Pints With Aquinas - Rating Previous Pints Sets + A Studio Blessing | Ft. Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Introducing Last Call, an evening show with Matt Fradd for those of you that need another round. Kick back and enjoy as Fr. Gregory Pine and Matt Fradd reminisce on the various Pints sets of yore and join us in prayer as Father bestows an Epiphany blessing upon the new studio.  Pints: Last Call Ep. 1 📚More From Fr. Gregory:  The Thomistic Institute: https://youtube.com/@thomisticinstitute?si=jU6yRx4HrRgWi0oh Godsplaining Podcast: https://godsplaining.org/ Your Eucharistic Identity: https://a.co/d/6i9wkEe Training the Tongue and Growing Beyond Sins of Speech: https://a.co/d/caY4pJE - - - Today's Sponsors: Good Ranchers - Get $25 off your first order and save up to $500 a year when you use code PINTS at https://GoodRanchers.com PreBorn - Make a difference for generations to come. Donate securely online at https://preborn.com/PINTS or dial #250 keyword 'BABY'   Hallow - Deepen your personal relationship with God today. Visit https://hallow.com/MattFradd to get 3 months free. - - - Become a Daily Wire Member and watch all of our content ad-free: ⁠https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe⁠ 🍿 The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin is now streaming exclusively on DailyWire+ Watch now: https://dwplus.watch/ThePendragon - - - 📕 Get my newest book, Jesus Our Refuge, here: https://a.co/d/bDU0xLb 🍺 Want to Support Pints With Aquinas? 🍺 Get episodes a week early and join exclusive live streams with me! Become an annual supporter at 👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://mattfradd.locals.com/support⁠⁠⁠ - - - 💻 Follow Me on Social Media: 📌 Facebook: https://facebook.com/mattfradd 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/mattfradd 𝕏 Twitter/X: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/Pints_W_Aquinas⁠⁠ 🎵 TikTok: ⁠⁠https://tiktok.com/@pintswithaquinas⁠⁠ 📚 PWA Merch – ⁠⁠https://dwplus.shop/MattFraddMerch⁠ 👕 Grab your favorite PWA gear here: https://shop.pintswithaquinas.com - - - Privacy Policy: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.dailywire.com/privacy⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gidey, everybody. I am sitting here today with my good friend, Father Gregory Pine, who has really been involved with Pines with Aquinas from the beginning back when it was merely an audio-only podcast to when it went through that cringe period of the Matt Fraud Show, when I had different studios in my house and in Stubenville and in Florida. And so we are going today, it's going to be very fun, look at videos of the two of us, since I've had him in every different studio. we're going to watch ourselves, make fun of ourselves, talk about the different sets leading up to today. And so I hope you'll enjoy it and let us know in the comment section, which was your favorite set and what may be the cringiest set. And then after that, we are going to

have Father Gregory Pine bless the studio. So please stick around to that because we're going to follow him around with a camera and you'll get to see a bit of behind the scenes of the new studio. Yeah. All right, Father Pine, thank you so much for being here. We are going to go down memory lane. We're going to look at some old sets. Now, I actually haven't seen these old sets. I asked Maria to go through the catalog of Pines with Aquinas sets.

And we're going to look at where we've been up until now. Yes. Now, the first time I heard of you, I was living in North Georgia Mountains at Covecrest. You know where Covecrest is? It's like a Catholic camp. I've heard of it. It's by Tiger and Clayton. And I was running Pines with Aquinas as an audio podcast. And you were doing a podcast in Kentucky? Kentucky.

Kentucky Thomism. Yeah. I was working at a parish, St. Louisville, Kentucky. And we just put the things that we said at RCA, young adults, and lecture series on a podcast. Somebody asked me recently, they said, what do you think Thomas Aquinas is going to say to you in heaven? Which is presumptuous. But I said, I never knew you. But so I'm really glad that you've been able to be a figure, a reoccurring kind of guest, because you'll make up my poverty.

But I remember listening to those podcasts and thinking, wow, this guy's both really intelligent and really smart. You've got this great ability to break down really complex things. So that's when I heard you. Do you remember what our first episode was? Was that what Thomas Aquinas have listened to Metallica? Yeah. Let's go. Yeah.

Yeah. I think so I barely heard of podcasts at that point in my life. I'd never listened to one, but then the man with whom I was living, like I was living in a community of six, but one of the men with whom I was living was the one who had the idea for Kentucky Thomism. And so I had some vague sense that it was a thing that people did. But then when you emailed me and said, would you come on my podcast, Pines with Aquinas? I was like, sure, you know? But I like, I just didn't really, I didn't have a sense of what that meant, like, that people went on other people's podcasts. I just thought that, like, Proeo-Viccors in the United States put their lectures online and called it a podcast, but I was like, ooh, there's more to this. So I also, the first time we did it, you remember that the interview was, like, it was unsavageable because my computer was so trashy.

Oh, I'm so glad it was your fault. Yeah, it was my fault. No, yeah, because I had, like, one of these, like, IBM sold to Lenovo. I had one of these, like, Lenovo terrible think pad things. It was like 400 bucks, and it was on its way out. I don't remember this. Okay. And I, like, didn't even have good mic.

I mean, like my microphone was trash, my headphones, everything was trash. It was all trash. And you're like, yeah, I don't think we can use this. Is it possible for you too? So I borrowed one of my brother's computers and his headphones, just like the standard issue, IMac ones. And then I went to the university where I was teaching, Bellarmine University, where I didn't have an office because I was an adjunct.

