The Catholic Culture Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 58 - A Hidden Life Film Review w/ James Majewski Dec 13, 2019

Show notes

Terrence Malick's stunning new film, A Hidden Life, is about Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who was martyred for refusing to swear loyalty to Hitler. James Majewski joins Thomas to discuss the film. He reads excerpts from Bl. Franz's letters and prison writings, to see how well Malick's portrayal lives up to the real-life saint. The letters of Franz and his wife Franziska their deep devotional life, and testify to how much Franz's heroism owed to the sacraments and the support of some good priests who we do not see in the film.

Links

A Hidden Life trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXmdY4lVR0

Franz Jägerstätter: Letters and Writings from Prison, ed. Erna Putz, is published by Orbis Books, a press that publishes a fair amount of heretical and dissenting material. The letters are well worth reading but we encourage you to buy a used copy rather than supporting that publisher.

If you enjoyed this discussion, check out James and Thomas's other show, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. http://catholicculture.org/criteria

To hear James read more writings of the saints, check out Catholic Culture Audiobooks. https://www.catholicculture.org/audiobooks

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

Episode 57 - River of the Immaculate Conception - James Matthew Wilson Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

James Matthew Wilson's new cycle of poems, The River of the Immaculate Conception, is a reflection on the history of the Catholic faith in the Americas, from Juan Diego to Elizabeth Ann Seton. Its title is the name given to the Mississippi River by the missionary Fr. Marquette. James reads four of the seven poems, explains their relation to the recent Mass of the Americas which inspired them, and discusses the challenges and delights of poetic form.

Links

Buy The River of the Immaculate Conception at Wiseblood Books https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p96/The_River_of_the_Immaculate_Conception.html

Watch the Mass of the Americas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFoj3viHXnk

JMW's website: https://www.jamesmatthewwilson.com/

JMW's recommended resources for aspiring poets:

Colosseum Summer Institute https://www.colosseuminstitute.com/summer-institute.html

James Matthew Wilson, The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of Unmaking https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p82/The_Fortunes_of_Poetry_in_an_Age_of_Unmaking.html

William Baer, Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Metrical-Poetry-Contemporary-Traditional/dp/1582974152

Timothy Steele, All the Fun's in How You Say a Thing: An Explanation of Meter and Versification https://www.amazon.com/All-Funs-How-Thing-Versification/dp/0821412604

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

Episode 56 - Vindicating Authority - Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P. Nov 26, 2019

Show notes

Modernity has attempted to do away with authority. It does this not most commonly by advocating anarchy. Rather, it justifies its own established powers in terms of a fictive self-rule, and purports to replace the arbitrary dictates of power--and much of what makes us human--with scientific rationality.

But authority is necessary to human life, and not just as a medicine for weakness and evil. It arises from and serves what is noblest in us. The French Catholic philosopher Yves R. Simon made this case in A General Theory of Authority. With the help of Dominican friar Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, Thomas dives into this most enlightening book.

Links

https://twitter.com/FrAquinasOP

Yves R. Simon, A General Theory of Authority https://www.amazon.com/General-Theory-Authority-Yves-Simon/dp/0268010048

Charles De Koninck, On the Primacy of the Common Good: Against the Personalists https://emmilco.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/de-koninck-common-good.pdf

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

Episode 55 - The Hundredfold - Anthony Esolen Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

Having honed his skills translating Dante, Tasso and Lucretius, well-known Catholic cultural commentator Anthony Esolen has now published his first book of original poetry. The book-length poem The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord is centered around twelve dramatic monologues set during and shortly after the time of Christ, complemented and illuminated by dozens of lyric poems and hymns.

Links

Buy The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord https://www.ignatius.com/The-Hundredfold-P3358.aspx

Books recommended by Anthony Esolen:

Understanding Poetry by Cleanth Brooks https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Poetry-Cleanth-Brooks/dp/0030769809

Doorways to Poetry by Louis Untermeyer https://www.amazon.com/Doorways-Poetry-Louis-Untermeyer/dp/B000856E98

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

Episode 54 - Fostering Responsible Elites - Jonah Bennett Nov 13, 2019

Show notes

The Western liberal democratic order is in crisis. If it collapses or significantly wanes in power, what will replace it? A long period of chaos and massive human suffering? Regressive authoritarianism? Or, reading the signs of the times, could we arrive at a synthesis which learns from liberalism's mistakes while preserving its best features?

