Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Avoiding Babylon
Religion & SpiritualityChristianityEducationComedy

Avoiding Babylon

Avoiding Babylon Crew

Avoiding Babylon was started during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these difficult and dark days, when most of us were isolated from family, friends, our parishes, and even the Sacraments themselves, this channel was started as a statement of standing against the tyrannical mandates that many of us were living under. Since those early days, this channel has morphed into an amazing community of friends…no…more than friends…Christian brothers and sisters…who have grown in joy and charity. 


As we see it, our job here at Avoiding Babylon is to remind ourselves and those who enjoy the channel that being Catholic is a joyful and exciting experience. We seek true Catholic fraternity and eutrapelia with other Catholics who, like us, are doing their best to live out their vocation with the help of God’s Grace.  Above all, we try to bring humor and joy to the craziness of this fallen world, for as Hillaire Belloc has famously said:


“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,

There’s always laughter and good red wine.

At least I’ve always found it so.

Benedicamus Domino!”

Play
Open in
  • 30 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 1 hr 13 min
  • English

Support the show

Goes straight to the publisher. podnod takes nothing.

Episodes 30

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • Friday · 47 min

    60 Years of Nostra Aetate, Adderall, and Novus Ordo Mystics

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A single phrase can light the fuse on half the Catholic internet, and we’re watching it happen again. We start with the behind-the-scenes fallout in Catholic media as friendships fracture, platforms rebrand, and old “trad movement” alliances look shakier by the week. The bigger question we keep coming back to is what all this conflict does to regular Catholics trying to hold the faith without getting dragged into constant faction warfare. Then we dig into the real flashpoint: new talk around Nostra Aetate, Vatican II, and the claim that God’s covenant with the Jewish people is “irrevocable,” paired with the insistence that Christ is the one and only Redeemer. We wrestle with how Catholics should read that language, how Romans 11 gets invoked, and why unclear wording fuels suspicion, bad arguments, and endless online escalation. We also talk about the pressure-cooker created by modern rhetoric, where people fear labels more than they fear confusion, and where “interreligious dialogue” sometimes gets treated as a substitute for straightforward Catholic evangelization. One of the most powerful moments comes from a viral clip at a Novus Ordo Mass: a priest appears physically shaken, struggling with the chalice, and overwhelmed as he prays. We take it seriously as a reminder of Eucharistic faith, the weight of sin, and the danger of letting our hearts grow cold, especially when our first instinct is to sneer instead of to pray. If you care about Catholic theology, Catholic Jewish relations, Vatican II debates, and the future of online Catholic media, you’ll find plenty to wrestle with here. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who needs a calmer take, and leave a review with your biggest question from the conversation. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • Wednesday · 1 hr 5 min

    Elliott Hulse: With Age Comes Wisdom – What I Wish I Knew in My 20s and 30s

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! Fear doesn’t always feel like fear. Sometimes it shows up as “being responsible,” “being prepared,” or “staying in control.” We sit down with Elliot Hulse to talk about the moment that illusion breaks, and what happens when God starts asking for more than your habits, your hustle, or your plans. Elliot walks us through his backstory: growing up Catholic, drifting after the sacraments, wrestling with identity, and going deep into philosophy and Eastern spirituality before finding his way back to Jesus through charismatic Protestantism. Then YouTube success hits hard, and so does the crash. What follows is one of the most concrete parts of the conversation: repentance that leads straight to confession, daily Mass, and a Catholic reversion that reshapes his marriage, his parenting, and his entire home. We also go into modern masculinity and the manosphere, why young men look online for the guidance they can’t find elsewhere, and how “red pill” insights can rot into rage when Christ is removed. From there we turn to the pandemic mindset, prepping, homesteading, and the spiritual trap of believing we can save ourselves. Elliot connects it all to Abandonment to Divine Providence and the daily practice of acting from love and peace instead of fear and mammon. If this conversation challenges you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review so more people can find it. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • September 11 · 50 min

