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. … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

Dustbowl Diatribes 11: Cutrone Convo Postgame

Laurie and Spencer spend some time unpacking the significance of their latest interview with “the last Marxist,” Chris Cutrone. Cutrone is one of our favorite Marxist theorists, and talking to him is always thought provoking. Some of the highlights that make this interview different are his ideas on the state of higher education in the US, Cutrone’s views on Christianity and church, and his discussion of possible future scenarios including climate change social and economic disruptions.

Please fill out this form to be put on the email list for future Maurin Academy seminars, short series and other events (no donation necessary): https://pmaurin.org/donate/

Dustbowl Diatribes 8: First Season Recap Pt. 1: Can We Think Without Blinders?

Spencer and Laurie recap the first half of Season 1 of Dustbowl Diatribes, with a focus on our intention and purpose in introducing themes like taking advantage of “the spoils of Egypt,” and concepts like metabolic rifts and the abstract domination of capital, as well as interviews that helped us understand why it’s so hard to break away from that domination.

Dustbowl Diatribes 1: For the Courage of Hopelessness

In this first episode of Dustbowl Diatribes, Spencer Hess and Laurie Johnson explain why they chose “Dustbowl Diatribes” as the title of this podcast, why Spencer made the trailer the way he did, and introduce themselves. Along the way, they bring up some issues this podcast will get into — climate change and how we’re all unable to act effectively to cope with it, what Christian responsibility and response might look like, why we have such a hard time doing anything to fix our social and environmental problems despite such tremendous activity that we can dream of colonizing Mars or building space colonies.