Today's guest is Jonah Bennett, editor-in-chief of a fascinating new online magazine called Palladium which is devoted to constructing what could be called the post-liberal synthesis. Palladium Magazine seeks to foster the perspective of a responsible elite, with high-quality, non-ideological coverage of everything from geopolitics to video-game addiction to the crisis in Ivy League institutions.

Links

Transcript of this podcast https://medium.com/@thejonahbennett/responsible-elites-podcast-transcript-7fb270681280

A few Palladium articles:

"Towards The Post-Liberal Synthesis", Jonah Bennett https://palladiummag.com/2018/09/29/towards-the-post-liberal-synthesis/

"The Real Problem At Yale Is Not Free Speech", Natalia Dashan https://palladiummag.com/2019/08/05/the-real-problem-at-yale-is-not-free-speech/

"My Time On A Terror Trial Jury", Wolf Tivy https://palladiummag.com/2019/09/05/my-time-on-a-terror-trial-jury/

"The American Dream Is Alive In China," Jean Fan https://palladiummag.com/2019/10/11/the-american-dream-is-alive-in-china/

"The New Authoritarian Hungary That Isn't", Will Collins https://palladiummag.com/2019/05/06/the-new-authoritarian-hungary-that-isnt/

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

Episode 53 - God Made Us For Order and Surprise - John-Mark Miravalle Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

John-Mark Miravalle is the author of a rather good popular introduction to the topic beauty, Beauty: What It Is and Why It Matters. He and Thomas converse on our moral obligation to delight in beauty, why we are moved by the combination of order and surprise, and the proper way to delight in the beauty of the human body. John-Mark closes the discussion with a moving reflection on the relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit.

Links

Beauty: What It Is and Why It Matters https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/beauty

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

Episode 52—Off-Broadway Play Accurately Portrays Conservative Thought: Zoology or Spiritual Wisdom? Oct 21, 2019

Show notes

In the new off-Broadway play Heroes of the Fourth Turning, playwright Will Arbery (son of two Wyoming Catholic College professors) offers a nuanced, accurate portrayal of the way conservatives talk to each other when progressives aren't around. The characters are instantly recognizable to anyone who has spent time among well-educated Catholic conservatives. The play has attracted positive attention from both secular and Catholic media.

Is Heroes a zoological exhibit for progressives to gape at, or something deeper? Is it ultimately more unsettling to a perceptive Catholic viewer, for whom Arbery's troubled characters might function as an indictment of a Catholic conservatism that can be focused more on ideas and temporal concerns than on the reality of Christ?

And if so, does the play itself recognize the nature of the problem? That is, does it deal substantively with its characters' Catholicism, or, like some of those characters, does it merely use certain Catholic ideas in the service of temporal political debates? Having seen Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Thomas Mirus and James Majewski discuss.

Links

Heroes of the Fourth Turning https://www.playwrightshorizons.org/shows/plays/heroes-fourth-turning/

C. C. Pecknold's review: https://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2019/10/01/an-extraordinary-play-that-challenges-progressives-and-conservatives-alike/

Rod Dreher's commentary: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher-tags/heroes-of-the-fourth-turning/

Theme music: "Franciscan Eyes", written and performed by Thomas Mirus.

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

Episode 51 - Bringing Melody Back to Pop Music - The Duskwhales Sep 19, 2019

Show notes

Indie rock trio The Duskwhales formed almost 10 years ago at a small Catholic high school in Virginia. Over that decade, four albums and three EPs, they have forged a distinctly melodic sound in contrast to today's joyless pop milieu. Their vocal harmonies hearken back to The Beatles and The Beach Boys, while their organ-heavy instrumentation (no bass player in their live shows) sets them apart from contemporary rock bands. In this 10-year career retrospective they discuss their musical output so far, the importance of their friendship and faith to their survival and continual artistic growth as a band, the loss of melody and retro clones in modern pop music, and more. You'll hear clips from their eclectic discography, including their new EP, Take It Back.

The Duskwhales are Seth Flynn (vocals, guitar), Brian Majewski (keyboards, vocals), and Chris Baker (drums, vocals). All music used with permission.

