Visitation Sessions (A Podcast)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit visitationsessions.substack.com The Chapmans are back in Illinois this week, so Emily can spend some time with her mom, whose Alzheimer’s continues to worsen. There wasn’t time before they left to record a new episode, but after we recorded our last episode, we did manage to record a quick bonus episode for our full subscribers. We’re s...

Emily and Chris are still recovering from the Worst Mass With Kids Ever, so we thought this week we would swap a few horror stories about parenting little kids during the Mass, discuss why we think it’s important for them to be in church even when they’re misbehaving, and go over a few possible survival strategies for getting through the seasons of littles and Liturgy. A big thank you to Beata Hom...

We’re back! After a few weeks on the road, we’re catching up on everyone’s adventures, talking about what it means to honor our parents even when our parents are profoundly broken, and having heat stroke while we’re at it. We literally had to stop recording halfway through to keep Emily from passing out. All rambling, imprecise speech, and bad opinions we blame on a certain un-air-conditioned atti...

The Stapletons are rolling back into town this week and will be heading to Steuebenville on Friday to record a new episode. Until then, enjoy this fiery discussion about the marital debt, which we had with Renzo and Monica Ortega last March, when they visited us to discuss their book Lovemaking: How to Talk About Sex with Your Spouse . This episode originally aired as a bonus episode for full subs...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit visitationsessions.substack.com Happy (almost) Fourth of July! The Stapletons are still out on tour, but before they hit the road, we recorded this special bonus episode. One of our listeners asked us to address the quagmire of gentle parenting and parental discipline. Which we did, after much debate and with much more fear and tremblin...

Before we all headed out of town, we got together at the fruit fly infested Visitation House to talk about summer and what it teaches us about the life of both Heaven and earth. This episode was brought to you by Beata Home , The word Beata is derived from the Latin word for Blessed, and the mission of Beata Home is to bless your home with beautiful art that lifts your mind and heart (and your chi...

We’re all getting ready to hit the road for vacations and/or tours, so we thought we would spend an hour analyzing our own particular form of crazy: traveling with small children. Why do we do it? When don’t we do it? And what’s the very worst that can happen? (Hint, it involves starving children and diesel fuel). In our luggage this week, are some of the really wonderful novels for children and a...

This week we talk to Catholic author and Word on Fire Votive editor, Haley Stewart, about what makes stories good (for children and adults), why good stories matter, and how they shape us. We also put together a fantastic summer reading list that is not AI generated! Haley Stewart is the author of seven books : three books for adults, a series of books for children (the Sister Seraphina Mysteries)...

Kate, Casey, Chris, and Emily hash out out the difference between discerning the will of God and overthinking every life decision. Also, special thanks to the Catholic Balm Company , for sponsoring this week’s episode. Their thoughtfully curated bundles of all natural balms, lotions, soaps, and colognes are safe from harmful toxic ingredient, smell great, and work just as great as they smell. They...

Next week, after 29 years in Catholic education (17 in the classroom, 12 in diocesan administration), Chris is (mostly) leaving teaching behind to work with Emily and take over the business side of all she does. This week, after 17 years in the classroom, Casey is also leaving teaching behind to work with Kate on a host of different creative projects, from their music to theatre camps for kids. So...

Today, we’re talking to our good friends from the American Catholic History Podcast, Tom and Noelle Crowe, about the saints, sinners, and movements that have made American Catholics who we are and why that matters to the global Church, especially in the wake of Pope Leo XIV’s election. Show Notes: Matt Fradd’s Note The American Catholic History Podcast American Catholic History Pilgrimages The Ame...

Habemus Papem! All four of us (but especially the resident redhead) have caught Pope Fever, and our new Holy Father is all we can talk about. So, today, we thought we would talk about it with you. In this episode, we’re chatting about our reactions to Pope Leo XIV—first, second, and third reactions that is—as well as our hopes for this new Leonine papacy. We also want to thank one of our favorite...

Between Kate’s film festival showings and Emily’s speaking engagements (Buffalo last week, Ottawa this week), the past couple of weeks have been a little insane for the Stapletons and Chapmans. We did manage to squeeze in a short Q&A, though, where we answer some of your questions about NFP and Artificial Intelligence. On Thursday, May 8, though, we have a special thank you gift coming for our ful...

