The Commonweal Podcast

In addition to being an accomplished writer, frequent Commonweal contributor Clifford Thompson is also a self-taught painter. On this episode, Thompson speaks with associate editor Griffin Oleynick about his first solo gallery show in New York City.  Using Thompson’s art as a jumping-off point, they touch on a range of topics, including music, film, race, and the madness of American politics.  The...

In communities across the United States, the effects of climate change are already displacing tens of thousands of Americans from their homes. How should the federal government respond? What are the responsibilities of homeowners and insurers? These questions lie at the heart of The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration, a new book by Jake Bittle, a reporter and staff...

Los Angeles Times columnist and podcast host Gustavo Arellano is well known for his acerbic sense of humor and his commitment to holding powerful figures to account.  On this episode, Arellano joins Commonweal Director of Mission & Partnerships Claudia Avila Cosnahan for a wide-ranging conversation on his prolific career in journalism. They touch on a number of Southern California topics, includin...

It’s been nearly a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and we’ve since become accustomed to tragic reports and gruesome images of the war.  But there’s another side of Ukraine—its complicated history and rich culture—that’s seldom seen by Americans.  On this episode, we’re joined by Megan Buskey, author of Ukraine Is Not Dead Yet: A Family Story of Exile and Return.  Using family history as a...

It’s no secret that the demographics of the American Catholic Church are changing rapidly and radically. The future of Catholic parishes depends on their ability to welcome and adapt. On this episode, we speak with Candler School of Theology professor Susan Bigelow Reynolds, also a regular Commonweal contributor.  Her new book People Get Ready: Ritual, Solidarity, and Lived Ecclesiology in Catholi...

When a crime is committed or moral injury occurs, we often respond in one of two ways: we condemn the offense and seek redress, or we declare our willingness to forgive and move on.  But a reflexive willingness to pardon—though praised by the Christian tradition—can actually be a problem, argues Matthew Potts. He’s a professor and pastor at Harvard Divinity School, and author of the new book Forgi...

On this episode, we’re revisiting four of our favorite conversations from the past year.  Mallory McMorrow explains how her faith informs her politics and denounces the GOP’s “performative nonsense.” Mollie Wilson O’Reilly and Natalia Imperatori-Lee react to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Fr. James Martin, SJ talks about his expanding ministry with LGBTQ Catholics. And Kim H...

Last month saw the election of Archbishop Timothy Broglio as leader of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops—a choice seen by many as a reactionary rebuke to Pope Francis and his synodal agenda.  On this episode, regular Commonweal contributor Massimo Faggioli joins editor Dominic Preziosi to discuss what Archbishop Broglio’s leadership might mean for the U.S. Church. They touch on a nu...

In the aftermath of the midterm elections, political experts and the media are once again trying to make sense of the choices that Latino voters made at the ballot box.  On this episode, editor Dominic Preziosi is joined by Eli Valentin, a contributing columnist at Gotham Gazette and frequent political analyst for Univision New York, who says that much of that analysis misses the mark.   Valentin...

Women who cross the border to perform care work for American families—cleaning their homes, running their errands, and raising their kids—number among the most hidden and undervalued laborers in our society. Too often, their voices go unheard. On this episode, Commonweal associate editor Regina Munch speaks with Elizabeth Cummins Muñoz, a lecturer at Rice University and author of Mothercoin: The S...

It’s no secret that access to affordable housing in America is increasingly out of reach. Activists in the growing YIMBY (“Yes In My Back Yard”) movement believe they have a solution: build more of everything.  On this episode, associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with Max Holleran, a sociologist at the University of Melbourne in Australia and author of Yes to the City: Millennials and the Fig...

It’s no secret that the United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Less well known, though, is what actually takes place within prison walls.   On this episode, Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi speaks with veteran journalist Bill Keller, founder of the Marshall Project and author of the new book What’s Prison For? Punishment and Rehabilitation in the Age of Mass Incar...

