The Catholic Culture Podcast
The Catholic Culture Podcast features in-depth discussions on Catholic theology, art, history, and more, hosted by Thomas Mirus with a variety of notable guests. It is a production of CatholicCulture.org.
Episodes
Pope Leo XIII writes to America w/ Timothy Flanders
Timothy Flanders joins the podcast to discuss Pope Leo XIII's two letters addressed to the Catholic Church in America. Links Article summarizing Leo's writings on America https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/pope-leo-xiii-on-america-and-americanism/ Leo XIII, Longinqua https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_06011895_longinqua.html Leo XIII, Testem
Speaking in L.A.
On May 30, Thomas is giving the keynote address at the first annual conference of the Thomistic Artists Guild at the parish of St. Vitus in Los Angeles, CA. Free to attend! https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/thomistic-artists-guild-2026-conference
30 Years of the Vatican Film List – Catholic Cinema's Past and Future
Thomas Mirus, Nathan Douglas, and Andrew Petiprin gave this panel session at the 2024 Notre Dame Fall Conference, presented by the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. The theme of the conference was "Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination." 30 Years of the Vatican Film List – Catholic Cinema's Past and Future Thomas Mirus (Catholic Culture) – The Vatican Film List: Introduction and R
Training the tongue for virtuous conversation, w/ Fr. Gregory Pine
Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., joins the podcast to talk about his new book Training the Tongue and Growing Beyond Sins of Speech. He answers Thomas's questions about small talk, cheekiness, oversharing, the use of humor to avoid vulnerability, Millennial vs. Gen-Z irony, correcting others, and openness to pursuing truth. Training the Tongue and Growing Beyond Sins of Speech https://stpaulcenter.com/st
Leo XIII on the State's duties toward the Church, w/ Thomas Pink
This interview with Prof. Thomas Pink, originally published in 2020, is being republished as part of Thomas Mirus's ongoing series covering the major encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII. Vatican II's Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae, begins by noting that its discussion of religious liberty "has to do with immunity from coercion in civil society" and so "leaves untouched traditional C
New Lives of the Popes podcast
Lives of the Popes on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lives-of-the-popes/id1885968422 Lives of the Popes on CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/category/lives-of-popes-podcast/
Tolkien's Darkest Tale w/ Aaron Irber
The darkest, and perhaps most underrated, story J.R.R. Tolkien ever wrote was the tale of Túrin Turambar, a great man of the First Age of Middle-Earth, whose life was ruined by the curse of Morgoth (Tolkien's Satan-figure) and by his own pride. The tale, which resembles a Greek tragedy, was given its longest and most satisfying version in the posthumously published book The Children of Hurin. Aaro
Pope Leo XIII against Freemasonry
Pope Leo XIII's 1884 encyclical Humanum Genus is the Church's most comprehensive explanation of why, ever since 1738, she has forbidden Catholics to become Freemasons. Reading the encyclical today, one has the thought that its continued relevance has less to do with the present-day activities of Masonic organizations, and more to do with the fact that Masonic ideas have already come to pervade Wes
Seeking Beauty in the Old World w/ David Henrie
Actor, writer, and director David Henrie (Wizards of Waverly Place, How I Met Your Mother) joins the podcast to talk about his new EWTN travel series, Seeking Beauty with David Henrie - season 1 is a journey through Italy. David and Thomas discuss what it is so many travelers still find so alluring about the heritage of Catholic Europe. They focus especially on Florence's Dominican convent of San
Phil Lawler on four decades of independent Catholic journalism
Veteran Catholic journalist Phil Lawler recently retired as the editor of Catholic World News at CatholicCulture.org. Phil was the first lay editor of Boston's archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot, but negative experiences trying to do real journalism while financially dependent on the Church hierarchy prompted him to move on to a career in independent Catholic journalism, with stints as editor of Cr
Resisting modernist "demolition troops": Ida Friederike Görres, w/ Jennifer Bryson