And I just recorded from one of like the study carols in the library. So that reminds me of the first time I ever interviewed Jonathan Rumi, right, who plays Jesus in The Chosen, he's a big deal. It was a big interview. was very kind of him. Do you know what I'm going to say? Yeah. No. I, this is awful. Oh, I had everything set up. It was a virtual interview. We talked for about an hour and then we wrapped up and I realized that I had myself on mute the entire time. So it was me going, and him given, what do you do? Because he followed me. I knew he followed me on Facebook because

he would sometimes like things and comment. Yeah. So I couldn't just not post it and pretend it never happened, he was so gracious. Oh, man. He said, of course, I'll come, I'll come back on and do it. Now, that's a humble move. That is. Because I would have been pretty upset if I would. Yeah. Not upset, but just like, now, I'm sorry, like, I gave you this time. You want me to come back on? Yeah. But he did. He came back on. That's, I mean, like, in the early day, I mean, whatever, podcast, and we're all doing things over the internet during COVID, whether through like this recording software or that recording software, you were doing like, you were recording Skype calls there for a bit. That's right. Which is wild. And then we had like Riverside and Iris and

yada, yada, it doesn't matter. Yeah. But there were so many back end issues. Like I spent, so while I was running my dissertation, I think that I probably spent two full weeks trying to figure out tech problems, many of which were like this people, whatever, this service just updated their back end and didn't tell us and it doesn't actually work yet. So I'm glad that we do things in person now. Yeah, me too. Let's take a look at this first one and we can comment on it. So this is so embarrassing to look at for me. I don't know about you. We just met here.

Yeah. This was at a studio just north of Atlanta, close to where I lived. Man. Look at you. Dude, babe in the woods. I've got that same forehead divot that I've always had. Yeah, how did you get that? Soccer.

Playing soccer, I went head-to-head with a guy, and he came out on top. Man, you're young there. I know. You look so much better with that beard. I appreciate that. Everyone must say that. Dude, look at your noble chin. Yeah, thank you for trying to find something.

to say about me. So this is funny. Right. So I came up with Pints with Aquinas. So here's what happened. I called a friend of mine. I said, I want to do a podcast around Aquinas where we look at an article of the Sumer. And I said, what do you think? Because he was known to have some good ideas. And he said, what about the Aquinas return? Which was the worst anyone has ever given for anything. I said, what? He said, yeah, like tennis. You know, you get it, you hit it to him. He returns it to you. Oh, nice. So I hung up on him. I haven't. Never, never talked to to him since. Yeah.

And we came out with Pines of the Kuanis. It was a much better idea. But then, so that was an audio show, right? So when I started doing video shows like this, and I could only afford to do it once a month, because that cost like $1,000. Dang. Just to sit down for an hour, which was money I did not have. So actually, people don't know.

You know who Brian Haldsworth is? Yes. He's an old friend of mine. That's awesome. We knew each other before the internet existed or almost. Okay. Not quite. But, yeah, not from Net, but I knew him while I was with Net.

And he came up with that logo. He did that logo. That's awesome. The Matt Frad Show. That lasted for what? Five minutes. Yeah. Well, it was weird because I was trying to balance two brands.

I was doing a weekly Pints with Aquinas where I was looking in an article of the Sumer. And I didn't want this to be restricted to that. So I felt the need to come up with a different name. But then it turned out, you know, we're really just talking about philosophy. And so I thought, okay, let's just bring the two together, call it. Must unite the cleanse. Yeah. Call it Paints with Aquinas.

Yeah. Which is funny because in a recent interview you did with me at the Tomistic Institute. Yeah. You said, why Aquinas? Why not Pines with Dostaski? And I said, well, it may as well be at this point. I think the students there, you know, they were scandalized that you're not identifying yourself as a Tomas. You're like, I'm not even sure if I'm not even know what it means.

I think I know what it means. I could definitely talk for three minutes in a way that makes you think I know what it means. No, I'm not too terribly concerned about it. Yeah. Can we go back? You also made fun of the way in which European people throw out their trash. That was the highlight. How did they throw? Oh, I think I made, yeah, in Ukraine.

You were just making reference to the fact that they separate your trash. Oh my gosh. You know, like that can't happen. Now, I was in Austria. It's a very clean place. So maybe the 18 trash cans that you need a spreadsheet to figure out is a good idea. This is funny. I guess I had an idea that having these little figurines,

was fun. I mean, it's not funny. It's actually not the worst, is it? Like that dark background. Yeah. That table was not attached to anything. Oh, really? Is it just hanging out? I think that brown table just sat on a black table. Is that the black thing that we're looking at on the left?

