The Catholic Culture Podcast

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**The Catholic Culture Podcast**

In-depth discussions of all things Catholic – theology, art, history and more – featuring Thomas Mirus with a variety of notable guests.

A production of CatholicCulture.org.

Latest Episodes:

Highlights: Indie rock, postliberalism, Mary and the Holy Spirit Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

This episode contains clips of highlights from episodes 51 and 53-55 of the Catholic Culture Podcast.

Links (in order of clips)

The Hundredfold - Anthony Esolen https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-55-hundredfold-anthony-esolen/

Bringing Melody Back to Pop Music - The Duskwhales https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-51-bringing-melody-back-to-pop-music-duskwhales/

God Made Us for Order and Surprise - John-Mark Miravalle https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-53-god-made-us-for-order-and-surprise-john-mark-miravalle/

Fostering Responsible Elites - Jonah Bennett https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-54-fostering-responsible-elites-jonah-bennett/

131 - Virtue Is Not Enough - J. Budziszewski Apr 19, 2022

Show notes

One of the best contemporary natural law philosophers, J. Budszizewski, joins the show to discuss his new book, How (and How Not) to Be Happy, spiritual warfare in the classroom, and his journey from "macho nihilism" to faith.

Topics include:

Why virtue alone won't make you happy
Why the Greeks said "Call no man happy until he is dead"
A critique of the Stoic revival
How belief in the afterlife allows us to be honest about suffering in this life
Teaching secular students about natural law
Breaking through people's self-deception
Budszizewski's youthful embrace of nihilism and how God broke down his intellectual pride

Links

How (and How Not) To Be Happy https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-and-How-Not-to-Be-Happy/J-Budziszewski/9781684511075

Underground Thomist website http://www.undergroundthomist.org

Join Online Great Books with 25% off your first three months via this link https://hj424.isrefer.com/go/ogbmemberships/tmirus/

Other recommended books by J. Budszizewski:

What We Can't Not Know: A Guide https://www.amazon.com/What-We-Cant-Not-Know/dp/1586174819

The Meaning of Sex https://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Sex-J-Budziszewski/dp/1610170997

CatholicCulture.org is in the middle of its Easter 2022 fundraising campaign. Generous donors have offered us a $60,000 matching challenge grant. If you donate between now and Pentecost Sunday, your donation will be doubled! Please help us keep our apostolate going. If you use this link your donation will be earmarked for podcast production: http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

130 - John Paul II's Retreat for Artists - Christopher West Apr 04, 2022

Show notes

In Holy Week of 1962, Bishop Karol Wojtyla gave a retreat to a group of Polish artists. The text of that retreat has now been published in English, along with commentary, by the Theology of the Body Institute, in a book titled God Is Beauty: A Retreat on the Gospel and Art.

Christopher West, president of the TOB Institute, joins Thomas Mirus to discuss the retreat and how it fits together with St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Themes include:

God is Beauty
The Incarnation is perfect Beauty manifested in the human body
The artist is a conduit of beauty coming from God
Artists' responsibility for their talent
The sexed body as a sign of the relationality and fruitfulness of the Trinity
The dangers of "moral minimalism"
The Crucifixion, where moral conscience and beauty meet
How Wojtyla's work builds on, rather than replaces, traditional theological symbolism

Thomas also discusses his experience of attending the ballet and how it is challenging him to see the body in a new way.

Links

Listeners can purchase God Is Beauty paperback at the TOB Institute store for 20% off the cover price (no limit). Use code: CULTURE https://shop.corproject.com/collections/books/products/god-is-beauty-a-retreat-on-the-gospel-art

Upcoming retreat weekend, May 13-15 https://www.revealedexperience.com

Episode with ballet dancer Claire Kretzschmar https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/109-catholic-in-nyc-ballet-claire-kretzschmar

Dony MacManus https://donymacmanus.com/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

129 - Fatima Today: In Defense of Private Revelation Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

Thomas Mirus reads his article "Fatima Today: In Defense of Private Revelation".

The first part of this article is a reminder of the essential importance of Fatima in our time. The second, and longer, part corrects a misunderstanding of private revelation held by many—namely that whatever falls into this category can make no claim on our mind or conscience, and that it is a matter of indifference whether we pay heed to it.