    E. Michael Jones on Social Engineering and the Synagogue's Influence on Catholic Media

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A highway can change more than traffic, it can dissolve a community. We talk with Dr. E. Michael Jones about the argument behind *The Slaughter of Cities*: how urban renewal, redevelopment, and forced dispersion reshaped Catholic ethnic neighborhoods and quietly reduced their cultural and political influence. Along the way, we get specific about the mechanics, not just the slogans, including what archives revealed, why certain neighborhoods emptied out, and how “progress” can become a tool of social engineering. The conversation also turns to credibility and censorship: what happens when a controversial writer is removed from major platforms, and why citations and documentation matter more than ever. We dig into how information travels through Catholic media, how narratives get framed, and why funding, gatekeeping, and distribution channels can determine what the average listener even hears. Some of the claims raised are provocative and hotly disputed, so we constantly come back to a practical listener question: what can you verify, and where are the sources? We close by zooming out to demographic decline and mass migration in Europe, plus the deeper issue of institutional formation, from Catholic schools to public history. Whether you come for urban planning, Catholic culture, deplatforming, or media literacy, you’ll leave with a clearer sense of how power operates through infrastructure, publishing, and “respectable” messaging. If this episode challenges you, share it with someone who will actually argue the details, then subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the conversation. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • September 9 · 1 hr 4 min

    What Really Happened on 9/11? 25 Years Later We Examine The Evidence

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! The world before September 11 felt slower, smaller, and oddly harder to explain to anyone who didn’t live it. We’re not just talking about flip phones and dial-up, but the way information moved, the way rumors spread, and the way a single day could lock an entire country to the television like it was the only window to reality. We share where we were when the towers were hit, what we saw from New York, and what it felt like trying to reach the people we loved when networks went down and the city shut its doors. From there, we follow the aftershocks: the blackouts, the anthrax scares, the rise of the 24-hour news cycle, and the emotional stampede into the War on Terror. We also wrestle with why doubt persists for some people, including how footage replays, controversial TV clips, and long-running claims about timing and collapses keep resurfacing every 9/11 anniversary. Our goal is not to turn grief into entertainment, but to talk honestly about memory, media literacy, and why “trust the narrative” became such a loaded demand after a national trauma. We end by tracing the line from 9/11 to Iraq, “shock and awe,” and the political world we’re living in now, where suspicion is common and unity feels rare. If you care about September 11 history, World Trade Center remembrance, Building 7 debates, or how propaganda and polarization take root, this conversation will give you a lot to think about. Subscribe for more, share this with someone who remembers that day differently, and leave a review with the one detail you think the country still misunderstands. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • September 4 · 55 min

    A Lawyer Breaks Down the Lone Holdout in the Lindsay Clancy Trial

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! One juror. One note to the judge. One phrase that can blow up weeks of testimony: “refusing to follow the instructions.” We bring on our longtime friend Mark, a working attorney who lives in the world of jury trials, to help us sort out what’s actually happening inside the Lindsay Clancy trial and what the court can legally do next. We walk through how jury instructions function, what “reasonable doubt” is supposed to mean, and why it gets messy fast when real people bring their own definitions into the jury room. We also dig into the high-stakes choices that follow a deadlock: questioning a juror, seating an alternate, risking a mistrial, or setting up the case for appeal. Along the way, we talk about the practical reality that the public rarely sees: juries are persuadable, courtroom procedure matters, and a case that lives on social media doesn’t stay neatly inside the courthouse. From there we get into the insanity defense and why Massachusetts rules around burden of proof can change the entire shape of a verdict. We also tackle the fairness problem nobody can wish away, especially in a headline case: if jurors aren’t sequestered and they go home to phones, feeds, and opinions, how “untainted” can deliberations really be? Mark also shares real-world stories from municipal court and CPS work that show the moral weight behind legal systems, then we close with a clear breakdown of Fourth Amendment basics, probable cause, DWI checkpoints, drug-sniffing dogs, and why polygraphs don’t deserve the trust pop culture gives them. If you want clearer thinking about jury deliberations, reasonable doubt, and the insanity defense, subscribe, share this with a friend who’s following the trial, and leave us a review with your take on what the judge should do next. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • September 2 · 1 hr 10 min