I think so. Yeah. Also, that's like first-gen Pines with Equina's stickers there. Yeah. Yeah, which is nice. I remember seeing you at Seek shortly thereafter and you were handing those out. Yeah. Yeah. All right, let's go to the next. one. Here we go. I don't even know what's about to show up. Oh my gosh, we're way too close to each other. That's at your house, yeah? Yeah. Dude, look at that. It's got that. Oh, what? I remember I like broke a book

behind me? I don't remember that. No, so like it was like something, some precious possession of yours from the 18th century on that shelf and I stood up too quickly and I knocked it off the shelf and I broke the binding on a book. And you're like, it's fine. Like the way the Jonathan Rumee was like, it's fine. Oh, I'm a good person. You are a good person. So that, uh, I like, I love it. I like, that flag. I really like that flag because it's hand-stitched. I don't know. Yeah, the thing is hand-stitched. Nice. But back when we're looking at you, there is a photo of St. Mary Macillop behind your back. Yes. First, kind of a saint of Australia. There it is. I created her tomb. Beautiful. Yeah. She's lovely. Yeah, Mary Mac. Mary Mac. So that was given to me by Jason Everett

when I joined Catholic Answers. Nice. I took over his old office and he had bought that for me and left it for me, which was pretty nice. There's the old Pines of the Kewan. Yes. Oh, also in between the first one and this one, we did that one in D.C. You remember that? Oh, talk about that. It was like, it was Catherine Hedro hosted us. And they gave us each a bottle of whiskey. It was back in the drink. They asked us, what, is your favorite whiskey? Yeah. And you had, what, Lagoval and 8? Yeah, the 16. 16. Let's go. Don't shortcham. And I had Henry McKeon of 12, which is like my at the time favorite mid-tier bourbon. And we both had like a drink. and a half before the thing started. And I just remember being very honest, very honest. Yeah,

that was an interesting. Okay, so there was a time, I was, I, back in the day, I lived in Canada, I flew out a ex-playboy producer and I interviewed him in a punk bar in Ottawa, Canada. This was back when I was doing my anti-porn stuff. Okay. That seemed rather avant-garde and creative, so I thought we'd show the world, like with the reality behind the fantasy of pornography. That's not the story. The story is I actually drank too much while I was on stage. Yeah. And I didn't mean to.

Yeah. I was just having a good time and I thought it would be fun to have some beers. And I probably had, I don't know, man. I just remember talking and the words weren't coming quickly. And I was like, I will never do this again. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, we weren't. I mean, like, I think both of us, both of us were fine in the sense that neither of us were.

to the point of hilarity or intoxication. No. But I just remember it being very, very honest. Yeah. I almost forgot about that. Isn't it amazing that you can do something like pints with Aquinas or the Tamisica shoot for so long that people then have to remind you of things that you wouldn't have remembered that probably.

Yeah. Anyway, so that was in my house in Georgia. Yep. Oh, that was the book then? Oh, no. No. That was like some version of the summa that we headed on? Yeah, that was, so I bought that summa off Etsy.

Nice. I was pretty pumped about it and then realized it's all in Latin, which is fine. It's probably better. I just don't know how to read Latin. Yeah. My bad posture tendencies had already set in at this point. Very close. I'm beginning of life. Very close to each other. You know what I mean? Also, look at my mitts. Look at those big hands. You're a big guy. Man, also my watch looks monstrous. Did I have a monstrous watch? Well, the angles are a bit weird, eh? Yeah. Well, what's funny is this short amount of time, which was just before and just after COVID lockdown. It felt like technology

in relation to filming and streaming, it's skyrocketed, didn't it? It was. So this was Neil McDonough. He was the fella. Dude, I love Neil. He's a great fella. He came with me to Stubanville for a bit.

Hey, look at that. We're on the chalky. Got the chalky on now. Good go me. All right. So that was the second set. Oh, my good Lord. Look at that beard.

Those are the beard times. I think this is the beginning of pandemic, right? Yeah. What do you think about that beard, father? What does everyone in the comments section think about that beard? Nice. It's hard to see because of the lighting. It was definitely scraggly.

It's not clear where your beer ends slash begins. It also, that wasn't at its peak. It did hit a peak. That was not it. Okay. My beard doesn't get more impressive with greater length that just gets puffier. And I think there's actually something unimpressive about puffitude. So I see what you mean

You know This was a room that I rented And it was in this little It was right by a therapist's office And something else And I just did my little streams from there And there was no interviews Except by Skype

That's funny See that icon of our lord On the bottom left there Look it's right there Come on There it is indeed That's great Let's go

And then I had one punch man Up there for some reason Probably inspired by Hey come on! Oh yeah Look at you. Dude, look at that. Yep.

That's why they showed this one. I was like, why is it just... I remember that, Mike. That was a Yeti blue. Hey, what are you drinking? You were drinking a pint of the Aquinas mug. I think I was drinking on the mug. I think you sent it to me with that express intention.

Yep. Yeah, that was working for the Timistic Institute between 2018 and 2020. Just thinking life was great. But I remember this. This is like right when the pandemic started. Look at it. I'm showing my Stein. This is right when the pandemic started.

Okay. That was like April, I want to say. Timistic Institute-wise, we just started the quarantine lectures. So we were also. like getting way up to speed when it came to live streaming and stuff. Yeah, everyone was. But, yeah, that office is right above the main door at the Dominican House of Buddies. I love that.

Yeah. Oh, you can see some Labrardette in the background, my favorite moral theologian, some Terrell. Oh, those are the books, man. Those are the good times. I still have those books. Good. I was interviewing you once. It was in a different, I don't know if we'll come to it or not, but I have told you this before.

You and I were doing a Skype interview. and the lighting on me must have just been awful. Like, your lighting is not great. No, it's not. I've got, like, huge windows right in front of me. So I was doing this interview with you, and it was about Lent. And someone said, and this man has lived rent-free in my brain for about eight years now. He said, well, Matt's Lent's off to a good start, because I just look so gaunt.

