The Catholic Culture Podcast

It is in the nature of Being to reveal itself to us, and in the natural realm this is done preeminently through beauty. Aquinas mentions radiance, clarity and proportion as beauty’s three criteria. Proportion is arguably the most important in showing forth Being, as beauty reveals the plenitude of relations among all things: the relation of the parts of a thing, of the parts to the whole which surpasses them, of the whole object to all other things, and to its Maker. This is part two of a three-part interview with poet and philosopher James Matthew Wilson about his book The Vision of the Soul. [3:10] The nihilistic disenchanting force of rationalism and its infiltration of Catholic thought [10:47] Beauty as a transcendental property of Being, and the “synthesis of all the transcendentals” [18:50] Theodor Adorno on reason and beauty [22:53] Aquinas’s tripartite formulation of beauty (radiance, clarity, proportion) illuminates the older definition of beauty as the splendor of form; an argument for proportion as most important [30:13] The pitfalls of Maritain’s focus on radiance and clarity over proportion [35:31] The modernist experiment to find out the degree to which beauty could eschew a pleasant surface and still remain beautiful [40:29] Modernism as a movement for metaphysical realism in art   Links James Matthew Wilson: https://www.jamesmatthewwilson.com/ JMW Twitter: https://twitter.com/JMWSPT The Vision of the Soul: https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Soul Goodness-Western-Tradition/dp/0813229286 A few of the artworks mentioned by James: The Dying Gaul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_Gaul Seamus Heaney’s poem inspired by The Dying Gaul https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57044/the-grauballe-man Laocoön and His Sons https://mymodernmet.com/laocoon-and-his-sons-statue/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

We've all heard the complaints about Catholic dating. Catholics have trouble with the concept of "casual dating" because they (rightly) see dating as oriented toward marriage but (wrongly) put all that weight on a single date. Some are perpetually "discerning" without ever really going anywhere. Women feel like if they don't find a spouse during their four years at a Catholic college, they've missed their chance. Some problems we share with the rest of the world: Men won't ask women out because they're timid or tranquilized by video games and porn. Women often feel they have to put on a persona, whether of a Jane Austen character or a "fierce" feminist (YAAAAS, SLAY QUEEN!). Matchmaker Emily Zanotti, known as the "Catholic Yenta", joins the show to discuss these and other pathologies of Catholic dating, and explains how she went from helping her friends find their spouses to handpicking matches for people across the country. Also interviewed is Eric Niehaus, creator of a soon-to-be-launched events app called Koin, which will allow Catholics to find and plan activities and events with other Catholics in their area. In a world in which Catholics often feel socially isolated, Koin aims to help us foster real-life community. Pt. 1: Emily Zanotti (Catholic Yenta) [2:55] How Emily found herself in the role of Catholic matchmaker [5:32] Why a matchmaker is in demand; problems with dating sites [6:47] How the matchmaking process works and Emily’s role in follow-up [9:31] What information is useful to Emily in matching people; prayer as the basis of the process [12:23] Success rate so far, future expansion [15:03] What Emily has learned talking to Jewish and Hindu matchmakers [18:39] Common issues and complaints from the Catholic dating scene [23:34] “Perpetual discernment” and unrealistic expectations in the Catholic dating pool [28:35] Risk, security and the Disney princess syndrome [30:29] Male timidity and sloth exacerbated by video games, porn, and feminism [34:58] Why some women think they need to put on a persona when dating Pt. 2: Eric Niehaus (Koin) [42:20] The meaning of the name Koin and the need for a specifically Catholic events app [44:45] Planned growth of the platform, city by city [46:36] Challenges of getting a new social platform off the ground [48:47] Cultivating community both in pre-existing organizations and parishes and in the wider geographical area [50:51] How Koin aims to partner with and compliment parishes [54:06] Extending participation beyond the young adult bracket; the benefits of spending time with people who aren't your age [57:52] Overcoming social stratification among Catholics Links Catholic Yenta form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHOdPqLqQi5weQVnMqCWOZpBXUVxNKYD3Isgkf5oRsX63Kqw/viewform Emily Zanotti on Twitter https://twitter.com/emzanotti Koin http://www.meetkoin.com/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

The devastation rationalism has wrought on modernity has yet to be calculated, because it is the air we breathe, often regardless of our professed beliefs. To take politics as an example: the modern left, disenchanted with the Enlightenment narrative of reason’s supremacy, has, rather than restoring reason to its proper subordinate place in our vision of reality, instead become skeptical of all claims to truth. Lacking a foundation in truth, “critical thinking,” that shriveled scrap of reason enshrined by academics, has not kept them from believing any absurdity one could name. Meanwhile, establishment conservatism has for decades shown little awareness or interest in what is beyond immediate political utility—rendering its occasional victories at the ballot box empty of much power to conserve. Nonetheless, a certain artistic-cultural vitality has typically been associated with liberalism. Only recently, when liberals have taken on the role of censorious schoolmarm, has the right begun to appear more creatively daring in its challenge of the status quo. But this association of creativity with subversion of society’s dominant structures is itself a bequest of the liberal “tradition”, whose increasing banality should warn those on the right that there is only so much mileage one can get out of exposing corruption and hypocrisy. It may be surprising to learn that conservatism began as a literary and aesthetic movement rather than a political one. This is the starting point for a contemporary classic of philosophy, James Matthew Wilson’s The Vision of the Soul: Truth, Goodness and Beauty in the Western Tradition. The conservatives, starting with Edmund Burke in his critique of the French Revolution, defended the old order on the basis of its beauty. Wilson follows them in claiming that Beauty is central to the soul’s (and the West’s) vision of reality. This is the first of three episodes exploring themes from The Vision of the Soul. In this episode, after giving an account of the roots of liberalism and conservatism, and showing the emptiness of liberal “freedom”, “equality”, and “critical thinking”, Wilson lays out what he considers the six central insights of the Western (Christian Platonist) tradition, culminating in the contemplation of Being as our greatest excellence and happiness.   [1:14] The core message and themes of The Vision of the Soul [3:36] Liberalism as anti-culture [8:15] Liberal freedom and equality are negative and contradictory principles [11:13] The self-perpetuating struggle against phantoms of inequality [14:15] The emptiness of contemporary conservatism exemplified by the second Bush administration; recovering conservatism’s roots as a literary movement [18:53] Edmund Burke's critique of the French Revolution and utilitarian rationalism [24:16] Modern intellectuals since Hobbes have wanted to make reality less interesting and wonderful than it seems [29:13] Problems with rationalism and critical thinking as they are commonly understood [32:16] The six fundamental insights of the Western tradition; Christian Platonism [37:15] Beauty's oldest and deepest definition: veritatis splendor, the splendor of truth [41:05] The most excellent form of human life: contemplation of Being, realized in happiness/salvation as an end with no further ends beyond it [46:44] The difference between intellect and reason in relation to truth Links James Matthew Wilson https://www.jamesmatthewwilson.com/ The Vision of the Soul https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Soul-Goodness-Western-Tradition/dp/0813229286 James Matthew Wilson on Twitter https://twitter.com/JMWSPT This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Princeton University recently hosted and funded a very Catholic event as part of its annual Being Human Festival. It was a several-hour program dedicated to representations of St. Cecilia in poetry, painting and music, exploring how a conversation between these art forms can stir us to wonder and the contemplation of the Divine. The day’s events included singing the Salve Regina and a dinner in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast it was. In the first part of this episode, Thomas and co-host James Majewski lead a roundtable discussion in which event organizer Joe Perez-Benzo, painter Andrew de Sa, and singer Emily de Sa look back at the event and its humanizing/evangelizing effects on participants. Joe explains how he was able to have an explicitly Catholic event funded by an Ivy League university, and offers suggestions as to how other Catholics can replicate this success wherever God has placed them. In part two, Andrew de Sa and poet James Matthew Wilson have fun reflecting on an unexpected occurrence in which one of Andrew’s paintings inspired a poem by James, which in turn inspired Andrew’s painting of St. Cecilia (unveiled at the Princeton event). The artists only became aware of this mutual inspiration after the fact. Part I Overview of the festival and the event’s concept [4:32] The religious demographics of the event [12:33] The combination of poems and paintings holding audience attention [15:32] Singing in a secular space filled with sacred art and the dynamic of the visual elements in conjunction with song [18:15] Andrew's feelings around unveiling his new painting for the event [20:04] Joe’s experience reading Latin classics at the places they describe or sites of their composition—ways of overcoming the modern isolation of works of art in a museum context [22:33] Singing the Salve Regina in “mixed company” [27:25] Getting the Princeton Humanities Council on board with the event, overcoming slight resistance [28:50] Advice for hosting similar events in public spaces or at home [36:38] The involvement of the Carl Schmitt Foundation [40:12] Emily de Sa and Ruth Swope perform 'Jesu Sweet' by Gustav Holst [46:00] Part II The providential influence between Andrew’s paintings and James Matthew Wilson’s poem [48:31] Holding oneself open to inspiration and associations which can make an artwork more dense with meaning [54:46] Theories of literary critics on the relevance of the artist’s intention to the viewer’s interpretation [57:17] Distinguishing art forms in order to unite them [1:01:40] Liturgy as the complete art from which the various art forms flow [1:05:44] Photos and video: Time lapse of Andrew de Sa painting his Flight into Egypt mural: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGRiLg2dTvc That painting inspired these lines in James Matthew Wilson’s “Hasten To Aid Thy Fallen People”: But every rising strain must strain indeed To lend the form to what in truth is light, And manifest peace as if it's a deed And give transcendence some arc of a flight. The purity of every saint Will be daubed on with sloppy paint, And what no thought may comprehend or say Must be taught in the staging of a play. Those lines inspired Andrew de Sa’s painting of St. Cecelia, unveiled at the Princeton event: Joe Perez-Benzo helps tourgoers enter into the mystery of the Incarnation as James Majewski looks on: Emily de Sa and Ruth Swope perform Holst’s Four Songs for Voice and Violin in the beautiful Princeton University Art Museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYhryVUVlFI Final panel with Joe Perez-Benzo, Emily de Sa and Andrew de Sa:   Links Poetry which inspired Andrew de Sa’s St. Cecilia painting: http://studiodesa.com/book Andrew and Emily de Sa’s website: http://studiodesa.com/ Andrew de Sa on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ajdesa/ James Matthew Wilson’s website: https://www.jamesmatthewwilson.com/ Being Human Festival: https://beinghumanfestival.org/    John Dryden, Alexander’s Feast: http://jacklynch.net/Texts/alexander.html  Carl Schmitt Foundation: https://carlschmitt.org/ James Matthew Wilson, The River of the Immaculate Conception: https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p96/The_River_of_the_Immaculate_Conception.html This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

