Catholic Studies

Catholic Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Catholicism about their new books.

Channel Sponsors:

Talking with a Man Who Returned from the Dead (with Paul Zucarelli)

November 28, 2024

Talking with a Man Who Returned from the Dead (with Paul Zucarelli)

Paul Zucarelli

This is my second conversation with Paul Zucarelli who died in 2017 and returned from the dead through the intercessory prayer of Bishop Thomas Olmste…

Nina Valbousquet, "Lukewarm Souls: The Vatican facing the Shoah" (La Découverte, 2024)

November 26, 2024

Lukewarm Souls: The Vatican facing the Shoah

Nina Valbousquet

The exceptional opening of the archives of the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958) in 2020 did not end the controversies surrounding the silence of th…

Matthew Elia, "The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery" (Yale UP, 2024)

November 11, 2024

The Problem of the Christian Master

Matthew Elia
Hosted by Michael Motia

The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery (Yale UP, 2024) offers a bold rereading of Augustinian thought for a world …

Holy, Catholic, Apostolic (with Paul Zucarelli)

November 7, 2024

Holy, Catholic, Apostolic (with Paul Zucarelli)

Paul Zucarelli

Paul Zucarelli died in 2017 and returned from the dead through the intercessory prayer of Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix and the faith of his family…

Mark Stoyle, "A Murderous Midsummer: The Western Rising of 1549" (Yale UP, 2022)

November 3, 2024

A Murderous Midsummer

Mark Stoyle

The Western Rising of 1549 was the most catastrophic event to occur in Devon and Cornwall between the Black Death and the Civil War. Beginning as an a…

Nicholas Spencer, "Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science & Religion" (Oneworld, 2024)

November 1, 2024

Magisteria

Nicholas Spencer

Most things you 'know' about science and religion are myths or half-truths that grew up in the last years of the nineteenth century and remain widespr…

Alister E. McGrath, "The Nature of Christian Doctrine: Its Origins, Development, and Function" (Oxford UP, 2024)

October 28, 2024

The Nature of Christian Doctrine

Alister E. McGrath

The Nature of Christian Doctrine: Its Origins, Development, and Function (Oxford UP, 2024) offers a groundbreaking account of the origins, development…

Bruce Gordon, "The Bible: A Global History" (Basic Books, 2024)

October 19, 2024

The Bible

Bruce Gordon
Hosted by Roland Clark

A “wonderful…highly comprehensive” (John Barton, author of A History of the Bible) global history of the world’s best-known and most influential book …

Luke Clossey, "Jesus and the Making of the Modern Mind, 1380-1520" (Open Book, 2024)

October 9, 2024

Jesus and the Making of the Modern Mind, 1380-1520

Luke Clossey
Hosted by Roland Clark

For his fifteenth-century followers, Jesus was everywhere – from baptism to bloodcults to bowling. This sweeping and unconventional investigation look…

Jerome E. Copulsky, "American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order" (Yale UP, 2024)

October 1, 2024

American Heretics

Jerome E. Copulsky
Hosted by Meghan Cochran

A question has long hung over the the United States regarding the proper role of religion in public life. Those who long for a Christian America claim…

Mercy Ships (with Reanne Newquist)

October 1, 2024

Mercy Ships

Reanne Newquist

Reanne Newquist tells me about her voyage on Mercy Ships bringing healthcare to some of the poorest people in the world, a mission started by Don Step…

Courtney Ann Irby, "Guiding God's Marriage: Faith and Social Change in Premarital Counseling" (NYU Press, 2024)

September 27, 2024

Guiding God's Marriage

Courtney Ann Irby
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

It is well-known that the institution of marriage has changed dramatically in the past few decades. However, very little research has focused on the r…

Steve Tibble, "Crusader Criminals: The Knights Who Went Rogue in the Holy Land" (Yale UP, 2024)

September 24, 2024

Crusader Criminals

Steve Tibble
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In Crusader Criminals: The Knights Who Went Rogue in the Holy Land (Yale University Press, 2024), Dr. Steve Tibble presents a vivid new history of the…

Jason Ramsey, "Reckoning with Change in Yucatán: Histories of Care and Threat on a Former Hacienda" (Routledge, 2023)

September 17, 2024

Reckoning with Change in Yucatán

Jason Ramsey
Hosted by Yadong Li

A perpetual tension exists between history and change, which is an issue long explored by historians and social scientists. Reckoning with Change in Y…

Edel Bhreathnach, "Monasticism in Ireland, AD 900-1250" (Four Courts Press, 2024)

September 11, 2024

Monasticism in Ireland, AD 900-1250

Edel Bhreathnach
Hosted by Crawford Gribben

The history of monasticism in early Ireland is dominated by its flourishing during the sixth and seventh centuries, a period dominated by Columba of I…

Martha Rampton, "Trafficking with Demons: Magic, Ritual, and Gender from Late Antiquity to 1000" (Cornell UP, 2021)

September 9, 2024

Trafficking with Demons

Martha Rampton
Hosted by Jana Byars

Martha Rampton's book Trafficking with Demons: Magic, Ritual, and Gender from Late Antiquity to 1000 (Cornell University Press, 2021) explores how mag…

Tracy Fessenden, “Religion Around Billie Holiday” (Pennsylvania State UP, 2018)

September 8, 2024

Religion Around Billie Holiday

Tracy Fessenden

Billie Holiday is one of the most iconic jazz performers of all time. Her voice is certainly unmistakable but for many her religious sensibilities may…

Naomi Leite, "Unorthodox Kin: Portuguese Marranos and the Global Search for Belonging" (U California Press, 2017)

September 6, 2024

Unorthodox Kin

Naomi Leite
Hosted by Adam Bobeck

Unorthodox Kin: Portuguese Marranos and the Global Search for Belonging (U California Press, 2017) is a lively, readable exploration of "chosen" ident…

Aleksander Pluskowski, "The Teutonic Knights: Rise and Fall of a Religious Corporation" (Reaktion, 2024)

August 30, 2024

The Teutonic Knights

Aleksander Pluskowski
Hosted by Jana Byars

Aleksander Pluskowski of the University of Reading joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book, The Teutonic Knights: Rise and Fall of a Religious Cor…

Mark Valeri, "The Opening of the Protestant Mind: How Anglo-American Protestants Embraced Religious Liberty" (Oxford UP, 2023)

August 29, 2024

The Opening of the Protestant Mind

Mark Valeri
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

During the mid-seventeenth century, Anglo-American Protestants described Native American ceremonies as savage devilry, Islamic teaching as violent chi…