Episodes
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What do you imagine when you hear the word ‘pilgrimage’? Do you see in your mind’s eye the laces of an old pair of boots? A walking stick? A winding trail through an unknown forest? The company of friends and strangers?
Perhaps a particular place comes to mind; you may immediately think of the pilgrim routes through Spain. The Camino de Santiago, perhaps: that famous pilgrimage to the resting place of the St. James, beginning in France and ending in the northwest of Spain. Maybe your mind goes to the Camino Ignaciano—the pilgrim route that traces the key steps that St. Ignatius took from his home in Loyola to Manresa, that infamous cave where Ignatius penned the Spiritual Exercises. And still, there may be more pilgrim places that come to mind; the world is full of them!
How often, though, do you think of your daily life as a pilgrimage? How often do you reach for those spiritual lessons so easily glimpsed on roads trod by boot-wearing-hikers? Do you think to practice the kind of simplicity, indifference and awareness that is so necessary on those pilgrim routes in your day-to-day, when you’re picking your kids up from school or making your grocery list? In some ways, it’s a lot harder.
That’s why we have two pilgrimage veterans joining the podcast today—and two guests who are also veterans of our show. The Jesuit priest Fr. Brendan McManus has written several books on pilgrimages, both to Santiago de Compostella and Manresa. His latest, Living the Camino Back Home: Ignatian Tips for Keeping the Camino Spirit Alive—written with Sr. Katherin O’Flynn—is an extended meditation on how to bring a pilgrim spirituality into everyday life. Christine Eberle has recently published her third book, Finding God Along the Way: Wisdom from the Ignatian Camino for Life at Home, chronicles her own Spanish pilgrimage, inviting readers to find their own pilgrimage where ever they are.
This conversation is a real delight, full of wisdom and laughter and a deep desire to help us all along whatever road we’re currently walking.
If you’d like to learn more about our guests visit the links below.
Finding God Along the Way: https://www.amazon.com/Finding-God-Along-Way-Ignatian/dp/164060989X
Living the Camino Back Home: https://www.amazon.com/Living-Camino-Back-Home-Ignatian/dp/1788127137
Christine's website: https://christine-marie-eberle.com/
More books by Fr. Brendan: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00MU4S70O -
There aren’t many things most people agree on today across all the different political and cultural divides. But this following claim probably unites most of us: We are too distracted today and our collective ability to pay attention is in bad shape. That seems like pretty conventional wisdom.
Today’s guest enjoys few things more than taking a piece of conventional wisdom and poking and prodding it to see if it’s actually that wise after all. Jonathan Malesic is a writer and writing teacher at Southern Methodist University whose work has appeared in the New York Times, The New Republic, The Washington Post, America Magazine and elsewhere. He’s also author the author of the great book “The End of Burnout.” And Jon has offered fantastic spiritual nonfiction writing courses through the Jesuit Media Lab.
In a recent essay in the magazine Commonweal, Jon wrote about going to an art museum in San Francisco as a sort of experiment. He wanted to see if looking closely and attentively at works of art for a long time could help heal his own fraying attentiveness. Host Mike Jordan Laskey really enjoyed the essay and was challenged by it, so he invited Jon on to discuss his experiences. They talked about museums and Instagram algorithms and the different types of attention you need while looking at art versus, say, driving a car. The essay and this conversation might make you think some more about our crisis of distraction and what might be the right antidotes to pursue.
Jon's recent Commonweal essay, Fix Your Gaze: https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/fix-your-gaze
Jon's book, "The End of Burnout": https://www.amazon.com/End-Burnout-Drains-Build-Better/dp/0520344073
Jon's Substack: https://jonmalesic.substack.com/
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
www.jesuits.org/
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twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/ -
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If you look out at the world today, you might notice a growing trend in global politics: Again and again, voters are putting into power leaders that favor nationalistic or isolationist rhetoric and policies. Issues that require global cooperation — and sacrifice — like the climate crisis, nonproliferation of nuclear arms and the care of refugees are a hard sell to a citizenry increasingly concerned with economic and security problems affecting their own families and communities. As a result, nations all over the world turn ever inward and more distrustful of individuals and organizations beyond their borders.