Today, we’re talking to our good friend Rob Corzine, vice president of Academic Programs at the St. Paul Center, about conclaves past and present, and how despite humanity’s best efforts, the Holy Spirit proves again and again that he is in charge. And our apologies that this episode is dropping later than promised. We decided we wanted to wait until after Pope Francis funeral to drop an episode t...

Before Easter, we recorded a podcast for this week. And then some things happened. We’re still sharing this episode, as recorded, but we’ll be back later in the week with a new episode about the passing of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, plus the upcoming conclave, the nine days of mourning, and more. We’re bringing on a special guest who is way more up on his Church history and conclave procedures...

With Good Friday soon upon us, we’re talking through fasting and abstinence, the good of penance, and the penance of Palm Sunday with small children. Mentioned on today’s episode: St. Michael’s Abbey The Rule of St. Augustine (as it pertains to fasting) “Fasting: A Source of Trial,” Sermons of Saint John Henry Newman “All About Lent: The Fast,” Emily Stimpson Chapman This is a public episode. If y...

If Chappell Roan is good at anything besides singing, it’s inspiring lively conversation. Buckle up for a free flowing and wide ranging conversation about parenting, influencers, community, country music, the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s shameful maternity leave policy, and mimetic desire (because why not). P.S. This week, a little over 13 months after we launched this podcast, we crossed the 130,000 d...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit visitationsessions.substack.com After we finished “Let’s Talk About Sex,” our most recent conversation with Monica and Renzo Ortega of Two Become Family , we kept recording as we discussed the Manosphere’s obsession with the marital debt, what they get wrong, and what they get right. This episode is available for full subscribers only....

How do you talk with your spouse about sex? How do you communicate your fears, struggles, needs, and love to them? Why are these conversations so very hard? And why also are they so very important? This week, we’re talking about those questions and more, with our friends Renzo and Monica Ortega, authors of the new book: Lovemaking: How To Talk About Sex With Your Spouse and hosts of the podcast an...

St. Patrick’s Day is almost upon us, so this week we’re talking about heavenly visions of lakes of beer, the goodness of alcohol, the badness of drunkenness, and bizarre stories about St. Patrick himself (courtesy of Casey, of course). Show Notes St. Brigid’s Fire by Kevin Heider Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe Drinking with the Saints by Michael Foley St. Thomas on Boorishness St. Thomas on sobrie...

Recently, in The Free Press , the writer Chris Arnade penned an essay asserting that “Every Man Wants to Be a Hero.” So, this week, we’re discussing if that’s true, along with what heroism means, the attraction of the anti-hero, forming little boys to be heroes, and why or why not women have the same desire for heroism. Nazis, video games, the Manosphere, and mermen also somehow figure in to the c...

What is IVF? Why does the Church oppose it? Why do we hear so little about it in our parishes? How does the conversation need to change? What does the Catholic tradition of celibacy have to teach us about sex, marriage, and babies? We’re talking about all this and more, this week? Show Notes Revelations (Alvin Ailey Ballet) Donum Vitae Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Dignitas Personae C...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit visitationsessions.substack.com Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa for this delayed bonus episode! Between talks … and film festivals … and photo shoots … and deadlines … and snow days … and all the kids, the four of us are stretched way too thin right now. We are working on a plan to help with that. Until then, we ask for your merc...

Sorry for the repost! We had a little error that needed fixing! So many of you have asked us to do a more thorough discussion of the Four Temperaments and why this is is such a deeply Catholic (and helpful) understanding of the human person. It turned out to be more of a conversation than we could tackle in an hour, so consider this a solid start. (Also, if you’re a full subscriber, keep an eye on...

What possesses a man to turn the hardest, saddest, most humiliating chapter of his life into a book? How do you write about your wife’s infidelity without losing your wife all over again? What does life look like afterwards? This week, we’re talking about those questions and more with author and humorist, Harrison Scott Key. Back in October, we discussed his book, " How to Stay Married: The Most I...