Ida Friederieke Görres is little-known to English-speaking Catholics (except perhaps for her biography of St. Therese of Lisieux), but she was a major voice of the orthodox Catholic laity in mid-20th-century Germany, with Joseph Ratzinger giving her eulogy. Jennifer Bryson has translated Görres's 1970 essay collection, Bread Grows in Winter, which is a response to the crisis in the Church immediat
Leo XIII on what marriage owes to the Church
Thomas Mirus discusses Leo XIII's 1880 encyclical Arcanum, on Christian marriage. This was "the first formal and synoptic teaching on marriage since the Council of Trent" – a gap of four centuries. Arcanum is focused on what the Church has done to uplift and protect marriage throughout history. Leo argues at length that the state has no right to usurp the Church's governance of marriage. LINKS Th
Edgelords, Profanity, & Taming the Tongue w/ Matthew Schmitz
For the past century or more, the left has put a high value on moral provocation, deliberately transgressing what they see as society's hypocritical or puritanical moral norms, whether in religion, sexuality, or public decorum in general. Now the right, too, is getting in on the fun, performatively violating the speech norms held sacred by liberals - which is sometimes good, but sometimes itself v
Christian Poetry Around the Globe w/ Burl Horniachek
To Heaven's Rim is a new anthology of great Christian poetry translated from non-English languages, from the first 18 centuries of the Faith. Editor Burl Horniachek joins to discuss and read samples from poets from a variety of traditions, like St. Jacob of Serug (Syriac), St. Romanus the Melodist (Greek), an anonymous medieval Irish monk, the criminal Francois Villon (French), Michelangelo's frie
The Most Dangerous Man in England: Newman and the Laity - Paul Shrimpton
Paul Shrimpton assisted in the process of making St. John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church. He joins the podcast to discuss his involvement in the process, and his new book from Word on Fire Academic, "The Most Dangerous Man in England": Newman and the Laity. During his lifetime, Newman was a controversial figure within the Catholic Church in large part due to his views on the laity and his adv
Should mothers work outside the home? w/ Margaret H. McCarthy
Should mothers work outside the home? If you want an answer more solid than groundless internet opinion or conveniently vague appeals to personal discernment, this is the podcast for you. Margaret McCarthy joins the Catholic Culture Podcast to discuss her essay on why anti-sex-discrimination law's treatment of the sexes as abstract interchangeable units hurts real women, real men, and real childre
Triumph of the Heart director faced glorious trials making great Catholic art - w/ Anthony D'Ambrosio
An episode from Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast, too good not to share for Catholic Culture Podcast listeners! Anthony D'Ambrosio directed, wrote, and produced the outstanding new film Triumph of the Heart about St. Maximilian Kolbe. In this inspiring interview, he discusses the difficult path he and his team charted to produce this independent film with a low budget, high artistic standards,
Highlights: America's medieval roots; Rock band with 3 Orthodox priests; Are heist movies moral?
Highlight clips from two episodes of the Catholic Culture Podcast and one episode of Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast – links to full episodes below. 83 The American Founding's Medieval Roots – Robert Reilly https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-83-american-foundings-medieval-roots-robert-reilly/ 85 Three-Fifths of Our Band Got Ordained - Luxury https://www.catholicculture.org/commentar
20 Years of Catholic Arts Revival - Dappled Things
Dappled Things: The Quarterly of Ideas, Art, and Faith is celebrating its 20th anniversary. In its 20 years it has contributed to the beginning of a Catholic literary revival, nurturing the talents of many Catholic writers and visual artists. In recent years especially, many exciting new initiatives, presses, and magazines have branched off from Dappled Things. Bernardo Aparicio Garcia (founder an
Leo XIII Against Modern Liberties
One of the most important encyclicals we need to rediscover is Pope Leo XIII's Libertas (1888), on the true nature of human liberty. This encyclical explains what true liberty consists of, followed by a lengthy exposition of the Church's condemnation of liberalism, in the Enlightenment/classical sense rather than today's narrower use of the word. Most people who call themselves conservative now wo
The Church and the Jews: Recovering Tradition, w/ Gideon Lazar
