The Church teaches that every person is called by God to do something particular, to play some unique role in the ongoing creation and salvation of the world. 

But what happens when our working lives don't align with our true vocations? What should we do when we find ourselves stuck doing jobs we don’t like?

Fr. James Martin knows something about that, having spent his teenage summers and most of his twenties doing a variety of odd jobs.

It’s the subject of his new book, Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest. 

On this episode, Fr. Martin joins associate editor Griffin Oleynick to speak about what that work has meant to him, and how he still draws from its lessons in humility and grace.

Plus: Heidi Schlumpf reports on the latest developments in American Catholicism, including the Trump administration’s conflict with the Vatican, the recent rise in Catholic conversions, and the fiftieth anniversary of the Women’s Ordination Conference. 

For further reading:

• Ryan Burge on the “great sort” in American religion
• Heidi Schlumpf on the Women’s Ordination Conference
• Massimo Faggioli on “cool” Catholicism and new baptisms

We know by now—through whistleblower reports, congressional hearings, and our daily lived experience—that these devices, neutral in themselves, can and often do cause serious harm. 

Can we learn to live without them again? Would we even want to? 

On this episode, D. Graham Burnett, a professor of the history of science at Princeton and co-author, with the Friends of Attention, of the new book Attensity: A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement, speaks with associate editor Regina Munch about how we got into this predicament, and where we should go. 

Burnett argues that before we can answer questions like those, we first need to understand how major tech firms have used “human fracking” to amass billions of dollars in profit.

Resistance, Burnett says, is indeed possible: we can take back our brains, and our lives, but only if we’re willing to fight for the human activities and habits of mind that nourish real connections with ourselves and others.

For further reading: 

• Alexander Stern on AI and the crisis of meaning
• Antonio Spadaro on Pope Leo’s critique of Silicon Valley
• Antón Barba-Kay on how the concept of attention has evolved

But since the beginning of Israel’s war with Hezbollah on March 2, Fr. Jones finds himself scanning social media for air strike warnings and handing out towels to migrants and other displaced people living in his parish church. 

Israel has been intensifying its attacks on Lebanon for more than one month, and has made no secret of its ambitions to invade and eventually annex the southern part of the country. 

Meanwhile more than twelve hundred Lebanese have been killed and one million have been displaced—a growing humanitarian catastrophe with no end in sight. 

On this episode, Fr. Jones speaks from Beirut with associate editor Griffin Oleynick about the war in Lebanon, and how he and the Church there have responded. 

For further reading: 

• The editors condemn Trump’s war on Iran
• Joseph Amar on Christianity in the Middle East
• Zeead Yaghi explains the economic toll of Lebanese sectarianism

Episode production and original music by Joel Myers.

Episode production and original music by Joel Myers.

Episode production and original music by Joel Myers.

Informed by Trump’s transactional approach to international relations, such actions flout the existing liberal world order, which has worked to promote democracy, human rights, free trade, and the freedom of movement since the end of World War II. 

They also betray the very idea of a shared humanity, which is profoundly antithetical to Catholic Social Teaching.

On this fourth, and final, episode of "The Counterweight," associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with Loyola Chicago's Miguel Diaz, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See under President Barack Obama, about the Trump administration's foreign policy, Diaz's experiences as a diplomat, and what the “America First” agenda means for the international community—and for the United States. 

Diaz also discusses how Catholic Social Teaching can counter this agenda by championing foreign policies that recognize the existing liberal order, support human rights, and act in service of the common good. 

For further reading: 

• Andrew J. Bachevich on Biden's foreign policy
• William Pfaff on the limits and dangers of American power abroad
• The Editors on Pacem in Terris 

So how did we get here? What lessons can we learn from the histories of other countries, especially ones that experienced radical destabilization and an authoritarian turn?

To answer these questions, on this episode we’re speaking with Hille Haker, a professor of Catholic Moral Theology at Loyola University Chicago. 

A native German, Haker points out how the current situation in the United States evinces disturbing parallels with the rise of Nazism in Germany. 

She also details the intellectual developments that have given rise to the new right wing anti-democratic comfort with authoritarianism—and how Catholic Social Teaching can counter it.

For further reading: 

• Eugene McCarraher on the perils of Christian post-liberalism
• A Commonweal symposium on the work of Patrick Deneen
• Philip Jeffery on leaving behind the new right

Recent examples abound, from the suspension of asylum for migrants and refugees, the all-out war on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in federal agencies and higher education, and the ongoing and increasingly militarized efforts at mass deportation, which have terrorized Latino, Haitian, and other communities across the country.  

This second episode in our series The Counterweight: Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching in a Time of Crisis features Fr. Bryan Massingale. 

He’s a professor in Fordham University’s theology department and a priest of the archdiocese of Milwaukee. He joins Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi to examine the ideology that in his view undergirds so many of the Trump administration’s actions: white Christian nationalism. 

Fr. Massingale’s remarks are followed by discussion between him and three other experts, Fordham’s Cristina Traina and Loyola Chicago’s Miguel Diaz and Hille Haker. 

As we confront the political, social, and spiritual challenges brought on by the second Trump administration, the moment seems right for a clear examination of Catholic social teaching by leading scholarly voices deeply rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition, especially its ethics, political philosophy, and theology. 

In this special four-episode series, a collaboration between Commonweal and senior members of the theology departments at Fordham University and Loyola University Chicago, we present four conversations, each providing a provocative, informative analysis of key political and social issues rooted in the understanding of Catholic social teaching. 

We’re calling it ‘The Counterweight: Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching in a Time of Crisis.’ 

Our participants are Christina Traina and Bryan Massingale of Fordham University, and Hille Haker and Miguel Diaz of Loyola University Chicago. Each episode will have a featured presenter, followed by a conversation among all the participants. 

Today’s episode, our first, takes up the purpose of government, an especially urgent topic given the radical departure from the principles and conventions of liberal democracy by the Trump administration. Fordham’s Christina Traina is here to explain how that departure is also a departure from Catholic social teaching’s more expansive and communal understanding of government—not just as a guarantor of rights, but a steward of the common good.

What’s needed, argues Atlantic staff writer Elizabeth Bruenig, is not just a deeper understanding of forgiveness, but the actual practice of mercy. Bruenig has written extensively on the death penalty in a series of articles and essays.

On this episode, she reflects on how witnessing executions—some botched, all harrowing—has shaped her thinking about capital punishment.

For further reading: 

• Elizabeth Bruenig’s July cover story for The Atlantic 
• David Bentley Hart on Christianity and the death penalty
• The Editors on Pope Francis’s declaration on capital punishment

That’s exactly what was happening in the arts in 1980s NYC, argues Paul Elie, author of The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s. 

As Elie tells it, the era wasn’t just marked by the ascendance of the moral majority and the authority of tradition—figures like Pope John Paul II and Ronald Reagan. 

It also featured subtle engagement with spiritual themes by the likes of figures like Leonard Cohen, Andy Warhol, Madonna, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, and Martin Scorcese, and provides a template for understanding where Catholicism stands today. 

For further reading: 

• An excerpt from Paul Elie’s new book
• Kaya Oakes on why religion must ask better questions
• Susan Bigelow Reynolds on millennial religious rejection

It’s impossible to say just how Leo XIV’s papacy will unfold, though in his early Masses and remarks the pope has already voiced strong support for the continuation of Francis’s project of synodality. Leo’s chosen name signals his commitment to the advancement of Catholic social teaching.

On this episode, Commonweal contributors Natalia Imperatori-Lee and Mollie Wilson O’Reilly and editor Dominic Preziosi reflect on Pope Leo’s first week on the chair of Peter. 

For further reading: 

• The editors on Leo’s election
• Anthony Annett on Pope Leo and AI
• Stephen Millies on Leo and Chicago’s CTU
• Massimo Faggioli on what Leo’s pontificate signals for the U.S. Church

More coverage of the death of Pope Francis:

• Isabella Simon on Let Us Dream
• César J. Baldelomar on Laudato Si’ 
• Griffin Oleynick on Evangelii gaudium

It’s long been a truism that Catholics don’t actually read the Bible — at least not as much or in the same way as their Protestant brethren.

But that doesn’t mean Catholics don’t encounter it, whether in books, films, plays, or popular culture. 

On this episode, Fordham theology professor and frequent Commonweal contributor Michael Peppard, author of the new book How Catholics Encounter the Bible,  joins editor Dominic Preziosi to discuss how, paradoxically, the Bible shapes Catholic lives—just usually not in the shape of a book. 

For further reading:

• Michael Peppard on the Bible and Marian art
• Christian Wiman on the Bible as poetry
• Eve Tushnet on the queer Catholic imagination

That’s the question asked by Edwin Frank, editorial director of New York Review Books and author of Stranger than Fiction: Lives of the Twentieth-Century Novel. 

Good books—and there were many written during the past hundred years—can entertain, just as they can give us pleasure. But great ones have the ‘power to breach,’ that is, to upset and provoke us, shattering our illusions about the world. 

On this episode, Frank speaks with Commonweal contributor and literary critic Tony Domestic about authors like Dostoevsy, Proust, and Virginia Woolf, among others.

For further reading:

• Fiction by Alice McDermott
• Mollie Wilson O’Reilly on George Eliot’s double life 
• Tony Domestico’s latest books column 

Their actions and remarks have alarmed many in the Church. On this episode, three guests tell us how and why.

Massimo Faggioli, Commonweal contributor and Villanova University professor addresses the challenges for Catholicism in the second Trump era. 

Kerry Robinson, the head of Catholic Charities USA, explains the vital work of her organization and who will be most harmed by the freezes in federal funding. 

And Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago speaks about why “the protection and advocacy for the dignity of migrants” is the Church’s new “preeminent urgency.”

For further reading: 

• Massimo Faggioli on what American regime change means for the Church
• Griffin Oleynick on Francis’s rebuke of J. D. Vance’s ethno-nationalism
• Terence Sweeney on how the bishops may respond to Trump

One thing that’s rarely threatened, though, is Social Security, a testament to the political clout of “older people”—formerly known as “senior citizens” in America.

How did things get that way? 

On this episode, historian James Chappel speaks about his recent book Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age, which details the creation of Social Security as it criticizes the failure of the political left to make its benefits more broadly available. 

For further reading: 

• Peter Quinn on aging, aging, and gratitude
• Rand Richards Cooper on caring for aging parents
• James Chappel on material insecurity
• Charles Morris on the future of social security

We need only look at Donald Trump’s pardoning of the January 6 “hostages” for the latest, most egregious example. 

Why do humans long to forget? Why do we hide the truth from ourselves? What is the function of memory in democratic societies? 

On this episode, senior editor Matt Boudway speaks with Mark Lilla, professor of humanities at Columbia University and author of the new book Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting not to Know.

For further reading: 

• Matt Boudway on a memoir by Julian Barnes
• Tal Howard reviews Mark Lilla’s Shipwrecked Mind
• Timothy Snyder on the indignity of voting for Donald Trump 
• Tomáš Halík on what some in the Church prefer to forget

It was also an important one for the podcast, which for five years—and nearly one hundred and fifty episodes—has been bringing you reflective conversations with inspiring writers, thinkers, artists, and political and religious leaders. 

On this episode, we’re revisiting four of our favorite episodes from the past year:

• Marilynne Robinson and Christian Wiman on Genesis
• Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman on the ethics of having children
• Vinson Cunningham on criticism as a way of life
• Rabbi Shai Held on Judaism’s loving heart. 

No, argues Norman Wirzba, distinguished professor of Christian theology at Duke and author of the new book Love’s Braided Dance: Hope in a Time of Crisis. Instead, “hope” is a verb—an action we have to do.

On this episode Wirzba explains how he manages to hope, even in the face of some of our most intractable problems—including war, migration, and the climate crisis.

For further reading: 

• Oscar Romero on politics and Christian love
• Vincent Miller on Pope Francis’s ecological hope
• Eric Miller on the fiction of Wendell Berry

On this episode, Commonweal editor-at-large Mollie Wilson O’Reilly and Natalia Imperatori Lee, professor of religious studies at Manhattan University, reflect on what just happened. They also parse what the second Trump administration might portend for Democrats, the Church, and especially women.

It’s long past time, they argue, not only for men to confront sexism and misogyny, but to work to articulate healthy versions of masculinity. Trump’s election may be a massive setback for feminism—but how the story ends depends on our response.

For further reading: 

• Mollie Wilson O’Reilly ponders Trump’s 2016 election
• Regina Munch on why we can’t disengage
• The editors on why the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh

On this episode, editor Dominic Preziosi speaks with financial journalist Gareth Gore, author of the new book Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church. 

Relying on bank records and the testimony of whistleblowers, Gore demystifies the secretive world of Opus Dei, showing how it has recruited powerful individuals and harmed vulnerable ones in its quest for political sway.

For further reading: 

• Daniele Palmer on Opus Dei’s ‘ordinary secularity’
• George Scialabba reviews Opus for The Baffler

That’s partly what motivated Anna Moreland and Thomas Smith to write The Young Adult Playbook, a kind of “self-help” book intended to help high school and college students think through the deep questions of life, love, and vocation. 

On this episode, Moreland and Smith speak with associate editor Regina Munch about their book, explaining how young people can live rich, flourishing, and meaningful lives. 

For further reading: 

• Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko on the good life
• Regina Munch on the advantages of marriage
• Brenda Noriega on synodality, young people, and leadership

Far less well-known, though, is the tradition of Black Christian Nationalism, a radical social and religious movement founded by Rev. Albert Cleage, Jr., in civil-rights-era Detroit.

On this episode, associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with writer Aaron Robertson, author of The Black Utopians: Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America. 

Blending history and memoir, Robertson’s book traces the untold story of Black Christian Nationalism while grappling with a question: what does Utopia look like in black?

For further reading: 

• Tia Noelle Pratt on Black Catholic parishes
• Shannen Dee Williams on Black nuns in Baltimore
• Gary Dorrien on the theology of Sen. Raphael Warnock

On this episode, associate editor Regina Munch speaks with University of Virginia sociologist Allison Pugh, whose new book The Last Human Job explores the concept of what she calls “connective labor”—interpersonal work that relies on empathy, human contact, and mutual recognition. 

In fields like medicine, teaching, and even chaplaincy, such connective labor is increasingly performed by machines. Pugh challenges us to resist this trend, both by deprioritizing efficiency and by returning to authentic human relationships. 

For further reading: 

• Miles Doyle on efforts to regulate AI in congress
• A symposium on our posthuman future
• The editors call for a moratorium on AI development

In long pauses between visits with nurses and doctors, amid the weird dilations of ‘hospital time,’ the narrator muses on his suffering and disappointments, but also the nature of art and the ‘adventure’ of domestic life.

On this episode, Greenwell joins Commonweal contributor Tony Domestico to talk about the novel.

For further reading:

• A review of Garth Greenwell’s Cleanness
• Another interview with Garth Greenwell

On this episode, Tania Tetlow, the first layperson and first woman to serve as the president of Fordham University, joins editor Dominic Preziosi to weigh in on what Catholic colleges and universities can do differently. 

If entering students increasingly hail from diverse religious backgrounds—or sometimes no faith background at all—that’s an opportunity for “mission,” pursued with openness, inclusivity, and a willingness to be proven wrong. 

For further reading: 

• Nancy Dallavalle on whether Catholic colleges have a future
• Susan Bigelow Reynolds on public scholarship
• An interview with former UC Chancellor Nicholas Dirks

And yet it’s also not the whole story, as veteran New Yorker journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Eliza Griswold argues in her new book, Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church. 

Griswold’s is a work of ‘immersion journalism,’ reported by embedding for four years with a progressive evangelical community in Philadelphia. She stuck with the story even as heated conflicts over race, gender, and power threatened the church’s survival. 

On this episode, Griswold speaks about the book and the future of American Christianity, with Commonweal associate editor Griffin Oleynick. 

For further reading: 

• Brett Hoover on young Catholics’ waning religiosity
• Kate Lucky on the ‘ex-vangelicals’
• Julia Marley on the ‘Jesus Freaks’

Yet we shouldn’t let that obscure a more sinister phenomenon: gentrification, which has rapidly transformed many of the city’s former immigrant and working-class strongholds into expensive quarters for the newly affluent. 

On this episode, Commonweal senior editor Matt Boudway speaks with journalist Cole Stangler, author of Paris Is Not Dead: Surviving Hypergentrification in the City of Light.

Stangler, who lives in France, explains Paris’s historical transformation, as well as more recent developments in French politics. 

For further reading:

• Cole Stangler’s writing for Commonweal
• Fran Quigley on social housing
• Max Holleran on gentrification and the YIMBYs

He was once hopeless, but after his conversion to Islam many years ago, he began working for redemption by advocating for prison reform and the exoneration of innocent inmates. 

Braxton is also a rapper, and just released his first album, along with a book, Rap and Redemption on Death Row, co-written with UNC Chapel Hill musicologist Mark Katz. 

On this special episode, Commonweal’s Claudia Avila Cosnahan speaks with both Braxton and Katz about Braxton’s spiritual and artistic journey.

For further reading: 

• Dominic Preziosi on Biden’s broken death penalty promise
• David Bentley Hart on Christians and capital punishment
• Burke Nixon on the Texas prison system

Absolutely not, argues Becca Rothfeld, nonfiction book critic at the Washington Post and author of the debut collection All Things Are Too Small: Essays in Praise of Excess. The modern insistence that all cultural objects are “equal” is actually a symptom of our failure to create a society in which genuine equality is present. 

That, Rothfeld insists, is why we need more of everything—more personhood, more sincerity, more critical judgment, and even more chaos. It’s the only way to overcome the ascendance of anodyne minimalism that has stifled contemporary culture. 

On this episode, Rothfeld joins Commonweal senior editor Matthew Boudway to discuss her book, medieval mysticism, and more. 

For further reading: 

• Costica Bradatan on the theology of Simone Weil
• Thomas Merton on whether mysticism is normal
• Matthew Boudway on the agony of Gerard Manley Hopkins

But now, in the face of rising costs and environmental degradation, more and more millennials and zoomers are questioning whether they should become parents at all.

On this episode, Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi is joined by Rachel Wiseman and Anastasia Berg, editors at The Point and co-authors of What Are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice. 

They explain (and lament) how having kids has become so highly politicized in our culture, and offer suggestions for how to make better decisions about becoming a parent.  

For further reading: 

• Jennifer Banks on reckoning with childbirth
• Kate Lucky reads to her new baby
• A symposium on anti-natalism and posthumanism

A decade ago, these questions might have seemed absurd. But an emerging scientific consensus posits that plants are much more like animals than previously thought. 

On this episode, managing editor Isa Simon speaks with Zoë Schlanger, a staff writer and science reporter at The Atlantic and author of The Light Eaters.

Schlanger shows how the study of plants—and the wonder their behaviors inspire—can offer a welcome alternative to the despair induced by climate change.  