This is a love letter to the great English Christmas carols, from “There Is No Rose” to “The Boar’s Head”. Did you know that not just any Christmas song is a carol? The true carol, in all its earthy splendor, is a distinctive product of the Catholic middle ages. Yet our forefathers didn’t limit caroling to Christmas: they wrote carols for every season of the year covering the entire story of our Redemption, not to mention secular topics at times. This episode explores the origin of carols in England, their cultural meaning, and how they were suppressed by the Puritans and were revived in modern times. And of course, you’ll hear a lot of great music throughout, ranging from historically informed performance to modern arrangements! Links Erik Routley, The English Carol https://www.amazon.com/English-Carol-Erik-Routley/dp/0837169895 Andrew Gant, The Carols of Christmas https://www.amazon.com/Carols-Christmas-Celebration-Surprising-Favorite/dp/0718031520 All music in this episode used with permission from the recording artist and/or label. Agincourt Carol, Alamire https://www.amazon.com/Deo-Gracias-Anglia-Alamire/dp/B008L1GZUO Nowell sing we both all and some, Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland2 Gabriel From Heaven’s King, Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland2 A Virgin Most Pure, Stairwell Carolers https://www.stairwellcarollers.com/en/o-magnum-mysterium/ Coventry Carol, Harry Christophers and the Sixteen, available on the CORO record label at https://thesixteenshop.com/ Bedfordshire May Carol, Shirley Collins https://mainlynorfolk.info/shirley.collins/records/withinsound.html Remember O Thou Man, The King’s Singers https://www.amazon.com/Remember-O-Thou-Man/dp/B073JZN754 Wassail (Gloucestershire Wassail, arr. Vaughan Williams), Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland4 Green Growth the Holly, Early Music New York—Frederick Renz, Director https://www.earlymusicny.org/a-renaissance-christmas My Dancing Day, Robert Shaw Chorale https://www.amazon.com/Songs-Angels-Christmas-Hymns-Carols/dp/B000003D0G Drive the Cold Winter Away, Owain Phyfe and the New World Renaissance Band https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/nwrb In the Bleak Midwinter, Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland2 Lullay My Liking (Holst), HSVPA Madrigal Singers (Houston, TX) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw81DCQ3HhI A Hymn to the Virgin (Britten), VOCES8 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077GC4QVT/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp There is no rose, Quire Cleveland https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/quirecleveland2 Thanks to all, but especially to Ross W. Duffin for his generosity with Quire Cleveland’s back catalogue! Also recommended: A Waverly Consort Christmas: From East Anglia to Appalachia https://www.amazon.com/Waverly-Consort-Christmas-Anglia-Appalachia/dp/B000002SRK Other non-famous carols mentioned: Seven Virgins (The Leaves of Life); This Endris Night; Tempus adest floridum (Good King Wenceslas); Kingsfold (I heard the voice of Jesus say); The Cherry Tree Carol; Masters In This Hall; The Golden Carol; Snow in the Street; New Prince, New Pomp This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Terrence Malick’s stunning new film, A Hidden Life, is about Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who was martyred for refusing to swear loyalty to Hitler. James Majewski joins Thomas to discuss the film. He reads excerpts from Bl. Franz’s letters and prison writings, to see how well Malick’s portrayal lives up to the real-life saint. The letters of Franz and his wife Franziska their deep devotional life, and testify to how much Franz’s heroism owed to the sacraments and the support of some good priests who we do not see in the film. Links A Hidden Life trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXmdY4lVR0 Franz Jägerstätter: Letters and Writings from Prison, ed. Erna Putz, is published by Orbis Books, a press that publishes a fair amount of heretical and dissenting material. The letters are well worth reading but we encourage you to buy a used copy rather than supporting that publisher. If you enjoyed this discussion, check out James and Thomas's other show, Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. http://catholicculture.org/criteria To hear James read more writings of the saints, check out Catholic Culture Audiobooks. https://www.catholicculture.org/audiobooks This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

