His hits keep coming and they don’t stop coming. Jack Antonoff is most known for his co-writing and producing the biggest names in music: Lorde, Lana, Taylor, Springsteen . . . But it’s with his own band, The Bleachers, where he shares his journey and crisis of faith. Ashley & Zac from the Jesuitical podcast join us to wax theological and personal on the music & lyrics of the world’s hottest music producer. On the journey we tackle: - Grief and survivor’s guilt - Do you want a big life or a secret life? - What’s up with New Jersey anyway? - Selling out - Does the Church ask too much? Do I? - Can the Church be trusted with my faith? - Calling out your friends - The gospel of attraction - And only a teensy weensy bit of Taylor talk, I promise ;)

Become a PATRON and SUPPORT our show! Go to www.PopCultureCatechism.com Show notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/jack-antonoffs-via-doloroso-w-jesuitical Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken

Ed Sheeran & Taylor Swift have new music out and we LOVE it. This is our first live show! Recorded on location at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, with our old friend Brian Rhude (director of the Light the World Institute at the Catholic University of America) and Molly & Liv (two current CUA students). In this episode we talk about: - why is bad stuff so attractive? - good clean fun that’s actually fun - how sex, holiness, & joy belong together - starting over emotionally & spiritually - death & dying - happiness vs joy - avoiding Puritanism - toxic friendships & accompanying sinners - healthy fighting Become a PATRON and SUPPORT our show! Go to www.PopCultureCatechism.com Show notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/ed-and-taylor-begin-again-live-from-ncyc Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken

What is the best Disney movie of all time and why is it The Lion King? TikTok All-Star and #FOCUS Missionary Tanner Kalina joins us to talk about our cats, his time as a Hollywood actor, and this beautiful gift of an animated movie. Seriously, this might be my favorite episode of #PopCultureCatechism yet. We cover a billion topics including:

- Farts

- Fathers, masculinity, & the meaning of Kingship

- Why God is an a**hole in the Old Testament (Is he tho?)

- Henri Nouwen

- The Eucharist & the circle of life

- Scar: the GOAT Disney villain

- Nala the prophet

- Hakuna Matata & other “problem free” philosophies

- Can a girlfriend/boyfriend make you holy?

- Cussing in prayer & why God loves weird prayers

- Arranged marriages & The Theology of the Lion Body

- Moving past your past

Become a PATRON and SUPPORT our show! Go to www.PopCultureCatechism.com Show notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/the-lion-king-priest-and-prophet-w-tanner-kalina Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken

The world’s biggest sci-fi novel finally has a good movie adaptation. JonMarc Grodi of the Coming Home Network joins us again, this time to unpack this thematically gargantuan book. Along the way discuss:

- What does it mean to be human?

- can we improve upon human nature

- can human society actually progress?

- What is religion and is it a force for good?

- is marriage mainly about social status?

- what is fear and is it always bad?

- How to conquer fear

And for Patrons only: What is Jihad? What is Crusade?

-Infertility-And more!

Patrons can also watch Mike and his wife Maddy talk about what they loved and didn’t about the final season of the show in the exclusive content.Mike’s mediocre guitar skilz

What is maturity?

The opposite of love?

Jesus the assassin? Jesus the Seducer?

- The desire for the light

- The freedom of repentance

- Fake holiness

- What Church leaders can learn from rock stars

- Loving difficult people

- Mike’s mediocre relationship skilz

- The cheat code to breaking generational curses- Depression and chronic pain

- The radioactive cross of Christ

- failed dreams and disillusionment

- Does the Church create saints or demons?

- The key to intimacy

- Is life what you make or is it up to fate?

- the bravery of quitting

- The most offensive thing ever

- and of course, Mike singing songs out of his range

Show notes:

https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/dune-conquering-fear

Download the official AWAKEN App:

http://theawakenapp.io

Support Pop Culture Catechism and all the shows on AWAKEN Catholic by joining the AWAKEN NATION.

http://awakencatholic.org/donate

Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary

Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken

What is the zaniest comedy of the past 10 years? Not The Office. Not Parks & Rec. No, it’s Andy Samburg’s Magnum Opus, Brooklyn 99. Sirius XM radio host Katie Prejean McGrady joins us to talk about what is just so special about this show and it’s characters. We cover:-Representation in media and why it matters-Love languages-Real friendship-Maturity-The power of words-The impact of family dynamics-Authentic masculinity vs Alpha Masculinity

-Infertility-And more!

Patrons can also watch Mike and his wife Maddy talk about what they loved and didn’t about the final season of the show in the exclusive content.Mike’s mediocre guitar skilz

What is maturity?

The opposite of love?

Jesus the assassin? Jesus the Seducer?