For further reading: 

• Vincent Miller on plant ‘communities’ in old growth forests
• David Pinault on environmental activism in Cambodia
• Isa Simon on Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass

That’s precisely backward, argues Rabbi Shai Held, president and dean of the Hadar Institute in New York and author of the new book Judaism Is About Love. Jewish theology, spirituality, and ethics emerge as free responses to a generous, loving God.

On this episode, Held speaks with associate editor Griffin Oleynick about how recovering this more accurate view of Judaism can help believers and non-believers alike lead richer, fuller, more joyful lives.

For further reading:

• Why Christians should read Leviticus and Deuteronomy
• Tzvi Novick on Jewish memory after October 7
• An update on Jewish-Christian dialogue

But as poverty researchers Kathryn Edin, H. Luke Schaefer, and Timothy Nelson argue in their recent book The Injustice of Place, traditional income-based indicators of poverty can mask the “deep disadvantage” faced by rural communities across the country. 

On this episode, they join associate editor Regina Munch to discuss how centuries of resource extraction, racism, and “internal colonization” have blocked the advancement of regions like Appalachia, southern Texas, and the “cotton belt” from sharing in American prosperity. 

For further reading:

• Luke Mayville on how progressives can win in rural America 
• An interview with poverty expert Matthew Desmond
• The editors on pandemic-era relief bills

On this episode, Cunningham joins Commonweal contributing writer Anthony Domestico for a discussion about criticism—engaging deeply with a work of art on a personal level, and then responding in writing and speech—as a way of life. Along the way, they also touch on the theological dimensions of Great Expectations.

Anybody, Cunningham argues, can be a critic. All it takes is curiosity, and the willingness to share your observations with others. 

For further reading: 

• Vinson Cunningham on Pope Francis’s Fratelli tutti
• William Giraldi on criticism as an act of love
• Paul Baumann reviews Barack Obama’s memoir

But in her reading of the Book of Genesis, novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson describes a God of gentleness, one wildly in love with creation and humanity.

In this special episode of the Commonweal Podcast, moderated by senior editor Matt Boudway, poet and memoirist Christian Wiman joins Robinson for a conversation about the Book of Genesis. 

Robinson and Wiman also discuss scripture and theology more generally—especially as the two practice it through fiction and poetry. 

For further reading: 

• Marilynne Robinson on forgiveness in Genesis
• Christian Wiman on the Bible as poetry
• Jack Miles on the Bible and translation

Here to speak about all of this is Nicholas Dirks, former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, and author of City of Intellect: The Uses and Abuses of the University. 

Dirks argues that we certainly need structural change. Even more important is that colleges and universities return to their core functions: the pursuit of free inquiry, reasoning about fundamental human values, and training future generations of engaged citizens. 

For further reading: 

• Zena Hitz on why we need the humanities
• Nancy Dallavalle on whether Catholic colleges have a future
• Our recent editorial on affirmative action and affordability

Last month, Texas state attorney general Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit against Annunciation House, a network of houses of hospitality run by Catholic volunteers in El Paso, Texas.

On this special episode, activist Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House, speaks with associate editor Regina Munch about the recent controversy—and why we need comprehensive immigration reform. 

For further reading: 

• Brett Hoover on the inadequacies of migration metaphors
• An interview with El Paso bishop Mark Seitz
• Alejandro Nava describes working at a hospitality house in Tucson
• Susan Bigelow Reynolds attends an Easter Vigil in Matamoros

One figure who thinks deeply about the contemporary decline in religious practice and affiliation is Irish poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama, host of the weekly podcast Poetry Unbound and author of the new book Being Here: Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love.

On this episode, he joins associate editor Griffin Oleynick for a conservation sparked by this collection of ‘anarchic’ prayers. Touching on the Church’s difficult relationship with women, LGTBQ people, and abuse victims, Ó Tuama testifies to the peace and freedom made possible by laying down “the burden of belief.”

For further reading: 

• A collection of essays on staying in and leaving the Church
• Christian Wiman on poetry in the Bible
• A profile of the poet Fanny Howe

On this episode, associate editor Regina Munch speaks with journalist Benjamin Herold about his new book Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America’s Suburbs, which profiles five families in the suburbs of Dallas, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Los Angeles. 

American suburbs were never sustainable, Herold argues. They were built for upwardly mobile white families, who extracted wealth and benefits before moving further out and sticking subsequent generations—often families of color—with the bill. 

Now that we’ve begun reckoning with this painful legacy, Herold invites us to look for seeds of renewal.

For further reading: 

• Bill McKibben explains what’s wrong with the ‘burbs
• Max Holleran on American housing scarcity
• Diane Ravitch on the fight over public education

On this episode, Fr. Stewart joins Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi to discuss how he first got involved in this work, the care and attention it requires, and why digitizing ancient manuscripts remains so necessary. 

These texts, Fr. Stewart points out, are in a sense the original “internet of things.” Books and fragile documents carry not just the stories and ideas that connected diverse communities, but also the physical traces of the individual scribes and librarians who cared for them.

For further reading: 

• Luke Timothy Johnson on the earliest Christian manuscripts
• Jonathan Malesic on how monks put work in its place
• A profile of Columba Stewart in Harper’s Magazine 

The former editor of Poetry magazine and now a professor at Yale Divinity School, Wiman has long been an admirer of Commonweal. As he told the audience, he dutifully reads every issue cover to cover.

On this episode, we’re featuring some of the conversation from that evening—including Wiman reading and discussing his poetry—and his interview with Commonweal senior editor Matthew Boudway.

More from Christian Wiman in Commonweal: 

• The radical vision of poet Lucille Clifton
• Listening to the poetry of the Bible
• On the mystic Etty Hillesum

Sociologist Matthew Desmond explains how the United States can choose to abolish poverty. Sr. Helen Prejean and singer Ryan McKinney discuss the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Dead Man Walking. Poet-scholar and slam champion Joshua Bennett talks about the history of spoken word. And philosopher Zena Hitz unpacks the spirit of “wholeheartedness” at the center of religious life. 

Listen to the full conversations here: 

• Matthew Desmond on poverty in America
• Sr. Helen Prejean and Ryan McKinney on Dead Man Walking
• Joshua Bennett on spoken word poetry 
• Zena Hitz on the essence of religious life

On this episode, Commonweal senior editor Matt Boudway speaks with journalist Sohrab Ahmari, a conservative political commentator and editor whose new book Tyranny, Inc critiques corporate power in a way that will resonate with left wing progressives. 

It’s time for a new left-right consensus on labor, Ahmari argues, and enhancing the collective bargaining power of workers is crucial to the project of restoring American democracy. But can the Republican Party really help do that? 

For further reading: 

• Our review of Ahmari’s Tyranny, Inc.
• Regina Munch on corporate consumerism
• Joseph McCartin on the scourge of wage suppression

On this episode, Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi is joined by two experts on Vatican affairs to help explain and contextualize the synod’s work. 

Paul Elie is a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center and a regular contributor to Commonweal and the New Yorker, which sent him to Rome for a week to report on the synod. 

Anna Rowlands, Professor of Catholic Social Thought at Durham University in the United Kingdom, helped draft the synod’s working documents and served as an observer and expert theological advisor in the synod hall. 

For further reading:

• Austen Ivereigh’s report from Rome 
• Massimo Faggioli’s analysis of the synod
• Commonweal’s collection of recent articles on the synod

Conservatives often charge it with eroding community, while some progressives view it as a justification for economic exploitation.

On this episode, Yale political theorist Samuel Moyn, author of the new book Liberalism against Itself, joins features editor Alex Stern to discuss the debates that surrounded liberalism during the Cold War. 

Instead of a narrow liberalism that focuses on individual liberties, Moyn argues that a broader, more expansive view of the idea is possible—one that retrieves the original Enlightenment emphasis on egalitarianism and emancipation. 

For further reading: 

• Samuel Moyn on the theology of liberalism
• Alex Stern on how not to defend liberalism
• A symposium on Patrick Deneen’s Why Liberalism Failed 

On this special episode, in anticipation of the Met Opera’s Live-in-HD broadcast in cinemas on October 21, host Dominic Preziosi is joined by bass-baritone Ryan McKinny, who plays the condemned murderer Joseph DeRocher, and Sr. Helen Prejean herself. 

Together, they discuss the significance of this new production of Dead Man Walking, and why its message of mercy, forgiveness, and redemption continues to resonate with audiences today.

For further reading: 

• Commonweal’s review of Dead Man Walking
• An interview with the composer, Jake Heggie
• Sr. Helen Prejean remembers her 1950s novitiate

On this episode, Commonweal’s Claudia Avila Cosnahan, a resident of southern California, speaks with Rosanna Xia, an environmental reporter at the LA Times. 

Xia’s new book California Against the Sea blends traditional reportage with an unconventional and important perspective on concepts like “managed retreat,” climate resilience, and what it means to listen to and even love the ocean itself. 

Listen to more Commonweal interviews about climate change: 

• Bill McKibben on suburban carbon emissions
• Dorothy Fortenberry on adapting climate change for TV
• Katie Worth on climate change in schools

That’s the thesis of Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond, who joins Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi to discuss Desmond’s recent book Poverty, By America. 

We don’t need to capitulate to the ultra-wealthy or the corporations hoarding resources, Desmond argues. Instead, we can change the way we shop, work, and vote not just to alleviate poverty, but to eradicate it completely. 

For further reading: 

• Robin Antepara on working-class women in the Ozarks
• Max Foley-Keene explains the Nordic welfare model 
• The editors on ending child poverty

Misleading stories, sensationalism, and outright lies, explains Andie Tucher, have been part of American journalism from the very beginning. 

