Paul felt it was important to put Daniel's book title in the episode title, but Bill's suggested title is too good not to place somewhere: TSSM: NEW BOOK EXPLORES MEANING IN MOTION In this new episode of the “That’s So Second Millennium” podcast, your host Paul Giesting , assistant professor of mathematics and sciences at Wyoming Catholic College , interviews his faculty colleague, Dr. Daniel Shields , assistant professor of philosophy. Shields’s book, Nature and Nature’s God: A Philosophical an...
Jun 30, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 220
The co-hosts announce that the TSSM podcast, now posting our 146th episode, will begin a hiatus, but all programs and show notes will continue to be archived and accessible . This episode allows Dr. Paul Giesting and Bill Schmitt to look back on their four-and-a-half years of interviews and discussions seeking a greater synthesis of knowledge: an exploration of science and religion, philosophy and spirituality, neuroscience and quantum physics, policies and principles, history and the future, to...
Nov 22, 2022•41 min•Ep. 219
Paul and Bill welcomed Paul Seungoh Chung to discuss how people can converse constructively about God despite their different backgrounds and different faith journeys. Dr. Chung, who has taught Christianity and science courses at the University of Toronto, is the author of God at the Crossroads of Worldviews: Toward a Different Debate about the Existence of God (University of Notre Dame Press, 2016). He also produces a podcast, “What Do You Mean God Speaks?” —a presentation of his ongoing resear...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 218
This month's episode focuses on the psychology of emotions and the need to respect them. On the one hand we do not want to be controlled by negative emotions, but on the other, we cannot simply will them away. Further, we need positive emotions in order to live rich and loving lives; we cannot simply force our way forward forever. Not respecting our emotions leads them to hijack us in many ways. A notable example is compulsive behavior or obsessions. The extreme versions of these we call addicti...
Sep 23, 2022•50 min•Ep. 217
For August Paul interviewed Scott Gazzoli of the Causing the Effect podcast. He's a wealth manager in Brooklyn who has been through a long and harsh spiritual journey. We touch on fitness and the psychology of achievement and spend the most time talking about the deceptiveness of material goals--money, sex, physical pleasure--how spiritually and psychologically they turn out to be deceptive and destructive. Be sure to check out: Scott: Causing the Effect Podcast , on YouTube , Twitter , and Inst...
Aug 30, 2022•39 min•Ep. 216
Matt Swaim is the co-host of the Son Rise Morning Show , heard Monday through Friday 6-8 am on hundreds of stations in the nationwide EWTN Catholic radio network. He is also the outreach manager for the Coming Home Network , an apostolate that helps non-Catholic Christians who desire to learn more about, and consider entrance into, the Catholic Church. He co-hosts a podcast, “On the Journey,” for that organization. Paul and Bill talked with Matt largely about the challenges in understanding, and...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 142
Paul and Bill spoke with Louis Albarran , associate professor of theology at Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, IN. Albarran holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Dayton, and he specializes in the connection of religion, culture, and the physicality of devotional practices, with a focus on the Latino Catholic culture. Albarran spoke of the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as told by the Aztec people in their own language. The name of this narrative is Nican Mopohua. Albarran s...
Jun 30, 2022•55 min•Ep. 214
Quick hit running down the SCS Conference for 2022 at Mundelein Seminary outside Chicago. The conference theme was the environment. Info on the conference SCS YouTube channel with videos of talks Link to the slides for Paul's talk on uranium and nuclear power...
Jun 06, 2022•4 min•Ep. 213
Christopher Bell, president and executive director of Good Counsel Homes, is “on the frontline of the pro-life movement,” as The Catholic World Report wrote in a 2021 profile . Chris and TSSM co-host Bill Schmitt have been friends since their college years, when they were both studying journalism. Co-host Paul Giesting joined the two native Long Islanders for a discussion of Catholic values in the abortion debate shortly after the leak of a draft US Supreme Court decision which pointed toward a ...
Jun 01, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 212
In this episode, Paul and Bill situate themselves geographically, updating each other on their latest activities and changes in locale. Paul is on a medical mission to Billings, Montana, at the moment. Bill has moved from South Bend, where he was an adjunct professor at Holy Cross College, to Troy, NY, the hometown of his wife. Uranium mining is on Paul’s mind during his brief departure from Wyoming Catholic College in the small town of Lander. As a PhD geologist, Paul will make a presentation o...
