{"podcast":{"title":"Ascend - The Great Books Podcast","slug":"ascend-the-great-books-podcast-6733379","podcast_index_feed_id":6733379,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/ascend-the-great-book/","website_url":"https://ascend-the-great-book.captivate.fm","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/91cb8b50-c0b7-49d8-9476-279514463e73/TfaX-DfFN1GQWT2CL2LiBMBS.png","author":"Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan","episode_count":141,"summary":"Welcome to Ascend! We are a weekly Great Books podcast hosted by Deacon Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan. What are the Great Books? The Great Books are the most impactful texts that have shaped Western civilization. They include ancients like Homer, Plato, St. Augustine, Dante, and St. Thomas Aquinas, and also moderns like Machiavelli, Locke, and Nietzsche. We will explore the Great Books with the light of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Why should we read the Great Books? Everyone is a disciple of someone. A person may have never read Locke or Nietzsche, but he or she thinks like them. Reading the Great Books allows us to reclaim our intellect and understand the origin of the ideas that shape our world. We enter a \"great conversation\" amongst the most learned, intelligent humans in history and benefit from their insights. Is this for first-time readers? YES. Our goal is to host meaningful conversations on the Great Books by working through the texts in chronological order in a slow, attentive manner. Our host Adam Minihan is a first-time reader of Homer. We will start shallow and go deep. All are invited to join. Will any resources be available? YES. We are providing a free…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-14T20:18:29.696270+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ascend-the-great-books-podcast-6733379"},"episode":{"title":"The Odyssey Books 11-12 with Luke Heintschel and Dr. Grabowski","slug":"the-odyssey-books-11-12-with-luke-heintschel-and-dr-grabowski","published_at":"2026-06-02T11:45:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ascend-the-great-books-podcast-6733379/the-odyssey-books-11-12-with-luke-heintschel-and-dr-grabowski","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ascend-the-great-books-podcast-6733379","url":"http://mcidfrxn.podcastwebsites.com/episodes/the-odyssey-books-11-12-with-luke-heintschel-and-dr-grabowski","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/7092a02b-9df1-40a1-8cfa-dbca10e30aeb.mp3","summary":"Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Harrison Garlick discusses Books 11-12 of the Odyssey with Dr. Frank Grabowski and Mr. Luke Heintschel, the Academic Headmaster of Coeur du Christ Academy. Check out Ascend's LIBRARY of written guides and SOCIAL MEDIA . Check out Luke's Substack at CoCrucified and Dr. Grabowski's at Porch & Altar . Summary Listeners are taken on Odysseus’ harrowing katabasis into the underworld, where he confronts shades of the dead, including his mother, the tragic Agamemnon, and especially Achilles, whose devastating reflection on glory versus life delivers one of the most “blood on the floor” moments in Western literature. The conversation masterfully unpacks themes of piety, humanization, fate and free will, and the meaning of a well-lived life, while drawing illuminating connections to Plato, Dante, Boethius, and the Christian tradition. The discussion continues into Book 12 with the irresistible Sirens, the terror of Scylla and Charybdis, and the fateful transgression with the Cattle of the Sun. Throughout, the guests offer sharp insight into Odysseus’s evolving character, the tensions between cunning and virtue, and why these ancient stories remain essential for forming minds today. Whether you’re a longtime lover of Homer or new to the Great Books, this episode delivers rich intellectual conversation, pedagogical wisdom, and profound reflections that will leave you eager to pick up the text—or re-read it with fresh eyes. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Great Books Podcast 06:01 Exploring the Odyssey: Books 11 and 12 12:54 The Theme of Descent into the Underworld 16:57 Elpenor's Ignoble Death and Its Significance 23:42 Tiresias and the Prophecies for Odysseus 31:43 Fate vs. Free Will in the Odyssey 38:29 The Role of Women in…","meta_description":"Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Harrison Garlick discusses Books 11-12 of the Odyssey with Dr. Frank Grabowski and Mr. Luke Heintschel, the…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":6575,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ascend-the-great-books-podcast-6733379/episodes/the-odyssey-books-11-12-with-luke-heintschel-and-dr-grabowski/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ascend-the-great-books-podcast-6733379/the-odyssey-books-11-12-with-luke-heintschel-and-dr-grabowski.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}