Sacred and Profane Love

In this episode, Professor Michael Foley and I discuss the differences between the titular concepts of this podcast, namely, the 'sacred' and the 'profane'. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

In this episode, I speak with Carlos Eire, renowned historian of the late medieval and early modern era and winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction for "Waiting for Snow in Havana." In this episode, we discuss St. Bonaventure and desire. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

In this episode, I speak with John Marenbon, Cambridge Professor of medieval philosophy and world expert on Boethius, about Boethius's masterwork "Consolation of Philosophy". I hope you enjoy our conversation.

In this episode, I speak with National Book Award winner Phil Klay, author of "Redeployment" and "Missionaries". We discuss a novel you've probably never heard of, but very fun: "Beer in the Snooker Club" by Egyptian writer Waguih Ghali. I hope you enjoy our conversation. 

In this episode, I speak with Merve Emre, renowned author and literary critic, on Henry James's "The Portrait of a Lady". I hope you enjoy our conversation.

In this episode, I speak with Rachel Wiseman and Anastasia Berg, both of whom are editors at The Point magazine, about Sally Rooney's "Beautiful World Where Are You?" I hope you enjoy our conversation.

In this season finale, I speak with Donald Kochan, who is a Professor of Law at George Washington University's Antonin Scalia Law School. We discuss George Orwell's essay, "Politics and the English Language". I hope you enjoy our conversation.

In this season finale, internationally acclaimed poet Dana Gioia and I discuss Seneca's thought in general, and his tragic work The Madness of Hercules in particular. I hope you enjoy our conversation!

In this episode, I speak with my colleague, Lars Engle, on the poetry and person of John Donne. There is no poet more attuned to the connections between the sacred and the profane than Donne, and it was a pleasure to hear Donne's poetic voice through Engle's readings. I hope you enjoy our conversation!

In this episode, I discuss Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian with Aaron Gwyn.  I hope you enjoy our conversation!

In this episode, I speak with Stephen Karian, renowned scholar of 18th century British literature, on the poems of Jonathan Swift, the promise and perils of satire, and the pleasures of reading profane poetry written by one of the great Divines.  I hope you enjoy our conversation. Read along with us at  Poetry Foundation .

In this episode, I am joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Phillips to discuss poetry, classic texts, art, and truth. I hope you enjoy our conversation!

In this episode, I speak with the classicist Julia Hejduk on Ovid's  The Art of Love . I hope you enjoy our conversation!    

In this episode, I speak with my colleague at TU, Boris Dralyuk on Vladmir Nabokov's delightful take on the campus novel, Pnin .   We explore our endearing hero's journey from being a man on the wrong train to becoming an American behind the wheel at long last.   I hope you enjoy our conversation.

In this episode, I speak with the political theorist Patrick Deneen about Don DeLillo's award winning novel, White Noise.   We explore the novel's undercurrents of existential angst in a world of distraction, amnesia, and unfulfilled longings. I hope you enjoy our conversation. www.sacredandprofanelove.com

Six years ago I launched a literature, philosophy, and theology podcast.   I had no assumptions that anyone would listen to it; it was an output for a grant project on virtue, happiness, and meaning of life. Today, I am thrilled to announce the launch of season 5 of Sacred and Profane Love, now fully supported by  The University of Tulsa , where I am privileged to serve as dean of their Honors Col...

This week, we revisit Episode 43 with Brad Carson on Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind ! In this episode, I speak with the president of the University of Tulsa, Brad Carson, about Allan Bloom's infamous book, The Closing of the American Mind . Brad and I ultimately decide that while we like some of Bloom's key ideas about what a university is for, we do not love the book itself, which...

Throwback to the big five-oh: Episode 50 with Zena Hitz and Chad Wellmon! On April 26, 2022, ⁠The Institute for Human Ecology⁠ at the Catholic University of America hosted a launch event to reveal the new design and website of Sacred and Profane Love. I am pleased to share the audio of that event as episode 50, but you can also watch a video of it ⁠here⁠. This event, with ⁠Zena Hitz⁠ and Chad Well...

This very exciting episode on liberal education with Professor Roosevelt Montás makes a come back this week! In this episode, I am joined by Professor Roosevelt Montás to discuss his new book,  Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed my Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation.  Montás, a Dominican-born American academic, makes the compelling case that study of the Great Books is poten...

Throwback to our first episode recorded with a live audience: Dr. Cornel West on James Baldwin! I am pleased to share a very special episode of Sacred and Profane Love, our first episode recorded in front of a live audience, with the amazing Dr. Cornel West! The context for this episode is that the Classic Learning Test (which has sponsored several episodes this season, and on whose board of acade...

Let's go back to the beginning, where it all began: Episode 1 on Flannery O'Connor with Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P. !! In Episode 1, I speak with Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. about Aquinas on grace and charity, and how Thomistic concepts of grace and charity operate in the short stories of Flannery O'Connor. The episode covers themes of grace, redemption, the comic unveiling of the human per...

Please join us for the most popular of our re-runs thus far. It's the return of Episode 55 with Professor Christopher Snyder on Tolkien and Virtue Ethics! In this episode, I am joined by ⁠ Christopher Snyder ⁠ , professor of history and director of British Studies at Mississippi State University, to discuss J.R.R. Tolkien's fiction and virtue ethics.  We discuss Tolkien's background , training, ⁠...

We invite you to explore one of our previously aired episodes: a conversation with Dana Gioia. In this episode, I am joined by the poet and critic Dana Gioia to discuss Charles Baudelaire's famous book of poems, Les Fleurs du Mal, or The Flowers of Evil.  We tackle some big questions in this episode, such as whether and how evil can be beautiful, the nature of Catholic art and poetry, original sin...

We come back to Episode 48, where I speak with Thomas Hibbs about Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, in our second re-run for the summer! In this episode, I speak with philosopher Thomas Hibbs (Baylor) about Dostoevsky's famous novel, Crime and Punishment. We discuss how Raskolnikov gets trapped in various philosophical theories he has embraced, and what might help him go from theory to authentic...

In our first re-run for the summer, we revisit our most popular episode from Season 4, Episode 51! In this episode, I speak to my husband (and fellow philosopher) Chris Frey about Walter M. Miller's sci-fi novel, A Canticle for Leibowitz. We both agree that this is a novel about sin, and more specifically, how sin is connected to the myriad ways that our desire for knowledge becomes perverted and...