The Patrick Coffin Show | Interviews with influencers | Commentary about culture | Tools for transformation

Mike Sweeney played major league baseball for 16 seasons at the top level of performance, with a career batting average of .297,with 215 homeruns, and 909 RBIs. He’s a five-time All-Star; he was inducted into the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame; he has won the Hutch Award for being a total gentleman and persevering fighter in the game. In 2002, he hit .340 for the second-highest batting average in the American League and the second-highest in club history only to George Brett's .390 in 1980. By any standards, a phenomenal ball player. But Mike is also a fervent Catholic who, as this interview shows well, is not afraid to be vulnerable and to tell the truth about his own weaknesses. His father Mike, Sr. (whom he calls “my hero”) is a huge ongoing influence. It shows. In this interview, we talk about the brutal statistics of retired professional athletes: the rates of bankruptcy, suicide, divorce, PTSD, along with higher rates of drug and alcohol use. Men who “have it all” often discover the hard way how life is once the big checks, the wild stadium applause, the constant ego stroking are all over after you retire. It makes the athlete ask, “who am I, really?” To often, the answer is either “I have no idea,” or “without my uniform, my fans, and my riches, I am nothing.” This is where Mike’s shining example comes in.   In this episode you will learn: The indispensable role of the father—for good or for ill—in a boy’s life and formation How an episode of violence (in this case, a bench-clearing brawl instigated by Sweeney!) led to a dramatic leap forward in his spiritual life Why being manly is not the opposite of being childlike How a major league professional can and did navigate the temptations and vicissitudes of life on the road How fame can be an addiction that can destroy someone, or make someone else truly humble Why everyday affirmation has an almost mystical power to inspire heroic courage   Resources recommended in this episode: Catholic Baseball Camp founded by Mike Sweeney with the support of the priests of Miles Christi Catholic Athletes For Christ Mike and Shara Sweeney Family Foundation   "Like" us on Facebook HERE Tweet to Patrick HERE   Don’t forget to Subscribe to the show in YouTube, as well as the full length podcast available in iTunes and other podcast directories, while you are there, please leave an honest review. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Eric Metaxas fires on a lot of creative pistons. He writes like a dream, has a knack for distilling a thousand historical facts and personal details both in his fine books (see below) and on his popular nationally syndicated radio show The Eric Metaxas Show, and also has a rapier-like wit. He also spoke with amiable confidence about his now famous biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the National Prayer Breakfast a few steps away from President Obama. A strange but impressive mashup if there ever was one. I hate him. Okay, back to my show notes. I had interviewed Eric a few years back about his book Seven Women and the Secret of Their Greatness, and remembered vividly his considerable raconteur skills. Then he caught my attention again with an embarrassingly glowing tweet about my Really Controversial Interview with Milo Yiannopoulos the other week. That was it. With a weakness for public praise by intelligent people, I had to hear more. Within hours, the interview you are about to enjoy was set. We talked about the way his new book Donald Drains the Swamp fuses adult non-fiction with children’s fiction, and about the knack with which both Mr. Trump and Mr. Yiannopoulos force onlookers to drop their masks—fast. Pound for pound, I’d say this is the most eclectic of the 103 episodes of The Patrick Coffin Show so far. Per my other Really Controversial Interview with Jordan Peterson, I went Full Metal Catholic and asked the Greek Orthodox cum Evangelical Christian Eric to finish the sentence, “I’m not Catholic, because…” Let me guess. Hopefully, this good humored exchange of ideas about cultural restoration won’t be tagged as Controversial. But you know how people are these days. Enjoy and share!   In this episode you will learn: Why non-Catholics and Catholics have much more in common than in division and why we must be willing to link arms for common cause—without watering down our respective differences How to live a robust, and apology-free Christian faith in a very secular context The top Hollywood scribe we discover during the interview as being a mutual friend Why “underground Christian” is an oxymoron How to use humor as a way to soften your audience and make them more receptive to your message The difference between true and false ecumenism   Resources recommended in this episode: Donald Drains the Swamp by Eric Metaxas Seven Women and the Secret of their Greatness by Eric Metaxas If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty by Eric Metaxas Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas New Errors and Old Labels by Fulton J. Sheen   Question of the week What does this maxim of Peter Kreeft mean to you: “Feuding brothers reconcile when a maniac is at the door.”     Comment below or on our Facebook page "Like" us on Facebook HERE Tweet to Patrick HERE   Don’t forget to Subscribe to the show in YouTube, as well as the full length podcast available in iTunes and other podcast directories, while you are there, please leave an honest review. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. Thank you!               

