Spe Salvi Institute Podcast

Join Bobby Mixa in conversation with renowned Catholic author and Vatican analyst George Weigel as they explore Krakow's profound influence on Pope John Paul II. From the city's dramatic transformation after communism to the role of Catholic faith in Polish history and identity, Weigel shares insights from his acclaimed biography Witness to Hope and City of Saints. Discover how one city shaped a p...

In this episode, Bobby Mixa and Andrew Petiprin look back at 9/11 after 25 years and try to understand this horrific event by also looking at Pope Benedict XVI's controversial Regensburg Address, delivered exactly five years after the terrorist attacks. Pope Benedict got into trouble for quotiing a 14th Century Byzantine Emperor's words about Islam, but his talk was much more than that: it was pri...

In this episode, we're joined by Patrick J. Deneen, professor of political science at Notre Dame and author of Why Liberalism Failed and the new book American Odyssey: What an Ancient Story Reveals About Our Divided Souls. We explore how the ancient Greek epic speaks to our current moment—examining the tension between the desire to explore and discover versus the longing for home and rootedness. D...

In this conversation, Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin talk with artist Fen de Villiers about the nature of artistic creation and the state of contemporary art. We explore his artistic practice and sculptural work, tracing the lineage from early 20th century art movements and their radical reimagining of form and space. De Villiers reflects on how those movements — from Italian Futurism to Art Deco...

Is a business a community, or just a bundle of contracts between self-interested strangers? And is "the common good" anything more than a pious slogan when it comes to the economy? In this conversation, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa are joined by Mark Hoipkemier, author of The Price of the Common Good: Markets, Corporations, and Political Economy (University of Notre Dame Press), to talk about w...

In this episode, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa explore one of Western literature's most enduring texts—Homer's Odyssey—through the lens of Christopher Nolan's recent film adaptation. Together, they investigate how the early Church Fathers read the epic as a proto-Christian narrative of spiritual homecoming and redemption, and how Nolan's film, by contrast, offers a distinctly post-Christian inte...

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute podcast, Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin sit down to explore what it truly means to be American as the nation marks its 250th anniversary. Taking their cue from historian Wilfred McClay's acclaimed work Land of Hope, Robert and Andrew dig into the American story — its founding ideals, its struggles, its contradictions, and its enduring promise. Is America...

Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical Magnifica Humanitas does not just address artificial intelligence but the essence and dignity of our humanity. Like his papal predecessors, Leo XIV sees the age of A.I. as not merely being about technology but more fundamentally about us. What are we? What is intelligence? What is human intelligence? And, wrapped up in these questions, what are we for? While an ency...

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has claimed that America is a "creedal nation" — that what unites us is not a common culture, heritage, or religion, but a set of ideas alone. In this episode, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa take that claim seriously and ask whether it tells the whole story. They argue that while America's founding principles matter deeply, reducing the nation to an abstraction...

What does a secular Polish filmmaker have to teach us about the soul? More than you might expect. In this episode, Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin sit down to explore the life and work of Krzysztof Kieślowski — one of the most quietly profound filmmakers of the twentieth century — and ask why his films continue to haunt viewers long after the credits roll. From the moral intensity of The Dekalog,...

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa sit down with Bishop Erik Varden, O.C.S.O. — Trappist monk, Bishop of Trondheim, and one of the most compelling Catholic voices in the world today. Born into a non-practising Lutheran family in Norway, Bishop Varden traces his remarkable spiritual awakening and journey to the Church, the monastery, and the episcopa...

In commemoration of Pope Benedict XVI’s birthday on April 16, Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin sit down with Dr. Richard DeClue, Professor of Theology at the Word on Fire Institute and author of The Mind of Pope Benedict XVI: A Theology of Communion, to explore Pope Benedict XVI’s profound understanding of divine revelation as God’s personal self-communication in history rather than a mere collecti...

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, founders Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin discuss Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic letter "Life in Abundance: On the Value of Sport", released ahead of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. Drawing on John 10:10 (“I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly”), the Pope presents sport as a “school of life” that forms body, relationships,...

