Shine Bright Like the Firmament

In this special tangent episode, Madeline chats again with her friend Ben Stapleton, an electrical engineer for a utility company. During their conversation, they expand on the literature tangent of their previous episode by discussing their respective favorite sci-fi novels: Markmaker by Mary Jessica Woods and A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. They discuss the plots of the two nove...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Pat Schloss, a microbiologist/biology professor at University of Michigan who studies the microbiome. During their conversation, they discuss data science, his postdoc at University of Wisconsin-Madison, undergrad and grad school at Cornell in agricultural and biological engineering, farm life, his large family and how having families should be normalized, the...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Rob Singler, a mechanical engineer. During their conversation, they discuss the funny story about how Rob got on Madeline’s radar, putting people in boxes, a link between engineering and creative writing, his undergrad at Kentucky, the importance of great friends, famous Catholics, what his general work life is like, Spencer Clavin, quantum physics,...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Briana Sobecks, a 2nd year chemical engineering PhD student at Stanford. During their conversation, they discuss her research, how her high school and family ignited her fascination with biology and engineering, undergrad in chemical engineering at UIUC, taking ownership of your faith, choir, grad school Catholic groups, philosophy, and so much more!...

🎉 🎉 🎉 It's been TWO years since the start of this podcast! 🎉 🎉 🎉 In this special anniversary episode, Madeline chats with her friend Gregory Woods, a Byzantine Catholic composer and writer and the mind behind the podcast's new intro music! During their conversation, they discuss how he got into composing, what goes into composing, how the intro music was created, paradoxes, counter...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Stacy Trasancos, research chemist turned adjunct and author. During their conversation, they discuss how to treat those we disagree with, growing up Baptist in Texas, what led to her atheist phase and back to faith, organic chemistry, solidarity in suffering, conforming to God’s will, how meaningful it is to be a mother, gratitude, her additional faith-related...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Mike Gamba, a civil engineer with his own firm. During their conversation, they discuss the perks of living in mountains, his faith life growing up, what lead to his borderline atheist phase, the class the changed his mind, the influence of the Sandy Hook shooting in coming home, exploring honestly, his degree in geological engineering from Colorado School of M...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Zephyr Thomas, a software developer by day and self-published author by night. During their conversation, they discuss what software development is, slower-paced stories, attention span, knowing your audience, creativity, his unique college journey and what motivated his degree choice, why he left Idaho, his conversion journey, the impact of philosophy and St....

In this episode, Madeline chats with Anne Marie Snoddy, a biological anthropologist research fellow working (at time of recording) at the University of Otago in New Zealand. During their conversation, they discuss biology and anthropology undergrad at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Masters in paleopathology at Durham University in the UK, the NOVA specials, what paleoanthropology is, evolu...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friends, LC Douglas and Ellie McGhee, sisters who are undergrads studying computer science and plasma physics respectively. During their conversation, they discuss geography, sleep, what got them into their fields, education, sports, their edgy atheist/agnostic phases and how they transcended that, Catholic marriage prep, faith, what we worship, pursuing kn...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend and optometrist Randy Fortkamp. During their conversation, they discuss the many different ways to be an optometrist, why he ended up at IU, how his degrees worked, his time at a pharmacy plant, how he met his wife, Hoosier Awakenings 1 and 4, boundaries on your time, the importance of who you surround yourself with, everyday evangelism, and so much...

In this episode, Madeline chats with two friends: Matt Kresich, a parish youth and adult ministry professional at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Cedar Lake, Indiana and George Jurincie, a computer engineer working in HVAC manufacturing. During their conversation, they discuss their engineering backgrounds, why they got into their respective fields, both went to PNW, what college faith life...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Srishti Gupta, a FOCUS missionary at Kennesaw State University. During their conversation, they discuss went her undergrad at Georgia Tech for aerospace engineering, growing up Hindu, her atheist phase, idolatry, reconciling an all powerful and all good God, what caused her to abandon Hinduism and take up atheism, some background about India, moral relativism,...

In this special birthday episode, Madeline celebrates turning 26 by going off on a slightly unhinged tangent chatting with Melissa Ring, her friend and geography and meteorology student at Valparaiso University, about her sci-fi writing hobby. During the course of their conversation, they discuss how Madeline and Melissa met, the inspiration for the episode, the tale of Hoosier Awakening 5, Madeli...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Sofia Bilder, a quality engineer for a steel mill in Northwest Indiana. During their conversation, they discuss her undergrad at Colorado School of Mines, what lead her to Catholicism, why she moved to Indiana from Colorado, how she and Madeline met, RCIA, the unlikely story of how she met her husband, how engagement then marriage has shaped her fait...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Ben Stapleton, an electrical engineer for a utility company. During their conversation, they discuss his summer camp and Kairos experiences,  his undergrad at Penn State University, a glimpse into his work life, his math professor aspirations, sub creation, artificial intelligence, reading, some highlights of his faith journey, an influential friends...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Cara Buskmiller, an OB/GYN and consecrated virgin for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. During their conversation, they discuss what is was like growing up in her family, a fateful Girl Scouts trip, her undergrad at Thomas Aquinas College in California, med school at Texas A&M, residency at St. Louis University, her nonprofit, dealing with a life-limiti...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Grace Van Hare, a medical student at Case Western Reserve University. During their conversation, they discuss her relationship with her younger sister, veiling, her conversion, humility, her parents’ falling away and subsequent reversion, the chaos of the 60s and 70s in the Church, her undergrad in chemistry at Colorado School of Mines, her undergrad...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Bill Patenaude, a retired mechanical engineer who used to work for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. During their conversation, they discuss his bachelors degree at the University of Rhode Island, his work at the EPA, his reversion,  getting a Masters in theology, sci-fi books and his debut novel, universal vs. uniform, the importance of...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Raden Bowerman, a research and development manager for a mushroom company. During their conversation, they discuss his degree in sustainable biomaterials, an overview of non-timber forest products, psilocybin, drug chemistry, the health benefits of mushrooms, being a business and being environmental conscious, the necessity of scientists having good...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Thomas Salerno, a freelance writer, editor, and fellow podcaster with a background in paleontology and anthropology. During their conversation, they discuss his bachelor’s in anthropology from SUNY Stony Brook, his past work  at the American Museum of Natural History, his love of Bl. Nicolaus Steno, how Thomas and Madeline met via Legend Fiction, din...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Megan Bullock, a FOCUS missionary serving at Valparaiso University. During their conversation, they discuss how she started to love chemistry and science, why she chose to go IU over Purdue, the legend of Teter Small Group, how she ended up as a FOCUS missionary, what her physics class taught her about self-reliance and her relationship with God, ide...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friends Nick and Lucie Nguyen, both medical students at Indiana University. During their conversation, they discuss how Nick met Madeline, Nick’s exercise science undergrad, living life for leisure, Nick and Lucie's different up brings despite similar situations, making your parents proud, the influence of Notre Dame Vision on Lucie, having a career pa...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Br. Paschal Strader, OP, a Dominican cooperator brother of the Western Province. During the course of their conversation, they discuss the influence of his brother getting him into computer science, his undergrad at Cal State San Bernardino, his PhD at UC Santa Barbara, his pulsar and instrumentation research, exoplanet detection, the importance of Catholic fri...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend and an IT professional, Tyler Myers. During their conversation, they discuss how he got into computer science at DePauw University, his freshman year wake-up call, how he landed his gig doing work for the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana, some inspirational saints, the influence of the Steubenville Conference, his love story with his fiancée Monica, h...