Doors to Coffin Nation are now OPEN. Hurry, enrollment ends on Monday, November 26. LEARN MORE >> COFFIN NATION. ************************************************** This is Phil’s second appearance on the show, after talking about his book Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis is Misleading His Flock. This time, the veteran journalist doubles down and broads his analysis to include the widespread corruption and complicity of the bishops with a brand new book, The Smoke of Satan: How Corrupt and Cowardly Bishops Betrayed Christ, His Church, and the Faithful . . . and What Can Be Done About It. A daring book (the publisher explains that they didn’t particularly want to publish it) and badly needed. Heavy sigh. As ever, it’s the uncomfortable truths that need to be told.   In this episode you will learn: Why the badly damaged brand and reputation of the Catholic Church is at stake and why books like this continue to be written today Why it’s not a sin to charitably but directly call out bad leadership in the Church How the bishops seem, in so many cases, not to have learned the lessons of the 2002 scandal that broke in Boston The role played by gross misinterpretations of the Second Vatican Council led to the current crisis Why concern for the Church’s reputation can never outdo concern for victims of priest predators The facts as to why the issue we’re dealing with is not “pedophile priests” but homosexual predator priests   Resources recommended in this episode: The Smoke of Satan: How Corrupt and Cowardly Bishops Betrayed Christ, His Church, and the Faithful . . . and What Can Be Done About It by Phil Lawler Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis is Misleading His Flock by Phil Lawler Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church Since Vatican II by Kenneth Jones Pascendi Dominici Gregis Encyclical by Pope St. Pius X on Modernism

Coffin Nation is now OPEN. Go to www.coffinnation.com   ****************************** It’s been over a year since professional polemicist Milo Yiannopoulos more or left public life after losing three gigs in a row: his Breitbart editor position, his Simon & Schuster publishing deal (for his book Dangerous), and his plum CPAC speaker slot. A massive plummet from the heights of internet fame (infamy?) So what really happened? What did he say on those 2015 and 2016 podcasts that surfaced last February? More importantly, what did he mean? And does he have any regrets? Milo, like probably 99% of the population, Catholic or otherwise, has gaps between what he professes and what he lives. St. Paul describes the phenomenon well in Romans 7:19, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Certainly, going ahead with an attempted marriage to his boyfriend puts him at odds with the teaching of the Catholic Church. He has a new book out titled, Diabolical: How Pope Francis Has Betrayed Clerical Abuse Victims Like Me—and Why He Has To Go. Many of his followers, and obviously his enemies, want to know why someone who is Openly Gay [™] and civilly married to his boyfriend is qualified to criticize the Pope. They also want a close look at the man himself, in his own words, as distinct from the hysterical rumor mill about him.   In this episode you will learn: Milo’s childhood Catholic roots and the origin of the surname Yiannopoulos The facts about his abuse at the hands of a priest, who since committed suicide How he manages to reconcile his homosexual lifestyle with the Church he professes to love What his real opinions are regarding homosexuals Why he is passionate about “Making the Vatican Straight Again” (a chapter in his book)   Resources recommended in this episode: Dangerous by Milo Yiannopoulos Diabolical: How Pope Francis Has Betrayed Clerical Abuse Victims Like Me—and Why He Has To Go by Milo Yiannopoulos The World’s First Love by Fulton J. Sheen   Question of the week In what ways do you make the perfect the enemy of the good?   Doors to Coffin Nation are now OPEN. But not for long, sign up today. Sign up to be notified right here: Coffin Nation.

