Episodes

Achoo![1. Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash.] We must have fallen asleep over the Christmas break. But now we’re back. And in Zack’s and Stephen’s area, guess what else is back? Cedar fever! That’s the most wicked allergy season you can imagine. So we thought we’d plan for this. All year long, we’ve been asking several of our guests the question we’ll ask ourselves: what stories are we “allergic” to? Mission update Next week, we start our Voyage of the Dawn Treader book quest! Subscribe ...

Twenty years ago, the world was watching one fantasy film trilogy to rule them all. Its final installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King arrived into American theaters on Dec. 17, 2003. From the beacons lighting of Minas Tirith, to Frodo’s and Sam’s desperate fights against Shelob, to the ear-tingling charge of the Rohirrim onto the Fields of Pelennor, how did we first experience this grand finale to The Lord of the Rings film series? Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade • teens ...

Did you ever read the book where C. S. Lewis criticized trumpery? At the holiday season? “They buy gifts for one another such things as no man ever bought for himself,” Lewis lamented. But he did love Christmas. So did professor J. R. R. Tolkien, who celebrated so hard that he ghost-wrote letters from Father Christmas, from the North Pole, for his own children. What can we learn about critiquing yet celebrating Christmas from these two legends? Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade • teens + YA •...

We have already seen Halloween, full of candies and other tricky treats.[1. Featured images from Abhishek Hajare on Unsplash (red chilis) and Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash (green candy).] Next came Thanksgiving with its famous feasting. Finally we get the grand finale of festivals: the Advent season leading up to Christmas. So much spicy. So much sugar. These reminded us about fantastical stories and other creative works. Some might have the spicy bite of sarcasm. Others fill you up with too m...

Have we talked enough about C. S. Lewis at Lorehaven? Of course not. So let’s get ready for more! This week marks a new occasion called C. S. Lewis Reading Day, on Nov. 29. It’s founded by the Pints With Jack podcast, to celebrate our favorite quotes, fantasy, and nonfiction by the famed scholar of medieval literature and languages plus Christian fantastical truth. Today we tour our shelves full of Lewis’s work, and ask: which books are the best? Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade • teens + YA...

Last month saw the culturally conservative Daily Wire platform launching a new streaming service that offers dozens of television shows for children. Interestingly enough, two Fantastical Truth guests are now involved with creating these shows, and a third guest works with the company and has interviewed the co-CEO! Yet you, like us, may wonder whether people known for their politics can do this well. Shouldn’t faithful and excellent Christian creators ignore or suppress their punditry to make f...

Behold the darkly whimsical world and wholesome family adventures of The Wingfeather Saga! It’s a four-book series. It’s a growing collection of newer titles, including today’s newly released title. And of course, it’s an animated series on the Angel Studios streaming service. Explore the mysterious lands of Aerwiar with its many creatures to be fought, tamed, or trusted, thanks to today’s guest: singer/songwriter/fantastical storyteller Andrew Peterson. Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade • te...

This holiday season, when people celebrate either evil or the Reformation, it may help to remember Martin Luther’s reminder that “Even the devil is God’s devil.” And yet Satan is still prowling the Earth, looking for souls to steal. We know people don’t think the Devil exists, yet even some Christians act like materialists who ignore the threat of demonic deception. Marian Jacobs, author of that forthcoming book about fictional magic versus real magic, rejoins us to engage today’s real threats f...

Twelve men on a boat are besieged by a storm. Suddenly they see, amongst the lightning, a spectral shape. Hundreds of years earlier, a king throws a party that’s interrupted by some thing that’s not on the guest list: a ghostly hand that scrawls a haunting message on the palace wall. Generations before that, another king with a tragic backstory sneaks into a darkened tent to inquire of the dead, not his parents, or his wife, but the very prophet who doomed his royal house. What are the scariest ...

This spooky season, what’s scarier than real-world evil? Imagine that Nazis are hiding in a prison mine where they try to torture their victims—that is, until a mysterious enemy in the dark forest rises up to destroy them with zombie-like plant creatures, a granite face, and supernatural symbols. Pastor and paranormal novelist Marc Schooley, author of König’s Fire, joins us to explore the problem of evil versus the amazing grace of our sovereign God. Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade • teens ...

Happy “Banned” Books week, to all who celebrate. [1. Photo by Joshua Newton on Unsplash.] Yes, we’ve used scare quotes! Some of these books are scary and earn caution. Yet some people think you’ll be so happily scared by hearing these books are “banned” that you’ll want to support them automatically. About this trope, we have questions. Aren’t some books really horrible for some or most or all readers? If so, is this really a matter of whether these books should be banned? And if so, who should ...

A storm is coming, and it will change your dreary Kansas land from its 1939 sepia tones into a magical world with a Yellow Brick Road plus little people and urban studio legends and a famously wicked Western witch. From movies to musicals to the original books by L. Frank Baum, we’re exploring The Wizard of Oz. What are the wonderful things he does? And why has this older fantasy captured the imaginations of so many people, including Zack’s own sister Nicole? Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade...