We see this dynamic play out again and again in conversations around immigration, and we’ve hosted more than a few such conversations on this podcast. But another realm of international politics that is affected by this change in global thinking is the place and influence of international and transnational organizations on the global scale.
It’s tempting to shrug and wonder why you should care. Today’s guest, Dr. Michael Manulak, is here with an answer — and a challenge. The biggest issues we face today require global cooperation. That’s not just a political reality; it’s one grounded in our Catholic tradition. As Michael will discuss, the tenets of Catholic social teaching and the spirituality of St. Ignatius demand that we prayerfully contemplate the complex reality of our time and respond as best we’re able.
That means looking at our individual gifts and vocations as part of something bigger than ourselves.
Dr. Manulak is an associate professor of international affairs, anchoring the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs’ Diplomacy and Foreign Policy cluster in Ottawa. His research focuses on international organizations, multilateral diplomacy, Canadian foreign policy, global environmental politics and Non-Proliferation. An alumnus of the Government of Canada’s Recruitment of Policy Leaders program, he served mainly within the Department of National Defense. In government, he represented Canada in international proliferation security negotiations, supported the national security review of foreign investments, and composed Cabinet documents within National Defense’s Cabinet Liaison bureau.
And coolest of all, the day before this conversation was recorded, he was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal at the Senate of Canada. The Medal recognizes those that have made a significant contribution to Canadian society.
This is a timely and fascinating conversation. If you want to learn more about Dr. Manulak’s work, visit his website https://michaelmanulak.com/. -
In the early morning hours of August 22, 1971, a group of Catholic anti-war protesters broke into a draft board in Camden, New Jersey to destroy draft-related documents. The action was one in a series of similar raids that Catholic activists carried out in the 1960s and ‘70s in opposition to the Vietnam War. The story of what enfolded that morning and the two years following is almost too wild to believe – it’s the stuff HBO miniseries are made of.
Professor Michelle Nickerson, a historian at Loyola University Chicago, has just published a book about the raid, the ensuing trial and all the drama that surrounded both. The book is titled “Spiritual Criminals: How the Camden 28 Put the Vietnam War on Trial.” And while the book is a work of academic history published by the University of Chicago Press, it’s also a total page turner. Again, we think the good people at HBO or Netflix need to jump on this. Michelle is an expert in the history of politics, women & gender, social movements, and religion in 20th-century America, and she brought her serious academic chops to the story. Host Mike Jordan Laskey learned so much not just about the Camden 28 themselves, but the history and development of the Catholic anti-war movement in the US. We’re so happy to be able to share some of this story with you before you watch it on a streaming service in, say, 2028.
Michelle Nickerson: https://michellenickerson.com/
"Spiritual Criminals": https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Criminals-Camden-Vietnam-Trial/dp/0226828034
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/ -
Whether you’re a big New Year’s Resolutions person or not, it’s never a bad idea to take stock our own spiritual lives. Where might we want to grow in our relationship with God? So host Mike Jordan Laskey invited one of our favorite spirituality experts onto the show: Julianne Stanz. Julianne is the Director of Outreach for Evangelization and Discipleship at Loyola Press. She’s also an acclaimed author and international speaker.
A native of Ireland, Julianne was shaped by that country’s deep and distinctive Catholicism. And in line with one of the very best Irish stereotypes, Julianne is also one of the best storytellers around.
