About Krzysztof Odyniec

Krzysztof Odyniec was born in Poland and has lived in the United States since childhood. He studied history at UC Berkeley (BA, 2001; PhD, 2017) and pedagogy at Harvard (EdM, 2005). His dissertation was on the first resident ambassador from Poland-Lithuania to the court of Charles V in Spain; part of it appears as a chapter in _Historians Without Borders_ (Knoblauch and Abrams, eds., from Routledge, 2019). Krzysztof has taught at UC Berkeley as a graduate student and postdoc, at two community colleges as an adjunct professor, and at a number of secondary schools as either a history or an English teacher. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Mali (2002-2004) specializing in Natural Resource Management, where he also taught at a village school.

Krzysztof Odyniec is a historian of Medieval and Early Modern Europe; he is also the host of the 'Almost Good Catholics' podcast.

Krzysztof's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Krzysztof:

The Wood Between the Worlds (with Brian Zahnd)

March 28, 2024

The Wood Between the Worlds (with Brian Zahnd)

Brian Zahnd

For Christians, the central event in history and in universe is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. This killing of God …

Jeffrey Benson, "Hacking School Discipline Together" (Times Ten Publications, 2024)

March 22, 2024

Hacking School Discipline Together

Jeffrey Benson

Jeffrey Benson’s Hacking School Discipline Together (Times Ten Publications, 2024) follows in footsteps first hacked out by Weinstein and Maynard in t…

Woe to this Generation (with Colin Rahill)

March 14, 2024

Woe to this Generation (with Colin Rahill)

Colin Rahill

Colin Rahill dropped out of law school to become a Catholic writer; he just finished his first book, Castor & Pollux (Emerald Books, 2023), which is a…

Miracle Man (with Joe McGivney)

March 1, 2024

Miracle Man: Intercession and Healing

Joe McGivney

Lifelong alcoholic Joe McGivney drank himself into brain damage and permanent disability. The day after being placed into the assisted care he would n…

Homo sapiens catholicus (with Jeremy Holmes)

February 15, 2024

Homo sapiens catholicus

Jeremy Holmes

Theology Professor Jeremy Holmes of Wyoming Catholic College teaches a class called “Science and Theology,” which is about the Darwin’s theory of evol…

The Ground is Crying out to God (with Fr. Piotr Żelazko)

February 8, 2024

The Ground is Crying out to God

Piotr Żelazko

Father Piotr Żelazko is Vicar for the St. James Vicariate in Jerusalem and has been priest in Israel for fifteen years (he is a native of Poland and s…

The Good Fire: Theology of Stewardship & Controlled Burning (with Peter Hess)

February 1, 2024

The Good Fire

Peter Hess

Peter Hess (Ph.D, FFT2) is a theologian, an environmental scientist, a wildland fire practitioner, and firefighter type two. I ask Peter about this wo…

"Apocalypto" and Mel Gibson (with Jonathon Fessenden)

January 18, 2024

"Apocalypto" and Mel Gibson

Jonathon Fessenden

The 2006 Mel Gibson movie, Apocalypto, takes us into a decadent Maya civilization in the Yucatan on the eve of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. It coul…

The Men We Need (with Brant Hansen)

January 8, 2024

The Men We Need

Brant Hansen

“What is a man?” asks Hamlet. If all he does is “sleep and feed,” then “a beast, no more.” That’s not enough for Hamlet, and it’s not enough for Brant…

Our Lady of Guadalupe and Aztec True Myth

December 9, 2023

Our Lady of Guadalupe and Aztec True Myth

Joseph Gonzalez and Monique González

It turns out that our familiar narrative of the Virgin of Guadalupe, when Mary appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 and left her ima…

Darwinian Accident or Divine Architect? (with Jay Richards)

November 23, 2023

Darwinian Accident or Divine Architect?

