Podcasts

John Howard Griffin is known primarily as the author of Black Like Me, a seminal book in the history of the civil rights movement in which a white man dressed up as a black man and wrote about his experiences in the segregated south. But Griffin was also a war hero, a convert to Catholicism, […]

In a discussion of his book, The American Catholic Revolution, Mark S. Massa, S.J. introduces the major moments and figures of the 1960s, including Frederick McManus and the liturgical changes introduced by Vatican II, Charlie Curran and and the resistance to Humanae vitae and the political activism of Daniel Berrigan, S.J. Scroll to minute 15:50 […]

Deborah M. Jones discusses her book, The School of Compassion: A Roman Catholic Theology of Animals, and her work with the Catholic Concern for Animals. Dr. Jones has sought to build a theology of animals around the catechism’s dictate that “animals are God’s creatures. By their mere existence, they bless him and give him glory. […]

Matt Malone, S.J., blogger and former associate editor at America, analyzes the midterm results.

When he was first summoned to meet with Pope John Paul II, Sir Gilbert Levine was surprised to find himself led to the pope’s private library, and felt sure it was it was a once-in-a-lifetime meeting. That first conversation in 1988 gave birth to a 17-year relationship between the two men–an unlikely pairing of a […]

Raymond A. Schroth, S.J., reviews the life of the controversial priest and politician Robert F. Drinan, S.J. When Fr. Drinan ran for Congress in 1970, he was among a dozen priests and religious seeking higher office. By the time Drinan was forced to leave in 1980 by order of Pope John Paul II, that number […]

America‘s Book Club discusses Human Chain, the new collection of poems by Seamus Heaney. Angela O’Donnell, a poet and professor of English at Fordham University, analyzes the recurrent themes in the collection, including mortality and the sacramental nature of creation. As in previous volumes, Heaney uses his writing to carry on a conversation with generations […]

Luke Hansen, S.J., a member of Witness Against Torture, discusses his article in the current issue of America on the Gospel call to love one’s enemies and how that mandate lead to his meeting with former detainees at Guantanamo Bay. For more on the Uighur men who Luke and other members of Witness Against Torture […]

Tom Price and Nora Collins of Catholic Relief Services provide a report on reconstruction efforts underway in Haiti following the devastating earthquake in January and the work CRS is doing to aid in the country’s recovery. Only 4 percent of earthquake rubble has been removed in 10 months, and large number of residents are still […]