Beatrice Institute Podcast
We’re wandering between two worlds. Modernity as we knew it is passing away, and the next world is yet to be born. Like Dante, we are in a dark wood, struggling to know how to think and how to live. Virgil guided Dante with the light of natural reason, then Beatrice illuminated the path to Paradise with Christian revelation.
Welcome to the Beatrice Institute Podcast, where Christian faith and reason illuminate the best of academic thinking and research. How should we think and live in this time between worlds? At Beatrice Institute, we take our bearings from the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.
This podcast reflects BI’s research and public engagement initiatives. As director of BI’s Genealogies of Modernity initiative, co-host Ryan McDermott asks guests, “What does it mean to be modern, where did we come from, and what comes next?” As director of BI’s Personalism and Public Policy initiative, Grant Martsolf asks, “How should we organize our common life to promote the flourishing of the person, made in the image of God?” And for our initiative on Being Human in an Age of Artificial Intelligence, Gretchen Huizinga asks, "What makes humans special and what does it mean to flourish on the frontier of a technological future?"
- Update frequency
- every 13 days
- Average duration
- 53 minutes
- Episodes
- 99
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2024
Physician as the Modern Priest with Dan Hall
Dr. Dan Hall is a surgeon and an Episcopal priest who, in addition to teaching at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Center for Bioethics and Health Law, performs surgeries and c…
Nursing, Immortality, and Two Kinds of Apocalypse with Ryan McDermott and Grant Martsolf
Get to know the Beatrice Institute podcast hosts, Ryan McDermott and Grant Martsolf, as they take turns interviewing each other. In this wide-ranging conversation, Ryan and Grant explore utilitarian …
The Art and Science of Apologies with Karina Schumann
Dr. Karina Schumann is an assistant professor and the social program chair in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on identifying factors that help peopl…
On Friendship with Kerilyn Harkaway-Krieger and Corey Sparks
Kerilyn Harkaway-Krieger is assistant professor of English and the director of The Great Conversation program at Gordon College. Corey Sparks is assistant professor of English at California State Uni…
Secularization from a European Perspective with Philipp Rosemann
Philipp Rosemann is chair of philosophy at Maynooth University in Ireland and the editor of the Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations series. A native of Germany who studied in Ireland and Belgium, …
Behavioral Health and Well Being in America with Ben Miller
Ben Miller is the chief strategy officer for Well Being Trust, a national foundation advancing the mental, social, and spiritual health of the nation. Ben joins Grant to discuss the importance of an …
The City and the Garden: Tragedy and Hope in Environmental Governance
In this episode, Elise talks with Noah Toly, professor of Urban Studies and Politics & International Relations at Wheaton College. They discuss the urban and built environment’s capability of shaping…
Another Life Is Possible: 100 Years of the Bruderhof
An interview with Bruderhof member Clare Stober, who produced the Bruderhof's centenary photo book, Another Life is Possible.
Walker Percy and the Modern Search for Self
Jessica Hooten Wilson is an author and speaker dedicated to the questions: What are the great stories and how do we pass them on? She is the Louise Cowan Scholar in Residence and a professor of Human…
Mediating Relationships: Technology and Hospitality
Michael Sacasas is an independent scholar focusing on technology and culture. Michael joins Elise to talk about the way technology shapes our society. They discuss the role media can have in disinteg…
I Believe There Is an Artist Working All Around Us with Kirsten Barron
Ryan McDermott announces our newest cohost, and Christian Studies Fellow Kirsten Barron plays an original song.
Of Poetry and Pittsburgh: A Conversation with Samuel Hazo
Samuel Hazo is a lifelong Pittsburgher, a finalist for the National Book Award, and Pennsylvania’s first Poet Laureate. In this episode, Samuel describes his earliest memories of Pittsburgh, what it …
Exploring the Divine Comedy with Jason Baxter
Jason Baxter is an associate professor of fine arts and humanities at Wyoming Catholic College and a prolific writer. He has published or completed five books since 2018, including A Beginner’s Guide…
Words to Live With
Marilyn McEntyre is a steward of words. She has taught courses on English and medical humanities, and she has written or edited over twenty books, including Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies. Mar…
Heroes of the Fourth Turning and Other Happenings with Ryan McDermott and Elise Lonich Ryan
Cohosts Ryan McDermott and Elise Lonich Ryan have a conversation about the art that has accompanied them through 2020. They discuss the mysterious ending of Pulitzer-nominated Heroes of the Fourth Tu…
On New Beginnings and Neighbor-Love with Andrew DeCort
Andrew DeCort is founder of the neighbor-love movement and author of the book Bonhoeffer’s New Beginning: Ethics after Devastation. Andrew tells John about how witnessing state violence changed his v…
Prevailing Spirits: Place, Loss, and Hope with Jessica Mesman
Jessica Mesman is founder of the blog Sick Pilgrim and coauthor of Love and Salt: A Spiritual Friendship in Letters. Her essays have been published in US Catholic, Lit Hub, Elle, Vox, America, and Ch…
Free Solo, Strong Loves, and the Limits of Critique with Rusty Reno
Rusty Reno is author of several books and editor of First Things, an ecumenical journal of religion and public life. His conversation with Ryan covers his conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism, …
Clubs and the Court with Luke Sheahan
Luke Sheahan is an assistant professor of political science at Duquesne University and non-resident scholar at the program for research on religion and urban civil society at the University of Pennsy…
A Revelation of Grief and Wonder
Amy Alznauer is a polymath: she is a writer, arts collaborator, and an instructor of calculus and number theory at Northwestern University. Amy and Elise’s conversation touches on all of these things…