May 01, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 211
Darcia Narvaez , who holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota, is a prolific public intellectual who uses many tools of multimedia communication to do research and to address needs of everyday people. Her work enhances and taps deeply rooted wisdom about human nature so that it can be applied in everday tasks, such as parenting. She is a Professor of Psychology Emerita at the University of Notre Dame. Links to much of her work can be found at her personal website , as well as...
Mar 28, 2022•36 min•Ep. 210
As the emcee noted at a concert here in Lander, a Musical History Tour, the Renaissance--the period when Europe revived its intellectual life by re-evaluating the writings of the Hellenistic past--ends around the year 1600, give or take. By that time, the focus had shifted toward going beyond the ancients instead of merely revisiting their achievements. This shift in focus happened on a different schedule in different fields, to be certain. Music may have been well ahead of the ancients already ...
Feb 28, 2022•41 min•Ep. 209
Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers ( deaconharold.com ) is a Catholic deacon and public speaker. Bill and I had the privilege of interviewing him earlier this month. Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers is one of the most incisive and authentic Catholic speakers and authors who have arisen to serve the New Evangelization, including an outreach to the younger generations who hunger to combine secular reality and meaningful Church values. Paul and Bill know Deacon Harold through our connections to the University of...
Jan 31, 2022•45 min•Season 4Ep. 136
Paul and Bill were privileged to talk with Father Robert Spitzer, SJ, the founding director of the Magis Center in Orange County, California. Father Spitzer’s biography includes service as the president of Gonzaga University and the authorship of numerous books about various aspects of theology, philosophy, spirituality, apologetics, happiness and the meaning of life, and much more. He has produced a huge collection of materials for online use. His main websites are the Magis Center site, com , ...
Dec 20, 2021•54 min•Ep. 208
David Seitz, OFS, is a long-time professed member of the Secular Franciscan Order who holds an M.A. in theology from Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. He has written a book, available on line, called Come Let Us Worship: Reflections on the Words and Prayers of the Mass. He produces podcasts, videos, blogs, and speaks publicly, offering reflection for spiritual growth based on the life and works of St. Francis of Assisi. Find him at tauministries.com and, on YouTube , look for his nickname, Franc...
Nov 23, 2021•46 min•Ep. 207
Here's our pre-conversation with Matthew Cloud prior to the full interview. In this segment we talk a little bit about the Ubuntu distro, the ubuntu philosophy of computer science, and 4th and 5th generation tools for generating working code to solve computer science problems in the context of Matthew's role connected to a grant for cybersecurity education through Ivy Tech and other schools in several states.
Oct 28, 2021•12 min•Ep. 206
Paul and Bill discussed computer education and cyber-security with Matthew Cloud , professor of the practice in the computer science program at Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, IN. Cloud has extensive experience in education, not only through classroom teaching at schools including Indiana’s Ivy Tech network of community colleges, but also through project management, curriculum development, and strategic collaborations with other a range of colleges and universities. Cloud holds a bachelor’s de...
Oct 06, 2021•53 min•Ep. 205
A solo episode from Paul today inspired by the content of Wyoming Catholic College’s Deductive Reasoning in Science course (SCI 301). Greek arithmetic and the Pythagoreans The crisis of incommensurables (irrational numbers) The triumph of geometry over arithmetic Emphasis on axiomatic systems and proofs: Euclid Archimedes: physics within the Euclidean paradigm Aristotle and the medieval: qualitative and categorical accounts of motion The long reach of ancient methods and paradigms Galileo and hi...
Sep 13, 2021•27 min•Ep. 204
Jordan Wales, PhD , who teaches theology at Hillsdale College in Michigan, spoke with Paul and Bill about his research at the intersection of robotics and religion . He discussed a compelling concern in the future relationship between human beings and technology. In particular, the concern, about which he spoke at the 2021 conference of the Society of Catholic Scientists , dealt with the interaction between individuals and the entities Wales calls “apparently personal artificial intelligence” (A...
Aug 23, 2021•51 min•Ep. 203
Welcome to this 130th episode of our podcast. Here’s a lively conversation between two geoscientists—testifying to the opportunities for Society of Catholic Scientists (SCS) members to enjoy discussions which are at once elevated by their personal values and grounded in their diverse, expert explorations of God’s creation. Paul spoke with Natasha Toghramadjian , a Ph.D. student in geophysics—and seismology in particular—at Harvard University. She performs wide-ranging research on earthquake dyna...
