A Drink With a Friend

No need to panic; the podcast isn’t ending! It's simply time for a summer break. In this episode, Seth and Tsh chat about some of their favorite finales: the last lines of books, the final songs on an album, the ultimate episodes in a TV series. What makes a good ending? And what helps us forgive a story's less-than-ideal finale? Drink episodes will take a brief hiatus for some offline summer revelry, but never fear—episodes will pick back up again soon!* Seth’s Newsletter & Website* Tsh’s Newsletter & Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Our recommended reads* The Observationalist, by Seth* Pre-order Seth & Amber’s new book, The Deep Down Things* Pre-order Tsh’s journal, First Light & Eventide* Summer 2024: Go to Greece with Tsh!* Damien Rice’s album, My Favorite Faded Fantasy  * A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles * Typhoon, Offerings * A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean* Chuck (on Max and Amazon Prime)* Battlestar Galactica (on Peacock)* The Common Place, Vol. 5 Playlist  Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe

Stories (the good ones, anyway) tell us more than an entertaining tale—they tell us why the world is the way it is, as well as the way it should be. In this way, fiction is often more real than non-fiction. Everyone should read fiction, especially folks who want to know how the world works and how we're called to make it better. Seth & Tsh unpack why good stories do just that.* Seth’s Newsletter & Website* Tsh’s Newsletter & Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Our recommended reads* The Observationalist, by Seth* Pre-order Seth & Amber’s new book, The Deep Down Things* Pre-order Tsh’s journal, First Light & Eventide* The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway* Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë* Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr* The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett* It Can’t Happen Here, by Lewis Sinclair* The Awakening of Miss Prim, by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera* Free class: The Rise & Fall of the Roman Republic* Tsh’s essay on leaving Instagram, one year later Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe

Is reading good books, watching good movies, and preferring good art a matter of subjective taste or objective reasoning? And if it’s objective, does that mean there’s a wrong preference for these things? Even a …moral wrong? Tsh talks with one of her favorite current thinkers and writers, Joshua Gibbs, about what it means to wisely know the difference between mediocre, common, and uncommon things, and why it matters beyond mere taste that we love that which lasts.* Love What Lasts, by Joshua Gibbs* Joshua’s annual summer conference* Joshua’s podcast, Proverbial* Joshua’s blog for CiRCE, The Cedar Room* Joshua’s articles on ChatGPT and terrible family films* Tsh’s Newsletter & Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Recommended reads* The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri (plus Dorothy Sayers’ notes)* The Once and Future King, by T.H. White Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe

Both Seth and Tsh's oldest children are graduating high school this month, and just like the cliché, they can't believe how fast time has flown. Here are a few things they'd tell themselves when they were younger and in the early, exhausting stage of parenting younger children.* Seth: Newsletter | Website* Tsh: Newsletter | Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Our recommended reads* There’s ONE spot left for Ireland — will you claim it?* Ted Lasso* The Lord of the Rings trilogy (1, 2, 3) audiobook, narrated by Andy Serkis Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe

Continuing with (what the numbers say is) this show’s most popular series, in this episode, Seth shares more of why he became Catholic. If he could sum up a major reason why he and Amber led their whole family into the Church, it's this: matter matters. (…And again, don't worry, it's not to pressure you — Tsh and Seth and just telling their stories.)* Seth: Newsletter | Website* Tsh: Newsletter | Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Our recommended reads* Why is Seth Catholic? Part 1* Why is Tsh Catholic? Parts 1 & 2* Seth’s essay in America Magazine* The Songlines, by Bruce Chatwin* Learning the Good Life, ed. by Jessica Hooten Wilson & Jacob Stratman Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe

We've reached a fever pitch with smartphones, and more and more people aren't sure what to do anymore with these computers in our pockets. Is it time to throw them in a river and "downgrade" to older school flip phones? Some folks are. Autumn Kern is one such person, and in this episode, she chats with Tsh about why she'll never go back. She makes the case that smartphones are turning us into gnostics, they're depleting us of our virtue, and they're depriving us of true community, instead giving us dopamine hits of a faux version of connection. The trade-off? A more beautiful life!* Common House* Autumn Kern’s podcast and YouTube channel * Tsh: Newsletter | Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Recommended reads* Come to Ireland with Tsh!* Digital Minimalism, by Cal Newport* The Machine Stops, by E.M. Forster* Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman* Marc Barnes on smartphones* The Abolition of Man, by C.S. Lewis* Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy* When the Church Was Young, by Marcellino d’Ambrosio Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe

It's still the question Tsh and Seth get more than just about any other... They each began answering this question in earlier chats, but it involves an answer that may take a lifetime to share... In this episode, Tsh shares more of her journey to the Catholic Church, why it wasn’t just switching a “denomination,” and why the telos of the idea of a global church led her to recognize that Jesus established it in a particular way for a particular purpose. All Christians were Catholic for most of Church history, and this communion of saints is for all of us. …It's a fitting story to continue telling during Holy Week. * Seth: Newsletter | Website* Tsh: Newsletter | Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Our recommended reads* Come to Ireland with Tsh!* Why is Tsh Catholic? Part 1* Why is Seth Catholic? Part 1* Resources that answered Tsh’s Catholic questions* Christy Nockels’ Come Magnify and Benediction * Tsh’s Bitter & Sweet Lent playlist* Andrew Peterson’s Resurrection Letters Anthology Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe

On the trails, in silence of an adoration chapel, in the practice of shrugging our shoulders, in the dirt of the earth, in art, bread, a feast with our friends. In other words: practice. This is where Seth and his wife Amber have learned to search for signs of hope, even during a season of recovery, pandemic chaos, political turmoil. Tsh talks with Seth about this idea — looking for hope in the midst of a world that tips toward despair — and why doing so changes everything. Seth and Amber recorded their experience in a book, and they didn’t hold back. * Seth: Newsletter | Website* Tsh: Newsletter | Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Our recommended reads* Come to Ireland with Tsh!* Pre-order The Deep Down Things here, here, or here!* Seth’s announcement* Amber’s announcement* Olga Karlovac on Instagram* East of Eden, by John Steinbeck Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe

C.S. Lewis wrote a newspaper column as a series of letters from a demon writing to his nephew training for his role as …well, a demon. Screwtape advises Wormwood how to best attack his “patient” — an unassuming young man — and his tactics aren’t what we’d expect. Tsh shares with Seth why she loves this book so much, why it’s still relevant (perhaps more?) today than it was when it was first published during the height of World War II, and why all of us need to read it. In fact, if you’re new to Lewis and want to give him a whirl, The Screwtape Letters is a great place to start.* Seth: Newsletter | Website* Tsh: Newsletter | Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Our recommended reads* Come to Ireland with Tsh!* Sing Hat Co. * Wilson Knives* Catechism in a Year podcast Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe

Isn’t it weird to travel with people you’ve never met? Tsh thought so, too, until she started leading pilgrimages. Now it’s one of her favorite things she does. She chats with her friend Bond Strong, who went on Tsh’s 2022 pilgrimage to Italy. They talk about why travel makes them love their home even more, how their love for travel only grew once they became parents, what they loved most about their time in Italy, and why you — yes, YOU — should go on Tsh’s 2023 pilgrimage to Ireland. There’s still time, but there are only a few spots left!* Join Tsh in Ireland!* Tsh’s Newsletter & Website* Pick up a round of drinks* Recommended reads* Saint Stories for Kids podcast* The Awakening of Miss Prim, by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera Get full access to The Commonplace at thecommon.place/subscribe