Links

Thomas V. Mirus, "Fatima Today: In Defense of Private Revelation" https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/fatima-today-in-defense-private-revelation/

Deacon Bob Ellis, "Our role in the defeat of the global Communist revolution" https://www.bluearmy.com/our-role-in-the-defeat-of-the-global-communist-revolution/

The First Saturday Devotion https://www.bluearmy.com/first-saturday-devotion/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

128 - As Earth Without Water - Katy Carl Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Katy Carl, author of the excellent new novel As Earth Without Water and editor-in-chief of the Catholic arts journal Dappled Things, joins the show to discuss the novel and the state of the Catholic literary scene.

The publisher's description of As Earth Without Water:

When Dylan Fielding, celebrated contemporary visual artist, becomes Br. Thomas Augustine, novice at Our Lady of the Pines monastery, he finds delight not only in the shock his choice causes everyone around him but—to his own surprise—in the rhythms of the life itself. Shortly before he solidifies a lifelong commitment to the community, a traumatic encounter with an abusive priest plunges Thomas Augustine into terror and doubt. Reeling and uncertain, he reaches out to his friend, rival, and former lover, Angele Solomon, with hopes that she can help him to speak the difficult truth. As she attempts to advocate for her friend, Angele must ask how the scars left by their common past—as well as newer harms—can ever be healed or transcended. The wider inquiries demanded next will transfigure how both of them picture a range of human and divine things: time and memory; art and agency; trust and responsibility; and what it might mean to know real freedom.

Links

As Earth Without Water https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p115/katy-carl-as-earth-without-water.html

Dappled Things https://www.dappledthings.org/

Catholic Imagination Conference 2022 https://udallas.edu/centers/cowan/cic/index.php

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

127 - Gregory the Great - Chase Faucheux Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

Today's guest is Chase Faucheux, translator of a recent biography of Pope St. Gregory the Great. Topics include:

The very low point in Rome's history in which Gregory came of age
His being all things to all men in the city of Rome, as both a spiritual and temporal leader
His longing for the monastic life even after he became Pope
His remarkable forthrightness about his own shortcomings
His diplomatic attempts to keep barbarians from destroying his city

Links

Sigrid Grabner, In the Eye of the Storm: A Biography of Gregory the Great https://ignatius.com/in-the-eye-of-the-storm-iesp/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

126 - How Charlie Parker's Music Changed My Life Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

This is a significantly truncated version of the original episode. Listen to the full episode here: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/126-how-charlie-parker-changed-my-life/

Thomas Mirus goes solo in this episode to talk about how his relationship to music was completely transformed in his late teens, by exposure to the music of alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. Before he had used music to stimulate an emotional response, but soon he found himself listening for the sake of musical beauty itself, regardless of emotions or lack thereof. This quickly opened up a whole world of contemplation (musical and otherwise).

After discussing this deeper way of listening to music, Thomas explains how to follow the musical form of a jazz performance, and introduces the music of Charlie Parker and the new form of jazz he pioneered in the 1940s and early 50s, known as bebop.

If you want to listen more extensively to the jazz artists heard in this episode, check out these albums (no links because these things are always going in and out of print in different compilations):

Charlie Parker, listen to the complete Savoy and Dial master takes in whatever compilation you can find

Bud Powell, Jazz Giant

Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street

Sonny Rollins Plus Four

Music heard in this episode:

Blind Lemon Jefferson, "Rising High Water Blues" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsFNi0ZVzj4

Charlie Parker, "Perhaps" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LOOvq1sJvw

Charlie Parker, "Blues for Alice" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7USMqAH8qk

Charlie Parker, "Parker's Mood" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wa7El-k3jQ

Charlie Parker, "Anthropology" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HkFBT4h190

Bud Powell, "So Sorry Please" from Jazz Giant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-IoDXFWr1c&list=PL9C4lRUjCkCt_oXThX81D3LhhRIUXVDqb&index=6

Clifford Brown and Max Roach, "Gertrude's Bounce" from At Basin Street https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ7TdrmmDkc&list=PLUJ7V33M1wR3yDePSuvG8W1LmV3uuPg-S&index=8

Sonny Rollins, "Pent-Up House" from Plus Four https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INeqyCTvm4s&list=OLAK5uy_k6jR4wR5XEIyRL95Ov95VXhkYkAKQZIfw

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

125 - St. Joseph in Art History - Elizabeth Lev Feb 14, 2022

Show notes

Art historian Elizabeth Lev joins the show to discuss her new book, The Silent Knight: A History of St. Joseph as Depicted in Art.

