Love Means More

Happy Easter! We're back with a shorter episode during the Easter Octave, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Sleepless in Seattle! Kara and Andrew complete their coverage of the Nora Ephron-Meg Ryan romcom trilogy. Destiny takes a hand, or does it?

Episode Notes

The addictive danger to our families from pornography is far too great to ignore, which is why Amanda Zurface of Covenant Eyes is here to help. She talks about how communities and families can guard against these risks, and how parishes can do the same, with Safe Haven Sunday. Then, Kara joins (18:00) to chat about the recent AI/chatGPT news developments, through the lens of the film Her (2013), directed by Spike Jonze. Could an advanced AI genuinely take part in a romantic relationship? (Spoiler: of course not).

Episode Notes

When you think of your soul leaving your body, what image comes to mind? If it's a ghostly duplicate of your physical body, boy do we have a show for you. Dr. Therese Scarpelli Cory joins from Notre Dame's philosophy department to examine how that view has some unintended side effects for our sense of self, how to improve on that view, and what it has to do with our relationship with Jesus Christ. Then, Kara joins to finish our Oscars run-up with the rest of our heartfelt discussion of last year's Academy Award Best Picture winner, CODA (21:10).

Episode Notes

Why do we feel more isolated than ever? How do kids from smaller families have a harder time forming connections later in life? What do people mean when they talk about identity, using phrases like "it's who I really am"? Mary Eberstadt discusses answers to those questions, her new book Adam and Eve After the Pill Revisited, and the unfolding impact of the Sexual Revolution. Later (32:00), Kara joins as we continue our run-up to the Oscars with part 1 of our discussion of CODA, last year's Academy Award Best Picture winner.

Episode Notes

Our coverage of the National Eucharistic Revival continues with Sr. Alicia Torres, managing editor of the Eucharistic Revival's newsletter, who shares how her relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist animates her calling as a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist. Later (18:45), Kara Bach joins as we attempt to wrap our minds around Everything Everywhere All at Once. This Academy Award front-runner has a lot to say about a lot (as the title might suggest), and we try to separate the googly eyes from the sinister bagels.

Episode Notes

Kara and Andrew devote an entire episode to Titanic on the 25th anniversary of the film's long run in theaters, which happens to coincide with director James Cameron's new film, Avatar: The Way of Water. The aquatic adventure from 1997 has quite a bit more to offer for reflection on the call to love, however. As is unavoidable when talking about this movie, the conversation gets emotional.

Episode Notes

We are kicking off the new year with a look at the Eucharistic Revival! Fr. Craig Vasek gives us the scoop on this growing movement to restore faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Then (27:35), Kara Bach joins to talk about Steven Spielberg's Oscar-contending autobiographical family drama, The Fabelmans.

Episode Notes

We're ending the year by celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Muppet Christmas Carol! Kara and Andrew wax theological about this all-time classic, which builds in surprising ways on Charles Dickens's original 1843 novella. According to this version of Scrooge, love is the only thing sillier than a Merry Christmas. How's that working out for him?

Episode Notes

What did Aquinas say about marriage? How does he reveal the true nature of marriage as we live it out today? Did he get everything right, and if not, how do we approach it now? Fr. Gregory Pine, OP, joins to answer those questions and more! Then, Kara joins (22:30) to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Casablanca and how world events impact the call to love.

Episode Notes

Kara and Andrew finally complete their quest to review season 1 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power! Most of the story is not original to Tolkien and was produced by a company whose practices diverge considerably from the Gospel. So why does the show quote almost directly from scripture and the moral theology of Thomas Aquinas with strange regularity? Why is divine providence hinted at more heavily than in the Lord of the Rings films? What's going on here?

Episode Notes