New Polity

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Welcome to our new series, The Politics of AI. In this episode, Marc Barnes and Alex Denley discuss the philosophy and ethics of Effective Altruism. The EA movement is premised on the belief that "we must do the most good possible" and do so with the greatest effect. It's main thinkers (we've been reading Peter Singer, Derek Parfit, Nick Bostrum, Toby Ord, and William MacAskill) argue that it's morally imperative to get a high-earning career, become maximally effective with you...

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Every new technology affects the whole of society, granting humanity new power over itself and power over others. AI has the potential to massively centralize power in the hands of a few, reduce the scope of human freedom, and produce the illusion that humanity could and even should be surpassed and replaced. In this podcast, the editors of New Polity, Marc Barnes, Andrew Willard Jones, Michael Boland, and Alex Denley, discuss the current AI moment and the prin...

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In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Reuben Slife discuss Pope Pius XII’s 1939 letter to America on the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the hierarchy of bishops. They discuss both Pope Pius’s praise for America and his warnings regarding the degradation of the family and cultural decline of the pre-war era.

Subscribe by August 15th to receive Issue 7.3: https://newpolity.com/magazine

We are running a Summer Sale on all books and magazine...

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Does employee ownership really work? Matthew Warner, founder and CEO of Flocknote, says it certainly does. In this podcast, Marc Barnes interviews Matthew on his experience transitioning Flocknote to an employee owned company, and the benefits it brings to his company. They also discuss Catholic Social Teaching on ownership and labor, and how Catholics can incorporate these teachings.

Subscribe by August 15th to receive Issue 7.3: https://newpolity.com/magazine

We are running a Summer...

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Marc Barnes and Alex Denley are happy to announce the next New Polity Magazine, Issue 7.3, on AI: The Hype vs The Real. In this podcast, they discuss the loss of textual communities, AI generated homilies, the technocratic paradigm, and other topics from the new magazine.

Subscribe by August 15th to receive Issue 7.3: https://newpolity.com/magazine

We are running a Summer Sale on all books and magazines! Check it out here: https://newpolity.com/summer-sale

Ne...

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Marc Barnes and Joe Heschmeyer are from the old world of the Catholic blogosphere. With catchy titles like "Bad Catholic" and "Shameless Popery," the Catholic blogs were the place for long comment threads and an active community. Social media has made that community mostly obsolete, and social media is the default place where people go. In this podcast, they discuss producing content for social media algorithms and how to preserve and encourage attention. New Polity is runni...

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In The Seven Ranges, Will Hoyt sought answers to how and why small, self-sufficient landholders in eastern Ohio consented to the destruction of once-thriving townships and even topography itself via strip mining in the 1960s. In his new sequel, Fear and Trembling in Las Vegas, Hoyt describes the collapse of Western Civilization as experienced by residents in eastern Ohio, Cleveland, and Michigan between 1994 and 2024. In this podcast, Marc Barnes interviews Will Hoyt about his new book and how...

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In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Star Plato discuss the final chapters of the Book of Judith. Specifically, they look at the prayer at the end of the Book, where Judith praises God for victory.

This is final part of the series on Judith. You can view the full series here.

Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! Next one's on AI and will be releasing by August. https://newpolity.com/magazine

New Poli...

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America is a special place. And, it even has it's own heresy. In this podcast, Reuben Slife and Marc Barnes discuss Leo XIII's condemnation of "Americanism," and the controversy that it caused. Some US bishops replied to the Pope that no one actually adhered to Americanism, and that it was effectively a "phantom heresy." But, is there something particular to the American way of being Catholic that needs correction? How does this teaching on Americanism relate to Ameri...

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Magnifica Humanitas has been called the "AI Encyclical," but there's far more to the document: a thorough analysis of Catholic Social Doctrine, an extensive treatment of modern warfare, and how power works in the world today. In this podcast, Alex Denley and Andrew Willard Jones discuss the political philosophy of Magnifica Humanitas, and how the Pope's analysis helps us to understand our future with AI, how the powerful will use it, and what we as Christians can do about it.