Vincent is so done with Art and all that. But his mom and uncle just won’t stop going on about the amazing colors and composition of great masters like his namesake. Then his little sister disappears into a famous painting. What’s a lad to do? Join us for this fantastic journey Beneath the Swirling Sky with homeschool mom and middle-grade author Carolyn Leiloglou! Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade • teens + YA • adults • onscreen • author resources • gifts • guild Episode sponsors Enclave Pu...

What if sixteen-year-old Alice fell into that famed rabbit hole and discovered Wonderland is actually a dystopian world? A place where you must survive the annual and deadly Wonderland Trials, then confront The Looking-Glass Illusion? Sara Ella, author of these two whimsical fantasy adventures, joins Lorehaven to explore how fictional stories reflect curious realities. Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade • teens + YA • adults • onscreen • author resources • gifts • guild Episode sponsors Encla...

“Hey there, pilgrim. Welcome to the world of the Real Man.[1. Photo by Saman Rashidi on Unsplash.] We’re hard-livin’, hard-drinkin’, gray-area kinds of scallywags. We ride fast horses an’ drive faster cars. We got eleventeen girlfriends and one on the side. Sometimes we even shoot folk with guns and abandon our families and never cry or get diseases and we don’t ask folks nicely for nothin’. Ya wanna know why? It’s cuz we’s Real Men.” And now, inspired by Nancy R. Pearcey’s new book The Toxic Wa...

We hear a lot about “evangelical bubbles,” even on this podcast.[1. Photo by Juliana Romão on Unsplash] People say that Christians ought not live in their insular spaces, but make better stories that help reflect our world. Some encourage believers to plant oases of imagination to serve the common good. Others seem to put their own “oases” onto armored platforms to roll around the territory, firing paintballs. Are these our only choices: influencing mainstream culture versus more aggressive work...

Alas! We must report that another back-to-school season has come upon us, and we Muggles haven’t gotten our letter to Hogwarts.[1. Photo by Gabriel Kraus on Unsplash.] But since the 1990s, that infamous wizarding world has received plenty of Howlers, not just from concerned Christians but from zealous fans and even sexual activists. One recent podcast, “The Witch Trials of J. K. Rowling,” brewed all this into a bubbling cauldron of controversy. Now our own staff writer Marian Jacobs, who’s craft...

Our great and creative God has called every person to create stuff using his stuff. But as we know, many Christian leaders and churches have gotten busy or really ignorant. They don’t heed our sovereign Creator’s call to lead a rich imaginative life for the common good in our world. How can we cultivate this vital mission? Ted Turnau, author of Popologetics and coauthor of The Pop Culture Parent (with Stephen), has a new big book out: Oasis of Imagination: Engaging our World Through a Better Cre...

We’ve explored much about alien theories, but now a whole new official cast of characters claims they’ve seen or heard about evidence that They’re Here. And now this common Christian response has become a meme: aliens are just demons. Well, are they? If these creatures exist, are they deceiving us? Or maybe if they fly all this way only to be seen or crash, they’re just kind of stupid? Or perhaps they’re here to teach us a better way? We shall explore a familiar theme in a new fashion: are any a...

Great stories make us feel wonder, and also feel grief, joy, love, or even some temptations to sin.[1. Photo by Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash.] Yet some of the greatest stories also help us ask big questions about God, ourselves, and the world. They help us practice thinking about the deep stuff, which we call philosophy. In today’s episode, Phil “-Osophy” Lollar, Adventures in Odyssey founding father and writer, rejoins us to explore how great stories train us in renewing our minds. Subscribe ...

This summer at the cinema, some movies are doing great.[1. Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash.] Others are flopping on their faces. Meanwhile, some streaming services are falling even harder, and thanks to the Hollywood strikes plus economic instability plus the threat of artificial-intelligence “art,” we could see a burst of the streaming bubble. How should Christians discern these big changes, while seeking onscreen stories that are well-made and more human? Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade ...

Great stories should lead us to wonder, and lately, stories that don’t aren’t doing well at the box office. Meanwhile, writers and actors for these stories have gone on strike because they object to streaming services and AI that might cheat them out of their livelihoods. Scripture warns against employers oppressing hired employees, whether it’s a business or vocational ministry. How do Christian fans honor the value of stories and show our appreciation for the creators who work hard to reflect ...

While many Hollywood creatives have gone on strike, hundreds of Christian fans, writers, teachers, and volunteers teemed in the hotel halls at last week’s Realm Makers 2023 conference.[1. Featured photo subjects, from left: news writer A. D. Sheehan, staff writer Josiah DeGraaf, publisher E. Stephen Burnett, staff writer Marian Jacobs, ship’s regent Lacy Burnett, reviewer Jessica Boudreaux, graphic designer Jenneth Dyck, chief engineer Zackary Russell.] They heard from speakers like Steve Laube,...

Artificial intelligence won’t destroy human beings, but as we try using AI to upgrade culture, we may find humanity itself getting downgraded. Today, we will explore the promises and dangers of AI for artistic creations. How will machine-generated content enhance or impede our own creativity? Subscribe to Lorehaven middle grade • teens + YA • adults • onscreen • author resources • gifts • guild Episode sponsors Enclave Publishing: The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock The Pop Culture Parent Lore...