In this episode, Robert Mixa welcomes Marc Barnes, editor of New Polity, for a conversation about the sudden rush to insert AI chatbots into our lives without much consideration of what we are really doing. Even Catholics have come to love AI. From Catholic Answers’ “Fr. Justin” AI app to Magisterium AI, Catholics have embraced this technology. It’s time to hear from a Catholic who is calling us t...

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa chat with renowned Hungarian philosopher Ferenc Hörcher, author of "The Political Philosophy of the European City: From Polis, through City-State, to Megalopolis?" to discuss his work on the European city, intellectual conservatism, and the enduring legacy of Sir Roger Scruton in Central and Eastern Europe. Profess...

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute podcast, Andrew Petiprin and Bobby Mixa welcome Dr. Michael Joseph Higgins, Professor of Humanities at St. Jerome Institute and author of the groundbreaking new book Giving One’s Word: Psychological Analogy as Social Analogy in Aquinas's Trinitarian Theology (Catholic University of America Press, 2025). Contemporary Trinitarian theology often emphasizes t...

Despite headlines filled with transatlantic friction—President Trump's comments on Greenland, questions about allies' commitments in Afghanistan, Ursula von der Leyen's calls for greater EU "independence" at Davos 2026, and J.D. Vance's 2025 Munich critique of deviations from NATO's founding principles—the alliance endures. Why? Petiprin argues that NATO is far more than a Cold War relic or a mere...

Why does a 40-year-old + film about two men talking feel like the cinematic antidote we need most in 2025? In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, hosts Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa dive into Louis Malle's 1981 masterpiece My Dinner with Andre—a film consisting almost entirely of one extended conversation between two friends over dinner—and argue why it stands as the greatest film o...

This is an in-depth conversation with philosopher D.C. Schindler, author of the forthcoming article "The Crisis of Authority" in Communio. In this episode, Robert Mixa and D.C. Schindler discuss the profound erosion of authority in Western society, its ties to liberalism's promises and pitfalls, and the rising tide of postliberal reactions. Schindler delves into the essential distinction between a...

The numbers are brutal and undeniable: 60 percent of Gen Z men are single, and suicide rates among young males have quadrupled since 1980. Scott Galloway’s new book, Notes on Being a Man , sounds the alarm on purpose and fatherlessness, while desperate young men drift toward Nick Fuentes’ rage and Andrew Tate’s hustle, chasing shadows after the Liver King scandal exposed the hollowness of steroid-...

In this episode, we interview Dr. Richard DeClue about his article “Eucharistic Ecclesiology” in the Encyclopedia of Catholic Theology. We discuss how the Eucharist defines the Church’s identity, unity, and mission, and explore key points from his work. Topics Covered: 1. What is Eucharistic Ecclesiology? 2. The Eucharist’s role in the Church 3. The hierarchical structure of the Church 4. The miss...

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, we welcome Dr. Larry Chapp—theologian, author, and founder of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm—to discuss his recent Catholic World Report article on Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te (“I Have Loved You”). Dr. Chapp unpacks the theological and cultural significance of this document, exploring how Dilexi Te calls the Church to re...

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, we confront a troubling reality: the resurgence of antisemitism in our world today. From violent attacks to subtle cultural prejudices, antisemitism is on the rise across Europe, the United States, and beyond. Why is this ancient hatred resurfacing in our time, and how should Christians respond? We explore the historical roots of antisemitism, it...

What happens to a culture that forgets its roots? In his Advent homily Memory Awakens Hope, Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) warned that when a people lose the memory of God’s saving acts, they also lose hope for the future. Memory and hope belong together; without memory, we drift into despair or construct false hopes that cannot endure. In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcas...

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute podcast, we reflect on the shocking assassination of Charlie Kirk and what it reveals about our society and culture. Beyond the headlines, we explore the deeper questions: What does this moment say about the state of public life, political polarization, and the fragility of civil discourse? How should Christians think about violence in the public square,...