Welcome to Ascend! We are a weekly Great Books podcast hosted by Deacon Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan. What are the Great Books? The Great Books are the most impactful texts that have shaped Western civilization. They include ancients like Homer, Plato, St. Augustine, Dante, and St. Thomas Aquinas, and also moderns like Machiavelli, Locke, and Nietzsche. We will explore the Great Books with the light of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Why should we read the Great Books? Everyone is a disciple of someone. A person may have never read Locke or Nietzsche, but he or she thinks like them. Reading the Great Books allows us to reclaim our intellect and understand the origin of the ideas that shape our world. We enter a "great conversation" amongst the most learned, intelligent humans in history and benefit from their insights. Is this for first-time readers? YES. Our goal is to host meaningful conversations on the Great Books by working through the texts in chronological order in a slow, attentive manner. Our host Adam Minihan is a first-time reader of Homer. We will start shallow and go deep. All are invited to join. Will any resources be available? YES. We are providing a free 115 Question & Answer Guide to the Iliad written by Deacon Harrison Garlick in addition to our weekly conversations. It will be available on the website (launching next week). Go pick up a copy of the Iliad! We look forward to reading Homer with you in 2024.
Required Pod Score for this show. PitchCentric checks your profile against host openness, topical fit, and audience signals before you generate a pitch.
Contact path
Public web form
Booking probability
33%
Guest openness
Selective
Sign up to generate a grounded pitch for Ascend - The Great Books Podcast.
Signup to Generate a PitchWelcome to Ascend! We are a weekly Great Books podcast hosted by Deacon Harrison Garlick and Adam Minihan. What are the Great Books? The Great Books are the most impactful texts that have shaped Western civilization. They include ancients like Homer, Plato, St. Augustine, Dante, and St. Thomas Aquinas, and also moderns like Machiavelli, Locke, and Nietzsche.
Recent episodes include "Republic Book One: Thrasymachus with Dr. Gregory McBrayer (336a-354c)" (20 October 2026, 124 minutes), "Republic Book One: Polemarchus (331e-336a)" (13 October 2026, 93 minutes), and "How to Read Plato" (29 September 2026, 60 minutes).
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast publishes roughly weekly, with episodes averaging 90 minutes.
Booking probability for Ascend - The Great Books Podcast is 33%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. Ascend - The Great Books Podcast requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. Ascend - The Great Books Podcast's contact route on record: public web form.
The strongest fits for Ascend - The Great Books Podcast are Courses, Coaching & Lessons. Ascend - The Great Books Podcast has an arts audience.
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast is an arts show.
Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick and guest Dr. Gregory McBrayer dive into the fiery third part of Book One of Plato’s Republic : the showdown between Socrates and the sophist...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we continue our slow, beautiful pilgrimage through Plato’s Republic . Last week Dr. Alex Priou walked us through the opening and the dialogue with Cephalus. This week we focus...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we are preparing to read Plato’s Republic (we start next week!). Before turning to that long and demanding text, we ask a simple question: how do you read Plato well? Plato does...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we end Short Story September with “Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street” by Melville - a seemingly simple tale about men in a law office that becomes a puzzling...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
We have BIG NEWS! We have launched the new Ascend Book Club ! Ascend: The Great Books Podcast has partnered with “The Ascent” here on Substack to transform it into the new Ascend Book Club to offer you the most...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick is joined by the always wonderful Alberto Fernandez to discuss "Red Shadows," a salvage tale of Solomon Kane by Robert E. Howard. Check out our website for our...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick is joined by Dr. Joseph Boyne to discuss Flannery O'Connor's "Enduring Chill" as part of Short Story September. Visit thegreatbookspodcast.com for our reading...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Dcn. Harrison Garlick hosts a full house to discuss the short, strange, forgotten dialogue of Plato's Ion, subtitled "On the Iliad." 10 Question Written Guide on Plato's Ion Visit our website for more information...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick, Dr. Larson, and Dr. Grabowski discuss Plato's Lovers--a strange, short, and somewhat forgotten dialogue seeking the definition of philosophy. We are celebrating...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick and Dr. Grabowski discuss a short, strange, and somewhat forgotten Platonic dialogue - The Hipparchus. Check out our 15 Q&A Written Guide to the Hipparchus - great...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Garlick invites you into a rich, methodical exploration of eros: the primal desire to satiate in beauty and be happy. What if the restlessness in your soul—the endless...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick hosts Dr. Patrick Deneen to discuss his NEW BOOK: The American Odyssey: What an Ancient Story Reveals About Our Divided Souls. Pick up the AMERICAN ODYSSEY out...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today, we end our 12-week study of the Odyssey with a discussion on Books 23-24 with Dr. Justin Jackson and Dr. Benedict Whalen of Hillsdale College alongside host, Dcn. Harrison Garlick. There is yelling, laughter...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Harrison Garlick welcomes Dr. Alex Priou to discuss Book 22 of the Odyssey, the Slaughter of the Suitors. Check out our LIBRARY of written guides to the Great Books. Check...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, we are discussing Books 20 & 21 with Mr. Thomas Lackey and Dr. Frank Grabowski. NEW ARTICLE: Why Should Christians Read Homer? Check out our COLLECTION OF WRITTEN GUIDES . In...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick and Dr. Frank Grabowski dive into Books 17–19 of Homer’s Odyssey, where the disguised king returns to Ithaca as a beggar. Check out our WRITTEN Q&A GUIDE...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
<p>Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick is joined by returning mentor Dr. Frank Grabowski—Third Order Franciscan, diaconate candidate, and Dean of Faculty at Holy Family Classical School—and...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
<p>Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Deacon Harrison Garlick is joined by Dr. Frank Grabowski and Dr. Alex Petkas (host of the Cost of Glory) for a rich discussion of Odyssey Books 13 and 14. </p><p>Check out...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
<p>Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Harrison Garlick discusses Books 11-12 of the Odyssey with Dr. Frank Grabowski and Mr. Luke Heintschel, the Academic Headmaster of Coeur du Christ Academy.</p><p>Check...
Ascend - The Great Books Podcast
<p>Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Harrison Garlick and the Dr. Gregory McBrayer discuss Books 9-10 of the Odyssey--the first half of Odysseus telling his own story and covering such famous narratives as...
Recent guests on Ascend - The Great Books Podcast. Study who booked and why before you pitch.
PitchCentric classifies Ascend - The Great Books Podcast under these industries. Guests from them are the closest fit, and each links to the best podcasts in that industry.
Is this podcast yours and you'd like to remove or correct details? Request removal or email privacy@pitchcentric.com.
Questions about the free trial? See the pricing FAQ