Man Up!

Aaron Gunsaulus, a former full-time Reformed pastor in Newton, Iowa, continues his conversion story with host Joe Stopulos. Part 1 covered his Lutheran upbringing, his conversion in college, and his call to ministry. This week covers the road from pastor to Catholic. Episode highlights: 2020 hits a small church: COVID and the election collide. Trust drops, meetings get contentious, and Aaron feels...

Some conversion stories ask everything of a man: his job, his income, his flock, and the life he built. In Part 1 of this three-part series, Joe Stopulos sits down with Aaron Gonzalez, a former Christian Reformed pastor from Newton, Iowa, who gave it all up after discovering the truth of the Catholic Church. Two of Joe’s past guests, Jim Verwoert and Keith Nester, both told him he had to get Aaron...

Is the job you have today the one God is calling you to? In Part 2 of this two-part series, Joe Stopulos and Sam Halligan of FORGE go beyond the question of why we work. They look at how a man’s daily work can become prayer, give him purpose, and become a mission field for evangelization. Joe notes up front that this is a philosophical conversation, not official Church teaching. In this episode: T...

What is the purpose of work? Am I in the right career? Am I called to this job? Most men wrestle with these questions throughout their careers. In Part 1 of this two-part series, Joe Stopulos sits down with Sam Halligan of FORGE, fresh off FORGE’s new course on men and work, for a candid conversation about why we work and how faith shapes the way we approach our jobs. In this episode: Meet Sam Hal...

Have you ever wanted to hear from someone who helped get a saint named Doctor of the Church? Dr. Bud Marr was there in Rome for both of Newman’s big moments, and in this episode he and Joe dig into why this 19th-century English convert matters so much for Catholic men today. In this episode: Bud’s road to Newman. In 2006, while studying at Duke Divinity School and drifting toward Anglicanism, Bud...

Have you ever wanted a deeper devotion to the Rosary but struggled to make it part of your daily routine? Joe Stopulos welcomes back Keith Nester of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, former Protestant pastor, Catholic convert, and founder of the Rosary Crew, to talk about how to pray the Rosary every day and truly enter into its mysteries. In this episode: Keith's conversion to the Catholic Church and why the R...

What if a school existed for one reason: to make saints? On this episode of Man Up, Joe Stopulos sits down in studio with Bryan Gonzalez — founding family, board member, and tutor at St. Thomas Classical Academy — for an honest conversation about Catholic classical education, homeschooling, and what it takes for fathers to raise children for heaven. In this episode: What St. Thomas Classical Acade...

This episode is part two of a special crossover conversation between Joe Stopulos and Bud Marr, recorded for Bud's show The Uncommon Good in the weeks after the passing of Joe's father, Mike Stopulos. If you missed part one, it's worth going back to catch the full arc of this reflection on grief, service, and eternity. Highlights from this episode: Joe and Bud unpack Bishop Robert Barron's phrase...

In this special crossover episode, Man Up host Joe Stopulos trades the mic for the guest chair, joining Dr. Bud Marr of The Uncommon Good for a deeply personal conversation about what it means to live — and die — well as a Catholic man. Recorded this past June, just weeks after the sudden passing of Joe's father, Mike Stopulos, the discussion centers on the "obituary virtues" that matter most: fai...

In this solo teaching episode, Joe Stopulos tackles a topic many Catholic men avoid discussing openly: money. Drawing on two books by finance writer Morgan Housel — The Psychology of Money (2020) and The Art of Spending Money (2025) — Joe walks through the core lessons of both and reframes them through a Catholic lens of stewardship, humility, and contentment. Highlights from this episode: Why doi...

Tim Carney is back for round two, and this conversation goes even deeper into his book Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be . Tim is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he researches civil society, family, localism, religion in America, and economic policy. He's also a husband and father of six seven — and a recent speaker at...

Joe Stopulos welcomes back author, journalist, and father of six Tim Carney for a two-part conversation on his latest book, Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be . Tim is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he researches civil society, family, localism, and religion in America, and a senior columnist at the Washington Examiner....

Fr. Trevor Chicoine returns to Man Up for part two of this series on the liturgy, and Joe puts him through a round of rapid-fire questions every Catholic man has wondered about but rarely asks out loud. Topics covered in this episode include: Preparing for Mass — practical tips for getting your family out the door with less chaos, plus why even a few minutes of quiet before Mass changes everything...

