The Pugcast

Today the Pugs welcome Hillsdale Professor and historian, Brad Birzer to the Pugcast to discuss his forthcoming book on the Inklings 'Tolkien and the Inklings: Men of the West'. As long time listeners know, we’re fanboys of the Inklings and we think Brad is pretty great too. Brad is a prolific author and an old friend of Chris (he wrote the introduction to Chris’s book on Tom Bombadil)...

In this episode, the Pugsters welcome Megan Basham to the show. Megan is a former culture correspondent for World magazine and host of their popular podcast “The World and Everything in It.” She has since moved to the Daily Wire. Her book, Shepherds for Sale, became a bestseller and raised important questions about what Big Eva is doing and why. In our conversation, we talk about how M...

Today’s show engages the recent encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas. The encyclical offers wise guidance from a Christian set of resources to help human beings protect their humanity and the common good in light of the radical changes coming from advanced technologies, especially AI. The pugs especially focus on the call for discernment, and offer some insight into the riches tha...

“Knowledge is Power, Francis Bacon”—we’ve all heard it over and over. But what did he mean? And was he right, or did he intentionally leave important things to know out of his thinking? He’s credited with developing the scientific method, and we should be grateful for this part of his legacy, but people have speculated from the start that he was a closet atheist. He w...

In lieu of a new episode this week, we're revisiting last year's conversation Malcolm Guite: poet, priest, and theologian. Chris leads off the conversation with Mariner, Guite’s biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge which uniquely among studies of Coleridge brings out the importance of his return to Trinitarian Christianity to his life. The conversation uses Coleridge’s life and work as...

Inspired by Malcolm Guite’s Galahad and the Grail, Glenn walks the other Pugs through the evolution of the story of Arthur from his historical roots as a warlord through his transformation into the ideal king surrounded by a band of noble knights, into the world of the medieval romances. This leads to the emergence of the story of the Grail and its ultimate connection to the Eucharist. In th...

Today the Pugs dip their paws into the recent file dump from the Federal Government re: UFO and UAPs. So far it seems like nothing new has been revealed, but there is a whole lot of speculation going on. What are the options for orthodox Christians when it comes to this controversy? The Pugs endeavor to identify them.   Rod Dreher Substack Posts: https://open.substack.com/pub/roddreher/p/are-...

This week, the Pugs discuss an article by our friend Aaron Renn dealing with the loss of literacy and the decline of Protestantism in America. Is there a connection between the two? If so, which causes the other? What is the historic connection between literacy and Protestantism? The guys discuss these and other related subjects in this episode.   Article: https://www.aaronrenn.com/p/post-pro...

The pugs engage the recent trends of AI companions, from AI friendships to AI Therapists and Soul-Care. Most disturbing are the developments of Grieftech and Religioustech. On the one side, we have virtual reanimations of loved ones who have died but are now continuing with us as AI versions of themselves; on the other side, we have AI Jesus, who we can enter into a online relationship with and re...

Tom and Glenn welcome J.P. Sanchez to the show today. J.P. is a Mexican lawyer currently studying international human rights law at the University of Notre Dame. In this conversation, they explore the practical challenges of human rights work, examine the often shaky philosophical foundations of modern human rights theory, and discuss what a thoughtful Christian response should look like in today&...

Today Chris reflects on artists whose art he admires, but he would never want to be like. When you think of Roald Dahl, Shel Silverstein, or even Mozart, must you boycott them when you discover things about them that you find distasteful? Today the Pugs wonder aloud, must artists be saints?   Support the Theology Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhf...

Stephen Crotts is an artist and graphic designer who is doing the illustrations for Malcolm Guite’s soon to be released Arthuriad. In this episode, the Pugs talk with him about his art, developing the illustrations for Guite’s epic poem, and the emergence of a Christian ecumenism around a new appreciation of beauty. Stephen’s an interesting and skilled artist, and we’re exc...