A number of doctrinal ruptures occurred in Catholic life after Vatican II – not in the sense that the Church's magisterium contradicted its previous teachings, but that the vast majority of Catholics, even conservative ones, tend to get these topics wrong. One of the worst examples is how the Church's traditional teaching on the Jewish people has been forgotten, with many people under the false i
Sister of heroic Vietnamese Cardinal imprisoned by Communists tells his story
Elisabeth Nguyen Thi Thu Hong joins the podcast to tell the inspiring story of her older brother, Venerable Francis-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, the heroic Vietnamese Cardinal who was imprisoned by the Communists for 13 years, 8 of those in solitary confinement. Thuan was descended from a line of Vietnamese martyrs, and his uncle was the devout Catholic President and Prime Minister of Vietnam, Ngo Din
R.I.P. Jane Greer (1953-2025)
My other interview with Jane: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/147-world-is-falling-away-jane-greer/
200 - Moral Questions about NFP w/ Eamonn Clark
Get free PDF of New Questions, Old Answers: Catholic Morals and Natural Family Planning https://profide.io/nfp/ Article on the marital debt https://christianrenaissancemovement.com/2023/02/23/thoughts-on-the-marital-debt/ The way Natural Family Planning is commonly taught does not adequately reflect the Church's perennial teachings on the purpose of marital relations, on sexual asceticism, and th
Pope Leo XIII on the restoration of Christian philosophy
This is the first in a series of episodes (accompanied by articles) surveying the most important encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII. His third encyclical, Aeterni Patris (1879), on the restoration of Christian philosophy, famously called for a revival of the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas. Links Thomas's article on Aeterni Patris, "Leo XIII and the restoration of Christian philosophy" https://www.catho
198 - The Music of St. Hildegard of Bingen - Margot Fassler
St. Hildegard of Bingen, 12th-century abbess, mystic, polymath, and Doctor of the Church, is best known to non-Catholics for something else – her music. We have more pieces of music by Hildegard than by any other medieval composer whose name we know. Her chants are beautiful, otherworldly, virtuosic and ahead of their time. Some of them were written for her morality play, the Ordo virtutum, which
197 - Same-Sex Attraction and Conversion w/ Andrew Comiskey & Marco Casanova
We all know the secular world opposes the very idea of a person with same-sex attraction seeking any kind of therapy or spiritual counsel that might enable them to reach a state of healthy relations with the opposite sex. But what's odd is that many Catholics seem to have bought into this. Many assume that if someone is not currently attracted to the opposite sex, this is a static, lifelong condit
196 - Theology of Hiking - Fr. John Nepil
Fr. John Nepil, priest and mountaineer, joins the podcast to discuss his book To Heights and Unto Depths: Letters from the Colorado Trail. Topics discussed include: The modern view of "nature" vs. God's creation A morally responsible approach to risk-taking The modern origins of hiking as a secular activity "Wilderness" vs. "garden" - Catholic attitudes toward the wild places To Heights and Unto
195 - The Most Influential Theology Book Nobody Reads - Philipp Rosemann
The standard textbook of theology in medieval universities was the Sentences by Peter Lombard (1095-1160), bishop of Paris. This collection systematically arranged the theological judgments of Scripture and the Church Fathers on various topics. For almost four centuries, those seeking higher credentials in theology had to study, teach, and comment on Lombard's Sentences. It was formative for the l
194 - The Church's Hour of Testing – Fr. Donald Haggerty
A great spiritual master of our time, Fr. Donald Haggerty, joins the podcast to discuss his important new book, The Hour of Testing: Spiritual Depth and Insight in a Time of Ecclesial Uncertainty. He offers profound reflections on the ongoing, and perhaps future, crisis within the Church, with an eye to arousing an appetite for the greater spiritual intensity God desires his faithful to live out i
193 - On René Girard -Trevor Cribben Merrill
Mimetic desire, scapegoating: if you've been hearing these terms thrown around lately, it's because the French Catholic philosopher René Girard (1923-2015) is having a renaissance, with powerful people like J.D. Vance and Peter Thiel citing his influence on their thought. Trevor Cribben Merrill, producer of the new documentary Things Hidden: The Life and Legacy of René Girard, joins the podcast to
192 - Latin learning and classical Christian education w/ Ryan Hammill
