Best Carl Duncan Podcasts (2025)

1
Fragile Objects w/ Katy Carl 1:27:50

Play Pause

7d ago1:27:50

1:27:50

Novelist and short story writer Flannery O’Connor once insisted, “You tell a story because a statement would be inadequate.” In her short stories, Katy Carl weaves tales of despair and hope, brokenness and healing, and all being captured in the glory and grit of the human condition. Many ask, “Where have the good writers gone?” Read Katy and you’ll…

1
Contemplation and the Cross w/ Fr. Thomas Joseph White 1:36:16

21d ago1:36:16

1:36:16

“Every human person seeks peace, spiritual peace within oneself and with others, and material peace through a social life of friendship, charity, and genuine justice. What is at the heart of this aspiration? What indeed is peace?” Join me and Fr. Thomas Joseph White as we discuss his new book Contemplation and the Cross on the Evangelization & Cult…

1
Queering Sacred Art with Fr. William Hart McNichols 46:43

25d ago46:43

46:43

Father William Hart McNichols (he/him) is widely known as one of the world’s most gifted iconographers. A former Jesuit and student of Franciscan iconographer Robert Lentz, Fr. Bill’s icons have been in exhibitions across the U.S. In 1980, a year after becoming a priest, he moved to NYC where he ministered to people with HIV/AIDS. From 1983 - 1990 …

1
Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power w/ Timothy Ryback 1:48:37

1M ago1:48:37

1:48:37

Millions of pages have been written seeking to answer one vexing question: How did Adolf Hitler happen? Was the Führer of the Third Reich an accident of history or a fearsome warning of what the future may hold? Join me and Timothy Ryback as we explore the cunning and the luck, the designs and the accidents that brought Hitler to power in Ryback’s …

1
What Is Beauty? w/ Bishop Barron 1:13:52

2M ago1:13:52

1:13:52

The modern world tells us that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” And yet, the Catholic Church deems beauty a transcendental. Is beauty something predictable, ephemeral, and a simple matter of taste? Or is beauty surprising, enduring, and objectively indisputable? Join me and Bishop Robert Barron as we explore the burning question, “What is be…

1
Liberty as Independence (with Quentin Skinner) 1:00:39

2M ago1:00:39

1:00:39

Sometime in the eighteenth century, a great transformation took place in the language of liberty. Since the days of the Roman Republic, to be free had meant to be independent of the arbitrary will of another. You enjoyed freedom if nobody could impose their will on you without your prior consent. You were free if you were your own master, and you w…

1
We Have Ceased to See the Purpose w/ Ignat Solzhenitsyn 44:05

2M ago44:05

44:05

In his iconic Templeton lecture, Soviet dissident and Nobel Prize-winning author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn summarized the horrors of the twentieth century’s Communist experiment, saying, “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.” Join me and Ignat Solzhenitsyn as we explore his father’s heroic words and exquisite diagnosis of man’s pl…

1
The Eight-Minute Flight w/ Derek Ruth 44:16

3M ago44:16

44:16

In his autobiographical book, Derek Ruth explains, “During my time in heaven, Jesus gave me a choice, but I had no idea what the choice would entail. I believed I would come back to earth and continue living like I had been for the first twelve years of my life. I had no idea the trials and tribulations I would face in order to regain my life. And …

1
The Persistence of the Ideological Lie w/ Daniel Mahoney 1:51:02

3M ago1:51:02

1:51:02

In his essay, “How the Great Truth Dawned,” Professor Gary Saul Morson muses, “Why is it, Solzhenitsyn asks, that Macbeth, Iago, and other Shakespearean evildoers stopped short at a dozen corpses, while Lenin and Stalin did in millions? The answer is that Macbeth and Iago ‘had no ideology.’” Notwithstanding its rabid inhumanity, Professor Daniel Ma…

1
Abolitionist Ideas: Battling the Slave Trade in Britain 1:10:36

3M ago1:10:36

1:10:36

If you visited Britain around 1700, you’d find hardly a single advocate of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. You’d hear the institution of slavery described as a moral evil, but no one would tell you that it could be done away with if only people put their minds to it. Slavery was supported by monarchy, government, church, and public …

