TAN Direction The Authority

The Authority with Joseph Pearce introduces you to the men and women behind history’s greatest works of literature. Come along every week as we explore these renowned authors, the times and genres in which they wrote, why scholars praise their writing, and how we, as Catholics, should read and understand their works. This is The Authority.

Meet Your Host

Joseph Pearce is an English-born writer and convert to the Catholic Faith who lives in the USA.  He is Director of Book Publishing at the Augustine Institute, editor of the St. Austin Review, and series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions. He is the author of numerous books, including the TAN Books best-seller Benedict XVI: Defender of the Faith.

Podcast Episodes:​

Introducing The Authority with Joseph Pearce

Join renowned Catholic literary scholar Joseph Pearce for a podcast from TAN that introduces you to the men and women behind history’s greatest works of literature. Come along every week as we explore these renowned authors, the times and genres in which they wrote, why scholars praise their writing, and

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Episode 1: Homer

Beginning with Homer, “The Father of Western Literature,” Joseph Pearce leads an exploration on what it means to actually “read” – both objectively and subjectively – to let the authority of the author himself put our own prejudices and opinions aside. To what degree was the Trojan War history or

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Episode 2: Sophocles

Joseph Pearce examines the Greek playwright Sophocles and his iconic story of Oedipus. Even though Sophocles lived hundreds of years before Christ, learn how the themes of suffering and acceptance from Oedipus apply to the deepest tenets of Christianity, and why Pearce considers Sophocles the second greatest playwright of all

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Episode 3: Virgil

Joseph Pearce explores the ancient Roman poet Virgil. Learn more about his most famous work, the Aeneid, that includes one of literature’s greatest love affairs and an important development in theology. And find out the details of the controversial wishes in his last will and testament.

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Episode 5: The Beowulf Poet

Joseph Pearce explores the mystery of the Beowulf poet, why the author was likely a Benedictine monk, the heresy the poem was refuting at the time and why it’s wildly relevant today, and how to correctly interpret one of the most magnificent and influential works in the history of English

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