Ryan Hammill of the Ancient Language Institute joins Thomas for a practical discussion about how to learn Latin, as well as the central place of the classical languages (Latin and Greek) in classical Christian education, and the various schools of thought in today's classical Christian education movement. Links Thomas's article about learning Latin https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/dr
191 - How the Church Invented Musical Notation - Christopher Page
The Christian West and Its Singers: The First Thousand Years, by the great English musicologist Christopher Page, covers the development of Christian liturgical music from its origins as an elaboration of the role of the lector to its flourishing in the monastic and cathedral singing schools of France, as Roman chant was spread across Europe. One of the most important developments was the gradual
190 - Fulton Sheen, Convert Maker - Cheryl C.D. Hughes
A new biography of Ven. Fulton Sheen gives special attention to his high-profile converts, but reveals many other interesting facets of his life as well. Author Cheryl Hughes joins to discuss Sheen's at times shockingly direct evangelization methods, his outstanding television presence, his lifelong struggle with vanity and ambition, and the mistreatment he suffered from his rival, Cardinal Spellm
189 - St. Boethius, Stoicism and Neoplatonism - Thomas Ward
St. Anicius Manlius Severius Boethius's book The Consolation of Philosophy, which he wrote in prison while awaiting martyrdom around the year 524, is one of the single most influential works for medieval philosophy and theology. But Boethius also owed much to the pagan philosophy that came before him. Thomas Ward has just written a commentary on Boethius's dialogue for Word on Fire, entitled Afte
188 - Christians against AI art - Susannah Black Roberts
There is increasing speculation and concern about the role of AI in the future of the arts. Surprisingly, many Christians are already embracing the use of AI to produce images of the saints. In this episode, Thomas and Susannah Black Roberts make the argument for why AI art is a contradiction in terms. It is analogous to pornography in that it scratches the itch to "create" without actually achiev
187 - The Roman Rite, ad orientem worship, and liturgical tradition - Fr. Uwe Michael Lang
Fr. Uwe Michael Lang, a liturgical historian and priest of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in London, is the author of the new book A Short History of the Roman Mass, from Ignatius Press. Topics discussed in this episode include: The origins of the Roman Rite and development of the Roman Eucharistic Prayer Problems with liturgical antiquarianism (trying to revive practices allegedly from the early
186 - Is there ever enough of Mary? w/ Fr. Charles Anthony Mary, F.I.
DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio De Maria numquam satis: Of Mary never enough. This saying of St. Bernard is echoed by many other saints. St. Anselm, for instance, says that it is impossible to determine the limits of God's grace in elevating Mary's human nature. St. Alphonsus says that if there is anything good we can say about Mary, not contrary to the t
185 - The Stigmatists - Paul Kengor
In his new book, The Stigmatists: Their Gifts, Their Revelations, Their Warnings, Paul Kengor gives a historical overview of the phenomenon of the stigmata, focusing especially on one thing many stigmatists have in common: they receive visions, often prophetic ones. The book devotes individual chapters to seven canonized or beatified stigmatists: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Siena, Bl.
Highlights: making the Church less worldly, a Catholic movie from 1903, music and conversion
A collection of highlight clips from past episodes. 82 A Habitual Counterculture - Brandon McGinley https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-82-habitual-counterculture-brandon-mcginley/ 68 What I Learned from Making Music with Mark Christopher Brandt https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-68-what-i-learned-from-making-music-with-mark-christopher-brandt/ Vie et Passion du Christ https:/
184 - Ghosts of memory, myths, and contemporary Catholic poets w/ Ryan Wilson
Catholic poet Ryan Wilson rejoins the podcast to read poems from his latest collection, In Ghostlight, which deals with themes of memory in a "haunted" world, encounters with realities beyond us, and reinterpreting ancient myths (Orpheus as a hair metal singer!). He also introduces four Catholic poets from his new anthology co-edited with April Lindner, Contemporary Catholic Poets. Links Ryan Wil
183 - Does Angel Studios merit the hype?
