Spe Salvi Institute Podcast

The American Idea: A Response to Justice Gorsuch

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch has claimed that America is a "creedal nation" — that what unites us is not a common culture, heritage, or religion, but a set of ideas alone. In this episode, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa take that claim seriously and ask whether it tells the whole story.
They argue that while America's founding principles matter deeply, reducing the nation to an abstraction leaves something essential out. America is not merely a set of propositions — it is a people, a place, a lived inheritance. It has a culture, a literary tradition, a moral imagination, a way of life that was handed down and built up over centuries. Ideas don't exist in a vacuum; they are carried by communities, shaped by customs, and sustained by concrete habits of heart and mind.
What happens to a nation that forgets its heritage and tries to live on ideas alone? And is the "creedal nation" vision a strength to be celebrated — or a subtle impoverishment that leaves Americans rootless and unmoored? Andrew and Robert bring the spirit of the Spe Salvi Institute to bear on one of the most important questions in American political life: not just what we believe, but who we are.

The Metaphysical Cinema of Krzysztof Kieślowski

What does a secular Polish filmmaker have to teach us about the soul?
More than you might expect. In this episode, Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin sit down to explore the life and work of Krzysztof Kieślowski — one of the most quietly profound filmmakers of the twentieth century — and ask why his films continue to haunt viewers long after the credits roll. From the moral intensity of The Dekalog, a ten-part meditation on the Ten Commandments set in a Warsaw apartment block, to the mystery of The Double Life of Véronique, and the soaring ambition of the Three Colors Trilogy (Blue, White, and Red), Kieślowski created a body of work worth contemplating.
Robert and Andrew explore what it means that a filmmaker who identified as an "agnostic mystic" kept returning — compulsively, almost helplessly — to questions of providence, the hidden connections between human souls, the weight of moral choice, and the strange luminosity of ordinary life. Is there a theological grammar underneath Kieślowski's images? Why do his films feel like prayers? And what can Catholics and serious Christians learn from an artist who approached transcendence from the outside, and got closer to it than most? Listen in and learn why Kieślowski is worthy of high admiration.

Bishop Erik Varden: The Post-Secular West

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa sit down with Bishop Erik Varden, O.C.S.O. — Trappist monk, Bishop of Trondheim, and one of the most compelling Catholic voices in the world today. Born into a non-practising Lutheran family in Norway, Bishop Varden traces his remarkable spiritual awakening and journey to the Church, the monastery, and the episcopate, sharing his formation as a scholar of Syriac language and Christian anthropology, his conviction that even countries marked for centuries by the Christian faith stand in constant need of conversion, his appreciation for film directors like Krzysztof Kieślowski, his experience leading this year's Lenten retreat for Pope Leo XIV, and his deeply considered thoughts on the nature of Christian hope. Be sure to check out Bishop Varden's website, Coram Fratribus, at https://coramfratribus.com/

Pope Benedict XVI on Revelation with Richard DeClue

In commemoration of Pope Benedict XVI’s birthday on April 16, Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin sit down with Dr. Richard DeClue, Professor of Theology at the Word on Fire Institute and author of The Mind of Pope Benedict XVI: A Theology of Communion, to explore Pope Benedict XVI’s profound understanding of divine revelation as God’s personal self-communication in history rather than a mere collection of doctrines.
Drawing from Ratzinger’s groundbreaking study of St. Bonaventure, his pivotal role in shaping Vatican II’s Dei Verbum, and his vision of Christ as the living “Thou” of revelation, Dr. DeClue unpacks how Scripture and Tradition flow from the incarnate Word, inviting us into Trinitarian communion.

Pope Leo XIV on the Value of Sport

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, founders Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin discuss Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic letter "Life in Abundance: On the Value of Sport", released ahead of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Drawing on John 10:10 (“I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly”), the Pope presents sport as a “school of life” that forms body, relationships, and spirit—teaching resilience, generosity, respect, and joy—while urging the Church to guide athletes amid commercialization and the idol of victory.
Robert and Andrew explore how the letter echoes St. Paul’s call to be athletes in the spiritual life: “Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Cor 9:24-27) and “I have finished the race” (2 Tim 4:7). They show how physical sport trains the very habits of spiritual athleticism—discipline, endurance, humility, and hope—while also diving into the experience of “flow” as a foretaste of spiritual joy and sport’s civic value in building community and renewing culture.

Rage Against the AI Chatbot with Marc Barnes

In this episode, Robert Mixa welcomes Marc Barnes, editor of New Polity, for a conversation about the sudden rush to insert AI chatbots into our lives without much consideration of what we are really doing.
Even Catholics have come to love AI. From Catholic Answers’ “Fr. Justin” AI app to Magisterium AI, Catholics have embraced this technology. It’s time to hear from a Catholic who is calling us to hit the brakes and think. Maybe large language models are not just neutral tools that can “save time” and “meet people where they are.” Barnes dismantles these claims and revels in his rage against the machine.

