Loading...

PODCAST

Walking With Dante

Mark Scarbrough

Ever wanted to read Dante"s Divine Comedy? Come along with us! We"re not lost in the scholarly weeds. (Mostly.) We"re strolling through the greatest work (to date) of Western literature. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I take on this masterpiece passage by passage. I"ll give you my rough English translation, show you some of the interpretive knots in the lines, let you in on the 700 years of commentary, and connect Dante"s work to our modern world. The pilgrim comes awake in a dark wood, then walks

arts books

All Episodes

28:53

Seeing Is (Almost) Believing: PARADISO, Canto IV,...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/10/04

Beatrice begins to take apart the two questions (or doubts) that she has intuited the pilgrim Dante is holding in silence.She first takes on the one with more "poison" in this passage, in which she reveals that the souls in the moon aren't really in the moon but appear here as an accommodation to the pilgrim's limited understanding, based on sensory data.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our journey through the Beatrice's second major discourse in PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode

en

28:39

Paralyzed by Free Will: PARADISO, Canto IV, Lines 1 - 27

Walking With Dante ·

2026/09/30

Piccarda may have vanished but questions remain. The pilgrim Dante is caught between them, unable to voice them.Beatrice to the rescue! She voices what he cannot say . . . or perhaps what he is afraid to say.She articulates his two questions, makes one of them very personal, and attempts to mitigate the anger of King Nebuchadnezzar . . . or maybe the pilgrim's anger.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the fascinating opening to the fourth canto of PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode

en

23:45

The Expanding Community of Women in the Moon:...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/09/23

Piccarda Donati doesn’t stop her monologue with the cryptic line about her life after the convent. She turns to another figure in the lunar landscape: Constance I of Sicily, the Holy Roman Empress and mother of Frederick II, the stupor mundi.Piccarda offers Constance a parallel life to her own. The problem is, Piccarda’s account doesn’t match the historical record.But maybe Dante has other fish to fry. Maybe he’s more interested in Constance’s son, the Holy Roman Emperor that many are insistent on

en

27:54

The Violent yet Elliptical End to Piccarda Donati's...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/09/20

Piccarda Donati finally answers the question about who she is. She's given her name but not much else about her. In twelve lines (or four tercets) she brings her personal story to its violent yet elliptical conclusion.Before that the poet has to explain what he's learned, the pilgrim has to express what his time with her has felt like, and then she gets to take center stage . . . and not fully answer the question.Piccarda Donati is one of the strongest feminist characters in COMEDY. Her voice is an

en

30:53

Piccarda Donati's Apotheosis of the Will: PARADISO,...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/09/16

Piccarda has confessed to her more humble place in the heavens. Our pilgrim Dante then wants to know if she wants more.Her answer leads her to an apotheosis of the will. Everything in the universe is in harmony; all dissonances are put aside.It also leads her to a similar spot that Francesca comes to in INFERNO V: a riff off a quotation from St. Augustine's CONFESSIONS.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as Piccarda offers her answer to a central question in COMEDY: How does the universe reconcile its

en

29:03

The First Soul in Paradise, Piccarda Donati:...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/09/13

At long last, the first soul--or "shade"--steps forward in Paradise. She's Piccarda Donati, a figure we've already encountered once (maybe even twice) in COMEDY.Dante flatters her to speak and she begins, not with herself, but with some theology and thoughts on her placement in the heavens.Along the way, her speech takes on some dark spots of ambiguity, about like the moon with its rare and dense material.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our time with the first soul in Paradise.Here are the

en

28:29

Catching Feelings in the Sensual Sphere of the Moon:...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/09/09

Dante is about to meet the first souls in Paradise, emerging from the liquid light of the moon.The poetry is lush and sensuous. The metaphors are complex and compounded. And Beatrice is a bit chilly, full of Latinisms and a condescending smile.It's a marvelous banquet for the senses, here in this first sphere, where the souls seems to emerge as reflections in the diaphanous lunar realm.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we see our first redeemed souls in heaven--and discover that Paradise is not as bright

en

27:00

The Souls of the Universe: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/09/06

Beatrice concludes her explanation for moon spots by veering away from them specifically to talk about the nature of the universe.Blessed movers turn the spheres. Or perhaps inhabit them. Or are bound to them. Or maybe even give them life.Her argument may veer into heresy as Dante brings his universe alive . . . maybe literally.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this dense and abstruse conclusion to Beatrice's first major discourse in PARADISO.To support this podcast, consider a one-time

en

28:46

The Diversity of Being in a Universe of Light:...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/09/02

Beatrice now launches into the true explanation for moon spots, found not in folklore, not in natural philosophy, but in metaphysics.Her explanation pushes her to disclose the parts of the universe we could never see, then lets her discuss diversity as a function of the light falling from the stars through the planets to us.A gorgeously poetic passage, it also raises many more questions than it answers . . . . questions that will trouble PARADISO for cantos to come.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we

en

26:05

Testing Theology With Optics: PARADISO, Canto II,...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/08/30

