What Bilbo and Boethius (and Chesterton) Teach Us About Adventure
Uncommon Sense
What does it mean to be inconvenienced? Chesterton has a paradoxical answer. Joe Grabowski and Grettelyn Darkey unpack one of Chesterton's most beloved aphorisms — "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered; an inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered" — tracing it from its original context in a real 1906 London flood, through the essay "On Running After One's Hat," and all the way to Boethius, St. Lawrence, and the Christian vocation to embrace the cross. In This Episode: The original context of the quote in Chesterton's essay "On Running After One's Hat"...
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Chesterton on Almsgiving, Art, and American Idiom
Uncommon Sense
In this episode, Grettelyn Darkey and Joe Grabowski walk through three newly unearthed Chesterton essays from the latest issue of Gilbert Magazine—exploring almsgiving, portraiture, and a delightful transatlantic linguistic puzzle—and invite you to discover why the magazine is one of the best-kept secrets in Chesterton studies. In This Episode: Why Chesterton's "promiscuous charity" upends our instinct to vet the needy before giving—and what that reveals about the giver's own soul The overlooked personal dimension of almsgiving versus institutional philanthropy, and how...
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Reclaiming Joy in a Mechanical World w/ Filmmaker Nick Bash
Uncommon Sense
Joe Grabowski sits down with Nick Bash, a Biola University alum who studied filmmaking alongside the Rhetoric Honors Great Books Program, to discuss his senior thesis short film The Last Bonaparte—a loose adaptation of Chesterton's The Napoleon of Notting Hill. In This Episode: How film, as a relatively young art form, is still learning to match the depth and immersion of literature What Chesterton's Orthodoxy revealed to Nick about joy, and how that discovery drove the making of The Last Bonaparte The communal nature of filmmaking and how the process of telling a story begins to mirror...
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The Poetic Genius of G.K. Chesterton's "The Donkey"
Uncommon Sense
In this episode, Joe talks about one of Chesterton's most famous, but still too little studied, poems, "The Donkey." Learn a bit more about the poem through a New Critical based reading, consider just some of the allusions that may have shaped the poem in Chesterton's mind, and - perhaps - discover anew a great source for Lenten meditation! ##### FOLLOW US Instagram: Facebook: X: SUPPORT Consider making a donation: Visit our Shop at
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"The Ireland That We Dreamed Of"
Uncommon Sense
Happy Saint Patrick's day! In this episode, Joe talks about some of Chesterton's insights upon and sympathies with the Irish, particularly their faith and culture. Mentioned in this video: "Irish Politics and Irish Religion" by G.K. Chesterton: On Chesterton and Michael Collins: On the "Turning the Tide" report: Archbishop Eomon Martin's introduction of the report: ##### FOLLOW US Instagram: Facebook: X: SUPPORT Consider making a donation: Join the Knights of the Apostolate: Visit our Shop at
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A Thing Worth Doing is Worth Doing Badly?
Uncommon Sense
In this episode, Joe talks about a (in)famous Chesterton quotation, often misunderstood, sometimes misapplied. He digs into its origins and context(s) and shares some interesting facts about it you may not know! ##### FOLLOW US Instagram: Facebook: X: SUPPORT Consider making a donation: Visit our Shop at
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Preparing for a Patriotic Year, with G.K. Chesterton
Uncommon Sense
In this episode, Joe talks about how Chesterton can help us mark the year of America's semiquincentennial and previews some future chats about the subject that we'll be hosting on the channel. Mentioned in this video: Our Groundhog Day episode: "On Neighbors and Nations" by G.K. Chesterton: ACS Books new edition of Chesterton's "What I Saw in America": SPECIAL NOTE Join us for Lent - still time if you haven't signed up! Visit today! FOLLOW US Instagram: Facebook: X: SUPPORT Consider making a donation: Visit our Shop at
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A Special Invitation for Lent!
Uncommon Sense
Happy Mardi Gras! In this episode, Joe extends a special invitation to join the Society this Lent to approach the paradox of suffering in the Christian life through the lens of Our Lady of Sorrows and with help from G.K. Chesterton. Learn more about our offerings this Lent, about our proposed practice of lectio divina, and hear from Saint John Paul II on Mary's example of participatory suffering. To sign up, visit: Mentioned in this video: Our most recent Advent campaign: Pope St. John Paul II's "Salvifici Doloris": FOLLOW US Instagram: Facebook: X: SUPPORT...
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Of Groundhogs and Grace
Uncommon Sense
Recorded February 2, in this episode Joe reflects on the day's special occasion. Yes, that one. Which is to say both. Or, all three. Hear his musings on the Presentation (and the Purification), Simeon's prophecy, the "missing years" of Jesus' life, and... a certain famous Pennsylvania rodent. Want to see Punxsutawney Phil's prediction? Watch here: FOLLOW US Instagram: Facebook: X: SUPPORT Consider making a donation: Visit our Shop at
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The Snow and the Silence
Uncommon Sense
Have you ever noticed how quiet it is after a snowstorm? The silence reminds us of the noise we so easily tune out the rest of the time. But what about the other sources of noise in our life, the ones we deliberately tune into? Joe reflects on the snow and silence and why tuning out of the noise is sometimes a very necessary thing. In this episode: Gerard Manley Hopkins' "The Habit of Perfection" - read online here: FOLLOW US Instagram: Facebook: X: SUPPORT Consider making a donation: Visit our Shop at
info_outlineStacey Bowman, VP Advancement for the Society of G.K. Chesterton, with a special message for Giving Tuesday 2025. Donate today at https://give.chesterton.org/EOY2025.