The ThinkND Podcast

Episode Topic: Is Empathy a Threat? How can "feeling with" others trigger tribal solidarity?  Move beyond moral platitudes to decode how empathy is weaponized, and discover a more rigorous path toward the common good by learning to "go visiting" others' perspectives. Challenge your instincts and slow down to interrogate empathy's role in our polarized world. Featured...

Episode Topic: Innovators in Medicine   Join YoungND for “Innovators in Medicine,” a conversation with 2025 Domer Dozen Honorees about reimagining healthcare through innovation, empathy, and global collaboration. Featured Speakers: Christy Lucas, M.D., ’16, Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center Abbey Santanello, D.O., ’15, ’16 M.S., NYU John Michael Templeton ’22 Ph. D.,...

Episode Topic: What's The Point? Building with Circularity in Mind Katie Fitzhugh , director of destruction at Repurpose Savannah, explains the importance of her work with the women-led advocacy group that is establishing a sustainable future through deconstructing, salvaging, and reusing historic buildings.  Featured Speakers: Katie Fitzhugh, Director of Destruction, Repurpose Savannah Read...

Episode Topic: A Conversation with Adela Najarro Embark on an evocative journey through “split geographies” with poet Adela Najarro in an oral history interview with director of Letras Latinas Francisco Aragón ’03 MFA. From the boarding houses of mid-century San Francisco to the classrooms of Los Angeles, experience how deep ties to family history transform into precise, body-centered poetry. Disc...

Episode Topic: Catholicism and Feminism Roundtable In a culture increasingly defined by ideological silos and digital fragmentation, the search for a coherent identity can leave women feeling isolated. We invite you to a space of deep encounter and vital conversation that addresses the core longing for community and truth. Here, the ancient wisdom of the Church meets the complexities of modern lif...

Episode Topic: Catholicism's Humanist Perspective on AI ( https://go.nd.edu/36b031 ) The rapid ascent of artificial intelligence is often framed as a purely technical or economic challenge, yet its most profound impact lies in how it forces us to confront the essence of our own identity. By viewing AI through a humanistic and theological lens, we move beyond the binary of “utopia versus apoca...

Episode Topic: What We Can Learn from Ukraine's Fight for Democracy ( https://go.nd.edu/241c49 ) Historian Olesya Khromeychuk challenges us to view democracy not as a static inheritance, but as a grueling “learning curve” forged in resistance. Centering on the concept of “hope as an emergency tool,” Khromeychuk reveals how Ukraine’s “hopeless hope” offers a strategic blueprint for collective...

Episode Topic: Resurrecting Justice For centuries, the dominant concept of justice in the West has been the constant will to render another his due. The Bible, though, contains a different way of thinking about justice: comprehensive right relationship. This justice affirms what is due, or rights, but also proffers duties that exceed due such as mercy, hospitality, care, forgiveness and reconcilia...

Episode Topic: Innovation AI with the Mayo Clinic ( https://think.nd.edu/bq/healthai-2/ ) Discover how Mayo Clinic is pioneering the future of healthcare. Go beyond the technology to see how AI is amplifying their historic, compassion-driven mission, freeing caregivers to focus on what truly matters: the patient. Emily Godsey, Administrator of Innovation & Digital Transformation for the Mayo C...

Episode Topic: A Walk Through South Bend ( https://go.nd.edu/0fe630 ) How can urban landscapes improve air and water quality, cool neighborhoods on a hot day, and support biodiversity? Watch as Deb Marr Ph. D., associate professor of biology at Indiana University South Bend, explore this question. Urban landscapes are more than backdrops — they reflect our history, knowledge, and affect the health...

Episode Topic: Shaping the Future of Voting with Technology Innovations The intersection of Artificial Intelligence, democratic integrity, and election security represents the primary frontier for modern governance. Dr. Juan Gilbert ’s pioneering research establishes a strategic benchmark in this space, transitioning from the historically reactive "hanging chad" era toward a proactive te...

Episode Topic: Bible Criticism ( https://go.nd.edu/df7e14 ) This month, Minding Scripture , which brings together the life the mind and the life of faith, asks guest speaker Nathan Eubank and one of our hosts, Tzvi Novick, how historical-critical scholarship in both the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament has developed over the last two centuries and what its current place in our understanding o...

