The Commonweal Podcast

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Ep. 89 - Life Inside, and Out Oct 06, 2022

Show notes

It’s no secret that the United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Less well known, though, is what actually takes place within prison walls.

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

Ep. 88 - A Hidden Struggle Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

For many Catholic women experiencing infertility, the Church has not been a welcoming, listening place—and that’s something that needs to change.

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

Ep. 87 - Sounds of Silence Sep 08, 2022

Show notes

Ancient monks entered the desert wilds of Egypt and the Holy Land in search of solitude and silence. What they found instead was a rich sonic landscape replete with melody, cacophony, and deep spiritual resonance.

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

Ep. 86 - Not Too Late Aug 04, 2022

Show notes

Intractable racism, increasing inequality, and intensifying climate change—for author and environmental activist Bill McKibben, these are some of the legacies wrought by the growth of American suburbs during the past forty years.

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

Ep. 85 - Should Catholics Promote Democracy? Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

For most of its history, the Catholic Church clung to a deep skepticism concerning the legitimacy of democracy.

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.

Ep. 84 - Forward & Backward Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

One quality of a Catholic poet is a heightened capacity to see—not just into the future, but into the past as well.

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

Ep. 83 - ‘An Early Spring’ Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

In the American Church today, few figures are as outspoken about the need for Catholics to treat LGBTQ people with love, respect, and compassion as Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin.

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

Ep. 82 - ‘Broken Places’ May 25, 2022

Show notes

Few living writers speak as eloquently and incisively about the terrible contradictions of armed conflict as Marine Corps veteran and award-winning author Phil Klay.

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

Ep. 81 - Is This What We Wanted? May 10, 2022

Show notes

It’s been just over a week since Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion appearing to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press.

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

Ep. 80 - McMorrow’s Way Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

On April 19, Mallory McMorrow, Democratic State Senator of Michigan, delivered a speech in the chamber of the Michigan State Capitol. It instantly struck a chord on social media, and has since been viewed by millions of people throughout the world.

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

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