All right. People are good that way in the comment section. Oh, yeah. So I was looking out for us. I interviewed my mate, John Henry Span, and somebody said, This man looks like he is one ham sandwich away from a heart attack. Oh my gosh. Which is such an excellent creative insult.

That's savage. All right, let's go to the next one. Come on. Nice. There we go. Stooby boobies. That's gotta be what, maybe 2021? What am I doing?

You're explaining your hair by comparison to my lack of hair? This is when people started commenting on the fact that I was balding. Look at that beard. Yeah. So good. No, then this had to have been in 2023. So let me ask, okay, was it? Yeah, I guess we did a bunch of stuff remote.

We may have done something before this, because these camera angles are too legit. Yeah. When I started out, okay, so there was an interview. This is how little I cared, apparently. I interviewed a Franciscan Frye out of the renewal, but I didn't have a producer. So I did the camera switching myself.

I would, I remember that, actually. Because I did an episode with Father Bonaventure in this studio, and I myself was switching. Yeah, so it was like, We had just done an episode but Father Bonaventure was in town and we were both staying at Father Tim Danaher's parents' house

which is next door to Zeff's house and so at one point you were like I had to do because I was doing month no I was doing weekly installments at that point I did weekly installments from like December of 2020 up until whatever and so I was like I'm due for one while I'm here is it all if I use your studio and you said yes and I was like Father Bonaventure

you want to join me and I was like no and I was like do you want to join me? He's like okay so yes so we have that flag there it is so this this is funny So this was on like the seventh floor of a basically bombed out building. Yeah. With the Huntington Bank on the ground. With the Huntington Bank that went out of business.

Did it. Yeah, the student. Sad. God bless it. And there was an elevator that almost never worked. That's not true. It occasionally didn't work. Who's that Ted Kaczynski.

Not Ted Kaczynski. That's somebody else. Ted Lassau. No, no, definitely not. Austria. Austin. Who's that Catholic philosopher who wrote a book on Aquinas. and happiness from the University of Austin.

J.B. Paholtschev. Bujashevsky. So Bujashevsky. Man, what's he? 70 or something? He's getting there. He comes to my office and the elevator didn't work.

He had to walk up with me seven flights of stairs. Again, everyone should just keep in mind. It's a really old building with nothing in it. People were so kind. I had Jordan Peterson in that studio. That's awesome. I remember thinking the elevator might not. not work today. And this is Jordan Peterson. He's probably used to elevators that work. Yeah,

or elevators that fly. But I don't know that. I'm going to get, I don't either. But you're probably going to get spicy content from him regardless. In a sense, he's probably going to say things in a somewhat wild fashion. I remember, you know, post-opping with you on that. You're like, it was wild. Yeah, it was good. You know, you got to take these risks, don't you? That's right. So that is a first-class relic of St. Thomas Aquinas in the middle. Let's go. I gave that away. Shane Smith, if you're watching, I'd like it back. I know I said you could have it. It was very generous with me because you were converting to Catholicism.

Nice. But I want it. I would like it back. I would never tell you that. But if you're watching and you wanted to give that back to me, I would enthrone that in this new studio. But look, we have the same. There's that icon of our blessed Lord that we go back there. There it is.

There's the Australia. Look, it's right there. Check it. That table was made by Bob Lesnest Ness. for me. Nice. That's Mary Mac too, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, Mary Mac. Bruce Lee up the top. And then a testicles. Kangaroo testicles up there. See? Do you see it?

I don't. Yeah, well, top, it's to the right of Bruce Lee. Okay, now I see him. And it's behind your head too, not too close, but just in that first rack there. Fast. That is a taxidermed kangaroo scrotum. In fact, when I shot that water buck from 420 yards away on top of a truck, You're welcome in Namibia.

I cut, it screwed them off. We're definitely cutting all this out, I guess. We'll see what the daily wire can tolerate. I may have, in Minecraft, cut its testicles off. And yeah, filled them with salt, put them in the Ziploc bag, brought it home. The idea was to use it as a shock glass. I didn't do it. That's not the point.

Anyway, that's the old studio. That is the old studio. And that's actually the studio. That was beautiful. A handsome studio it was. Because I wasn't really, I wasn't. You get Rob Pritzel to like install. the ventilation thing there right?

It never worked. I love Rob, but it did not work. He broke a giant hole through my brick wall to install this thing. And it didn't work. I also love that basically what you see there is almost the entire studio. Yeah.

There's like another three feet where Josiah sat, but that's basically it. Yes. That's the whole studio. What a joy. And now this, isn't this great? That's, yeah. Yeah.

Do you have a ventilation thing in here? Doesn't smell like it. But I do have two air purifiers on either way. At the very least, I think there wasn't too much smoke when we were. Nice. No, I don't, yeah. Respect. Ooh.

Oh. There's Jacksonville. Oh, I forgot there was another one to come. I thought that was my last one. What is wrong with me? All right, everybody in the comment section, give us your opinion about that bloody moustache. What is going on there? Hey?

