Dr. Dan Hall is a surgeon and an Episcopal priest who, in addition to teaching at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Center for Bioethics and Health Law, performs surgeries and conducts research at the VA health system. Dan joins Grant for a provocative exploration of the intersections of physical and spiritual health, the advantages and limitations of incorporating artificial intelligence into medicine, and the phenomenon of excluding clergy from hospitals during the recent...
Jul 13, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Get to know the Beatrice Institute podcast hosts, Ryan McDermott and Grant Martsolf, as they take turns interviewing each other. In this wide-ranging conversation, Ryan and Grant explore utilitarian tendencies in higher education, what religious institutes can offer a university community, and the relationship between immortality and incorruptibility. Ryan plays “would you rather” with Grant, and they meditate on two differing apocalyptic views of history
Jun 30, 2021•56 min
Dr. Karina Schumann is an assistant professor and the social program chair in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on identifying factors that help people successfully manage their conflicts and respond to challenging social interactions in prosocial ways. She leads the Conflict Resolution (CORE) Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. Karina joins Grant for an in-depth exploration of apologies, forgiveness, and intellectual humility. Together they disc...
Jun 09, 2021•57 min
Kerilyn Harkaway-Krieger is assistant professor of English and the director of The Great Conversation program at Gordon College. Corey Sparks is assistant professor of English at California State University at Chico, where he teaches courses on medieval literature, literary theory, poetry, and the digital humanities. Kerilyn and Corey join Elise to reflect upon their decade-long friendship, which took root amid the shared anxieties of graduate studies and has flourished despite their physical se...
May 25, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Philipp Rosemann is chair of philosophy at Maynooth University in Ireland and the editor of the Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations series. A native of Germany who studied in Ireland and Belgium, Philipp joins Ryan for a frank discussion of the spiritual wasteland of contemporary Irish culture. Drawing upon themes from Philipp’s latest book, the two cover a variety of topics from Foucault, to the desert of west Texas, to Catholic utopian literature.
May 11, 2021•54 min
Ben Miller is the chief strategy officer for Well Being Trust, a national foundation advancing the mental, social, and spiritual health of the nation. Ben joins Grant to discuss the importance of an holistic approach to health and the challenges facing those with mental health issues as they navigate the tangled health delivery system.
Apr 28, 2021•57 min
In this episode, Elise talks with Noah Toly, professor of Urban Studies and Politics & International Relations at Wheaton College. They discuss the urban and built environment’s capability of shaping our desires and relationships, the role that the tragic plays in global environmental governance, and the ways we might rethink vocation in an increasingly consumerist and product-driven world.
Apr 12, 2021•1 hr 3 min
An interview with Bruderhof member Clare Stober, who produced the Bruderhof's centenary photo book, Another Life is Possible .
Mar 27, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Jessica Hooten Wilson is an author and speaker dedicated to the questions: What are the great stories and how do we pass them on? She is the Louise Cowan Scholar in Residence and a professor of Humanities and Classical Education at the University of Dallas. She is the 2019 recipient of the Hiett Prize in the Humanities. Jessica joins Grant to discuss the impact of Walker Percy on questions of evil and the modern human. They talk about Percy’s role as the great diagnostician, why Lost in the Cosm...
Mar 16, 2021•57 min
Michael Sacasas is an independent scholar focusing on technology and culture. Michael joins Elise to talk about the way technology shapes our society. They discuss the role media can have in disintegrating a sense of the common good and why technology tends to reflect ourselves back to us. Together they ask: Is online “real life”? What constitutes reality in digital spaces? And what’s at stake when we refer to the digital as “space”? Digital and media environment Online identity formation Mediat...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 20 min
Ryan McDermott announces our newest cohost, and Christian Studies Fellow Kirsten Barron plays an original song.
Feb 15, 2021•7 min
Samuel Hazo is a lifelong Pittsburgher, a finalist for the National Book Award, and Pennsylvania’s first Poet Laureate. In this episode, Samuel describes his earliest memories of Pittsburgh, what it was like growing up in Squirrel Hill and East Liberty (where he was a Cub Scout), and attending Notre Dame in the 1940s. He also shares his memories of running the International Poetry Forum and tells Elise about the people he brought to Pittsburgh for poetry readings, including Grace Kelly and Grego...
