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Episode 98: God is Bigger Than Your God & Fr. Michael O’Louglin of Catholic Stuff You Should Know

In this episode Andrew apologizes to Michael Miley for messing up his name, explores the spiritual riches of the Babylonian exile with Joseph Ratzinger, and then interviews his friend Fr. Michael O’Loughlin, pastor of Holy Protection of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church in Denver, CO, member of the Companions of Christ Denver, and one quarter of the incredibly popular Catholic Stuff You Should Know podcast.

Episode 97: I Got Sick/Hot Toddies and Drummers and Death, Oh My!

In this episode Andrew finishes the cliff hanger from the last episode, namely that he did in fact get very very uber ugly sick, gives an extended shout out to his new friend and listener Michael Miley (who’s name was mispronounced we think, mea culpa) drummer of the band Rival Sons, then goes on to sing the praises of hot toddies, give the recipe for his famous Coffeeboy Sick Tea, and recount the mind blowing goodness/alchemy of adding whiskey to the Sick Tea. Finally, inspired by some ideas in his friend Mark’s new book, Andrew muses on the big big metaphysical meaning of the saying “the wages of sin is death”.

Episode 96: Not Getting Sick!!/Apostles in Plato’s Cave

In this episode Andrew, after feeling bad and taking a very long accidental nap, gives shout outs to Mark from Over the Counter and Billy Kangas and his project Cultivate Coffee and Taphouse. Then, Andrew explores the Incarnation and the spiritual life in light of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, using it as a template to look at the “Come and see” moment when St. Andrew and the other disciple meet Jesus when listening to John the Baptist. Andrew is not getting sick!

Episode 95: Family Wedding- Trinity, Children, and The Communion of Persons

In this episode Andrew reflects a bit on a sermon from a family wedding in which the minister put children within the earthly goods of marriage, contrasts that with the great development in the thought of St. John Paul the Great of the family as communio personarum as the primary mode of our imaging of God, then uses his recent reading of the Soul of the Apostolate by Dom Chautard to reflect on the nature of the Trinity and it’s role in our life, and finally looks at two conversations with friends and family about the seeking out and living of the real authentic ancient faith and how that must have the encounter of God at the core of it.

Episode 94: Christmas Redux/The 3 Fs- Family, Food, and the Force Awakens

In this episode Andrew catches up on the experiences and insights of hanging with family and friends, eating too much, getting accepted by a baby, getting caught in blizzard conditions, and slacking/binge watching watching Firefly with his Mom and Perry West. Then, using his family’s tradition of going to the movies on Christmas night, Andrew muses on the nature of myth, the role it plays in our life, why myth is at home in this time of year, what the tabernacle, adoration, The BVM, and the nativity have in common, and what C.S. Lewis and Robert Bly might have to say about all this.

Episode 93: The Christmas Episode!

In this episode Andrew, after resisting the impulse to do a whole show about Christmas built around Star Wars: The Force Awakens, explores the three separate holidays that are all called Christmas, why we should love Chanukah too, and two fake holidays- Kwanza and Festivus. Then he looks at the reckless downright unadvisable nature of the Incarnation through the lens of a love story in which Meaning searches for Man far beyond the call of duty, but all in his normal, hopefully charming, distracted random way. Merry Christmas from the Counter Position!!!!

Episode 92: Lessons from the Road

In this episode Andrew explores a few ideas he had about life and spirituality based on experiences we have while traveling and how they are analogs for life. So, if you want to know how being charged for parking, waiting in line, flying 1st Class for the first time, not seeing the Alamo, and being stuck in traffic can help your spiritual life, tune in!

Episode 91: Austin, TX- Coffee, Brisket, Hospitality, and Gratitude

In this episode Andrew takes the Counter Position on the road to the San Antonio Riverwalk and then up to Austin, TX. The old world charm of the Riverwalk and the beauty of a wedding in an old cathedral set the mood for a whirlwind trip of culinary and hospitality research in Austin. Andrew eats the best brisket of his life, checks out the innovative new fast casual/Modbar layout at Cuvee Coffee, and pays a visit to Shake Shack, the new chain founded by restaurant luminary and author of Setting the Table, Danny Meyer. All this beauty and hospitality is then filtered through the idea of craft, gratitude, and humility modeled but the monks of Burgundy and Belgium and their respective craft productions of wine and beer. Did we mention Andrew had the best brisket of his life?

The Counter Position Episode 90: “The Virgin Mother longed for Him with a love beyond all telling.”

In this episode Andrew explores all the different aspects of the imminent Incarnation of the Word through the lens of the different aspects of the longing of The Blessed Virgin Mary, after being assigned a penance of meditating on the Second Advent Preface’s line “The Virgin Mother longed for him with a long beyond all telling.” Never waste a particularly brilliant penance!