Episode Topic: Champions of Hope Listen in to a conversation with Tracy Graham ’95, Founder and Managing Principal, Graham Allen Partners, University Trustee, and Notre Dame Football Student-Athlete (1992-95), and Byron Spruell ’87 B.S., ’89 MBA, President of League Operations, National Basketball Association, University Trustee, and Notre Dame Football Student-Athlete (1984-87, Co-Captain: ’87),...

Episode Topic: The Power of Learning Agendas Unlock the blueprint for modern governance in this collaborative breakthrough featuring King County and Notre Dame’s Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO). Learn how Learning Agendas transform evidence into equity-driven results. This recording is the essential toolkit for leaders seeking to accelerate organizational impact through community-centered pol...

Episode Topic: The History of Asian Allure ( https://go.nd.edu/c9944d ) Discover the origins, evolution, and impact of Asian Allure, the annual, student-led performance that has become a cornerstone of the Asian Pacific Islander community at Notre Dame. Explore how Asian Allure began, how it has grown over the years, and what it continues to mean for generations of API students at Our Lady’s Unive...

Episode Topic: Metaphysics of Prayer ( https://go.nd.edu/8e9338 ) If God is all-wise and all-good, why ask Him for anything? Fr. Stephen L. Brock invites us to explore this mystery through the lenses of C.S. Lewis and St. Thomas Aquinas. While Lewis offers an intuitive account, it faces significant theoretical hurdles. In contrast, Aquinas’s metaphysical approach, though more challenging, ultimate...

Episode Topic: Art & Religion in Liszt's Piano Music ( https://go.nd.edu/273a1e )  Discover the profound intersection of faith and music in the life of Franz Liszt. A recent event featuring musicologist Nick Chung and pianist Isaac Parlin explored how the composer’s deep Catholic faith shaped his masterpieces, challenging the narrative of 19th-century art as a substitute for religion. Fea...

Episode Topic: The Demands of Belonging ( https://go.nd.edu/cda978 ) Aatish Taseer and Karan Mahajan explore the complex terrain of exile, identity, and the search for home. This essential dialogue confronts the "unfinished detonation" of the Partition of India, revealing how its aftershocks continue to shape the modern self and challenge our understanding of what it means to belong. Lis...

Episode Topic: Medicine: A Vocation of Head and Heart Brain and Heart: The Triumphs and Struggles of a Pediatric Neurosurgeon is a medical memoir that explores the thoughts and emotions that accompany the responsibility of making complex choices with life-changing consequences. Listen in to a conversation with Dr. David Sandberg on courage, love, compassion, hope and the other virtues that shape h...

Episode Topic: Every Person in Every Mile ( https://go.nd.edu/afa99f ) How can data and AI bridge healthcare gaps in rural America? Tune in to this dynamic discussion with top experts from Johnson & Johnson, SureScripts, and CareSource. Cut through the hype to explore real-world strategies for integrating data, improving patient outcomes, and ensuring technology always serves the human connect...

Episode Topic: Healing our National Dialogue and Political Life ( https://go.nd.edu/88bdca ) In a political landscape where many Americans believe political discourse has become unproductive, stressful, and disrespectful, where do we find reason for hope? As part of the 2025-26 Notre Dame Forum on Cultivating Hope , Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., joi...

Episode Topic: Revitalizing Inner Cities Ray Gindroz, co-founder and principal emeritus of Urban Design Associates, will explore innovative approaches to revitalizing inner cities through the transformation of public housing projects into vibrant, mixed-income neighborhoods. Drawing on over five decades of experience in urban design, affordable housing, and participatory planning, Gindroz will dis...

Episode Topic: Preserving Legacy Listen in to a conversation with Edward Augustine ’87, Zesha Holyfield ’01, James Riley ’94, and Rochelle Valsaint ’95 about essential topics like protecting your loved ones’ assets, navigating long-term care options, and understanding the general legal tools that are at your disposal in consultation with your own private licensed counsel in your local jurisdiction...

Episode Topic: New Feminism, Then and Now Dive into a thought-provoking discussion on the past, present, and future of Christian feminism. In a profound exploration of faith and identity, legal scholar Helen Alvaré challenges the premises of "New Feminism 1.0" and calls for a "2.0" version—one radically recentered on discerning God's will over achieving worldly justice. Fe...

Episode Topic: A Conversation with Natalia Treviño How does a childhood chalkboard blossom into a lifelong love of the poetry of words? Listen in to an oral history interview with Natalia Treviño, who explores how a bicultural childhood and deep family devotion to the Virgin Mary forged her powerful artistic voice. In this moving conversation with Therese Konopelski ’20, discover Treviño’s profoun...