I unpack what it means to be innocent in a world that no longer believes in innocence. From a surprising (and partly bizarre) podcast clip featuring Barack Obama (‘on raising sons’) to memories of James Evans Sr. saving the day in Good Times, I explore masculinity, fatherhood, the erosion of family authority, and the danger of outsourcing a child’s moral compass to “better parents.”

In the second segment of the show, I open the Mass readings and get into the topic of Innocence, with a sprinkling of Thomas Aquinas’s take, and my prescription for how you can reclaim purity of heart—no matter how far you’ve fallen. Oh, and there's a big announcement: introducing The Waypoint Dispatch, a new newsletter that bridges the gap between the fast food of social media and the rich meal of Substack.

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🗒️ Chapters and Show Notes

* 00:00 Audio chaos, mic magnets, and the reverb from the abyss

* 03:00 Barack Obama’s comments on gay professors, empathy, and co-parenting

* 08:15 Why the “diversity of dads” idea is more dangerous than it seems

* 13:30 Pop culture fathers: James Evans Sr. vs. Mike Brady

* 18:45 Modern progressivism and the family as target #1

* 22:10 The special announcement: introducing The Waypoint Dispatch newsletter

* 28:00 Innocence in Scripture: Abraham, Sodom, and the Gospel

* 33:00 Aquinas on innocence: it's not just about not sinning

* 36:10 How we actually reclaim innocence: grace, penance, persistence

* 40:00 Modern culture’s assault on innocence—from store displays to PG-13 content

* 47:00 A call to arms: prayerfulness, penance, and building back spiritual muscle

Mentioned:

* Good Times and James Evans Sr. as a masculine ideal

* The cultural gap between social media and longform Catholic thought

* New newsletter: The Waypoint Dispatch

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