You've got to try these things. What am I doing? I'm looking at a cigar. You're looking at a cigar. That's a nice studio. I was really pleased with that. That was a big studio. I obviously had, you could like, play pickleball.

back there. I had no idea that we'd be moving. I really thought we'd just ride it out. Forever studio. Yeah, I just ride that one out until I was a thousand. Seen oil. Also, it was in the last studio where you taught me about differences amongst Australian accents. I think a lot of Americans have it in their mind that there's just one Australian accent. Yeah, there's a couple. And it's like Steve Irwin or Crocodile Dundee. But you showed me, you were using Marco Polo at the time and you showed me a Marco Polo, I think from your mom. You're like, I don't know, this for this one. Yeah, hey, God. She's the best. I love my. How are you going? I love that and also chat to you.

Yeah, American say chat with, but I've heard a lot of Australians say chat to you about thus and such. I'm like, really? How good you look. Okay, pause it. Could you pause it there? Or go back to when it's just on me, because I want to show people, okay. No. So close, there you go, stop.

Oh, that's a beautiful photo. Thank you. I want to show people, and then you can play it again. I want to show people that painting behind my head is from Blessed Charles of Austria. Okay, you can get that off my fat head now. fat head now, but blessed Charles, right? Yeah, blessed. Carl, Carl, Carl, Carl.

But that's Charles. Yep, of Austria. So I was in Budapest, giving a speech. Let's go. And loved my time in Budapest. It was amazing. And they came... This is when you were in Austria?

Yeah, last year, not this year, 2004. And they came up and they gave me this. And it was hand-painted. That's incredible. And it was delivered to me by a relative of his. Wow. And I had simultaneous thoughts of, I'm so humbled and how do you expect me to get this home? Yeah.

Did they ship it for you? Well, what they did, they were kind. It had like a makeshift frame, you know, behind the canvas, which they took off, rolled up, posted to me in Steubenville. So it's now hanging grandly in my house. Nice. Yeah. Big shout out to my mate James Christian. He built those bookshelves.

Yeah, I really had no idea. That was an old yoga studio. Was it? It had glorious windows, which we covered up immediately. Nice. For the sake of the filming. Did you get it exercised? I did.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Helpful. What a good, look good looking man. You'd look good fat. Thanks. There's people you look, he'd look good big. You've got, because you're a tool, you've got the habit. All right.

Like a Tolstoy character? I don't know. Like print, whatever, doesn't it. Yeah, I wish I had read Warren Peace, but I was never cool enough. I just got hit in the face with 18 names on the first page, and I'm like, I cannot. They do have the little, in modern editions. I like that. They have a table of names, so you can refer back.

See, for me, that was most helpful to be able to pronounce it. And to always refer to the person by the same name. Yeah. It's like Alyosha, Ali Yosha. I would always say Ali Oshah, so I kid. Anyway, not the point. As America celebrates 250 years this year, Good Ranchers is honoring the legacy of American ranchers, the hardworking people who help build and feed this country day in and day out,

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Call pound 250 and say the word baby. That's pound 250 baby. Or visit pre-born.com slash pints to donate securely today. Again, that's pre-born.com slash pints. Here's a question for you that I think would be helpful for people. Obviously, there are more podcasts than people. So everybody who is watching has one. Right.

Or two. My question for you is what advice would you have, maybe spiritual guidance might you give to somebody who's just started a podcast, running a podcast, is about to start one. Because I'm thrilled that after I converted when I was 17, that I couldn't have done this. I mean, maybe I'll look back and wish I had have converted much later,

so I hadn't have done what we just looked at. But what advice would you give to people who want to start a podcast since you have a couple? Yeah, I would say, so any podcast, if it's done under Christian auspices, should be apostolic or it should be ministerial in the sense that you have to have some clear sense of what you want to communicate to the people of God. And that doesn't mean that you have to have it all figured out, Like you have a very carefully curated menu of options that you just kind of navigate over the course of however many episodes.

Because that can feel scripted. But it has to inform like the questions that you ask in an interview or the type of people whom you invite to come on. Like it can't just be about growth and fame. It has to be about love, you know. I'd go back to David Foster Wallace a lot. Like I said at another point in one of our conversations, he tried to enter the Catholic Church twice. He said he was the worst RCAA candidate of all time. And one of the things he said is the priest, whom he would ask questions,

kind of rebuked him for asking too many. But he has these beautiful reflections on the purpose of his life. And he says, truth be told, I don't really know why I'm here on the surface of the earth, but I suspect it has something to do with love. And so I think that we have to seek to kind of like purify our intentions or unmix our motivations to the extent that we can, as human beings, we can only go so far. and to do so specifically with this idea of apostolic or ministerial service in mind. So the way that we formulate the questions, the way that we invite guests and things like that,

because if it's just a matter of like filling a niche or providing a service that's currently unprovided regardless of whether or not people need that service, you know, then we're just advertisers, you know, we're just marketers, which is a different thing. So the preacher and the teacher have a conviction that they've met the living God in some way, that's transfigured their humanity in some way, and now they have a testimony that they bear for the world. And so I'd say it doesn't really matter too terribly much whether or not your podcast is popular.

