

The Magnificast
The Magnificast
A weekly podcast about Christianity and leftist politics. The Magnificast is hosted by Dean Dettloff and Matt Bernico. Each week's episode focuses on a unique or under-realized aspect of territory between Christianity and politics that no one taught you about in sunday school.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 27, 2023 • 1h 4min
St Francis & Liberation
A few weeks back we talked about St Francis and what some Marxists thought of him. But this time, we're bringing you Leonardo Boff's thoughts on St Francis and how Boff thinks Francis relates to liberation theology. Go to Archive.org and read it for yourself! https://archive.org/details/francisofassisim0000boffIntro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoonhttps://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues*Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com

May 20, 2023 • 53min
A Secret Third Type of Surplus Value
Exploitation? Yeah, it's bad. But, superexploitation? It's super bad. In this episode, we talk about Ruy Mauro Marini's theory of dependency and superexploitation. As it turns out, the exploitation of workers in the global south is just the way capitalism works. Read the article about Marini in the Monthly Review here: https://monthlyreview.org/2023/04/01/superexploitation-and-the-imperialist-drive-of-capitalism-how-marinis-dialectics-of-dependency-goes-beyond-marxs-capital/Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoonhttps://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues*Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com

May 13, 2023 • 1h 1min
Socialism, Democracy, and Christianity
This week we're talking about Leonardo Boff's brother, Clodovis Boff, and a letter he wrote parsing out the connections between socialism and democracy and the nod he makes toward Christianity and socialism. In the episode, we talk about the ways Boff thinks socialism and democracy go together and whether or not Christianity is rediscovering its socialist roots. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoonhttps://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues*Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com

May 7, 2023 • 1h 9min
St. Francis and Left and Postmodern Philosophy
Christians get a lot out of engaging the left, but like we're always saying on this show, it's harder to see what people on the left get out of engaging Christianity as a tradition. But one guy keeps showing up in left literature and weird postmodern philosophy, everyone's favorite silly saint, Francis of Assisi! In this one we chat through how Francis shows up in Karl Kautsky, W. E. B. DuBois, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Peter Sloterdijk, Vilem Flusser, and others, including a wild petition to Pope Francis abolish hell. (And before you ask, no, we didn't talk about Agamben, but we'll get around to it one day.)Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoonhttps://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues*Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com

Apr 29, 2023 • 60min
Religious Fundamentalism in Latin America
This week we're back to talk through another of Tricontinental's dossiers. This time we're talking about fundamentalism and evangelicalism and how those theologies are connected to imperialism in Latin America. Read the dossier here: https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-59-religious-fundamentalism-and-imperialism-in-latin-america/

Apr 23, 2023 • 51min
The Principality of the IMF
Buckle up because we've got a big chat about everyone's favorite finance villain, the International Monetary Fund! Liberation theologians are always talking about the IMF, but a lot of us in the Global North have either neglected to keep up with it or haven't gotten around to understanding it. Thanks to a dossier on the IMF, debt, and Africa from the Tricontinental Institute, we've got some explaining to do. Bonus: how Keynes engineered a famine in India...The dossier: https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-63-african-debt-crisis/*Also, yuan, not yen at 42.Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoonhttps://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues*Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com

Apr 15, 2023 • 53min
Degrowth and Catholic Social Teaching
Degrowth is becoming an important framework for thinking through capitalist production and consumption for the left, but what if Catholic social movements were already ahead of the curve on this one? The moral, economic, and internationalist thinking in the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching has predispositioned Catholic Social Movements toward degrowth as a paradigm. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoonhttps://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues*Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com

Apr 8, 2023 • 58min
Hope, Utopia, and Resurrection
On this podcast, we talk a lot about the crucifixion but not much about resurrection. Since it's easter, we're changing that! This week we're discussing João Batista Libânio's essay Hope, Utopia, and Resurrection and how resurrection is a political idea!

Apr 2, 2023 • 1h 1min
The Right to be Lazy
In the immortal words of Blink 182, "Work Sucks, I know." This week we're talking about Paul Lafargue's book The Right To Be Lazy and working through the mythology and moralism of labor!The Productivity Pay Gap: https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/

Mar 26, 2023 • 1h
Saint Oscar Romero and the Option for the Poor
March 24th was the feast day for Saint Oscar Romero and we're celebrating! This week we're talking about Romero's address, "The Political Dimension of Faith from the Perspective of the Option for the Poor." In the episode, we talk about Oscar Romero in relation to liberation theology, the relationship between faith and politics, and what it means for the Church to throw in with the poor. Read Romero's address here: http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/1980-02-02%20Louvain.pdfListen to our episode about the assassination of Romero here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Uv9pWFBAeas4KhYgJC3CW?si=ede502ef7db84b15


