AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

Twitter is a huge social media service with over 300 million active users, including one very active user with a high profile who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. President Trump’s controversial Twitter use is a constant reminder that Twitter impacts politics, economics, and social movements around the world. In addition to being the president’s preferred mode for communicating with the public, Twitter has been the main platform of choice for movements like Black Lives Matter and MeToo. There are also important questions about Twitter’s role in our discourse, as its openness as a platform can lead to harassment and bullying. And the constant stream of information it provides can keep us glued to our phones, even at the dinner table. Today’s guest is a great person to talk to about all of these issues. Colin Crowell is the head of Public Policy, Government, & Corporate Philanthropy for Twitter. After graduating from Boston College in the late 1980s, Colin spent three years in Peru as part of a Jesuit-run mission project, and these Jesuit roots pointed him on a career path of working to make sure all people have open access to telecom and technology services. Today’s interview is in two parts. Right after recording the interview, Twitter announced that it would be banning political advertisements on its platform, so Colin called back in to share some thoughts on this latest development. Be sure to stay tuned all the way to the end. Don’t forget to subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts, and leave us a nice review on iTunes.

When the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns thinks you’ve made a movie about author Flannery O’Connor worthy of a $200,000 prize awarded in his name, you’re doing pretty well. And when that movie is the first film you have ever made in your life, you’re doing REALLY well. That’s the surprising story of guest Fr. Mark Bosco, SJ, who is the vice president for mission and ministry at Georgetown University, a scholar of British and American Catholic literature, and, as of this autumn, a prize-winning filmmaker. Years ago, Fr. Bosco was given a collection of archival video recordings which featured interviews of some of Flannery O’Connor’s friends, who is a truly original and indispensable voice in the canon of American literature. Fr. Bosco wanted to share the interviews with the world, but didn’t know the best way to do it. So he connected with Elizabeth Coffman, a documentary filmmaker and professor at Loyola University Chicago, and they partnered to bring the film to life. Fr. Bosco and host Mike Jordan Laskey talked about how the movie came into being, what the prize will help the filmmakers do, and why Flannery O’Connor is worth reading and studying today.

There are not many areas of the country that are discussed by more ill-informed talking heads than the US-Mexico border. But when guest Fr. Sean Carroll, SJ, talks about the region, everyone should listen. Fr. Carroll is a Jesuit priest and the executive director of the Kino Border Initiative (KBI), where he has worked for the past 11 years. KBI is a bi-national organization co-sponsored by the Jesuits and other Catholic collaborators that has facilities in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, two cities that share a name and a national boundary. KBI serves immediate needs of migrants who are passing between the two countries, they advocate for more just immigration laws and policies, and they welcome groups from all over the United States to learn about the realities people are facing on the border. During his trip to Washington to meet with the acting secretary of homeland security earlier this month, Fr. Carroll told host Mike Jordan Laskey about how things have changed at the border over the past decade and how his vocation as a Jesuit priest fits perfectly into the mission of welcoming and supporting migrants. Kino Border Initiative: https://www.kinoborderinitiative.org/ Jesuits call for increased advocacy on behalf of migrants: http://jesuitmigrantsolidarity.org/

You might think of this penultimate week in October as the time to buy Halloween candy before the good stuff is gone, but here at the Jesuit Conference we are celebrating the first-ever #ExamenWeek: We’re taking a few days to feature the daily examen prayer practice, a signature element of Ignatian spirituality that Jesuits have been praying since the days of St. Ignatius himself. The daily examen is a practical, contemplative prayer tradition that helps people find God amid their day-to-day experiences, and you don’t have to be a Jesuit to try it. Our guest is Fr. Jim Martin, the widely published Jesuit priest, social media evangelizer and the host of a daily examen podcast produced by America Media. He’s been a Jesuit for 30 years, which is almost 11,000 daily examens, so it’s safe to say he’s an expert on the topic. Fr. Jim also talked to host Mike Jordan Laskey about his recent visit to Rome, where Fr. Jim had a private audience with Pope Francis to discuss his ministry of welcome to LGBT people. Be sure to check out #ExamenWeek on social media for more great resources to help you incorporate the daily examen into your own life. The Examen with Fr. James Martin, SJ Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-examen-with-fr-james-martin-sj/id1346804716

Fr. Scott Santarosa, SJ, is the provincial superior of the Jesuits West Province of the United States. In English, that means he leads the Jesuits in the territory encompassing the ten westernmost states of the union. Even more importantly, at least for our purposes on this episode, Fr. Santarosa is a die-hard Los Angeles Dodgers fan and a borderline baseball obsessive. When Fr. Santarosa talked with host and Yankees fan Mike Jordan Laskey talked recently, both teams were still alive with a shot to reach the world series, but the Dodgers were eliminated by the Washington Nationals a couple days later, so our deepest apologies to Scott for jinxing his team. Fr. Santarosa and Mike chat about modern developments in the game and why the Jesuit thinks baseball is a road to God. Finally, Fr. Santarosa talked just a bit about, well, you know, his actual work and what he was doing with his fellow provincials in Washington, DC, recently. Please remember to subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts, and don’t forget to leave us a nice review on iTunes.