Jan 18, 2021•39 min
Jason Baxter is an associate professor of fine arts and humanities at Wyoming Catholic College and a prolific writer. He has published or completed five books since 2018, including A Beginner’s Guide to Dante’s Divine Comedy and The Infinite Beauty of the World: Dante’s Encyclopedia and the Names of God . Jason joins Ryan to discuss all things Divine Comedy . Jason talks about the best way to read Dante and explains why some people struggle through the Paradiso . He and Ryan also play a game of ...
Jan 07, 2021•51 min
Marilyn McEntyre is a steward of words. She has taught courses on English and medical humanities, and she has written or edited over twenty books, including Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies . Marilyn joins Elise to discuss the meaning of four words: dwelling, compassion, truth, and awe. Marilyn discusses why she loves participles and how “Christianese” can constrict the meaning of a word. She also reads three of her own poems and explains the background and inspiration of each. Words as bui...
Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 24 min
Cohosts Ryan McDermott and Elise Lonich Ryan have a conversation about the art that has accompanied them through 2020. They discuss the mysterious ending of Pulitzer-nominated Heroes of the Fourth Turning , a play that explores the political beliefs of four conservative Catholics and has had multiple runs on Zoom. Ryan and Elise share a love of Marilynne Robinson and critiques of Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life . Ryan explains how the Norwegian show Beforeigners ties into his project Genealogies...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Andrew DeCort is founder of the neighbor-love movement and author of the book Bonhoeffer’s New Beginning: Ethics after Devastation . Andrew tells John about how witnessing state violence changed his view of vocation and inspired him to start the neighbor-love movement. He discusses how his vocation as an ethicist is to live with and for others, how diversity is a result of being made in God’s image, and why neighbor-love is more than a feeling. Witnessing state violence Dietrich Bonhoeffer Radic...
Nov 16, 2020•59 min
Jessica Mesman is founder of the blog Sick Pilgrim and coauthor of Love and Salt: A Spiritual Friendship in Letters . Her essays have been published in US Catholic , Lit Hub , Elle , Vox , America , and Christianity Today . Jessica joins Elise to discuss writing as a form of accompaniment and how the experience of mourning shaped her, both as a Christian and as a writer. They talk about the Catholic practice of memento mori , the unique way horror movies can convey truth, and how to live a Chris...
Nov 02, 2020•52 min
Rusty Reno is author of several books and editor of First Things , an ecumenical journal of religion and public life. His conversation with Ryan covers his conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism, the scholars and books that have most influenced him, and why he thinks fear is an enemy to solidarity. They also discuss Rusty’s legendary climbing fall, his climbing escapades in Yosemite in the early 80s, and how he went from being a “climbing bum” to a Yale PhD student. Biblical studies and mode...
Oct 19, 2020•58 min
Luke Sheahan is an assistant professor of political science at Duquesne University and non-resident scholar at the program for research on religion and urban civil society at the University of Pennsylvania. He joins John to discuss his new book, Why Associations Matter: The Case for First Amendment Pluralism. Luke argues that there has been a fundamental misunderstanding of what associations are and that this has affected the Court’s ability to protect them. Luke talks about why we need to stop ...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr
Amy Alznauer is a polymath: she is a writer, arts collaborator, and an instructor of calculus and number theory at Northwestern University. Amy and Elise’s conversation touches on all of these things. Amy tells us about why she started writing picture-book biographies and what the genius of childhood can teach grown-up readers. She and Elise dive into Flannery O’Connor’s unpublished early novel, the grief that motivated O’Connor’s writing, and the recent controversy surrounding a New Yorker piec...
