The Catholic Culture Podcast

Today there is more pressure than ever before on both women and men to embrace feminism. In her outstanding memoir, Into the Deep , Abigail Rine Favale gives a resonant account of her journey from an evangelical childhood to a Christian feminism which inevitably gave way to the secular, postmodern variety. This ideology gradually gutted her faith—a process interrupted by childbirth and a sudden an...

This episode is not to be missed! There is an ongoing and much-needed revival of Jacques Maritain's philosophy of art. Accomplished poet Samuel Hazo makes a most valuable contribution to that revival with The World Within the World: Maritain and the Poet . He wrote the book 60 years ago, with a preface by Maritain himself (the only book about him to receive that honor), but it was only recently pu...

Many people want to study the great books of the western world in a group setting, but are unable to study at a Great Books college like St. John's, and it's not easy to find people willing to commit to read and meet to discuss the books regularly. I was in that club until I found a new company called Online Great Books. It provides both the books and the people to discuss them with via video conf...

Fr. Basil Cole returns to discuss what he has been teaching the student brothers at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., in a course on the arts, contemplation and virtue. Links Episode 11: Music and Morals—Fr. Basil Cole, O.P. https://www.catholicculture.org/podcast/index.cfm?id=11 Fr. Basil's dissertation, The Moral and Psychological Effects of Music: A Theological Appraisal https...

Phil Lawler, Jeff Mirus, and Thomas Mirus discuss selections from their article rounding up their favorite books and other media of 2018. Links Article: The best books we read in 2018  https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1591

VOCES8 is a critically acclaimed a capella octet from the UK, focusing on medieval and Renaissance works as well as their own arrangements of modern pop tunes. This episode is an interview with the group's artistic director and countertenor, Barnaby Smith. We discuss the group's history and educational outreach, the creative challenges of chamber singing, and a few of the sacred works the group ha...

Fr. Roger Landry returns to the show to talk about what the laity can do to address the abuse crisis. Along the way we discuss the concerns that might make even good bishops hesitant to remove bad priests, the spiritual tactics laity and priests alike must use to purify and heal the Church, the folly of choosing to be scandalized, and how to stay informed without losing one's interior peace. Previ...

Bl. John Henry Newman was, among many other things, a lifelong teacher. Not only did he found the Catholic University of Ireland and England's first Catholic public school, he was a highly influential philosopher of education. In his collection of addresses titled The Idea of a University , Newman set forth his conception of liberal education, defending the essential place of theology among the un...

The new feature film Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer , about the investigation, trial and conviction of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, has defied opposition from the film industry and the press alike to become an artistic and financial success, even briefly making it into the top ten in box office results. Writer Ann McElhinney discusses the film, her research process (including...

The American Catholic painter Carl Schmitt (1889-1989) made fascinating innovations in the use of color. He wrote extensively on the artist's vocation, arguing for seeking holiness through practicing one's art rather than the other way around, and advocating the three virtues of poverty, humility and purity as a necessity for all artists to follow. He inspired artists in other media, like Hilaire...

The faithful have many questions about the ecclesiastical sexual abuse crisis: What did Church authorities do right in responding to the previous wave of scandals, and what did they fail to do? How could Theodore McCarrick, a serial abuser surrounded by rumors, rise to become one of the most powerful hierarchs in the Church? What is the connection between doctrinal infidelity and sexual infidelity...

Once included among the capital sins, acedia has been identified with both sloth and sadness. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, defined it both as "disgust with activity" and "sadness about spiritual good." Today's guest, RJ Snell, argues that acedia is the chief spiritual malady of our age, underlying the malaise, nihilism and despair so prevalent in the modern West. Links R.J. Snell, Acedia and I...

Many Catholics have become cynical about the possibility of changing the political landscape, but perhaps we've given up before we've really tried. It's not just about electing the right congressmen and nominating the right justices, it's about keeping them accountable. In this episode, former Virginia delegate Bob Marshall shares practical insights drawn from his encyclopedic knowledge of the Ame...

