FORMED Book Club

Music in the age of revolutions: Russia and France in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Also: why aren’t there more famous women composers? This and more as we move our way through “The Music of Christendom” by Susan Treacy. Support the show

Complicated Catholic composers: Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, Chopin, Liszt, Bruckner, Dvorak. And one pagan: Wagner. We continue our walk through the maze of nineteenth-century music with Susan Treacy’s The Music of Christendom. Support the show

The birth of genius: Mozart, Beethoven, and the Romantic period. We discuss chapters 16 to 18 of Susan Treacy’s The Music of Christendom. Support the show

Why the world forgot Bach for one hundred years. We span from Vivaldi to Bach to Handel to Haydn this week in our reading of The Music of Christendom by Susan Treacy. Join Fr. Joseph Fessio, Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce. Support the show

From Palestrina (and St. Philip Neri) in Italy to underground Catholic composers in England to the birth of opera in France. Fr. Joseph Fessio, Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce discuss chapters 8 to 11 of Susan Treacy’s book The Music of Christendom. Support the show

What Gothic cathedrals and Renaissance choral music have in common. Fr. Joseph Fessio, Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce talk about chapters 5 to 7 of Susan Treacy’s The Music of Christendom. Support the show

 Is music just getting worse and worse—or better?  Listen to Fr. Fessio, Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce debate the meaning of tradition in art, with the help of Susan Treacy’s Music of Christendom. Support the show

Gregorian chant comes from...the Jews! This and other surprising facts about early Western music as we discuss the first chapters of Susan Treacy’s 2021 book The Music of Christendom: A History. Support the show

The stunning story of Blessed Miguel Pro, martyr, and the crucial role of the Knights of Columbus in ending the war against Catholics in Mexico. We finish our discussion of Saints and Sinners in the Cristero War. Support the show

Is there a difference between Catholic social teaching and Marxist social teaching? Vivian Dudro, Joseph Pearce, and Fr. Fessio debate this and more as they take on chapters 6 and 7 of Saints and Sinners in the Cristero War by Fr. James Murphy. Support the show

Can priests bear arms? We discuss the moral challenges of war as we continue our discussion of Saints and Sinners in the Cristero War by Fr. James Murphy. Support the show

Why did a Catholic country start killing Catholics?  We cover the history of Christian Mexico and the beginnings of radical Mexican secularism in the early twentieth century—our first discussion of Saints and Sinners in the Cristero War by Fr. James Murphy, from the introduction to chapter 3. Support the show

To know what’s wrong with the world, you have to know what is right with the world.  We close out our long, long study of G.K. Chesterton’s In Defense of Sanity by discussing five joyful, masterful essays: “Scipio and the Children,” “The Philosophy of Islands,” “The Artistic Side,” “What Is Right with the World,” and “The Spice of Life.” Support the show

Are men more selfish than women? Are people naturally attracted to arrogance? We discuss three more essays by G.K. Chesterton:  “Two Stubborn Pieces of Iron,” “The Revival of Philosophy—Why?”, and “If I Had Only One Sermon to Preach.” Support the show

Jaded policemen, the broken pharmaceutical industry, and a debate over free trade. All of this as we discuss just three essays by G.K. Chesterton: “The Efficiency of the Police,” “About Beliefs,” and “The Common Man.” Support the show

What happens when we start seeing people as animals?  We debate birth and population control—as well as Eucharistic miracles—in our discussion of G.K. Chesterton’s essays “Babies and Distributism” and “The Rout of Reason.” Support the show

What happens when we start seeing people as animals?  We debate birth and population control—as well as Eucharistic miracles—in our discussion of G.K. Chesterton’s essays “Babies and Distributism” and “The Rout of Reason.” Support the show

G.K. Chesterton’s take on contraception and on global trade. Fr. Fessio, Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce argue about the essays “The Surrender Upon Sex” and “Reflections on a Rotten Apple” from the Chesterton collection In Defense of Sanity. Support the show

Vaccines and hopscotch.  Fr. Fessio, Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce discuss G.K. Chesterton's thoughts on rules and the big State in a heated episode of the Formed Book Club. Subscribe to the Formed Book Club podcast at https://formedbookclub.buzzsprout.com. Support the show

What is a barbarian? And might you be one? Father Fessio and Joseph Pearce discuss two more essays by G.K. Chesterton,  “On the Return of the Barbarian” and “On Man: Heir of All the Ages,” both from the collection In Defense of Sanity. Support the show

Black magic, power, and the Lord of the Rings.  Another rich discussion of two essays by G.K. Chesterton from the collection In Defense of Sanity. Support the show

Is America a little too arrogant? G.K. Chesterton thought so. We debate the American Dream as we continue discussing Chesterton’s essay collection In Defense of Sanity. Support the show

An essay against essays, the evil of nice-sounding words, and much more.  We continue our discussion of G.K. Chesterton’s collection In Defense of Sanity. Support the show

Why "vulgar" can be good—and much more, as we continue to discuss essays by G.K. Chesterton from the collection In Defense of Sanity. Support the show

Families, homeschooling, and toll roads.  We discuss three more essays by G.K. Chesterton from the collection In Defense of Sanity. Support the show