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The anti-chatbot alliance is growing. With support from the Future of Life Institute, New Polity is hosting a landmark event on AI next spring in Pittsburgh, bringing together leading Catholic organizations and thinkers to discuss, debate, and chart a path for our world with AI. Event details and tickets will be forthcoming at newpolity.com/events. In this podcast, Marc Barnes interviews participants at the Future of Life event in Washington D.C. on their projects, thinking on AI, a...

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What does it mean to be holy in America? In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Reuben Slife discuss the newest release from New Polity Press: America in the Mystery of Christ and the Church by David L. Schindler, available now.

David L. Schindler, for forty years editor of the American edition of the international theological journal Communio (founded by Joseph Ratzinger, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Henri de Lubac), devoted much of his career to a theolo...

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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?

We're running a last chance sale on our 2026 Conference "Man, Woman, Tyrant, Slave." Get your tickets now! https://newpolity.com/2026

Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazine

Read our essays: https...

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Do men and women differ only in regards to the body? Or, can we speak of there being a "female" 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 metaphys...

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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.

We’re offering a Catholic Social Teaching masterclass June 22-25 in order to study and illuminate the Church...

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"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.

Don't miss our last chance s...

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Esther defeats the idolatrous god-king through the strange power of weakness. Join Marc and Maria’s discussion of monolithic and idolatrous power structures and their vulnerability to the particular vocation of women.

Catch up with Episode 1:  The Story of Esther and Women's Vocation  

You can follow along with the Esther Rabah, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on Esther from the 6th and 11th centuries: https://www.sefaria.org/Esther_Rabbah

Come meet Maria and Marc at N...

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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 oppositi...

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What do the matriarchs of the Old Testament teach us regarding the roles of men and women? In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Maria Brandell discuss the biblical story of Esther and how it reveals the specific vocation of women.

We are two months away from New Polity's 2026 conference "Man, Woman, Tyrant, Slave"! Learn more and register at https://newpolity.com/2026

Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazine

Read our essays: https...

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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 accordin...

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In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Michael Boland discuss the upcoming New Polity magazine, Issue 7.1, on Man and Woman. Specifically, they discuss the philosophical and metaphysical problems of sexual difference, and how our understanding of man and woman impacts our view of politics.

Subscribe to New Polity Magazine by March 1st to receive Issue 7.1! https://newpolity.com/magazine

The 2026 New Polity Conference is only three months away! Learn more and get your ticket at https...

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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...

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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 deepfake...

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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.

Re...

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Happy New Year! In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Alex Denley discuss New Polity's 2025 year, the books and magazines published, and look ahead to the New Year. Thank you to everyone who read or listened to us this year.

We are excited to announce New Polity's 2026 conference: Man, Woman, Tyrant, Slave. Learn more and register at https://newpolity.com/2026

Please consider donating at https://www.newpolity.com/donate

Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/maga...

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We are excited to announce New Polity's 2026 conference: Man, Woman, Tyrant, Slave. Learn more and register at https://newpolity.com/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...

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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. Pre-order is now available!

In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Michael Boland discuss the critique of America, structures of sin, and the idea of the American people.

We depend on your generous support. Please consider donating at https://www.newpolity.com/donate

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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.

Our double issue of New Polity magazine on Artificial Intelligence is now available for purchase! Including essays by Matthew Crawford, Slavoj Žižek, D. C. Schindler, and many more...

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In this podcast, Alex Denley and Marc Barnes discuss the upcoming New Polity magazine on AI, the Church's social teaching on technocracy and the technocratic paradigm, and the Christian response to Artificial Intelligence.

Pre-order our double issue of New Polity magazine on Artificial Intelligence!

A double issue of New Polity Magazine on Artificial Intelligence.

Andrew Willard Jones on the Humane and the Technocratic.

Matthew Crawford on Losing Ourselves in AI.

Paul Kingsnor...