James Majewski plays guest host in this episode, asking Thomas about his recent essay critiquing the well-known Christian film distributor Angel Studios (associated with The Chosen, Sound of Freedom, and Cabrini). Articles and podcasts mentioned: "Angel Studios: Questioning the hype" https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/angel-studios-hype/ "Cabrini secularizes a saint" https://www.catholi
182 - Duruflé's Requiem w/ Christopher Berry
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) was one of the greatest sacred composers of the 20th century, best known for his Requiem and his motet "Ubi caritas". His lush and tranquil choral and organ works combine a deep familiarity with Gregorian chant with the style of impressionism, imbued with a sense of prayer as he was a devout Catholic. Organist and choirmaster Christopher Berry, who studied organ under D
Highlights: Scott Hahn on cremation, Gene Wolfe, Ben-Hur, Jane Greer, Charlie Parker
A collection of highlight clips from past episodes. 77 Gene Wolfe, Catholic Sci-Fi Legend—Sandra Miesel, Fr. Brendon Laroche https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-77-gene-wolfe-catholic-sci-fi-legend-sandra-miesel-fr-brendon-laroche/ Ben-Hur w/ Elizabeth Lev (Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast) https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ben-hur-1959-w-elizabeth-lev/ 80 Bring Out Your De
181 - Beauty, Imitation, and Music - Daniel McInerny
In his new book published by Word on Fire, Beauty & Imitation: A Philosophical Reflection on the Arts, philosopher and novelist Daniel McInerny argues for a recovery of the Aristotelian understanding of art as fundamentally imitative or mimetic. More boldly, he claims that this imitation is narrative and moral in nature, even in art forms that are not typically considered storytelling arts. In thi
Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds & the tradition of English verse w/ James Matthew Wilson
Poet & philosopher James Matthew Wilson rejoins the show to read poems from his new collection, Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds, published by Word on Fire; and to discuss the tradition of English poetry, especially with regard to meter. Don't miss the title poem, a verse setting of a passage from Aquinas's Summa Theologiae! Links Saint Thomas and the Forbidden Birds https://bookstore.wordonfi
Catholics create huge new ballet: interview with producer, composer, and choreographer of Raffaella
On June 29 and 30, in South Bend, Indiana, there will be a major and even unprecedented event in the history of American Catholic art: a new, full-length classical ballet production with a new story, new music, new sets and costumes, and nationally known dancers - with a cast of about fifty. This fairytale ballet, titled Raffaella, was commissioned by Duncan and Ruth Stroik in honor of their daugh
178 - Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage? w/ Jessica Hooten Wilson
A new book presenting material from Flannery O'Connor's unfinished third novel shows the great Catholic writer pushing beyond her established fictional territory. Jessica Hooten Wilson returns to the podcast to discuss her book, Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress. Please consider donating to Catholic Culture's May fundraising campaign so thi
177 - "The Catholic Bach": Jan Dismas Zelenka
Jan Dismas Zelenka was a Bohemian Catholic baroque composer who has at times been called "The Catholic Bach" because his best compositions are on par with those of J.S. Bach, who indeed knew and esteemed Zelenka. This episode covers Zelenka's career at the Catholic court chapel in Dresden with its grand liturgies inspired by Habsburg piety and Jesuit aspirations to evangelize the Protestants of Sa
176 - God and the City - D.C. Schindler
One of the most brilliant philosophers working today, D.C. Schindler, returns to the Catholic Culture Podcast to discuss his latest book, God and the City: An Essay in Political Metaphysics. In it, he draws an analogy between metaphysics as the most comprehensive science in the theoretical order and politics as the most comprehensive science in the practical order. Examining how in metaphysics, Go
175 - St. Aldhelm's Riddles, Poetry & Public Service - A.M. Juster
Today's guest is a man with two names and two careers. For decades he has been a distinguished poet and translator under the name of A.M. Juster. This is an acronym for his Christian name, Michael J. Astrue, who for many years was a lawyer, biotech executive, and public servant, most notably serving as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration from 2007 to 2013. During this time, his poli
