{"podcast":{"title":"The Thomistic Institute","slug":"the-thomistic-institute-521456","podcast_index_feed_id":521456,"rss_url":"https://feeds.cohostpodcasting.com/8dluqp75","website_url":"https://podcast.thomisticinstitute.org","image_url":"https://files.cohostpodcasting.com/quill-file-prod/1ec23f95-40fe-429d-a0f3-244bca6fbb8f/shows/fedb9eb7-b992-446b-be01-01cd62afd823/cover-art/original_d16b8d4e377588e2605b7455efd8717f.png","author":"The Thomistic Institute","episode_count":1969,"summary":"The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone. The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual retreats, livestream events, and much more. Founded in 2009, the Thomistic Institute is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-29T22:19:20.045779+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thomistic-institute-521456"},"episode":{"title":"Catholic Social Teaching – Prof. James Felak","slug":"catholic-social-teaching-prof-james-felak","published_at":"2026-05-29T11:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thomistic-institute-521456/catholic-social-teaching-prof-james-felak","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thomistic-institute-521456","url":"https://podcast.thomisticinstitute.org","audio_url":"https://audio-delivery.cohostpodcasting.com/audio/1ec23f95-40fe-429d-a0f3-244bca6fbb8f/episodes/10d53c4c-7fbe-4424-9b68-bee99feb769f/episode.mp3","summary":"Professor James Felak argues that Catholic social teaching presents a holistic vision of the human person and society, insisting that rights and duties belong together, the market must serve the common good, and neither socialism nor unchecked capitalism can satisfy human dignity. This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events . About the Speakers: James Felak is a Professor of History and current holder of the Newman Center Term Professorship in Catholic Christianity at the University of Washington.  He specializes in Catholicism in East Central Europe and has authored two books on Catholic politics in Slovakia, and a book on Pope John Paul II and his visits to his native Poland during and after Communist rule there.  This latter work is based on hundreds of pages of papal speeches and sermons, and the records of the Communist government and secret police as they monitored the Pope during his visits.  Besides courses on modern Europe, Felak teaches “The History of Christianity” and “Catholic Classics in Historical Context.”  The latter course covers the major Catholic writers and thinkers from St. Augustine and St. Benedict through G. K. Chesterton and Flannery O’Connor.  Felak is from southwestern Pennsylvania, received his doctorate from Indiana University, and has resided in Seattle since 1989. Keywords: Capitalism, Common good, Culture, Duties, Human dignity, John Paul II, Market, Property, Rights, Subsidiarity","meta_description":"Professor James Felak argues that Catholic social teaching presents a holistic vision of the human person and society, insisting that rights and duties be…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2759,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-thomistic-institute-521456/episodes/catholic-social-teaching-prof-james-felak/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thomistic-institute-521456/catholic-social-teaching-prof-james-felak.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}