The Home Front

Show Notes: We answer listener’s questions about large families, alternatives to college, girls who might not want careers, how to find a spouse, and old house living! But first, Phil addresses this “respectful” story: A Conversation About the Virgin Birth That Maybe Wasn’t — The New York Times Nicholas Kristof: “I want to be respectful of readers who have a deep faith… So, acknowledging that this...

In the Christmas season we will answer your questions! We’re stockpiling the list… you have a bit more time to add to it! Please share our podcast with your friends! Show notes: Fr Benedict Kiely: Interview with Fr. Kiely on what’s happening in Syria ; his organization: Nasarean.org Jeanne Kirkpatrick: Dictatorships and Double Standards — I (Leila) said it was a book but it’s a long essay, well wo...

NOW IS THE TIME! To send us your Q’s for our A’s — we’ll do a holiday episode of Ask Us Anything! We’ve gotten some good questions here and by email! We will answer them during the Christmas season! Show notes: The Way of Beauty: Liturgy, Education, and Inspiration for Family, School, and College by David Clayton (affiliate link) Pattern, Geometry, and Abstract Christian Art by Deacon Lawrence. An...

Show Notes: The American Republic: Its Constitution, Tendencies, and Destin by Orestes Brownson. Originally published 1865, now in public domain. (Gateway edition, 2003) We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition by John Courtney Murray, SJ. Sheed and Ward, 1960 (affiliate link) America on Trial: A Defense of the Founding by Robert Reilly (affiliate link) Pius XI: On Ch...

Rep. Nancy Mace says Capitol restroom bill targeted 1st transgender member of Congress Woman beaten by man in women’s prison Russ Vought ran OMB under Trump the first time , and hopefully will again. Here’s what he learned about how the deep state actually works. (Disclaimer: we don’t necessarily endorse Tucker Carlson’s views. Phil doesn’t listen to his — or anyone else’s — podcasts. Leila agrees...

Show notes: The Unspoken Grief of Never Becoming a Grandparent: A growing number of Americans are choosing not to have children. Their parents are grappling with what that means for them. ( Here is an app for reading archived paywalled articles.) Data on birth rates The Making of a President: 1960, by Theodore White. (affiliate link) White was actively involved in the Kennedy campaign in 1960, and...

Show notes: P’nut the Squirrel’s grieving owner says he was treated like a ‘terrorist’ in 5-hour raid by NY state Farmageddon — “The story of a mom whose son was healed from all allergies and asthma after consuming raw milk, and real food from farms. It depicts people all over the country who formed food co-ops and private clubs to get these foods, and how they were raided by state and local gover...

Show notes: Father Radcliffe blames the Russians—not the Bible Cardinal-designate Radcliffe objects... The Divine Comedy by Dante, translated by Anthony Esolen Science at the Doorstep of God by Robert Spitzer, SJ Don’t wish to subscribe just now? How about this: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes: Blessed Charles of Austria: A Holy Emperor and His Legacy by Charles Coulombe* The music of Paul Jernberg Leila’s short reflection about Blessed Karl’s manliness and the Empress Zita’s devotion, and the meaning of their marriage for us (voiceover available) Why the Left lies about Amber Thurman (they don’t want you to know how dangerous the abortion pill is, because it’s their business...

Bill Clinton Seemingly Blames Kamala Harris for Laken Riley’s Murder by Immigrant This is What Elite Failure Looks Like by Oren Cass The Constitution of the United States is always worth a fresh reading. Pay particular attention to Article I, Section 8, which enumerates the (only) powers of Congress. If something is not listed there, the strong presumption should be that Congress does not have the...

The Left lies about Amber Thurman’s death on a daily basis because abortion supporters want to create a screen to obscure serious inquiry into the dangers of chemical abortion, not only to the unborn but to the mother. There is something most don’t realize: any claim about abortion and its safety simply cannot be verified . States are not required to submit data about abortion use and consequences...

Vice Politics by Charles Fain Lehman in City Journal American Carnage by Christopher Caldwell Lepanto , a poem by G. K. Chesterton — you have a year to memorize it! Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World To receive new Home Front episodes and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show notes: An extraordinary statement from the world’s Orthodox leaders A Light for Our Times: BLESSED KARL OF AUSTRIA Conference in Washington, D.C. | Oct. 18-20, 2024 (Phil will be speaking there and I will be attending!) I keep promising to post our music credit! It’s Jazz Suite, Waltz No. 2 (Shostakovich) Mandolin & Manouche Guitar — it’s provided for use on a podcast etc. Not every musical p...

