Episode 308: Preview of The Literary Life Season 8
The Literary Life Podcast
Angelina Stanford
4.7 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2025
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week's episode of The Literary Life, Thomas and Angelina bring you a preview of the books we will discuss on the upcoming season of the podcast. First, Angelina explains their approach to the podcast as they approach this next year, then she and Thomas share what literary topics and book discussions you can be looking forward to in 2026. In addition, if you are looking for a reading challenge created by our Friends and Fellows for 2026, you can find it on Patreon when you join for free!
The House of Humane Letters Christmas sale is live now! Head over to the website to peruse the discounted webinars and mini-classes on sale, already discounted, no coupon code needed.
Don't forget to check out this coming year's annual Literary Life Online Conference, happening January 23-30, 2026, "The Letter Killeth, but the Spirit Quickeneth: Reading Like a Human". Our speakers will be Dr. Jason Baxter, Jenn Rogers, Dr. Anne Phillips, and, of course, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks.
To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/308.
Transcript
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| 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. |
| 1:12.6 | Hello and welcome to the literary life podcast. |
| 1:30.7 | I'm Angelina Stanford, and here with me is the Jolly Holly Christmas, Mr. Banks. |
| 1:36.6 | I think you might have the wrong guy there, Ms. Stanton. |
| 1:39.8 | Scrooge? |
| 1:40.7 | No, that's closer. |
| 1:42.1 | Definitely getting warmer thing. |
| 2:17.7 | Well, I've got to move away from the North Pole to get warmer. It's kind of strange. I think I enjoy Christmas as much, if not more than you do. See, that's the thing. I think I'm probably more spirit of Christmas, but I, there's that great line in Frézart. They took their pleasures, sadly, after the manner of their countrymen. I think, yeah, I get pleasure out of Christmas, but I sort of approach it in a mellow kind of way. That's right. I hope our listeners understand that I'm just lovingly teasing you. You're not Scrooge at all. You're actually so, you delight in Christmas. You start shopping for Christmas gifts months in advance. I'm the one who's like, ooh, it's a week to Christmas. Panic mode. I better start buying stuff. You delight in it in a way that I actually do not. I find |
| 2:22.8 | it like, I just think, oh, God, wall of Christmas dress. But no, so if anybody's the Scrooge, |
| 2:28.2 | it's me. It's not you. But welcome. Welcome to this Christmas Eve episode of the Literary Life podcast. |
| 2:35.7 | This is going to be a preview episode of what our 2026 season is going to look like and how we're going to approach it, what are going to be the things we're excited about, that we're going to be bringing to you that we hope you're excited about. |
| 2:47.9 | But before that, let's just catch you guys up on what we've got going on at |
| 2:51.2 | the House of Humane Letters. I know, sometimes I feel like I'm constantly out here shilling |
| 2:55.9 | our classes. And then other times I'll have a conversation with somebody who enjoys the podcast |
| 3:01.5 | and I will find out that they didn't even know we do classes. So this is me once again coming to you to say, |
... |
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