Shine Bright Like the Firmament

In this episode, Madeline chats again with her friend Liz Norman, 3rd year PhD student at Purdue University in the Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Sciences about the Br. Guy Consolmagno talk that Liz helped organize in February that Madeline attended. During their conversation, they the background for the event, being bold but open to humility, involving others in what you do, what...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Emily, an FBI agent. During their conversation, they discuss her biochemistry degree at IU, her FBI journey, why she chose IU, why it’s good to take classes outside your major, her fun with organic chemistry, the importance of having good friends in college and also thinking ahead on your choices, the portrayal of law enforcement  in entertainment vs...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Maryam Volpe, a physical therapist in an outpatient setting. During their conversation, they discuss what the day in the life of a physical therapist office is like, the kinds of things physical therapy can help with, the Eucharist and how it changed her faith life, intercessory prayer, Marian devotion, the surrender novena, and so much more! During...

In this special episode, Madeline chats again with Ben Stapleton and Gabriel Mosher, OP about Howling Dark, book 2 of the Suneater series by Christopher Ruocchio. During their conversation, the three discuss an overview of Howling Dark and the questions the book tackles. You can catch their episodes on Empire of Silence (book 1) in episodes 107 and 108 . You can catch part 1 of the discussion here...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Fr. Matthew Schneider, LC, a priest of the Legionnaires of Christ and a theology professor at Holy Apostles' College. During their conversation, they discuss his family’s STEM background and his own electrical and computer engineering background, his teenage dinosaur and computer fascinations, his time at University of Calgary and his encounters with Vietn...

In this special episode, Madeline chats again with Ben Stapleton and Gabriel Mosher, OP about Howling Dark, book 2 of the Suneater series by Christopher Ruocchio. During their conversation, the three discuss an overview of Howling Dark and the questions the book tackles. You can catch their episodes on Empire of Silence (book 1) in episodes 107 and 108 . You can catch up on Ben's previous epi...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Dale Williams, an aerospace engineering PhD student at Purdue University. During their conversation, they discuss his relationship with mutual friend Jeff Kuhn, the importance of going through material a few times, his research in astrodynamics, how Kerbal Space Program inspired his engineering degree, radically trusting God, how he came to Catholicism, the nec...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Niels Arboel, a biologist, teacher, and author. During their conversation, they discuss his background, how he became Catholic and the role of papal authority in that, some history of the reformation in Denmark, why nature points to God, background for his book, the God of the Gaps fallacy, and so much more! During the course of their conversation, they make ma...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Kellan Weston, a postdoctoral fellow (at the time of the recording) doing translation neuroscience and scientific officer at Combined Brain. During their conversation, they discuss translational neuroscience, what Combined Brain does and her role in its work, the role her sister’s genetic disorder played in getting into her field, gain of function variance, her...

In this special episode, Madeline continues chatting again with her friend Ben Stapleton and new guest Fr. Gabriel Mosher, OP about Empire of Silence, book 1 of the Suneater series by Christopher Ruocchio. During their conversation, the three discuss pick up where they left off in the previous episode with the second half of Empire of Silence and the questions the book tackles. See the previous  e...

🎉 🎉 🎉 It's been FOUR years since the start of this podcast! 🎉 🎉 🎉 In this special tangent and anniversary episode, Madeline celebrates by chatting again with her friend Ben Stapleton, an electrical engineer for a utility company, and new guest Fr. Gabriel Mosher, OP. During their conversation, the three discuss how each of the three came to the Suneater series by Christopher Ruocchio, F...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Jess Fetterman, a historian with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture. During their conversation, they discuss a brief history of how agriculture became sciencey, her family’s connections to farming, an influential high school research experience, living history, some basics on the Quakers and the college she went to, her unique college experiences, ma...

In this episode, Madeline chats again with Bill Patenaude, a retired mechanical engineer who used to work for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. During their conversation, they discuss talk about his sci-fi novel and its sequel, the inspiration for the novel, why he chose a near-future sci-fi setting, the importance of feedback on creative endeavors, the incarnational aspect...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Evan Rowland, a CAD and consumer electronics mechanical engineer. During their conversation, they discuss everyone’s own unique weirdness, engineering ethics, his time at Colorado School of Mines, his time in the oil and gas industry, CAD and change management, free will and the nature of God, subcreation and childlikeness, his discernment of the diaconate, ser...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Gabe Fuselier, an internal medicine hospitalist at a Catholic hospital. During their conversation, they discuss an explanation of what internal medicine is, how he got into medicine and his specialty, professional prestige and the need for rest, his formative experiences in becoming a doctor, the balancing customer service with getting people to make...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Donan Scholl, creator of the upcoming sci-fi tabletop game Watchpoint--the game that inspired Madeline's favorite novel Markmaker. During their conversation, they discuss the video games that inspired the world, St. Carlo Acutis and video games, the Watchpoint world and lore, and how it inspired Markmaker, and so much more. During the course of their conve...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Alex Cass, a senior software engineer at a financial company. During their conversation, they discuss his conversion from being a Southern Baptist, the importance of the Eucharist and worship, the importance of doctrine, how he got into computer-related things, the importance of understanding technology, the kinds of things he does at work,  and so m...

🎉 🎉 🎉 It's the 100th episode of this podcast! 🎉 🎉 🎉 In this episode, Madeline chats again with biologist Dan Kuebler to celebrate the release of his new book, Darwin and Doctrine. During their conversation, they discuss what inspired him to write his book, understanding how to interpret scripture, the parallelness of salvation history and evolution, how order begets order, what he learn...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Matt Rubio, a test engineer. During their conversation, they discuss his experience being a charismatic Catholic, the perceived divide between traditional and charismatic Catholicism, a brief history of the Catholic Charismatic renewal, the use of the charismatic gifts, what it’s like living in a charismatic community, what inspired his love of computer enginee...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Mary Woods, author of the sci-fantasy novel Markmaker . During their conversation, they discuss her bookish inspiration, the roleplaying game that gave Markmaker its setting, the mission of her publisher Chrism Press, insights into the traditional publishing process, a look into the journey with the planned sequel thus far, and so much more. During t...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend Ben Fetterman, a chemical laboratory technician. During their conversation, they discuss his conversion from evangelical Mennonite to Byzantine Catholic, a brief history of Mennonites and the Amish, his college journey at Penn State, why he joined an Eastern Sui iris church, praying the liturgy, priesthood in the Eastern Catholic churches, and so muc...

In this episode, Madeline chats with her friend J.C. Hall, a PhD student in moral theology/ethics at Catholic University of America with a specialization in bioethics. During their conversation, they discuss his biochemical engineering degree at University of California at Davis, some background of UC Davis and agriculture, their Eucharistic Congress experience and liturgical diversity, his master...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Fr. Jim McCormack, a priest of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception and a former electrical engineer. During their conversation, they discuss the history and charism of the Marian Fathers, the connection between the Immaculate Conception, Divine Mercy, and prayers for those in purgatory, the historical context of his childhood, studying electrical en...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Bill Jacobs and Kat Hoenke, both ecologists and conservationists. During their conversation, they discuss the St. Kateri Conservation Center, the connections of the Seven Deadly Sins to environmental issues, ecology and relationships, how Bill and Kat got acquainted, the importance of planting native plants, rewilding, creation becoming the creator, saints who...

In this episode, Madeline chats with Erin Brady, the director of the Culp Planetarium and Physics Lab Manager at High Point University. During their conversation, they discuss how summer just flies by, being able to balance different priorities, how her physics for Video Games class altered her educational course, the importance of community, how she combined her research and art together, her sum...