Jay Richards

Jay Richards PhD, OP discusses the new book to which he contributed a chapter, God’s Grandeur: The Catholic Case for Intelligent Design (Sophia Instit…

Let Us Make Man in Our Image (with Paul Louis Metzger)

November 9, 2023

Let Us Make Man in Our Image

Paul Louis Metzger
Listen:

In our talk about his book, More than Things: A Personalist Ethics for a Throwaway Culture (InterVarsity Press, 2023), and in addition to quoting Pope…

Live from Israel (with Fr. Piotr Zelazko)

October 26, 2023

Live from Israel (with Fr. Piotr Zelazko)

Piotr Zelazko
Listen:

Father Piotr Zelazko is Vicar for the St. James Vicariate in Jerusalem and has been priest in Israel for fifteen years (he is a native of Poland and s…

Kids These Days (with Jane Sloan Peters)

October 19, 2023

Kids These Days

Jane Sloan Peters
Listen:

Jane Sloan Peters remembers World Youth Day in Toronto back in 2002 when she was a teenager. She also talks about being a young mother and a teacher; …

Hammertime and Hanukkah (with Matthew and Leeanne Thomas)

September 28, 2023

Hammertime and Hanukkah

Matthew Thomas and Leeanne Thomas
Listen:

Between 167 and 160 BC, Judas Maccabeus and his brothers led a revolt against the Greek tyrant who desecrated the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Miraculo…

Brides of Christ: Contemplative Life among the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

September 14, 2023

Brides of Christ

Sister Mary Josefa

Sister Mary Josefa of the Eucharist is a Benedictine nun in Missouri; she and the sisters of her community recently wrote a charming children’s book, …

Who’s Afraid of the Catholic Integralists? (with Kevin Vallier)

August 31, 2023

Who’s Afraid of the Catholic Integralists? (with Kevin Vallier)

Kevin Vallier

Kevin Vallier is a philosophy professor and author of All the Kingdoms of the World: On Radical Religious Alternatives to Liberalism (Oxford UP, 2023)…

The Seven Deadly Sins (with Fr Chris Pietraszko)

August 24, 2023

The Seven Deadly Sins

Father Chris Pietraszko
Listen:

Father Chris Pietraszko has been thinking about sin and redemption for the last year and a half as he has been writing a series of articles that will …

Idolatry and Idle Hands (with Jacob Howland)

August 10, 2023

Idolatry and Idle Hands

Jacob Howland

Philosophy professor Jacob Howland applies the lessons of Greek classics and Jewish scripture to this our curious moment at the inception of Artificia…

The Fourth Wise Man (with Jonathon Fessenden)

August 3, 2023

The Fourth Wise Man

Jonathon Fessenden
Listen:

Jonathon Fessenden, theologian and editor of Missio Dei, invited me to talk about The Fourth Wise Man, the 1985 film based on the 1895 Henry van Dyke…

When Did We See You a Stranger and Welcome You? (with Ben Metcalf)

July 27, 2023

When Did We See You a Stranger and Welcome You?

Ben Metcalf

The poor have always been with us, even in a rich country and a prosperous time. I ask Ben Metcalf, former Secretary of Housing and Community Developm…

What Jesus Intended (with Bishop Todd Hunter)

July 20, 2023

What Jesus Intended

Todd D. Hunter
Listen:

Bishop Todd Hunter is an Anglican Bishop in Tennessee and author of What Jesus Intended: Finding Faith in the Rubble of Bad Religion (IVP, 2023). He a…

Master Craftsman, Broken Tools (with Fr. Chris Alar, MIC)

July 13, 2023

Master Craftsman, Broken Tools (with Fr. Chris Alar, MIC)

Fr. Chris Alar

Father Chris talks about his devotion to Our Lady, and what he has learned from St. Maria Faustyna Kowalska, the poor Polish country girl, whose visio…

Love Them Both (with Kimberly Bird)

July 6, 2023

Love Them Both (with Kimberly Bird)

Kimberly Bird

Kimberly Bird is vice president of external relations of Live Action, an online media advocacy and education organization that works to shift public o…