The book offers not only a history of sixteen centuries of art featuring St. Joseph, but also an account of the development of devotion to St. Joseph over the past two thousand years -from the old man sitting overlooked in the corner of early Nativity scenes to the glorious Patron of the Univeral Church.

Links

Watch on YouTube to see the artworks discussed: https://youtu.be/LiPgnGAcu-s

Elizabeth Lev, The Silent Knight https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/the-silent-knight

Episode with Elizabeth on the history of St. Anthony Abbot in art https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/90-temptation-st-anthony-elizabeth-lev/

Episode with Elizabeth on the film Ben-Hur https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/ben-hur-1959-w-elizabeth-lev/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

124 - Culture Warrior, Culture Nurturer - Maggie Gallagher Feb 03, 2022

Show notes

For two decades, Maggie Gallagher was a leading voice writing about the importance of permanent, monogamous marriage to society. At first, that included pointing out the problems with divorce, feminism and single parenthood. Then as same-sex marriage became the predominant issue, Gallagher became the public face of the movement against it. A few years after the Supreme Court made gay marriage legal across the 50 states, Gallagher switched gears when Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco asked her to be Executive Director of the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship, which he founded in 2013. She says that to avoid despair, we have to build beautiful things.

In this interview Maggie discusses:

How becoming a single mother in college led her to focus her career on the defense of marriage
Her time in the pro-marriage movement, including co-founding the National Organization for Marriage
Why the defenders of marriage were less effective than the pro-life movement
Why certain critiques of the pro-life movement's political involvement are unfair
American classical liberalism's inability to think about social institutions
Meeting Archbishop Cordileone and getting involved in the BXVI Institute
The BXVI Institute's patronage of the arts, especially the liturgical arts
The Archbishop's campaign of prayer and fasting for the conversion of Nancy Pelosi

Links

www.BenedictInstitute.org

Benedict XVI Institute on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4a0pooErfPoWck0xc7WHGg

Maggie Gallagher, Enemies of Eros https://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Eros-Revolution-Killing-Marriage/dp/0929387007

Maggie Gallagher and Linda Waite, The Case for Marriage https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/184776/the-case-for-marriage-by-linda-j-waite-and-maggie-gallagher/

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

123 - The Nature of Middle-earth - Carl Hostetter Jan 21, 2022

Show notes

Carl Hostetter, editor of a new volume of J.R.R. Tolkien's unpublished notes, The Nature of Middle-earth, joins the show.

Carl discusses:

His collaboration with Christopher Tolkien leading to this new volume
What other Tolkien writings we might expect to see published
Why it may be good that Tolkien never finished the Silmarillion in his lifetime
Tolkien's Thomistic reflections on elvish hylomorphism, and other revelations contained in the new book
How Tolkien's obsession with consistency nearly destroyed his legendarium
Potential problems with the theology of Middle-earth
Anti-Catholic bias in contemporary Tolkien fandom and scholarship

Links

Carl Hostetter, The Nature of Middle-earth https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-nature-of-middle-earth-jrr-tolkien

Interview with Jonathan McIntosh about The Flame Imperishable https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-40-tolkien-and-aquinas-jonathan-s-mcintosh/

Other resources recommended:

J.R.R. Tolkien, Morgoth's Ring, vol. 10 of The History of Middle-earth, ed. Christopher Tolkien

Jonathan McIntosh, The Flame Imperishable: Tolkien, St. Thomas, and the Metaphysics of Faërie

Tom Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology

Verlyn Flieger, Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World

Corey Olsen's seminars on The Nature of Middle-earth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duNayhMrrJ8&list=PLasMbZ4s5vIXZtwVbmyh6sTE56uiI_t0C

This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

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