Gomer Believes in Giants Now

Luke and Gomer are back after a recording break, and Luke opens by admitting he left the gas running for fifteen minutes. Gomer has been using AI to research female reproductive health ahead of an NFP episode, and Luke is not having it. The argument ends up on whether a Catholic AI app can actually bring someone into the Church, and Gomer lands somewhere Luke didn’t expect. In This Episode: How researchers are using AI to dig through thousands of studies that never reach the top journals, and the wheat-allergy drug trial it turned up for Gomer’s daughter that none of her allergists had mentioned Why Marshall McLuhan said a new medium changes people regardless of what’s on it, and what that means for parents who hand a kid a screen to calm them down Gomer’s three weeks of AI brain fog, and the daily handwriting habit that got him out Luke calls AI-generated church art borderline sinful Gomer argues that a video series or an app can deliver content, but conversion needs the local parish Resources Mentioned: That Man Is You (Paradisus Dei): https://paradisusdei.org/for-men Catching Foxes on Substack: https://catchingfoxes.substack.com/ Inter Mirifica: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_doc_04121963_inter-mirifica_en.html Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/297276/amusing-ourselves-to-death-by-postman-neil/9780143036531 The Art of Manliness: The New Dark Ages with James Marriott: https://www.artofmanliness.com/culture/books/podcast-1139-the-new-dark-ages-the-death-of-reading-and-the-dawn-of-the-post-literate-society/ Chapters: 00:00: Gas Leaks and Dreamlight Valley 04:47: Prepping for NFP With AI Research 06:49: AI and the Studies Nobody Reads 13:39: What Is AI Doing to Us? 15:31: Inter Mirifica and the Medium Is the Message 20:33: Handing Kids a Screen 26:29: Three Weeks of AI Brain Fog 32:47: AI Art in the Church 41:08: Can a Machine Convert Someone? 43:46: Content vs. Context 01:03:57: McLuhan’s Warning to Maritain 01:15:03: A Birthday Message for Jackie Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios: https://saintkolbestudios.com/

"I'm like wildly obese, right?" Gomer says about eight minutes in, somewhere between defending his protein shake and bringing up David Goggins. He's down thirty pounds. Luke's question, which takes him forty-five minutes to ask outright, is why a guy who'll do all this won't call a therapist. In This Episode: Gomer's actual answer for why he hasn't gone to therapy — he wants the story to be that he white-knuckled it and everything was fine. He calls that a tool of the devil. A listener with an eating disorder background once wrote in to say that picking a diet can just be the disorder wearing different clothes. Gomer calls it a brilliant way of looking at it and then applies it to himself. Why Gomer does mobility work now. His dad's cartilage wore down to bone on bone, walking got hard so he walked less, and the hip replacement in March was followed by death in June. 75 Hard, laid out rule by rule: two forty-five-minute workouts three hours apart with one outdoors in whatever the weather is, ten pages of a nonfiction book, a gallon of water, daily progress photos, no snacks or dessert or alcohol, and back to day one if you miss anything. The book Luke handed him fifteen years ago, which argues that a man who doesn't brush his teeth isn't making a statement about conformity. He's hurting himself on purpose. Chapters: 00:00: Intro 00:25: His father's ashes, and the song he tried to write with AI 05:11: Three kinds of protein in one glass, and whether that counts as extreme 10:30: Neglect as a form of self-hatred 13:56: What a fall after sixty-five actually means 16:42: Dante's circles, and how small things become big ones 21:24: ADHD, water, and why extremes come easier than habits 24:24: 75 Hard, explained in full 31:53: Mobility work, and his father's hip 38:01: Finding the parts of it you actually like 45:54: Why he still hasn't gone to therapy 51:49: The box downstairs he cannot make himself open Resources Mentioned: Catching Foxes on Substack: https://catchingfoxes.substack.com/ No More Mr. Nice Guy by Dr. Robert Glover: https://nomoremrniceguy.com/ 75 Hard: https://andyfrisella.com/pages/75hard-info Exodus 90: https://exodus90.com/ Pray More Retreat: https://praymoreretreat.org/ Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios https://saintkolbestudios.com/

