Eula Biss is artist-in-residence in the English Department at Northwestern University, where she also teaches creative writing. She’s the author of On Immunity: An Inoculation, which was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2014 by the New York Times Book Review, and of Notes from No Man's Land, a collection of essays that won the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism in 2010. Eula spoke with Commonweal’s assistant editor Griffin Oleynick about the spiritual challenges of racism, the meaning of “whiteness,” and the craft of non-fiction writing.

On this episode, Catholic journalist and papal biographer Austen Ivereigh talks with senior editor Matthew Boudway about the Vatican’s February summit on clerical sex abuse. Eula Biss, author of On Immunity: An Inoculation and No Man’s Land: American Essays, speaks with assistant editor Griffin Oleynick about the spiritual challenges of racism, the meaning of “whiteness,” and the craft of non-fiction writing. Boston College professor Hosffman Ospino explains how new generations of Latino Americans are reshaping notions about “cultural Catholicism” in the U.S. And novelist Kathryn Davis talks with literary editor Anthony Domestico about metaphor, mystery, and pilgrimage in her novel, The Silk Road.

Last winter, we sat down for a conversation with Fran Lebowitz, the writer, speaker, wit, and archetypal New York personality. Here you'll hear an excerpt from that interview, which lasted for more than two hours, in which we discuss the Trump presidency, #MeToo, former President Obama, the contest between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and the rapidity of change in New York City. 

Dominic Preziosi sat down with Commonweal contributor Massimo Faggioli to get his thoughts about the upcoming bishops’ summit on clerical sex abuse, which gets underway at the Vatican on February 21. Contributor, Paul Moses, speaks with Marie Collins, a former member of Pope Francis's papal commission on clergy sexual abuse, about her experiences and insights on the issue. Associate editor, Matthew Sitman, interviews New Yorker staff writer Vinson Cunningham, and associate publisher Meaghan Ritchey and assistant editor Griffin Oleynick discuss the paintings of Swedish abstractionist Hilma af Klint, whose work is now on exhibit at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. 

Peter Steinfels discusses the PA Grand Jury Report, a document he contends is "inaccurate, unfair, and fundamentally misleading" in its characterization of how church officials handled allegations of abuse there. Allan Lichtman, author of The Embattled Vote in America, discusses the complicated history of voting rights in the United States and how the Constitution is actually responsible for many of our current problems. And Commonweal literary columnist Tony Domestico interviews poet Danielle Chapman about everything from metaphysics to John Ashbery to Tennessee and Chicago, with Danielle's poetry read throughout the conversation. 

Senior editor Matthew Boudway introduces special feature "Why We Came. Why We Left. Why We Stayed" — with essays by converts, practicing cradle Catholics, and lapsed or ex-Catholics. We speak with three of our contributors: Ross Douthat, Helene Stapinski, and Dorothy Fortenberry. Four editors discuss the books they read in 2018 and recommend to you in our annual Christmas Critics roundup. Plus, a reading of Cassandra Nelson's new essay about the lifeline that the liturgical calendar provides.

Reporter Dan Barry spent more than a decade crisscrossing the United States, chronicling ordinary lives and extraordinary moments for his column in the New York Times, This Land. About a hundred of these standalone dispatches have now been collected in a hardcover book of the same name. Dominic Preziosi talked to Dan about the book and also about the importance of journalism, local and otherwise, and what it’s like to be called an “enemy of the people” by the president of the United States.

The poems in Katie Ford’s fourth collection, If You Have to Go, implore their audience—the divine and the human—for attention, for revelation, and, perhaps above all, for companionship. Our literary columnist Anthony Domestico spoke with Katie recently about the poems in the book, including the sonnet sequence at its heart. It’s a great conversation—and hearing Katie read her work, as you will—really provides a sense of what poetry can do. 

Dominic Preziosi and John Gehring wrap-up November's US Bishop's meetings in Baltimore. Our literary columnist Anthony Domestico interviews poet Katie Ford about her new collection If You Have to Go. Dominic Preziosi chats with longtime New York Times writer Dan Barry about his collection of reported essays, This Land. And senior editor Matthew Boudway moderates an exchange on cultural appropriation between contributor Rand Richards Cooper and intern Nicole-Ann Lobo

Meghan O'Gieblyn is the author of Interior States, a new collection of essays on topics like living in what some call "flyover country," contemporary Christian music, and the concept of "hell" and how it is marketed to the masses. Her collection is being hailed by writers such as Lorrie Moore and Daphne Merken; here, Meghan talks about her work and background with managing editor Katherine Lucky.