1
The Way of Heaven & Earth: Exploring the Catholic Both/And w/ Matt Becklo 1:28:02

4M ago1:28:02

1:28:02

As Matthew Becklo asserts, “The Catholic faith is full of paradoxes, but its greatest paradox is this: that all of its both/ands unleash this ultimate either/or, and all of its communion compels this unavoidable decision.” Are we with Christ or against him? And how do we balance the dynamic tensions (faith or reason, discipline or passion, spirit o…

1
William F. Buckley, American Impresario w/ Lawrence Perelman 1:50:23

4M ago1:50:23

1:50:23

What happens when a young man with an entrepreneurial heart and gifted piano-playing hands writes a letter to renowned public intellectual William F. Buckley, Jr. offering to play a concert for him out of gratitude? A lifelong friendship of shared musical appreciation and warm conversation begins. Join me and Lawrence Perelman as we unfold his uniq…

1
How G.K. Chesterton Sees the World w/ Duncan Reyburn 1:41:19

4M ago1:41:19

1:41:19

How are we to look at the world? Through a brilliant lens of hope, wonder, and gratitude? Or through a shadowy lens of despair, cynicism, and selfishness? The journalist, wit, and Catholic convert G.K. Chesterton is an extraordinary model who mastered the art of a marveling Catholic vision. Join me and Dr. Duncan Reyburn as we explore his excellent…

1
Carl Schmitt: The Thoughtful Nazi (with Lars Vinx and Samuel Zeitlin) 1:54:03

5M ago1:54:03

1:54:03

Why is Carl Schmitt one of the most widely read political theorists of the twentieth century? A lifelong antisemite, a petty careerist, a Nazi ideologue who only avoided being tried at Nuremberg because he wasn’t considered important enough, Schmitt was an unlikely candidate for canonical fame. And yet from today’s perspective, few other authors pr…

1
Queering Paradox with James Crews 50:01

5M ago50:01

50:01

James Crews (he/him) is the editor of several bestselling anthologies, including The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, which has over 100,000 copies in print. He has been featured in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, The Christian…

1
The Enduring Relevance of Pinocchio w/ Marcie Stokman & Colleen Hutt 1:19:24

5M ago1:19:24

1:19:24

When you consider the story of Pinocchio, you are flooded with visions of a Disney-fied wooden boy with big blue eyes, a lengthening nose, and a mischievous heart. But reading the original Pinocchio (and its theological underpinnings perceived by Franco Nembrini), you are shocked by the misanthropic boy, his violent experiences, and his perpetually…

1
Theology of Horror w/ Fr. Ryan Duns 2:08:54

5M ago2:08:54

2:08:54

A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Blair Witch Project, and The Exorcist have scared the daylights out of a generation of moviegoers. And even though viewers startle and jump, chill and scream, they keep coming back for more. What is it that makes us crave a good scare? And where is God in the fright of such horror movies? Join me and Fr. Ryan Duns as …

1
How We Pray w/ Bishop Robert Barron 1:07:09

6M ago1:07:09

1:07:09

Flannery O’Connor once prayed, “I do not know you God because I am in the way. Please help me to push myself aside.” Is there any meaningful relationship in life that can survive without an element of selflessness, dedicated time, and earnest conversation? Why would a meaningful relationship with God be any different? The prophets prayed, the saint…

1
Ep. 231: "FURRIES ARE SHAMANS!" Ari Freeman On the Horrors of Furry & Brony Sorcery 1:21:45

6M ago1:21:45

1:21:45

Watch the video version of this podcast on YouTube! Yes hello! Thee Very Wizard of New Zealand himself, Ari Freeman unlocks the DREAD and FORBIDDEN SECRETS of Furry Sorcery and Brony Tulpas in this conversation with Jason Louv in this, the first "actual YouTube show" episode of the Ultraculture Podcast! THINGS MAN WAS NOT MEANT TO KNOW become, most…

1
Indigenous Ideas: A Global Perspective (with Saliha Belmessous) 59:45

6M ago59:45

59:45

In 1686, a French witness spoke openly of a Native American declaration of independence. ‘We have to assume’, he said, ‘that the Iroquois do not accept any master’. Claims such as this were made frequently throughout the history of European colonialism, forming a rich tapestry of indigenous ideas. Although often dismissed by historians as badly doc…

