Podcast for Catholic men - ideation

So a couple buddies and I are going to meet this week and have a brainstorm session for a new podcast. I've been wanting to launch one for a while, and the genre has evolved over the past year or so into essentially a podcast for Catholic men. The overarching theme being how men can (and should) be men in the Church. I know this has been done before but I'm hoping our unique flavor would 'sell' and that we could do the topics justice.

Obviously we're Catholics first, but I think a lot of us have heard, read, and/or discussed how the Church has lost a decidedly masculine part of itself as attendance by men has dropped off a cliff over the past 60 years. Today we see Latin Mass parishes thriving while the average diocesan parish attendance is dwindling and the average age of them are rising. Those Latin Mass parishes? Full of men, it speaks to us men on a primal level. My girlfriend jokes about how before we met she and her friends were always told to go to the Latin Mass parishes to meet men.

Here's why I'm posting the thread: I thought I'd see what my bros on here think are important conversations to have about men and the Church.

We'll probably leave a lot of space for all sorts of conversation not always pertaining specifically to the Church and faith. As men I think it'd be of some value if we also engaged in some off-topic discussions for at least part of an episode here and there (i.e. the Mets have been making some noise this offseason, or have you seen that new Denzel film?) but the core of the podcast is to talk about issues like (for example): why does the Latin Mass appeal to masculine sensibilities?" or "What are the practical ways men can uphold the chastity of their courting relationship?"

What are some other topics that you all would like to hear Catholic men discuss? Ladies you're invited to offer suggestions too. Even though this is targeting men there might be some value in it for women to: understanding how men think, what struggles Catholic men might have, and what we can (and are supposed to) bring to the table in the mystical body of Christ.

Without giving out specifics there would be three of us hosting the show, all Catholic men. I'm the convert (you guys know my story), the other two are cradle Catholics. One is one of the leaders at a young adult group, and the other is a member of that group and also a professor at a Catholic college. My hope is if that between the three of us we could also look at our contacts and maybe invite some guests on the show. Priests, religious, authors, and other figures who might have something to contribute to the discussion.

So fire away, I'd love to hear some ideas!

eastcoast_bsc said:

Discuss the role of fatherhood as it relates to Catholic men and what it means to be the head of a household.

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Love it! That's good stuff. It would probably do us well to invite a guest on who is a father since none of us are married yet, much less with kids. But perhaps we could still discuss that on our own to an extent.

eastcoast_bsc said:

Discuss the role of fatherhood as it relates to Catholic men and what it means to be the head of a household.

Definitely do some sports topics . Go Patriots, Red Sox , Celtics and Bruins.

Did you know that Bob Krafts first foray into professional sports was as owner of the professional tennis team the “Boston Lobsters”?

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Yeah I could definitely carry a sports convo, especially with the moves around MLB this offseason, TB12 winning his 7th at 43, yadda yadda yadda.

I didn't know that about Kraft, but that's funny. Long history in New England sports.

I’m gonna go ahead and tag some folks in this, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the subject if you have any!

@chevyontheriver @thecolorsblend @Rhamiel @Michie @Davidnic

just to get things flowing...

Davidnic said:

I would start by reading Bishop Olmsted's letter. Maybe framing it since it is beginning in the year of St Joseph, around St Joseph.

That might be a good place to start with a few episodes.

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Good call, I'll check that out now.

Davidnic said:

Into the Breach - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix

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Is this connected to the KoC's Into the Breach series? That looked pretty great as an exhortation for men to be men.

Davidnic said:

I have some other ideas I can add later.

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Looking forward to it!

Michie said:

I’d like to get men’s perspectives about remaining in the faith during this difficult and confusing time in the Church while still advocating for the faith to family, friends, etc.

I’d also like to see discussion about male participation in the laity. Something that is sorely lacking in a lot of parishes.

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Excellent! I think this merits discussion as well.

thecolorsblend said:

The common wisdom goes that marriage is a borderline obsolete institution in today's world. Under the circumstances, I find it difficult to argue with that. I'm happy to be out of the modern dating scene because it rly is a freak show.

That's a depressing admission to hear a Catholic man make. But it is a concern to a lot of people. When 50% of marriages end in divorce (and of those that end, women file for the divorce 70% of the time), I think a worthwhile topic might be how Catholic men navigate today's troubled waters.

I think it goes beyond just "Make sure you marry a Catholic". Although, yes, you should marry a Catholic. That much should be non-negotiable.

I participate in a few different Catholic subreddits and the marriage thing is a major issue for a lot of young Catholic men.

Another issue might be women crowding men out of the majority of volunteer positions in the Church. For whatever reason, it's a woman thing to "invade the male space" and all that. There's a big push among some of them to demand membership in the Knights of Columbus, for example. So obviously, the Church has not been spared that. Look around any ministry or volunteer office in most parishes and you'll see women doing everything except acting like they're "invading the male space".

I know for a fact that a lot of Catholic men (single or not) resent that like you wouldn't believe. This could be a worthy line of discussion.

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This is excellent, between what you and @Michie are talking about this encompasses what I've been ruminating on for a while. That men have left the Church, but also that if they want to come back the spaces of a given parish community that have historically been occupied by men have diminished greatly. Lectors, cantors, altar servers, event organizers, etc. So it begs the question whether more men might be returning in this hour if there wasn't at least the appearance that the Church is "fine without them" and the roles that used to be required of them are no longer so.

Michie said:

You know I’m looking at this from a female perspective and I know that most see the Church as patriarchal, but I really think the Church is lacking in authentic male presence in my experience. The male presence we do have seems very aloof to me. Do men feel this way as well? I’d like to hear the male perspective on this too.

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You're on fire Michie! This is a great topic, and it ties in well with what @thecolorsblend was talking about above.