The Magnificast

This week we're diving into the discourse around Pope Francis' papacy at 10 years. Some people like him, some people don't like him. but the question that no one is asking is what do we think? Listen in as we talk about the good takes, the bad takes, and most importantly our takes on Pope Francis's papacy at 10 years! Here's the bad Ross Douthat article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/opinion/pope-francis-catholic-church.htmlHere's the good NCR Article: https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/injustice-and-crime-reviewing-pope-francis-apologies-churchs-role-colonialism 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says that "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." There's a time to talk about Marxism and a time to talk about queer theology. A time to talk about Paul Virilio and a time to talk about communist Saint Francis. But, this week we're entering a new season: getting goofy. This week we're bringing our Patreon only podcast The Lock In out from behind the paywall and giving it to you all for free! If you're into this goofy content, then subscribe to our patreon and get it! Or don't! 

Shannon Kearns and Brian Murphy discuss building queer theology through storytelling and community. They explore the transformative potential of queer theology and the importance of amplifying marginalized voices. They navigate public theology, advocating for trans rights and challenging the middle ground. They emphasize the importance of connecting young LGBTQ+ individuals to sacred storytelling and appreciating perspectives on liberation theology.

You might have caught it on social media, but we're starting a letter-writing campaign for lent that calls on President Biden and Congressional representatives to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and to end the US Blockade on Cuba. In this episode, we talk through the lenten practice we're suggesting and giving you the facts about the blockade, the nuts bolts of the legislation that make up the blockade, and what we can do! You can find out letter-writing guide here: https://bit.ly/3YW1bTn “A Sanctioned Crisis” by Joy Gordon at Commonweal- https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/sanctioned-crisisBiden Should Reverse Trump’s Designation of Cuba as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism ” - https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/cuba-state-sponsor-terrorism/Here's the Presbyterian Church's policy on Cuba: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/wp-content/uploads/New-Hopes-and-Realities-in-Cuban-American-Relations-2016-ACSWP.pdf 

This week, Josiah Daniels has joined us from the frontlines of the culture war, where he's been reporting on the He Gets Us campaign for Sojourners. In this episode, we talk about the "elite capture" of Jesus, dark money, and the conservative Christian PR machine. Read Josiah's piece here: https://sojo.net/articles/what-he-gets-us-ads-get-wrong-about-jesusListen to Josiah talk about this on NPR: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/11/1156344092/behind-the-he-gets-us-ads-for-jesus-airing-during-the-super-bowl

Dealing with your evangelical past means that sometimes you have to work really hard to recover particular spiritual practices, like praying. In this episode, we talk about learning to pray again through the Psalms. In this conversation, we learn from Ernesto Cardenal's appropriations of the Psalms from his book, Psalms. In this episode, we talked about: Psalms - Ernesto Cardenal Our May 2021 episode Sandino's Nation w/ Stephen Henighan Flights of Victroy - Ernesto Cardinal Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon https://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues*Support The Magnificast on Patreon* http://patreon.com/themagnificast *Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com/people/themagnificast/ 

Last week we chatted about development and liberation, this week we're introducing another big idea in that conversation: dependency theory. Dependency theory has fallen out of style lately, but it's still a useful idea for thinking about the relationships between so-called "developing" countries and the imperial core. Get into it with us! Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon https://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues *Support The Magnificast on Patreon* http://patreon.com/themagnificast *Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com/people/themagnificast/

Within the orbit of liberation, there's a closely related term that we've never really talked about on the podcast before: development. What does it mean to be a "developing country?" What is that development toward? To get to the bottom of it, we read a chapter from Gustavo Gutiérrez's A Theology of Liberation to understand why we need liberation, not development. Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon https://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues *Support The Magnificast on Patreon* http://patreon.com/themagnificast *Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com/people/themagnificast/

It's time for the second installment of our Monopoly Capital series. In this episode, we talk about the ways monopoly capital reabsorbs all of the surplus it produces in some incredibly frustrating ways! Here's the MR article we mentioned in the show: https://monthlyreview.org/2016/07/01/surplus-absorption-and-waste-in-neoliberal-monopoly-capitalism/

Karl Marx is great, but a few things have changed since he wrote capital. Instead of corporations competing against one another, global corporations have gained monopoly power and are able to set prices with little to no competition. In this episode, we're jumping into Paul Baran & Paul Sweezy's Monopoly Capital! Intro Music by Amaryah Armstrong Outro music by theillogicalspoon https://theillalogicalspoon.bandcamp.com/track/hoods-up-the-low-down-technified-blues *Support The Magnificast on Patreon* http://patreon.com/themagnificast *Get Magnificast Merch* https://www.redbubble.com/people/themagnificast/