Just Politics

What does it take to build an economy where everyone can afford to live with dignity?

In this episode of Just Politics, Sister Eilis McCulloh speaks with David Carpio, the Deputy Political Director at the AFL-CIO, and Rogelio Lagunas, a factory worker, immigrant, parishioner, and member of Escucha Mi Voz Iowa.

As communities across the country continue to feel the pressure of rising costs, stagnant wages, and an economy that too often puts profits ahead of people, David and Rogelio share what they are seeing on the ground and why workers' voices matter.

Together, they explore the power of unions and collective action, the connection between immigrant rights and workers' rights, and what the labor movement can learn from immigrant organizing. They also reflect on the Catholic tradition's call to uphold the dignity of work, solidarity, and the common good.

In 2025, Congress passed HR 1, referred to by the Trump administration as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but also known as the Big Bad Budget Bill. It slashed funding for human needs programs including Medicaid and SNAP and gave trillions in tax breaks to corporations and the wealthiest people on earth.

In this episode, Sister Eilis McCulloh speaks with Rev. Brad Davis, a United Methodist pastor who organizes in the southern West Virginia coalfields, and Amiyuh Tobias, a senior at Loyola University New Orleans and a 2026 Sister Carol Coston Fellow. They discuss the devastating impacts of slashing funding for the programs that help their neighbors in need and tax breaks for the very companies that extract resources from their communities and give nothing back.

This episode of Just Politics focuses on the U.S. housing crisis, why homelessness is often misunderstood, and what effective solutions beyond charity could look like. Sister Eilis McCulloh speaks with Coston fellow Anthony Miranda and professor of law Fran Quigley about direct outreach, eviction court, housing subsidies, and why housing policy has to reflect people's lived realities.

Anthony and Fran bring complementary perspectives: Anthony shares about his direct outreach work to people experiencing homelessness in Cleveland, as well as his efforts in policy advocacy, while Fran brings years of public interest legal work and eviction court experience at the Health and Human Rights Clinic in Indianapolis. Together, they make the case that understanding people and their experiences is the starting point for lasting housing justice.

In this episode of Just Politics, the conversation explores the question: who can afford to get sick in the United States? Sister of Charity of the Incarnate Word Rosanne Popp and Nancy Kwan, both medical doctors providing care through CHRISTUS health, join the discussion to examine how healthcare access is shaped not just by medicine, but by policy, poverty, immigration status, food insecurity, housing, and community support.

Together, we look at what lies beyond individual responsibility to highlight the structural realities that make care inaccessible for many people. Myriad factors are at play, including the downstream effects of Medicaid changes, Affordable Care Act coverage gaps, and the ways poverty, food insecurity, and fear of immigration enforcement can keep people from seeking care. Popp and Kwan highlight the life-saving importance of preventive care, dignity, and community-based clinics that offer more than treatment—they offer safety, continuity, and compassion.

On this episode of Just Politics, Sister Eilis McCulloh welcomes Dr. Cathleen Kaveny of Boston College and Cecilia Flores of the Catholic Volunteer Network for a conversation about Catholic social teaching and why it matters in public life. They unpack what the church's social teaching actually is, how it should shape the way Catholics think about politics and policy, and why relationship, human dignity, and the common good should inform civic engagement.

Cathy and Cecilia both make a strong case that Catholic social teaching is not just a set of ideas to know, but a way of seeing and living in the world. They also push back on overly binary political thinking and offer a more relational, both-and framework for faith-informed public action.

This latest episode of the Just Politics podcast takes a close look at the fragile and rapidly shifting landscape of voting rights in the United States. Host Eilis McCulloh is joined by Eliza Sweren-Becker, deputy director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program, and by Reverend Kendall L. McBroom, director of Civil and Human Rights at the General Board of Church and Society and an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Together, they examine the current state of voting rights, the impact of recent court decisions on the exercise of those rights, and how faith communities can support voter engagement and counteract suppression efforts.

In a world marked by division and conflict, our faith calls us to love our enemies and strangers as we love ourselves. This season opener of Just Politics invites listeners to reflect on a profound question: What does it mean to love others with faith? What does that love look like on a bigger–even national–scale?