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Technology has given an untrained humanity unprecedented power over itself. Peter Berkman, following Marshall McLuhan and Romano Guardini, argues that the "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.

Subscribe to New Polity Magazine by Oct 13th to receive Issue 6.2/3 on Artificial Intelligence!

Peter is a member of th...

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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 Charles Marohn sits down with Marc Barnes and Jacob Hyman to discuss how this collapse came about, and how to rebuild the small town.

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Check out our books: https://newpolity.com/press

Read...

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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! https://newpolity.com/magazine.

Alex Denley and Marc Barnes discuss the Christian response to AI, how to safeguard human freedom, and AI as a new industrial revolution.

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In this podcast, Alex Denley and Professor Rocco Buttiglione discuss the problem of globalization, mass migration, and populism. Post-war globalization brought a great increase in international trade, cooperation, technical and educational development, and cultural sharing. However, with open trade came the loss of manufacturing and industry in the West, and the emptying of the working class. Along with mass migration, the people grew to resent their global elite. Professor Buttiglione discusses the Church's response to globalization, and the need for a ne...

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Liberalism is on the defensive. Political discussion is shifting from “what’s wrong with liberalism” to “what’s true about politics”—to the question of what exactly must displace liberalism. In The Politics of the Real, D. C. Schindler takes us to the definitive metaphysical roots of liberal politics: the modern reversal of the priority of act over potency; the modern privileging of empty possibility over flourishing perfection. In this podcast, Michael Boland and D. C. Schindler discuss liberalism, an...

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The development and use of AI chatbots has grown massively. With hundreds of millions of users, OpenAI, XAI, Claude AI, and others have become a normal part of many people's day. Some Christians have an uneasy attitude toward the use of AI Chatbots, while others are supportive and have developed their own. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Alex Denley discuss the moral question: whether Christians should use AI chatbots, and the ramifications that it has on human nature.

Read Marc's e...

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Professor Rocco Buttiglione and Dr. Andrew Willard Jones discuss the rise of nationalism and populism both in Europe and America. What is the proper Catholic understanding of the peoples and nations? How should we navigate a global economic order within modern nation-states? They discuss how the Church has responded to this situation, and how the theology of the peoples can provide an answer.

Rocco Buttiglione's book "Modernity's Alternative: How History is Formed in the Depths of the People" is now avai...

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D. C. Schindler argues that the loss of authority is the greatest of all human crises. When Nietzsche speaks of the death of God, which will lead to calamities, Schindler sees the great loss of authority. Liberalism's dismantling of any authority in favor of the sovereign individual has lead to the collapse of social order and the pursuit of a genuinely common good. In this podcast with Andrew Willard Jones, D. C. Schindler discusses authority and how it can be r...

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We live in a disillusioned political age, one where old liberal arguments no longer have hold. Conservatism has moved into a right-wing politics which no longer sees the value of Christianity. Lost in an ostensibly equal mass, individuals have experienced a loss of identity. New developments in technology, and especially AI, present an existential threat to human agency. In our time (2025) and place (America), we need the social doctrine of the Church.

New Polity is hosting a Mastercl...

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In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Reuben Slife discuss the latest New Polity magazine, Issue 6.1, and specifically the translation of Alberto Methol Ferré's striking essay "The Church, People Among the Peoples." Is the Church a visible people, or a people among the peoples? How does the Church overcome oppositions, universal-particular?

New Polity Magazine Issue 6.1 is available for order.

Rocco Buttiglione's new book Modernity's Alternative is now available from New Polity Press.

Subscribe to New Polit...

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In this podcast, Reuben Slife interviews Rocco Buttiglione about his life and work. Buttiglione was promised by Luigi Guissani, the founder of Communion and Liberation, that a Christian life will never be boring; taking this wager, he discusses his studies with Augusto Del Noce, his early encounters in Poland with Karol Wojtyła, his appointment to the European Union and time as Italian Minister of European Affairs, and the beginning of his friendship with Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argent...