Catholic Founders #38 Taking Back the Culture Through Media | Seamus Coughlin (Creator of Freedom Toons)
Listen on: Fio (Catholic Spotify) | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
Hey y’all — welcome back to another episode of the Catholic Founders podcast! Today’s episode will not disappoint.
News / Updates:
* We’re hosting a Catholic Founders meetup in Chicago this 4th of November. Email us if you’re interested in attending (we are near capacity but if you reach out soon we can likely squeeze you in).
* Fides is offering Catholic Founders Readers/Listeners 15% discount on all upcoming events through the end of the year — just use code: CATHOLICGUILD2025 at checkout. (He has some incredible speakers lined up).
* There is a Catholic entrepreneur gathering in San Francisco on November 20th (tentatively) — Stay tuned for more details.
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In Today’s Issue:
* Intro to the Guest and Topic
* Core Takeaway
* Episode References
* Select Quotes
* Key Moments
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Today’s Topic & Guest:
* Seamus Coughlin | Freedom Toons
* 💰 Help them hit their fundraising goal! 📈
* Seamus Coughlin is showing what happens when you use creativity as a weapon for truth. He is the founder of Freedom Toons, one of the most influential Catholic animation channels on YouTube. Through humor, storytelling, and sharp satire, he’s reaching millions with messages that defend truth, reason, and faith — all while making people laugh.
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Core Lesson:
The most powerful way to transform culture is to create good work, work so excellent, it points back to God. And the best way to do that, is to allow God to transform your own heart.
In this episode, Seamus said something very interesting about the priest shortage. He said that the priest shortage is actually just a holiness shortage.
Most people are not living out their vocations faithfully. This is what is leading to a lack of priests and a lack of nuns and a lack of holy families (and even children because they are all prevented from being born or worse, aborted).
A key goal of ours at Catholic Founders is to help rally business owners to use their skills to bring the culture back to God. But we cannot do this if our own hearts are not transformed.
And only God can do this.
The good news is, He is trying to. But we prevent him. If we start asking for the grace to desire a total transformation of heart, we are one step closer.
When transformed, the work we do will also be transformed. When this happens, the work will be good and beautiful. And it will bring people back to God.
God Bless & Happy Building!
~Silas Mähner
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Key Episode References:
* Help Them Raise Money for the Full-Length Series
* Father Chad Ripperger
Select Quotes:
* “We really just have a holiness shortage. Almost no one’s living out their vocation. Well, unfortunately. So if you just live out your vocation well, the effect you will have on the world will be unbelievable.” - Seamus
* “God gave you a vocation, live that vocation out.” - Seamus
* “For media to be effective, it has to A, be something that’s going to appeal to people outside of your group and B, the moral that you’re trying to deliver has to be delivered naturally through the story and through the jokes and not through these ham-fisted monologues.” - Seamus
* “The most extraordinary thing in the world is just an ordinary family.” - Seamus
* “God doesn’t make rules that don’t make sense if we follow God’s commandments. This is not the prosperity gospel I’m not saying that your life will always be great But we know that societies that follow God’s commandments are more likely to be successful than ones that don’t...” - Seamus
* “Anytime we create anything, we’re participating with God and His creativity.” - Seamus
* “Your work should sanctify you and you should use it to sanctify the world in some way But it does not have to be explicitly religious in order for you to be able to do so.” - Seamus
Key Moments: (outline)
* 00:00 Intro
* 04:25 Freedom Toons and Cultural Transformation
* Seamus introduces himself and Freedom Toons, explaining his mission to fight back against entertainment media controlled by those with opposing values
* 06:32 Seamus’s Faith Journey and Media Concerns
* Seamus shares his faith journey, falling away, and returning at 20
* 09:23 Reaching the Younger Generation with Good Media
* Offering an alternative to what the younger generation are constantly being sold
* 10:22 Faith Deepening and Content Evolution
* Seamus details how his deepening faith led to change his political views
* 15:24 Freedom, Submission, and Choosing the Good
* A discussion on what is true freedom
* 18:40 The Creative Process and Overcoming Writer’s Block
* Seamus talks about his creative process for Freedom Toons
* 22:46 Integrating the Holy Spirit in Creativity
* The role of the Holy Spirit in Seamus’ creative process
* 25:17 Building Good Companies vs. “Catholic” Companies
* The importance of Catholics building “good companies” and creating undeniable products, rather than just “Catholic” versions of existing things
* 33:17 Heart Transformation and Truthful Products
* Personal heart transformation as the foundation for transforming the culture
* 44:20 Life as a Story: Earning Big Moments
* Understanding life through the lens of story can help in personal growth
* 48:18 Ambition, Humility, and God at the Center
* The idea of ambition and achievement within a Catholic context
* 52:28 The Universal Call to Change the World
* The universal call to change the world, even in seemingly small ways
* 54:45 Changing Culture: Vocation and Family
* Changing the world involves faithfully living out one’s vocation and the importance of family and personal holiness as the starting point for cultural transformation.
* 59:32 Conclusion
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