A few years ago, those of us rejecting the mainstream media’s blatant bias and outright lies welcomed with open arms the rise of traditional Catholic podcasters. This is when we were not getting the truth on a myriad of topics like the antics of Pope Francis, the Covid-19 pandemic, globalism, and the sudden rise of transgenderism.
Their voices were a breath of fresh air, and we listened to their shows gratefully and faithfully, subscribing to and liking their videos on both social media and YouTube. Boy, has that changed! Now these same podcasters are seemingly no better than the rest of the propagandists and grifters in the online stratosphere.
First, we start with Michael Matt of the Remnant. He started as a voice of reason, exposing Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum (WEF). He railed against the COVID-19 lockdowns, vaccines, and the closures of our churches. But sometime in 2023, Matt became incredibly divisive, which is highly ironic since his overused tagline is to “Unite the Clans.”
After Hamas attacked the Jewish music festival on Oct. 7 and killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages in Gaza, Matt went all in for the Palestinians. In a podcast on Nov. 12, 2023, about the attack, he remarked, “Why did these little Hamas guys do this? It’s because they were desperate.” Desperate little Hamas guys? You mean the ones that raped, killed, and disembodied peaceful Jewish people? Unsurprisingly, he has been bashing Israel ever since and crying weekly about the perils of Christian Zionism.
Matt was also encouraging Catholics to abstain from voting in the 2024 Presidential election. He said he would not vote for Donald Trump because he was not strong enough on pro-life issues. He refused to acknowledge that there could be a lesser of two evils. By failing to vote for Trump, he was inadvertently supporting Kamala Harris, who was the most pro-abortion presidential candidate ever. This made absolutely no sense. Many of his viewers recognized it and called him out in the comments. His podcasts lately have been filled with gloom and doom. He seems angry and bitter. To bolster his narrative, Matt also typically uses obscure, cherry-picked videos from discredited sources to support his claims. This is not the work of someone spreading the Good News.
Now we will examine Candace Owens. Owens is a recent Catholic convert and often talks about going to mass and saying the rosary. She has a crucifix in the background of her podcast studio and claims, “This is God’s Podcast.” Owens bashes the state of Israel and Jewish people every chance she gets. She has publicly blamed Israel for the death of Charlie Kirk, providing absolutely no credible evidence. She has decried the “genocide” in Gaza. Still, she has said absolutely nothing about the Iranians who were killed by their own government while protesting earlier this year, or the Christians who have been slaughtered in Africa. Hers is selective outrage – all aimed at Israel. She has mocked the Jewish people by playing the song Hava Nagila at the beginning of one of her podcasts while dancing in her chair. She is also selling merchandise printed with “Shabbat Shalom Daddy’s Home.” She uses the saying “Christ is King” not to honor the Savior of the World, but to trigger her Jewish enemies. Her behavior is despicable.
Owen’s podcast has devolved into nothing but gossip. She has dragged Erica Kirk and the Turning Point USA staff through the mud with insinuations and allegations that have not been proven with any evidence. She claims she is trying to solve Charlie Kirk’s murder, but after seven months of attacks and accusations, she has exposed nothing of value. Owens, too, is angry and bitter in both her podcast delivery and her online responses to those who disagree with her.
Another Traditional Catholic podcaster to fall from grace is Timothy Gordon. He was best known for his book Rules for Retrogrades. Gordon has also strayed from addressing purely theological topics as he used to, now commenting on Zionism, among other things. He often uses crass language. At one point, he and his wife, Steph, were talking about how to maintain a happy marriage. Their advice? The wife should not get fat. Does anyone really need to waste their time listening to and supporting this kind of drivel?
How about Dr. Taylor Marshall? He has not done anything totally egregious, but his podcasts now have all kinds of sponsors, and the videos display the warning: “Includes paid promotion.” He frequently answers only the “superchat” questions (from viewers who make a monetary donation) from his live audience. He used to start each show with a prayer, but for some reason, he is no longer doing so. His podcasts seem less about fostering the Gospel and more about money-making. If you really need Wild Alaskan Seafood, Birch Gold, a Combat Rosary, or a Beeswax Candle, he’s the guy for you.
There are many others: John Henry Westen from Lifesite; Eric Sammons and Kennedy Hall from Crisis Magazine; Murray Rundus of Pelican+, and Tim Flanders from One Peter 5, who are all spouting anti-Israel content. People like Dr. Janet Smith, once admired by many, have now publicly praised the work of the mean-girl Candace Owens.
We have seen this pattern play out before with charlatans like Michael Voris from Church Militant and Steve Skojec, the former editor of One Peter 5. Both of these men left their publications in disgrace. What is interesting to note is that, except for Taylor Marshall and John Henry Westen, none of the traditional Catholic voices spoke up against the picture of Pope Leo XIV kneeling before a Pachamama statue in a 2019 ceremony on the day the story broke.
On his Substack, Hiraeth in Exile, Chris Jackson sums it up this way: “For years, these people trained their audiences to believe that they were the vigilant watchmen, the men willing to speak when the bishops would not, the voices prepared to defend the First Commandment and the integrity of Catholic worship against pagan contamination and conciliar decay.” So where was the outrage? Pachamama 2.0 must not have paid as well as covering the war in Iran and the many failings of the Jews. Michael Matt gave the game away a few weeks ago when he admitted his channel is now growing.
Clearly, these traditional podcasters need to make a living and support their families; we are not disputing this. By the way, they are always reminding us how many kids they have (7, 8, 9, etc.) to gain some Catholic credibility and perhaps elicit some sympathy from listeners to join their Patreon page or make a monetary donation. But something must happen to you when you do the Lord’s work solely to make a living. Perhaps you become a slave to sponsors, clicks, and algorithms. Perhaps their perceived fame goes to their head, and they become self-aggrandized. Either way, they would probably be better off with a regular day gig like the rest of us.
Our advice is to turn off the gloom and doom rage cycle and anti-Semitic leanings of traditional Catholic media. Instead, why not just go to mass, say your prayers, and live your life? Turning off these voices may be the best thing that happens to you, and fewer clicks for the content creators may be the best thing that happens to them.