Why does the liturgy matter? In part one of this two-part series, Joe Stopulos welcomes Fr. Trevor Chicoine, the Diocese's Episcopal Vicar for Divine Worship, to the studio for a deep dive into the theology and practice of Catholic liturgy. Fr. Chicoine shares his own path from seminarian to liturgical scholar — including his licentiate studies in Rome — and explains why the Mass is the "supreme p...

This week on Man Up, Joe Stopulos is joined again by his brothers Pete and Tim for part two of their tribute to their late father, Mike Stopulos. After last week's biographical look at Mike's life, this episode turns to the lessons: what did their dad actually do that made him the kind of man an entire community showed up to grieve? The brothers walk through it lesson by lesson: Be there — Mike co...

In this first installment of a multi-part tribute series, Joe Stopulos sits down with his brothers Pete and Tim to remember their father, Mike Stopulos, who passed away recently and left an outsized mark on his family and community. The brothers trace Mike's story from the beginning: a free-range 1950s and 60s childhood in Davenport, Iowa, where kids rode a school bus ten miles out to the Davenpor...

This week on Man Up, Joe Stopulos shares the second and final part of his Heroic Fatherhood conversation with his father, Mike Stopulos — an interview recorded a couple of years ago and aired now in his memory. Where Part 1 traced the men who shaped Mike (his own father, Jim "Papa Jim" Stopulos, and his father-in-law, Carl Liebscher), Part 2 turns to Mike's own fatherhood: raising six kids, leadin...

This week on Man Up, Joe Stopulos revisits one of the most meaningful conversations he has ever recorded: an interview with his own father, Mike Stopulos, taped during the original Heroic Fatherhood series. Following Mike's recent passing, this episode has become a cherished keepsake, and Joe opens with a heartfelt encouragement to listeners: if you are blessed to still have your parents or grandp...

Part 2 of Joe Stopulos's Uncommon Good interview with Dr. Bud Maher picks up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Joe is studying at Marquette University — attending daily Mass during Lent (sometimes before the bar closed), seeking out every Jesuit professor he could find, and slowly beginning to ask why the Church teaches what it teaches. Highlights include: College Faith in the Real World: Joe reflect...

In one of the most personal episodes of Man Up to date, host Joe Stopulos opens by sharing that his father — the self-described hero of his life — recently passed away after a swift battle with cancer. The interview featured in this episode was recorded on February 6th, the very morning Joe's family received word of his father's diagnosis, making its content — a deep dive into Joe's Catholic upbri...

Joe Stopulos welcomes longtime friend and fellow Davenport Assumption alum Phil Young to Man Up for an inspiring conversation about endurance, faith, mental strength, and perseverance. Phil recently became the fourth fastest American ever in the 100-mile race, and in this episode he shares: How he evolved from a solid high school runner into one of America’s elite ultramarathoners The discipline a...

Joe Stopulus concludes the “Great Men of the Bible” series with a powerful recap conversation featuring PJ McManus. In this final episode, Joe and Fr. PJ discuss: The purpose and legacy of “The Great Men of the Bible” series Why the four Gospels were written and who they were written for Key differences between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John The spiritual maturity reflected in the Gospel of John Le...

Jon Leonetti joins the show to discuss St. Bartholomew in our Great Men of the Bible series. Iowa Catholic Radio Network Shows: - Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe - Be Not Afraid in Spanish with Fr. Fabian Moncada - Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson - Making It Personal with Bishop William Joensen - Man Up! with Joe Stopulos - Sunday Dive with Katie P...

Fr. John Hollowell joins me to discuss the life of St. Paul in our "Great Men of the Bible" series. Iowa Catholic Radio Network Shows: - Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe - Be Not Afraid in Spanish with Fr. Fabian Moncada - Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson - Making It Personal with Bishop William Joensen - Man Up! with Joe Stopulos - Sunday Dive with...

Mike Aquilina joins me again, this time to discuss St. Stephen in our "Great Men of the Bible" series. Iowa Catholic Radio Network Shows: - Be Not Afraid with Fr. Fabian Moncada and Fr. Bruce Riebe - Be Not Afraid in Spanish with Fr. Fabian Moncada - Catholic Women Now with Chris Magruder and Julie Nelson - Making It Personal with Bishop William Joensen - Man Up! with Joe Stopulos - Sunday Dive wi...