1
The Extinction of Experience w/ Christine Rosen 1:41:18

6M ago1:41:18

1:41:18

What happens when we live our lives through mediating technologies? We take countless pictures but don’t look at our kids. We film vacations but are never fully present. We search for answers online but rarely puzzle over the questions. And we distract ourselves from difficult emotions, but we never take on the cross-bearing work of the soul. In th…

1
I Came to Cast Fire w/ Fr. Elias Carr 1:49:28

7M ago1:49:28

1:49:28

We want what other people have. We conjure up rivalries. And we scapegoat our enemies in the process. What on earth are we doing? Join me and Fr. Elias Carr as we unpack philosopher René Girard’s mimetic theory and the “scapegoat mechanism” on the Evangelization & Culture Podcast. Stay up-to-date with the latest episodes of the Evangelization & Cul…

1
The Pleasures of an Intellectual Life w/ Zena Hitz 1:48:03

7M ago1:48:03

1:48:03

What exactly is the “life of the mind”? Is it merely a matter of being bookish, bespectacled, and (*gasp*) potentially boring? Or is the “life of the mind” awash with limitless wonder, captivating wisdom, and life-changing vocation? Join me and St. John’s College tutor Dr. Zena Hitz as we dive deeply into the joyful adventure of intellectual format…

1
Slavery, Empire, and John Locke (with Mark Goldie) 1:06:09

7M ago1:06:09

1:06:09

John Locke continues to excite controversy. For American liberals, he is an honorary Founding Father, one of the architects of modern democracy. In their view, as Allan Bloom put it, ‘the whole world is divided into two parts, one of which traces its intellectual lineage back to Locke and the other to Marx’. For his critics on the left, by contrast…

1
Queering Power with the Rev. Larry J. Morris III 38:42

7M ago38:42

38:42

The Rev. Larry J. Morris III (he/they) is an apostle, digital marketer, scholar, and spiritual director based in Chicago, IL. In his work, he “helps individuals and organizations realize their extraordinary purpose.” Larry is also Executive Director of the Inclusive Collective, a campus ministry in the Chicagoland area. Larry is a Ph.D. student in …

1
Ep. 230: The Revival of Magick: A Talk at Catland Books 48:43

8M ago48:43

48:43

Fresh from the archives, this is a talk on the Revival of Magick that I gave at the now-defunct Catland Books in Brooklyn, NY in 2014. The quality is so-so as it was filmed on a handheld digital camcorder, but I've done my best to clean up the sound and video. In the talk, I discuss how 3rd millennium magick radically differs from the magick of the…

1
Critical Theory from Marx to Marcuse w/ Carl Trueman 1:28:39

8M ago1:28:39

1:28:39

In his new book, Dr. Carl Trueman writes, “The very rhetoric and concepts of critical theory, the other, intersectionality, and their like have become influential tools of wielding power rather than dismantling it. And so—as Frankfurt School members Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno themselves would no doubt point out—things have become their oppos…

1
Queering Genesis with Jessica Jacobs 48:08

8M ago48:08

48:08

Jessica Jacobs is the author of unalone, poems in conversation with the Book of Genesis (Four Way Books, March 2024); Take Me with You, Wherever You’re Going (Four Way Books, 2019), one of Library Journal’s Best Poetry Books of the Year, winner of the Devil’s Kitchen and Goldie Awards, and a finalist for the Brockman-Campbell, American Fiction, and…

1
A Deep Dive Into Contemporary Catholic Poetry w/ Ryan Wilson 1:50:27

8M ago1:50:27

1:50:27

In the preface to Ryan Wilson and April Limner’s anthology, Contemporary Catholic Poetry, Ryan writes, “One of the things human beings are always forgetting is that the world is greater than any individual’s idea of it. The world is more complex, more manifold, more mysterious than any mortal mind can fully comprehend, as is the human individual.” …

1
Ep. 229: The Truck of Peace Strikes New Orleans 31:32

8M ago31:32

31:32

In this episode of the Ultraculture Podcast, I reflect on the recent attack in New Orleans, exploring its implications and the interplay of spirituality and cultural conflict. I critique the notion of universality in religion, highlighting significant disparities among belief systems, particularly regarding Islam, and discuss the historical role of…