A professor at Columbia Journalism School, Tucher is also the author of Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History.

On this episode, Tucher joins Commonweal features editor Alex Stern to discuss how lessons from the history of journalism in America can help reform the profession in the age of the internet, social media, and AI.

For further reading: 

• The editors condemn Fox’s factual malice
• Paul Baumann on the history of Time magazine
• Paul Moses on the legacy of Fr. Charles Coughlin

On this episode, McPhee joins contributing writer Tony Domestico to discuss his latest book, Tabula Rasa, Vol. I, a series of short vignettes about “desk drawer projects”—pieces that McPhee started, but never finished. 

McPhee stresses that when it comes to good writing, authorial ego must be put aside. Instead, it’s the work—the writing process and the humble attention to the subject—that matters. 

For further reading: 

• Dominic Preziosi on whether parking explains the world
• Morten Høi Jensen on the writing life of Martin Amis 
• The latest from Tony Domestico’s books column

On this episode, philosopher Zena Hitz speaks with senior editor Matt Boudway about her new book on religious life—a crucial part of the Catholic Church, and one that remains poorly understood. 

Religious life is not primarily about what you give up, Hitz explains. Rather, it’s a way of orienting your whole self around a single purpose: loving God, and serving God’s people. 

For further reading: 

• Zena Hitz on renunciation and happiness
• Jonathan Malesic visits a desert monastery
• Regina Munch farms with lay Catholics

On this episode, interpreter and activist Alejandra Oliva, author of Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration, shares insights from her work with asylum seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Plus, in anticipation of Commonweal’s upcoming centennial, Nicole-Ann Lobo offers a short reflection on the Christian socialism of the late Dominican priest Herbert McCabe. 

For further reading: 

• A photo essay featuring asylum seekers in Piedras Negras
• A dispatch from Casa Alitas in Tucson
• Herbert McCabe’s essay on priesthood and revolution

On this episode, special projects editor Miles Doyle speaks with Stephen Prothero, author of the new Exman biography God the Bestseller: How One Editor Transformed American Religion One Book at a Time.

Prothero explains how Exman’s relationships with religious leaders like Dorothy Day, Howard Thurman, and Martin Luther King, Jr. helped shift American religious discourse away from denominational boundaries and toward a more personal, individual experience of God.

For further reading: 

• Dorothy Day’s collected writing for Commonweal
• Gary Dorrien on Martin Luther King’s theological mentors
• Gordon Marino reviews a biography of William James

But there’s a way out, argues veteran philosopher Philip Kitcher. It starts with attending to the ordinary concerns of human life, then illuminating them with clear, rigorous thought. 

On this episode, Kitcher speaks with Commonweal features editor Alex Stern about Kitcher’s most recent book, What’s the Use of Philosophy? 

Plus, in anticipation of Commonweal’s centennial in 2024, we’re featuring a special segment by contributor Kate Lucky on author Marilynne Robinson’s understanding of “true community.”

For further reading: 

• A collection of pieces by Gary Gutting
• Alex Stern on Walter Benjamin and democracy
• Marilynne Robinson on imagination & community

But it also addresses the challenges of belief today, when almost everything—the nation, religious institutions, the environment—appears on the verge of collapse.

On this episode, West speaks with associate editor Griffin Oleynick about the paradoxes of autobiographical narrative, grief and loss, and the power of art. 

For further reading:

• Mollie Wilson O’Reilly on Mary Karr’s Lit
• Matthew Sitman interviews Marilynne Robinson
• Terry Eagleton on the philosophy of Wittgenstein

On this episode, Commonweal associate editor Regina Munch speaks with Ricardo Nuila, an internist at Houston’s Ben Taub hospital and author of the new book The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine. 

Then, as Commonweal approaches its centennial in 2024, we’re featuring brief reflections on writers we’ve published since our founding. Here, associate editor Griffin Oleynick reflects on the spiritual writing of the late John Garvey.

For further reading: 

• Paul Farmer’s theology of accompaniment
• Luke Mayville campaigns for healthcare in Idaho
• Pope Francis’s priorities for Catholic healthcare
• John Garvey on spiritual surrender

But now, anxious over climate change and elated at technological breakthroughs, a growing chorus of thinkers is heralding the end of humanity’s reign on Earth. 

On this episode, poet and critic Adam Kirsch, author of The Revolt Against Humanity: Imagining a Future Without Us, analyzes these ideas with Commonweal senior editor Matthew Boudway. 

For further reading: 

• Eugene McCarraher critiques the ‘technocratic paradigm’
• An interview with ex-environmentalist Paul Kingsnorth 
• Santiago Ramos on the perils of the metaverse

A prominent slam champion himself, Bennett explains how spoken word poetry has shaped his life and how the art form contributes to the ongoing work of community-building and liberation. 

And be sure to stick around for a short conversation with Mollie Wilson O’Reilly about the life of Claire Huchet Bishop (1898–1993), a writer, librarian, and opponent of anti-semitism who also served for many years as the children’s books editor at Commonweal. 

For further reading: 

• Alejandro Nava on the theology of hip-hop
• Anthony Domestico reviews Joshua Bennett’s Owed
• Daria Donnelly on the imagination of children’s books 
• Claire Huchet Bishop on book bannings in the 1940s

Fortenberry, who has written and commented widely on climate change, is also the co-writer and executive producer of Extrapolations, a new show on Apple TV+ that imagines what life on Earth might look like in the near future. 

Instead of giving in to climate “doomerism,” Fortenberry argues that there are indeed reasons to be hopeful about addressing the environmental crisis—if we could only summon the political will to do it. 

For further reading: 

• A collection of Commonweal’s best writing on the environment
• Dorothy Fortenberry explains why she stays Catholic
• An interview with climate activist Bill McKibben

On this episode, Commonweal features editor Alexander Stern speaks with media critic Douglas Rushkoff, author of more than twenty books. His most recent is Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Peter Thiel want one thing, according to Rushkoff: profit, which comes at the expense of our psychological attention, physical well-being, and social cohesion. Only by understanding their misanthropic mindset can we begin imagining alternatives and fighting back. 

For further reading: 

• Alexander Stern on the mundanity of AI
• Meghan Sullivan on the limits of ‘longtermism’
• Dominic Preziosi on the arrogance of Elon Musk

On this episode, Thompson speaks with associate editor Griffin Oleynick about his first solo gallery show in New York City. 

Using Thompson’s art as a jumping-off point, they touch on a range of topics, including music, film, race, and the madness of American politics. 

Then, in a special segment, Kaya Oakes speaks briefly with special projects editor Miles Doyle about Doris Grumbach’s memorable portrait of Dorothy Day.  

For further reading:

• Clifford Thompson on rootedness and political division
• Clifford Thompson reviews Wendell Berry’s most recent book
• Doris Grumbach reports on a conference with Dorothy Day

These questions lie at the heart of The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration, a new book by Jake Bittle, a reporter and staff writer at Grist. 

On this episode, Bittle joins Commonweal managing editor Isa Simon for a wide-ranging discussion about how sea-level rise, extreme heat, and water scarcity are reshaping American society. 

For further reading: 

• Bill McKibben on suburban development and the environment
• Vincent Miller on the theology of wildfires
• Solmaz Daryani documents drought in Iran

On this episode, Arellano joins Commonweal Director of Mission & Partnerships Claudia Avila Cosnahan for a wide-ranging conversation on his prolific career in journalism.

They touch on a number of Southern California topics, including food, faith, and film, as well as local politics, history, and culture.

For further reading: 

• Nicole-Ann Lobo on the art of Yolanda López 
• Claudia Avila Cosnahan on Our Lady of Guadalupe
• The editors on the 2019 L.A. teachers’ strike

But there’s another side of Ukraine—its complicated history and rich culture—that’s seldom seen by Americans. 

On this episode, we’re joined by Megan Buskey, author of Ukraine Is Not Dead Yet: A Family Story of Exile and Return. 

Using family history as a window into broader dynamics within Ukraine, Buskey touches on a number of topics, including memory, migration, and the war’s impact on young Ukrainians. 

For further reading: 

• John Connelly explains what makes Ukraine different
• Kathryn David on Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church
• Adrian Bonenberger on Ukraine’s Orthodox spirituality

On this episode, we speak with Candler School of Theology professor Susan Bigelow Reynolds, also a regular Commonweal contributor. 

Her new book People Get Ready: Ritual, Solidarity, and Lived Ecclesiology in Catholic Roxbury offers an ethnographic and theological deep-dive into how one small Boston parish has managed to revel in difference, rather than eradicate it. 

For further reading:

• Susan Bigelow Reynolds on the parish’s changing landscape
• Brett Hoover on the ethics of shared parishes 
• James Chappell on how the Church became modern

But a reflexive willingness to pardon—though praised by the Christian tradition—can actually be a problem, argues Matthew Potts. He’s a professor and pastor at Harvard Divinity School, and author of the new book Forgiveness: An Alternative Account.

Joined by Commonweal literary editor Anthony Domestico, Potts explains how his novel account of forgiveness demands a habit of non-retaliation, and why literary fiction provides the perfect vantage point for parsing the moral complexity of mercy. 

For further reading: 

• Clifford Thompson on Wendell Berry and forgiveness
• Adam DeVille on counseling sex offenders
• B.D. McClay on the sacrament of reconciliation

Mallory McMorrow explains how her faith informs her politics and denounces the GOP’s “performative nonsense.” Mollie Wilson O’Reilly and Natalia Imperatori-Lee react to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Fr. James Martin, SJ talks about his expanding ministry with LGBTQ Catholics. And Kim Haines-Eitzen shares desert recordings that shed light on ancient Christian monasticism.