    The FBI's SHOCKING Allegations Against Traditional Catholics

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A hung jury sounds like a procedural hiccup until you ask what it exposes about the whole system. We start with the Lindsay Clancy hung jury and the obvious elephant in the room: when a case is drenched in TikTok clips, podcast commentary, and public protest energy, how can a non-sequestered jury realistically stay “clean”? We talk through jury dynamics, why one holdout matters, and what a retrial, institutional sentence, or appeal could look like when the internet is effectively sitting in the jury box. Then we get into the argument everybody wants to shortcut: SSRIs, postpartum depression claims, and the temptation to turn tragedy into a blanket excuse. We’re not pretending medication and mental illness never matter, but we are worried about precedent and accountability in criminal law. If the standard becomes “the system did it,” what happens to future cases, especially cases involving child abuse where online fandoms can blur moral clarity into therapy-speak and sympathy campaigns? From there we pivot to institutions watching institutions: the Richmond FBI memo on “radical traditionalist Catholics,” the Latin Mass, “integralism,” and the wild framing that compares orthodox Catholic ideas to Islamist ideology. We react to the screenshots, talk about why insular communities attract scrutiny, and even contrast that with other tight-knit religious enclaves in New York. We close by teeing up the Deloney clip and the modern therapy trap where “counsel” can quietly plant suspicion and divorce inside a marriage. If you got something out of this, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a rating and review so more people can find the show. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • August 28 · 1 hr 1 min

    Wicked, Maleficent, and Lindsay Clancy: Satan's War on the Christian Conscience

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A jury room can’t fix a culture, but it can expose one. We wrestle with the Lindsay Clancy trial as closing arguments land and the internet picks its side, and we ask the uncomfortable question people keep dodging: what happens when “empathy” becomes a way to deny obvious evil? We talk through why verdict timing matters, why a hung jury is plausible, and why the details many viewers never saw still matter for truth, justice, and the victims who can’t speak. Then we zoom out to the bigger machine that shapes public conscience. We dig into how stipulated facts can make a trial clearer for jurors but murkier for everyone watching, especially in true crime TikTok culture where missing context becomes conspiracy fuel. From there we connect the dots to modern storytelling: Disney villain redemption arcs, the habit of blaming the male love interest, and even Frozen’s “no right, no wrong” message as a window into how moral imagination gets trained over years, not moments. We also get practical and personal about the pharmaceutical layer behind modern life. We discuss SSRIs, antidepressant side effects, withdrawal experiences, and why a society built on prescriptions feels brittle if the supply chain breaks. We touch Adderall and adult ADHD self-diagnosis, and we close with a real-world example of community boundaries through church discipline and family accountability. Subscribe for more long-form cultural analysis, share this with a friend who can argue in good faith, and leave a review with your take: where do you draw the line between compassion and excuse? Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • August 24 · 1 hr 32 min

    "Your Father Is the Devil" — Fr. Mawdsley on Knowing Your Real Enemy

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A book so controversial the author half jokes he may have to “press publish” live just to see how long it survives. We’re joined again by Father James Mawdsley to talk about Know Thy Enemy, the personal cost of writing it, and why certain questions Catholics were told to stop asking keep forcing their way back into view. We dig into how propaganda and education build the “frame” that decides what you’re allowed to notice. That takes us from post war narratives and Vatican era assumptions to today’s arguments about interfaith language, “Abrahamic” messaging, and what the Gospel actually says about spiritual fatherhood and spiritual adoption. Along the way, we connect the dots between ideas that sound religious and ideas that quietly replace religion. From there we get into the culture side: Teilhard de Chardin, Fulton Sheen, and the lure of progress talk that treats borders, traditions, and inherited identity as problems to be dissolved. We also discuss evolution in Catholic schools as a faith breaking domino, and why a purely political “universal brotherhood” cannot do the job of the New Covenant. The back half turns practical and personal: what to do when online accusations become a distraction campaign, how to stay charitable without going soft on truth, and why Father’s advice on mental health is blunt. He argues that regular confession, prayer, and real community often do more than therapy culture and pharmaceuticals for people trying to rebuild a stable interior life. If you want more long form Catholic conversation on Vatican II debates, interfaith dialogue, propaganda, national sovereignty, Catholic anthropology, and confession as therapy, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • August 21 · 46 min

    Is There Demonic Influence in Our Technology?