Beatrice continues in her scientific and Scholastic explanation for moon spots by taking apart a secondary argument . . . and proposing an optical experiment.She voices an objection Dante might have: perhaps there are dense bits behind the rare bits that reflect light as darker spots because those denser bits are farther off.To prove him wrong (although he hasn't said a thing), she asks him to set up an experiment with three mirrors.Problem is, he doesn't need three mirrors for this experiment. But

en

20:55

Mixed Metaphors and the Limits of Human Senses:...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/08/26

Beatrice begins her destruction of Dante's explanation for moon spots by taking apart his notion of dense and rare spots on the lunar surface . . . with a dizzying display of mixed metaphors.Her argument lofts to the highest visible heaven, the eighth sphere; then falls back into scholastic reasoning; and offering both experimental and poetic rationales for why he's wrong.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the first part of Beatrice's explanation for moon spots, predicated on the bass line of

en

21:19

Of Moon Spots and Virgil: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/08/23

Now that our pilgrim Dante is standing in the moon, he has a fundamental question: Why are there spots on the moon?And he thinks he knows the answer, right out of natural philosophy. They're caused by rare and dense material in the moon.He's asking a question for which he knows the answer, trying to play teacher's pet. But Beatrice is having none of it. She's ready to show him how he's not as smart as he thinks he is.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we begin our descent into some of the most complicated

en

28:58

Incarnated in the Moon: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 19...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/08/19

After Dante's warning to his readers (or perhaps some of his readers), we return to the plot, ascending through the heavens to arrive at the moon . . . or really, in the moon.Dante and Beatrice find themselves inside this translucent pearl in the heavens.And in so doing, Dante proves the incarnation really happened . . . at least, if you accept that his journey really happened.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the first of several complex passages in the second canto of PARADISO.If you'd like

en

25:28

Go Home: PARADISO, Canto II, Lines 1 - 18

Walking With Dante ·

2026/08/16

Our poet steps out of the shadows with an important message: "Go home."Because PARADISO is hard. Because we might get lost. Because we're not prepared.The stark address to all readers--or perhaps to a much more limited set of specialty readers--that opens Canto II is one of the most unusual moments in COMEDY. When does an author ever warn his readers to stay away?Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we attempt to find a way survive with the other Argonauts as our Jason begins to plow his own field.Consider

en

23:39

Of Natural Instincts and Their Natural Ends:...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/08/12

Beatrice continues in her discourse about our natural instincts, making the bold claim that they can lead us to our natural ends . . . which are the good, not the catastrophic bad.Her Scholastic theology is tinted with poetic metaphors in a bold move to explain how the arrow, once shot, can deviate from its preordained track.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, for the conclusion of Beatrice's first major discourse in PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:[01:39] My English

en

25:40

Sailing Across the Great Sea of "To Be": PARADISO,...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/08/09

Beatrice has answered Dante's first doubt, but he has another. He can't quite understand how he, maybe in his body, can make his way across the universe.She doesn't have a quick answer. Instead, she has a theory of how the whole universe works.Her answers are always bigger than his questions.And in this case, she brings him out onto the great sea of "to be" as he begins to sail into port.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the first part of her great schematic for the universe: its diverse order

en

37:11

Returning Home Through the Music of the Spheres:...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/08/05

Our pilgrim finds everything doubled in brightness . . . because he's begun to fly up to the heavens, although he doesn't know it at first.He's too busy figuring out all that light . . . and listening to the music of the spheres.But Beatrice is there to set him straight and tell him that his ascent is faster than he could ever understand.She also redefines "home"--not the Italian peninsula, nor the Garden of Eden, but the highest heaven, where they're headed in this journey to the final vision.Join

en

36:28

Staring at the Sun: PARADISO, Canto I, Lines 37 - 60

Walking With Dante ·

2026/08/02

The plot gets underway in PARADISO.Our pilgrim Dante turns to Beatrice . . . who is paying him no attention. She's staring at the sun.So he does the same! He hasn't even left earth, yet the miraculous nature of his story is already in high gear.As is his understanding of the universe ahead of him. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we experience Beatrice's return to the poem and the pilgrim's new mode of reflecting her glory.If you'd like to help underwrite this work, please consider a one-time donation

en

41:41

A Polyvocal Passage With All Its Dissonances:...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/07/29

Our poet moves from his scholastic and even (medieval) scientific opening of PARADISO into his invocation . . . to Apollo?This passage has often embarrassed Dante scholars who feel the need to excuse various pieces of it.But we can let those pieces stand as part of the polyvocality of the text.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we move back and forth from the Christian to the pagan as we walk through this second part of Dante's opening lines of PARADISO.Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING

en

37:13

Welcome to a Renegotiated Poem: PARADISO, Canto I,...

Walking With Dante ·

2026/07/26

From its opening lines, it's clear that PARADISO is not like what has come before in COMEDY. Dante seems to be renegotiating the terms of his poem, establishing a new voice, a new model, and a new methodology for who he will proceed.These opening lines are already packed with the sort of theological and philosophical stumbling blocks that make PARADISO a challenge, not just for a modern reader, but even for a medieval one.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we slowly walk throug the first twelve lines of

en

520 results

Similar Podcasts

Pop Culture Five

DEWVRE Podcasts and Such

DRAMA. with Connor & Dylan MacDowell

Connor and Dylan MacDowell

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

The Great Detectives Present Broadway"s My Beat

Adam Graham

Stage Whisper

Andrew Cortes and Hope Bird