In this Dustbowl Diatribes episode, Spencer, Laurie and Emily have a frank discussion with a small businesswoman with rental properties in Kansas City, MO. Reminiscent of our discussion with Dan Krull on the loss of community gardening space due to development in the city, which makes the city less human and livable, Mary Farmer talks about how a big developer in her area is making it hard for her to stay in business and even harder for her tenants and others in the area who count on affordable housing. Mary points out that the goal of mass-transit and bike-reliant areas of the city may be ideally good, but they backfire dramatically if 1., decision makers fail to consult the people who live there or study their actual habits and needs, and 2., fail to understand what is required for small business people to operate in the areas impacted.
Dustbowl Diatribes Season 2, Episode 7: Urban Agriculture Project Postmortem, An Interview with Dan Krull
Spencer and Laurie interview Dan Krull about the closure of an innercity agricultural initiative. We discuss the ins and outs of the project, some reasons why it "failed", and the limits (or lack thereof) of education as a means of improving society. Please fill out this form to be put on the email list for future Maurin... Continue Reading →
Regenerative Reader Feb/March 2023
Here's our latest newsletter, with an article from Jakob Hanschu, "‘Live Fast, Die Young’: A Reflection on 24/7 Capitalism and Ecological Arrhythmia" and news about our upcoming classes. Laurie's two session class on Pope Francis's Laudato Si is right around the corner! regenerative-reader-febmarchDownload
First Maurin Academy Series of 2023: Laudato Si’
This short series on March 23 and 30, 2023, will cover the major concepts of Laudato Si (Praise Be to You: On the Care of Our Common Home), the encyclical by Pope Francis on the state of our environment and our responsibility toward it. Dr. Laurie M Johnson is a Co-Founder of the Maurin Academy.... Continue Reading →
Season 2, Ep 6: Current Controversies in Catholicism, An Interview with Suan Sonna of Intellectual Catholicism
This time we interview Suan Sonna—host of Intellectual Catholicism—to talk about the relationship between the Church and State, Aristo-Thomism and natural law. Please fill out this form to be put on the email list for future Maurin Academy seminars, short series, and other events. Support us on Patreon! Dustbowl Diatribes podcast can be found on iTunes, Google... Continue Reading →
This Month’s Pints with Plato
This Thursday is Laurie's monthly "Pints with Plato" talk and discussion, and she'll be focusing on St. Augustine's Book XIX of Augustine's The City of God in which he wrestles with the relative importance of philosophy versus faith, or Athens versus Jerusalem. Laurie will also talk a bit about Augustine's influence on the school of political... Continue Reading →
Season 2, Ep 5: Interview with an Anonymous Pastor
Spencer and Laurie interview an Anonymous Pastor, discussing the state of his/her denomination. Please fill out this form to be put on the email list for future Maurin Academy seminars, short series and other events. Support us on Patreon! Dustbowl Diatribes podcast can be found on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Audible. Spotify thought we were a music... Continue Reading →
Season 2, Ep 4: Forming Episcopalians in Super-Secular Times, An Interview with Don Compier
Please fill out this form to be put on the email list for future Maurin Academy seminars, short series and other events.
Next Pints With Plato, Tomorrow!
Our next "Pints with Plato" is right around the corner on Groundhog Day, February 2! Now's the time to sign up on Eventbrite, or subscribe at the Worker Scholar or Salt of the Earth levels on Patreon to join!
New Reading Group: Reading Marx with Jakob Hanschu
This group will meet the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 7pm CST. Sessions are expected to run 90 minutes, give or take a quarter hour. The first session will be February 8, from 7-8:30pm CST. The format for the group will be to literally read Marx together. We will start with Das... Continue Reading →