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! Nuclear weapons, IVF, AI, and the postwar story we’ve all been taught are not separate conversations, they’re one big argument about who (or what) shapes human history. We start with a raw look at how a “content drought” turns into algorithmic rage bait, especially around male-female dynamics and the true crime ecosystem. Then we pivot hard into a headline surrogate case that sounds heroic on the surface but feels, to us, like a glimpse into the contractual and moral nightmare built into modern surrogacy and IVF. From there, we dig into Tucker Carlson’s claim that nuclear weapons weren’t truly “created by people.” We don’t treat it like a cheap shock line. We ask what it means to say technology can be influenced by demonic forces through pride, rebellion, and the pursuit of forbidden knowledge. That takes us into Oppenheimer, the Trinity test, the occult flavored edges of early rocketry, and why 1947 keeps showing up when people talk about UFOs, UAP phenomena, and the modern age of secrets. We also read and react to JD Hall’s framing of Eric Metaxas and the postwar consensus as a kind of civil religion, where Allied victory becomes moral immunity and certain questions are treated as blasphemy. Along the way we preview upcoming shows, including our conversation with Father Maudsley (Know Thy Anime) and a planned 9-11 episode that separates memories of the day from the conspiracy theory rabbit holes. If any of this hits a nerve, share the episode with a friend who actually likes hard conversations, then subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s the one modern “official story” you no longer trust? Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • August 19 · 58 min

    Why Women Defend Murderous Moms and Immodest Girlfriends

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A mother kills three children and the internet immediately starts bargaining with reality. We dig into the Lindsay Clancy trial, the postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis claims surrounding it, and the unnerving trend of people avoiding plain language like “murder” while trying to relocate guilt onto doctors, medications, or even the husband. Yes, psychiatric medication harm is real. No, euphemisms don’t bring children justice. We try to hold both truths at once, without flinching. Joshua Charles and Mike Pantile join us for a wide ranging conversation that connects true crime headlines to everyday moral formation. We talk about SSRI stacking, withdrawal, intrusive thoughts, and why “mental health awareness” can become a permission slip instead of a warning label. We also react to public commentary from pro-life influencers, contrasting language that blurs responsibility with reactions that insist on accountability and consequences. Then we pivot to the viral modesty tweet that triggered a full blown backlash: the outrage wasn’t just about clothing, it was about whether a man is allowed to ask anything of a woman at all. That opens into fraternal correction, boundaries in courtship, standards in marriage, and the way social media trains all of us to chase validation instead of truth. If you care about family, faith, and sanity in modern relationships, this one will challenge you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who will disagree, and leave a review with your take: where do you draw the line between compassion and excuse? Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • August 12 · 1 hr 5 min

    E. Michael Jones Predicted This | Cooper on Tucker

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A neighborhood isn’t just a place to sleep. It’s a memory machine, a network of elders, a parish rhythm, and a shared story that tells your kids who they are. When that breaks, everything else gets easier to break too. We start with a clip-driven conversation that spirals into a bigger question: how do narratives and propaganda reshape what a nation believes it is? Using the Darryl Cooper conversation as a jumping-off point, we talk about “myth” not as fantasy, but as the framing stories that decide what you’re allowed to say, what you’re allowed to defend, and what you’re trained to fear. From there we connect identity to faith, especially the Catholic instinct to see ourselves in a long historical line of saints, martyrs, and Christendom. Then we get concrete about urban planning and social engineering. We discuss how suburbanization and mid-century “renewal” projects, including the Robert Moses era in New York, fractured ethnic Catholic neighborhoods and dispersed parish communities into isolated households. Once people are cut off from community, mass media and institutional pressure work far better. We also wrestle with the internet as a double-edged sword: it can reveal truth and help believers find each other, but it can also turn Christianity into content instead of lived community. We close by talking about fear and preparedness: why “collapse” may look less like a movie and more like financial leverage, digital currency, and normalized control. Along the way we touch on civil conflict, division, martyrdom, and a listener question on millennials going no contact with parents, including the difference between boundaries and unnecessary rupture. If this conversation hits home, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • August 5 · 2 hr 8 min