Episode 89: An Early Morning & Trying to Find Meaning in the Search for Meaning

In this episode Andrew, after getting to work way before dawn to avoid the crazy Denver drivers on the snow and ice, attempts to make sense of why un-religious kids are converting and joining ISIS. In this process he uses , Victor Frankl,The Big Lebowski, paleo vs. vegan, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Tertullian, the trans movement, reactionary PC college kids, and a Ross Douthat article in the NYT to make sense of it all.

http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/the-joy-of-isis/?_r=1

Episode 88: Snow Day!, Calix in the News, and Act Your Age

In this episode a giddy snowbound Andrew talks about the beauty of nature shutting us down and how much fun Episode 87 was, then fleshes out some of the ideas he expressed in the new Catholic Digest article featuring Calix, then rants a bit about an older man in Canada who is now living as a 6 year old girl and how this just might be the moment the “trans” movement jumps the shark.

http://www.catholicdigest.com/articles/good_works/making_a_difference/2015/12-10/grounds-of-new-evangelization

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2015/12/when-you-detach-the-earth-from-the-sun

Episode 87: Gaudete Sunday, The Nature of Joy, and The First Studio Audience

In this episode Andrew and his first impromptu studio audience, consisting of the lovely, talented, and live-tweeting @peterzelasko from CNA and Andy Craig from Catholic World Issues and Young Catholic Professionals Denver, explore the nature of joy via an insight from Aquinas through the preaching of Fr. Brian Larkin, the nature of goods and our relation to them, and how fasting and penance are a boon to joy and not an impediment.

The Counter Position Episode 86: Talking to Kids, Taking Your Place, and Singing Your Par

In this episode a properly slept and energetic Andrew explores the benefits of not talking down to children, how that relates to his own intellectual development, confesses his addiction to books, talks about the nature of humility by examining quotations from Ted Sri and Von Balthasar, then applies all of this to nature of the larger Christian world, with copious and charming asides and rabbit trails along the way per usual.

The Counter Position Episode 85: Blasphemous Butterflies? & The Meaning of Mercy

In this episode a very tired and extra random and ranty Andrew tries to sort out the clearly evil shenanigans that are trying to keep Episode 84 from the masses, explores what is so blasphemous about projecting pictures of God’s creation on the Vatican wall, gives his take on the year of mercy and how to get a “Get Out of Purgatory Free” card, and finally muses on the relationship between gratitude, humility, and mercy, but all in a very post insomnia kind of way.

The Counter Position Episode 84: Indian Food, Dogfights, and The Immaculate Conception

In this episode, in honor the The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Andrew explores the nature of the Fall, the nature of man before it, how we experience that reality today in our own internal self experience, how he experienced it with a homeless man in an Indian restaurant, what Mary’s experience would have been like, how the Annunciation would have played into and answered that, and ultimately how Mary and her conception speaks to us a deep truth that our lives are not about us.

The Counter Position Episode 83: The Real St. Nick & You Have to Go to Mass Tomorrow

In this episode Andrew talks about St. Nicholas, how he punched the heretic Arius at the Council of Nicea, and how in Austria he has a demon slave named Krampus that gets the bad kids, then turns to an extended musing on The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the fittingness of such a crazy beautiful thing in light of the scandal of the Incarnation, the vast source of insight that is the intimacy between the Theotokos and the Incarnate God, and what this can teach us about the reception of the Eucharist.

The Counter Position w. Andrew Whaley - EPISODE TWO

“The Counter Position” is a new show by Andrew Whaley, founder of the apostolate Calix. Andrew brings his unique take on things from over 20 years of studying philosophy, theology, art, business, and design while processing those ideas daily over the bar in his coffeehouses with people of all walks of life, most of them being the unchurched/dechurched. Feverishly interested in everything, Andrew covers a wide array of topics, spiritual and otherwise, with his hallmark brand of edgy self-deprecating humor, intellectual speculation, and deep wonder. Interviews range from major Catholic figures and intellectuals to interesting characters with good story or an insight to bring. So, if you’re interested in a new form of Catholic radio, buckle up and tune in. 


ORIGINAL AIRDATE: July 7, 2015

The Counter Position Episode 82: Back in the Saddle & “What is Sane?”

In this episode Andrew records after a long day at work, getting his recovering from sickness butt kicked, but with deep consolations and bright spots along the way, extols the brilliant and soulful Perry West and his return to Denver, CO bearing a gift of 27 year old bourbon, then moves on to point out a deep act of love performed by a law enforcement officer/pastor in CO Springs who laid down his life defending the people working for Planned Parenthood though he had just preached against abortion at his church, then explores the nature of sanity and sanctity with the help of Frank Sheed.

The Counter Position - Episode 81: A Body of Work/How to Get a Head in this World

In this episode Andrew, after ending the suspense over his broken down car, complains bitterly about being treated like a leper by both Chris Stefanick and Lino Rulli in the same afternoon, then goes on to explore and riff on all the implications of Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero’s plan to transplant the head of a Russian man on to the body of brain dead body donor, and how, surprisingly that might not be the best idea.

The Counter Position - Episode 80: The Rest of the Story/I am NOT doing another rerun!!

In this episode Andrew defiantly stops everything, leaves his car dead in the garage, and before even calling AAA, fills in all his loyal Counter Positioners and Countrarians on the rest of his epic Odyssean journey across the desert Southwest and South Central Coast of CA, from having his last 10 years defined in one late night monastery conversation, doing the most existential load of laundry in history, some good food, wine, and company, followed by a stomach flu of Job proportions, an exodus across the desert, a moment of liturgical consolation, and dead car. Bonus: Andrew riffs on the sacredness of human life and why you should ask that weird crusty loner guy at church to go to Denny’s for a bad cup of coffee.