JUST FYI POD: Conversations about Culture, Ideas, and Life

The main task of JUST FYI POD: CULTURE's second season is to discuss "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives." On today's episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I resume our countdown, this time focusing on the #4 novel on our respective lists. I begin by examining Joris-Karl Huysmans' fascinating (and disturbing!) 1891 novel THE DAMNED ( Là-Bas ). Next, Amy explores Shūsaku Endō'...

The main task of  Just FYI Pod: Ideas ’ second season is to discuss "Our Ten Favorite Works of Philosophy." Today's episode, however, will be different. In a wide-ranging conversation, my cohost Clark Elliston and I speak with George Pattison -- one of the world's leading philosophical theologians, who, among other things, has served as Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at the...

The main task of Just FYI Pod: Culture 's second season is to countdown "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives." However, on this episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I sat down on a stormy Mardi Gras afternoon to discuss two major news stories, both of which significantly intersect with Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular. First, we consider the recent concerns a...

The main task of JUST FYI POD: IDEAS' second season is to discuss "Our Ten Favorite Works of Philosophy." On today's episode, my cohost Clark Elliston and I explore two classics from the 19th Century. First, Clark offers an analysis of Democracy in America ( De la démocratie en Amérique , 1835 and 1840 ) by the French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59). Next, I turn to the exist...

The main task of  Just FYI Pod: Culture ’s second season is to discuss "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives." On today's episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I resume our countdown—this time focusing on the #5 novel on our respective lists. Amy kick things off with an examination of Wilfrid Sheed's underrated 1963 book The Hack . Next, I explore Thomas Pynchon's 1997 magnum opus...

The main task of JUST FYI POD: CULTURE's second season is to discuss "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives." On today's episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I resume our countdown -- this time focusing on the #6 novel on our respective lists. I kick things off with an examination of Walter M. Miller's post-apocalyptic sci-fi classic A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ (1959). Next, Amy explo...

The main task of JUST FYI POD: IDEAS' second season is to discuss "Our Ten Favorite Works of Philosophy." On today's episode -- which might be called " Plato Day" on the pod -- I begin with a discussion of arguably the greatest philosophical work of Greek antiquity, Plato's REPUBLIC (Πολιτεία). Next, my cohost Clark J. Elliston turns to Plato's late and massivel...

In the last episode before we return to our series "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives," my cohost Amy Welborn and I sit down to discuss the year 2024 -- the highlights and the lowlights, particularly in the arena of culture. After a brief debate about the political "theme" of the year, we turn to our main topic: our favorite movies, TV series, books, and music of 2024. Talking points include, but...

The main task of Just FYI Pod: Culture 's second season is to discuss "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives," but today my cohost Amy Welborn and I have something else in mind. With Christmas fast approaching, we have decided to discuss our favorite Christmas movies -- an extension of our December 2023 analysis of Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life (1946) and Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960). And...

The main task of JUST FYI POD: IDEAS' second season is to discuss "Our Ten Favorite Works of Philosophy." On today's episode, I begin with a discussion of THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS (1962), written by the decorated American philosopher of science Thomas S. Kuhn (1922-96). Meanwhile, my cohost Clark Elliston turns to the French critic and philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-84) and his c...

The main task of JUST FYI POD: CULTURE 's second season is to discuss "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives." On this episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I resume our countdown -- this time focusing on the #7 novel on our respective lists. Amy begins with THINGS AS THEY ARE (1951), written by the American historian and novelist Paul Horgan. Meanwhile, I dive into THE VIOLENT BEAR IT AWAY , Flannery O'...

The main task of JUST FYI POD: IDEAS ' second season is to discuss "Our Ten Favorite Works of Philosophy." On today's episode, my cohost Clark Elliston analyzes CROSSING THE POSTMODERN DIVIDE (1992), written by longtime University of Montana professor Albert Borgmann (1937-2023). Next, I follow with an assessment of A SECULAR AGE (2007), the magnum opus of celebrated Canadian philosopher Charles T...

Looking for more Election 2024 coverage? Interested in a point of view that does not coincide with Twitter/X sensationalism or MSM banality? Look no further than Just FYI Pod: Culture .! On today's episdode, Amy Welborn and I take a break from our usual content and offer an analysis of Tuesday's United States presidential election. But this is not just any analysis. Instead of prattling on about "...

