Best Catholic Podcasts You Should Listen to in 2024
If you are searching for the best podcasts to listen to that the Catholic world has to offer in 2024, you’re in good company. These days it seems like everyone, and their mother has a podcast. Finding the most reliable (and entertaining) voice can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.
Catholic Podcasts 101, Are You in the Loop?
I began listening to Catholic podcasts in October 2019, right before the world went completely off the hinges.
Does anyone remember what was happening in October of 2019? Maybe you were listening and following closely at the time as well.
But I remember being completely in the dark about everything in the Catholic world beyond my local parish at the time, and then one day, while on the phone with my sister, she mentioned what was happening in the Vatican.
“What’s going on?”
“Idol worship, in the Vatican Garden during the Amazon synod. You haven’t heard about that?”
No, I hadn’t, but you can bet I immediately looked it up.
But the problem was, I felt like I didn’t even know where to look; when I googled it, I didn’t know what a trusted voice was and what wasn’t reliable.
I was looking for an informative Catholic podcast that could keep me updated on current issues in today’s world. Still, the only Catholic podcast I was familiar with was Catholic Answers Live. Though I had found the live Q&A on the show interesting, it didn’t feel like a go-to for what was happening in the world, but more for casual informative listening.
Spill the Tea
My sister-in-law had recently hopped on the Taylor Marshall train and told me it was precisely the podcast that I was looking for.
From what I understand, I began listening right after the split between Taylor Marshall and Timothy Gordon.
I’m still not 100% clean on what went down on that front, but based on what I’ve gathered, it was dramatic.
I started listening to both the Taylor Marshall podcast as well as Timothy Gordon’s.
They were both what I was looking for at that time. They were exciting and hard-hitting and kept up with the current issues.
If you’ve never listened, think People magazine and Us Weekley but for the Catholic world.
They sometimes hit the nail on the head; they often made mountains out of molehills, but boy, oh boy, were they juicy and fun to listen to.
I think before Taylor and Timothy split ways, their show was called T and T. If they ever, ever did a reunion show or got back together in the podcasting world, I wish more than anything in the world that they would consider calling it “Spill the Tea with T & T.” I think if they could put their differences aside (or not), it could be a hit.
Exercise Prudence with Who You Are Influenced By
I eventually stopped listening to both of them because they didn’t necessarily encourage the virtues that I’m currently working on. I occasionally listen to the latest episode to see if they do anything differently. Still, it’s hard sometimes to sift through what we should and shouldn’t be letting influence us, even in, and maybe especially in, the Catholic world.
I will say that I do agree with most of both Taylor and Timothy’s views and standpoints. Still, it’s hard for me not to hear certain voices and viewpoints and continue my day with charitable thoughts about others who don’t align 100% with what I believe to be true or the ‘right way’ of doing things.
Podcasts may seem like harmless entertainment, but the ones we listen to quite literally become the voices in our heads. There’s a saying that ‘you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.’ That applies to the people we choose to influence us through our earbuds as much as the people we know in real life. What might be harmless entertainment to one person could lead another person to sin.
Exercise prudence when choosing who you let into your home.
Casual Listening
I began to look for something less dramatic and more nurturing, and a friend gave me a couple of recommendations, the first being The Poco a Poco Podcast and the second being the Abiding Together Podcast.
The Poco a Poco Podcast is an absolute delight to listen to, done by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and listening to any one of their weekly podcast episodes feels just like hanging out with my younger brothers. They’re fun, they joke and poke fun, there is lots of playful banter, and most of the time, they’re completely off-topic, but their joy is absolutely contagious. And to be quite honest, whether on topic or not, their appreciation of the richness of the Catholic faith, as well as their evident Franciscan love for every individual, you can tell that these men genuinely see the face of God in everyone and love them accordingly. For that, I could listen to them all day. Remember, ‘you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.’ and I want to be just like them.
The Abiding Together Podcast is hosted by three best friends, Sr. Miriam James Heidland, Michelle Benzinger, and Heather Khym: three Catholic women sharing their lives and thoughts on daily life and all things Catholic over a cup of coffee together and with their listeners. The episodes are easy to listen to and have the overall feel of being a part of a Catholic women’s club.
