Do you ever feel like you’re in a simulation? Have you seen this show before? Heard this song before? Had this conversation before? Read this book before? We know what C.S. Lewis would say about the last question. The answer is yes, you have read this book before, because all books in our tradition are just fan fiction of previous books, going all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome. On this week’s Mosaic Ark the ladies continued their discussion of the collection of C.S. Lewis’s lectures called The Discarded Image, and how every medieval author held the same view of creation. We also begin a very deep dive into one of Lewis’s contemporaries, Marshall McLuhan, and discuss how his work about the electronic medium of television predicted the retrieval of the medieval through the internet. We would love to hear your ideas about Lewis and McLuhan, so please leave a comment—which you can, since this is the Internet, not a book! —Streamed August 15, 2025

What is the “discarded image” that C.S. Lewis spoke about in his lectures at Oxford University, and why did he think it was necessary for his literature students to know what it was? This week the ladies discussed the first few chapters of the collections of Lewis’ lectures called The Discarded Image. Lewis taught that medieval peoples’ worldview was one where all knowledge was integrated into a unified whole, and that they were obsessed with collecting and cataloging all information previously known and newly discovered. We noted how this love of information collection greatly mirrors the modern world’s obsession with scrolling the Internet.

The ladies also discussed how both Lewis and Tolkien used this medieval view of creation as a “whole” to write their stories; rather than “world building,” they were merely presenting through fantasy, the world that was until recently, always believed. We believe that they had the secret to re-enchanting the world, the antidote to compulsive scrolling, by reclaiming the discarded image of creation as a whole, and enjoying reading “the old stories’ again.

This is the first in our series of discussions about Lewis’ The Discarded Image. Please join us again and give us your ideas or questions in the comments! —Streamed August 8, 2025

On this week’s Mosaic Ark, the ladies were joined by theoretical physicist and author Hans G. Schantz. Hans is a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction. His fiction includes the alternate science techno-thrillers The Hidden Truth, A Rambling Wreck, and The Brave and the Bold. He also wrote a biting satire of modern day academia in his ode to the Scopes monkey trial called The Wise of Heart. That satire famously got him cancelled by Kickstarter. His two non-fiction works are called The Art and Science of Ultrawideband Antennas, and his just completed Fields & Energy, which also just got him cancelled by Kickstarter —we’re sensing a pattern! Professor Fulton Brown has some observations about the cancellation of knowledge and history from the Middle Ages, which Hans also mentioned in his latest book. Apparently there has been an epidemic of amnesia about the history of science that started in the 17th century and continued right through the late 20th century with NASA supposedly forgetting about technology that got the US to the moon. It was a very informative and lively discussion! Let us know in the comments what you thought of it! —Streamed August 1, 2025

Hans’s Substack: http://aetherczar.substack.com

Back the crowdfund for “Fields & Energy” and get cool SPQR merch! https://www.fundmycomic.com/campaign/825/fields-energy-book-i

Backstory with Hans on Francis Bacon: https://youtu.be/54ojYdAnxPQ

On this week’s Mosaic Ark, the ladies were joined by writer Sarah Pierzchala, author of the award winning Cyberpunk series of novels, “Beyond Cascadia,” which Sarah describes as “Blade Runner meets The Brothers Karamazov.” As a Catholic wife, mother and artist, from a family of artists, Sarah has a unique perspective on writing science fiction. She also has some interesting things to say about everyone’s current obsession with AI-generated art. Spoiler alert: This sketch artist and writer of dystopian fiction does not think AI-generated art is the end of the world! Listen as we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of different types of art work, and help us to keep the conversation going by leaving your artistic opinions in the comments! —Streamed July 25, 2025

Sarah’s website—so you can buy her books! https://www.skirkpierzchala.com

Sarah’s Manifesto on AI—where you can also find her beautiful image of Our Lady: https://open.substack.com/pub/skirkpierzchala/p/the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel

On tonight’s Mosaic Ark, the ladies were joined by Aisha Fajardo of Grimmer Arts. Aisha has years of experience illustrating high fantasy, and her artwork in this area is captivating, but she was looking for an opportunity to create something with deeper meaning, something that wasn’t just more “elves and orcs.” Happily for us, this led her to become our illustrator for Draco Alchemicus, Act II: The Court. The ladies talked with her about her process for illustrating and about how she became an illustrator. We also talked about the state of the art world in general (it’s bad) and the dawn of AI generated art (it’s worse!) But this stream was no pessimist’s party; we all have hope that real art and poetry created by real people still has a future. Let us know in the comments what you think about the future of art after you see what Aisha has drawn for us! —Streamed July 18, 2025

Check out Aisha's work at Grimmer Arts: https://www.instagram.com/grimmer.arts

Ciao! La professoressa Fulton Brown è tornata da Roma! And what did she see on her Roman Holiday? Maybe a better question would be, what did she feel? Fresh back from Italy and giving a talk on St. Francis as the great herald of the King, the Professor regales KC with the amazing feeling she got by simply being in the Eternal City. With all of the churches, and ancient structures, and so much famous artwork you might literally walk into on the street, you would be forgiven for assuming that she felt excited, or awestruck, because who wouldn’t? But you might also be surprised to learn that what she mostly felt was a calmness that was brought on by the city itself — a city that was built for people. Have a listen, and if you have been lucky enough to have visited this great city, too, share your impressions in the comments! — Streamed July 11, 2025

On tonight’s episode of the Mosaic Ark, the ladies welcomed BasedCon founder and author Rob Kroese to talk about his latest Kickstarter (his fifteenth!) for his new book series, Ransom’s Law, which he described as a space opera where Better Call Saul meets The Expanse. Rob is a prolific writer who has authored thirty-six novels in a variety of genres, both humorous and dark. In addition to the Kickstarter, we also talked about Rob’s creative process, how everybody hates marketing his own work, and Rob’s spooky habit of writing somewhat prophetic story lines. This stream wound its way to 2 hours and 30 minutes, but be sure to catch the last hour, as for some reason the crackling noise that had plagued Rob’s audio mysteriously stopped and it became perfectly clear (we think the kind words spoken about AI may have placated our robot overlords). Please leave your thoughts in the comments, and if you can, help support Rob’s Kickstarter; he’s a great storyteller. —Streamed June 26, 2025

Back Rob’s Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robkroese/ransoms-law

Read Rob’s other 36 books: https://badnovelist.com/

Register for BasedCon: https://basedcon.com/

Quinn Kimball joined the ladies on tonight’s Mosaic Ark to discuss his epic fantasy poem, The Monster and the Foundling. Quinn joined Professor Rachel Fulton Brown’s Telegram chat, the Dragon Common Room, way back in the Covid days of 2020. He saw her challenge to learn to write poetry and responded by writing an epic fantasy poem in 50 stanzas of perfect Spenserian verse! He talks about how his tale of monsters and magic and redemption combined his affection for Lovecraftian lore with his desire to create a more hopeful, Christian monster story. We also talk about how finding the Dragon Common Room and helping to create its reading list, helped him to focus his own reading efforts and writing goals. —Streamed June 20, 2025

• Quinn’s Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/agardenerinawar/p/the-monster-and-the-foundling
• DCR Onboarding Guide: https://www.dragoncommonroom.com/_files/ugd/096a8a_e0ecbe7b12404832a2f467daa6b58278.pdf