James Matthew Wilson’s new cycle of poems, The River of the Immaculate Conception, is a reflection on the history of the Catholic faith in the Americas, from Juan Diego to Elizabeth Ann Seton. Its title is the name given to the Mississippi River by the missionary Fr. Marquette. James reads four of the seven poems, explains their relation to the recent Mass of the Americas which inspired them, and discusses the challenges and delights of poetic form. Links Buy The River of the Immaculate Conception at Wiseblood Books https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p96/The_River_of_the_Immaculate_Conception.html Watch the Mass of the Americas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFoj3viHXnk JMW's website: https://www.jamesmatthewwilson.com/   JMW’s recommended resources for aspiring poets: Colosseum Summer Institute https://www.colosseuminstitute.com/summer-institute.html  James Matthew Wilson, The Fortunes of Poetry in an Age of Unmaking https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p82/The_Fortunes_of_Poetry_in_an_Age_of_Unmaking.html William Baer, Writing Metrical Poetry: Contemporary Lessons for Mastering Traditional Forms https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Metrical-Poetry-Contemporary-Traditional/dp/1582974152 Timothy Steele, All the Fun’s in How You Say a Thing: An Explanation of Meter and Versification https://www.amazon.com/All-Funs-How-Thing-Versification/dp/0821412604 This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Modernity has attempted to do away with authority. It does this not most commonly by advocating anarchy. Rather, it justifies its own established powers in terms of a fictive self-rule, and purports to replace the arbitrary dictates of power--and much of what makes us human--with scientific rationality. But authority is necessary to human life, and not just as a medicine for weakness and evil. It arises from and serves what is noblest in us. The French Catholic philosopher Yves R. Simon made this case in A General Theory of Authority. With the help of Dominican friar Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, Thomas dives into this most enlightening book. Links https://twitter.com/FrAquinasOP Yves R. Simon, A General Theory of Authority https://www.amazon.com/General-Theory-Authority-Yves-Simon/dp/0268010048 Charles De Koninck, On the Primacy of the Common Good: Against the Personalists https://emmilco.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/de-koninck-common-good.pdf This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

Having honed his skills translating Dante, Tasso and Lucretius, well-known Catholic cultural commentator Anthony Esolen has now published his first book of original poetry. The book-length poem The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord is centered around twelve dramatic monologues set during and shortly after the time of Christ, complemented and illuminated by dozens of lyric poems and hymns. Links Buy The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord https://www.ignatius.com/The-Hundredfold-P3358.aspx Books recommended by Anthony Esolen: Understanding Poetry by Cleanth Brooks https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Poetry-Cleanth-Brooks/dp/0030769809 Doorways to Poetry by Louis Untermeyer https://www.amazon.com/Doorways-Poetry-Louis-Untermeyer/dp/B000856E98 This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

The Western liberal democratic order is in crisis. If it collapses or significantly wanes in power, what will replace it? A long period of chaos and massive human suffering? Regressive authoritarianism? Or, reading the signs of the times, could we arrive at a synthesis which learns from liberalism’s mistakes while preserving its best features? Today’s guest is Jonah Bennett, editor-in-chief of a fascinating new online magazine called Palladium which is devoted to constructing what could be called the post-liberal synthesis. Palladium Magazine seeks to foster the perspective of a responsible elite, with high-quality, non-ideological coverage of everything from geopolitics to video-game addiction to the crisis in Ivy League institutions. Links Transcript of this podcast https://medium.com/@thejonahbennett/responsible-elites-podcast-transcript-7fb270681280 A few Palladium articles: “Towards The Post-Liberal Synthesis”, Jonah Bennett https://palladiummag.com/2018/09/29/towards-the-post-liberal-synthesis/  “The Real Problem At Yale Is Not Free Speech”, Natalia Dashan https://palladiummag.com/2019/08/05/the-real-problem-at-yale-is-not-free-speech/ “My Time On A Terror Trial Jury”, Wolf Tivy https://palladiummag.com/2019/09/05/my-time-on-a-terror-trial-jury/ “The American Dream Is Alive In China,” Jean Fan https://palladiummag.com/2019/10/11/the-american-dream-is-alive-in-china/  “The New Authoritarian Hungary That Isn’t”, Will Collins https://palladiummag.com/2019/05/06/the-new-authoritarian-hungary-that-isnt/ This podcast is a production of CatholicCulture.org. If you like the show, please consider supporting us! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio