Pursuing the "Real": INTERVIEW w/ Spencer Hess & Emily Larner, JPII Catholic Worker Farm (KCMO)

Click here to watch this episode of The Simpleton Podcast!

Also in this episode:

• Utopia? Or anti?
• The Catholic Worker Movement
• How to "build the kingdom"
• Spencer's podcast (with Dr. Laurie Johnson): Dustbowl Diatribes
• Catholic conversion

---

0:00 Start
0:36 Origins of JPII Catholic Worker Farm, Spencer, and Emily
10:01 Hippies, Christians, farmers, and Michael Pollen
15:52 Spencer's journey to Catholicism
18:00 The biggest challenge for organic farming
27:30 Spencer's failed farm ideas
28:27 Where the interest in Catholic Worker Farms came from
40:54 Why Catholicism? And how Spencer & Emily met
43:41 Emily's background
44:53 Spencer and Emily
45:59 An aside on Mormonism
46:56 The jump to Catholicism and the Catholic Worker Movement
53:48 Goals of the JPII Catholic Worker Farm
58:26 Spencer's podcast (with Dr. Laurie Johnson): Dustbowl Diatribes
1:06:44 Anti-utopian dreams (and anti-uniformity)
1:12:53 Understanding "building the Kingdom of God"
1:15:15 Is the vague-ness of Catholic Social Teaching good?
1:30:48 The "dustbowl" of modernity
1:33:19 Global warming, doomerism, growing your own food, and cities
1:48:01 Summarizing our thoughts: pursuing the "real"
1:49:16 Outro

---

Links:

JPII Catholic Worker Farm:
​https://jpiicatholicworkerfarm.com/

Dustbowl Diatribes with Dr. Laurie Johnson & Spencer Hess:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsLkfggTCOx_cZ2WLSL-mRfrizC89Ln4k

---

The Simpleton Podcast is also on Rumble and Odysee.

Rumble: rumble.com/user/asimplehouseU
Odysee: odysee.com/@asimplehouseU

You can also find the audio version of the podcast almost anywhere you stream podcasts (specifically, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RadioPublic, Pocket Casts, Breaker, and Anchor). Just search "The Simpleton Podcast", or go to https://anchor.fm/simpletonpodcast.

---

Send us feedback! Email: [email protected]

A Simple House is a Catholic ministry that serves project and Section 8 neighborhoods in southeast Washington, DC and Kansas City, MO. Missionaries strive to meet the material and spiritual needs of the poor while living a simple religious life. Each missionary attends daily Mass, says morning and evening prayer from the Catholic Church's Liturgy of the Hours, and makes time for personal prayer and scripture study.

Visit asimplehouse.org to learn more about A Simple House and The Simpleton Podcast.

YouTube - A Simple House: https://www.youtube.com/@asimplehouse.catholic

YouTube - A Simple House U (home of The Simpleton Podcast): https://youtube.com/@asimplehouseu_2023

Facebook: @asimplehouse

Instagram: @asimplehouse.catholic

---

Thank you to Ben Friedman from Totus Media for editing and producing The Simpleton Podcast. Totus Media is a digital media production company based out of Des Moines, Iowa. Totus Media is an Iowa video production company, social media management firm, wedding videography business, and digital marketing agency. Visit www.totusmedia.co to learn more.

---

#catholic #tedlasso #podcast