Is political cowardice keeping abortion legal? | In conversation with Chris Smith

Andrew Cusack speaks to Professor Jacob Phillips, about the theological legacy of Benedict XVI, from his lifelong engagement with history and the Second Vatican Council to where a reader might begin with his work today. The conversation moves from Newman and the German Anglophile tradition to whether England remains a post-Christian country, and from the ethics of assisted dying to migration and the balance between love of neighbour and love of nation.🔴 THIS SERIESIn Conversation With UK | Episode #1In Conversation With UK is a Catholic Herald podcast hosted by Andrew Cusack, featuring candid discussions on politics, culture, faith and the Church.🔴 CREDITSHost: Andrew CusackGuest: Jacob PhillipsProduction Team: Arcadia Digital🔴 SUBSCRIPTIONSSince 1888, the Catholic Herald has been one of the leading voices of Catholic thought, reporting, and commentary around the world.As a subscriber, you’ll gain full access to our journalism—offering serious analysis, faithful reporting, and informed perspectives on the issues shaping the Church and the world.Join us here: https://thecatholicherald.com/subscribe🔴 SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.herald/X: https://x.com/CatholicHeraldFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatholicHeraldMagazine🔴 WEBSITESFor more content, visit our website: https://thecatholicherald.com/🔴 SUBSCRIBESubscribing to this channel helps us to grow and reach more people. It's simple and free, and we'd greatly appreciate it.

Dr Jonathan J Sanford, president of the University of Dallas, joins Mary Margaret Olohan to discuss why he believes artificial intelligence can never replace a genuine liberal arts education, how the University of Dallas has produced 12 bishops and the US ambassador to the Holy See through its core curriculum and why he says the Catholic universities that broke from the Church in the 1960s Land O'Lakes movement traded away their excellence.🔴 THIS SERIESIn Conversation With | Episode #8In Conversation With is a Catholic Herald podcast hosted by Mary Margaret Olohan, featuring candid discussions on politics, culture, faith and the Church.🔴 CREDITSHost: Mary Margaret OlohanGuest: Claire LaiFilm Crew: Cavern CollectiveProduction Team: Arcadia Digital🔴 SUBSCRIPTIONSSince 1888, the Catholic Herald has been one of the leading voices of Catholic thought, reporting, and commentary around the world.As a subscriber, you’ll gain full access to our journalism—offering serious analysis, faithful reporting, and informed perspectives on the issues shaping the Church and the world.Join us here: https://thecatholicherald.com/subscribe🔴 SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.herald/X: https://x.com/CatholicHeraldFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatholicHeraldMagazine🔴 WEBSITESFor more content, visit our website: https://thecatholicherald.com/🔴 SUBSCRIBESubscribing to this channel helps us to grow and reach more people. It's simple and free, and we'd greatly appreciate it.

Is one of the world's most prominent Catholic journalists being slowly broken in a Hong Kong prison cell? Claire Lai joins Mary Margaret Olsen to tell the story of her father Jimmy Lai — founder of Apple Daily, convicted under a law written to destroy him — and the remarkable faith that has held him through 1,927 days of solitary confinement. With Britain and the Trump administration now raising his case, she has one request: don't let him be forgotten.🔴 THIS SERIESIn Conversation With | Episode #7In Conversation With is a Catholic Herald podcast hosted by Mary Margaret Olohan, featuring candid discussions on politics, culture, faith and the Church.🔴 CREDITSHost: Mary Margaret OlohanGuest: Claire LaiFilm Crew: Cavern CollectiveProduction Team: Arcadia Digital🔴 SUBSCRIPTIONSSince 1888, the Catholic Herald has been one of the leading voices of Catholic thought, reporting, and commentary around the world.As a subscriber, you’ll gain full access to our journalism—offering serious analysis, faithful reporting, and informed perspectives on the issues shaping the Church and the world.Join us here: https://thecatholicherald.com/subscribe🔴 SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.herald/X: https://x.com/CatholicHeraldFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatholicHeraldMagazine🔴 WEBSITESFor more content, visit our website: https://thecatholicherald.com/🔴 SUBSCRIBESubscribing to this channel helps us to grow and reach more people. It's simple and free, and we'd greatly appreciate it.

