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The Russell Moore Show

Malcolm Guite on Re-Enchanting a Disenchanted World

The Russell Moore Show

Russell Moore

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2026

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Malcolm Guite and Russell meet in Andrew Peterson’s Chapter House–Guite’s pipe smoke billowing–on the occasion of Guite’s new book, Galahad and the Grail, the first volume in the Merlin's Isle trilogy from Rabbit Room Press.  Guite argues that myths and old stories aren’t just relics of a pre-modern imagination, they’re carriers of truth we’ve forgotten how to see with modern eyes. From King Arthur to the Holy Grail, these stories don’t distract us from the real world, they reveal it. Guite suggests that our cultural moment—fragmented, distracted, and flattened by endless scrolling—has left us dismembered. We no longer see our lives as part of a coherent narrative. And without story, we lose not just meaning but identity. At the center of it all is a claim both strange and familiar: that the greatest story ever told is not one among many, but the one that gives meaning to all the others.  Along the way, Russell and Malcolm talk about how Guite has found a new audience on his wildly popular YouTube channel hosted out of his home library, the definition and origins of chivalry, and even the role Guite played in Martin Shaw’s conversion (find Russell’s interview with Shaw, here). King Arthur, the Grail, Merlin…these aren’t just literary devices. They and other mythical tales echo something real about sin, redemption, and the hope that what is broken in us and in the world can be made whole again. Resources mentioned in this episode: Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite Malcolm’s YouTube Channel Keep up with Russell: Sign up for the weekly newsletter where Russell shares thoughtful takes on big questions, offers a Christian perspective on life, and recommends books and music he's enjoying. Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com  Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:34.3

These stolid stories are older and wise than we are. They know things that we don't know and need to know.

0:41.3

Hello, this is Russell Moore, and this is the Russell Moore Show, brought to you by Christianity today.

0:49.3

Here, we look for signposts in a strange time by standing fast to what really matters, kingdom over

0:56.6

culture wars, truth over tribalism, pilgrimage over partisanship, sanity over cynicism, witness

1:03.2

over winning, and Christ over everything.

1:06.5

Today we have a conversation to do just that.

1:13.8

You know, it's always good to look at the bestseller lists every once in a while and

1:18.8

know what's really resonating out there. And today, I just found out that the number one

1:25.6

bestseller on Amazon for New epic poetry is the book we'll

1:31.1

be talking about today, Galahad and the Grail. Now, it's the only new book of epic poetry and

1:37.5

perhaps the only one in a hundred years or so. And so I'm here today with the author who's been with us before Malcolm Gite,

1:47.7

course, poet, priest, author of many books. I especially love Mariner on Coleridge's Rhyme of the Ancient

1:57.4

Mariner. And I also really love his lifting the veil, a little book on

2:02.5

imagination. And I think we'll talk about some of those issues when we go. And I just want to say to

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