Sword&Spade

The Christian Imagination: The Imago Dei in the Age of AI with Stephen Crotts

Jason Craig sits down with Stephen Crotts—illustrator of Malcolm Guite's Galahad and the Grail—to talk about what it means to be a maker in an age of AI slop, why creativity is a duty rooted in the Imago Dei, and how recovering a sense of place is essential to being human.  In This Episode, We Cover: * Why AI can never bear the Imago Dei—and what that means for human art and expression * The difference between dominion and domination, and how a Christian view of creation shapes an artist's work * How building a home culture of making—music, art, and craft—forms children and families * The ancient process of woodcut printmaking and why embodied craft matters in a disembodied age * Why art belongs in its proper context and what we lose when it's pulled from worship into the museum Chapters: * 00:00 Introduction * 02:23 AI and the Image of God * 04:00 Growing up in a creative family * 08:30 Dominion vs. domination: a Christian view of creation * 16:30 Building a culture of music and making at home * 24:15 The woodcut printmaking process * 27:40 "It's not expression if it's not made by humans" * 34:10 Art at its highest is devotional * 38:40 What it means for art to have meaning * 45:08 Finding local stories and images to focus on Resources Mentioned: * Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite, illustrated by Stephen Crotts [https://www.rabbitroom.com/merlinsisle] * Stephen Crotts' website [https://www.scrotts.com] * "A British Eucharistic Odyssey: Galahad and the Grail Reviewed" by Theo Howard [https://onepeterfive.com/a-british-eucharistic-odyssey-galahad-and-the-grail-reviewed/] JOIN 2500+ MEN READING SERIOUS, YET ACCESSIBLE ESSAYS ON VIRTUE, CULTURE, AND LIVING WELL: https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade/ [https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade/] Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/].

The Way Forward Is the Way Back: Rick Seigmund on Protecting Your Family, Homes, and Craft

Rick Seigmund spent two decades on the front lines of federal law enforcement fighting human trafficking and online predation — and came home with a message most men aren't ready to hear. Now a woodworker, finish carpenter, and founder of the Family Readiness Project, Rick joins Jason to connect what might seem like two very different callings: building something permanent, and protecting something priceless.  In This Episode, We Cover: * How an engaged, present father is the single greatest deterrent to online predators and groomers * The tactics of online predators operating through gaming platforms, and what fathers need to know about the openly Satanic 764 group * Why building trust and honest communication with your sons before the storm is the only real family readiness that matters * The "enshittification" of the American home, what reclaiming craft actually looks like, and why the way forward is the way back * Why historic wood windows outperform every modern replacement — and the class-action lawsuits that prove the industry lied Chapters: * 00:00: Introduction and Rick Seigmund's Background * 05:01: Why Historic Wood Windows Beat Modern Replacements * 11:08: Throwaway Homes and the Loss of Craft * 16:50: The Way Forward Is the Way Back * 24:00: Building Your Forever Home * 36:57: From Craftsman to Defender: The Full Man * 45:00: Law Enforcement, Human Trafficking, and the Birth of FRP * 47:10: The Engaged Father Is a Predator's Worst Nightmare * 01:04:52: Online Dangers: Gaming Platforms, Groomers, and the 764 Group * 01:12:09: Culture Is the Best Defense Resources Mentioned: * Family Readiness Project [https://www.familyreadinessproject.com] * Brent Hull — Historic Preservation [https://brenthull.com] * Enshittification by Cory Doctorow [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/] JOIN 2500+ MEN READING SERIOUS, YET ACCESSIBLE ESSAYS ON VIRTUE, CULTURE, AND LIVING WELL: https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade/ [https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade/] Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/]

You Believe in Myths: David Russell Mosley on Myth, Fatherhood, and Classical Education

