Author and music critic Robert Reilly joins the podcast to discuss one of the greatest operas ever composed, Francis Poulenc’s 1957 Dialogues des Carmélites , which host Thomas Mirus recently saw at the Metropolitan Opera. Based on the true story of sixteen Carmelite nuns who were martyred in the French Revolution (famously singing the Salve Regina as they went to the guillotine), the opera is an adaptation of Georges Bernanos’s play, which in turn was adapted from Gertrud von le Fort’s novella ...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 152
What's behind the increasing popularity of drag queens and drag shows in America? Why is half the audience of RuPaul's Drag Race now composed of young liberal women? How has the drag subculture, originally intended as a frivolous and self-consciously artificial deconstruction of masculinity, paradoxically become one of progressivism's most potent symbols of earnest and authentic self-expression? Darel Paul, professor of political science at Williams College, joins the podcast to discuss his rece...
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 151
Denis McNamara and Christopher Carstens, co-authors of the new book Solemnities: Celebrating a Tapestry of Divine Beauty , join the podcast to talk about the upcoming solemnities of Christmas; Mary, Mother of God; and Epiphany. The book (co-authored with Alexis Kutarna) covers the Church's 17 solemnities. For each, there is a discussion of its theological and spiritual significance, a reproduction and analysis of a great artwork related to the solemnity, and tips on how to observe the solemnity ...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 150
Blessed John Duns Scotus (1265-1308), the Franciscan friar known as the "Subtle Doctor", is one of the most important theologians and philosophers of the Middle Ages, yet over the centuries he has fallen into disrepute, or at least neglect, by comparison with the "Angelic Doctor", St. Thomas Aquinas. Interest in Scotus has revived somewhat in part due to his beatification by Pope St. John Paul II, who called him the "defender of the Immaculate Conception" and "minstrel of the Incarnation". Indee...
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 149
Christopher V. Mirus, your host’s older brother, is a philosophy professor at the University of Dallas, and author of the new book Being Is Better Than Not Being: The Metaphysics of Goodness and Beauty in Aristotle . In this episode he discusses being a philosopher in the Aristotelian tradition, compares Aristotle’s intellectual and pedagogical approach with Plato’s, and touches on some themes from his book. How does Aristotle identify goodness with the ability to be contemplated – even in the s...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 148
Catholic poet Jane Greer joins the podcast to read from her third collection, The World As We Know It Is Falling Away . She discusses the spiritual challenges that came with the great success of her previous book, Love Like a Conflagration , connecting to a major theme of her new book: fallen man’s thwarted desire to exceed divinely ordained limits to earthly delights, in the face of death and apocalypse – along with the real beauty of the gifts God has given us to enjoy in this life. Links The ...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 147
This episode contains clips of highlights from episodes 33, 56, and 57 of the Catholic Culture Podcast. Links 33: Structure and Freedom in Music and in Christ – Mark Christopher Brandt https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-33-structure-and-freedom-in-music-and-in-christ-mark-christopher-brandt/ 56: Vindicating Authority – Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P. https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-56-vindicating-authority-aquinas-guilbeau-op/ 57: River of the Immaculate Conception – Ja...
Nov 03, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Though prayer, fasting, and public presence, 40 Days for Life has been very successful in reducing abortions, closing down abortion clinics, and even saving the souls of women who intend abortion and abortion industry workers. Co-founder Shawn Carney joins the podcast to discuss their work and the current situation post-Roe. Topics include: A 40 Days for Life success story in Manassas, VA Political propaganda against pregnancy centers Government crackdowns on pro-lifers in the US and UK Why ther...
Oct 25, 2022•46 min•Ep. 146
The Catholic Culture Podcast Network sponsored a poetry reading session at the fourth biennial Catholic Imagination Conference, hosted by the University of Dallas. Thomas Mirus moderated this session on Sept. 30, 2022, introducing poets Paul Mariani, Frederick Turner, and James Matthew Wilson. Paul Mariani, University Professor Emeritus at Boston College, is the author of twenty-two books, including biographies of William Carlos Williams, John Berryman, Robert Lowell, Hart Crane, Gerard Manley H...
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 145
St. Paul’s admonition for wives to submit to their husbands as the Church submits to Christ (Ephesians 5) is one of the most uncomfortable teachings for modern Catholics. But it’s not just obedience in marriage that moderns find objectionable–and it’s not just liberals who can’t stomach it. Across the political and religious spectrum, even among self-described traditionalists, we find all kinds of excuses to avoid obedience. Deeply embedded in the post-Enlightenment consciousness is the equation...
Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 144
"Architecture is the built form of ideas, and church architecture is the built form of theology." Denis McNamara joins the show to give a crash course in the underlying principles of Catholic church architecture, and make the case for classical architecture as the method that should be used by today's sacred architects. McNamara is an Associate Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Beauty and Culture at Benedictine College, architectural consultant, and author of multiple books on a...
Sep 19, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 143
Abigail Favale returns to the show to discuss her new book, The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory . Topics include: Understanding "lived experience" in light of theology and anthropology Learning from people with gender dysphoria who have transitioned and detransitioned The spike in transgender identity among teenagers "What about intersex people?" How potency and actuality can help us to understand sex difference Manhood and womanhood as symbols of theological realities Abigail Favale, The ...
Sep 12, 2022•47 min•Ep. 142
Catholic philosopher Edward Feser joins the podcast to discuss his new book, All One in Christ: A Catholic Critique of Racism and Critical Race Theory . But before getting to that, he and Thomas discuss their similar paths away from libertarianism, and their shared appreciation for the music of Thelonious Monk. Timestamps 1:50 Libertarianism 14:57 Jazz 38:24 Critical race theory Links All One in Christ: A Catholic Critique of Racism and Critical Race Theory https://ignatius.com/all-one-in-christ...
Sep 05, 2022•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 141
Joshua Hren, author of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, editor-in-chief of Wiseblood Books, and co-founder of a new Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, returns to the podcast to discuss his recent essay, Contemplative Realism: A Theological-Aesthetical Manifesto : As ever, but especially in our present age of raging post-truth unreality, we ought to heed Pope Benedict XVI’s summons to “ask rather more carefully what ‘the real’ actually is.”...
Aug 19, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 140
In a recent video on the Pints with Aquinas channel, Gregory Pine, O.P. voiced his concern that mass entertainment, particularly music and movies, is often an obstacle to achieving the heavenly end of contemplation for which we are made. What is noteworthy is that unlike the typical Catholic commentary on pop culture, Fr. Pine does not focus so much on the moral content of music and movies as how their very form affects us bodily, psychologically and spiritually. In this discussion inspired by F...
Aug 12, 2022•2 hr 10 min•Ep. 139
Catholic sculptor Christopher Alles joins the podcast for an introduction to the art of sculpture, especially in its formal qualities. Alles mostly does commission work for the Church, and the theoretical points in this conversation are illuminated by references to some of his recent works, including a work-in-progress Pieta and his monumental sculpture of St. Joseph, Patron of a Happy Death. Topics include: Collaboration with patrons in commissioned work The iconographic tradition in sculpture ...
Jul 27, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 138
Poet, translator and cultural critic Anthony Esolen joins the podcast to discuss his book, In the Beginning Was the Word: An Annotated Reading of the Prologue of John . 'In this extended meditation, Anthony Esolen looks, phrase by phrase, at the majestic Prologue to the Gospel of John, which with good reason he calls "the most influential paragraph in the history of man." He unfolds its theological richness by showing how the Apostle John has in mind, not only what he saw Jesus do and heard him ...
Jul 07, 2022•56 min•Ep. 137
Joshua Hren returns to discuss his debut novel, Infinite Regress. "In the years since his graduation from St. Marquis University, Blake Yourrick has fled his family and Milwaukee, rotating from job to dead-end job—working the Bakken oilfields in Dakota and even signing on as the night caretaker of a rural abbey graveyard. Deep in student debt and estranged from his misanthropic, alcoholic father, Blake is haunted by the memory of his mother’s death—and by his relationship with his college mentor...
Jun 30, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 136
Historian Árpád von Klimó joins the podcast to give an introduction to József Cardinal Mindszenty (1892-1975), prince primate of Hungary. Mindszenty was not only the face of Hungarian resistance to fascism and communism, but ultimately a symbol Catholic resistance to communism worldwide. From 1948 to 1956 he was in a communist prison, from 1956 to 1971 he was isolated from the world as a refuge in the U.S. Legation in Hungary. He then spent the last 4 years of his life in exile from his country ...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 135
D. C. Schindler's book The Politics of the Real: The Church between Liberalism and Integralism is one of the richest entries in the ongoing Catholic debate over liberalism, political authority, the common good, and the relation between Church and State. Schindler offers subtle, convincing arguments as to why liberalism is "the political form of evil", specifically consisting of a rejection of the Christian form - specifically, the Jewish-Greek-Roman synthesis embodied in the Catholic Church. Lib...
