Well, friends, all good things must come to an end. After eight (8!) wonderful years of co-hosting this podcast for you, we’ve decided to call it a day and offer a fond farewell to a project that has brought us so much joy. In this episode we’re sharing about how we got started podcasting together, … Continue reading FoC 188: The Final Episode →
Tis the season to decorate your home, prepare for guests, and feel that creeping sense of inadequacy when you look at perfectly curated Instagram houses. It’s so important to have the right perspective on home. Instead of keeping up with the latest trends, can we focus on cultivating homes that serve our families? Can we … Continue reading FOC 187: Finding the Confidence to Love Your Home with Paige Rien →...
How do we determine what’s true in a very disorienting time? How do we know what authorities, institutions, or media to believe when the world around us feels untrustworthy? How do we have deep conversations with friends and loved ones when the political landscape is so divisive? It’s a very difficult time to navigate and … Continue reading FoC 186: How Not To Lose Your Mind With Politics And The News with Bonnie Kristian →...
Women’s healthcare has been a hot topic for ages, but in a post-Dobbs world, it’s never been more discussed. So we decided to reach out to Leah Jacobson, a women’s health advocate and service provider to discuss the complexities of women’s healthcare, protection for the unborn, and fighting for the care, education, and medical resources … Continue reading FoC 185: The Wholistic Pro-Life Future For Women’s Healthcare with Leah Jacobson →...
Several years ago, we were enchanted by a new series: The Green Ember. This series featuring rabbits who are fighting for goodness in a dark world captivated our kids and we wished there were more books like it in the world. Thankfully, the author, S.D. Smith is still writing and his latest project Jack Zulu … Continue reading FoC 184: Escape Into Reality with S.D. Smith →
The sexual revolution was supposed to usher in a whole new world of freedom for women. Now, decades later, did it offer us what it promised? Christine Emba is examining just that question. Are women happy with the current dating landscape? Are they having lots of fantastic casual sex? According to Christine’s new book, Rethinking … Continue reading FoC 183: Rethinking the Ethics of Modern Sex with Christine Emba →...
Have you ever just felt stuck? Not only do you not know what decisions to make in your life, but you’ve lost touch of what your vision for life even is? We’ve all been in that sludge of disorientation at some point. But how do you get clarity about what you want your life to … Continue reading FoC 182: Expanding the Vision for Your Life Through Coaching with Joseph Thompson →...
We’re back after our long summer break and we have a fantastic first guest of the season! Sarah Mackenzie is one of our favorite voices because of her joyful enthusiasm for good books (among other wonderful things). You may know her as the author of homeschooling classic Teaching from Rest or from her podcast Read … Continue reading FoC 181: What Makes a Great Children’s Book with Sarah Mackenzie →...
There is so much confusion about feminism. Can Catholics be feminists? Is feminism all that’s wrong with everything in the world? What does feminism even mean? And there’s no need to mention that gender is a hot button issue these days. So do we listen to the nostalgic about the 1950s crowd? Do we listen … Continue reading FoC 180: Seeing the Reality of Gender and Feminism with Dr. Abigail Favale →...
What should we talk about during Mary’s month of May just after Mother’s Day? Well, Our Lady, of course! In this episode we’re chatting with Haley’s pastor, Fr. Ryan Higdon of St. Louis parish in Waco, TX. He is a beer and scotch enthusiast who loves camping, hiking, and running marathons. He’s a wonderful spiritual … Continue reading FoC 179: Lessons from the Marian Heart with Fr. Ryan Higdon →...
Ah, Meltdown May–the season when schedules, stress, and big transitions result in upheaval in our hearts, homes, and even Instagram. In this episode we’re talking with our good friend Elizabeth Nava about how to avoid Meltdown May, navigate social media, take charge of our own screen time, and more! Elizabeth is a Notre Dame grad … Continue reading FoC 178: Preventing Meltdown May with Elizabeth Nava →
What can good literature teach us? Can it show us how to be holy? Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson thinks so. In this episode we’re talking about how literary “saints” can show us what holiness looks like and how scandalous holiness appears to a world that can’t comprehend it. We’ve been bigs fans of Jessica for … Continue reading FoC 177: The Scandal of Holiness in Literature with Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson →...
Today we’re sharing this special bonus episode to celebrate the release of Haley’s brand new book, Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life: On Love, Friendship, and Becoming the Person God Created You To Be! We’re so excited to be able to finally talk in depth about what this new book is about; diving into Jane … Continue reading FoC: Bonus Episode – Let Jane Austen Be Your Life Coach – Haley’s New Book is Out Today! →...
How can found our identity in being loved by God? How do we remember that we are an unrepeatable soul that is precious to our Heavenly Father? Shannon Ochoa is here to help! Shannon serves as Co-Founder and Director of Community Care for Eden Invitation – a movement for young adult Catholics and Christians with experiences … Continue reading FoC 176: Eden Invitation and Ministering to Beloved Souls with Shannon Ochoa →...