The main task of Just FYI Pod: Ideas ' second season is to discuss "Our Ten Favorite Works of Philosophy." On today's episode -- which might very well be called "Nietzsche Day" on the pod -- my cohost Clark Elliston and I discuss two key texts by the (in)famous German thinker Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). After a mutual examination of the background to Nietzsche's authorship, Clark offers an as...

The main task of  Just FYI Pod: Culture 's second season is to discuss "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives." On this episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I resume our countdown—this time focusing on the #8 novel on our respective lists. Amy begins with  Catholics (1972), written by Belfast-born novelist Brian Moore (1921-99), while I dive into Submission ( Soumission , 2015), arguably the greatest wo...

During the first season of  Just FYI Pod: Ideas , my cohost Clark Elliston and I counted down our ten favorite theological texts. On today’s episode, which marks the first of Just FYI Pod: Ideas ' second season, we begin to rank our favorite works of philosophy . I will start our countdown with a discussion of the #10 book on my list -- namely, Joseph Schumpeter's 1942 magnum opus Capitalism, Soci...

The main task of Just FYI Pod: Culture 's second season is to discuss "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives." On this episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I resume our countdown -- this time focusing on the #9 novel on our respective lists. Amy begins with Love in the Ruins (1971), written by the great Catholic novelist Walker Percy (1916-90), while I dive into one of the more celebrated...

The main task of Just FYI Pod: Culture 's second season is to discuss "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives." On this episode, my cohost Amy Welborn and I begin our countdown -- this time focusing on the #10 novel on our respective lists. Amy begins with Souls and Bodies (also known as How Far Can You Go? ), published in 1980 by the English author and critic David Lodge (1935-), while I...

Just FYI Pod: Culture is back for a second season! On a sweltering late August afternoon, amid unexpected technological "upgrades" and loud recycling trucks, Amy Welborn and I sat down to preview our upcoming podcast series: "Ten Novels That Changed Our Lives." We sincerely hope that you will join us on this project over the next several months. Additionally, given the politica...

After a lengthy hiatus, JUST FYI POD: CULTURE returns for a midsummer check-in. This is *not* the beginning of Season 2, which should come out around the first of September. Instead, it’s a chance to discuss a number of recent goings-on, whether personal, political, or cultural. Pull up a chair, grab your favorite refreshment, and join us!

During the first season of JUST FYI POD: IDEAS, my cohost Clark Elliston and I have been counting down our ten favorite works of theology. On today’s episode, and after months of deliberation, we turn to the #1 book on our respective lists! In a moment of chutzpah, Clark begins with none other than The Bible itself. Meanwhile, I explore Søren Kierkegaard’s 1849 psycho-spiritual masterpiece THE SIC...

Over the last six weeks, there has been a wave of protests on university campuses throughout the country, occasioned by the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. In this “emergency” episode, my cohost Clark Elliston and I talk about these protests and their significance for higher education. Our goal here is not to delve into the war as such—an analysis better left to political scientists—but to ask why unive...

During the first season of JUST FYI POD: IDEAS, my cohost Clark Elliston and I will countdown our ten favorite works of theology. On today’s episode, we turn to the #2 book on our respective lists. I will kick things off with a discussion of St. Thomas Aquinas’s magnum opus the SUMMA THEOLOGIAE (1265-74), while Clark will follow with a deep-dive into J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythopoeia THE SILMARILLION (1...

On our previous episode (April 17, 2024), my cohost Amy Welborn and I wrapped up our countdown of the “20 Most Spiritually Significant Films of All Time.” One might expect that we’d now take a long break, but, on the contrary, we’re just getting started! On today’s episode, we assess the upcoming Flannery O’Connor ‘biopic’ WILDCAT (dir. Ethan Hawke), which is set to be released on May 3, 2024. Amy...

During the first season of JUST FYI POD: IDEAS, my cohost Clark Elliston and I will countdown our ten favorite works of theology. On today’s episode, we turn to the #3 book on our respective lists. Clark will discuss Simone Weil’s WAITING FOR GOD (ATTENTE DE DIEU, 1950), while I take a look at Joseph Ratzinger’s INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIANITY (EINFÜHRUNG IN DAS CHRISTENTUM, 1968). These are very dif...