Julianne came up with three possible spiritual resolutions we might want to try out in the New Year. All three is are both meaningful and accessible. As a mom of three kids, Julianne knows huge time-intensive commitments in the spiritual life just can’t work for everyone. No matter your stage of life, you’ll enjoy hearing Julianne’s ideas and stories. Happy New Year from all of us here at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
Julianne Stanz: https://www.juliannestanz.com/
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/ -
The Christmas season is upon us! We look to the manger and we see new life—a baby has been born, Jesus the Christ, and so we have reason to hope. God has once more broken into our human story with an invitation: Can we go to the others, bringing the joy and wonder of the Incarnate Christ?
Christmas is rightly a time for joy and celebration. But it’s also a time to take a hard, loving look at our world—the very world through which God again and again makes Godself known. So here’s a question and a challenge: Are we romanticizing that nativity scene? Are we placing the Holy Family high upon a pedestal without looking plainly at the hardship and struggle they themselves had to bear? We’re so quick to sing about Mary and Joseph finding no room at the inn and yet, do we respond in hospitality to those left out in the cold?
Long time listeners of our podcast have heard our crossover episodes of the Jesuit Border Podcast before. Fr. Brian Strassburger, SJ, is the director of Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries, located in the diocese of Brownsville, Texas. Along with Joe Nolla—a Jesuit regent—he’s wrapped the seventh season of the Jesuit Border Podcast. Today, we’re going to share with you the season finale, which features Bishop Joseph Tyson of the diocese of Yakima, Washington.
This conversation is a helpful one during this Christmas season. It reminds us once more to look to the holy families still on the move today, still pleading for shelter and hospitality—not unlike the Holy Family 2,000 years ago.
Let’s not reduce our God of the universe to a plastic toy in a nativity set we carefully set up once a year. Instead, let’s take up the challenge that Fr. Brian, Joe and Bishop Tyson lay out for us in this episode. Let’s walk with those families still in need today, those families who bear the image and likeness of our same God. Let’s embody a message of hope and welcome.
Listen to more episodes of the Jesuit Border Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jesuit-border-podcast/id1593208023
Learn more about Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries: https://www.jesuitscentralsouthern.org/our-work/del-camino/ -
It’s time for one of our favorite AMDG traditions: Our annual Christmas draft. It’s an idea we stole outright from the sportswriter Joe Posnanski’s podcast, so a tip of the Santa hat to him.
For newcomers, this is how a Christmas draft works: First, host Mike Jordan Laskey picks a Christmas related category. This year, it’s Christmas objects. Some guests and Mike take turns selecting their favorite individual members of that category. It’s like a draft that the NFL or NBA sponsors. Once someone makes a specific pick, that option is off the board for everyone else. We do three rounds. This year, we two guests: Sister Bethany Welch, SSJ, and Father Marty Ngo, SJ. A nun, a priest, and a father of three walk into a podcast… the jokes just write themselves.
We asked Bethany and Marty to introduce themselves at the top of the show, so I won’t say too much about them. But we think you’ll see why we invited them – they’re two people who are both deeply spiritual, immensely creative and just joys to be around. We’re grateful for their vocations.
And we’re grateful to all you out there in AMDG land for spending some of your busy holiday season with us. All of us here at the Jesuit Conference wish you a very merry Christmas and a blessed 2025.
Sister Bethany Welch, SSJ: https://jesuitmedialab.org/how-this-catholic-sister-used-art-to-prepare-for-taking-vows/
Fr. Marty Ngo, SJ: https://www.jesuits.org/profile/martin-huynh-ngo-sj/
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/ -
We were assigned The Hobbit in seventh grade. We knew it was coming, too—each class ahead of us had to read Tolkien’s classic text. Everyone in school always knew when it was that time of year again. The culminating Hobbit-themed project for every seventh grader was to create a sculpture featuring one of the characters in the book. Those sculptures would then line the halls of our school for the remaining two months of the school year. I, Eric Clayton, of course, made a not-at-all-to-scale version of the great dragon Smaug.
So, that was seventh grade and coincidentally the year Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings debuted in theaters. But long before I made a dragon out of clay, I’d fallen in love with fantasy, myth and fairy tale. I liked the adventure, of course, the epicness of these wild and wondrous worlds.
