Episode 278: The Literary Life of Natalia Testa

The Literary Life Podcast

Angelina Stanford

Education, Selfeducation, Classicaleducation, Reading, Literature, Homeschool, Arts, Books, Charlottemason, Homeeducation, Homeschooling

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 89 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this week’s episode of The Literary Life, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks chat with their student Natalia Testa about her literary life. She is a rising homeschool junior living in Houston, Texas. She enjoys researching obscure manuscripts, classical languages and all things Lord Peter Wimsey. Angelina kicks off the conversation asking about Natalia’s childhood reading memories and how she became interested in ancient history and literature. They also discuss how the research bug bit Natalia, as well as her thoughts about reading books that seem “above” a child’s level. Other topics of conversation is how Natalia found Dorothy Sayers and fell in love with detective novels, how she started taking classes with House of Humane Letters, and how she deals with a reading slump.

Please visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com to check out all the past and upcoming classes, conferences, and webinars mentioned in this episode.

To view the full show notes for this episode, complete with poems, quotes, and book links, please visit https://theliterary.life/278.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is not just another book chat podcast.
0:21.6	Lifelong reader Cindy Rollins joins teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks for an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well.
0:32.6	Explore the lost intellectual tradition and discover how to fully enter end to the great works of literature.
0:40.2	Learn what books mean while delighting in the sheer joy of imagination. Each week, we will rescue
0:47.1	story from the ivory tower and bring it to your couch, your kitchen, and your commute. The literary life is for everyone because in the
0:55.9	words of Stratford Caldecott, to be enchanted by story is to be granted a deeper insight into
1:02.2	reality. Join us for an ever-unfolding discussion of how stories will save the world.
1:09.7	This is the Literary Life Podcast.
1:31.2	Hello and welcome to the Literary Life podcast.
1:37.4	I'm Angelina Stanford, and here with me is the man formerly known as the mysterious Mr. Banks.
1:38.9	Yes, yes indeed.
1:41.5	I just feel like you're less mysterious right now.
1:46.5	I know. I know. Dully predictable. We've been living together so long and now you're just... You know all my ways. The audience knows all my ways. It's true. I know.
1:51.5	You're basically the transparent, Mr. Banks. What a disappointment. I know. This is where I have to say,
1:57.0	also we're married because the hero here is going to come the angry fan mail. What do you mean?
2:02.4	You live with him? I do.
2:06.0	He is my lawfully wedded husband.
2:08.4	Yeah, sorry for any misunderstandings on that score.
2:13.6	All right. Well, today we've got a very special episode for you guys.
2:16.8	We have another in our series, The Literary Life of.
2:19.5	And the thinking behind that series when I started it many, many years ago now, was to highlight different readers in different
2:26.8	seasons of their lives. So different ages, different walks of life, just really trying to get
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Angelina Stanford, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Angelina Stanford and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.