    Build Catholic Culture or Lose Your Sons

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! Something feels off for a lot of men right now: more content than ever, more arguments than ever, and somehow less real community. We get into that discomfort head-on with Jason Craig, co-founder of Fraternus and editor behind Sword and Spade, and we talk about the missing ingredient most Catholic masculinity conversations avoid: actual brotherhood, in real places, with real responsibility. We unpack what Fraternus is and why it starts with forming men before trying to “fix the youth.” Jason lays out a clear framework for men’s formation, rites of passage, and why fatherhood requires other men around you. Then we go practical: living historically, building for future generations, and turning the household back into a productive unit instead of a consumption machine. Whether you have acreage, a small yard, or a tight urban lot, the question stays the same: what are you building with your family that your children can see, touch, and eventually carry forward? From there, we zoom out to American Catholic culture, localism, and the threats that quietly hollow out towns and parishes. We talk private equity, zoning battles, and why “defense” starts with cultivation, showing up, and refusing to abandon your ground. We also take listener questions on awkward converts who need formation, discernment about relocating for the Latin Mass, and how Catholic men should think about healing and hope in hard personal struggles. If this conversation challenges you, share it with a friend, subscribe, and leave a review, then tell us: what is one concrete thing you can build locally in the next 30 days? Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • August 3 · 51 min

    The Last Crusade: What They Don't Want You to Know About the Spanish Civil War

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A 500-foot granite cross rises north of Madrid, and underneath it lies a story most of us were never taught to see straight. The Spanish Civil War is usually packaged as a clash between fascist generals and a democratic republic, with Hemingway and Orwell standing in for the whole moral picture. Today I walk through historian Warren Carroll’s counterclaim from The Last Crusade: that the core conflict is faith against revolution, and that once you follow the evidence, the familiar narrative starts to invert. We trace the five-year runway to 1936: church burnings, anti-Catholic laws, and the Popular Front’s own revolutionary promises, followed by a country slipping into open political violence. Then we hit the moment that makes “normal politics” feel impossible: the murder of opposition leader José Calvo Sotelo by state security forces. From there the focus shifts to Navarre’s Carlists and the religious framing that turns a rising into what Carroll calls a crusade, complete with confession, Communion, hymns, and the Sacred Heart. The hardest section is the one Carroll says the modern world prefers to minimize: the systematic persecution of the Catholic Church in Republican zones, the disappearance of public Mass, and the martyr stories, including Barbastro. We also look at the siege of the Alcazar of Toledo and why symbolic promises can outweigh tactical advantage, then follow Carroll’s documentation of Soviet influence, the NKVD presence, and Spain’s gold shipped to the Soviet Union. Finally, I deal directly with Nationalist abuses and Carroll’s argument about judging a war’s original cause versus the sins committed within it. If you care about Spanish Civil War history, Catholic persecution in Spain, Franco-era memory, or how propaganda shapes what becomes “common knowledge,” this one will stick with you. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend who thinks they already know this war, and leave a review with the question you can’t stop turning over. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • August 2 · 1 hr 5 min

    The Battle over Fulton Sheen's Beatification

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A saint’s cause gets cleared for the finish line, then suddenly stalls for years. What happened, who pushed back, and why did it revolve around something as physical as Fulton Sheen’s remains? We walk through the full timeline with Dr. Peter Howard, who has spent decades studying Sheen’s life, writings, and prophetic edge, and who helped rally a grassroots movement to push for clarity and progress. We talk about the New York vs Peoria clash, the court case led by Sheen’s niece, and the quiet urgency of moving a body once the courts ruled. Then we get into the official “caution” explanation that kept coming up: the looming New York attorney general report on clergy abuse handling. Howard shares why he believes Rome never had a theological or canonical problem with Sheen’s cause, and how institutional fear and American church politics combined into an indefinite postponement that left the faithful confused and frustrated. From there the conversation opens up into the bigger questions people bring to Sheen: his “anti-church” warning, his apocalyptic language as an “unveiling,” and the sense that our era is accelerating into spiritual conflict. We connect Sheen’s insights to Marian themes, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima, and we wrestle with modern pressures like propaganda, ideological capture, gender ideology, and the rush toward AI and transhumanism. It’s a Catholic Church conversation that stays anchored in history, theology, and the practical need for hope. We also share details for the Fulton Sheen beatification conference and pilgrimage, built to help Catholics understand why Sheen matters now and how “America’s saint” could shape a uniquely Catholic culture in the United States. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who loves Fulton Sheen, and leave a review. What part of the Sheen story still feels unanswered to you? Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • July 29 · 1 hr 14 min

