Erika Ahern is a seasoned journalist, Managing Editor for Refine, CatholicVote's lifestyle newsletter, and co-host of the LOOPcast.

Her writing has appeared in USA Today, Washington Examiner, and other publications. She is a contributing author and editor for CatholicVote’s 2024 book For God, Country, and Sanity: How Catholics Can Save America. She appears regularly as a guest on podcasts and talk radio.

Erika holds degrees in philosophy from The Catholic University of America (BA 2003) and Emory University (MA 2008). She and her husband live outside of New Haven, Connecticut, with their seven children.

Hosted by Christopher Anadale

LOOPcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theLOOPcast
LOOPcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-loopcast/id1643967065

Joey Wolfensberger is a full time faculty member in the Humanities Department at Montgomery College, in Maryland.

He graduated from Mount St. Mary’s University with a bachelor’s degree in 2020, with 4 majors: philosophy theology, sociology, and criminal justice.

In 2022 he earned a MA in Philosophical Studies degree from the same institution.

He has taught philosophy at Montgomery College, Mount St. Mary's, and University of Maryland - Baltimore County.

Hosted by Christopher Anadale

Patrick Gill is a blacksmith of 16 years' experience and an adjunct professor of philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University.

He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in 2016, a Master of Business Administration degree from Mount St. Mary's in 2019, and a Master of Theological Science degree from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2025.

Hosted by Christopher Anadale

Zachary Robinson is Chief Scientist at Rising Tide, a startup that automates and optimizes business operations for last-mile logistics companies. He has 12 years of experience in algorithm development, applied mathematics, applied magnetics, digital signal processing, data analysis, software development, and more.

He is a 2017 graduate of Mount St. Mary’s University with a Master of Arts in Philosophical Studies degree. He has also earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and physics, and an MS in Applied and Computational Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University in 2014.

Zachary is also a husband and the father of two children.

0:00 Shifting Lanes

5:11 Rising Tide

11:06 AI Cannot Reason Algorithmically

21:25 Economic & Psychological Problems with AI

27:50 Parenthood & Self-Understanding

Study published by Apple: https://ml-site.cdn-apple.com/papers/the-illusion-of-thinking.pdf

 AI losing to Atari at chess: https://futurism.com/atari-beats-chatgpt-chess

 Rising Tide's website: https://www.risingtide.us/

 His LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharytrobinson/

MAPS program: https://msmary.edu/academics/graduate-school/master-of-arts-in-philosophical-studies.html

R.J. Matava is Dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College and Associate Professor of Theology. He has taught at Christendom since 2010.

He graduated in 2002 from Mount St. Mary's University. He then earned an MA in Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington DC, and a PhD in theology from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

He was the Liddon Fellow in theology at Keble College, Oxford, and Postdoctoral Research fellow at the Center for Medieval Philosophy at Georgetown University.

He is a co-founder of Intercollegiate Catholic Studies and of the Institute for Liturgical Formation. Dr. Matava's interests lie at the crossroads of philosophy, Christian doctrine, and moral theory. He is convinced that the doctrine of personal vocation is one of the Church's most important but underappreciated teachings.

Dr. Matava is the author of Divine Causality and Human Free Choice (Brill, 2016) as well as of several essays in journals and edited volumes, most recently the T&T Clark Handbook of Election (2023).

0:00 Memories of the Mount

3:05 Path to Professor

13:00 Oxford & St. Andrews

18:56 Christendom 2010-2025

28:45 AI Threat & Writing

38:05 Causes for Hope

41:32 Philosophy in the Life of the Church

45:10 Advice to Students

Hosted by Christopher Anadale

Harry Scherer graduated from Mount St Mary's University in 2022 with a triple major in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE), history and Latin.

He later earned a Master of Arts in human rights at The Catholic University of America.

Harry’s writing has been featured in The American Conservative, the Washington Examiner, The Lamp, Newsweek, The Federalist, and other publications.

He currently serves as speechwriter in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

0:00 Introduction

1:33 Speechwriter, Friends

5:33 Philosophy Politics & Economics

8:20 Intellectual Life Now

10:14 Love of Truth

13:17 Gaps, Surprises

16:18 Use of Philosophy on the Job

17:39 Advice to Students

Hosted by Christopher Anadale

Edgar Beltrán is Rome correspondent for The Pillar, a US based Catholic news site.

He completed his bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 2020 at the Universidad Católica Cecilio Acosta in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He then earned a research master’s in philosophy of mind and science at Radboud University in the Netherlands, graduating in 2024 with a thesis on Aquinas and the philosophy of neuroscience.

0:00 Introduction

1:27 Tweet

5:42 Apostolate of Truth

12:49 Conclave

19:00 Pope Leo

23:38 What a Journalist Does

29:05 Advice to Students

Hosted by Christopher Anadale

Links:

https://x.com/edgarjbb_/status/1922752908602335743

https://x.com/edgarjbb_

https://www.pillarcatholic.com/

https://substack.com/@edgarbeltran

Eamonn Clark is an American doctoral student living in Rome, and a 2014 graduate of Mount St. Mary's University.

0:00 American in Rome

3:00 Conclave

5:22 Doctoral Studies

8:11 Teaching Prospects

10:19 Clericalism

11:44 Hopes for Pope Leo XIV

15:49 History of the Popes

18:38 Fundraising for Third World Ministries

21:11 Philosophy vs Theology

27:08 NFP Project

30:07 Advice to Students

Hosted by Christopher Anadale

Links:

https://x.com/EamonnClark

www.christianrenaissancemovement.com

www.profide.io/subscribe

www.profidestore.myshopify.com

Emma Smith has worked in a homeless shelter, in a public defender's office, and on a farm. She is a 2023 graduate of Mount St. Mary's University.

0:00 Introduction

2:55 Volunteer DC Ministry

4:43 Murder

11:12 Existentialism

13:18 Leaving DC for the Farm

20:42 Adulthood

22:58 Advice to Students

Hosted by Christopher Anadale

Fr. Chad Arnold is Director of Seminarians for the Catholic diocese of Wichita, Kansas. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Conception Seminary College in 2006 and was ordained a priest in 2010.

0:00 Introduction

3:42 House of Formation

11:00 Propaedeutic Year

15:53 Every priest a philosopher?

18:12 Philosophy Among the Laity

20:53 Catholic Philosophy of Life

23:09 Advice to Discerners

Hosted by Christopher Anadale

Links:

About Four O'Clock podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5VV0IquSkSAnxvXvTTayon?si=371b44e25f944de4

https://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/vocations/