Podcast: Download

Jack Kerouac is known as one of the founder of the Beat Generation and is infamous for his debauched lifestyle, but as Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us, Kerouac saw himself as a Catholic writer who after much wandering, found himself, like St. Augustine, eventually coming home to his Catholic faith.

Podcast: Download

John Boyle O’Reilly was a soldier, a convict, a poet, and a journalist who left a lasting impact in the United States. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how this Irishman escaped from an Australian penal colony and ended up in Boston as a champion of civil rights and editor of The Boston Pilot, the oldest continuously published Catholic newspaper in the US.

Podcast: Download

When Catholics arrived in Maryland in 1634, they arrived on two ship, The Ark and The Dove. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us the story of how the Maryland colony was founded as a safe haven for Catholics and their journey aboard those ships to St. Clement Island, where the colonists’ first Mass was offered.

Podcast: Download

John von Neumann was one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century, and as Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us, at the end of his life that brilliance led him to the Catholic faith. Von Neumann had a hand in some of the biggest events and advances of the last 80 years, but his towering intellect led him back to God.

Podcast: Download

The Josephites began as a missionary order to serve black Catholics in postbellum America. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us about the roots of the order in England, their difficulties in dealing with racism within and outside the Church, and how they established parishes, schools, and other institutes over the past 150 years.

Podcast: Download

The construction of the Washington Monument in the 19th century was hampered by many delays and problems. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us that one of the strangest controversies surrounded a stone donated to the project by Pope Pius IX and the anti-Catholic conspiracy theories that resulted.

Podcast: Download

Claude McKay was a Jamaica-born African-American poet who spent much of his life fighting against racism and in the creativity of the Harlem Renaissance. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how his atheistic socialism gave way to a Catholic faith through the Catholic Worker Movement and friendship with Dorothy Day.

Podcast: Download

Bishop Frederic Baraga was once known as the Snowshoe Priest for his drive to travel in any season throughout Michigan to serve his flock. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell the story of this saintly bishop of the mid-19th century and his dedication to the native tribes with whom he shared his love for Christ.

Podcast: Download

Mother Teresa was one of just a few people to be made an honorary US citizen, and Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how this modern saint gave her truly Christ-like witness to divine love and the dignity of every life to all Americans–including the the most influential and powerful–on several occasions.

Podcast: Download

The recent death of Sidney Poitier gave Tom and Noëlle Crowe an excuse to go back and look at this award-winning movie and the book it is based on, including the back story of how it was made; the dedication and sacrifice of those who made it; and the real-life nuns who inspired this story of faith and humanity.

Podcast: Download

St. John Neumann was the first male American saint. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tells us how this diminutive priest took a leap of faith by coming to the US from Europe to be a priest for His people. He eventually became bishop of Philadelphia, and along the way gained a reputation for holiness in bringing Christ through word and deed.

Podcast: Download

The first women’s religious community in the US was the Carmel of Port Tobacco, Maryland, and Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us about the Catholic families behind the founding, how they overcame anti-Catholic discrimination, and the restoration that preserved the sacred place.

Podcast: Download

Frank Capra is beloved for his Christmas classic “It’s A Wonderful Life,” and in this revisitation of the famed director, Tom and Noëlle Crowe remind us that his distinctly Catholic vision of God, truth, and humanity gave his films the ability to counteract the meanness of the world.

Podcast: Download

Bernard Nathanson was one of the fathers of legalized abortion in the US and was himself responsible for thousands of deaths. But as Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us, he had a profound Catholic conversion late in life that could be compared to St. Paul’s Damascus moment.

Podcast: Download

As we observe the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Tom and Noëlle Crowe remind us of the story of Fr. Aloysius Schmitt, an Iowa farm boy turned Catholic Navy Chaplain, who sacrificed his own life helping sailors aboard the doomed USS Oklahoma escape its destruction.

Podcast: Download

Bishop Vincent Waters of Raleigh, NC, committed himself against racism in his diocese in the 1950s and 60s. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell how his commitment began, the strong and firm steps he took, the missteps he made, and the success that resulted.

Podcast: Download

Lawrence Welk was a North Dakota farm boy-turned-musician who built TV juggernaut that lasted for 31 years. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us how Welk built a career offering wholesome entertainment that fit with his devout Catholic faith and the virtues he valued.

Podcast: Download

Fr. Augustus Tolton was the first black-identifying priest in the US, and Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us his story, from his rise from slavery to school to seminary in Rome to his return to the US, where he eventually became the pastor for all black Catholics throughout Chicago.

Podcast: Download

The most highly decorated US military chaplain is Fr. Francis Duffy, a New York priest whose statue now stands in Times Square. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us about Fr. Duffy’s impressive intellect and his love for the men of the 69th Regiment he served in World War I.

Podcast: Download

Mother Cabrini was a tiny, Italian powerhouse who overcame prejudice and poverty to serve Christ’s Church. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell her story, from her ill health to her mission from the Pope to America to winning over a reluctant archbishop to founding charities throughout the US to her canonization.