Podcasts

2009 marks the bicentennial of the founding of the Sisters of Charity by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. The first native-born American saint, Saint Elizabeth Seton was a convert to Catholicism whose childhood was spent in revolutionary war era New York. She married into a prominent New York family and moved in elite social circles, once […]

Speaking from Lourdes, English journalist Austen Ivereigh describes the jubilee celebrations taking place at the shrine, and ponders why Catholic devotional practice still flourishes in this corner of secular Europe. Ivereigh also reports on the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade meeting of Anglican bishops, where Archbishop Rowan Williams is seeking to hold the church together amid […]

In advance of the Convention for the Common Good in Philadelphia July 11-13, Chris Korzen sat down with Tim Reidy to discuss the gathering and what the Catholic notion of the common good can offer to U.S. society. Chris also talks about the 2004 election, the Catholic Voting Project, and his new book, A Nation […]

Ron Hansen, the author of Mariette in Ecstasy, talks about his new novel, Exiles, a work of historical fiction that chronicles the drowning of five German nuns on the German ship Deutschland as well as Gerard Manley Hopkins’ efforts to compose a poem to commemorate the event. Listen to this episode

Karen Sue Smith, editorial director of America, analyzes the Latino vote and its potential impact on the 2008 election. Nearly 18 million Latinos are registered to vote, 4 million more than in 2004, and their numbers are growing in states throughout the country, not just in the Southwest. Interestingly, immigration is not the number one […]

Michael Suarez, S.J. won this year’s Foley Poetry Contest with his poem, “Going.” In this interview, Fr. Suarez discusses his inspiration for his poem, and why he thinks religious poetry should embrace humor. Fr. Suarez teaches at Fordham University and at Oxford in England. Listen to this episode

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the archdiocese of New York, Msgr. Thomas J. Shelley has written a history of the archdiocese from its earliest days to the present. In this interview, Msgr. Shelley tells stories of the colorful bishops, priests and laity who have called the New York church home. Listen to this episode

Stephen Adly Guirgis, author of “Our Lady of 121st Street” and “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” talks about his new play, “The Little Flower of East Orange,” which is playing at the Public Theater in Manhattan through Sunday May 4. In an interview recorded at his home in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, […]