Recommended: Paul Kingsnorth's Erasmus Lecture 2024 and Substack page

Gratis post

(Thomas Cole (American, 1801–1848), “Destruction” from “The Course of Empire,” 1836)

I’ve been reading and seeing interviews with Paul Kingsnorth here and there for the past few years, always with pleasure. It’s edifying, to say the least, to find proponents of similar views and, in this case, the same faith as one’s own. When Kingsnorth became a paid subscriber to this Substack page, I returned the favor by doing the same to his Abbey of Misrule. Before that, I had been merely gleaning freely on the boundaries of the Abbey’s vineyard. Now I’m dipping into his whole archive and finding it very rewarding. For those of you who haven’t yet encountered his work, visit his page and consider subscribing (you will find it here). His last two posts have been about Walsingham — a place I love dearly (and if you haven’t read Matthew Milliner’s recent piece on visiting Walsingham, don’t miss that, either).

Somehow, I had missed Kingsnorth’s “Erasmus Lecture” from last October until I found it posted a few nights ago and watched it. It made a stir when it was presented — or so I’ve heard — because the insights and criticisms expressed in it were incisive and, for some, a little unexpected. I found myself agreeing with him throughout. Without further ado, here is the lecture for the handful of you who, perhaps like me, missed it when it first popped up online, followed by an engaging conversation between Paul Kingsnorth and Jonathan Pageau on topics and thoughts related to the lecture.