The America Magazine Podcast

Stephen Adly Guirgis, author of “Our Lady of 121st Street” and “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” talks about his new play, “The Little Flower of East Orange,” which is playing at the Public Theater in Manhattan through Sunday May 4. In an interview recorded at his home in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Guirgis discusses his Catholic upbringing, moments of grace in his life and the writers who have inspired him.

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David Gibson, author of The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World, discusses the pope’s recent visit to the United States, including his private meeting with sexual abuse victims and his address to the U.N. Gibson also offers a first-hand view of the liturgies in Washington and New York, and reflects on how the trip might shape Benedict’s papacy and the American church as a whole.

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In this excerpt from “Pathways of Learning,” Sister Marie Pappas’ weekly show on “The Catholic Channel Sirius Radio 159,” America associate editor Jim Keane, S.J., and Fordham University professor Angela O’Donnell discuss their “top 10″ Catholic novels. Among the authors who make the list are Graham Greene, Flannery O’Connor, Ron Hansen and the science-fiction author Walter Miller.

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Donna Freitas, author of Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America’s College Campuses, describes the “hook-up culture” prevalent on both Catholic and non-Catholic campuses, and why students aren’t happy about it. Many students yearn for a more traditional romantic culture, Freitas explains, yet they are unsure how to attain it. Only evangelical schools seem to have succeeded in creating an alternative environment, with the cultivation of elaborate courtship rituals. Can such a model be brought to Catholic schools? Maybe not, but Freitas offer advice for young people trying to escape the degrading excesses of the college party culture.

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With its April 14, 2008 issue, America begins its 100th year of publication. On this week’s podcast, editor Drew Christiansen, S.J. discusses the magazine’s long history, how much has changed since 1909, and how much remains the same. Joining him are acting publisher James Martin, S.J., and James Keane, S.J., who along with Jim McDermott, S.J., will be editing a series of historical pieces for the centennial year.

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Filmmaker Martin Doblmeier discusses “The Power of Forgiveness,” his new documentary for PBS. The film tells stories of both individual and group forgiveness, and reports on forgiveness studies, a blossoming field of scientific inquiry. Doblmeier talks about his trip to still-segregated Northern Ireland, where experts are trying to integrate the lessons of forgiveness into the curriculum, and recounts the heated reaction to the proposal to build a “garden of forgiveness” at the Ground Zero memorial in New York City. To see when the film will be playing in your city click here. You can order the film, and “The Power of Forgiveness” book, on the Journey Films Web site.

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March 24 marks the 28th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. Michael E. Lee, a professor of theology and Latin American studies at Fordham University, discusses the life of Archbishop Romero, and the status of his cause for canonization. Among the issues addressed is whether Romero in fact experienced a “conversion” shortly after his appointment as archbishop.

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Roger Haight, S.J., visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary and author of a three-volume work on ecclesiology, Christian Community in History, discusses the extraordinary flowering of Catholic Theology since Vatican II. Among the figures he reflects upon are Karl Rahner, Johannes B. Metz and Elizabeth Johnson. According to Fr. Haight, the “expanded territory covered by the theologians of our era bears comparison to the transition from the monastery to the university in the high middle ages.” Fr. Haight’s article on Catholic theology since Vatican II from the March 17 issue of America is available here.

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Catholic poet Angela O’Donnell talks about her work, including her “saint” series of poems, which includes odes to such unconventional “saints” as Herman Melville and Vincent van Gogh. Features readings of two of her poems published in America.

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Fr. Jim Martin, associate editor of America, and Bill McGarvey, editor-in-chief of Busted Halo, discuss this year’s Best Picture nominees. Covered this week: “There Will Be Blood” and “Atonement,” plus our Oscar picks. Part 2 of a two-part series.

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