Have a great holiday. We’ll be back with new episodes in January. 

Listen to the full conversations here: 

• ‘McMorrow’s Way,’ with Mallory McMorrow
• ‘Is This What We Wanted?’ with Mollie Wilson O’Reilly and Natalia Imperatori-Lee
• ‘An Early Spring,’ with Fr. James Martin, SJ
• ‘Sounds of Silence,’ with Kim Hains-Eitzen

On this episode, regular Commonweal contributor Massimo Faggioli joins editor Dominic Preziosi to discuss what Archbishop Broglio’s leadership might mean for the U.S. Church. They touch on a number of other topics, including how Catholics voted in the midterms, the sixtieth anniversary of Vatican II, and the ongoing fallout from the abuse crisis. 

And, in anticipation of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Natalia Imperatori-Lee, professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, explains how the art and activism of Yolanda López can help us recognize the holiness of lo cotidiano, the everyday. 

For further reading: 

• ‘No Longer the Bishops’ Church?” Massimo Faggioli
• ‘The Art of Activism,” Nicole-Ann Lobo
• ‘Encounters Between Equals,’ Timothy Matovina

On this episode, editor Dominic Preziosi is joined by Eli Valentin, a contributing columnist at Gotham Gazette and frequent political analyst for Univision New York, who says that much of that analysis misses the mark.  

Valentin doesn’t just highlight the myths about Latino voters that need debunking. As a former pastor attuned to how beliefs shape elections, he suggests that a new “political pastoral theological agenda” could help many more voters, not just Latinos, think differently about their decisions at the polls.  

For further reading: 

• “Sweet Home Hialeah,” César J. Baldelomar 
• “The Complicated Case of Hispanic Voters,” Brandon Sanchez
• “Who Will Save the Bronx,” Eileen Markey

On this episode, Commonweal associate editor Regina Munch speaks with Elizabeth Cummins Muñoz, a lecturer at Rice University and author of Mothercoin: The Stories of Immigrant Nannies. 

Cummins Muñoz points out that while these workers don't see themselves as “victims,” the conflict between providing care and being paid to do it—sometimes at the expense of one's own family—can be devastating.

For further reading:

• “The Empowerment Trap,” Emma McDonald
• “Putting Ourselves Together Again,” Rebecca Bratten Weiss
• “The Feminist Wife,” Kate Lucky

On this episode, associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with Max Holleran, a sociologist at the University of Melbourne in Australia and author of Yes to the City: Millennials and the Fight for Affordable Housing, a detailed study of the YIMBYs. 

The YIMBYs’ push for new construction, Holleran argues, won’t entirely solve the problem of housing affordability. To do that, we must not only re-invest in alternatives like community land trusts, but also continue fighting for higher wages and greater income equality.

For further reading: 

• “Making the Rent,” The Editors
• “The Bay Area’s Infinite Loop,” Kaya Oakes
• “Poverty and Profit in the American City,” Frank Pasquale

On this episode, Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi speaks with veteran journalist Bill Keller, founder of the Marshall Project and author of the new book What’s Prison For? Punishment and Rehabilitation in the Age of Mass Incarceration. 

Having spent years immersed in prisons as a reporter and teacher, Keller offers a blunt indictment of our broken prison system, while also pointing out real possibilities for reform.  

For further reading:

• “The Purposes of Punishment,” Derek Jeffreys 
• “Carceral Aesthetics,” Griffin Oleynick
• “Waking the Giants,” Regina Munch

On this episode, associate editor Regina Munch speaks with Emma McDonald, a doctoral candidate at Boston College who has researched the issue extensively through a series of ethnographic interviews with Catholic women, doctors, and clinicians.

McDonald argues that synodal dialogue alone is inadequate for confronting the Church’s culture of silence around infertility. What’s need is real structural reform based on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. 

For further reading:

• “Listening to the Laity,” Emma McDonald
• “Finding Our Way,” Ellen Koneck
• “Making Pregnancy Safer,” Jessica Keating Floyd

On this episode, associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with Kim Haines-Eitzen, professor of religious studies at Cornell, about her new book, Sonorous Desert: What Deep Listening Taught Early Christian Monks—And What It Can Teach Us.

Haines-Eitzen’s project, which includes field recordings made in the deserts of the Middle East and the American Southwest, shows us how the ancient monks’ attentiveness to sound can help us slow down and better connect with ourselves and our communities.

For further reading: 

• “Taming the Demon,” Jonathan Malesic
• “Silence in the City,” Kaya Oakes
• “Opening to the World,” Luke Timothy Johnson

On this episode, McKibben joins Commonweal associate editor Griffin Oleynick to speak about his new memoir, The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon, which identifies the 1970s as the pivotal decade that marked a definitive shift toward individualism. 

Our problems are real, but not insurmountable, McKibben argues. Our situation can be improved by organizing for change, and reclaiming American symbols of patriotism, faith, and fairness.

For further reading: 

• “Tears & Ashes,” Vincent Miller 
• “Beyond Growth,” Max Foley-Keene
• “At Our Mercy,” Elizabeth Johnson

But that all changed during the twentieth century, explains Notre Dame historian and longtime Commonweal contributor John McGreevy. 

On this episode McGreevy talks with Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi about how that unlikely shift occurred, and offers suggestions for how the Church can help bolster our wavering faith in democracy today.

For further reading: 

• “‘Natural Enemies’ No More,” John McGreevy
• “Sturzo in Exile,” Massimo Faggioli
• “Radical, Moderate, & Necessary,” E.J. Dionne, Jr.

On this episode, poet Paul Mariani speaks with Commonweal contributor Anthony Domestico about his latest collection, All That Will Be New. 

Their discussion touches on a number of topics, including Mariani’s working-class upbringing in New York City, his love of the American idiom of William Carlos Williams, and the spirituality embedded in visual art. 

For further reading: 

• “Broken Beauty,” Paul Mariani
• “Inscape, Instress & Distress,” Anthony Domestico
• “Elegy for Our 130-Year-Old Catalpa,” Paul Mariani

Martin is also the subject of a new documentary, Building a Bridge, which offers a close look at Martin’s LGBTQ ministry—from its origins after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016, to Martin’s meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2019.  

On this episode, Commonweal associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with Fr. Martin and filmmaker Evan Mascagni about the film. 

For further reading:  

• “Still Beloved,” Robert Fieseler
• ‘Gender, Sex, and Other Nonsense,” Dan Walden 
• ‘Necessary Affirmation,’ Jason Steidl 
• ‘Facing Down the Wolf,’ James Alison

On this episode, Klay joins Commonweal senior editor Matt Boudway to discuss his new book Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless War, a collection of essays, journalism, and other nonfiction written over the past ten years.

Their conversation touches on a number of topics, including war and religious faith, the complex reintegration of returning soldiers, and the deceptive political rhetoric that surrounds and shrouds modern combat.

For further reading: 

• “A Whip of Cords,” Phil Klay 
• “War & Penance,” Philip G. Porter
• “The Paradoxes of Deterrence,” Bernard G. Prusak

On this episode, Commonweal editor-at-large Mollie Wilson O’Reilly and theologian Natalia Imperatori-Lee share their initial reactions to the news.

In addition to pointing out the potentially damaging consequences of reversing Roe, they also highlight the complex realities of women’s reproductive health, discuss their experiences as mothers, and identify what a true “culture of life” might look like.

For further reading: 

• “When Abortion Isn’t Abortion,” Mollie Wilson O’Reilly
• “When Timing Is Paramount,” Peter Steinfels
• “My Two Abortions,” Anonymous

Pushing back forcefully against a Republican colleague’s accusations of “grooming and sexualizing children” as well as defending her support of LGBTQ people, McMorrow cited her Christian faith—and in particular her Catholic upbringing—as an inspiration for her political outlook and her insistence on taking the side of the marginalized.

On this episode, McMorrow speaks with Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi about what went into writing that speech, what she hopes listeners will take from it, and what role she hopes a renewed, nuanced understanding of faith might yet play in public life.

For further reading:

• ‘Let Church Be Church Again,’ Sr. Carol Keehan, DC
• ‘American Politics & Social Catholicism,’ E.J. Dionne, Jr. 
• ‘Civic Virtue & the Common Good,’ Bishop Robert W. McElroy, John T. McGreevy, Cathleen Kaveny, and Matthew Sitman

On this episode, Emba speaks with Commonweal contributing writer and Christianity Today editor Kate Lucky about the findings presented in her new book, Rethinking Sex: A Provocation.

Our contemporary understanding of sexual consent, Emba argues, is not enough to ground our sexual ethics. For that, we need to recuperate traditional virtues like patience, care, and restraint. 

For further reading: 

• ‘Finding Our Way,’ Ellen B. Koneck
• ‘The Feminist Wife,’ Kate Lucky
• ‘Clearing the Field,’ B.D. McClay

On this episode, we speak with two guests: George Demacopoulos, professor of Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham University, and Paul Elie, New Yorker staff writer and longtime Commonweal contributor.

Demacopoulos frames the fiery rhetoric of Moscow’s Patriarch Kirill, who has called the invasion a “holy war,” while Elie takes Pope Francis to task for not denouncing Vladimir Putin more forcefully. 

For further reading:

• ‘From Complacency to Clear Condemnation,’ George Demacopoulos
• ‘The Pope, the Patriarchs, and the Battle to Save Ukraine,’ Paul Elie in the New Yorker
• ‘Clarity & Consequences,’ The Editors

As Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky continues to plead for Western aid, the situation in his country is deteriorating as the Russian army bombards cities, hospitals, evacuation routes, and other civilian targets. 