I think what matters is that your podcast is the fruit of a genuine encounter with the Lord and that it's ordered to genuine service. And I think if you do that, then it's worthwhile. I like what you said there about not necessarily being able to determine how much of my motivation is for good or for something else, because we're a combination of things. But in your experience, I mean, you have a podcast called Godsplaining, which is excellent,

everybody should check out. But have there been times that you maybe had an interview or were going after a particular thing and thought, eh, that might not be what we're about? Yeah, no, for sure. You don't have to give names. No, you're great. I think like Godsplining is about friendships, you know, like it's about the friendships with the other friars. And so it's the type of thing where the idea of the podcast is you just basically put two microphones at the dinner table and then you just kind of cut loose and so it tends to be kind of quirky and weird and but when the podcast would start to kind of like break the relationships down or put strain on the relationships in a way that was unhealthy it was at that point that it was like oh maybe let's think this through or maybe let's

take a step back um so i found that i was often driving other people i'm type a and kind of turbo with certain things and I was trying to get people to use the right cameras or use the right microphones or get things up to snuff and the way that I determined they needed to be up to snuff. And I was really hard on them when they, you know, like just misrecorded or failed to hit a deadline and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, like you just, it's for the friendships and you got to love the people as they are. You might have some hope that they become better, that you become better, but you can't love people as a project. And you can't be an enforcer of rules which make a kind of relationship feel and organic and kind of business-like when it ought to be spontaneous and delightful.

And so I've kind of taken a certain step back and a lot of the stuff that we do is just kind of, again, quirky and weird. Well, I don't know if I've told you this or if it's offensive, but if I was to pull up godsplaining and it was you and another Dominican interviewing a person, I probably wouldn't watch it. Yeah. Because what I personally, as an outsider, this might be of interest to you, I really love seeing that camaraderie and playfulness between you and a brother. I think people really enjoy seeing that, and that's what I like about it. We also see that on the back end. Really?

Interesting. Yeah, in the words of America's youth, skip. So, yeah, and we've come to appreciate that. There's a point of which, you know, like, the guest episodes were super fruitful, and then, yeah, maybe we've been less deliberate with the get. We've just had some really great guests recently, actually. We just had an interview with Joe Missoula, who's the coach of the Boston Celtics. And that was super fun, and, yeah, sometimes guest episodes.

You're an NBA nerd, aren't you? Exactly, yeah. So, Luke Cornet, who follows and supports your podcast. Yeah, God bless him. I'm so grateful for him. He's supported me over the years financially, yeah. He's a mammoth man. He's a big dude.

No, you forget how tall people can be. Like, you probably thought you were tall. Yeah, I did. And then you met him. Uh-huh. Yeah, so he came to the House of Studies for Mass. At one point, like, the Celtics were in town to play the Wizards. And he was sitting in the back of church.

You know, he's like 7-2. His knees are as high up as his head. Honestly, like, every, it was. It was a source of consternation. Like everyone is just like, oh, totally. Holy smoke and Josephine. I wonder what that's like. The guy that distributed the precious blood to him, big dude, bigger than me.

Maybe like 6-5, 6, 6.6. And he's like, you're dwarfed. Absolutely dwarfed. But Luke Cornett signed a big contract with the San Antonio Spurs. He was no longer in Boston. But he won a title in Boston. So that's awesome. He is a champion.

So, yeah. And then we had, you know, Gordon Hayward, whatever. He played for the Celtics as well. He played for maybe four or five different teams. But he just converted to the faith. maybe a year and a half ago. So, yeah, I used to say this to people that, you know, I hope I mean it. I think I do, that you should, you should, is this a sort of podcast I would continue to do

if only 100 people would ever listen, ever? And sure, maybe that's, maybe there are financial incentives that are legitimate. So maybe that's not a good reason to keep doing it. But there's something about, does this give me life or is this draining me and I hate it? but I really need to do it. Ideally, you shouldn't be in that place. People ask me what I do for fun, and it's, I'm really boring. I like this.

I like talking to people and smoking cigars and talking about the faith. So this is kind of what I like to do anyway. What is your opinion of the drama machine? It seems to me that if you want to have a successful Catholic YouTube account, One way you could go about it is by whipping people up into a frenzy, accusing other Catholics by name, looking down your nose at them as it were, talking about every scandal, and just going after people. That seems like an excellent way to get views. I know I'm clearly talking about this in a derisive way. I think, as is warranted, is there any room for that? Or where's the line? I think there's room for it to the extent that it matters, you know. So I don't think that the solution is let's all get along because I think there are some things which are worth fighting about. I suspect that there are fewer things worth fighting about than the internet would lead us to believe. We tend to fight about everything. And I think that that can be a source of scandal in the sense that non-believers look at believers and say, I mean, if this is what it means to believe, then count me out. So I think when a lot of people hear like ecumenical approach, they think watered down, compromised, otherwise un-interesting, just kind of boring. But when I say ecumenical approach, I mean, let's think about top-tier considerations, and then let's think about other things in light thereof.

So like what matters the most, Trinity and the incarnation? And I think that we should have conversations about those things which lead people to faith. And then what matters less, basically, everything else. So is it worthwhile to discuss them sometimes in certain venues? But I think insofar as we can just have kind of straightforward conversations rather than debates or rather than kind of attacks by back channels or attacks out in the open, really, without consultation or without any desire on the part of the parties involved to reconcile or to come to a deeper appreciation of the truth. And yeah, I just don't know how fruitful that is.