If you would like to support this show please do so here: www.patrickcoffin.media/donate Doors to our long awaited program open next week! To get invited join the waiting list right here: www.coffinnation.com.   ***************************************************** It’s a curious fact that a movie that is literally not about abortion would be so effective as a pro-life story. Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer has caused a media splash by portraying the media in the film as too chicken to cover the trial of Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortionist who was ultimately convicted of multiple counts of murder. By “media” I mean largely social media, and word of mouth. Stories roll in from across the country of theater owners playing games with show times (this happened to me in Southern California), seemingly suggesting that moviegoers not watch it, despite high viewer rating (Google users rate it at 97%) and the fact that it opened against much bigger budgeted films. Scribe Andrew Klavan (crime writer, and screenwriter of Don’t Say a Word and True Crimes, directed by Clint Eastwood) describes how the harrowing subject matter ot translated to the big screen, and how husband-wife producer team Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney faced on uphill battle after another. And still so, in terms of fighting those forces that want this movie to die. I can sort of see why. I just read of two moral conversions by influencers with large audiences who walked into the theater as pro-choice and walked out as pro-life. One is Florida political blogger Kathy Zhu. The other is Federalist writer Adam Mill.This is not a preachy movie, as Klavan makes clear–and as any objective viewer will conclude. Gosnell is a rare blend of Christian premise, serious writing chops, and a CSI-like narrative of the facts as they are, able directed by Nick Searcy (who also plays Gosnell’s attorney Mike Cohan).   In this episode you will learn: How a movie is made, from concept to final story Why Gosnell, a movie not about abortion per se, yet grabs the viewer by the lapel and forces him to answer certain questions about life, death, and the law The level of opposition faced by the filmmakers, from the beginning Behind-the-scenes stories about the crafting and filming of Gosnell How Klavan drew upon his crime novel skills to bring this real-life trial to life   Resources recommended in this episode: Gosnell movie Don’t Say a Word movie True Crimes movie Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney

Don't miss the opening of Coffin Nation! Doors open in a couple of weeks....join the waiting list here: www.coffinnation.com If you would like to donate to Patrick Coffin Show please do so here: www.patrickcoffin.media/show. Thank you!     ********************************************* We all know about the Sixties, both the decade and the cultural ethos it generated. But do we know the players, leaders, architects, and financiers who created the Sexual Revolution that made the Sixties infamous? Dr. Jennifer Roback-Morse, author and foundress of The Ruth Institute, has the answers. Her stemwinder of a book, The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and Why the Church Was Right All Along, tells the sordid tale, naming names and taking no prisoners.   In this interview you will learn: When the “Sixties” actually began The roots of dissent inside the Catholic Church and how it became allied with the Church’s secular enemies How elites like John D. Rockefeller III worked to insinuate population control ideas within the Church hierarchy Why divorce, contraception, and transgender ideology all tend toward the same purpose What parents can do to counter the bad ideas that swamp college campuses regarding sex, marriage, and faith. Resources recommended in this episode: The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and Why the Church Was Right All Along by Dr. Jennifer Roback-Morse Libido Dominandi: Sexual Liberation & Political Control by Dr. E. Michael Jones Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution by Tucker Carlson   Question of the week: Why is staying married the best first start to repairing the damage done to the culture by the Sexual Revolution?

Support this podcast here: www.patrickcoffin.media/show Sign up to the waiting list for our upcoming membership program, Coffin Nation.   ************************************************ On August 2, 2018, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Luis Cardinal Ladaria, announced that Pope Francis authorized a change in Art 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the death penalty. The new phrasing declares that the death penalty can no longer be applied in any case, anywhere in the world no matter the crime. Is this a legitimate “development of doctrine” as the Pope’s supporters affirm? Are Catholics now required to give the “religious submission of mind and will” to this new viewpoint of the Roman Pontiff, which, according to Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium 25, applies even to papal teaching that is not ex cathedra? Can the new Catechism be changed again? Associate professor of philosophy at Pasadena City College, Dr. Ed Feser, believes it can and, should, be rescinded. The teaching as now phrased seems to openly contradict, not merely amend or develop, the 2000-year-old support for the death penalty in some cases. This is one not to miss.   In this episode you will learn: Why, from the Bible, the Church fathers and doctors, and many saints, and sacred Tradition, the Catholic Church has traditionally supported the death penalty How the death penalty can lead to the repentance and redemption of the condemned The perils of letting vicious criminals continue their evil acts inside prison The strongly held opinion of Pope Francis that even life sentences are the practical equivalent of the death penalty, and therefore morally unacceptable How you can understand what the next steps might be in light of a worldwide effort to encourage the cardinals of the Church to revisit the Catechism reboot   Resources recommended in this episode: By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment  by Edward Feser and Joseph Bessette 2004 CDF Statement on Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Lumen Gentium 25 (“The Dogmatic Constitution On the Church,” Second Vatican Council) Capital Punishment and Roman Catholic Moral Tradition by E. Christian Brugger Dead Man Walking, BluRay, directed by Tim Robbins     Question of the week Why is this worth talking about considering how rarely it is implemented compared with the number of babies killed by abortion?   Sign up to the waiting list for our upcoming premium site Coffin Nation. You'll be the first to be notified! (opening soon)   Comment below or on our Facebook page "Like" us on Facebook HERE Tweet to Patrick HERE   Don’t forget to Subscribe to the show in YouTube, as well as the full length podcast available in iTunes and other podcast directories, while you are there, please leave an honest review.