In this episode, host Eilis McCulloh together with Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Patricia "Patty" Chappell, Sister of Saint Joseph Erin McDonald, and Global Sisters Report Latin America Regional Correspondent Rhina Guidos explore how love rooted in faith can transform unjust systems, inspire courageous action, and foster community in today's polarized world. They share insights on responding to social issues with love, systemic change, and hope for the future.

According to several recent studies of health care systems across the globe, the U.S. health care system lags far behind those in other developed nations. The system is more expensive per person, but also for the nation as a whole. This high cost doesn't translate into good access, high quality, or favorable outcomes. Many in the nation have no insurance at all, and many can't find a primary care provider, or access much beyond basic emergency care. Our very expensive system does not do well at preventing death, either.

Skyrocketing insurance costs are likely to make matters worse, leaving more people uninsured, and dying for lack of care. It is likely to create a ripple effect, as high health care costs will increase food insecurity and exacerbate the homelessness crisis. These effects may even touch those who are comfortably well-off, as more care facilities close due to lack of funds.

Activists, lobbyists, policy-makers, and analysts have been calling for some form of universal care for Americans for decades, to bring us in line with the less expensive and more equitable systems in other nations. But what should Catholics think about this question? Would universal health care access be in line with Catholic social teaching? What would a truly just health care system look like?

This episode of Just Politics is a collaboration with the Glad You Asked podcast. Sister of the Humility of Mary Eilis McCulloh, one of the Just Politics hosts, talks here with U.S. Catholic editors Emily Sanna and Rebecca Bratten Weiss about Catholic teaching on health care. Glad You Asked brings in theologians, activists, scholars, and other experts to tackle a range of questions about Catholicism that don't have easy, obvious answers.

You can learn more about this topic in these links:

International Comparison of Health Systems

How does the quality of the U.S. health system compare to other countries?

Mirror, Mirror 2024: A Portrait of the Failing U.S. Health System

"Kristen Whitney Daniels on why health care access is a matter of faith and justice," Just Politics

"As the inauguration approaches, U.S. health care is on the line," by Kevin Clarke

Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries USA, a congregation of Catholic priests and brothers who live and work with the most vulnerable among us. To learn more, visit claretians.org.

As Medicaid faces severe cuts in the federal budget that will take health care away from millions of people, Laura Peralta-Schulte, head of NETWORK's government relations team, discusses the life-saving importance of the program for its 60th anniversary. The program, which emerged as part of President Lyndon Johnson's efforts to help people in the United States not just survive but thrive and which expanded greatly under the health care reforms under President Barack Obama, is now under serious threat.

Peralta-Schulte discusses why this is not just a matter of policy for Catholics, but a human right under Catholic teaching, as well as an echo of Jesus' healing mission. By this standard, cuts that will take away health care from over 10 million people over the next decade are a moral failure of a very high degree. She calls on all justice-seekers of all background to join NETWORK in the legislative push to roll back these immoral tax cuts and restore health coverage to millions of people who rely on the saving care made available to them by Medicaid.

Join in the work of promoting Catholic Social Justice in federal policy by becoming a member of NETWORK.

This week on Just Politics, hosts Eilis and Colin welcome Laurie Carafone, NETWORK's new executive director. She comes to the world of Catholic social justice advocacy from Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), where she worked to protect unaccompanied children and advocate for their asylum.

Carafone's path began with a formative year working with an asylum attorney, where she witnessed the life-and-death stakes facing asylum seekers. After law school at the University of Michigan and a masters degree in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School, she spent over a decade at KIND, ultimately leading their U.S. legal programs.

She was drawn to NETWORK, she says, by the organization's origin story of 47 sisters recognizing that federal policy could create a scaled positive impact, as well as NETWORK's commitment to coalition building.

She takes on the role of executive director at a perilous time in U.S. politics, especially regarding the treatment of immigrants. Recorded during just her second week on the job, this conversation offers insights into NETWORK's new leadership as we enter an exciting new chapter of advocacy work.

LINKS: NETWORK welcomes Laurie Carafone as new executive director https://networklobby.org/news/7725-carafone-ed/