So maybe that's to kind of paint the situation in overly rosy terms. But I think that it is a constant temptation insofar as the algorithm does promote outrage, scorn, derision, mockery, protest, the types of genres which typically tear down the body of Christ rather than build it up. So as content creators or as podcasters or as YouTubers or whatever people identify as, one has to be conscious of the fact that the easy way to grow a channel is often going to be a sinful or vicious way to grow a channel. And so does that mean that we should just put like boring, unobjectionable content on the internet and hope that people watch it. Probably not. I mean, we have to be innocent as

doves and crafty as serpents. But I do think that you can take contemporary affairs, for instance, as an occasion to actually feed nourish. So it's like, all right, people out there saying this. You know, we could just say dumb and move on. Or, like, what are they concerned about? What are the principles at stake? What are some arguments that we can rehearse? And how does this help us to live well? And then let's bring it back

to those people. How are we going to testify? Yeah, I just think that everybody who's on the internet doing this type of stuff has to have that's apostolic or ministerial outlook because it's for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. If it's not leading people to the Lord, then what is it doing? I've got a question. I have an answer. I'd like yours. What's something you've learned since beginning this, being on podcast, running a podcast? Is there something that you did earlier on that you wish you hadn't have done? Or is there something you'd do less now or more now

over time having realized that this was the way to do it or not do it. Yeah. I think I'm still learning how to speak well in the sense of explain myself with a vocabulary and a grammar that can be understood. So I like speaking quickly because I think speed carries a certain intensity to it. And I just love testifying to the Lord's love as vibrantly as I can. but sometimes I just lose people because it's not even clear what I'm saying. And people just be like, oh, it's just because he's real smart.

Sometimes I don't even know what I'm saying. So I think that something very freeing that I've come to discover is admitting when I don't know something and then taking the time to unpack something, even if my knowledge of that, something is limited or partial at present. Because it's like you're never going to be embarrassed when it comes to knowing the Lord and loving the Lord. It's like, I know him this well or love them that well. And here's what I found.

because if it's done again with that ministerial apostolic outlook, then it'll be for the good. What were you going to say? Oh, well, I got two things now. I love what you said about admitting when you don't know something. Have I told you the story about when I learned that lesson? No. It's excellent. And I want to apologize to everybody who was at this conference.

I was in Canada. I think I was in Alberta. And I was on a panel. And I was with some really smart people who I really admired. And I kind of felt really insecure to be up. there. And somebody asked a question, and it had to do with church history. I won't get into the specifics. I did not know the answer, but I did not let that stop me. I launched into an answer with tremendous confidence. And as I was speaking, I could feel, feel people realizing I didn't

know what I was talking about. And I was too prideful to just go, you know what, I'm sorry, I'm not making sense. I don't know what I'm. That's an awkward thing to do. You know, you don't want to do that. So I kept speaking, thinking that maybe it would resolve, maybe I could land the plane. And I didn't. And I was really embarrassed. I remember, yeah, like the embarrassment was a further indication of my pride. That I didn't, I was really, I didn't like that people saw me as someone who didn't know what he was talking about. That hurt. It'd probably hurt for a few days. But it was one of the best things that's happened. to me because since then I hope I've become a lot better at going I don't know what that means I don't I don't know and to realize that like the Lord hasn't asked you to be truthfully

or whatever Catholic chat GPT or Thomas Aquinas even like no one's why did you think you had to be that and and why did you think that you needed to I mean sure it's something admirable about knowledge and being able to articulate things in a way that can convince people but anyway but that was one thing I like that the second thing one thing I had to learn over time and maybe I've done a poor job in this interview is to not interrupt people. You did a good job.

I remember I interviewed Christopher West back on the Matt Frad show and Christopher, if you're watching, I'm so sorry because I just kept interrupting him constantly and I think what I was trying to do was to have a more sort of casual back and forth But I just kept interrupting him. And another thing I've learned is in a normal conversation where there aren't cameras present,

it's typical and sometimes desirable to make affirming noises so you know that I'm tracking with the points you're making. But when I'm not on camera and you're talking and people see you talking and hear, that's not good. You don't want to hear me doing that. So I've learned to just kind of make more nods and eye contact so that they don't have to put up with that ridiculous sound. Yeah. So that's it. That's what I've learned.

Those are good things to learn. Thank you so much for coming here and being here to review these old sets. One last time, where can people find you? People can find me at the Thomistic Institute at Godsplining, the aforementioned podcast. and through a couple of recent books, Your Eucharistic Identity, a Sacramental God of the Fulness of Life, and Training the Tongue and Overcoming Sons of Speech.

They're available from Ignatius and Amas Road, respectively. Awesome, thanks. Cheers. This episode is sponsored by Hello, which is a fantastic app that's built to help you pray more. It's got great meditations for Lent. They have a Pray 40 Challenge, and there's lots of amazing people who guide you in this,

like Jonathan Rumi, who played Jesus and the Chosen, Sister Miriam James Heidland, who's one of my favorite people in the whole world, Father Mike Schmitz, Jeff Kavens, Mark Wahlberg, all sorts of amazing people. Hello has literally thousands of prayers, meditations, and music to help you create daily habits of prayer, especially during Lent. So, deepen your personal relationship with God today. Visit hallo.com slash Matt Frad to get three, not just one. Come on, three months, free. All right. Thank you. much for watching that. I'm very excited now because as I've gotten from this interview, this is a brand new studio that we have built. In fact, you might not know this. You will see it

soon. So stay tuned. We've only been able to build half of this studio. The rest of the half is coming. This half here, do you see that, father? Is from Matt Walsh's old studio. That's all getting replaced. But while we have Father Gregory Pine here, we've asked him to bless the set. and he's going to kindly do that for us. He's on camera in this one, right? Good. So I want to ask you a question before we start the blessing. Let's go.

