The Patrick Coffin Show | Interviews with influencers | Commentary about culture | Tools for transformation

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia speaks with the same direct, guile-free way he writes. As a pastor of a large American city, he knows his audience: They are largely post-Christian, cynical about "organized religion," and don't abide clichés and easy grace.

Archbishop Chaput (pronounced SHAP-you) is also a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe, the second Native American to be consecrated a bishop in the United States and the first Native American archbishop. You might say he comes from a non-immigrant family.

I spoke with him about his latest book, Strangers in a Stranger Land: Living the Catholic Faith In a Post-Christian World, a sort of follow-up to the thesis he laid out seven years ago in First Things journal essay, "Catholics and the Next America." That America is here. Ignited Catholics eager to spread the gospel…not so much.

Chaput has been called "alarmist" by the usual suspects in the lamescream media. Christian realist is more accurate. As Christian leaders go, His Excellency is hard-headed and soft-hearted, not the other way around. You'll find this a conversation worth sharing after you enjoy it yourself.

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If you're like me, you enjoy complaining about bad church music. Whether it's the stuff the Glory and Praise collections, or the St. Louis Jesuits, or the Marty Haugen/David Haas Monster – most of what passes for hymns of Christian worship at suburban parishes today is dreck: saccharine, sentimental, and syrupy, not to mention mostly unsingable (unless you have vast experience belting out Broadway power ballads).

Well, there is good news, and Father George Rutler announces it in his new book The Stories of Hymns: The History Behind 100 of Christianity's Greatest Hymns

In this interview, the wry and erudite Father Rutler dives into the stories behind the songs that generations of Christians have loved to sing – yes, including male Christians. As the prophet Joni Mitchell thus spake, "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you got till it's gone."

If you're a junky for good "story behind the story" content, you'll love this conversation about the great hymns of the past, which may yet, please God, see a return to your local parish.

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God says he hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). Jesus tells his followers that Moses only permitted divorce because of the hardness of their hearts, and that divorce and remarriage constituted adultery (Matthew 19). Yet our culture has become more and more pro-divorce since no fault divorces laws were first passed (under Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1969). Divorce has lost its stigma.

Dr. Diane Medved has written a comprehensive antidote to the "grass is greener" propaganda with her latest book, Don't Divorce: Powerful Arguments for Saving and Revitalizing Your Marriage.

Married for 30 years to nationally syndicated radio host Michael Medved (who was a guest on Episode 002 of the show, talking about his new book The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic, Dr. Medved doubles down on the message of her 1989 book The Case Against Divorce.

If you're in a troubled marriage and are tempted to part ways, or you're looking for data-driven reasons why divorce is a calamity for the whole family (and often for the friends of the divorcing couples), she has amassed an impressive array of evidence from the social sciences and her own practice.

In this interview, the observantly Jewish clinical psychologist makes all the important distinctions and offers actionable responses for couples undergoing trials within their marriages. This is a great one share with them!

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Smart phones have given rise to a nation of zombies. You see them everywhere, staring vacantly at their glowing screens in restaurants, amusement park line-ups, in churches, park benches, and family dining room tables.

In his book Glow Kids, Dr. Nicholas Kardaras has laid his finger on a growing problem that few are willing to tackle let alone diagnose and treat. Some people even argue that glowing screens might even be good for kids as a form of interactive educational tool.

This interview will shed light on the causal connection between smart phone use and school shootings, lethargy, and general anger management issues (notice how kids react when their visual drug is taken from them!) Parents, teachers, and pastors, listen up!

Father Sean speaks with a firm, quiet authority about pornography. It's not just because he's a priest of the High Priest Jesus Christ, nor that he's the Theological Advisor to Integrity Restored (www.integrityrestored.com).

It's also because, starting at a very young age, he got ensnared by the shiny darkness of compulsive porn use. His counsel is therefore personal, experiential. In this revealing interview, he recalls the disturbing but ultimately healing experience of meeting a former porn actor – whom he (Father Sean) recognized as someone who appeared in a porn VHS he had seen countless times. Only Providence could have arranged such an encounter and produce such a strong dose of restoration…

This is a conversation laden with rich scriptural insights into the question of our deepest identity, and the irreplaceable presence of God's love to bring full and lasting healing from any kind of addiction.

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Clay Olsen is a man on a mission. The organization he cofounded and now leads, fightthenewdrug.org, is dedicated to education young people of all ages understand the nature of pornography addiction but also the emotional and social harms occasioned by even "moderate" or "occasional" porn use.

FTND is not faith-based and doesn't rely on religious principles to engage the phenomenon. It's all about the science of how porn affects the brain and the quality of relationships. And it is filled with high-quality media content of may different kinds.