    "Endless Scrolling": Pope Leo's Blunt Warning to Catholics

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! Joy is not hiding at the bottom of your feed, and Pope Leo says it out loud. We start with his short, direct warning about endless scrolling, pornography culture, promiscuity, superficial relationships, and obsession with image, then pull on the thread that really matters: what happens to Catholic life when attention is constantly fractured and faith turns into something we only argue about instead of something we actually live. From there we go straight at a problem a lot of serious Catholics feel but rarely name clearly: American Catholicism can end up as intellectual Catholicism shaped by Protestant convert habits and argument-first catechesis. We’re grateful for solid apologetics, but we also ask why videos of Holy Week in Spain go viral while many American parishes struggle to sustain processions, festivals, and the ordinary customs that used to form families and neighborhoods. We talk about what broke the chain, including liturgical disruption, catechesis failures, the collapse of local community, suburban dislocation, online life replacing in-person life, and the lingering trust crisis around clergy. Then we get practical. “Uniquely American Catholic culture” does not mean copying European aesthetics or doing something cringe on purpose. We explore small, repeatable, parish-level traditions like a yearly rosary walk, a local pilgrimage, seasonal devotions, and family practices that become culture over time. We also share a surprising read of The Odyssey as an allegory for disorder, the suitors, and the return that puts the house in order, plus why that storyline hits so hard in the middle of a Church crisis. If this conversation lit a fire or hit a nerve, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people who care about Catholic life can find us. What’s one concrete tradition you’d start in your parish this year? Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • July 22 · 1 hr 21 min

    Rome Has Spoken: The Pope Who Fought Capitalism AND Communism | Rerum Novarum Part 1

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A pope under siege, with no army and no worldly leverage, writes a letter that rattles the rising powers of modern life. Rerum Novarum is Pope Leo XIII’s answer to an age that demanded a choice between two harsh gods: the factory that grinds families down for profit, or the revolution that promises paradise through blood and the abolition of ownership. We read it as a direct challenge to both, and as the clearest Catholic statement on money, work, and human dignity in centuries. We start with the world Leo is writing into: the industrial revolution’s wealth built on long shifts, child labor, dangerous factories, and slums where disease spreads fast and families break under pressure. That misery helps explain why Marxism sounds so seductive to the worker, yet Leo insists the socialist “cure” trades one master for another. Then we turn the spotlight where many modern conservatives don’t expect it: Leo’s warnings about unchecked competition, inhuman treatment of labor, and the shocking claim that even a mutually agreed wage can still be unjust. From there, we lay out the Catholic third way that doesn’t fit neatly on today’s political spectrum: private property as a natural right, property as stewardship with obligations, the dignity of labor, the just wage and family wage, unions and associations, and a limited state guided by the moral law. We also connect it to a very current question: if AI disrupts work at scale, what happens when a culture built on career as identity runs out of jobs to worship? Subscribe for the second part, share this with a friend who’s stuck in the capitalism vs socialism trap, and leave a review with the one line from Rerum Novarum you think every worker and employer needs to hear. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • July 17 · 1 hr

    The Catholic Case for a Young Earth | Christian Bergsma

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! The older we make “creation,” the easier it gets to picture God as distant, hands-off, and only occasionally involved. That’s the nerve we keep pressing with our guest Christian as we dig into why Genesis isn’t just a timeline question, but a question about revelation, providence, and what God wants us to know about him through the way he creates. We walk through the Catholic case that the Church Fathers and scholastic theologians aren’t optional background reading on creation, but central witnesses to how Christians historically understood Scripture. From there we tackle the modern pressure points: why “trust the science” often turns into a one-way authority claim, why debates about evolution and old earth assumptions reshape theology downstream, and why the burden of proof matters when scientific models rely on interpretation and starting premises. Then we get concrete. We talk dinosaurs and the controversy around soft tissue and hemoglobin claims, what uniformitarian geology assumes, and why radiometric dating ends up carrying so much weight in the modern story. We also connect creation to the Fall by asking what millions of years of suffering and predation before Adam would mean for original sin and nature’s relationship to humanity. Finally, we pivot to Graham Hancock, global flood memory, ancient structures across cultures, and the Sphinx weathering question, highlighting where alternative history is strongest and where it gets methodologically sloppy. If you enjoy thoughtful Catholic apologetics, Genesis interpretation, creation theology, and honest friction with mainstream narratives, hit subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a review so more people can find the show. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • July 15 · 33 min

    Shia LaBeouf's Stalker Thinks He's a Clone of Her Dead Husband - And She Found Him!