We’re excited to have one of our favorite guests return to the show today: Fr. Harrison Ayre! Fr. Harrison was born and raised near Vancouver, BC. During his time at university studying philosophy, he had a profound conversion experience that brought him to live for and with Christ. Ordained a priest in 2015, he has … Continue reading FoC 175: Answering Modernism with the Sacramental Worldview with Fr. Harrison Ayre →
We’re thrilled to have our friend Shannon Wimp Schmidt on the podcast today! Shannon is a pastoral minister, co-host of Plaid Skirts and Basic Black Podcast, and co-author of the book Fat Luther, Slim Pickin’s from Ave Maria Press. She is also a founding board member of Catholics United for Black Lives, a not-for-profit organization which advocates for racial … Continue reading FoC 174: Sharing the Richness of Black Catholic Experience with the Church with Shannon Wimp Schmidt →...
Before we dive into today’s episode, we wanted to remind you that it’s time to sign up for our summer bookish pilgrimage to England! And if your registration and deposit are received by February 18th, you’ll get $350 off the trip! Check out the details here and give us a holler if you have any … Continue reading FoC 173: The Newly Catholic Life and Lent in 2022 with Tsh Oxenreider →
Maybe, like Haley and Christy, your family is recovering from Covid. Maybe January hasn’t turned out how you hoped in one way or another. Maybe all the things that are going very wrong make it hard to find joy. Is it possible to cultivate happiness in times such as these? Our guest today, Dr. Joy … Continue reading FoC 172: Aggressively Happy with Joy Clarkson →
Welcome to a new year here on the podcast! We’re so glad you’re still listening to us as we enter our geriatric podcaster seventh year! We’ve been doing this a long time, but only because we’ve had such fantastic listeners, and today it’s just us as we share some updates and thoughts on creating attitudes … Continue reading FoC 171: Attitudes For Where We Are and Where We’re Going →
Today we’re talking about the English medieval contemplative writers: Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, Walter Hilton, and Richard Rolle! It might sound like an unusual topic, but we think you’re going to find these figures incredibly relatable. They lived during a time of plague and the sought to communicate the love and mercy of God. … Continue reading Foc 170: Meeting The Medieval English Mystics with Dr. Grace Hamman →...
Many Catholic parents wonder, will our kids stay Catholic? How likely is it that faith can be handed down to the next generation? Are certain parenting methods more or less effective in raising children who will practice faith when they are grown? What practices matter and how much influence do parents have? Dr. Amy Adamczyk … Continue reading FoC 169: What Science Says About Our Kids Keeping the Faith with Dr. Amy Adamczyk →...
What can we do as Catholic laypeople to end racism and support our Catholic brothers and sisters of color? Chenele Shaw asked just that questioned and started her own non profit, The Before Gethsemane Initiative, which seeks to educate on difficult topics with an authentically Catholic understanding of the inherent dignity of the human person. … Continue reading FoC 168: A Hopeful Way Forward for Racial Reconciliation with Chenele Shaw →...
Catholic social teaching is an important part of our Catholic faith–but do most of us have a sense of how its all connected rather than simply know about certain key issues? We need to understand the scriptural and magesterial foundation for how we care for vulnerable people, the essential demands of charity and justice, care … Continue reading FoC 167: Connected In The Body of Christ with Fr. Josh Johnson →...
St. John Henry Newman is one of the Catholic Church’s newest canonized saints but he’s been a huge theological figure for ages due to his brilliant writing and high profile conversion from the Church of England to Rome. What makes this saint extraordinary and what can we learn about his writings that can help us … Continue reading FoC 166: The Beauty of St. John Henry Newman’s Spirituality with Dr. Bud Marr →...
When a huge crisis hits like a devastating medical diagnosis for your child–how do you go on? Is it possible not only to live through this kind of suffering but to truly embrace your life with joy? In her brand new book, Kelly Mantoan shares her story as a mother with two sons who have … Continue reading FoC 165: Living a Life of Joy as a Special Needs Parent with Kelly Mantoan →...
Don’t tell us you haven’t wondered what it’s like to be Kathleen Kelly from You’ve Got Mail because we know you have! We’ve wondered the same thing which is why we decided to get answers from the co-owner of our very favorite book store: Fabled Bookshop and Cafe in Waco, Texas. If you attended our … Continue reading FoC 164: What It’s Like To Live the Dream of Owning a Bookshop with Alison Frenzel →...
The saints are one of the best things about being Catholic. But often, we think of the saints as cardboard cutouts and not real people who were very human, often messy, and struggling just like us. What if we all had friends in heaven that we found completely relatable because of their situation in life, … Continue reading FoC 163: Meeting New Saints Who Struggled Just Like You with Meg Hunter-Kilmer →...
Do the storms of life ever catch you by surprise? We often navigate our days expecting smooth sailing and are unprepared for the storms that inevitably arise. None of us could have anticipated how stormy the past two years have been, of course! But have they been even harder because we anticipate ease in our … Continue reading FoC 162: What To Do When You’re Drowning with Sally Clarkson →
Before we dive in to this episode’s details, don’t forget that WE ARE GOING TO ENGLAND next summer and we want you to come with us! Check out our previous episode or view the travel details here. We’ve all found ourselves at the beginning of a new academic year–and we’re all still waiting for the … Continue reading FoC 161: Finding Bouquets of Freshly Sharpened Pencils in an Imperfect World with Laura Kelly Fanucci →...
We’ve got big news! We’re going to England next year on a bookish pilgrimage! We’ve created the perfect tour of all the English sites of our dreams! We’re going to be going with Select International as they’ve allowed us to craft this tour of dreams for you to just hop aboard with us! (Have I … Continue reading FoC: Breaking News! We’re Going to England and You’re Coming Too! →