But the more I read in the genre, the more I learned about these worlds and my own reaction to them, the more I wondered: Was something else going on? Was I drawn to these kinds of stories for another reason?
Today’s guest, New York Times bestselling author and illustrator, John Hendrix, provides a pretty compelling answer in his latest book, “The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.” It’s from a particular scene in his book—and we discuss at length in our conversation. It’s a pivot moment, a conversation between Tolkien, Lewis and their mutual friend, Hugo Dyson.
“The hunger in your stomach does not prove that you will get a meal,” Tolkien says. “But it does prove that your body was meant for food. The point is simple. The ‘dying and reviving God’ images that moves you so deeply in mythology is the very same story found in the Gospels.”
Dyson adds: “Men write their myths and God writes his.”
Lewis is exasperated: “Now both of you are saying that Christ is a myth…like Loki?” he asked.
“Exactly,” Tolkien says. “With one simple difference: “Christ is the myth that entered history. He is the myth that actually came true.”
I won’t spoil any more of the story for you. But if you are curious about the intersection of fantastical storytelling and spiritual discoveries, if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about the creators of Narnia and Middle-earth and their all-important friendship, then this conversation with John Hendrix is for you. And so’s his book.
A little more about John: His books include The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler, called a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, Drawing Is Magic: Discovering Yourself in a Sketchbook, Miracle Man: The Story of Jesus, and many others. His award-winning illustrations have also appeared on book jackets, newspapers, and magazines all over the world. And he is the Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art and the founding Chair of the MFA in Illustration and Visual Culture program at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.
You can learn more about John’s impressive career and grab copies of his many books at johnhendrix.com. -
You’ve heard of the Spiritual Exercises. You’ve probably heard of Ignatius’ autobiography. But have you heard of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus? Unless you’re a Jesuit, you probably haven’t. It’s a series of documents often dismissed as too legalistic, necessary but not relevant to daily life. But that’s not true—and our guest today, Fr. Bart Geger, SJ, professor at the Boston College’s school of theology and ministry, will make that case.
The Constitutions are foundational to the Ignatian tradition, to how Jesuits understand their mission: that being the service of the greater glory of God. The Constitutions, then, are important for all of us who stand in this Ignatian legacy, for all of us who also hope to serve God’s greater glory. The Constitutions touch on the formation of Jesuits specifically, but also point each of us toward spiritual wisdom for our own unique vocation.
Why talk about the Constitutions today? Fr. Bart has recently completed work on a new edition, which provides all of us with an opportunity to revisit this important text. As Fr. Bart writes in the introduction: “Knowledge of the Constitutions is…necessary in order to understand recurring themes and controversies in the Society’s history. Far more importantly, however, the book is vital to correctly interpret the spiritual doctrine of Ignatius himself, especially his ideas about how to discern God’s will, and the particular ideals and virtues that he desired—and still desires—for all who embrace the principle and foundation upon which all his doctrine stands.”
In short, if we believe the riches of Ignatian spirituality are vital and relevant for today’s world, then we’d do well to better understand the institutional framework with which Ignatius entrusted this legacy to be lived out.
If you'd like to get a copy of Fr. Bart's new edition or learn more about the project, head over to the Institute of Jesuit Sources: https://jesuitsources.bc.edu/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-a-critical-edition-with-the-complementary-norms-paperback/ -
If you’re listening to this episode on the day it drops, then we’re just a matter of hours away from celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States. Regardless of whether you’ll be surrounded by friends and family over these next few days or you’ll be passing the occasion in a quieter, more subdued manner, one thing remains the same: We are all called to cultivate a disposition of gratitude.
These Thanksgiving episodes where we reflect on gratitude as a spiritual practice have become something of a holiday tradition all on their own. Gratitude is foundational to Ignatian spirituality. And it’s something we’re called to on good days as much as on bad ones.