If you enjoy this show please consider supporting us: www.patrickcoffin.media/donate Doors to Coffin Nation open this Fall. Join the waiting list: www.coffinnation.com Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe in YouTube and iTunes. *****************************************     Dr. Lee Podles is an author and researcher with over 20 years’ experience as a federal investigator. He’s neither a loopy liberal with an axe to grind nor a bitter Trad who hates everything that happened after the Council of Trent. He’s a husband and father of six who is fed up with the conspiracy of silence and the constant use of euphemisms when it comes to the priestly abuse crisis. One of the bases for his anger is the astonishingly similar pattern of a) abuse (mostly homosexual predation), b) traumatic imprint in the victim, and that fact that c) few people believe the victim, d) bishop moves predators around (or claims “no legal duty” to disclose previous molestation of minors in the background of priests, e) either pay out enormous sums of money in settlements or double down on undermining the victim. Not for the faint of heart, his 2008 book Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church is a tour de force—a journey into dark recesses of the secretive bishops’ club in which lawyering up and refusing responsibility characterize the crisis. Don’t miss this riveting conversation with a courageous researcher who—as an indispensable minimum—wants the Church herself to purge, repent, and renew through telling the truth.   In this episode you will learn: Why “clericalism” feeds the problem but does not explain it Why Catholic laymen need to take the lead in restoring the Church to her rightful place and mission That the crisis is international in scope, even if it represents only a small minority of priests It is not a “pedophilia” scandal but a homosexual predator one Signs of hope that Christ has not abandoned His Church   Resources recommended in this episode: Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church by Leon Podles.

If you enjoy this podcast please consider supporting here: www.patrickcoffin.media/donate. Join the waiting list for our premium content website: www.coffinnation.com, doors are opening soon! Follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/patrickcoffin.media Subscribe in YouTube: www.youtube.com/patrickcoffinmedia *****************************************************   Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons has 40 years’ experience as a psychiatrist. His expertise is in the clinical benefits of forgiveness and in the interpersonal dynamics of anger. The priestly abuse crisis provides plenty of anger, and plenty of opportunity for forgiveness, where appropriate. But is the crisis about “clericalism” as some have claimed? Fitzgibbons believes that if anyone blames clericalism participates in the cover-up since the crisis is mainly about homosexual predators destroying young lives. Euphemisms and changing the subject are not a strategy for restoration.   In this episode you will learn: The psychological roots of same-sex attraction The difference between sinful anger and the morally neutral emotion of anger Why forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling The way in which clericalism has helped give cover to the perpetrators Why the Catholic Church is still the unique repository of Christ’s truth   Resources recommended in this episode: Forgiveness Therapy: An Empirical Guide for Resolving Anger and Restoring Hope by Rick Fitzgibbons, MD, and Robert Enright, MD. Dr. Fitzgibbons websites: maritalhealing.com and www.childhealing.com  John Jay Report, covering the facts about abuse (and allegations) by priests from 1950-2002     Question of the week How can righteous anger be a positive agent for change in the Church today?     "Like" us on Facebook HERE Tweet to Patrick HERE Don’t forget to Subscribe to the show in YouTube, as well as the full length podcast available in iTunes and other podcast directories, while you are there, please leave an honest review. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. Thank you!

If you enjoy this show please consider supporting it here: www.patrickcoffin.media/donate. We are 100% listener supported.   Join the waiting list for our upcoming program Coffin nation here: www.coffinnation.com   Follow Patrick on Facebook: www.facebook.com/patrickcoffin.media ************************************** Tucker Carlson is very good at what he does, which is engage guests and topics on his prime time-slotted Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight. With aplomb and wit—which is hard when your guest is an angry eedjit,as the Irish say—he gets down to brass tacks on whatever the topic is. His brand new book is titled Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution. And he means it. His thesis: you can have egalitarianism AND oligarchy. One of the has got to go. Yet the book, like its creator, is often hilarious in its own way.   In this episode you will learn: Who the major players are—the “fools” of the title—and why they’re included Why elites and oligarchs come in all religions, or none, and all skin colors A brief history of how American culture shifted toward Krazy in the last few years How the 2016 election of Donald Trump was a sign of electoral unhappiness that got worse over decades How liberals sell fake science, climate change (denying contrary evidence) and why abortion is the untouchable sacrament of the Left Some reasons to keep a sense of humor!   Resources recommended in this episode: Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution by Tucker Carlson