In this week's episode we bring you a recent talk by Andrew Kern, presented at the Indiana Home Educator's Convention, in which he argues that reading challenging books like the Iliad and the Odyssey can bring greater pleasure than less challenging fare, and that they're more likely to enrich your home and the souls who live there. Plus, he offers some tips on how to approach these difficult books. 

In this week's episode author and journalist, Rod Dreher, joins the show to discuss his fantastic new book, How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life-Changing Wisdom of History's Greatest Poem, out this month from ReganArts. Conversation touches on the power of story to change lives, how Dante helped Rod's faith grow even in the face of some deep family drama and a debilitating illness, and why everyone should read The Divine Comedy. 

Rod is a senior editor of The American Conservative and the author of Cruncy Cons and The Little Way of Ruthy Leming. His work has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Post, the Dallas Morning News, National Review, First Things, and the Wall Street Journal, and broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered and BBC Radio.  He lives in St. Francisville, Louisiana, with his wife Julie and their three children.

You can buy a copy of the book here. And you can find Rod's blog at The American Conservative here. 

In this week's episode Dr. Louis Markos joins the show to discuss his new book, C.S. Lewis: An Apologist for Education, out this month from Classical Academic Press as part of their new Giants in the History of Education series.

Discussion touches on what pedagogical issues of our own time Lewis would be preoccupied with,  his love of the medieval cosmological order and what it has to do with education, and why he wasn't necessarily a fan of democracy in the classroom. 

Click here to read a sample chapter from the book.