The Political Philosophy of the European City with Ferenc Hörcher

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa chat with renowned Hungarian philosopher Ferenc Hörcher, author of "The Political Philosophy of the European City: From Polis, through City-State, to Megalopolis?" to discuss his work on the European city, intellectual conservatism, and the enduring legacy of Sir Roger Scruton in Central and Eastern Europe.
Professor Hörcher explores how European cities have shaped civilization—from ancient Athens to modern urban centers—emphasizing prudence, community, and cultural heritage. We discuss the essence of intellectual conservatism and how it offers a balanced approach in today's world. Plus, hear about Scruton's heroic support for dissidents during the Cold War and his influence on the region.

Trinity in Aquinas: Psychological Analogy as Social Analogy with Michael J. Higgins

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute podcast, Andrew Petiprin and Bobby Mixa welcome Dr. Michael Joseph Higgins, Professor of Humanities at St. Jerome Institute and author of the groundbreaking new book Giving One’s Word: Psychological Analogy as Social Analogy in Aquinas's Trinitarian Theology (Catholic University of America Press, 2025). Contemporary Trinitarian theology often emphasizes that to believe in the Trinity is to believe God is Love: three divine Persons who eternally know, love, and give themselves to one another in perfect communion. Yet St. Thomas Aquinas—whose theology centers on the immanent processions of Word and Love within the divine essence—is rarely seen as a champion of this "social" vision. Many assume his famous "psychological analogy" (drawn from human acts of knowing and loving) prioritizes divine unity over personal distinction, self-knowledge over interpersonal knowledge, and self-love over mutual self-giving—making it seemingly incompatible with, or at least in need of supplementation by, a more relational or social framework.
Dr. Higgins challenges these assumptions head-on. Drawing from a close, creative reading of Aquinas's texts, he demonstrates that the psychological analogy is inherently interpersonal and social at its core. Far from shutting out the reality of mutual love and self-donation among the Persons, Aquinas's framework ensures that perfect self-knowledge and self-love in God are inseparable from interpersonal knowledge, interpersonal love, and radical self-giving. The distinction of Persons is as fundamental as unity, and the "Word" generation and spiration of Love reveal a Trinity of interpersonal communion—no external social analogy required.
Enjoy the conversation!

Are NATO and the West Obsolete?

Despite headlines filled with transatlantic friction—President Trump's comments on Greenland, questions about allies' commitments in Afghanistan, Ursula von der Leyen's calls for greater EU "independence" at Davos 2026, and J.D. Vance's 2025 Munich critique of deviations from NATO's founding principles—the alliance endures. Why?
Petiprin argues that NATO is far more than a Cold War relic or a mere political-military pact. Rooted in a shared heritage and civilization (as stated in the NATO charter), it embodies a deeper spiritual and cultural unity between the United States and Europe. The U.S. serves as the senior economic and military partner, while Europe—especially now with power shifting eastward to Poland—remains the ancient spiritual capital. We explore NATO's remarkable resilience through decades of crises:
-Early tensions: U.S. halting nuclear sharing with the UK, the 1956 Suez Crisis betrayal, France's 1966 withdrawal and expulsion of NATO HQ from Paris.
-Later strains: 1970s/80s détente disputes, the 1999 Kosovo near-miss with Russia (British General Mike Jackson refusing orders), the 2003 Iraq split and "Freedom Fries."
Recent examples: Trump's "bellicose" Greenland remarks, inaccurate claims about allies in Afghanistan (countered by Denmark's 12,000 troops and Poland's 44 fallen soldiers), yet no collapse—no invasion of Greenland, no punishment of Denmark.

My Dinner with Andre: The Greatest Film of Our Meaning-Starved Age

Why does a 40-year-old + film about two men talking feel like the cinematic antidote we need most in 2025?
In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute Podcast, hosts Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa dive into Louis Malle's 1981 masterpiece My Dinner with Andre—a film consisting almost entirely of one extended conversation between two friends over dinner—and argue why it stands as the greatest film of our meaning-starved age.
In an era dominated by distraction, superficial spectacle, and a widespread crisis of purpose, this quiet, dialogue-driven film prophetically diagnoses the spiritual emptiness of modern life. Wallace Shawn and André Gregory's raw, meandering exchange touches on existential alienation, the numbing comforts of technology, the loss of authentic human connection, and the desperate search for transcendence—issues that resonate even more deeply in our digital, post-Christian world today.
From a perspective of Christian hope, Andrew and Robert explore how the film's unflinching confrontation with despair points toward the need for a greater hope: one rooted not in fleeting experiences or material progress, but in the encounter with the living God who redeems our restlessness.