{"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":"Why We Need or Don't Need Utopias – Dr. Jan Bentz","slug":"why-we-need-or-don-t-need-utopias-dr-jan-bentz","published_at":"2026-06-01T11:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-thomistic-institute-521456/why-we-need-or-don-t-need-utopias-dr-jan-bentz","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/0b6673a6-9e82-4c38-84e9-58cf10e995f9/episode.mp3","summary":"Dr. Jan Bentz argues that utopias are dangerous because they promise a perfected society by denying human fallenness, replacing Christian hope and grace with man-made salvation, and turning politics into a counterfeit religion. This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at Thomistic Institute in Limerick. To make a gift this June, visit  https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod . About the Speakers: Dr. Jan C. Bentz was born and raised in Germany and graduated high school in St Louis, Missouri, where he attended as a foreign exchange student. Dr Bentz holds a doctorate in Philosophy from the Roman Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, a Masters in Sacred Art, Architecture, and Liturgy and a Masters in Church, Ecumenism, and Religious Studies. His dissertation was published in German on Gustav Siewerth (1903-1963) and his work on Thomas Aquinas and G.W.F. Hegel. His fields of expertise include Metaphysics, History of Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Thomism, and Philosophy of Art. Dr Bentz lectures at Blackfriars’ Studium on History of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Philosophy of History. He taught Philosophy of Art (Aesthetics) for The Catholic University of America, Rome Campus, History of Medieval Philosophy at Christendom College, Rome Campus, and Apologetics for IES Study Abroad also in Rome. His journalistic career included the production of weekly TV coverage in German and English for EWTN Global; interviews and commentary for Catholic News Agency, Inside the Vatican; and for The Catholic Herald in English and Jüdische Rundschau in German. His current format is called Reality Check, a series of video interviews also published on YouTube with the European Conservative. Keywords: Equality, Eschatology, Grace, Human nature, Joachim of Fiore, Mar…","meta_description":"Dr. Jan Bentz argues that utopias are dangerous because they promise a perfected society by denying human fallenness, replacing Christian hope and grace w…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2160,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-thomistic-institute-521456/episodes/why-we-need-or-don-t-need-utopias-dr-jan-bentz/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/why-we-need-or-don-t-need-utopias-dr-jan-bentz.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}