Sep 21, 2020•1 hr 19 min
Glenn Arbery is a novelist and president of Wyoming Catholic College. He joins Ryan to discuss Catholic literature, past and present. They cover Caroline Gordon, Jacques Maritain, Allen Tate, Flannery O’Connor, and the literary scene today. Together they explore what it means to be a Christian artist and what makes Christian art Christian. Racism and southern literature New Agrarianism and the popular imagination The divided mind of the modern Is change possible in academia? How higher education...
Sep 09, 2020•55 min
Natalie Carnes is an associate professor of theology in the religion department at Baylor University and an affiliate faculty member in women's and gender studies. She and Elise discuss Natalie’s latest book, Motherhood: A Confession . They talk about Natalie’s love of Augustine and Gregory of Nyssa, how to approach art made by terrible people, and why beauty is often seen as a frivolous topic. What is beauty? Beauty and moral depravity Witness as an approach to art Gregory of Nyssa on beauty An...
Aug 24, 2020•54 min
Mark Reiff is a scholar, lawyer, and author of five books on economics and labor. He joins John to talk about his latest book, In the Name of Liberty: The Argument for Universal Unionization . Mark discusses the libertarian argument for unions, the structure of distributive justice, and how self-ownership involves an obligation to others. He and John wrap up the conversation by examining the intersection between Aquinas and libertarianism. The decline of unionization rates What liberty requires ...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Shannon Gayk is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Medieval Studies Institute at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. She joins Elise to talk about how literary forms reflect larger lived experiences. They discuss the importance of witness, the connection between experiencing art and being moved to action, and the relationship between ethics and aesthetics. They wrap up their conversation by exploring structures that can create collective flourishing. How do we get from te...
Jul 27, 2020•49 min
Kirsten Hall is a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Austin, a graduate fellow at the Austin Institute, and the managing editor of the Genealogies of Modernity Blog. She joins Ryan to discuss eighteenth-century literature, drama, and thought. Their conversation ranges from the historical importance of Cato , the eighteenth century’s Hamilton , to what 2001: A Space Odyssey can tell us about “the deep eighteenth century.” They also discuss the newest film adaption of Jane Austen’s E...
Jul 13, 2020•44 min
Jesse Straight is farmer and founder of Whiffletree Farm. The goal of Jesse’s business is “to farm in a way that is good for all parties involved: the land, the animals, our families, our customers, and our community.” Jesse explains what terms like “grass-fed” and “cage-free” really mean and how the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing the weaknesses in the industrial food system. He tells us about his relationship with the work of Wendell Berry, walks us through his decision to become a farmer, and ...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Anthony Bradley is a professor of religious studies and director of the Center for the Study of Human Flourishing at the King’s College in New York City. He gives us a personalist analysis of the criminal justice system (touching on everything from architecture to food) and the Black Lives Matter movement. We discuss the relationship between Afro-pessimism, hope, and Eastern Christianity, and how Black experience informs trinitarian theology. We also talk about the dangers of missional narcissis...
Jun 22, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Terence Sweeney is editor-at-large of the Genealogies of Modernity Blog and is currently finishing his PhD in philosophy at Villanova. He joins us to talk about the role of the Christian genealogist and the place for wonder and curiosity in the modern university. We mix it up by playing a game of “would you rather” (Thomas Aquinas’s five ways or Pascal's wager?) and talking about Terence’s work as a sexton at his church. Why did God create time? The role of the Christian genealogist Biblical gen...
Jun 15, 2020•50 min
Jonathan Anderson, associate professor of art at Biola University, is currently pursuing a PhD in theology and religious studies. He joins us to discuss contemporary art and its theological implications. The conversation ranges from Christological approaches in art to the best artists currently dealing with theological themes. Art patronage in the past and today Financialization of art Epiphany and theophany American modernism The modern museum Politics in vision Secularity Christological approa...
Jun 01, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Katie and Brandon McGinley live with their four children in an intentional Catholic neighborhood community. Brandon is a Catholic writer, and Katie is a retired librarian and full-time homeschooler. They discuss how their community began and how they’ve grown since then. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to think creatively about community building, and they share the ways they’ve safely stayed in touch with and supported the people they’re close to. They also look to the future, covering wh...
May 25, 2020•41 min