Today we’re lucky to have Vinita Hampton Wright return to the pod to reflect on these spiritual themes. Vinita always brings with her practical wisdom and deep knowledge of both the tenets of the Ignatian tradition and how to talk about them. Vinita is a veteran editors and writer of countless books and articles on Ignatian spirituality. She worked for many years at Loyola Press, and now gives workshops and retreats on writing, creativity and prayer.
Vinita is also the author of this year’s 2025 “Book of Grace-Filled Days,” which is currently available from Loyola Press and a wonderful companion to your prayer in this upcoming year.
Check it out here: https://store.loyolapress.com/2025-a-book-of-grace-filled-days -
Last week, we began our pilgrimage to Belize. We met Fr. Brian Christopher, the superior of the country-wide Jesuit community. And we heard a little bit about the hopes and heartaches of the people of Belize. We saw how Ignatian spirituality has a role to play in helping crystalize the character of Belize, and how important collaboration is in a country made up of such a rich and diverse history.
Most importantly, we heard from Fr. Brian how the work of the Jesuits in Belize today isn’t about making plans and wracking up successes but rather that of humility, of accepting the possibility of failure. The key, Brian said again and again, is accompaniment: walking with and learning from and cheering on the people of Belize.
Last week’s episode ended with a reflection on synodality — that all-important theme of Pope Francis’ papacy. How are we called to listen to the voices of those members of our global church that so often get sidelined?
Today, in our second of our two-part series on Belize, we return to that theme of synodality: you’re going to hear from several lay leaders that are working closely with the Jesuits. Perhaps even more importantly, you’re going to hear how essential these lay leaders are in building up the local church. It’s not an exaggeration to say that without these lay leaders, the Catholic church in some of the most remote parts of Belize may simply not exist.
So, let’s continue our pilgrimage. -
Over the next two episodes, host Eric Clayton is going to take you on an adventure. We’re going to travel to Central America, to a small country on the Caribbean Sea. A country that is both ancient and relatively new. A place that is both a melting pot of so very many cultures and ways of life, and yet is also the least populated country in all of Central America.
We're going on pilgrimage to Belize.
Eric was there earlier this year visiting the Jesuit communities. Jesuits have been in Belize since 1851, when members of the English Province came over from nearby Jamaica. Ever since, Jesuit have played a foundational role in the development of the Catholic Church in the country — even before it was a country.
And that last bit is important. The Mayan people lived and thrived in that land for centuries before Europeans arrived in the early 1500s. But when the Spanish conquistadors arrived — and soon after, British pirates — the Mayan people suffered, dying from conflict as well as disease.
The country as it’s known today became independent in 1981. Before then, since 1862, Belize was declared part of the British Empire and known as British Honduras. As a result of the relative new-ness of the country, Belizeans are still in the process of discovering their own identity, of making known what it means to be a citizen of Belize.
So, what role are the Jesuits playing in all of this? As you'll hear from today's guest, Fr. Brian Christopher, SJ, the superior of the Jesuit community in Belize, the Jesuits are called to accompaniment. Fr. Brian is focused on walking with Belizeans in discovering what it means to be Catholic and Belizean is this moment.
This is part 1 of a two-part series on Belize. Next week, we'll journey to a different part of the country. In the meantime, check out this video featuring Fr. Brian and some of the lay leadership in Belize: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cLzGsVsxRs -
Today we’re talking about the global nature of God’s invitation. Our guest — Fr. Chuks, the new director of communications for the Jesuit Curia in Rome, responsible for sharing the stories of the entirety of the global Society of Jesus — reminds us that the people of God are everywhere. And we, informed by the Ignatian tradition, have a responsibility to go and hear their stories—and to share them with others.
Fr. Chuks — whose full name is Chukwuyenum Afiawari — is a Nigerian Jesuit. Most recently, he was the provincial of the North West Africa province, which includes Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia—no small task!