What does it actually cost to spend nearly five decades defending life on Capitol Hill? Mary Margaret sits down with Congressman Chris Smith, co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus, to trace a career built on hate mail, death threats, and legislation most Americans have never heard of. Smith authored the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 — the law used to convict Ghislaine Maxwell and nearly 5,000 other exploiters — and its follow-up bill has already died twice in the Senate. On abortion, he cites a study finding nearly 1 in 10 women suffer serious complications from the abortion pill, and argues the silence around it isn't caution, it's a cover-up nobody in power wants to answer for. After watching colleague after colleague abandon the pro-life cause once they reached higher office, Smith's conclusion is blunt: conviction, not caution, is the only thing that's ever actually held the line.🔴 THIS SERIESIn Conversation With | Episode #8In Conversation With is a Catholic Herald podcast hosted by Mary Margaret Olohan, featuring candid discussions on politics, culture, faith and the Church.🔴 CREDITSHost: Mary Margaret OlohanGuest: Chris SmithFilm Crew: Cavern CollectiveProduction Team: Arcadia Digital🔴 SUBSCRIPTIONSSince 1888, the Catholic Herald has been one of the leading voices of Catholic thought, reporting, and commentary around the world.As a subscriber, you’ll gain full access to our journalism—offering serious analysis, faithful reporting, and informed perspectives on the issues shaping the Church and the world.Join us here: https://thecatholicherald.com/subscribe🔴 SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.herald/X: https://x.com/CatholicHeraldFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatholicHeraldMagazine🔴 WEBSITESFor more content, visit our website: https://thecatholicherald.com/🔴 SUBSCRIBESubscribing to this channel helps us to grow and reach more people. It's simple and free, and we'd greatly appreciate it.

Is the pro-life movement winning the argument while losing the battle on the ground? Mary Margaret sits down with Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, to take stock of the movement in the wake of Dobbs. Despite 20 states passing strong pro-life protections, abortion rates have climbed, driven by an unregulated flood of abortion pills no one in power seems willing to restrict. Dannenfelser argues that the Republican silence on life isn't political prudence, it's political suicide: a base depressed is a base that stays home. With the 2028 presidential field already taking shape, she makes the case that courage on this issue isn't just a moral obligation. It's the only strategy that works.🔴 THIS SERIESIn Conversation With | Episode #5In Conversation With is a Catholic Herald podcast hosted by Mary Margaret Olohan, featuring candid discussions on politics, culture, faith and the Church.🔴 CREDITSHost: Mary Margaret OlohanGuest: Marjorie DannenfelserFilm Crew: Cavern CollectiveProduction Team: Arcadia Digital🔴 SUBSCRIPTIONSSince 1888, the Catholic Herald has been one of the leading voices of Catholic thought, reporting, and commentary around the world.As a subscriber, you’ll gain full access to our journalism—offering serious analysis, faithful reporting, and informed perspectives on the issues shaping the Church and the world.Join us here: https://thecatholicherald.com/subscribe🔴 SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.herald/X: https://x.com/CatholicHeraldFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatholicHeraldMagazine🔴 WEBSITESFor more content, visit our website: https://thecatholicherald.com/🔴 SUBSCRIBESubscribing to this channel helps us to grow and reach more people. It's simple and free, and we'd greatly appreciate it.

Is telling the truth the most countercultural act in an age of lies? Mary Margaret sits down with Fr Gregory Pine OP, Dominican priest and author, to examine the moral and spiritual weight of speech. From the algorithms that quietly corrupt Christian witness online, to the sins of gossip and detraction that substitute for genuine communion, Pine argues that every word we speak is either an investment in relationship or a foreclosure on it — and that truth-telling, however inconvenient, is the only foundation on which a shared life can be built.🔴 THIS SERIESIn Conversation With | Episode #4In Conversation With is a Catholic Herald podcast hosted by Mary Margaret Olohan, featuring candid discussions on politics, culture, faith and the Church.🔴 CREDITSHost: Mary Margaret OlohanGuest: Fr Gregory PineFilm Crew: Cavern CollectiveProduction Team: Arcadia Digital🔴 SUBSCRIPTIONSSince 1888, the Catholic Herald has been one of the leading voices of Catholic thought, reporting, and commentary around the world.As a subscriber, you’ll gain full access to our journalism—offering serious analysis, faithful reporting, and informed perspectives on the issues shaping the Church and the world.Join us here: https://thecatholicherald.com/subscribe🔴 SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.herald/X: https://x.com/CatholicHeraldFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatholicHeraldMagazine🔴 WEBSITESFor more content, visit our website: https://thecatholicherald.com/🔴 SUBSCRIBESubscribing to this channel helps us to grow and reach more people. It's simple and free, and we'd greatly appreciate it.