Links

Buy The Duskwhales' music https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

Follow them https://www.facebook.com/TheDuskwhales/

Episode 5 on The Duskwhales' EP Hospital Dreams https://www.catholicculture.org/podcast/index.cfm?id=5

Interview with The Duskwhales' Sorrowful Mysteries https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1473

Dr. Kurt Poterack on melody https://www.getprinciples.com/a-people-without-melody/ and rhythm in popular music https://www.getprinciples.com/the-rhythm-of-popular-music/ and McCartney's "Yesterday" https://kpoterackblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/yesterday/

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

Episode 50—A Catholic Composer in Queen Elizabeth's Court, Pt. II—Kerry McCarthy Sep 09, 2019

Show notes

In part two of this interview, singer and scholar Kerry McCarthy discusses the high level of amateur musicianship in Byrd's England, his attitude towards music as revealed in his writings, his approach to text-setting and relationship with contemporary poets, and Renaissance rhythm. An overview is given of more of the genres Byrd worked in, from keyboard and consort music to motets and Mass propers.

In this episode you will hear the following pieces by Byrd (all used with kind permission from the groups named):

Fantasia in A minor for keyboard, performed by Olga Pashchenko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DiebzF-UJ4

In nomine #5 for consort, performed by The Rose Consort of Viols on Byrd: Consort and Keyboard Music, Songs and Anthems https://www.amazon.com/Byrd-Consort-Keyboard-Music-Anthems/dp/B0000013UP

Tristitia et anxietas, performed by Gallicantus on The Word Unspoken https://music.apple.com/us/album/word-unspoken-sacred-music/533746884?app=itunes&ls=1

Ave verum corpus, performed by Ensemble ZENE on Via Dolorosa https://www.highresaudio.com/en/album/view/pd88hj/ensemble-zene-bruno-kele-baujard-purcell-byrd-scarlatti-lotti-allegri-via-dolorosa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioBgfmzRLUE

Links

Part I of this interview https://www.catholicculture.org/podcast/index.cfm?id=49

Kerry McCarthy, Byrd https://global.oup.com/academic/product/byrd-9780195388756?cc=us&lang=en&

Olga Pashchenko https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfXOSSr0MB_fvePKrSfCQug

The Rose Consort of Viols https://www.alisoncrum.myzen.co.uk/roseconsortweb/index.htm

Gallicantus http://www.gallicantus.com/

Ensemble ZENE https://www.ensemblezene.com/

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

Episode 49 - A Catholic Composer in Queen Elizabeth's Court, Pt. I - Kerry McCarthy Sep 04, 2019

Show notes

One of England's greatest composers, William Byrd is a fascinating and complicated figure of Catholic musical history. A musician in the Royal Chapel of Queen Elizabeth, he associated with the highest ranks of the Anglican establishment while writing music on the side for secret Catholic masses. In this first of two episodes on Byrd, singer and scholar Kerry McCarthy sets Byrd in the context of the musical and religious upheavals of post-Reformation England. She discusses how he navigated English court circles as well as his secret Catholic activities, including his three masses.

In this episode you will hear the following pieces by Byrd (all used with kind permission from the groups named):

Fantasia #2 for consort, performed by The Rose Consort of Viols on Byrd: Consort and Keyboard Music, Songs and Anthems https://www.amazon.com/Voces8-Tapestry-BRUCKNER-BYRD-MONTEVERDI/dp/B006UTDFE8

Rejoice Unto the Lord, performed by The Rose Consort of Viols with Tessa Bonner on the same album

Agnus Dei from the Mass for four voices, performed by VOCES8 on A Choral Tapestry https://www.amazon.com/Voces8-Tapestry-BRUCKNER-BYRD-MONTEVERDI/dp/B006UTDFE8

Agnus Dei from the Mass for five voices (Gesualdo Six) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWFjvqNHgEY

Links

Kerry McCarthy, Byrd https://global.oup.com/academic/product/byrd-9780195388756?cc=us&lang=en&

Interview with Barnaby Smith of VOCES8 https://www.catholicculture.org/podcast/index.cfm?id=24

VOCES8 http://www.voces8.com/

The Gesualdo Six https://www.thegesualdosix.co.uk/

The Rose Consort of Viols https://www.alisoncrum.myzen.co.uk/roseconsortweb/index.htm

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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