Corey DeAngelis, the man with the most effective voice for school choice and parental control of education, turns out to have been a gay porn actor . (You probably don’t want to know.) What interests me about this story is not whether a cause, in this case, school choice and funding policies, can be right even if its proponents are hypocrites or have a terrible past, and it’s not about whether som...

Show notes: San Diego diocese bans homeschool groups on parish properties, proclaims zero toleration of the choice to homeschool, against Church teaching Cardinal McElroy’s statement on Synodality, professing limitless toleration for marginal groups Did Amber Thurman die as a result of a restrictive abortion law (strong protection for the unborn) or from legal abortion? Mifepristone (“abortion pil...

Show notes: The Imminent Russia-US War by Christopher Caldwell A Just-War Perspective on the War in Ukraine by Phil Lawler Governor Newsom signs bills to combat deepfake election content Hustler vs. Falwell The Second Coming , Love in the Ruins, and Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book by Walker Percy (affiliate links) Hillbilly Elegy Thanks for listening! This podcast is public so feel fre...

Show notes: Build Back Better Late-Term Abortion and Infanticide Fact Check by Leila From our bookshelf, in the Literacy Project: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States , by Albert O. Hirschman, Professor of Social Science, Emeritus, at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton The School for Housewives , Leila’s new publication! It’s based very loos...

A book that helped me (Leila) understand how revelatory nature is: Vestige of Eden, Image of Eternity: Common Experience, the Hierarchy of Being, and Modern Science by Daniel Toma, biologist at the University of Minnesota (affiliate link) Harris tax and spending proposals: What we know by Joseph Lawler and Zach Halaschak Movie: Arrival Thanks for listening! Share with your friends, relatives, and...

Show notes: Please leave feedback wherever you listen — subscribe and “like” our podcast! This helps others find us! From the Archives: The Pursuit of Happiness Rightly Understood by Justin Dyer. It is telling, Conklin notes, that, throughout the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and despite the numerous changes great and small that were made to the document, no one ever disputed the in...

An interesting article at The Free Press reports on the rising trend of veiling at Mass, especially among young women. Here in Part I is a general observation that I haven’t heard from anyone (though I don’t doubt someone else has noticed); Part II will explain my personal reasons for covering. I haven’t written (or much talked) about why, in 2019, at the age of 59, I began wearing a covering on m...

Show notes: Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health , by Casey Means and Calley Means (affiliate link) The U.S. Marriage Rate Rebounds to Its Pre-Pandemic Level (but is nowhere near its 1960 level) Leading prayers for the culture of death , by Phil Lawler Text of Cardinal Cupich’s invocation at the Democratic National Convention Text of Archbishop Listecki’s...

Show notes Trump has put social conservatives in a dilemma by Edward Feser Tim Sheehy on the issues. As you will see, he is anti-abortion as I said (and very conservative on all the issues), making him an important choice for the Senate. He is correct in identifying his opponent as wildly, extremely pro-abortion. Sadly and inconsistently, Sheehy is also pro-IVF. IVF results in the deaths of many h...

The Eucharistic Revival isn’t, as claimed, a grass-roots initiative, and fails to take into account a penetrating blow to the hearts of the faithful in the US and around the world, a blow inflicted by the very hierarchy that now claims to seek to impart love for the Eucharistic Lord. Attendees of course worshiped and adored Our Eucharistic Lord during the events of the Revival. Their sincerity not...

Show notes: The “Fact Sheet” “journalists” are likely to come across if they do a Google search for how to determine whether someone is male or female. Tim Walz, “folksy Midwestern Dad” narrative supercut . His positions (doesn’t include his insistence that born-alive babies be left to die ). J.D. Vance supports access to abortion pill mifepristone “I have said repeatedly on the record, that I thi...

Show notes: How NOT to respond to the blasphemy in Paris — Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture Lights remain on at the Sacre-Coeur Basilica during city-wide blackout Chariots of Fire The Moral Life of the Child: The Ten Commandments — Leila Marie Lawler, Like Mother, Like Daughter Karen Hall, The Sound of Silence: The Life and Cancelling of a Heroic Jesuit Priest (affiliate link) Leila Marie Lawler: The...