The Future is Human

In this episode of The Future Is Human, I'm joined by theologian and blogger Larry Chapp for a wide-ranging conversation on Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. Larry — who writes at GaudiumEtSpes22.com and is a regular contributor to Catholic World Report — brings his characteristic blend of patristics, Augustinian social thought, and sharp Vatican-watching to the document. We dig into the encyclical's Christological anthropology, the Pope's Augustinian reading of the Tower of Babel, the tech-bro backlash, why AI will never achieve consciousness, what the encyclical gets right and wrong on just war theory, and what we're still hoping Leo writes next.

Larry Chapp's response to Magnifica Humanitas at CWR: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2026/05/27/why-i-think-magnifica-humanitas-is-a-pointed-and-prophetic-gut-punch/

Larry's blog: GaudiumEtSpes22.com

Magnifica Humanitas : https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html

In this episode of The Future is Human, I'm joined by Conor McGlynn — a writer and PhD researcher at Harvard's Program on Science, Technology, and Society — to discuss his Compact essay "AI and the Myth of the Machine." Drawing on the 20th-century technology critic Lewis Mumford, we talk about techno-optimism as a kind of secular faith, what the Amish and Orthodox Jewish communities understand about adopting technology on their own terms, why the data-center boom feels so undemocratic, and why technological "doom" is not a future event but something already unfolding around us.

Links and references:

Conor McGlynn's Compact essay, "AI and the Myth of the Machine": https://www.compactmag.com/article/ai-and-the-myth-of-the-machine/

More of Conor's writing at Compact Magazine:

https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-emerging-ai-policy-consensus/

https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-ai-backlash-turns-violent/

https://www.compactmag.com/article/big-techs-war-on-democracy/

The China Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcukTqc1cJJ4K3c4uzxTzjA

Got feedback? Email Zac at zac@creedalpodcast.com

In this episode of The Future is Human, I’m joined by Danish journalist, theologian, and cultural commentator Iben Thranholm to discuss her recent First Things essay, “Dawn of a New Pre-Christian West,” and the unexpected wave of young people flooding into the Catholic Church across Europe and the United States. We talk about why the New Atheism collapsed, why Muslims are converting to Christianity in record numbers (often after seeing Christ in dreams), the spiritual cost of lives lived through a screen, and why genuine love — not political programs — is what will define the future of the West.

Links and references:

Iben Thranholm’s First Things essay, “ Dawn of a New Pre-Christian West ”

Iben’s recent essay in The European Conservative on Muslims and the Christian revival

Iben’s YouTube channel

Hallow’s research on the surge in U.S. adult Catholic confirmations

Got feedback? Email Zac at zac@creedalpodcast.com

I'm excited to be podcasting again. Follow along on Substack as well at tfih.substack.com.

Hello again! I'll be back soon with more podcast episodes, but I had the immense honor of delivering an address at the annual Hanus Days conference in Bratislava, Slovakia. If you’d like to see the video, you can find that here. If you’d like to listen to it, you can check my podcast feed. I also had an interesting conversation with an interviewer from a local Catholic newspaper that you may enjoy.

If you'd like to read this online, head to creedal.substack.com!