- The desire for the light

- The freedom of repentance

- Fake holiness

- What Church leaders can learn from rock stars

- Loving difficult people

- Mike’s mediocre relationship skilz

- The cheat code to breaking generational curses- Depression and chronic pain

- The radioactive cross of Christ

- failed dreams and disillusionment

- Does the Church create saints or demons?

- The key to intimacy

- Is life what you make or is it up to fate?

- the bravery of quitting

- The most offensive thing ever

- and of course, Mike singing songs out of his range

Show notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/brooklyn99-relationship-hacks Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Support Pop Culture Catechism and all the shows on AWAKEN Catholic by joining the AWAKEN NATION. http://awakencatholic.org/donate Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken

The guitar skills, the fame, the looks, the charisma . . . it sure seems like John Mayer’s got it all, and he’s widely regarded as one of the best musicians and songwriters ever. But his lyrics reflect a yearning for something more and a desire to repair the harm of past indiscretions. Recording artist BT & the King (aka Brian Wilson) joins us to unpack the heart of life with help from John’s music. Some highlights include:

Mike’s mediocre guitar skilz

What is maturity?

The opposite of love?

Jesus the assassin? Jesus the Seducer?

- The desire for the light

- The freedom of repentance

- Fake holiness

- What Church leaders can learn from rock stars

- Loving difficult people

- Mike’s mediocre relationship skilz

- The cheat code to breaking generational curses- Depression and chronic pain

- The radioactive cross of Christ

- failed dreams and disillusionment

- Does the Church create saints or demons?

- The key to intimacy

- Is life what you make or is it up to fate?

- the bravery of quitting

- The most offensive thing ever

- and of course, Mike singing songs out of his range

Show notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/john-mayers-path-of-repentance Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Support Pop Culture Catechism and all the shows on AWAKEN Catholic by joining the AWAKEN NATION. http://awakencatholic.org/donate Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken

Arguably the biggest rock band of the last decade, Imagine Dragons have reached a generation with their eclectic style and raw, yet spiritual lyrics. David McHugh, inventor of Percoustix, joins us to jam and unpack some of their biggest songs. We hit some big themes:

- Depression and chronic pain

- The radioactive cross of Christ

- failed dreams and disillusionment

- Does the Church create saints or demons?

- The key to intimacy

- Is life what you make or is it up to fate?

- the bravery of quitting

- The most offensive thing ever

- and of course, Mike singing songs out of his range

Show notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/the-radioactive-cross-ft-percoustix Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Support Pop Culture Catechism and all the shows on AWAKEN Catholic by joining the AWAKEN NATION. http://awakencatholic.org/donate Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken

This episode is a little bit . . . different. Come along for a journey through Pop Culture Catechism past, present, and future.

Become a PATRON and SUPPORT our show! Go to www.PopCultureCatechism.com Show notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/the-greatest-hits

Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken

She’s the biggest thing in music and she keeps. getting. better. Last year we covered Folklore which won the grammy for Album of the Year. Listeners requested we circle back to discuss Ms. Swift’s surprise follow-up album, Evermore. Darker, riskier, and more eclectic than it’s sister, we tour through the best songs in Taylor’s songwriting sandbox of an album. Some stops on our route include:

- Break-ups, affairs, divorces, & rejected marriage proposals

- Taylor’s use of profanity

- How we’re all a little “f***ed in the head”

- Taylor’s clinical understanding of sin

- Communicating with extroverts vs introverts

- Religion vs Relationship

- Taylor’s sacramental theology

- And as always: guitar riffs, music theory, and ex-girlfriend stories

Show notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/taylor-swift-search-for-meaning Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Support Pop Culture Catechism and all the shows on AWAKEN Catholic by joining the AWAKEN NATION. http://awakencatholic.org/donate Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken

U2 & Christopher West are a match made in Pop Culture Catechism heaven: one the world’s best evangelists takes us deep into the music of one of the world’s biggest bands and shares why and how he ditched the “Fast Food Gospel.” Mike also performs a concert of U2’s music, exclusive for the Awaken Nation.

We cover A LOT in this episode:

-Hungry People

-Starvation gospel vs the fast food gospel vs the banquet

-The ache in every heart

-How romance leads to God

-How real love requires suffering

-The Playboy Mansion

-Bono’s approach to prayer

-WAP (again, because of course)

-Mike plays a bunch of the Edge’s guitar riffs

-Tips for reordering our desires toward God

-And much more!

Show notes: https://www.awakencatholic.org/pop-culture-catechism/the-mysticism-of-u2 Download the official AWAKEN App: http://theawakenapp.io Support Pop Culture Catechism and all the shows on AWAKEN Catholic by joining the AWAKEN NATION. http://awakencatholic.org/donate Pray with the Hallow app! It's the only audio-guided Catholic prayer app, focused on contemplative prayer and traditional Catholic meditation such as Lectio Divina, Daily Examen, and the Rosary Get one month for free of the premium subscription by visiting http://hallow.app/awaken