Ancient monks entered the desert wilds of Egypt and the Holy Land in search of solitude and silence. What they found instead was a rich sonic landscape replete with melody, cacophony, and deep spiritual resonance. 

On this episode, associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with Kim Haines-Eitzen, professor of religious studies at Cornell, about her new book, Sonorous Desert: What Deep Listening Taught Early Christian Monks—And What It Can Teach Us.

Haines-Eitzen’s project, which includes field recordings made in the deserts of the Middle East and the American Southwest, shows us how the ancient monks’ attentiveness to sound can help us slow down and better connect with ourselves and our communities.

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Intractable racism, increasing inequality, and intensifying climate change—for author and environmental activist Bill McKibben, these are some of the legacies wrought by the growth of American suburbs during the past forty years. 

On this episode, McKibben joins Commonweal associate editor Griffin Oleynick to speak about his new memoir, The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon, which identifies the 1970s as the pivotal decade that marked a definitive shift toward individualism. 

Our problems are real, but not insurmountable, McKibben argues. Our situation can be improved by organizing for change, and reclaiming American symbols of patriotism, faith, and fairness.

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For most of its history, the Catholic Church clung to a deep skepticism concerning the legitimacy of democracy. 

But that all changed during the twentieth century, explains Notre Dame historian and longtime Commonweal contributor John McGreevy. 

On this episode McGreevy talks with Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi about how that unlikely shift occurred, and offers suggestions for how the Church can help bolster our wavering faith in democracy today.

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One quality of a Catholic poet is a heightened capacity to see—not just into the future, but into the past as well.

On this episode, poet Paul Mariani speaks with Commonweal contributor Anthony Domestico about his latest collection, All That Will Be New. 

Their discussion touches on a number of topics, including Mariani’s working-class upbringing in New York City, his love of the American idiom of William Carlos Williams, and the spirituality embedded in visual art. 

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In the American Church today, few figures are as outspoken about the need for Catholics to treat LGBTQ people with love, respect, and compassion as Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin. 

Martin is also the subject of a new documentary, Building a Bridge, which offers a close look at Martin’s LGBTQ ministry—from its origins after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016, to Martin’s meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2019.  

On this episode, Commonweal associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with Fr. Martin and filmmaker Evan Mascagni about the film. 

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Few living writers speak as eloquently and incisively about the terrible contradictions of armed conflict as Marine Corps veteran and award-winning author Phil Klay. 

On this episode, Klay joins Commonweal senior editor Matt Boudway to discuss his new book Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless War, a collection of essays, journalism, and other nonfiction written over the past ten years.

Their conversation touches on a number of topics, including war and religious faith, the complex reintegration of returning soldiers, and the deceptive political rhetoric that surrounds and shrouds modern combat.

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It’s been just over a week since Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion appearing to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press. 

On this episode, Commonweal editor-at-large Mollie Wilson O’Reilly and theologian Natalia Imperatori-Lee share their initial reactions to the news.

In addition to pointing out the potentially damaging consequences of reversing Roe, they also highlight the complex realities of women’s reproductive health, discuss their experiences as mothers, and identify what a true “culture of life” might look like.

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On April 19, Mallory McMorrow, Democratic State Senator of Michigan, delivered a speech in the chamber of the Michigan State Capitol. It instantly struck a chord on social media, and has since been viewed by millions of people throughout the world. 

Pushing back forcefully against a Republican colleague’s accusations of “grooming and sexualizing children” as well as defending her support of LGBTQ people, McMorrow cited her Christian faith—and in particular her Catholic upbringing—as an inspiration for her political outlook and her insistence on taking the side of the marginalized.

On this episode, McMorrow speaks with Commonweal editor Dominic Preziosi about what went into writing that speech, what she hopes listeners will take from it, and what role she hopes a renewed, nuanced understanding of faith might yet play in public life.

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As the #MeToo movement was unfolding, Washington Post columnist Christine Emba began asking questions about the broader health of American sexual culture.

On this episode, Emba speaks with Commonweal contributing writer and Christianity Today editor Kate Lucky about the findings presented in her new book, Rethinking Sex: A Provocation.

Our contemporary understanding of sexual consent, Emba argues, is not enough to ground our sexual ethics. For that, we need to recuperate traditional virtues like patience, care, and restraint. 

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While the humanitarian costs of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue to make headlines, the war also reveals contemporary religious concerns around global Orthodoxy and Vatican diplomacy.  

On this episode, we speak with two guests: George Demacopoulos, professor of Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham University, and Paul Elie, New Yorker staff writer and longtime Commonweal contributor.

Demacopoulos frames the fiery rhetoric of Moscow’s Patriarch Kirill, who has called the invasion a “holy war,” while Elie takes Pope Francis to task for not denouncing Vladimir Putin more forcefully. 

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