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In this podcast, Matthew Harvey Sanders, CEO of Longbeard (creator of MagisteriumAI), and Marc Barnes, editor of New Polity, debate whether Catholics should build and use AI chatbots. Barnes argues that Catholic AI chatbots are objectively evil because they generate probabilistic statements about the faith, are irresponsible in their responses, and are inherently fake conversations with non-persons. Sanders argues that Catholics should embrace this new technological development and that there is an openness from the Vatican about the creation of a true artificial intelligence. This debate is hosted by Edmund Mitchell of the Faith and AI Project. Check out Faith and AI Projects's other podcasts here: https://faithandaiproject.com/podcastThis debate has also occurred in writing. Barnes’s initial article “Delete Magisterium AI” can be found here: https://newpolity.com/blog/delete-mag.... Sanders’s response is here: https://www.longbeard.com/blog/respon.... Finally, Barnes’s second response is here: https://newpolity.com/blog/broken-ble....Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazine Check out our books! https://newpolity.com/press Read more: https://newpolity.com/essays

What is the Catholic response to AI? Pope Leo XIV, in his recent message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications, takes a critical look at AI: namely, how it is "encroach[ing] upon the deepest level of communication, that of human relationships." Pope Leo asserts that our faces and voices are sacred, a witness to the unique, singular dignity of each human person. With AI already mimicking persons in social media and through deepfakes, the Pope calls for overcoming the "anthropomorphizing tendencies of AI systems." In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Reuben Slife go line-by-line through the message of Pope Leo, and discuss it's implications for the Catholic approach to AI. "Message of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV for the 60th World Day of Social Communications" Register for New Polity's 2026 Conference! https://newpolity.com/2026 Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! Check out our books!Read more.

The book has long been the place of completed thought, able to incorporate previous work and advance new thought. That is going away. AI generation is polluting the discourse; leading to a state where all "new" publications are, in fact, summarized AI restatements of the previous state of the question. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Andrew Willard Jones discuss the effects of AI on the the technology of the books, and how a literate culture persists. Subscribe to New Polity Magazine!: https://newpolity.com/magazineRegister for New Polity's 2026 Conference! https://newpolity.com/2026Help us make more: visit https://www.newpolity.com/donate

Happy New Year! In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Alex Denley discuss New Polity's 2025 year, the books and magazines published, and look ahead to the New Year. Thank you to everyone who read or listened to us this year. Check out our essays: https://newpolity.com/essaysSubscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazineCheck out our 2026 Conference! https://newpolity.com/2026Please consider donating at https://newpolity.com/donate

We are excited to announce New Polity's 2026 conference: Man, Woman, Tyrant, Slave. Learn more and register at https://newpolity.com/2026 The sixth annual New Polity conference aims to refute bad ideas concerning marriage and sexual difference; to debate the metaphysics of man and woman; to argue for a profound continuity between the order of man and woman and the political and cosmic order as a whole; to shed a light on the tyranny-destroying potential of marriage; and, in sum, to rediscover the mystery and purpose of sexual difference as revealed by the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Andrew Willard Jones discuss the relation of man and woman, the metaphysical implications, and the conference.

We are excited to announce our next New Polity Magazine: Issue 6.4 on The Critique of America, featuring essays by Reuben Slife, David L. Schindler, Michael Hanby, John Byron Kuhner and more. Pre-order is now available! Visit: https://newpolity.com/single-issues/6-4In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Michael Boland discuss the critique of America, structures of sin, and the idea of the American people. Check out our essays: https://newpolity.com/essaysSubscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazineHelp us make more: visit https://www.newpolity.com/donate

Marc Barnes believes that AI chatbots are evil, and that having a faux conversation with AI chatbots is wrong. Joseph Hobbs, Senior Solution Architect at Databricks, disagrees. In this podcast, they discuss the nature of conversation, how AI imitates conversation, and the Catholic response to AI Chatbots. Our double issue of New Polity magazine on Artificial Intelligence is now available for purchase! Including essays by Matthew Crawford, Slavoj Žižek, D. C. Schindler, and many more. Buy now at https://newpolity.com/single-issues/6-23We depend on your generous support. Please consider donating at https://www.newpolity.com/donate

In this podcast, Alex Denley and Marc Barnes discuss the upcoming New Polity magazine on AI, the Church's social teaching on technocracy and the technocratic paradigm, and the Christian response to Artificial Intelligence. Pre-order our double issue of New Polity magazine on Artificial Intelligence!https://newpolity.com/single-issues/6-23A double issue of New Polity Magazine on Artificial Intelligence.Andrew Willard Jones on the Humane and the Technocratic. Matthew Crawford on Losing Ourselves in AI. Paul Kingsnorth on Our Unsettling. Slavoj Žižek on the Death of the Internet. Michael Hanby on the Abolition of Intelligence.Mâinile Strigoilor on the AI Bubble.D. C. Schindler on the Essential Duplicity of AI. Alex Denley on the Technocratic Paradigm.Paul Denley on AlphaGo vs Lee Sedol.Michael Boland on Descartes’ Automaton daughter.Ronald Klingler on our AI future. With poetry by James Donald Forbes McCann.And, a short story by Joseph Patrick.