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A state is on fire, we’re cooked from the sun, and somehow that turns into a conversation about stalking, marriage, and what the Catholic internet does to your brain. We’re joined by Alexander Poe, a recent Protestant-to-Catholic convert who started making short Catholic apologetics videos just to explain the faith to people around him, then watched it grow into interviews, bigger topics, and real pushback. If you’ve ever felt like you don’t have anyone in your day-to-day life to talk Catholicism with, you’ll recognize why this online world pulls people in so fast. We also react to a viral Shia LaBeouf clip that looks one way on first watch, then flips when the backstory appears. The deeper context points to a woman making intense claims about clones, stolen DNA, and harassment, and it becomes a case study in how social media framing can distort reality in seconds. It’s funny, unsettling, and way more revealing than a simple celebrity moment. Then we get to the part that stays with you: a Peter Kreeft clip from Matt Fradd’s show, recorded shortly after Kreeft’s wife dies. His marriage advice is blunt and deeply Catholic: if you only love the body, don’t get married, because real love has to survive age, sickness, wrinkles, and suffering. From there we talk practical marriage and parenting realities, including what changes when the first baby arrives, how husbands and wives can lose connection if everything becomes child-centered, and why fatherhood often “clicks” when your kid recognizes you and lights up when you walk in the door. Subscribe for more candid Catholic commentary, share this with a friend who needs a serious take on marriage, and leave a review if you want more conversations like this. What’s one lesson you learned the hard way about marriage, conversion, or the internet? Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • July 13 · 1 hr 5 min

    Touch Grass: The Devil Is Using Church Drama to Keep You From Heaven

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! The Catholic internet can make you feel like you have to pick a team every five minutes and if you refuse, you’re the enemy. We’re tired of that, so we talk honestly about burnout after the SSPX blowups, the pressure to perform certainty online, and why stepping away for a weekend can reset your head and your heart. Sometimes the most “traditional” move is closing the apps and living your actual vocation. We also get into the most sobering kind of reality check: a funeral Mass where basic Eucharistic discipline and liturgical boundaries feel optional. When priests refuse to clarify Communion norms or let the liturgy turn into something improvised, families leave confused and scandalized. That experience feeds right back into the bigger SSPX and Traditional Latin Mass debate, Traditionis Custodes, and the question we keep circling: how do we acknowledge authority while still naming injustice and bad governance? Then we deliberately pivot to real life: Fourth of July on the water, fireworks, a sudden storm that changes everything, travel plans for an anniversary trip, and the very normal joys and risks of hobbies like quadding and side-by-sides. We close by reacting to the tradwife trend and the media’s caricature of marriage, work, and “fulfillment,” with a blunt reminder that meaning is usually built slowly, at home, with your spouse and kids. If this resonated, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who needs a break from the drama, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
  • July 8 · 1 hr 6 min

    SSPX Fallout and Catholic Infighting w/ Michael Hichborn

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A single decision in Rome can light a fuse across the Catholic world, and that’s exactly what happens when the SSPX consecrations collide with papal warnings and a decree of excommunication. With Rob away at a family funeral, we take a hard look at why this moment is hitting so many people differently: some feel vindicated, some feel betrayed, and plenty feel stuck between the Catholic instinct to obey the Pope and the lived reality of deep Vatican confusion. We walk through the core questions without pretending they’re easy. What makes a command lawful, and why does that matter even when Church leaders scandalize the faithful? Were the consecrations strategically avoidable, and what would a transparent, public negotiation with Rome have looked like? We also unpack the practical anxiety many Catholics feel about sacramental life, especially confession and marriage faculties, and why vague language and sloppy governance can “cast doubt” even when the underlying sacramental theology is sound. From there, we zoom out to the bigger crisis: Vatican double standards, the post Vatican II revolution in Church culture, and the grim data showing widespread rejection of core Catholic beliefs. But we refuse to let outrage become the point. The deeper fight is for charity, sanity, and salvation. We talk frankly about why sedevacantism can poison the soul, why Catechism 675 helps frame the “mystery of iniquity,” and what it looks like to resist errors without jumping out of the Barque of Peter. If you’re trying to stay faithful in a time when everything feels like a battlefield, we end with a simple plan: stay awake, watch, and pray. If this helped you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend who’s struggling, and leave a review so more Catholics can find it. What’s the clearest line you think Catholics should not cross right now? Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

    • Transcript
    • Chapters
Showing 1–20 of 30 episodes