The United States is sadly unique among developed Western countries in that we still regularly execute people. And capital punishment has been in the political headlines lately, if perhaps overshadowed by other hot-button topics. In July, the Trump Administration announced it would be reinstating federal executions, which have been on hold since 2003. Just a few months earlier, California governor Gavin Newsom went in the opposite direction, suspending the death penalty in his state, even dismantling the death chamber at San Quentin State Prison, the largest death row in the United States. Going back to the summer of 2018, Pope Francis made news when he announced the Catechism of the Catholic Church would be revised to no longer allow for the death penalty in any circumstance. Thursday, October 10 is the World Day Against the Death Penalty, and our two guests are some of the most dedicated leaders in the faith-based movement against capital punishment: Krisanne Vaillancourt-Murphy is the executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, which is celebrating ten years of organizing Catholics to stand against the death penalty and to support restorative justice efforts. Fr. George Williams, SJ, is a Jesuit priest and the chaplain at San Quentin State Prison, where he provides spiritual support to death row inmates. Host Mike Jordan Laskey talks to them both about all the death penalty headlines and how people of faith can get involved in the work. Don’t forget to subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts, and please leave us a nice review on iTunes. Catholic Mobilizing Network: https://catholicsmobilizing.org Fr. George Williams, SJ: https://jesuits.org/story?tn=project-2015021

Fr. John O’Malley joined the Jesuits in 1946, right after World War II and more than a decade before the second Vatican council was announced. You could say he’s seen a lot of change in his 92 years, but that would be a massive understatement. Fr. O’Malley looks at this era of upheaval with a historian’s eye, and he was quick to point out in his recent conversation with host Mike Jordan Laskey that no period in our church’s 2000 year history has been smooth sailing. Fr. O’Malley is the University Professor of Theology at Georgetown, where he specializes in church councils, among other topics. He has just released his 12th book, titled “When Bishops Meet.” In the book, he looks at big questions about church doctrine and structure and traces how they were handled at the Council of Trent, Vatican I and Vatican II. Fr. O'Malley and Mike talk about the book and a recent essay by Fr. O’Malley about his years in the Jesuit novitiate. As you’ll see, Fr. O’Malley is a delightful conversation partner. Please remember to subscribe to AMDG on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen, and leave us a nice review on iTunes. "When Bishops Meet": https://www.amazon.com/When-Bishops-Meet-Comparing-Vatican/dp/0674988418 Fr. O'Malley's essay on the novitiate (available as PDF): https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/jesuit/article/view/11557

Jesuit priests Fr. Paddy Gilger and Fr. Eric Sundrup are the hosts of a wonderful new YouTube show called "Jesuit Autocomplete" from America Media. In each episode, Paddy and Eric answer a different set of Google’s most popular questions about Jesuits, the Bible, Pope Francis, and more. After talking about the series, host Mike Jordan Laskey and Paddy and Eric draft teams of five saints each in an NBA-style selection process. You'll have to judge for yourself who ended up with the best team, but when it comes to saints, there are no bad choices. Thanks for subscribing to AMDG wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re feeling generous, please leave us a nice review on iTunes. Watch "Jesuit Autocomplete" at America Media's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/americamedia

This is our second of two episodes with a university president as we celebrate the beginning of the academic year. Be sure to check out our last conversation with President Tania Tetlow from Loyola University New Orleans. Today, we welcome Dr. Mike Lovell, the president of Marquette University in Milwaukee. Like President Tetlow at Loyola, Dr. Lovell is the first-ever layperson to serve as president of Marquette. A man of deep faith, he shares the story of prayerfully discerning the call to accept the pressure-packed position. Dr. Lovell is an engineer and an inventor by trade, but one of his biggest passions in higher ed is working to address childhood trauma and the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Host Mike Jordan Laskey talks with Dr. Lovell about that important work and how a university can be both responsive to trauma and committed to academic freedom. Dr. Lovell also describes what it’s like to be in a cage underwater surrounded by hungry sharks, so listen for that. Please subscribe to AMDG wherever you listen, and if you’d be so kind, leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts.

Tania Tetlow is a trailblazer. She is the first female president in the history of Loyola University New Orleans. She is the first layperson to serve in that role. And her first job was working for Representative Lindy Boggs, who was the first woman to represent the state of Louisiana in Congress. As President Tetlow’s second academic year in leadership gets underway this month, host Mike Jordan Laskey asked her about the challenges Loyola New Orleans is facing and what makes the university special. She describes unique career path from federal prosecutor to university president and how Loyola draws on its diversity as a major source of strength. And stay tuned until the end for our 20 Questions segment, when President Tetlow reveals what she’d say to Pope Francis if she only had time for one sentence. Please subscribe to the show wherever you listen, and if you could, leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts. America Magazine story by Cokie Roberts mentioned in the interview: https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2019/06/14/how-my-mother-helped-mentor-first-female-president-loyola-university