The Classical Mind

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

The middle book of a trilogy is always the dark one, and The Two Towers is no exception. Fr. Wesley Walker and Dr. Junius Johnson return to Middle-earth for the second le

The Classical Mind Goes to the Movies: Christopher Nolan's Odyssey

Warning: this episode discusses the film in full, spoilers included. If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch it first and come back. Fr. Wesley Walker and Dr. Junius Johns

Bonus Episode: The Forge of Friendship

Everyone knows The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Fewer people know the full story of the friendship that helped make both of them possible. In this spec

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings didn’t just launch a genre — it set the standard every fantasy writer since has been measured against. This month, Fr. Wesley Walker and Dr. Junius

Bonus Episode: Season 5

Discover the official Season 5 reading schedule for The Classical Mind podcast! Join Junius and Wesley as they lay out the next 12-month literary journey through the West

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare with Heidi White

In this summer episode of The Classical Mind, hosts Dr. Junius Johnson and Father Wesley Walker welcome back three-time guest Heidi White, co-host of the Close Reads podc

The Importance of Being Earnest with Dr. Grace Hamman

Welcome to another episode of The Classical Mind, the podcast where we explore the great books of the Western tradition! In this episode, hosts Father Wesley Walker and D

Paradiso with Dr. Jonathan Juilfs

In this concluding chapter of our journey through Dante’s Commedia, Dr. Junius Johnson and Fr. Wesley Walker are joined by Dr. Jonathan Juilfs to explore the radiant heig

Purgatorio with Heidi White

In this episode of The Classical Mind, Fr. Wesley Walker and Dr. Junius Johnson welcome back Heidi White to explore the middle canticle of Dante’s Divine Comedy, the Purg

"The Tapestry": A Conversation about a New CiRCE Language Arts/Grammar Curriculum with Buck Holler

In this episode of The Classical Mind, Dr. Junius Johnson sits down with Buck Holler from the CiRCE Institute to discuss "Tapestry," a new writing and grammar curriculum

The Inaugural Classical Mind Battle of the Books

Round 1: Voting will be open from Monday (3/16) until Monday (3/23) ***Vote Now!*** Round 2: Voting will be open from Monday (3/23) until Saturday (3/30) Round 3: The f

Inferno

In this episode, Father Wesley Walker and Dr. Junius Johnson are joined by Dante scholar Catherine Illingworth to navigate the harrowing depths of Dante’s Inferno. The co

BONUS EPISODE: An Introduction to The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

This bonus episode of The Classical Mind serves as “front matter” to prepare listeners for a three-month reading marathon of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Join Wesley

Lilith

In this episode of The Classical Mind, Fr. Wesley Walker and Dr. Junius Johnson explore George MacDonald’s 1895 fantasy novel, Lilith. The discussion navigates the tensio

Medieval Exegesis

In this episode of The Classical Mind, hosts Father Wesley Walker and Dr. Junius Johnson dive deep into the fascinating, complex topic of Medieval Exegesis—”specifically

Our Top Reads of 2025

In this special year-end bonus episode, hosts Father Wesley Walker and Dr. Junius Johnson take a break from their usual Great Books discussion to share their personal Top

Billy Budd, Sailor

In this episode of The Classical Mind, Junius and Wesley dive deep into Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Sailor — a haunting naval novella exploring innocence, evil, law, mu

The Classical Mind Goes to the Movies: Frankenstein (2025)

In this episode, Junius and Wesley take on the latest film adaptation of Frankenstein, asking what makes a great adaptation of a classic work — and whether this one succe

The Proslogion by St. Anselm

In this episode, Father Wesley and Dr. Junius dive deep into St. Anselm’s Proslogion, the short yet monumental work that introduced one of the most enduring and debated a

The Taming of the Shrew

In this episode of The Classical Mind, we take on Shakespeare’s most provocative comedy, The Taming of the Shrew. Junius and Wesley dig into the play’s strange structure—