The Open Door

In this episode of The Open Door, Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder discuss with Dr. Randall B. Smith of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, the limits of distance education. It has been a necessity, at all levels, during the pandemic lock down. We will also contrast it with what many see as the ideal educational setting. We pose the following questions to him. 1....

Welcome to The Open Door. This week we will be speaking about service and scholarship. We will discuss persistence and prayer. Ray Dennehy is Professor of Philosophy (Emeritus) at the University of San Francisco. He is also a raconteur extraordinaire, and he will be our welcome and special guest. Our questions will include the following. As always, feel free to add you own! 1. Ray, what went wrong...

This week on The Open Door we will discuss home schooling. More families are discovering it in these difficult days. For others, of course, it is both the old and the new normal. Pat Carmack, President of the Angelicum Academy, is our special guest. Here is a list of questions that we will ask him. Please feel free to add your own! 1. Could you please tell us about Angelicum Academy? 2. What is yo...

Welcome to The Open Door! This week our special guest will be Prof. Rebecca Ginsburg, of the University of Illinois. She is director of the Education Justice Project, a college-in-prison program that also offers outreach services to families. Prof. Ginsburg has joined us before, and we’re delighted that she will be with us again. The questions we’ll want to ask her include the following. Please fe...

Our special guest on tomorrow's podcast is Chris Arnade, the author of *Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America.* Please let us know what questions you'd like to add to the following list that we've proposed to Mr. Arnade. 1. Would it be right to say that your book, *Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America*, is about accompanying those that have been left behind and listening to them? 2....

This week, on April 22, The Open Door discusses the family. St. John Paul II, in Familiaris Consortio, teaches that “families should grow in awareness of being ‘protagonists’ of what is known as ‘family politics’ and assume responsibility for transforming society; otherwise families will be the first victims of the evils that they have done no more than note with indifference.” Strong words! Peter...

1.Give me a general idea of what is the purpose of this book. What is social leadership? Why should we care about it? 2.You mention a series of limitations of modern culture: what are the social problems that they may generate? 3.I see the social problems buy how the culture impacts on them? 4.How is it that a realist epistemology produces positive social outcomes? 5.How can spirituality help us a...

In this episode of The Open Door, Catholic philosophers Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder present the thought of Robert Koons, a Thomist, and today's Public Discourse Joint Statement. (Robert Koons) 1. How does the precautionary principle point in two directions? 2. Why is the common good always of primary importance? 3. Can putting a monetary value on a single life square wit...

In this episode of The Open Door, Catholic philosophers Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, Christopher Zehnder consider questions on Church, State, and the Virus. The discussion will reference a blog post on today's New Oxford Review Narthex. (Please see post below.) We'll address the following questions. As always, you are free to suggest your own. No special guests, just us: Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-...

In this episode of The Open Door, Catholic philosophers Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder engage Catholic sculptor Timothy Schmalz concerning his ministry through art. (March 27, 2020)

In this episode of The Open Door, Catholic philosophers Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder interview Holy Apostles student Christopher Kuennan, who completed in March, 2020, the defense of his MA thesis entitled "Gadamer’s Relevance for Military Character Development". (March 20, 2020)

Tomorrow we'll visit with Zeb Baccelli. A member of the American Solidarity party, Zeb Baccelli has ongoing and first hand experience with American agriculture. We'll discuss the following questions. Feel free to send us some additional ones! 1. Besides the fact that it provides us food, why should be be concerned about agriculture? Do farming practices impact society outside the farm fields? If s...

In this episode of The Open Door, Christopher Zehnder serves as guest host for noted distributist Thomas Storck. (March 6, 2020)

This week on The Open Door, Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder explore the trials, tribulations, and even triumphs of running for public office. What should anyone who shares the ideals of the American Solidarity Party expect in today's political contests? Our special guest is Ed Rushman, a candidate in California's 46th congressional district. We'll discuss the following quest...

Our very welcome and special guest today is Prof. Rebecca Ginsburg. She is the Director of the Education Justice Project, an initiative of the University of Illinois. Our questions for her will include the following. 1. Can you tell us about the Education Justice Project? What does it offer? 2. What do you see as the foundation of justice? 3. There is a longstanding debate about the purpose of cri...

This week's podcast will be with noted distributist author John Medaille. We'll discuss the following questions. You are cordially invited to send us more. Stay tuned! The Week in Review: a Distributist Perspective 1. There will always be wars and rumors of war. With them come calls for patriotic participation in them. Is there a distributist perspective on international conflicts? 2. Remember the...

1.Introduction to special guest, Jack Quirk! 2.Just what counts as philosophy? 3.Is the US, for the most part, philosophically deficient? If so, what are the consequences for our political and civic life? 4.Why did you decide to launch a Philosophy Facebook group? 5.You are upfront and straightforward about the group’s participation rules. Is this a case of the voice of experience? 6.What sort of...

On this episode of The Open Door, Catholic philosophers Jim Hanink and Mario Ramos-Reyes are joined by Christopher Zehnder and Peter Redpath to discuss a public philosophy. (January 24, 2020) 1. Just what is public philosophy? 2. Were Socrates and Plato public philosophers? 3. Were William James and Emmanuel Mounier public philosophers? How about Mortimer Adler and Jacques Maritain? 4. Who are som...

In this episode of The Open Door, Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder engaged Bishop Joseph Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas. (January 17, 2020)

In this episode of The Open Door, show hosts Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder discuss the idea of transgenderism as a social phenomenon. (January 10, 2020)

Welcome to The Open Door! This week we'll tackle the pivotal issue of the relation between nature and grace. Our focus will be how that relation should shape our practice of politics. Of course, we'll ask how the nature/grace relation bears on the American Solidarity Party. Our particular questions include the following. Your questions, as always, are welcome! 1. What is nature? 2. What is grace?...

John Ruskin, the Victorian art critic and political thinker, is a seminal figure in the distributist tradition that the American Solidarity Party carries forward. We are delighted to bring you this lecture, given just two days ago, by Prof. Jim Spates of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Prof. Spates encouraged questions throughout the lecture so it is delightfully interactive. (December 13, 2019...

The Open Door interviews Amar Patel, chairman of the American Solidarity Party. Our questions include: Could you tell us what drew you to the American Solidarity Party? What challenges do you face in balancing family, work, and politics? You have strong “tech” skills. How did you come by them? How can the American Solidarity Party make the best use of the social media? What can we learn from other...

In this episode of The Open Door, Catholic evangelists Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos-Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder discuss common sense capitalism. (November 22, 2019)

In this episode of The Open Door, Jim Hanink, Mario Ramos y Reyes, and Christopher Zehnder continue their talk about the American Solidarity Party's Civil Rights plank. (November 15, 2019)