Ethics and Culture Cast

Dan Lipinski is the former US Representative for the 3rd Congressional District in Illinois from 2005 to 2021, a member of the Democratic Party. He was co-chair of the Bi-partisan Congressional Pro-life Caucus. Special Guest: Daniel Lipinski.

Abigail Favale, Ph. D., is a writer, professor, and speaker. She is Dean of the College of Humanities at George Fox University. Raised an evangelical Christian, she converted to the Catholic faith in 2014. Her newest book, The Genesis of Gender , is due to be released by Ignatius Press in May 2022. Special Guest: Abigail Favale.

Fr. Matthew P. Schneider, LC is a priest with the Legionaries of Christ ordained in 2013. He is currently writing a doctoral thesis in moral theology through Regina Apostolorum in Rome while living in the diocese of Arlington, Virginia. Since leaving his hometown of Calgary, Canada, he has ministered in various locations throughout the USA and Canada. He is also known for his online writing and so...

Christopher Beha is the author of a memoir, The Whole Five Feet , and the novels Arts & Entertainments and What Happened to Sophie Wilder . His latest novel, The Index of Self-Destructive Acts , was nominated for the 2020 National Book Award. He is the editor of Harper’s Magazine . Special Guest: Christopher Beha.

A chat with Alex Jones, co-founder and CEO of Hallow , the #1 Catholic app for prayer, meditation, music, and sleep. From the introduction to Hallow: "This is the idea behind Hallow: provide a simple, easy-to-use mobile app that helps us foster a relationship with God and the peace of prayer through guided prayer and meditation. Hallow is a simple way to create a daily, personal retreat each morni...

Petra Farrell joined the de Nicola Center in October 2017 as the Culture of Life Programs Manager, overseeing the Vita Institute, the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal, and serving as the advisor to the Right to Life student club. Having previously served for several years as a volunteer with St. Joseph County (now Michiana) Right to Life, she performed sidewalk counseling as well as organized and...

Kirk Doran is the Henkels Family Collegiate Chair and Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame. Doran received his B.A. in Physics from Harvard University in 2002, his S.M. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University in 2002, and his Ph. D. in Economics from Princeton University in 2008, where his dissertation won Princeton's labor economics dissertation award. Doran's r...

Christina Bambrick is Assistant Professor of Political Science specializing in constitutional theory and development. Her research and teaching interests range from American and comparative constitutionalism to republican theory and the history of political thought. Her publications include the articles, "Horizontal Rights: A Republican Vein in Liberal Constitutionalism," in Polity in 2020, and "'...

Dr. Brian Mulholland is an Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Mathematics Department at Notre Dame and the Director of the ASCEND program, which is the summer online program for the incoming first years. He works primarily in digital resource development and mathematical pedagogy. In the past few years, he helped create both the Summer Online Calculus III and Introduction to Linear Algebra...

Vicki Thorn, a certified trauma counselor and spiritual director, started Project Rachel while working in the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Since the first training workshop for a small group of attendees in 1984, the ministry has expanded to the majority of dioceses across the United States and more than 25 additional countries around the world. Now overseen by the United S...

Joshua Hren is the founder and publisher of Wiseblood Books, author of "How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic," and cofounder of a new MFA program in Creative Writing at the University of St. Thomas that focuses on the Catholic imagination. He has presented at the de Nicola Center's Fall Conference. Special Guest: Joshua Hren.

O. Carter Snead, the Director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, has penned an acclaimed new book, "What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics." In this episode, we chat with Professor Snead about the premises of his book, which is a survey of the understanding of human flourishing that underlies the American legal and policy landscape regarding abortion, ass...

Todd Hartch is the author of four books on Christian history, including the award-winning The Rebirth of Latin American Christianity . In his new book, A Time to Build Anew: How to Find the True, Good, and Beautiful in America (Angelico Press, 2021), he provides models of men and women who have produced works of beauty in challenging circumstances, who have taught truth without fear, who have serv...

In this episode, we chat with David Deavel and Jessica Hooten Wilson, editors of the book "Solzhenitsyn and American Culture: The Russian Soul in the West," a recent volume in our Solzenitsyn book series with the University of Notre Dame Press. We chat about how they each came to encounter the great Russian writer, the importance of his Orthodox faith on his writing, and how the time may be just r...

In this episode, we chat with Michael McGlinn, a filmmaker, musician, and the driving force behind AdoreHimDaily.com, a ministry that promotes Eucharistic Adoration. We chat about the lessons that Michael learned as a player under Coach Lou Holtz as well as the lessons that he has learned in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Special Guest: Michael McGlinn.

In this episode, we chat with Bill Schmitt, the editor of Telling Stories That Matter , a volume of collected memoirs and essays by Fr. Marvin O'Connell. We chat about Fr. O'Connell's long tenure in Notre Dame's department of history, how he was tapped to write the biography of Holy Cross Father Edward Sorin, and how his pastoral ministry as a priest related to his scholarly work in the classroom....

In the early 1940s, founder, Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., realized he could reach more families across the United States by using mass media, namely radio. With that realization, Father Peyton became an unlikely media and marketing pioneer. He began his media efforts when he led a Rosary prayer program on a local radio station in Albany, New York. His outreach grew considerably when on Mother’s...

The subject of the course is Catholic apologetics in the generation of millennials. Studies show that teens and young adults are leaving the Church in large numbers and that the ones who stay do not subscribe to Church teachings. Seeking to “meet them where they are,” the course begins with an examination of contemporary trends in the religious lives of millennials, with a particular focus on Cath...

Fr. John Paul Kimes is an Associate Professor of the Practice at Notre Dame Law School and the Raymond of Peñafort Fellow in Canon Law at the de Nicola Center. After his undergraduate studies at Notre Dame, he studied for the priesthood at the North American College in Rome, where he earned his Licentiate in Canon Law and was ordained in 2000 for the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebano...

Zena Hitz was a scholar in residence at the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture in 2018, where she wrote the bulk of the manuscript that is now published as "Lost In Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life." Special Guest: Zena Hitz.

In this episode, we chat once again with George Weigel, the distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. He has written a new book, " The Next Pope: The Office of Peter and a Church in Mission ". We discuss why he wrote the book, who it's for, and how every Christian, not just the Pope, has the responsibility to introduce people to Jesus Christ. Special Gu...

Anja Renkes of the Notre Dame Class of 2020 was a member of the dCEC's Sorin Fellows Program. She studied Theology and Irish Studies, as well as Art, and was a member of the Notre Dame Rowing Team. We chat about her studies, her research project in Ireland visiting and documenting the Holy Wells, and the lessons she learned through her athletic training. Special Guest: Anja Renkes.

Reverend Terrence P. Ehrman, C.S.C. is chaplain to the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. A native of Baltimore, Father Terry joined the Congregation of Holy Cross after earning a B.S. in biology from Notre Dame and an M.S. in biology from Virginia Tech. He was ordained in 2000 and received his Ph. D in theology from the Catholic University of America in 2012. Father Terry teaches the course...

Steve Barr is professor of physics and director of the Bartol Research Institute at the University of Delaware. He is the president of the Society of Catholic Scientists and author of bestselling books on science and religion such as Modern Physics and Ancient Faith (Notre Dame) and The Believing Scientist (Eerdmans). Special Guest: Steve Barr.

We chat with Therese Cory, an associate professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame and the newest member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas. We talk about reading Aquinas with undergraduates, the cross-cultural conversation around Aristotle's writings, and how the thought of St. Thomas is relevant to modern-day A.I. researchers. Special Guest: Therese Cory.