174 - Medieval Mystery Plays w/ Gregory Roper
Gregory Roper, a professor of literature at the University of Dallas, joins the podcast to discuss medieval "mystery plays" (also called "miracle plays"). In England these plays, often grouped together in cycles spanning all of salvation history, were performed by town guilds for the festival of Corpus Christi. This tradition, which developed out of the liturgy, could be said to represent the revi
173 – Chastity, Integrity and the Desert Fathers – Bishop Erik Varden
Erik Varden, bishop of Trondheim, Norway as well as Trappist monk, joins the podcast to discuss his new book Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses. Topics discussed include: Recovering the true meaning of the word "chastity" Continence and chastity are not the same thing What the Desert Fathers can teach us about chastity Why we need to meditate on the original vocation of man before the Fall ra
172 - Fr. John Saward on turning away from von Balthasar, and on the invisible world of angels
The renowned English theologian Fr. John Saward makes his podcast debut to discuss his new book on angels, the role of art and beauty in his theological work, and his turn away from the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar after years of studying and translating his works. Fr. Saward's books named in this episode: World Invisible: The Catholic Doctrine of the Angels https://angelicopress.com/product
The Heresies—Judaizers and Ebionites: Denying Christ's Divinity
Is Jesus Christ God? Is he a man? Is he both? Spoiler alert: the mainstream Church answered with the both/and, but the factions on the fringes tended to choose one or the other. For our first heresy, we take a look at the Ebionites, and their New Testament-era predecessors, the so-called Judaizers. These concluded that Jesus Christ was a mere human. A human who became a prophet perhaps, but just a
Highlights: Jonathan Roumie, classical Christian education, Nouvelle théologie
This episode collects highlights from episodes 74-76 of the Catholic Culture Podcast. Links to full episodes: Ep. 74—What Is Classical Christian Education?—Andrew Kern https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-74-what-is-classical-christian-education-andrew-kern/ Ep. 75—Don't Scapegoat the Nouvelle Théologie—Richard DeClue https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-75-dont-scapegoat-nouvel
171 - St. Jerome's Letters to Friends in Mourning - David G. Bonagura, Jr.
A new collection of letters shows the tender side of St. Jerome, as he writes to console various friends on the death of their loved ones. Translator and editor David G. Bonagura, Jr., joins the podcast to discuss Jerome's Tears: Letters to Friends in Mourning. Topics include: Jerome's Christian twist on the "consolatory epistle" genre practiced by many great pagan writers before him The network
170 - Art Participates in God's Governance - Bradley Elliott, O.P.
Fr. Bradley Elliott, a professional drummer turned Dominican friar, joins the podcast to discuss his book, The Shape of the Artistic Mind: A Search for the Metaphysical Link Between Art and Morals in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas. Themes include: Man's capacity to participate in God's creative activity and governance of the world How human artistic activity not only imitates but enhance nature Th
169 - The Good Death of Kate Montclair - Daniel McInerny
Daniel McInerny joins the podcast to discuss his novel, The Good Death of Kate Montclair, the modern cult of authenticity, the desire for control that tempts people to euthanasia, and what it truly means to accept your death. Publisher's description for the novel: Kate Montclair is dying. She has arrived at late middle age loveless, childless, and having failed to achieve the career dreams of her
The Catholic Culture Podcast Soundtrack
6:51 Franciscan Eyes 14:33 Forbearance 15:52 The Mourners 20:19 Spiritual Combat 25:56 Passage Compositions and piano by Thomas Mirus; recorded spring 2018, Brooklyn. Listen to this music on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/CVqC2ZukI9o Download these tracks as lossless .wav files here: https://www.catholicculture.org/multimedia/thomas_mirus_2018.zip DONATE to help CatholicCulture.org continue its mi
168 - Tolkien's Hard-Won Faith - Holly Ordway