In part two of my interview with Corey "The Tolkien Professor" Olsen, we discuss several extremely specific questions about Middle-earth, including: What is "magic" in The Lord of the Rings ? Whogiddy-what is Tom Bombadil exactly? Do the good consequences of Eowyn's disobedience to Theoden justify her actions? Are orcs—possessing free will but seemingly evil by nature—metaphysically coherent? Link...

Corey Olsen, aka The Tolkien Professor, started out putting his college lectures out in podcast form, and ended up founding an online master's program devoted to the study of imaginative literature: Signum University. We discuss Signum, the state approval process, the current advantages and prospects of online education, some differences between Tolkien and Lewis, and reading Tolkien with children...

What's it like to be both a priest and a professional actor? George Drance, S.J. is the artist in residence at Fordham University, where he teaches acting, a resident artist in La Mama's Great Jones Repertory Company, and the artistic director of Magis Theatre Company. We discuss his religious and artistic vocation, how people in the theater world feel about working with a priest, how to take cust...

The critical theorists and social justice warriors are trying to do to medieval studies what they've done to other disciplines, and if you don't get on board, you're a white supremacist. Over the past two years or so, the mob has targeted University of Chicago professor Rachel Fulton Brown, calling her a fascist, trying to intimidate her department into censuring her, and banning her from conferen...

Mike Aquilina has been a highly successful freelance writer for over three decades. He is best known for his popular books on the Fathers of the Church, but he is also a poet and has co-written songs with the well-known blues singer Dion. We chat about the process of collaboration (whether as a ghostwriter or a song lyricist), the trajectory of poetry over the past century, and more.   Links Mike...

Are music and morals connected? If so, what is the nature of that connection? Are certain musical sounds morally bad or good in themselves, or are they neutral? Could the influence of music on morality be of an indirect kind? Is there such a thing as a virtuous way of listening to music? Can music prepare us for the spiritual life? Do you have to be a good person to make beautiful music? I discuss...

This episode is for anyone who believes he is called to found a Catholic apostolate, or anyone who is overseeing one already. In this second part of a two-part interview, CatholicCulture.org founder Jeff Mirus shares more lessons from his decades of experience founding several Catholic organizations. In the mid-80s he left Christendom College to start a publishing company. Then circumstances force...

This episode is for anyone who believes he is called to found a Catholic apostolate, or anyone who is overseeing one already. You may know Jeff Mirus as the founder of CatholicCulture.org, bu the has launched several other successful Catholic institutions as well. In this first part of a two-part interview he discusses how, as a young man witnessing a grave crisis in the Church, he set out to beco...

Abriana Chilelli had to drive her children past a lewd strip club advertisement every day on their way home from school in downtown Denver. But instead of taking a fatalistic attitude and a detour, or worse, just accepting it, she got in touch with a city councilman and within days, the pornographic image was gone. We discuss her story and the lessons she learned about how we can still accomplish...

It would not occur to most of us to imagine that monetary has a moral component. Catholic prelates are as silent about matters like fiat money, central banking and inflation and as are the secular ethicists. But the production of currency is not just a matter for the technocrats, and the Catholic tradition once had something to say on the topic. Economist Guido Hülsmann has combined the moral-econ...

The Dominicans have just celebrated the 150-year jubilee of their ministry on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Fr. John Maria Devaney, O.P., host of the Order's Word to Life program on Sirius XM, takes me through the history of the Dominicans in NYC (which involves quite a bit of history of the city itself). From Rose Hawthorne to Andy Warhol, it is a fascinating and grace-filled legacy.   Links Word...

One of the most creative rock bands around today is Virginia-based indie rock trio The Duskwhales. Drummer/singer Chris Baker joins me to talk about their new EP, Hospital Dreams , a set of melancholic, folky acoustic songs he wrote while battling cancer.  In this episode I also discuss the Metropolitan Museum of Art's controversial Heavenly Bodies exhibit, and give a couple of movie recommendatio...