Can etiquette and faith actually change minds — or just smooth over conflict? Mary Margaret sits down with Alison Cheperdak, etiquette author and former White House staffer, to examine what good manners are really for. From her Irish Catholic upbringing and time in the Trump West Wing, to navigating conversations about abortion and the quiet return of younger women to tradition, Cheperdak argues that etiquette is not about performance but about respect — and that it may be the one thing AI can never replace.🔴 THIS SERIESIn Conversation With | Episode #3In Conversation With is a Catholic Herald podcast hosted by Mary Margaret Olohan, featuring candid discussions on politics, culture, faith and the Church.🔴 CREDITSHost: Mary Margaret OlohanGuest: Alison CheperdakFilm Crew: Cavern CollectiveProduction Team: Arcadia Digital🔴 SUBSCRIPTIONSSince 1888, the Catholic Herald has been one of the leading voices of Catholic thought, reporting, and commentary around the world.As a subscriber, you’ll gain full access to our journalism—offering serious analysis, faithful reporting, and informed perspectives on the issues shaping the Church and the world.Join us here: https://thecatholicherald.com/subscribe🔴 SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.herald/X: https://x.com/CatholicHeraldFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatholicHeraldMagazine🔴 WEBSITESFor more content, visit our website: https://thecatholicherald.com/🔴 SUBSCRIBESubscribing to this channel helps us to grow and reach more people. It's simple and free, and we'd greatly appreciate it.

Is Ireland's Catholic revival real — or is the establishment determined to bury it? Mary Margaret Olohan sits down with Declan Ganley, Irish entrepreneur and political campaigner, to examine the true state of Catholicism in Ireland. From the rigging of the 2018 abortion referendum and the blocking of a pro-life presidential candidate, to the iconoclasm of a president who stripped Saint Patrick of his title, Ganley speaks candidly about what Ireland has lost and what may be returning. He also addresses mass migration, the withholding of crime statistics, children missing from state care, and why he believes the alternatives to the Gospel have been tried, tested, and found wanting.🔴 THIS SERIESIn Conversation With | Episode #2In Conversation With is a Catholic Herald podcast hosted by Mary Margaret Olohan, featuring candid discussions on politics, culture, faith and the Church.🔴 CREDITSHost: Mary Margaret OlohanGuest: Declan GanleyFilm Crew: Cavern CollectiveProduction Team: Arcadia Digital🔴 SUBSCRIPTIONSSince 1888, the Catholic Herald has been one of the leading voices of Catholic thought, reporting, and commentary around the world.As a subscriber, you’ll gain full access to our journalism—offering serious analysis, faithful reporting, and informed perspectives on the issues shaping the Church and the world.Join us here: https://thecatholicherald.com/subscribe🔴 SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.herald/X: https://x.com/CatholicHeraldFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatholicHeraldMagazine🔴 WEBSITESFor more content, visit our website: https://thecatholicherald.com/🔴 SUBSCRIBESubscribing to this channel helps us to grow and reach more people. It's simple and free, and we'd greatly appreciate it.

Is faith returning to American public life? Mary Margaret Olohan sits down with former Senator Rick Santorum to discuss the changing place of Catholicism in American politics. From the rise of more outspoken Catholic voices in politics to the battle over marriage, education, family life and moral truth, Santorum reflects on what has changed in the United States, and what is still at stake. He also speaks candidly about homeschooling, faith in public office, the loss of his son, and why he came to see his public witness as inseparable from his Catholic faith.🔴 THIS SERIESIn Conversation With | Episode #1In Conversation With is a Catholic Herald podcast hosted by Mary Margaret Olohan, featuring candid discussions on politics, culture, faith and the Church.🔴 CREDITSHost: Mary Margaret OlohanGuest: Senator Rick SantorumFilm Crew: Cavern CollectiveProduction Team: Arcadia Digital🔴 SUBSCRIPTIONSSince 1888, the Catholic Herald has been one of the leading voices of Catholic thought, reporting, and commentary around the world.As a subscriber, you’ll gain full access to our journalism—offering serious analysis, faithful reporting, and informed perspectives on the issues shaping the Church and the world.Join us here: https://thecatholicherald.com/subscribe🔴 SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholic.herald/X: https://x.com/CatholicHeraldFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatholicHeraldMagazine🔴 WEBSITESFor more content, visit our website: https://thecatholicherald.com/🔴 SUBSCRIBESubscribing to this channel helps us to grow and reach more people. It's simple and free, and we'd greatly appreciate it.

This is a new video series by the Catholic Herald titled In Conversation With, hosted by Mary Margaret Olohan. Each episode features in-depth discussions with leading voices in politics, culture, and the Church, exploring the defining moral, spiritual, and social questions of our time. With a focus on clarity, conviction, and the renewal of faith in public life, the series offers thoughtful, candid conversations rooted in the Catholic tradition. New episodes are released fortnightly on Wednesday at 7pm.