Jun 13, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 134
In a wide-ranging and erudite interview, poet and translator Ryan Wilson joins the podcast to discuss how the poet makes use of the classical virtue of xenia or hospitality, what poets can learn from the work of translation, the "romantic turn" (inner vision) and the "classical turn" (communication/craft) in poetry, the great Latin poet Horace, and more. Ryan performs, in his dynamic style, classic poems by Horace and others, as well as his own poems. Ryan Wilson is an adjunct professor of Engli...
May 25, 2022•2 hr 39 min•Ep. 133
"The justification of art is the internal combustion it ignites in the hearts of men and not its shallow, externalized, public manifestations. The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but is, rather, the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity." - Glenn Gould One of the greatest classical pianists of the 20th century, Glenn Gould, shocked the world at age thirty-one when he announced his permanent retirement from public performance. Den...
May 13, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 132
This episode contains clips of highlights from episodes 51 and 53-55 of the Catholic Culture Podcast. Links (in order of clips) The Hundredfold - Anthony Esolen https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-55-hundredfold-anthony-esolen/ Bringing Melody Back to Pop Music - The Duskwhales https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-51-bringing-melody-back-to-pop-music-duskwhales/ God Made Us for Order and Surprise - John-Mark Miravalle https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episod...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 13 min
One of the best contemporary natural law philosophers, J. Budszizewski, joins the show to discuss his new book, How (and How Not) to Be Happy , spiritual warfare in the classroom, and his journey from “macho nihilism” to faith. Topics include: Why virtue alone won’t make you happy Why the Greeks said “Call no man happy until he is dead” A critique of the Stoic revival How belief in the afterlife allows us to be honest about suffering in this life Teaching secular students about natural law Break...
Apr 19, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 131
In Holy Week of 1962, Bishop Karol Wojtyla gave a retreat to a group of Polish artists. The text of that retreat has now been published in English, along with commentary, by the Theology of the Body Institute, in a book titled God Is Beauty: A Retreat on the Gospel and Art . Christopher West, president of the TOB Institute, joins Thomas Mirus to discuss the retreat and how it fits together with St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Themes include: God is Beauty The Incarnation is perfect Beau...
Apr 04, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 130
Thomas Mirus reads his article "Fatima Today: In Defense of Private Revelation". The first part of this article is a reminder of the essential importance of Fatima in our time. The second, and longer, part corrects a misunderstanding of private revelation held by many—namely that whatever falls into this category can make no claim on our mind or conscience, and that it is a matter of indifference whether we pay heed to it. Links Thomas V. Mirus, "Fatima Today: In Defense of Private Revelation" h...
Mar 24, 2022•27 min•Ep. 129
Katy Carl, author of the excellent new novel As Earth Without Water and editor-in-chief of the Catholic arts journal Dappled Things , joins the show to discuss the novel and the state of the Catholic literary scene. The publisher's description of As Earth Without Water: When Dylan Fielding, celebrated contemporary visual artist, becomes Br. Thomas Augustine, novice at Our Lady of the Pines monastery, he finds delight not only in the shock his choice causes everyone around him but—to his own surp...
Mar 18, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 128
Today's guest is Chase Faucheux, translator of a recent biography of Pope St. Gregory the Great. Topics include: The very low point in Rome's history in which Gregory came of age His being all things to all men in the city of Rome, as both a spiritual and temporal leader His longing for the monastic life even after he became Pope His remarkable forthrightness about his own shortcomings His diplomatic attempts to keep barbarians from destroying his city Links Sigrid Grabner, In the Eye of the Sto...
Mar 10, 2022•57 min•Ep. 127
This is a significantly truncated version of the original episode. Listen to the full episode here: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/126-how-charlie-parker-changed-my-life/ Thomas Mirus goes solo in this episode to talk about how his relationship to music was completely transformed in his late teens, by exposure to the music of alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. Before he had used music to stimulate an emotional response, but soon he found himself listening for the sake of musical beauty...
Mar 04, 2022•19 min•Ep. 126
Art historian Elizabeth Lev joins the show to discuss her new book, The Silent Knight: A History of St. Joseph as Depicted in Art . The book offers not only a history of sixteen centuries of art featuring St. Joseph, but also an account of the development of devotion to St. Joseph over the past two thousand years -from the old man sitting overlooked in the corner of early Nativity scenes to the glorious Patron of the Univeral Church. Links Watch on YouTube to see the artworks discussed: https://...
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 125