For many Catholic women experiencing infertility, the Church has not been a welcoming, listening place—and that’s something that needs to change.  On this episode, associate editor Regina Munch speaks with Emma McDonald, a doctoral candidate at Boston College who has researched the issue extensively through a series of ethnographic interviews with Catholic women, doctors, and clinicians. McDonald...

Ancient monks entered the desert wilds of Egypt and the Holy Land in search of solitude and silence. What they found instead was a rich sonic landscape replete with melody, cacophony, and deep spiritual resonance.    On this episode, associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with Kim Haines-Eitzen, professor of religious studies at Cornell, about her new book, Sonorous Desert: What Deep Listening T...

Intractable racism, increasing inequality, and intensifying climate change—for author and environmental activist Bill McKibben, these are some of the legacies wrought by the growth of American suburbs during the past forty years.  On this episode, McKibben joins Commonweal associate editor Griffin Oleynick to speak about his new memoir, The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon, which identifies...

For most of its history, the Catholic Church clung to a deep skepticism concerning the legitimacy of democracy.  But that all changed during the twentieth century, explains Notre Dame historian and longtime Commonweal contributor John McGreevy.  On this episode McGreevy talks with Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi about how that unlikely shift occurred, and offers suggestions for how the Church c...

One quality of a Catholic poet is a heightened capacity to see—not just into the future, but into the past as well. On this episode, poet Paul Mariani speaks with Commonweal contributor Anthony Domestico about his latest collection, All That Will Be New.  Their discussion touches on a number of topics, including Mariani’s working-class upbringing in New York City, his love of the American idiom of...

In the American Church today, few figures are as outspoken about the need for Catholics to treat LGBTQ people with love, respect, and compassion as Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin.  Martin is also the subject of a new documentary, Building a Bridge, which offers a close look at Martin’s LGBTQ ministry—from its origins after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016, to Martin’s meeting with P...

Few living writers speak as eloquently and incisively about the terrible contradictions of armed conflict as Marine Corps veteran and award-winning author Phil Klay.  On this episode, Klay joins Commonweal senior editor Matt Boudway to discuss his new book Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless War, a collection of essays, journalism, and other nonfiction written over the past ten year...

It’s been just over a week since Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion appearing to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press.  On this episode, Commonweal editor-at-large Mollie Wilson O’Reilly and theologian Natalia Imperatori-Lee share their initial reactions to the news. In addition to pointing out the potentially damaging consequences of reversing Roe, they also highlight the...

On April 19, Mallory McMorrow, Democratic State Senator of Michigan, delivered a speech in the chamber of the Michigan State Capitol. It instantly struck a chord on social media, and has since been viewed by millions of people throughout the world.  Pushing back forcefully against a Republican colleague’s accusations of “grooming and sexualizing children” as well as defending her support of LGBTQ...

As the #MeToo movement was unfolding, Washington Post columnist Christine Emba began asking questions about the broader health of American sexual culture. On this episode, Emba speaks with Commonweal contributing writer and Christianity Today editor Kate Lucky about the findings presented in her new book, Rethinking Sex: A Provocation. Our contemporary understanding of sexual consent, Emba argues,...

While the humanitarian costs of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue to make headlines, the war also reveals contemporary religious concerns around global Orthodoxy and Vatican diplomacy.   On this episode, we speak with two guests: George Demacopoulos, professor of Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham University, and Paul Elie, New Yorker staff writer and longtime Commonweal contributor. Demaco...

It’s been three weeks since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  As Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky continues to plead for Western aid, the situation in his country is deteriorating as the Russian army bombards cities, hospitals, evacuation routes, and other civilian targets.  How did we get here? And which historical parallels can shed light on what’s happening now in Ukraine? On this special ep...

Why haven’t Catholic colleges and universities in the United States more urgently engaged Pope Francis’s repeated calls to practice “synodality”? After all, these centers of intellectual development and social change are crucial in getting younger Catholics to care about the future of the Church. On this episode, we’re featuring a series of conversations with three experts on the current state of...