In our interview Clay shares many stories about the struggle toward recovery, including a heartbreaking personal anecdote about a nine-year-old girl who found hardcore porn online and ended up watching it nightly for months on end before her parents found out and intervened.

Parents: Get. A. Clue. The pornography industry never sleeps, is always on the prowl, and doesn't negotiate with its hostages.

Good Pictures, Bad Pictures

by Kristen Jensen and Dr. Gaily Poynter

The Porn Myth: Exposing the Reality Behind the Fantasy of Pornography

By Matthew Fradd

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It's safe to call Dr. Bill Struthers a brainiac. He holds a doctorate in from the University of Chicago and his research employ the use of stereotaxic surgery, immunochemistry, and behavioral manipulations to investigate gene expression in the cingulate cortex and basal ganglia. He is also a visiting scholar in science and religion at Oxford University.

His academic credentials, however, have had no effect on his ability to talk to the average layman about how pornography hijacks the male brain. In this interview, Dr. Struthers talks about the findings contained in his book Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain.

Because we are embodied beings, viewing pornography changes how the brain works, how we form memories and make attachments. He exposes false assumptions about, and casts a vision for, a redeemed masculinity, while showing the science behind compulsive porn use and how to break free.

Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain by Dr. William Struthers

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Matt Fradd knows at least 129 different ways to talk about why pornography is immoral, bad for relationships, and great training for emotional immaturity. The "Australian by birth, Catholic by choice" author and speaker sat down with me to talk about ways you can discuss the porn problem with those who don't think it's a problem – without (this is key) relying on religious or faith-based resources.

Matt is the executive director of Integrity Restored, an apostolate providing all manner of resources for porn addicts and their partners. He can also be found blogging at mattfradd.com. His latest book is The Porn Myth: The Reality Behind the Fantasy of Pornography. There is a way out, and it starts with understanding the problem itself.

Something you should know: 100% of Matt's royalties are being donated to Children of the Immaculate Heart (www.childrenoftheimmaculatheart.org) a San Diego-based apostolate dedicated to rescuing and restoring victims of sex trafficking.

The Porn Myth: The Reality Behind the Fantasy of Pornography

by Matt Fradd

Delivered: True Stories of Men and Women Who Turned from Porn to Purity

Edited by Matthew Fradd

Restored: True Stores of Love and Trust After Porn

Edited by Matthew and Cameron Fradd

Good Pictures, Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today's Young Kids

by Kristen Jenson and Dr. Gail Poyner

Integrity Restored, Helping Catholic Families Win the Battle Against Pornography

by Dr. Peter Kleponis, PhD

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Vancouver-based PR director Jim Hoggan (pronounced Hogan) thinks strong disagreement can co-exist with civility. In today's media culture, modes of communication (from emails to memos to blog posts) have become more swords than words.

Have you noticed how many YouTube debates are described as some version of, "Watch our hero eviscerate (or slaughter/kill/slay/own/etc. the other guy"? We can't seem to disagree without destroying.

This is why Hoggan wrote I'm Right and You're An Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up.

What's interesting is that he takes a definite (possibly dogmatic) stand on what used to be called global warming – rebranded as "climate change" – so his communication lessons are tied to a controversial topic from the get-go. But the merits or demerits of Al Gore's approach to climate change weren't the topic of the interview – the need for engagement at the level of facts and not facetiousness was. And in this interview, Mr. Hoggan models the civility he recommends.

(Surely his Canadianness gives him an edge in the nice department…)

In this context I can also, without shame, recommend my free e-booklet, Stay Cool When the Argument Heats Up: Proven Strategies for Calm Conversing. Get your free copy by subscribing to my Inside Scoop Newsletter here.

Yes, Virginia, we can disagree without destroying.

I'm Right and You're An Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up. by James Hoggan

Dr. Donald DeMarco is a leading Canadian philosopher, writer, and pro-life lion. He is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at St. Jerome's University, Waterloo, Ontario; a Visiting Scholar with Holy Apostles College and Seminary; and is the author of 21 books.

In my podcast interview with him, he unpacked what is to my mind the deepest mystery of all: how God's provident care, can co-exist with human freedom. God has a plan, and we can say yes or no to it. It's amazing, really, like the grace at work in this mystery.

I admit to my long-standing admiration of Dr. DeMarco. His books were immensely helpful to me as I was making my way back to the Catholic Church in Canada. DeMarco's style is lyrical, easy to read, but packed with golden nuggets of truth. You have to love a Christian philosopher whose doctoral dissertation was "The Nature of the Relationship between the Mathematical and the Beautiful in Music."

Enjoy this rich conversation on a fascinating topic.

The Heart of Virtue by Donald DeMarco

In My Mother's Womb by Donald DeMarco

Architects of the Culture of Death by Donald DeMarco and Benjamin Wiker

The Many Faces of Virtue by Donald DeMarco

The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic by Michael Medved