Holly Ordway continues to break new ground in Tolkien scholarship with her latest book, Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography. This work sheds important light on the experience of Catholics like Tolkien and his mother in the hostile Anglican establishment of their time, on the crucial influence of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri on the young Tolkien, and more. Holly returns to the podcast to discu
Highlights: Esolen in the Wild West, Thomas More's conscience, and more
Looking back at highlights from past episodes of the Catholic Culture Podcast and Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. Full episodes below: Catholic Culture Podcast Ep. 65—Reason with Stories, Philosophize with Your Life (Vision of the Soul Pt. III)—James Matthew Wilson https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-64-reason-with-stories-philosophize-with-your-life-vision-soul-pt-iii-james-matthe
167 - Early Feminism Was Worse Than You Think - Carrie Gress
Catholic critics of feminism often start with the assumption that the "first wave" of feminism, led by 19th-century figures such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was basically a good thing and compatible with Catholic teachings; only later in the 1960s and 70s, according to this narrative, was the movement "hijacked" by "radical feminists". The only problem is that when one actually
166 - Poetry of St. John of the Cross w/ Carla Galdo
St. John of the Cross is not only one of the Church's greatest mystics, but also one of the most important figures in the Spanish poetic tradition. A new book of translations of St. John's poems, brought into English by contemporary bilingual poet Rhina Espaillat, gives us a chance to discover or rediscover this singular spiritual and artistic master. Carla Galdo joins the podcast to discuss Espai
165 - Gifts of the Holy Spirit w/ John of St. Thomas & Cajetan Cuddy, O.P.
Anyone who went through confirmation prep at some point learned the list of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. But most would struggle to define the gifts, especially the ones that sound a bit similar, like wisdom, knowledge, and understanding? The great 17th-century Thomistic commentator John of St. Thomas discoursed on the gifts of the Holy Spirit with not only technical precision, but spiritua
164 - When "engaging the culture" means loving mediocrity - Joshua Gibbs
Today it's taken for granted that we as Christians are called to "engage the culture" in order to evangelize. Often "engaging the culture" means paying an inordinate amount of attention to popular commercial entertainment in order to show unbelievers how hip we are, straining to find a "Christ-figure" in every comic book movie, and making worship music as repetitive, melodically banal, and emotion
Highlights: Cultural appropriation, ugly beauty, English poet-martyrs, Polish cinema
Looking back at highlights from past episodes of the Catholic Culture Podcast and Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. Full episodes below: CCP Ep. 63—Beauty Revealing Being (Vision of the Soul Pt. II)—James Matthew Wilson https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-63-beauty-revealing-being-vision-soul-pt-2-james-matthew-wilson/ CCP Ep. 69 - The Poetry of the English Martyrs - Benedict Whalen h
163 - Reconciling Distributism and Economics - Alexander W. Salter
Distributism, the social-political-economic philosophy advanced by G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc under the influence of Catholic social teaching, offers intriguing ways of rethinking the modern social-political-economic order. But distributists have often been found lacking in serious practical plans to bring about their ideal social order, and in the economic fallacies they commit when criti
162 - Saints Who Inspired Saints - Kimberly Begg
Kimberly Begg joins the podcast to discuss her new book, Unbreakable: Saints Who Inspired Saints to Moral Courage. The book tells the story of four saints - St. Joan of Arc, St. José Luis Sánchez del Río, Bl. Jerzy Popiełuszko, and St. Teresa of Calcutta - and for each of those saints, includes the stories of the saints who influenced him or her. The book is intended in particular to convince pare
161 - Making Gerard Manley Hopkins Accessible - Holly Ordway
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. (1844-1889) is one of the poets best loved by Catholics. Immediately accessible in its abundant musical qualities, Hopkins's poetry can still puzzle us with its idiosyncratic syntax, elliptical phrasing, and even invented words. Thus the need for an annotated collection of his poems, which, surprisingly, did not exist until the recent publication (by Word on Fire) of As