Aug 10, 2021•35 min•Ep. 202
Word on Fire will be holding a Faith and Science Summit August 9-12 (starting tomorrow!). It will feature at least nine speakers, including the SCS' own Jonathan Lunine and Karin Oberg. Among the topics discussed will be - The history of the Church and science, including a wealth of details that get glossed over by the "conflict hypothesis" - Specific coverage of what went wrong between the Pope, cardinals, and Galileo, and why that's far from a typical example of how the Church treats scientist...
Aug 08, 2021•2 min•Ep. 201
Paul gives an update on his move to Wyoming to take a faculty position at Wyoming Catholic College. We are looking forward to bringing you more Society of Catholic Scientists conference speaker interviews in August.
Jul 26, 2021•16 min•Ep. 200
An intriguing interview with a business school professor from Paul's alma mater, Anjan Thakor of the Washington University in St. Louis Olin Business School . The point of departure for this episode is Prof. Thakor's book of the same title written with Dr. Bob Quinn, and the book was launched as an analysis of why Dr. Quinn left a prestigious faculty position at the University of Michigan to go start a church in Australia. The book and our interview discuss what seems as if it should be common s...
Jul 12, 2021•47 min•Ep. 199
Paul and Bill interviewed Timothy Dolch, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics at Hillsdale College . Dr. Dolch is a member of the Society of Catholic Scientists , and he spoke in June at the Society’s 2021 conference, titled, “Extraterrestrials, AI, and Minds Beyond the Human.” His talk, “The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: An Overview,” offered his perspectives as an astrophysicist with expertise in radio astronomy. The talk, alongside others from the conference’s Saturday session, c...
Jun 28, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 198
Paul and Bill provide an on the scene review of the Society of Catholic Scientists Conference 2021 at the Washington, D.C. Hilton. The themes were Extraterrestrial Life, Artificial Intelligence, and Minds beyond the Human. As an added service, here are some links provided by the after dinner speaker, Jennifer Wiseman, to works and groups dedicated to faith - science dialogue: Book: "The Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to Hawking" (Editor Prof. Dennis Danielson, UBC; Pe...
Jun 08, 2021•15 min•Ep. 197
Paul and Bill welcomed Stephen Barr, Ph.D., president of the Society of Catholic Scientists (SCS), for a return visit to TSSM. Dr. Barr, a theoretical particle physicist, is emeritus professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware. We talked with him about the Society of Catholic Scientists and the organization’s fourth annual conference, scheduled June 4-6, 2021, in Washington, DC. The growing membership of SCS now totals about 1,500 in multiple countries. The...
May 31, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 196
Paul and Bill are proud to present this encore episode featuring the Science and Religion Initiative featuring the Science & Religion Initiative program conducted by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. In 2019, we interviewed Chris Baglow, Ph.D., director of the program, which equips Catholic high school educators with big-picture insights and detailed tools to communicate effectively regarding the complementarity of faith and reason, science and religion. ...
May 12, 2021•59 min•Ep. 195
Paul and Bill discuss the basic geological features of the Holy Land, like its geomorphology and tectonics, or translated into lay terms, the reasons why its landscape takes the form that it does and why it suffers a lot of earthquakes. Paul discusses the need for a book bringing together the best geologists and the best textual experts to collaborate and discuss the possible relationships between the texts of the Old Testament and other ancient Near Eastern writings and the geologic record of t...
Apr 26, 2021•27 min•Ep. 193
Bill and I are excited to bring you an episode about the archeology and secular history of the time when Jesus was born, grew up, and preached. Fuller notes to come on our episode with Dr. Jean-Pierre Isbouts, author of In the Footsteps of Jesus . Jean-Pierre Isbouts, Ph.D., is a best-selling author, historian, and filmmaker who has invested decades of work in to understand and explain the Biblical foundations of Christian faith from an interdisciplinary perspective. His career as a humanities s...
Apr 12, 2021•36 min•Ep. 192
Paul and Bill discuss some of the ways in which human minds go wrong. Paul wonders aloud whether the state of spiritual disconnection called "original sin" is specifically manifested in the ways parents relate, or don't relate, to children and the problems that follow from that for the rest of our lives. We discuss Henri Nouwen (a little) and Eckhart Tolle (a little more) and his ideas on how enlightenment has cropped up here and there throughout history but gets suffocated by social conformism....
Mar 22, 2021•43 min•Ep. 191