David Russell Mosley—convert, poet, and teacher —joins Jason Craig to discuss the cultural heritage of the Church, the importance of aesthetic choices, and what it means to be present as a father. They explore how classical education should prepare children not to live in the past, but to make new things worthy of the tradition they've inherited. In This Episode, We Cover: * The "tweed-y pipe" aesthetic and why how we dress reflects what we aspire to be * David's conversion journey from evangelical Christianity to Catholicism through beauty and liturgy * Why classical education isn't about romanticizing the medieval past but equipping students to create the future * The critical importance of fatherly presence—being there to discuss, encourage, and walk alongside your children * How the father-son relationship mirrors the Trinitarian life and the doctrine of deification Chapters: * 00:00: Introduction to David Russell Mosley * 01:16: Sword and Spade Magazine Explained * 03:41: The Tweed-y Pipe Aesthetic and Cultivating Taste * 08:59: David's Conversion to Christ and the Church * 29:50: The Doctrine of Deification and Becoming Little Christs * 42:50: Conversion to Catholicism in Nottingham * 49:22: Teaching at a Chesterton Academy in Spokane * 52:50: Understanding Myth as a Way of Engaging Truth * 01:07:35: Myth, Household, and the Domestic Church * 01:13:05: Fatherly Presence and the Filial Image Resources Mentioned: * Mosley's Marginalia [https://davidrussellmosley.substack.com/] — David Russell Mosley's Substack * How Catholic liturgy helped a father through family tragedy [https://uscatholic.org/articles/202012/how-catholic-liturgy-helped-a-father-through-family-tragedy/] JOIN 2500+ MEN READING SERIOUS, YET ACCESSIBLE ESSAYS ON VIRTUE, CULTURE, AND LIVING WELL: https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade [https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade] Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/]

What Aristotle Got Wrong About Work (and What Christ Set Right) w/ Jacob Imam

Dr. Jacob Imam of The College of St. Joseph the Worker and New Polity joins Jason to talk about a school that refuses to choose between the life of the mind and the life of the hands. The College of St. Joseph the Worker trains men in both the Catholic intellectual tradition and the skilled trades, graduating students with two certifications and no debt. In This Episode, We Cover: * Dr. Imam's origin story: raised by a lapsed Muslim father and an evangelical Protestant mother in Seattle, and the conversion that followed * The founding vision of the College of St. Joseph the Worker * The ancient pagan contempt for manual labor, from Aristotle's Politics to Cicero's On Duties, and how Christ's years at a carpenter's bench eradicated all of it * Why the liberal arts and the manual arts don't compete but strengthen each other * The crisis in American construction, the rootlessness at its root, and the debt every graduate carries back to the community that formed him Chapters: * 00:00: Introduction * 01:29: Jacob Imam's Origin Story * 13:09: What Is the College of St. Joseph the Worker? * 16:41: How Higher Education Has Failed * 19:56: The Ancient Case Against Manual Labor—and Why Christ Changed Everything * 28:45: The Active and Contemplative Life * 32:37: Students Arriving at the College * 35:33: The Trades Crisis: Why Now * 37:28: Why Modern Homes Are Built to Fail * 49:42: Going Away to Come Back Better Resources Mentioned: * College of St. Joseph the Worker [https://www.collegeofstjoseph.com/] * New Polity [https://newpolity.com/] JOIN 2500+ MEN READING SERIOUS, YET ACCESSIBLE ESSAYS ON VIRTUE, CULTURE, AND LIVING WELL: https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade/ [https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade/] Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/]

Apologetics Without the Ego: Joe Heschmeyer on Winning Souls, Not Arguments

Joe Heschmeyer has spent nearly two decades at the forefront of Catholic apologetics—first as a blogger and lawyer, now as an apologist for Catholic Answers. In this conversation with Jason Craig, Joe unpacks what the explosion of online apologetics has gotten right, where it  goes wrong, and what Catholic men most need to hear about bringing the faith from the internet into actual life. In This Episode: * How Catholic apologetics went from the fringes to a dominant force online—and what that shift has produced in the pews * The ego trap inside apologetics culture: when defending the faith becomes about winning arguments rather than winning souls * Pascal's method for correction: why understanding what someone gets right is the key to showing them where they err * St. Thomas Aquinas's four marks of a man growing in wisdom, and how they apply to every conversation you'll have today * What new converts most need after RCIA Chapters: * 00:00: Welcome & Jason's Conversion Story * 02:22: The Rise of Catholic Apologetics Online * 08:11: Church Architecture as Theology * 14:28: Joe's Journey From Law to Apologetics * 24:58: When Apologetics Becomes About Ego * 32:57: Translating Online Zeal Into Real-Life Witness * 35:43: Pascal's Method for Winning Hearts * 45:40: St. Thomas Aquinas on Growing in Wisdom * 01:10:39: Advice for New Converts * 01:14:31: Rootedness, Community, and the Faith That Bakes Resources Mentioned: * Catholic Answers [https://www.catholic.com/] * Shameless Popery Podcast [https://www.youtube.com/@shamelesspopery] * Fraternus [https://fraternus.org/] * The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-rise-of-christianity-rodney-stark] * Pensées by Blaise Pascal [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18269] JOIN 2500+ MEN READING SERIOUS, YET ACCESSIBLE ESSAYS ON VIRTUE, CULTURE, AND LIVING WELL: https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade/ [https://fraternus.org/sword-and-spade/] Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios [https://saintkolbestudios.com/]