Highlights: AI is boring; liberal anti-culture; misguided Catholic feminism
This episode features highlights from episodes 61 and 67 of the Catholic Culture Podcast, and from an early episode of Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. Ep. 61—Liberal Anti-Culture vs. the Western Vision of the Soul (Pt I)—James Matthew Wilson https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ep-61-liberal-anti-culture-vs-western-vision-soul-pt-i-james-matthew-wilson/ Ep. 67—"Why I'm No Longer A Catho
160 - The Vocation of Thomas Aquinas - Matthew Minerd
Jean-Pierre Torrell, O.P.'s definitive scholarly biography of St. Thomas Aquinas has recently received its third edition. Translator Matthew Minerd returns to the Catholic Culture Podcast to discuss what we can learn from Fr. Torrell about the life of St. Thomas and the context in which works like the Summa theologiae were written. This episode is a deep dive into Thomas's vocation in a number of
The Catholic sobriety test w/ Phil Lawler and Jeff Mirus
In the last of the YouTube livestreams related to Catholic Culture's May fundraising campaign, Jeff Mirus and Phil Lawler discuss their approach to writing responsible, sober commentary during a time of crisis in the Church: that is, when the news is crazy, how can we talk about it sanely? We're a week into CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered a $50,000 matc
When artists feel lonely in the Church (Livestream)
In this livestream, James Majewski and Thomas Mirus we discussed errors artists can fall into in pushing back against a moralistic approach to art found within the Church. Rather than reacting away from rigidity to excessive openness, the mature Catholic artist has to get over himself and be a servant. Also discussed: The relation between order and surprise in beauty, morality and culture. Note: t
Mike Aquilina Q&A on early Christianity
For those who missed the YouTube livestream Q&A with Mike Aquilina on May 8th, 2023, here is the audio. It was a lively conversation where Mike fielded viewer questions about important cities of the early Church, early evidence for papal primacy, the role of charity in the early Church, Origen, the providential role of easy travel for the spread of the Gospel in the first centuries, and more. We'r
159 - Person and Act: John Paul II's Philosophy w/ Timothy Flanders
Catholic University of America Press recently launched a major new series: the English Critical Edition of the Works of Karol Wojtyła/John Paul II. The first volume of the series was a new translation of Wojtyła's 1969 book Person and Act, along with related essays. In Person and Act Wojtyła set forth the foundation of his blend of phenomenology, Thomism and personalism, a foundation underlying mu
Livestream announcement
We'll be doing YouTube livestreams on the next 3 Monday evenings, as part of CatholicCulture.org's May fundraising campaign. In these freewheeling conversations, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions and prompt discussion in the live chat box! 5/8, 8pm ET - Mike Aquilina (host, Way of the Fathers podcast) 5/15, 8pm ET - Thomas Mirus & James Majewski (hosts,Catholic Culture Podcast, Catholic
Highlights: Christopher Tolkien, William Byrd, A Hidden Life, poetry-painting collaboration
This episode features highlight clips from episodes 50, 58, 60, and 66 of the Catholic Culture Podcast. 50: A Catholic Composer in Queen Elizabeth's Court, Pt. II – Kerry McCarthy https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-50a-catholic-composer-in-queen-elizabeths-court-pt-iikerry-mccarthy/ 58: A Hidden Life Film Review w/ James Majewski https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-5
158 - City of God vs. City of Man - Timothy Flanders
It's time for a big-picture look at Church history! Timothy S. Flanders joins the podcast to discuss his book City of God vs. City of Man: The Battles of the Church from Antiquity to the Present. The book is a synthesis of the approaches of St. Augustine and Christopher Dawson, whom Timothy calls the two greatest Catholic historians. Themes discussed include: The Hebrew (Old Testament) view of hi
157 - A New Faerie Tale in Verse - Marly Youmans
Marly Youmans joins the podcast to talk about her new verse tale, Seren of the Wildwood, the story's relation to the biblical giants or Nephilim, and the difference between myth and faerie. Publisher's description of Seren of the Wildwood (Wiseblood Books): Seren is born on the brink of Wildwood, realm of shadowy fey who listen and laugh–who sometimes bless and sometimes curse. As she grows into y
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