Luke brings up a topic he has been nervous to raise: does the way American Catholics apply the Church's teaching on birth control account for what happens to a person's freedom under real constraint? It's a good conversation. It's not heterodox (we promise). No need to send that email. Gomer walks through his own family's case and then through what the Church actually says about grave matter, full knowledge, and consent of the will. The conversation runs long enough that the fellas decide to finish it next episode. In This Episode: Luke's caveats before the topic: not arguing the Church's teaching, not arguing Humanae Vitae, only asking what full consent looks like when someone's freedom is genuinely constrained Gomer's own case—three miscarriages, an ectopic pregnancy that almost killed Shannon, the doctor's warning that another pregnancy could kill her, and the principle of totality that had to be satisfied before a hysterectomy could be recommended The three conditions for mortal sin, and what pornography, hypersexualization, and monetary inflation do to knowledge and consent Having a lot of kids as a measure of Catholic seriousness, the people who feel judged for three or four, and the practical questions about the pill, IUDs, and abstinence Occasions of sin and why this became a two-part conversation Resources Mentioned: Catching Foxes Website Pope Francis Generation Humanae Vitae by Pope St. Paul VI Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyła Catching Foxes on Substack Chapters: 00:00: Intro 02:15: Rethinking the American Catholic approach to birth control 04:59: Humanae Vitae, and what is not up for debate here 07:53: Full consent, the unitive good, and when NFP does not work 10:16: Gomer's story—miscarriages, an ectopic pregnancy, and the principle of totality 16:49: What mortal sin requires, and growing up in a culture of death 23:48: Settled teaching and where the Church is still exploring 31:38: The pill, IUDs, and abstinence that wounds the marriage 35:10: Psychological impairment, cultural conditioning, and mitigated guilt 50:25: The alcoholic, the crack addict, and near occasions of sin 01:01:09: IVF, the heroically moral choice, and postpartum realities 01:07:40: Unitive and procreative—von Hildebrand, Wojtyła, and splitting the conversation Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios

Luke opens with a confession—he got fuming mad at a Catholic content creator online, posted about it on Instagram, and deleted it in the middle of the night—which turns the show into a long conversation about what men are supposed to do with rage. Dave VanVickle walks through lifting, prayer, and the confessional as outlets. He gets into Taekwondo's golden age, cage matches in Buffalo, and the night he took a knife in the back and still loaded the two men he knocked out into his truck bed and drove them to the emergency room. In This Episode: Luke's temper flare at a Catholic content creator who used a photo of the Pope to score a point about liturgy, the Instagram post he tagged him in, and the middle-of-the-night regret that made him delete it Dave's outlets for rage plus his read that watching the news right now should make a normal man angry Gomer on anger as a blanket over your life, why a lot of anger at the world is really anger at yourself, and giving up the news in 2019 The rad trad and Vatican II debate, Peter Kreeft's question about whether any of those posts are well processed, and Dave building a middle school philosophy course The study claiming the average American man thinks he's 400% more effective in a fight than he actually is Resources Mentioned: Philosophy 101 by Socrates by Peter Kreeft Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Weddell Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace Evangelii Nuntiandi by Pope St. Paul VI Catching Foxes on Substack Support Dave VanVickle on Patreon Chapters: 00:00: Welcome and Dave's New Middle Name 01:58: Luke's Anger Problem and the Influencer Who Set It Off 08:39: Lifting, Running, and Prayer as Outlets 10:57: The Manosphere and Men Who Stopped Reading 14:42: Gomer on Turning the Anger Dial Down 21:08: Rad Trads, Vatican II, and Peter Kreeft's Question 25:45: Infinite Jest and the Parasocial Prophecy 27:56: Teaching Plato to Seventh Graders 33:25: Dave's Complete Fighting Résumé 42:16: The Knife in the Back at Shenanigans 50:20: It's Not Like the Movies and the 400% Study 1:08:00: Closing Question—Combat Sports and the NFL Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios

Luke and Gomer talk about the passing of Gomer's father, but the episode isn't all doom and gloom (just the appropriate amount). Also included this week: an attempted murder, gray-market drugs, and a review of The Odyssey. In This Episode: Luke and Gomer compare notes on sleep, snoring, and inheriting their dads' blood pressure meds The legend of Dave Van Vickel: grocery deliveries, a mid-street knife fight, and a jury summons A review of The Odyssey movie, mythology demythologized, and Elliot Page's casting Gomer reflects on his father's death, anticipatory grief, the Sirach 38 reading, and the funeral Don Gormley's Shell/Texaco career stories, plus Luke's deep dive into nasal breathing, buzz breathing, nitric oxide, and gray-market Redatrutide Chapters: 00:00: Intro — Sleep Problems and a New YouTube Rabbit Hole 06:09: Blood Pressure Meds, Family History, and Following in Dad's Footsteps 08:21: The Legend of Dave Van Vickel (Knife Fights and Groceries) 16:53: Sponsor — Faith Mosier, Dallas Healing House 18:37: The Odyssey Movie Review 24:41: Back to Dad — Carrying His Ashes and the Sirach 38 Reading 32:11: Anticipatory Grief, Hard Conversations, and the Funeral 1:00:47: Don Gormley's Career — From Skelly Oil to the Shell Tanker Standoff 1:10:04: Sponsor — Cloister Ignatian Prayer App 1:14:16: Welcome to the Dead Dads Club 1:16:34: Nasal Breathing, Buzz Breathing, and Nitric Oxide 1:32:02: Redatrutide, GLP-1s, and Wrapping Up Resources Mentioned: Dallas Healing House Cloister Ignatian Prayer ParishSOFT Catching Foxes Substack Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios

Gomer's dad is out of the hospital and in a care home and this episode starts there, in the territory of walking a parent toward the end of his life. Luke and Gomer work through the lessons Gomer has picked up in the trenches: what hospitals won't tell you, how to have the DNR conversation, and why AI has become an unlikely companion through all of it. In This Episode: Why hospitals won't spell out what's actually happening with your loved one and how Gomer used AI to decode his dad's medical charts and communicate clearly with family Lesson one from the hospital: no one will tell you what's going on unless you make them, and the only people who will are in palliative care The do-over myth and why middle age is when you realize the world stopped giving them to you—you don't go back, you live with the scar tissue The DNR conversation: what it actually means, why outside-of-hospital DNR requires a signed document on the door, and why you should have it sooner than you think When specialists miss the whole person: how productivity-driven, siloed medicine can leave no one reading the full picture Chapters: 00:00: Welcome Back 00:46: Gomer's Dad and the Care Home 02:08: Lesson One—Hospitals Won't Tell You Anything 07:25: Luke's Dad and Losing People Too Soon 20:00: The Gradual Decline You Can't See Coming 24:00: Reality, Do-Overs, and the Things That Can't Be Undone 29:38: When Specialists Miss the Whole Person 37:54: The DNR Conversation 41:47: Big Fish and What We Learn from Our Parents' Stories 48:21: What Parents Say When They Think It's Time 53:23: AI, Claude, and the Bot That Said It Was Praying for You Resources Mentioned: Rebuilding Mum and Dad (YouTube) Catching Foxes on Substack Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios

After a two-month hiatus, Luke and Gomer are back. This episode opens with a conversation about Gomer's father Don's ongoing health decline, the emotional and logistical chaos of elder care, and the conversations no one prepares you to have. From there, the fellas pivot to AI, the World Cup, Hollywood Botox, and the slow enshitification of everything. In This Episode: The full story of Gomer's dad Don's hip replacement, repeated ER visits, and the family's difficult reckoning with permanent skilled nursing care What no one tells you about Medicaid's "look back" provisions, the true cost of elder care, and why planning ahead matters far more than most families realize Gomer's complete 180 on AI and how tools like Claude and ChatGPT have become indispensable for managing his father's medical records, medications, and care in real time Euthanasia, modern medicine's ability to keep people alive without keeping them well, and what it means to age with dignity What they're angry, excited, and concerned about: home construction costs, the Fox Sports World Cup AI ad, The Iliad film, and Hollywood's Botox problem Chapters: 00:00: Welcome Back 02:07: Gomer's Dad's Health Crisis 10:06: End-of-Life Conversations 18:54: Navigating Elder Care and Medicaid 31:39: Euthanasia, Modern Medicine, and Keeping People Alive 42:43: From AI Skeptic to AI Convert 51:29: AI in Practice: Research and Healthcare 01:06:37: What Are You Angry, Excited, and Concerned About? 01:10:09: The Enshitification of Everything Resources Mentioned: Catching Foxes on Patreon Catching Foxes on Substack Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios

This is a nephilim-heavy episode. Strap in! Also, please pray for Gomer's son, Noah. You'll hear all about it in the episode. Enjoy!

The fellas talk about the fragility of life. Also, Luke may or may not have taken a lover (in a tasteful way). Want to know for sure? You'll have to listen! Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios

Luke and Gomer discuss a variety of topics; some light, some heavy. The two recount their experiences at (different) SEEK conferences and offer their thoughts on the heaviness and difficulty that seems to be moving through the lives of many public-facing Catholics, most recently Paul J. Kim. If you're tired of hearing AI critiques and why AI is killing you (it is), you'll love the first 60 minutes or so. You may want to bow out before the end, if you're a big fan of AI or of Morlocks. Enjoy! Thanks to Saint Kolbe Studios for producing this podcast!