Spe Salvi Institute Podcast

Philip Bess: Our Lady’s Plan of Chicago 2109 and Classical Humanist Urban Design

In this conversation, Bobby and Andrew talk to Philip Bess, Professor of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame, about his recent article "Buildings, Polis, Landscape, Cosmos: Two Counter-Cultural Christian Humanist Academic Case Studies” and the basics of classical humanist urban design. Professor Bess introduces Our Lady’s Plan of Chicago 2109, explaining why we will have to move from suburb sprawl to a design that is more sustainable and durable. It so happens that classical humanist design principles best meet those criteria, much better than modernism and hypermodernism do.

Kenneth Craycraft: Living Authentically Catholic in a Divided America

Bobby and Andrew talk to Dr. Kenneth Craycraft about his new book Citizens Yet Strangers: Living Authentically Catholic in a Divided America. Dr. Craycraft explains why Catholics in the United States today are liberal Protestants before they are anything else and why Catholic Social Doctrine matters for healing the divisions in contemporary America.

Michael Diamant: New Traditional Architecture, Modernist Ugliness, Cathédral Notre-Dame de Paris

Robert and Andrew discuss the fight over the restoration of Cathédral Notre-Dame de Paris and why traditional architecture matters with Michael Diamant, the founder of New Traditional Architecture (https://newtrad.org/). In this interview, Michael helpfully explains the recent revival of interest in the robust classical tradition of architecture that not only is beautiful but environmentally friendly and the schools and firms where this revival is flourishing.

What We See in Europe

In this episode, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa recall their travels in Europe. Unlike Europeans who might take the beauty of embodied Catholicism for granted, Andrew and Robert are convinced that Americans might be in a special position to recognize the Catholic culture still present in many parts of Europe.

Nathan Douglas: Éric Rohmer, French New Wave, and the Love of Cinema

Cinephiles will love this episode. Writer and director Nathan Douglas and Andrew introduce listeners to the films of Éric Rohmer and the French New Wave. The discussion also covers the importance of film as art and how cinema can unveil human experience better than most mediums. And, of course, Bobby does not miss an opportunity to mention his love for Terrence Malick films.

Zac Crippen: Screen Addiction, Dopamine Fasting, and Ted Gioia’s "State of the Culture, 2024"

In this episode, Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin talk to Zac Crippen (host of the Creedal Podcast - https://www.creedalpodcast.com/) about finding freedom from screen addiction and how we should think about technology. Additionally, they discuss Ted Gioia’s popular post “State of the Culture, 2024”, which describes the new dopamine culture and how to resist the dopamine cartels.

William Newton: On Salvador Dalí and his ‘Christ’

In this episode, Andrew Petiprin and Robert Mixa talk to writer and art critic William Newton about his latest piece in The Spectator, “The divine Dalí and his ‘Christ’”, Newton’s fascination with Spain and Spanish art, Dalí’s wrestling with the faith, and his return to traditional painting.
For more about William Newton, please visit his website (https://wbdnewton.com/).

Ewa Thompson: Polish History and Hope for the West

In this episode, Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin talk to Professor Ewa Thompson about key moments in European history when Poland came to the defense of Christendom, how non-Germanic Central Europe seemed to be excised by historians of various empires from the annals of history, the Polish literature that shaped the Catholic imagination and spirituality of John Paul II, the legacy of Sarmatism and Catholic freedom, and the long history of Russian imperialism.

James Matthew Wilson: Plato, Poetry, and Place

Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin talk to James Matthew Wilson about poetry, his book 'The Vision of the Soul: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in the Western Tradition,' Conservatism, Christian Platonism, Catholicism in the Americas, and Catholic Modernism.

Larry Chapp: The New World Struggling to be Born

In this episode, Robert Mixa and Andrew Petiprin talk to Dr. Larry Chapp about Part III of his article “The Falsification of the Good: Mr. Cogito's Monster and the Prolepsis of Heaven and Hell” and his conviction that now is the time of monsters. We discuss Alain Besançon's conviction that the end of the world is palpable, Antón Barba-Kay’s 'Web of Our Own Making: The Nature of Digital Formation,' Zbigniew Herbert’s 'Mr. Cogito,' and the monster’s perfect, white teeth.