The Back of the Book – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Détails du podcast

Informations techniques et générales issues du flux RSS du podcast.

The Back of the Book

Ricochet

Arts

Éducation

Fréquence : 1 épisode/16j. Total Éps: 17

In The Back of the Book, host Christopher J. Scalia interviews writers, scholars, and other expert guests about culture and the arts.

Listen to The Back of the Book, along with more than 40 other original podcasts, at Ricochet.com. No paid subscription required.

Lire plusRéduire

Site

RSS

Apple

Données mises à jour le 04/07/2026

Classements récents

Dernières positions dans les classements Apple Podcasts et Spotify.

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Aucun classement récent disponible

Liens partagés entre épisodes et podcasts

Liens présents dans les descriptions d'épisodes et autres podcasts les utilisant également.

Qualité et score du flux RSS

Évaluation technique de la qualité et de la structure du flux RSS.

Qualité du flux RSS

À améliorer

Score global : 69%

Historique des publications

Répartition mensuelle des publications d'épisodes au fil des années.

Year

Derniers épisodes publiés

Liste des épisodes récents, avec titres, durées et descriptions.

BOOK LAUNCH! 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read)

mercredi 21 mai 2025 • Durée 56:13

Chris introduces his brand-new book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read). Why should conservatives—or anyone—bother reading fiction? How did Chris select the novels to write about? And which ones did he choose, anyway? The answers to these questions, and many others, are finally revealed!

Show Notes:
Chris in The Dispatch: “Why Conservatives—and Everyone Else—Should Read Novels”
Chris in The Washington Examiner: “Zora Neale Hurston and the Fate of the Black Conservative”
The Ricochet boys talk to Chris about the book: “A Novel Approach”

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Lire plusRéduire

These Are the Days of Miracle and Wonder

jeudi 1 mai 2025 • Durée 01:05:29

Best-selling author Rod Dreher talks to Chris about his latest book, Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age. Rod explains why we’ve lost the ability to see the transcendent around us and how we can rediscover enchantment. What do UFO’s, demons, and beauty have to do with this? Listen and find out!Show Notes:

Rod’s new book: Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age
Rod’s Substack, Rod Dreher’s Diary
Documentary version of Live Not By Lies on Angel.com
Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), available to order now!
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Hymn before Sun-rise, in the Vale of Chamouni”; Percy Shelley, “Mont Blanc: Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni”

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Lire plusRéduire

My Brother the Priest

Saison 1 · Épisode 14

vendredi 18 avril 2025 • Durée 01:01:48

Chris’s brother, Father Paul Scalia, joins the show to discuss the significance of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter, and how Catholics in particular celebrate this most important (and for priests, most exhausting) week in the liturgical calendar. Father Scalia also recounts his road to the priesthood, shares his favorite Christian apologists and novelists, and discusses the state of the Catholic Church in America.

Show Notes:
· Father Scalia’s books: That Nothing May be Lost: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion; Sermons in Times of Crisis: Twelve Homilies to Stir Your Soul (editor)
· Father Scalia at The Catholic Thing
· Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), available to order now!

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

The Politics of Public Art and a Plan for Cultural Renewal

Saison 1 · Épisode 13

jeudi 3 avril 2025 • Durée 01:03:11

Chris talks to Fisher Derderian, founder and executive director of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, about how politics and patronage shape American art. How did the CIA use abstract expressionism as a cultural weapon during the Cold War? How have culture-shaping institutions and public funds moved from supporting artistic greatness to enforcing political compliance? How can more supporters of cultural excellence reform existing institutions—and create their own? Plus, Fisher shares his thoughts about the great Sir Roger Scruton.

Show Notes:
· Fisher’s Substack, Dux Culturae
· Fisher’s non-profit, The Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation
· The art of Jacob Collins and the Grand Central Atelier
· Oh, and Chris’s book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read), is available to pre-order on Amazon!

This episode is brought to you by BizniCorps: navigating enterprise solutions for greater value-add! Special thanks to AEI’s Maggie Obriwin for making the last ten minutes sound less like a lo-fi indie record from the early 2000s.

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Presidents and the Power of Popular Culture

Saison 1 · Épisode 12

jeudi 13 mars 2025 • Durée 47:31

Tevi Troy, a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, talks to Chris about his books The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry (Regnery History, 2024) and What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, Obama Tweeted: 200 Years of Popular Culture in the White House (Regnery History, 2013). Tevi explains how different titans of the entertainment industry—the Warner brothers, Lew Wasserman, and Oprah Winfrey—developed and used relationships with such presidents as FDR, Reagan, and Obama. He also considers the different ways Joe Biden and Donald Trump have engaged with popular culture to develop their images and connect with voters. Plus, how did Tevi go from earning a PhD in American Civilization to working in the White House to becoming a presidential historian?

Show Notes:

Tevi’s newest book, The Power and the Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry
More from Tevi about presidents and pop culture (C-SPAN)
Follow Tevi on TwitterX: @TeviTroy
ICYMI: Chris’s conversation with Jonah Goldberg on The Remnant
Chris’s upcoming book, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read)

This episode is brought to you by Root & Branch Sheets: the only bedsheets designed specifically for unwanted guests!