Technology has given an untrained humanity unprecedented power over itself. Peter Berkman, following Marshall McLuhan and Romano Guardini, argues that the "digital world" has rapidly replaced other modes of human interaction, and AI presents a rapid acceleration of that movement. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Peter Berkman discuss this development and the Christian response. Subscribe to New Polity Magazine by Oct 13th to receive Issue 6.2/3 on Artificial Intelligence! Peter is a member of the band Anamanaguchi. Check out their new album "Anyway": Check out Peter’s essay "Will There Be an AI Apocalypse?"

America was a place of untold wealth in the post-war period. But today, many small towns are faltering and facing financial collapse. In this podcast, Strong Towns founder and president Charles Marohn sits down with Marc Barnes and Jacob Hyman to discuss how this collapse came about, and how to rebuild the small town. Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazine. Check out our books: https://newpolity.com/press Read our essays: https://newpolity.com/essays.

We are happy to announce the next issue of New Polity Magazine, dedicated specifically to Artificial Intelligence! Featuring essays by Matthew Crawford, Slavoj Žižek, D. C. Schindler, Michael Hanby, Andrew Willard Jones, and many more. Subscribe by October 1st to receive this issue! https://newpolity.com/magazine. Alex Denley and Marc Barnes discuss the Christian response to AI, how to safeguard human freedom, and AI as a new industrial revolution. Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazine. Check out our books: https://newpolity.com/press Read our essays: https://newpolity.com/essays.

In this podcast, Alex Denley and Professor Rocco Buttiglione discuss the problem of globalization, mass migration, and populism. Post-war globalization brought a great increase in international trade, cooperation, technical and educational development, and cultural sharing. However, with open trade came the loss of manufacturing and industry in the West, and the emptying of the working class. Along with mass migration, the people grew to resent their global elite. Professor Buttiglione discusses the Church's response to globalization, and the need for a new elite who care for the people. Rocco Buttiglione's book "Modernity's Alternative: How History is Formed in the Depths of the People" is now available! Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazine Check out our books! https://newpolity.com/press Read more: https://newpolity.com/essays Check out our Catholic Social Teaching Masterclass hosted here in Steubenville, Ohio: https://newpolity.com/masterclass

Liberalism is on the defensive. Political discussion is shifting from “what’s wrong with liberalism” to “what’s true about politics”—to the question of what exactly must displace liberalism. In The Politics of the Real, D. C. Schindler takes us to the definitive metaphysical roots of liberal politics: the modern reversal of the priority of act over potency; the modern privileging of empty possibility over flourishing perfection. In this podcast, Michael Boland and D. C. Schindler discuss liberalism, and how we can build a politics of the real. Politics of the Real is now available in Paperback! Get a copy on sale now. Subscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazine Check out our books! https://newpolity.com/press Read more: https://newpolity.com/essays

The development and use of AI chatbots has grown massively. With hundreds of millions of users, OpenAI, XAI, Claude AI, and others have become a normal part of many people's day. Some Christians have an uneasy attitude toward the use of AI Chatbots, while others are supportive and have developed their own. In this podcast, Marc Barnes and Alex Denley discuss the moral question: whether Christians should use AI chatbots, and the ramifications that it has on human nature. Read Marc's essay "AI Chatbots are Evil" here: https://newpolity.com/blog/ai-chatbotsWe depend on your generous support. Please consider donating at https://www.newpolity.com/donateSubscribe to New Polity Magazine! https://newpolity.com/magazineCheck out our books: https://newpolity.com/pressWe are hosting a Catholic Social Teaching Masterclass! Learn more at https://newpolity.com/masterclass

Professor Rocco Buttiglione and Dr. Andrew Willard Jones discuss the rise of nationalism and populism both in Europe and America. What is the proper Catholic understanding of the peoples and nations? How should we navigate a global economic order within modern nation-states? They discuss how the Church has responded to this situation, and how the theology of the peoples can provide an answer. Rocco Buttiglione's book "Modernity's Alternative: How History is Formed in the Depths of the People" is now available!