Now living at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome, Chuks is tasked with thinking about how we communicate with one another. How we communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ with on another. How Ignatian spirituality and the legacy of Ignatius of Loyola equips us to go out into the world and witness Christ’s love to one another. This, too, is no small task.
Today's conversation covers a lot of ground, hitting on the nature of global communications, our responsibility as members of the universal Catholic Church, how we might train today’s communicators to respond to the signs of the times and more. -
When the celebrity chef and restauranter Lidia Bastianich was just a few months old, the city her Italian family lived in was assigned to Yugoslavia as part of the reorganization of Europe after World War II. Her family became exiles without a proper homeland. Eventually, her family fled to Italy, where they lived in a refugee camp for two years. With the help of the Catholic Church, her family was resettled in the United States in 1958.
It is her own family history and her own close personal connection with the Society of Jesus that prompted Lidia to join the board of the Jesuit Refugee Service USA recently.
The mission of Jesuit Refugee Service is to accompany, serve and advocate for the rights of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. Founded by Jesuit superior general Fr. Pedro Arrupe in 1980, in direct response to the humanitarian crisis of Vietnamese refugees, JRS today works in 58 countries worldwide to meet the educational, health and social needs of refugees.
Lidia is most well known for Italian cooking, which she has shared with the world in almost 20 cookbooks, several restaurants and a handful of extremely popular cooking shows on PBS. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked her about her career and how her family’s moving story led her to where she is today. They also talked about the unique and mysterious power of a shared meal, plus differences between Italian and Italian-American cooking and how the US at its best is a place where cultures from around the world can come, encounter each other and grow in harmony. Lidia also gave Mike a few tips for his own cooking! She is a delightful storyteller and an insightful conversation partner and we know you’ll love getting to know her in this extended interview format.
Lidia Bastianich: https://lidiasitaly.com/
Jesuit Refugee Service USA: https://www.jrsusa.org/
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/ -
From the Jesuit Media Lab, this is AMDG. I’m Mike Jordan Laskey.
Today’s episode is the fourth and final one in our series on faith and politics leading up to the 2024 presidential election here in the U.S. Our guest is the Jesuit Conference’s very own Tom Mulloy, who serves as our director of government relations.
Sometimes people are surprised to find out that we have a director of government relations and that our Office of Justice and Ecology spends the majority of its time here in Washington meeting with lawmakers and others in power, trying to influence laws and policies. Tom is a lobbyist, essentially, but you have to think about that word differently in this case. Instead of lobbying on behalf of big oil or a tech behemoth like Google, Tom works alongside other faith groups and NGOs to advocate for a more just and peaceful world. He brings the voices and experiences of the huge Jesuit network to the halls of power in order to humanize issues ranging from immigration to tax policy to indigenous housing. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked Tom to share how he got into this work and why his faith calls him to bring Gospel values to Capitol Hill. They also talked about how all of us can be informed, faith-filled advocates on behalf of justice. Because the work of politics is not just about elections. It’s about making sure those we elect pursue the common good.
The Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology: https://www.jesuits.org/our-work/justice-and-ecology/oje/
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. Go Yankees.
www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit M -
For the third episode of our pre-election series, we’re going to focus on the role of the media in a democracy. Our guest is Scott Detrow, a veteran radio journalist and a host of NPR’s flagship show All Things Considered. You can usually find Scott hosting the weekend editions of the show on Saturday and Sunday, but this month he’s filling in on the weekday afternoon broadcast. He’s also a host of the Consider This podcast. Scott joined NPR in 2015, and he spent eight years covering national politics. He covered two presidential campaigns, Congress and the White House. Before NPR, Scott was a statehouse reporter in California and Pennsylvania for NPR member stations.
He's also Jesuit educated twice over -- an alum of Marquette University High School in Milwaukee and Fordham University in New York. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked him on the show recently to discuss the state of the news media today, which is just as caught up in the challenges of polarization as the Catholic Church is. We wanted to get his take on the state of journalism today and even just to get back to basics: What is the news media for in a democracy? Why is mistrust of media so high these days? Are there any signs of hope out there?
