Lewis's The Great Divorce

Welcome to Episode 5 in our 9-part series on C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce. Thank you for joining us as we explore the ideas presented by Lewis in this fantastic tale, a dream vision, written in response to William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
 
Today's conversation features Karen Scheffler, who is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Half a lifetime ago, she moved to Vermont where she and her husband raised two boys. Karen has been a teacher, an artist, a wildflower, and a business owner. She's the person who stands in the back of the room, taking it all in. 
 
In her words, Karen is "an insignificant human intensely interested in becoming that shining light about which she's heard rumors - less and less terrified about what it means, mainly because of all the stars she's been meeting along the way.
 
Karen and I discuss the Secret Garden and the Sacred Heart, the horrors of Lewis's portrayal of the great and terrible afterlife, and the power of un-masking ourselves and becoming who God made us to be.