How did we get here? And which historical parallels can shed light on what’s happening now in Ukraine?

On this special episode, historian John Connelly, professor of history at UC Berkeley and an expert on east central Europe, shares his insights.

For further reading: 

• “What Makes Ukraine Different,” John Connelly
• “Putin’s Apocalyptic Goals,” Piotr H. Kosicki
• “The Orthodox Response to Putin’s Invasion,” George E. Demacopoulos

After all, these centers of intellectual development and social change are crucial in getting younger Catholics to care about the future of the Church.

On this episode, we’re featuring a series of conversations with three experts on the current state of the synod and American Catholic higher education: Massimo Faggioli of Villanova University, Micah Kiel of St. Ambrose University, and Amirah Orozco of Dominican University. 

For further reading 

• ‘Unexcused Absence,’ Massimo Faggioli
• ‘Catholic Colleges & the Synod,’ Micah Kiel
• ‘Learning from Las Hermanas,’ Amirah Orozco
• ‘Speak Boldly, Listen Carefully,’ Austen Ivereigh

On this episode, Schulz joins Commonweal literary editor Anthony Domestico for a wide-ranging conversation about her new memoir, Lost & Found. 

Our humanity, Schulz argues, guarantees that we’ll eventually lose the ones we love. But it’s their very finitude that makes them worth loving. 

On this episode, longtime Commonweal contributor and renowned New Testament scholar Luke Timothy Johnson speaks with editor Dominic Preziosi about his lifelong intellectual journey. 

One of the keys to being a good scholar (and a good Christian) Johnson argues, isn’t simply discipline and fortitude, but imagination and humility. 

Read more from Luke Timothy Johnson

• “Opening to the World”
• “How a Monk Learns Mercy”
• “The Commonweal Catholic”

But the phenomenon of burnout is nothing new, argues frequent Commonweal contributor Jonathan Malesic. The problem has been with us for decades, a consequence of the increasingly blurry lines between our professional and personal lives.

On this episode, Malesic speaks with Commonweal managing editor Katie Daniels about his new book The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives. If we want to combat burnout, he says, we first need to agree on a definition. 

Read Jonathan Malesic’s Commonweal essays here: 

• A Burnt-Out Case
• Taming the Demon
• Drinking Alone

Thankfully, we’re not alone. Virtue ethics, as Notre Dame’s Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko contend, offers a method for reasoning about, and gaining new insights into, these age-old questions.

On this episode, Sullivan and Blaschko join Commonweal assistant editor Griffin Oleynick to discuss insights from their new book The Good Life Method: Reasoning through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning, based on their popular course at Notre Dame. 

For further reading:

• “Inside the Seminary,” Paul Blaschko 
• “The Problem with Lazarus,” Meghan Sullivan 
• “Highbrow Self-Help,” Charles McNamara
• “Should Philosophy Retire?”, George Scialabba

On this special episode, we revisit four of our best interviews from 2021:

Phil Klay elucidates the complexities of modern warfare. Rita Ferrone explains how Catholic tradition evolves. Alice McDermott tells us what made her decide to become a writer. And Susannah Heschel describes how the spiritual legacy of her father, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, can help us fight for social justice today.

Listen to the full-length interviews here:

·     ‘War Without End,’ with Phil Klay

·     ‘The Rite Stuff,’ with Rita Ferrone

·     ‘Life Sentences,’ with Alice McDermott

·     ‘Friend of God,’ with Susannah Heschel

Li’s invitation met with a hearty response from readers around the world: hundreds participated in the online book club. Some of their comments, along with Li’s reflections, were published earlier this fall in Tolstoy Together: 85 Days of War & Peace.

On this episode, Li joins Commonweal literary editor Anthony Domestico for a wide-ranging conversation about the project, the pleasures of reading together, and why Tolstoy still matters.  

For further reading:

·      “2021 Books in Review,” Anthony Domestico

·      “Bracing for Impact,” Cassandra Nelson

·      “The Zen of Tolstoy,” Christopher Bram

All were members of the Christian Front, a radical rightwing group inspired by Catholic theology and galvanized by the preaching of notorious “radio priest” Fr. Charles Coughlin.

On this episode, we speak with Charles Gallagher, a historian at Boston College and author of the new book The Nazis of Copley Square: The Forgotten Story of the Christian Front.

Gallagher doesn’t just fill a major gap in our understanding of the history of Christian extremism. He tells a story about faith curdling into violence, one that holds important lessons for us today.

For further reading:

-      “On Anti-Semitism,” Jacques Maritain

-      “Hitler’s Gospel,” John Connelly

-      “From Trotsky to Soros,” James J. Sheehan

Despite the variety of communities surveyed, some key themes emerged: the difficulty of adapting to new circumstances, the relationship of community to place, and a sense of hope in the face of precariousness and uncertainty.

On this special podcast episode, we’re joined by editors and writers—including Paul Elie and Kaya Oakes—who helped put that issue together.

On this episode, Commonweal assistant managing editor Isa Simon speaks with Katie Worth, an investigative reporter and author of the forthcoming book Miseducation: How Climate Change Is Taught in America.

The problem, as Worth sees it, is that climate change is too often framed as a “debate” rather than an established fact. Her reporting tells the story of how financial and political interests got us here, and what we can do to change it.

On this episode, journalist Mark Oppenheimer, author of the new book Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and The Soul of a Neighborhood, joins Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi for a wide-ranging discussion of the aftermath of that event.

Oppenheimer focuses not on the shooting and the gunman, but rather on the century-old currents of Judaism in Pittsburgh, the variety of religious beliefs and practices visible after the attack, and the resilience of Squirrel Hill.

For further reading:

-      ‘Death at the Tree of Life,’ Wesley Hill

-      ‘From Trotsky to Soros,’ James J. Sheehan

-      ‘The Author and the Expert,’ Tzvi Novick

On this episode, we’re featuring two reflections—one political, the other philosophical—on America’s “forever war.”

Longtime Commonweal contributor and historian Andrew J. Bacevich explains the little-understood Carter Doctrine, and why it needs to go, while fiction writer and Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay asks whether war can ever be considered “humane.”

Both are in conversation with Commonweal senior editor Matt Boudway.

For further reading

-      “The Forever War Continues,” Andrew J. Bacevich

-      “Sops to Humanity,” Phil Klay

-      “An Unwinnable War,” The Editors

That’s a shame, argues journalist Gracy Olmstead, because the legacy of these small farms, and the communities they nurture, could help make life in America fairer and more meaningful.

On this episode, Olmstead joins Commonweal managing editor Katie Daniels for a wide-ranging discussion of her recent book, Uprooted: Recovering the Legacy of Places We’ve Left Behind.  

For further reading

·     Yours, Mine, or Ours, by Gracy Olmstead

·     How Progressives Can Win in Rural America, by Luke Mayville

·     Seams of Resentment, by Danny R. Kuhn

On this episode, longtime Commonweal contributing writer Rita Ferrone draws on her extensive knowledge of liturgical history to explain the logic—and in her view, the wisdom—of Francis’s decision.

For further reading:

·     “A Living Catholic Tradition,” by Rita Ferrone

·     “The Limits of ‘Traditionis Custodes,’” by Massimo Faggioli

·     “The Liturgy Wars,” by Paul Baumann

On this episode McDermott, a frequent Commonweal contributor, shares a career’s worth of insights on the art of fiction with managing editor Katie Daniels.

She also recounts the moment when she realized she would be a writer, and discusses what a lifetime of working with words has taught her.

For further reading:

·      Things, Alice McDermott

·      Confessions of a Reluctant Catholic, Alice McDermott

·      Nothing to be Done, Mollie Wilson O’Reilly

For further reading:

·     The Real Threat to American Catholicism, Mollie Wilson O’Reilly

·     Pastors, not Prophets, The Editors

·     There Ought to Be a Law, Matthew Boudway

Few know that as well as Spencer Reece—an accomplished poet, former chaplain to the Episcopal Bishop of Madrid, and now the leader of a diverse parish in Queens, NY.

In conversation with Commonweal contributing writer Anthony Domestico, in this episode Reece speaks about his new memoir, The Secret Gospel of Mark.

For further reading:

·     Celebration & Lamentation, Anthony Domestico

·     Uncommon Prayers, Spencer Reece

The subject of a new PBS documentary, Spiritual Audacity, Heschel offered prophetic insights into the nature of God, the meaning of justice, and the necessity of Jewish-Christian dialogue.

On this episode, we discuss the rabbi’s legacy with two guests: Martin Doblmeier, who directed the film, and Professor Susannah Heschel, Rabbi Heschel’s daughter.

For further reading:

•         ‘Getting Past Supersessionism,’ The Editors

•         ‘The Call of Transcendence,’ Mary C. Boys

•         ‘Enough Bromides,’ Thomas Albert Howard

In conversation with editor Dominic Preziosi, Elie addresses Joe Biden’s political strategy, the Church’s stance on LGBT unions and women’s ordination, and the legacy of the abuse crisis.

He also highlights the enduring resilience of lay Catholics, who continue to live out their faith in changing and challenging circumstances.

For further reading:

-      Is the Vatican Finally Ready to Get Serious About Women in the Church?  

-      The Vatican’s Giant Step Backward on Same-Sex Unions

-      Can Joe Biden Save American Catholicism from the Far Right?

On this episode, we speak with Jordan Denari Duffner, a doctoral student at Georgetown University and author of the new book Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know (and Do) about Anti-Muslim Discrimination.