What is a blessing and why do we bless things? Oh, great question. For the philosophical nerds among your viewers, I think a blessing is a relation. So you get like, never mind, people won't care about this. No, I do. I very much care. Because I guess it's sort of like it would be similar to a curse, which I would presumably be. The opposite of a curse, yeah.

So it's basically like making a, a firmer connection between something or someone and God by like a holy reference. Yeah, so a blessing is typically an invocation. You ask God to bless something, so to put that something or that someone in closer contact with him. And then sometimes it's more after the manner of a command. So you have an authority as a priest or you have an authority as a father of children to act more in the matter of command to say, bless this, because I need you to provision for

these people are these things so that I can live my vocation and glorify you and save souls. So when you bless a space, you're driving out any malign influence, any mischievous influence, and then you're relating that space to God for His glory, and hopefully for the salvation of those who frequent it. All right, let's do it. Let's do it. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Our help is in the name of the Lord. We made heaven in this. Now a creature of salt, I purge thee of evil by the living God, by the true God, by the Holy God, by the Holy

God, by the God who ordered thee through Elysius and prophets to be cast into the water to cure its unfruitfulness, be thou a purified salt for the health of believers, giving soundness of body and soul to all who use thee. In whatever place thou art sprinkled, may phantoms and wickedness and Satan's cunning be banished, and let every unclean spirit be repulsed by him, who shall come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire. Amen. Let us pray. O Almighty everlasting God, we implore that boundless mercy, that thou wouldst deign of thy goodness to bless and sanctify this creature of salt which now has given for the use of mankind. May all that use it, find in it a remedy for soul and body, and let everything which it touches or sprinkles be freed from uncleanness

and assault from evil spirits. Through Christ our Lord, amen. Thou creature of water, I purge thee of evil in the name of God, the Father Almighty, in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. that thou mayest be water fit to brace us against the envious foe. Mayest thou be empowered to drive him forth and exile him together with his fallen angels by the power of the self-saying Jesus Christ, our Lord, who shall come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire. Amen. Let us pray.

O God who for man's salvation dost dispense wondrous mysteries with the efficacious sign of water, arching to our prayer, pouring forth thy benediction upon this element which we consecrate with manifold purifications. Let this creature serve the inexperienced. spilling demons and curing diseases. Whatsoever, it sprinkles in the homes of the faithful, be it cleansed and delivered from harm. Let such homes enjoy a spirit of goodness

and an air of tranquility, freed from baneful and hidden snares. By the sprinkling of this water, may everything opposed to the safety and repose of them that dwell therein be banished, so that they may possess the well-being they seek in calling upon thy holy name, and be protected from all peril.

Through our Lord, Amen. May this salt and water be mixed together in the name of the Father, end of the sun, end of the Holy Spirit. The Lord be with you. Lord be a spirit. Let us pray. Author of invincible strength and king of an unconquerable empire, ever the gloriously

triumphant one, who restrained us the force of the adversary, who overcome us the fierceness of the devouring enemy, who valiantly puteth down hostile influences. Prostrate and fearsome we beseech thee, Lord, consider kindly this creature of salt and water. May it honored and sanctify it with the dew of thy sweetness. wherever it is sprinkled in thy name, may devilish infection cease, venomous terror be driven afar. But let the presence of the Holy Spirit be ever with us as we implore thy mercy. For our Lord Jesus Christ, thy son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in unity of the same Holy Spirit, God eternally. Amen.

Our help is in the name of the Lord. We may heaven of us. The Lord be with you. Bless, O Lord God, this creature chalk to render it helpful to men. Grant that they who use it in faith and with it and scribe upon the entrance of us. of their homes, the name of thy saints, Casper, Melchir, and Valtazar, may through their merits and intercession,

enjoy health of body and protection of soul. Through Christ our Lord. Peace be unto this place, and unto all who work here. From the east came the Magi to Bethlehem to adore the Lord, and opening their treasures, they offered costly gifts, gold to the great king, incense to the true God,

and mur and symbol of his burial. Hallelujah. My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit doth rejoice in God, saviour, for he hath regarded the lowest state of his handmaid, lo, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed, for he that is mighty hath done great things for me, and holy is his name, and his mercy is from generation to generation to them that fear him. He hath shown strength with his arm, he hath scattered the proud and the conceit of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from

their seats, and exalted them of low degree. The hungry he hath filled with good things, the rich he hath sent away empty. He hath helped Israel, his servant being mindful of his mercy, as he hath promised our fathers, Abraham, and his seat forever. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be. World without end, Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallow be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us. not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Many shall come from Sabah, bearing gold and incense.

O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto thee. The Lord be with you. Let us pray. O God, who by the guidance of a star, did this day reveal thy sole-begotten son to the Gentiles. Grant that we who now know thee by faith and may be brought to the contemplation of thy heavenly majesty. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. Be enlightened and shine forth, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and upon thee has risen the glory of the Lord, Jesus Christ, born of Mary Virgin. Nations shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brilliance of thy origin, and the glory

of the Lord has risen upon thee. Let us pray. Bless, O Lord, God Almighty, this place of work, that it be the shelter of health, chastity, self-conquest, humility, goodness, mildness, obedience to the commandments, And thanksgiving to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May blessing remain for all time upon this place and then that work herein. Through Christ our Lord, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.