GOD'S EARBUDS

SPRING 2020

SO YOU'RE STUCK AT HOME during the coronavirus lockdown and thinking a little podcast listening might help pass the time? Great idea. Your next step: finding something good to listen to. There are a lot of podcasts out there, and not all are appropriate for the Catholic audience.

Where to begin? You could check out “Maggi’s List” and choose among the recommendations of Maggi Van Dorn, producer of the Deliver Us podcast on America Media. Or, if you’re the adventurous type, you might strike out on your own in search of something edifying, entertaining and in keeping with your values.

Just be ready for some surprises. Case in point: Say Bible, whose title implies a hip, youthful take on the scriptures, turns out to be “a podcast for the Kardashian konnoisseur.” Spend a few minutes listening and you’ll hear some consistently frivolous and occasionally salacious chatter about the doings of America’s first family of superficiality. Whatever you might think of Kanye West’s commercialized Christianity, Say Bible, inspired largely by the latest shenanigans on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, is decidedly irreligious.

Download an episode of Conversation with Cardinal Dolan, on the other hand, and you’ll get exactly what you bargained for: the wit, warmth and spiritual wisdom of our archbishop in conversation with Fr. Dave Dwyer. Excerpted from the weekly Catholic Network radio show of the same name on Sirius XM, the podcasts cover topics of timely concern for New York Catholics, leavened by the cardinal’s humorous asides and personal reminiscences. It’s relevant and reverent – except when it’s hilariously irreverent. Think of it as Keeping Up with the Kardinal.