In this episode, the Pugsters begin with a discussion of panpsychism, the idea that everything has a form of consciousness. In a world where even trees communicate with each other, how should we think about panpsychism? Is consciousness at the base of reality as some physicists and philosophers suggest? And what about the Orthodox (and unorthodox) ideas of panentheism? These are some of the questi...

Today Chris and Glenn welcome an old friend of Chris’s, Bradley G. Green, faculty of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, soon to be faculty of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Brad comes on the show to discuss his new book with Crossway Publishing, What Is Critical Theory? It was a fun and interesting conversation, even though the guys miss Tom. Enjoy! &nbsp...

The Pugs engage a fun piece by Malcolm Guite entitled: In Defense of Pints and Pipes. Here they delve into the fashionable cultural obsession with physical health and wellness which has led ironically to all sorts of psychological unhealthiness. Could the issue be a loss of a proper view of the human, especially a view that has no place for the human soul?   Article: https://www.plough.com/en...

There is a new biopic about the founder of the Shakers entitled, The Testament of Ann Lee. If you've heard of the Shakers it is probably because of their furniture. This week the Pugs respond to a critical review of the new film in The Spectator World by Damian Thompson, entitled, Testament to Ignorance. Chris is quoted in the review because of an article he wrote on the Shakers. He has mixed feel...

Glenn introduces the Pugsters to David Engels, a conservative Belgian historian and philosopher who focuses on a revival of Western civilization. Using one of his articles as a jumping off point, the guys discuss the marriage of ancient pagan virtues with Christian ideas of the Good, a combination which produced the chivalric ideal embraced by Tolkien in Middle Earth. But as usual, they cover a wi...

In this episode, the pugs discuss a recent article by Christian Bioethicist and Psychiatrist Aaron Kheriaty in First Things concerning disturbing trends in the field of medicine where the production of living human bodies without consciousness are developed for scientific experimenting and use, especially organ harvesting. Drawing on Kheriaty's insights (and work elsewhere), the pugs unpack the ra...

The Pugsters welcome Dr. Timothy Padgett, Theologian in Residence and Glenn’s colleague at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, for a conversation on constructive ecumenism. Working across denominational and theological lines raises a range of questions: how do you do it without compromising things you believe are true? Can evangelical and Reformed Christians work with Catholics? How a...

Today the guys reflect on an essay in the February 2026 edition of First Things by Liel Leibovitz entitled, AI as Liberation. Mr. Leibovitz strikes an optimistic note in the dirge preceding the triumph of AI over all things human. While the Pugs give him points for looking on the bright side, they're skeptical. Tune in and find out why AI is probably more likely to increase drug addiction than a r...

In this episode, the Pugsters discuss the relationship between nature and grace. In theology, this usually deals with how the two work in human life, and that’s where the guys start. But the topic can be bigger than that, so Glenn leads the discussion into whether grace can be conveyed through the physical world, such as the elements in the Lord’s Supper, and whether places can become...

Today the pugs look at recent events in culture where the 'woke warriors' appear to be at it again, especially in the recent march by immigration activists into an evangelical church worship service. The pugs analyze and speculate a bit about what appears to be going on with the most recent forms woke activism is taking culturally.   Support the Theology Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreo...

Today the Pugs discuss whether it matters or not if Francis Bacon was a sincere Christian. His ideas had consequences. In scholarly circles it is a matter of intense debate, but where the rest of us live, it doesn't matter--we're living in the world he helped to create. The Pugs discuss the consequences of "knowledge is power."   Support the Theology Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.co...

An article in Tablet magazine discussing the segment of the Gen Z population that is turning to conservative and demanding forms of religious practice provides the jumping off point for this episode. The article suggests that the turn toward rigorous religions comes from a reaction to the chaos of a rootless culture more than from a turn to faith. The guys discuss this idea and its implications fo...

Today the Pugs welcome Dr. Scott Masson of Tyndale University onto the show. Scott is an Associate Professor of English and an authority on Romanticism. He also is known for his commitment to a recovery of classical learning. Today Scott reflects on the broken relationship between the humanities and theology and the disastrous consequences for higher education. He notes that this strikes right at...