Talking with contributing writer Paul Moses, Denari Duffner explains how Islam nourishes her own faith, and calls on Christians to become better acquainted with their Muslim neighbors.

For further reading:

·     ‘Enough Bromides,’ Thomas Albert Howard

·     ‘In the Steps of Father Abraham,’ Paul Moses

·     ‘No One is a Stranger,’ Jordan Denari Duffner

On this episode, assistant editor Regina Munch speaks with John Ghazvinian, Executive Director of the Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the book America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present.

Ghazvinian explains that while most Americans are used to thinking of Iran as an adversary, that hasn’t always been the case. A deeper knowledge of the rich history between the two countries would go a long way toward improving diplomatic relations today.

For further reading:

-      The Paradox of Deterrence, Bernard G. Prusak

-      A Better Way, The Editors

-      Christian Iran, Christopher Thornton

On this episode, Valdez Quade speaks with Commonweal managing editor Katie Daniels about the value of vulnerability, the religious history of the American southwest, and the importance of empathy in fiction.

For further reading:

·     Hope for Suffering Souls, Valerie Sayers

·     To Look Closely Is to Love, Kirstin Valdez Quade

·     Writing into Uncertainty, Dominic Preziosi

PS: “The problem in life is that we need so many epiphanies—one is not enough.”—Kirstin Valdez Quade

On this episode Fr. James Martin, author of a new book on prayer, shares his thoughts on these questions, but he also takes on a bigger one: why do humans pray at all?

For further reading:

·     Spring Cleaning, Katherine Lucky

·     Perpetual Lent, Claudia Avila Cosnahan

·     Lenten Reflections, a collection

On this episode, theologian Carmen Nanko-Fernández, whose work focuses on the surprising connections between religion, politics, and popular culture, helps us do just that. 

Baseball, Nanko-Fernández explains, is much more than a game. That’s especially true along the U.S.-Mexico border, where sports, race, immigration, labor, and politics are all intertwined.

For further reading:

·     Béisbol, Baseball, & ‘Bad Hombres,’ Carmen Nanko-Fernández

·     Quit Trying to ‘Fix’ Baseball, Gregory K. Hillis

·     More than Cricket, Rand Richards Cooper

On this episode, celebrated novelist and short story writer George Saunders shares the lessons he’s learned from Russian masters like Chekhov and Tolstoy.

The best literary works, Saunders tells Commonweal literary editor Anthony Domestico, are much more than something beautiful or entertaining. Like the liturgy, they’re also a way of loving.

For further reading:

·     A Kindly Presence of Mind, Anthony Domestico

·     A Moralist with an Ear, John Garvey

·     Near Occasion, Dominic Preziosi

On this episode, Commonweal associate editor Matt Sitman speaks with contributing writer Massimo Faggioli about his new book, Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States.

This political moment, Faggioli argues, is different from any other. With public institutions in decline and democracy’s survival no longer assured, Biden’s challenge—like that of Pope Francis—is to unite a center than may no longer exist.

For further reading:

·     Lots of Politics, Little Legitimacy, Massimo Faggioli

·     The One Missing Fact, Paul Moses

·     The New Integralists, Timothy Troutner

In her book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, Georgetown history professor Marcia Chatelain notes that big companies like McDonald's historically have failed to deliver the social benefits they’d promised.

And as racism and white supremacy remain potent forces in American life—and in the Catholic Church—we should harness our power to care for one another, rather than our power as consumers, to bring real change.

For further reading:

·     Three Cheers for Socialism, David Bentley Hart

·     Authentically Black, Truly Catholic, Tia Noelle Pratt

·     Many and One, Vinson Cunningham

On this special end-of-year episode, we’re revisiting four of our favorite conversations with Catholics who’ve inspired us to do just that:

-      Susan Bigelow Reynolds on changing parish realities

-      Stephen Hough on accepting his own sexuality

-      Fr. Bryan Massingale on racism and white supremacy

-      Ellen Koneck on the spiritual lives of Gen Z

We hope you’ll enjoy hearing from them again as much as we have.

While the incoming Biden administration intends to reverse these measures, we should hardly be complacent. The U.S. immigration system is expressly designed to keep people out.

On this episode, Commonweal contributing writer Paul Moses speaks with attorney and law professor Michael Kagan, author of The Battle to Stay in America: Immigration’s Hidden Front Line, about the illogic of U.S. immigration law, the need for solidarity, and the prospects for reform.

For further reading:

-      Collateral Damage, by Paul Moses

-      Trapped at the Border, by Joseph Sorrentino

-      Progressives Have an Immigration Problem, by Tom Deignan

Less familiar, though, are the contemplative practices that ground Sr. Simone’s work—and that she describes in her new book, Hunger for Hope: Prophetic Communities, Contemplation, and the Common Good.

Speaking with Commonweal assistant editor Regina Munch, Sr. Simone talks about how the courage to confront our own brokenness can bring about personal and political healing in this fractured moment.

For further reading:

-      Is There a Religious Left? by Kaya Oakes

-      American Politics and Social Catholicism by E.J. Dionne, Jr.

-      Griever-in-Chief by Paul Moses & Michael Connor

On this episode, managing editor Katie Daniels speaks with Ellen Koneck, herself a former Commonweal staffer and now head writer and editor at Springtide Research Institute. Their new report, The State of Religion and Young People, invites us to think differently about the religious practices and spiritual aspirations of Gen Z.

Sure, young people are skeptical of institutions and have lower levels of trust in traditional kinds of authority. But they’re also more open than ever to relationships that offer wisdom and support—and that’s exactly where religious leaders can meet them.

For further reading

-      Further Adrift, Peter Steinfels

-      Finding Our Way, Ellen Koneck

-      Under Pressure, John Thornton, Jr.

Luke Mayville, co-founder of the grassroots movement Reclaim Idaho and a lecturer of political philosophy at Boise State University’s Honors College, certainly thinks so.

His conviction comes from firsthand experience. In 2018, Mayville helped Idaho become the only predominantly rural state in America to approve Medicaid expansion in a statewide referendum.

On this episode, he talks with associate editor Matt Sitman about that campaign, arguing that if we want to pass more progressive legislation, we should put our energies into on-the-ground organizing and local persuasion.

For further reading

·     Do Something Big, Luke Mayville

·     Drinking Alone, Jonathan Malesic

·     Democracy in America?, The Commonweal Editors

Few writers do that as well as Phil Klay, who won the National Book Award for his 2014 short story collection, Redeployment, which is based on his experiences as a marine during the Iraq War. His debut novel, Missionaries, expands those insights through the interlocking stories of four characters living in Colombia, Yemen, and the United States.

In conversation with Commonweal critic Anthony Domestico, Klay shares insights into the ways that globalization, capitalism, and technological advances have made warfare both more deadly and less noticeable. A committed Catholic, Klay also discusses the sacramental worldview that undergirds his fiction, in which even death is “charged with the grandeur of God.”

White Christians are not simply complicit in racism and white supremacy, argues scholar Robert P. Jones. They’re actually culpable. Without their deliberate consent, white supremacy in America could never have been built.

That’s a shocking assertion. But citing historical evidence and contemporary survey data, Jones, in conversation with assistant editor Regina Munch, maps the long road white Christians must travel if they hope to ever atone for their sins.

The El Paso matanza, or massacre, is considered to be the deadliest anti-Latino attack in U.S. history, and one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

On this two-part episode, we talk with several people from El Paso about that day, about what has transpired in the year that has passed, about how life has and hasn’t changed along the border—politically, culturally, and spiritually.

In part two, we’re joined by Dylan Corbett and Marisa Limón Garza of the Hope Border Institute in El Paso, and by Bishop Mark Seitz of the El Paso Diocese.

For further reading:

• Night Will Be No More, Bishop Mark Seitz
• Confronting White Supremacy, John Gehring
• Injustice at the Border, a collection of Commonweal pieces

Links:

• The Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States
• Hope Border Institute
• Black Catholic Theological Symposium

The El Paso matanza, or massacre, is considered to be the deadliest anti-Latino attack in U.S. history, and one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

On this two-part episode, we talk with several people from El Paso about that day, about what has transpired in the year that has passed, about how life has and hasn’t changed along the border—politically, culturally, and spiritually.

In part one, we’re joined by Monsignor Arturo Bañuelas, a priest in the diocese of El Paso, and Professor Neomi DeAnda, the current president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States. Look for part two soon.

For further reading:

• Night Will Be No More, Bishop Mark Seitz
• Confronting White Supremacy, John Gehring
• Injustice at the Border, a collection of Commonweal pieces

Links:

• The Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States
• Hope Border Institute
• Black Catholic Theological Symposium

He’s also a polymathic writer, with a new book called Rough Ideas. It collects two decades’ worth of short, witty, and perceptive essays, on everything from Lou Reed and Thomas Aquinas to bioethics, sacramentality, and the challenges of living as a gay Catholic.

He joins Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi for a discussion about his writing, his art, and his new life during the coronavirus quarantine.

Their work falls into different genres: memoir, first-person reporting, and fiction. But they’re linked by an abiding interest in God, communal religious practice, and the strangeness of American life at the margins.

They speak with managing editor Kate Lucky, who also reflects on her time at Commonweal, a place where she has found not just intellectual and literary fellowship but a true sense of community and of “being known.”

For further reading, three Commonweal pieces, all by Kate Lucky:

• Wonderfully Made
• The Last Shakers
• The Feminist Wife

On this episode we speak with Fr. Bryan Massingale, author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church and professor of theology at Fordham University in New York. Racism persists in America and the church, Massingale contends, because racist policies and structures benefit white people—and white people assent to it through a kind of perverse “liturgy.”

