In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Star Plato continue their discussion of the book of Judith. Specifically, they discuss Judith's "strategy" of using her beauty to trick the Assyrians. What is the meaning and power of female beauty?
Is there Gender in the Soul? | The Metaphysics of Gender w/ D. C. Schindler
Do men and women differ only in regards to the body? Or, can we speak of there being a "feminine" soul and a "male" soul? How do we explain the different ways that men and women relate to their bodies? In this podcast, Marc Barnes and D. C. Schindler discuss the different ways of explaining sexual difference. Specifically, they discuss Schindler's recent article in New Polity Issue 7.1/2, and a possible way to metaphysically understand the body/soul problem in relation to men and women.
Catholic Social Teaching and the New Evangelization
Pope St. John Paul II claimed that "the 'new evangelization', which the modern world urgently needs must include among its essential elements a proclamation of the Church's social doctrine" (Centesimus Annus 5). In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Cy Kellett, host of Catholic Answers Live, discuss how proclaiming the social doctrine of the Church can lead people to Christ.
Slaying Holofernes: The Book of Judith and Women's Heroism
"The Lord struck him down by the hand of a female!" Is the story of Judith a rejection of male power and patriarchy? What does Judith show about how power is used differently between men and women? How does God reveal his power in the actions of men and women? In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Star Plato discuss the Book of Judith and what it teaches regarding the sexual difference.
Esther and the Paradoxical Power of Sexual Difference
The Metaphysical Problem of Sexual Difference w/ D. C. Schindler
What is the metaphysical difference between man and woman? Philosophy has long had a problem explaining the difference between men and women, even though it is a basic and fundamental reality. Are men and women different essentially? Is there a particularly "female soul" and a "male soul?" Is the brute fact of the sexually differentiated body the basis for sexual difference, or does that presuppose the problem? In man and woman are we dealing with an opposition or a contrariety? In this new podcast series, Marc Barnes and D. C. Schindler discuss the metaphysics of sexual difference, arguing for a new approach to the question.
The Story of Esther and Women's Vocation
Is the Iran War a Just War? | A Discussion of Catholic Social Teaching
The Iran War is close to entering its third week, and hostilities continue to escalate. Off-ramps for de-escalation are closing and the American public is, largely, unsupportive of the war. In this podcast, Alex Denley hosts a roundtable discussion with three professors of the College of St. Joseph the Worker, Dr. Andrew Willard Jones, Dr. Alex Plato, and Dr. Jared Goff, on whether the Iran War fits the criteria of a just war according to Catholic Social Teaching. They also discuss the circumstances of the war, the stated objectives of the Trump administration, and whether modern warfare is capable of being waged justly.
Man and Woman: Sexual Difference and the Political Order
Debate: Should We Delete Catholic AI? | Matthew Sanders and Marc Barnes
In this podcast, Matthew Harvey Sanders, CEO of Longbeard (creator of MagisteriumAI), and Marc Barnes, editor of New Polity, debate whether Catholics should build and use AI chatbots. Barnes argues that Catholic AI chatbots are objectively evil because they generate probabilistic statements about the faith, are irresponsible in their responses, and are inherently fake conversations with non-persons. Sanders argues that Catholics should embrace this new technological development and that there is an openness from the Vatican about the creation of a true artificial intelligence. This debate is hosted by Edmund Mitchell of the Faith and AI Project.
Pope Leo XIV on AI Chatbots: Preserving Human Voices and Faces
What is the Catholic response to AI? Pope Leo XIV, in his recent message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications, takes a critical look at AI: namely, how it is "encroach[ing] upon the deepest level of communication, that of human relationships." Pope Leo asserts that our faces and voices are sacred, a witness to the unique, singular dignity of each human person. With AI already mimicking persons in social media and through deepfakes, the Pope calls for overcoming the "anthropomorphizing tendencies of AI systems." In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Reuben Slife go line-by-line through the message of Pope Leo, and discuss its implications for the Catholic approach to AI.
AI Writing and the Collapse of a Literate Culture
The book has long been the place of completed thought, able to incorporate previous work and advance new thought. That is going away. AI generation is polluting the discourse; leading to a state where all "new" publications are, in fact, summarized AI restatements of the previous state of the question. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Andrew Willard Jones discuss the effects of AI on the the technology of the books, and how a literate culture persists.
We Survived Another Year | 2025 Wrap-up
Man, Woman, Tyrant, Slave | New Polity 2026
The sixth annual New Polity conference aims to refute bad ideas concerning marriage and sexual difference; to debate the metaphysics of man and woman; to argue for a profound continuity between the order of man and woman and the political and cosmic order as a whole; to shed a light on the tyranny-destroying potential of marriage; and, in sum, to rediscover the mystery and purpose of sexual difference as revealed by the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Andrew Willard Jones discuss the relation of man and woman, the metaphysical implications, and the 2026 conference.
America's Structures of Sin
We are excited to announce our next New Polity Magazine: Issue 6.4 on The Critique of America, featuring essays by Reuben Slife, David L. Schindler, Michael Hanby, John Byron Kuhner and more. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Michael Boland discuss the critique of America, structures of sin, and the idea of the American people.
Debate: Is it Wrong to Talk with an AI Chatbot?
Marc Barnes believes that AI chatbots are evil, and that having a faux conversation with AI chatbots is wrong. Joseph Hobbs, Senior Solution Architect at Databricks, disagrees. In this podcast, they discuss the nature of conversation, how AI imitates conversation, and the Catholic response to AI Chatbots.
Christianity Against the Technocratic Paradigm
The Medium is the Message w/ Peter Berkman of Anamanaguchi
Technology has given an untrained humanity unprecedented power over itself. Peter Berkman, following Marshall McLuhan and Romano Guardini, argues that he "digital world" has rapidly replaced other modes of human interaction, and AI presents a rapid acceleration of that movement. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Peter Berkman discuss this development and the Christian response.
Building Strong Towns after the American Decline w/ Charles Marohn
America was a place of untold wealth in the post-war period. But today, many small towns are faltering and facing financial collapse. In this podcast, Strong Towns founder and president Chuck Marohn sits down with Marc Barnes and Jacob Hyman to discuss how this collapse came about, and how to rebuild the small town.
What Christians Should Do in an AI World
We are happy to announce the next issue of New Polity Magazine, dedicated specifically to Artificial Intelligence! Featuring essays by Matthew Crawford, Slavoj Žižek, D. C. Schindler, Michael Hanby, Andrew Willard Jones, and many more. Subscribe by October 1st to receive this issue! Alex Denley and Marc Barnes discuss the Christian response to AI, how to safeguard human freedom, and AI as a new industrial revolution.




















