SPLANCHNICS: The Society for the Preservation of Literature, the Arts, Numinosity, Culture, Humor, Nerdiness, Inspiration, Creativity & Storytelling

In this book club episode, Clare and Hannah travel into space and try not to embarass themselves as they discuss C.S. Lewis's science fiction classic, Out of the Silent Planet. Naturally, they mention The Abolition of Man.

For complete show notes, including a list of the books we discussed and one of the most beautiful passages Lewis wrote, click through to the episode page on the Splanchnics website. 

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Clare and Hannah both share a song that rocked their world. Hannah tries to rap (sort of), and Clare tells the story of the 10,000-pound haircut. Like the comments section of George Michael's "Careless Whisper," we hope you find this episode charmingly, wholesomely, vaguely off-color.

The songs:

“Change” by NF. 

“Careless Whisper” by Wham! featuring George Michael, 1984

Sexy Sax Man

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Clare and Hannah take on Jekyll and Hyde in a battle of Victorian proportions. In other words, we slink furtively through darkened doorways, scandalize young housemaids sitting up past their bedtime, and write letters to our lawyers with the tantalizing instruction: "Do not open until I have died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances."  

Get your own copy of this Robert Louis Stevenson classic, here at Clare's...

This is a very serious episode. Clare and Hannah tackle a topic that is probably far beyond them, but that's never stopped them before. Today we discuss the difference between tragedy and evil. Hannah brings up vampires because at least she knows something about those.

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Clare and Hannah each share another song that rocked their worlds. Clare's song is a universal story about the plight of the working poor, just as relevant today as it was forty years ago. Hannah spends most of her allotted time describing what happens if you trespass at a war vet's house and pester his wife (You get shot, that's what). Also, her song made both of us cry a little.

Hannah’s song: “I Can’t Help But...

Clare and Hannah look back on 2024 as the year that blew their minds every other day. A few examples:

• The day that Israel blew the pants off their enemies.
• The presidential candidate who almost got his head blown off on live television.
• Amazing health discoveries that will keep you from blowing up the bathroom at your in-laws' house.

Links:

“Stopping or reducing dietary fiber intake reduces constipation and its associ...

Clare and Hannah read H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau," and discuss universal themes like the hubris of science, the true nature of humanity, and their uncanny ability to shoehorn a C.S. Lewis shoutout into any discussion. 

Get your own copy of The Island of Dr. Moreau.

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Clare and Hannah share their experiences practicing martial arts. By share their experiences, we mean they soared with exquisite grace through a grove of bamboo trees, exchanging blows that shook the surrounding wilderness and awakened a long-dormant volcano. 

The Karate Kid Collection. Includes the original 1984 Karate Kid and its two sequels, plus the 2010 remake starring Jaden Smith. 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

L...

Clare and Hannah return with another book club, this time covering Joseph Heller's Catch 22, a satirical commentary on corporate malfeasance, nonsense, incompetence and bureaucracy. A classic war novel that coined a phrase still prominent in the modern zeitgeist, Catch 22 left Clare feeling like a dummy and convinced Hannah that she does indeed have a twisted brain. In other words, a bit of light reading for your summer.

G...

In this breakfast chat, Clare shares a truly embarrassing story from a fellow veterinarian. Names and locations have been changed to protect those involved from further shame. 

This episode may be troubling for more squeamish listeners, as it contains terms like: uterine horn, testicles, castration, cervix, and litter-bearing animals. Also, Hannah ate spaghetti throughout this recording.

For more funny vet stories, have you...

In part 2 of our series on the kings and queens of England, Clare and Hannah talk about two kings who embodied the term, "man-child." Henry II spent his entire wedding reception goofing off with his best friend and ignoring everybody else, including his new queen. Richard II surrounded himself with his favorite sycophants, spent a ridiculous amount of his country's money on clothes, and commissioned a religious icon ...

Hannah takes the "reigns" for part 1 in a series about the kings and queens of England. Because royalty in England just cycled through the same three names over and over, today we learn about two kings named Henry:

Henry II: the highlights of his reign were murdering his best friend in a cathedral, getting whipped within an inch of his life in the same cathedral, and giving a gorgeous castle to a six year-old out...

Clare shares a song that terrifies both her and the man who wrote it. Hannah's song of choice did not so much rock her world as haunt her every waking moment for two weeks straight.

Clare's song:
"Cat's in the Cradle." Music, lyrics, and performance by Harry Chapin. In December of 1974 it was the Number 1 song on the Billboard Top 100. The link includes a brief interview with Chapin's wid...

Clare and Hannah read Charles Portis' 1968 novel, True Grit, and have not been able to talk normally since. We also analyze two movie adaptations of the book: the 1969 adaptation directed by Henry Hathaway and the 2010 adaptation directed by the Coen Brothers.

To get your own copy of this amazing book and/or your own DVD copy of the movies, visit Clare's Bookshop.org store. (It's in the Splanchnics Book Clu...

This is a weird one. Not at all what you'd be expecting. The names of locations, individuals, and 4-legged lifeforms have been changed to protect the innocent.

If you enjoy funny vet stories, you might enjoy the books of James Herriot, a veterinarian plying his trade in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales of northern England. The stories take place before World War 2, in the days when farmers still used horse-drawn implemen...

Clare has been doing some light reading... of Dante's Inferno. 

The translation Clare's been reading is by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander. The commentaries are A Beginner's Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy by Jason M. Baxter and Spiritual Direction from Dante: Avoiding the Inferno by Paul Pearson. She's also been referring to the Dorothy Sayers terza rima English translation. These books are al...

Today we discuss whether The Chronicles of Narnia should be read in chronological order or in order of publication. Clare has strong opinions about this one. Hannah doesn't care either way, but that may change...

You already have your own copy of The Chronicles of Narnia, right? Wait...what? You don't??   Let us help you rectify that unacceptable situation right now: head over to our Bookshop.org store, where the...

Clare and Hannah share some more of the songs that rocked their worlds. Turns out they both really love heavy metal. Who knew?

Clare's songs:
"I See Fire" -- metal version! Performed by Malinda and Violet Orlandi
"Clean Up Your Room" by Akira the Don featuring Jordan Peterson
"What Faith Can Do" by Kutless

Hannah's songs:
"A Question" by Bombadil <...

The four temperaments have been around since Hippocrates, who theorized that our human behavior is influenced by the quantities of various fluids present in our bodies. The four temperaments are: Sanguine (blood), Choleric (Yellow bile), Melancholic (black bile), and phlegmatic (phlegm).

Clare (a sanguine) and Hannah (a melancholic) plumb the depths of the human psyche in their discussion of the temperaments and their inf...