And you can trust Scott on this stuff because he’s thoughtful, hard-working and a great old-fashioned journalist. He wants to tell stories that matter to communities, not to spout his own opinions about the latest hot topic of the day. Because he’s not a pundit, this podcast might be the only time you get to hear him share his thoughts on the media landscape today and why journalism is worth fighting for.
Scott Detrow: https://www.npr.org/people/444796749/scott-detrow
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/ -
This is the second in our series on faith and politics leading up to the 2024 presidential election here in the United States. Our guest is Dr. Nichole Flores, one of the most exciting young theologians around. Nichole is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, and completed her doctoral study in theological ethics at Boston College. It was tricky to decide what to talk to her about because her work covers so many topics: Her research in practical ethics addresses issues of democracy, migration, family, gender, economics, race and ethnicity, and ecology.
She talked with host Mike Jordan Laskey about her background and topics like polarization, faith and politics within the various Hispanic communities in the US, and how we might try to seek out spaces in our daily lives that are not just echo chambers of our own views. It was a wide-ranging discussion and it’s fascinating to see how Nichole brings her intellectual interests together with the very practical day-to-day stuff of family and community living.
Dr. Nichole Flores: https://religiousstudies.as.virginia.edu/nichole-m-flores
Nichole’s writing at America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/nichole-m-flores
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/ -
It’s October, which means the presidential election here in the US is next month. So here on AMDG we are going to take old that rule about never discussing religion or politics in polite company and throw it in the Potomac River.
Our four episodes this month will all cover faith and politics in a variety of ways. We know you don’t come here for political news and analysis, so we won’t be talking about the ins and outs of the election or really all that much about the election itself. Instead, we’re hoping to go deeper into why politics might matter to people of faith in the first place. Our series of guests all come at questions about this stuff from different angles. We’re getting started on today’s episode with the only American Jesuit who served as a state’s lieutenant governor before entering the Society of Jesus. (We didn’t actually look that fact up, but we’re sure it’s true.) Cyrus Habib, SJ, is a Jesuit in the stage of formation called regency.
When he entered the Jesuits in 2020, Cyrus had been serving as the State of Washington’s Lieutenant Governor for three years. An extremely successful and popular politician, it was quite possible Cyrus would’ve eventually become the governor of the state. But he gave up his political career for a Jesuit vocation. And these are just two chapters of Cyrus’ incredible life story: the son of Iranian immigrants to the United States, Cyrus lost his eyesight to cancer as an eight-year-old kid. After graduating from Columbia University in 2003, he studied English literature as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University then earned a law degree at Yale. He practiced law in Washington State from 2009 until 2017, and during that time was elected to the Washington House of Representatives. It’s safe to say he surprised a lot of people when he walked away from politics to enter the Society.
Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked Cyrus about his story and his vocation. They also talked about the value of politics and what from the Church’s tradition we might be able to offer the country to help heal our partisan divides.
Cyrus Habib, SJ, on his decision to join the Jesuits in America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/03/19/lieutenant-governor-cyrus-habib-why-i-am-giving-elected-office-and-joining-jesuits
AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.
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Santos and Noehlia worked with Jesuits in Nicaragua; when the government began to attack the Church, they had to flee.
This audio reflection is part of a series marking the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Over the course of six episodes, we invite you to join migrants in solidarity and prayer.
Find supplemental resources for reflection and action here: https://sites.ignatiansolidarity.net/world-refugee-day-website -
Fr. Sudzer and Matthew support migrants at the Jesuit parish in Miami. They both have family members who’ve migrated.
This audio reflection is part of a series marking the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Over the course of six episodes, we invite you to join migrants in solidarity and prayer.
Find supplemental resources for reflection and action here: https://sites.ignatiansolidarity.net/world-refugee-day-website - Show more