Bible Study and Continued Learning
Soon after, I began listening to The Bible in a Year Podcast with Father Mike Schmitz by Ascension Press, which is based on the great adventure bible timeline and helps you (you guessed it) get through the entire Bible in an entire year. He was someone who I was already familiar with from Father Mike Schmitz’ YouTube videos. We all know and love him for how fast he talks and even more for how fast he gets to the point. I think he’s phenomenal for grabbing the attention of young people, especially in a world where it feels hard to hold the attention of someone for longer than ten seconds, thanks to things like Instagram reels and YouTube shorts.
After the Bible in a Year finished airing its weekly Catholic Bible study podcast, Ascension Press with Father Mike Schmitz came out with “The Catechism in a Year.” A weekly podcast that covered the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church. I think it’s a wonderful way to encourage adults as well as young people to continue their spiritual formation and spiritual growth.
The Joe Rogan of the Catholic World
As time went on, I became a little more familiar with the Catholic podcasting world, and it felt easier to find shows and people that I found to be reliable both in Church teaching and Biblical theology as well as being a voice of reason when it comes to navigating the tricky times in the modern world today.
One of the best Catholic podcasts in the game to date is Pints with Aquinas, hosted by Matt Fradd. It is a long-form discussion podcast with special guests from all backgrounds, beautiful stories to share, and each bringing their expertise on a specific subject area to the table, ranging anywhere from Catholic pop culture to obscure Catholic topics. If one guest isn’t your forte, skip to another; the next might be your cup of tea. I like to think of Matt Fradd as the Joe Rogan of the Catholic podcasting world.
Joy and Spiritual Warfare
Another lovely podcast host is Chris Stefanick; if you are looking for a voice of humility and joy, this man is filled with the Holy Spirit, and he lets his light shine through his joyful conversations and Catholic apologetics. His episodes with special guests always feel like a deep and intentional place of connection. I think in a world full of negativity, people like Chris Stefanick are (not to be overly dramatic) beacons of light in the darkness and very much a modern-day disciple of Jesus Christ.
Anyone who grew up watching cartoons is familiar with the concept of shoulder angels, who pop up out of nowhere to let us know when we head down a not-so-great path; Chris’ podcast feels like listening to a shoulder angel, gently nudging us in the right direction of charity and joy. My favorite Chris Stefanick episodes are when he has Father Chad Ripperger on as a guest. Their back-and-forth discussion about spiritual warfare is always informative as well as entertaining.
Finding Podcasts by Guest Speaker
Father Ripperger is a Catholic priest, renowned exorcist, and well-known theologian. He is someone who I’ve enjoyed listening to both as a special guest on many different Catholic podcasts as well as to his many recorded talks available on YouTube with the Sensus Fidelium channel. Learning Catholic teaching and the spiritual life from someone who actually deals with the spiritual life gives you a deeper understanding of what it means to be Catholic and to be human.
Though Fr. Ripperger doesn’t have a podcast, you can type ‘Ripperger’ into the search bar of wherever you listen to podcasts for all the fantastic and various shows he has been a special guest on. This is also a great way to dabble around different podcast shows; if you find a great guest you love, see what they’ve been on, and sample around, you might accidentally stumble upon some hidden treasures, some of the greatest Catholic thinkers, and the podcast you’ll be drinking your morning cup of coffee with for years to come.
Prudence, Prudence, Prudence.
Whatever you do, remember that the people speaking on these podcasts are just everyday people and sometimes express their own opinions, and even with the very best of intentions, are not prone to human error. I’ve seen people go down rabbit holes with podcasters. We live in an era of influencers, don’t make false idols out of the woman recording a podcast in her basement or the guy recording over his garage, they put their pants on one leg at a time too. Please remember that we know the Catholic Faith to be true based on scripture and tradition and, to always refer to The Bible and The Catechism of the Catholic Church and always exercise prudence in determining who influences you.
If you have a favorite Catholic podcast that is an absolute must in your spiritual life or that has dramatically influenced your prayer time, be sure to comment and let us know!
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AMDG
Emma Williams
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