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Lire plusRéduire

Who Killed Beauty? The Demise of Art Deco and the Rise of Ugly Buildings

Saison 1 · Épisode 11

dimanche 23 février 2025 • Durée 01:13:34

Megan Gafford joins Chris to discuss some of her recent writing about the fate of architecture in the 20th century. Art Deco was a beautiful, ornamental style that thrived in the United States in the 1920s and ‘30s. What happened to it—why did modernism displace it and what did we lose in the process? Plus, why do manifestos and fanaticism spoil art? Megan and Chris also discuss the architectural writings of Tom Wolfe, the new film The Brutalist, and why beauty matters in even the bleakest times.

Show Notes:
· Megan’s Substack, Fashionably Late Takes—don’t miss “‘America Was Supposed to be Art Deco’: When America abandoned beauty.”
· Tom Wolfe, “The Building That Isn’t There” Part 1 & Part 2 (New York Times)
· Follow Megan on TwitterX: @megan_gafford This episode is brought to you by the Gaza Largo Club—the Crown Jewel of Palestine!

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Lire plusRéduire

A Legion of Horribles; or Cormac McCarthy, The Cannibal Owl, and the Art of Fiction

Saison 1 · Épisode 10

jeudi 6 février 2025 • Durée 58:50

Novelist Aaron Gwyn joins the show to discuss the fiction of Cormac McCarthy. Why is McCarthy’s Blood Meridian a great American novel? What does Gwyn make of recent revelations about McCarthy’s personal life? Plus, Gwyn reads from and discusses his compelling new novella, The Cannibal Owl. What is the history, and what are the Comanche traditions, behind the work? Gwyn, who teaches creative writing and contemporary literature at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, also discusses how students have changed over the past twenty years, the most important advice he gives young writers, and his favorite Van Halen album.

This episode is brought to you by the Gaza Largo Club—the Crown Jewel of Palestine!

Show Notes:
· “What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?” (New York Times)
· Aaron Gwyn’s course lectures on McCarthy’s Blood Meridian
· Harold Bloom talks to Brian Lamb about Blood Meridian (C-SPAN)
· B.R. Myers on Cormac McCarthy’s “andelopes”
· “Cormac McCarthy’s Secret Muse Breaks Her Silence After Half a Century: ‘I Loved Him. He Was My Safety.’” (Vanity Fair)
· Aaron Gwyn’s novella, The Cannibal Owl (Belle Point Press)· with Aaron Gwyn and Brad Kelly· Follow Aaron on TwitterX: @AmericanGwynOpening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “,” used with permission from the artist.

The Arts in America, with Daniel Asia

Saison 1 · Épisode 9

vendredi 24 janvier 2025 • Durée 59:52

Daniel Asia, a composer, author, and president of The Center for American Culture & Ideas, joins Chris to discuss his musical career (including his new opera), advise newbies on where they can start enjoying classical music (his answer will surprise you), and consider the place of high art in the United States. Is there a tension between democracy and excellence? Is there anything the new administration should do to boost our engagement with opera, classical, music, and the performing arts? From Tocqueville to Herman’s Hermits, Mozart to the space aliens, this episode has it all.

Show Notes:

Daniel Asia’s compositions on Spotify and Amazon. His upcoming opera (in English!) is The Tin Angel Opera.

Special thanks to our sponsor, Hennigan’s Scotch Whisky.

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Lire plusRéduire

Classical English, the Socratic Method, and Stoicism: A Conversation with Ward Farnsworth

Saison 1 · Épisode 8

vendredi 20 décembre 2024 • Durée 01:00:37

Author Ward Farnsworth joins Chris to discuss his Classical English series, as well as his books on Stoicism and the Socratic Method. What—and how—can we learn from the style, rhetoric, and argument of great writers from the long 19th century? How are the ancient Stoics comparable to modern cognitive psychologists? And how can the Socratic method be an antidote for stupidity? Plus, Chris explains his father’s theory of the Shakespeare Principle.

Ward Farnsworth is professor and W. Page Keeton Chair at the University of Texas Law School. He’s the author the Farnsworth Classical English series, which comprises Farnsworth’s Classical Rhetoric, Classical English Metaphor, Classical English Style, and most recently, Classical English Argument. He is also the author of The Socratic Method and The Practicing Stoic.

Show Notes:
Ward’s author page on Amazon.
Chris’s review of Ward’s most recent book, Classical English Argument.
Special thanks to our sponsor, Eckleburg Optometry: from West Egg to West Hollywood, the giant eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg keep their vigil.

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “,” used with permission from the artist.

The Poetry and Fiction of Sally Thomas

Saison 1 · Épisode 7

lundi 2 décembre 2024 • Durée 59:11

Chris’s guest is the poet and fiction writer Sally Thomas, who shares a few of her poems and discusses some of her stories. Sally and Chris also talk about her development as a writer, why she enjoys writing formal poetry, and what she does when her short-story characters won’t leave her alone.

Sally is the author of The Blackbird and Other Stories (Wiseblood, 2024) and the forthcoming poetry collection Among the Living (Able Muse Press, TBA). She also co-edits the Poems Ancient and Modern Substack and co-edited Christian Poetry in America Since 1940 (Paraclete Press, 2022).

Show Notes
Here are the poems Sally read during the conversation:

And here’s one of the stories she discussed with Chris: “A Fire in the Hills.”

Special thanks to our sponsor, Bleezer’s Ice Cream.

Opening and closing music: Brendan Benson, “Spit It Out,” used with permission from the artist.

Podcasts Similaires Basées sur le Contenu

Découvrez des podcasts liées à The Back of the Book. Explorez des podcasts avec des thèmes, sujets, et formats similaires. Ces similarités sont calculées grâce à des données tangibles, pas d'extrapolations !