Jaran talks about Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” and Reagan talks about Kevin Horsley’s “Unlimited Memory.” Though “Heart of Darkness” is one of the most studied books in academia, many such as China Achebe believe that it is harmful. How have you experienced this book? We want to hear from you. Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends’ podcasts. All the music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions at sessions.blue. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock

Reagan and Jaran wax esoteric. Reagan has been been reading N.T. Wright's translation of the New Testament called "The Kingdom New Testament: A Contemporary Translation," and Jaran has been musing about a book he read a long time ago, James Davidson Hunter's "To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World." The Kingdom New Testament: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11531550-the-kingdom-new-testament To Change the World: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7846894-to-change-the-world Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our friends’ podcasts. All the music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions at sessions.blue. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock

Reagan and Jaran are back! Jaran talks about a book that influenced him several years ago, Rod Dreher’s “The Benedict Option.” Reagan talks about a book that he recently read called “Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon. Visit kingdomoutpost.org to find our firends’ podcasts. All the music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions at sessions.blue. Find Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller. Find Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock.

E. D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know" has inspired Jaran and Reagan to check up on each other, ensuring that they're appropriately culturally literate. In this episode, they quiz each other's cultural literacy by going through lists of questions on a website designed for this purpose. For the quizes, we used the website "The Literacy Company": http://www.readfaster.com/culturalliteracy/  Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller  Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock  Some music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions, namely  "Kirkus" and "Minutes." That weird music in the middle is licensed under Creative Commons and harvested from this website: https://freesound.org/people/ModulationStation/sounds/392465/

Reagan and Jaran read widely. When they sat down to plan their next sequence of episodes, they realized that they've been reading books that cannot be paired in any coherent way. Consequently, in the coming episodes, our dear listeners will be blessed with commentaries on very diverse books. Jaran talks about Harold Bender's "The Anabaptist Vision" in light of Stephen Dintaman's "The Spiritual Poverty of the Anabaptist Vision," and Reagan tells us about "Socrates: A Man for Our Times" by Paul Johnson. The Anabaptist Vision: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1401627 The Spiritual Poverty of the Anabaptist Vision: http://www.nextreformation.com/wp-admin/documents/Dintaman.pdfhttp://www.nextreformation.com/wp-admin/documents/Dintaman.pdf Socrates: a Man for our Times: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11909371-socrates Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. All the music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Session. Specifically, it includes their pieces called "Rafter," "Kirkus," and "Minutes."

Jaran and Reagan talk about books they've been reading. Jaran read "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis" by J. D. Vance (he read it a long time ago but is only now talking about it), and Reagan read "Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World" by Scott Harrison. Basically, from this podcast, you'll learn that we admire ethically-operated organizations that serve people and that our upward mobility hasn't yet brought us to the point of knowing how to pronounce the names of expensive beverages. Erratum: Jaran said that Vance grew up in Kentucky. He actually grew up in Ohio. Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller. Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock. All the music in this episode comes form Blue Dot Sessions, namely “Kirkus” and “Minutes," and "Allston Night Owl.”

How would WWII have ended differently without the influence of methamphetamine? We don't know, but we can be pretty sure that it made a serious difference. In this episode, Reagan tells us about Norman Ohler's "Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany," and Jaran uses Shaunti Feldhahn's "For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men" to remind us that men tend to feel insecure. Blitzed: https://www.goodreads.com/hr/book/show/29429893-blitzed For Women Only: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15797975-for-women-only Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock All the music in this episode comes form Blue Dot Sessions, namely “Kirkus” and “Minutes.”

We at The Books We Read care about humanity. Yes we do. That's why we keep you, dear audience, informed about matters like William Shakespeare and Michelle Obama. Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure," probes into the painful ethical choices that humans must sometimes make, and Michelle's "Becoming" sheds light on the humanity of those in power. Becoming: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38746485-becoming Measure for Measure: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91571-Measure_for_Measure Follow Jaran on Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/74450648-jaran-miller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/93683928-reagan-schrock All the music in this episode comes form Blue Dot Sessions, namely “Kirkus,” "Oriel," and “Minutes.”

Reagan Schrock and Jaran Miller discuss the books that they’ve been reading. Despite the weighty (and sometimes unpleasant) issues it raises, reagan discusses William Rycroft’s “All Quiet on the West-End Front” quite positively. Despite it’s prominent place in the Protestant literary tradition, Jaran discusses John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress” with a small dose of negative critique. He may not even like the book. All Quiet on the West-End Front: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42116529 The Pilgrim’s Progress: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29797 Follow Jaran on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://goodreads.com/reaganschrock All the music in this episode comes form Blue Dot Sessions, namely “Kirkus” and “Minutes.”

In this episode of The Books We Read, Reagan Schrock and Jaran Miller discuss two books that they've been reading. Jaran talks about George MacDonald's dark book Lilith, and Reagan tells about Randall Munroe's delightful book What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. What If: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21413662-what-if Lilith: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/268187.Lilith We try to publish a new episode every second Friday, so expect to hear from us again on October 11, 2019. Follow Jaran on Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/jaranmiller         Follow Reagan on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reaganschrock All the music in this episode comes from Blue Dot Sessions, namely "Kirkus" and "Minutes."