Massingale also tells us what Americans shocked at Floyd’s death, particularly white bystanders, need now: the virtue of courage, motivated by righteous anger. We must move beyond the mere conviction that racism is wrong, and actually begin dismantling it.

For further reading:

• Police Brutality & Protest, The Editors
• A Sign of Contradiction, Gregory K. Hillis
• King & His Mentors, Gary Dorrien

Indeed, argues religion reporter Jack Jenkins. His new book American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country traces the inspiration, dreams, and demands of the clergy and activists that make up this growing “coalition of coalitions.”

Jenkins speaks with Commonweal associate editor Matt Sitman about how the religious left differs from the religious right, the growing influence of Rev. William Barber, and what the Democratic party might do to court religious voters in the upcoming 2020 election.

For further reading

·     From Catholic Worker to DSA, Gary Dorrien

·     Reading Buttigieg, James T. Kloppenberg

·     Three Cheers for Socialism, David Bentley Hart

·     American Paganism, David Albertson

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has taken the lead in responding. He belongs to a new crop of “progressive DAs” fighting to end mass incarceration in favor of fairness, rehabilitation, and community.

In this episode Krasner talks with us about the concrete steps his office has taken so far, and the legal philosophy undergirding them. 

Their suggestions are simple: let more people, including women, preach; reach out to LGBTQ Catholics, and learn from their journeys; and finally, help young families and finally, help parents with restless young children in tow make it through Mass by shortening homilies—no more than five minutes please

Plus, the Commonweal staff share thoughts about what our readers most want in parishes: robust social justice ministries, prayerful liturgies, and a sense of home.

Related: 

• Teaching & Preaching, Natalia M. Imperatori-Lee
• Necessary Affirmation, Jason Steidl
• Just Five Minutes, Mollie Wilson O’Reilly
• The American Parish, By the Numbers

But that’s not the whole story, and of course as Catholics, we believe in resurrection. On this episode we hear from two of the most knowledgeable, hopeful voices in the American church: Susan Bigelow Reynolds, an expert theologian who studies “lived ecclesiology” at the parochial level, and Fr. Hector Madrigal, pastor of the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual St. Joseph’s Church in Amarillo, Texas.

Together they urge us not to be afraid, suggesting that there’s never been a better time than now to begin the ‘heart’ work of power sharing and ecclesial integration. 

And don’t miss the next episode of the Commonweal Podcast, when we’ll be joined by three leading lay Catholics who tell us what parishes could do to be more welcoming to aspiring preachers, families, and LGBTQ Catholics. 

Related:

• Way Stations for a Pilgrim Church, by Susan Bigelow Reynolds
• Look Who’s Here, by Brett C. Hoover
• The ‘Heart’ Work, an Interview with Fr. Hector Madrigal
• The American Parish Today, By the Numbers

But Hong Kong, an island close to mainland China, has managed to limit the spread of the disease, even as it experiences one of the largest and most sustained mass protest movements in history.

In this episode, China expert and social historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom, author of the new book Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink, joins us for a discussion about what we can learn from the protests. And our spring intern Emily King, herself a Hong Kong native, gives us a feel for the city and explains what the protests mean for young people today.

For further reading:

• Nicole Ann Lobo, Revolution of Our Times
• Nicholas Haggerty, What I Saw During the Protests
• The Editors, Desperate Times

Longtime Commonweal columnist and political scientist E.J. Dionne, Jr. joins associate editor Matthew Sitman for a wide-ranging conversation about what it means to be a Democrat today. Pointing to Catholic social thought, and in particular the notion of human dignity, Dionne makes the case that there’s a lot both wings of the party can agree on for improving people’s lives.

Plus, Phil Klay, winner of the National Book Award for his collection ‘Redeployment’ and co-host of the podcast ‘Manifesto!’ sits down with senior editor Matthew Boudway to talk about the “enfant terrible” of the contemporary French literary scene, Michel Houellebecq.

Poet and reporter Eliza Griswold, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for her book ‘Amity and Prosperity’ and author of the new poetry collection ‘If Men, Then,’ explains how both genres have helped her tell stories that transcend her ego. She talks with us about writing poetry, reporting from conflict zones, and what the secular media get wrong about religious belief today. 

Plus, Dominic Preziosi and Matthew Sitman report on the state of the Democratic Primary so far, offering a few prognostications and underscoring the stakes of the 2020 presidential election. 

Absolutely nothing, argues public education expert Diane Ravitch. Since the 1980s, wealthy privatizers have passed themselves off as education “reformers.” But the data reveal that they weaken outcomes for students and thrust public-school teachers into poverty. 

Thankfully, there’s hope: in her new book Slaying Goliath Ravitch points to the growing resistance: parents, teachers’ unions, and progressive politicians working together to save the public sphere from the wealthy. 

Plus, the editors discuss Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life, a “simple” film that plumbs the depth of Austrian Catholic martyr Franz Jägerstätter’s decision to refuse to sign an oath of loyalty to Adolph Hitler in 1943.  

Eugene McCarraher thinks so. His new book, The Enchantments of Mammon, explains how money came to replace God in the modern era, seducing us with false promises of profit maximization. But he hasn’t given up hope. We can reverse our “misenchantment” and return to real abundance: beloved community in a world charged with the glory of God.

Plus, the Commonweal staff gathers for a conversation about “popes on film,” weighing in on The Two Popes, The New Pope, and that infamous pontifical hand-slap.   

In this episode, journalist Michael O’Loughlin joins associate editor Matt Sitman for a behind-the-scenes conversation about his new podcast series “Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS & the Catholic Church,” out now from our friends at America Media. 

They discuss the urgency of documenting an understudied period of church history, when priests, nuns, and cardinals in cities like New York and San Francisco responded to the AIDS crisis during the 1980s. 

Plus, assistant editors Regina Munch and Griffin Oleynick preview the new “Comment” section of the January issue, praising the rise of “progressive DAs” and decrying the Trump administration’s recent cuts to food stamps.  

In his new book Savage Gods, British writer and former environmental activist Paul Kingsnorth wrestles with these questions. Contemporary threats to nature, he argues, are indicative of a deeper problem: the crisis of culture and language in the West. He joins Commonweal books columnist Anthony Domestico for a wide-ranging conversation on everything from the writings of Annie Dillard to the practice of Zen Buddhism. 

Plus, December at Commonweal means one thing: the publication of our annual Christmas Critics feature. The staff joins Dominic to talk about their favorite books this year.  

She spoke with associate editor Matt Sitman about what it’s like to live, think, and write from her perch at the other end of the country. Noting the utopian thrust of California culture, Oakes explains how religion and spirituality continue to lurk beneath the surface of her state’s supposedly laid-back, secular ethos.

Plus, Dominic talks with managing editor Kate Lucky about her new feature on the last living Shakers, now online (and forthcoming in the December issue).

Plus, Dominic and the Commonweal staff chat about the new Fall Books issue, which features a profile of Catholic poet Fanny Howe.

In this episode we speak with Benjamin Francis-Fallon about his new book, The Rise of the Latino Vote. Tracing the decades-long process of organizing among hispanic immigrant communities in the U.S., Francis-Fallon rebuts the myth of Latino voters as the country’s “sleeping giant.” They constitute not a unified political bloc, but a variegated coalition with a diverse array of concrete interests. It’s the grassroots, not the top, that matters.

And members of the Commonweal staff speak about what they witnessed last weekend in El Paso, Texas. There, they participated in the Jornada por la Justicia, a national teach-in and binational action against racism and xenophobia, organized by the Catholic Latinx Leadership Coalition and Hope Border Institute. 

Plus, our own Matt Sitman critiques the duplicitous rhetoric of ‘national conservatism,’ a growing movement among conservative intellectuals to systematize the disruptive politics of the Trump presidency.

In this episode, we speak with award-winning author Barry Lopez, whose magisterial new book, Horizon, came out earlier this year. A longtime travel writer, Lopez has spent decades living with indigenous peoples. He issues a cautionary word about the dangers of capitalism and climate change, but also points toward the powers of human cooperation and communion with the divine as authentic sources of hope.

Plus, our staff explains big changes coming to your mailbox: we've redesigned the print magazine, we're excited to tell you all about what you can look forward to in the new sleeker, longer, monthly Commonweal.

In this episode, Commonweal editors and writers discuss what they've been reading this summer, touching on everything from David Hockney and Robert Caro to Jia Tolentino and Rick Steves.

Plus, we speak with Mexican actress Gabriela Cartol, the star of one of this summer's best films, "The Chambermaid." It’s set entirely in a sleek high-rise hotel, and Cartol’s performance is a revelation, lending emotional poignancy and spiritual warmth to the cold world of capitalist exploitation in modern-day Mexico City. 

Cultural critic Lewis Hyde explores this tension—how the hard work of "forgetting" can pave the way to healing and regeneration, touching on Buddhist philosophy, St. Augustine, and Marcel Proust. 

Plus, the editors challenge the US Bishops to stop mincing words and take concrete action on immigration.

Less, as they say, is often more. In this episode, we introduce a new, leaner format.

The editors weigh in on the crowded 2020 Democratic primary field. 

And California-based writer, teacher, and digital artist Jenny Odell explains the merits of doing nothing, arguing that contemplative leisure holds the key to meaningful activity. 

Writer Casey Cep explores our growing fascination with true crime, and reveals Harper Lee's struggle with writer's block.

Activist Felix Cepeda roots the sanctuary church movement in the history of Catholic civil disobedience. 

Plus, the editors discuss HBO's Chernobyl.

You can read Nicole-Ann and Carolyn's full interview here.