The Commonweal Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Commonweal Podcast

Commonweal Magazine

Religion & Spirituality

News

Frequency: 1 episode/15d. Total Eps: 187

Conversations at the intersection of politics, religion, and culture: Commonweal Magazine editor Dominic Preziosi hosts The Commonweal Podcast, a regular compendium of in-depth interviews, discussions, and profiles presented by Commonweal’s editors and contributors.

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Data updated on 14/07/2026

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Ep. 159 - Reclaiming Attention

Season 1 · Episode 159

Thursday, April 16, 2026 • Duration 57:10

Too many of us spend too much time on our phones. We know by now—through whistleblower reports, congressional hearings, and our daily lived experience—that these devices, neutral in themselves, can and often do cause serious harm. Can we learn to live without them again? Would we even want to? On this episode, D. Graham Burnett, a professor of the history of science at Princeton and co-author, with the Friends of Attention, of the new book Attensity: A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement, speaks with associate editor Regina Munch about how we got into this predicament, and where we should go. Burnett argues that before we can answer questions like those, we first need to understand how major tech firms have used “human fracking” to amass billions of dollars in profit. Resistance, Burnett says, is indeed possible: we can take back our brains, and our lives, but only if we’re willing to fight for the human activities and habits of mind that nourish real connections with ourselves and others. For further reading: Alexander Stern on AI and the crisis of meaning Antonio Spadaro on Pope Leo’s critique of Silicon Valley Antón Barba-Kay on how the concept of attention has evolved

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Ep. 158 - ‘My First War’

Season 1 · Episode 158

Thursday, April 2, 2026 • Duration 48:31

When he was missioned to Beirut last fall, Fr. Doug Jones, a recently ordained Jesuit priest, expected to spend his time conducting research and administering sacraments. But since the beginning of Israel’s war with Hezbollah on March 2, Fr. Jones finds himself scanning social media for air strike warnings and handing out towels to migrants and other displaced people living in his parish church. Israel has been intensifying its attacks on Lebanon for more than one month, and has made no secret of its ambitions to invade and eventually annex the southern part of the country. Meanwhile more than twelve hundred Lebanese have been killed and one million have been displaced—a growing humanitarian catastrophe with no end in sight. On this episode, Fr. Jones speaks from Beirut with associate editor Griffin Oleynick about the war in Lebanon, and how he and the Church there have responded. For further reading: The editors condemn Trump’s war on Iran Joseph Amar on Christianity in the Middle East Zeead Yaghi explains the economic toll of Lebanese sectarianism

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The Black Church and Progressive Politics: A conversation with Gary Dorrien

Thursday, March 26, 2026 • Duration 00:00

Hosts and Commonweal contributors Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Nick Tabor chat with Gary Dorrien, professor at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary, about the life and legacy of Jesse Jackson and the Black social gospel tradition. They explore Dorrien's own intellectual journey from rural Michigan to the academy, his groundbreaking trilogy on the Black social gospel, Jackson's relationship with Martin Luther King Jr., the Rainbow Coalition presidential campaigns of the 1980s, and what Jackson's career reveals about the enduring ties between the Black church and progressive politics.Episode production and original music by Joel Myers.

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On the Altar: A conversation with historian Jonathan Sheehan

Friday, March 6, 2026 • Duration 42:33

Hosts and Commonweal contributors Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Nick Tabor chat with Jonathan Sheehan, professor of European history at UC Berkeley, about his new book, On the Altar: A History of Sacrifice from the Sacred to the Secular (Princeton University Press). Together, they explore the long, contested history of Christian sacrifice, from the early church and the cult of the martyrs through the Reformation and into the secular modern world—and discuss what the language of sacrifice still offers us today. Episode production and original music by Joel Myers.

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Revelation and Reporting: A conversation with journalist Daniel Silliman

Monday, February 23, 2026 • Duration 55:02

Hosts and Commonweal contributors Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Nick Tabor chat with reporter Daniel Silliman about his tenure at Christianity Today, his bombshell reporting on Ravi Zacharias, the current state of Evangelicals—and more. Episode production and original music by Joel Myers.

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American Charisms: A conversation with 'Spellbound' author Molly Worthen

Season 1 · Episode 2

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 • Duration 49:55

Hosts and Commonweal contributors Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Nick Tabor discuss Spellbound : How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump with author Molly Worthen, professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Episode production and original music by Joel Myers.

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Christianity's American Fate

Thursday, January 8, 2026 • Duration 37:32

Hosts and Commonweal contributors Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Nick Tabor introduce the podcast and discuss the book Christianity's American Fate: How Religion Became More Conservative and Society More Secular by David Hollinger, the Preston Hotchkis Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley.

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An End-of-the-Year Message

Saturday, December 20, 2025 • Duration 02:14

Editor Dominic Preziosi updates listeners of The Commonweal Podcast.

Ep. 157 - The Counterweight: MAGA vs. the World

Season 1 · Episode 157

Friday, September 26, 2025 • Duration 59:42

A central tenet of the MAGA movement is the Trump administration's "America First" foreign-policy agenda. To fulfill this agenda, it has slashed foreign aid, launched a trade war with the United States’ most reliable trading partners, and threatened to abandon NATO and our most trusted allies. Informed by Trump’s transactional approach to international relations, such actions flout the existing liberal world order, which has worked to promote democracy, human rights, free trade, and the freedom of movement since the end of World War II. They also betray the very idea of a shared humanity, which is profoundly antithetical to Catholic Social Teaching. On this fourth, and final, episode of "The Counterweight," associate editor Griffin Oleynick speaks with Loyola Chicago's Miguel Diaz, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See under President Barack Obama, about the Trump administration's foreign policy, Diaz's experiences as a diplomat, and what the “America First” agenda means for the international community—and for the United States. Diaz also discusses how Catholic Social Teaching can counter this agenda by championing foreign policies that recognize the existing liberal order, support human rights, and act in service of the common good. For further reading: Andrew J. Bachevich on Biden's foreign policy William Pfaff on the limits and dangers of American power abroad The Editors on Pacem in Terris

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Ep. 156 - The Counterweight: The Common Good & American Liberalism

Season 1 · Episode 156

Thursday, September 11, 2025 • Duration 01:12:48

A little more than eight months into the second Trump presidency, many Americans today find the United States increasingly unrecognizable: a volatile and inflationary economy, rising political violence, and brazen corruption at all levels of government don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. So how did we get here? What lessons can we learn from the histories of other countries, especially ones that experienced radical destabilization and an authoritarian turn? To answer these questions, on this episode we’re speaking with Hille Haker, a professor of Catholic Moral Theology at Loyola University Chicago. A native German, Haker points out how the current situation in the United States evinces disturbing parallels with the rise of Nazism in Germany. She also details the intellectual developments that have given rise to the new right wing anti-democratic comfort with authoritarianism—and how Catholic Social Teaching can counter it. For further reading: Eugene McCarraher on the perils of Christian post-liberalism A Commonweal symposium on the work of Patrick Deneen Philip Jeffery on leaving behind the new right

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The Commonweal Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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Apple Podcasts

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The Commonweal Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify