
Joseph Pearce - Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts
Joseph Pearce with Kris McGregor
Show overview
Joseph Pearce - Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts has been publishing since 2011, and across the 15 years since has built a catalogue of 36 episodes. That works out to roughly 20 hours of audio in total. Releases follow an irregular cadence.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 28 min and 29 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language Religion & Spirituality show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 1 weeks ago, with 11 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2018, with 12 episodes published. Published by Joseph Pearce with Kris McGregor.
From the publisher
Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce, hosted by Kris McGregor,This series examines, from the Judeo-Christian perspective, the life, the times, and influence of authors of great works in literature. This program offers Catholic Cultural Apologetic for those on the discerning journey.
Latest Episodes
View all 36 episodesGWWL11 – William Shakespeare – Merchant of Venice and King Lear – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
GWWL10 – C.S. Lewis – Pilgrim’s Regress – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
GWWL9 – Herman Melville – Moby Dick – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
GWWL8 – William Shakespeare – Hamlet and Macbeth – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts

GWWL7 – Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
Joseph Pearce explores Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, revealing a powerful story of sin, repentance, mercy, and redemption. The post GWWL7 – Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWWL6 –Jane Austen – Pride & Prejuidice and Mansfield Park – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
Joseph Pearce explores Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, revealing a powerful story of virtue, humility, and authentic love rooted in truth. The post GWWL6 –Jane Austen – Pride & Prejuidice and Mansfield Park – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWWL5 – Charles Dickens and Great Expectations – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
Joseph Pearce explores Dickens’ Great Expectations, revealing a powerful story of pride, conversion, and discovering true happiness beyond wealth. The post GWWL5 – Charles Dickens and Great Expectations – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWWL4 – Jonathan Swift & Gulliver’s Travels – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
Joseph Pearce explores Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, revealing its powerful satire on pride, politics, scientism, and modern culture. The post GWWL4 – Jonathan Swift & Gulliver’s Travels – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWWL3 – Oscar Wilde & The Picture of Dorian Gray – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
Joseph Pearce explores Oscar Wilde’s life and The Picture of Dorian Gray, revealing a powerful story about vanity, conscience, sin, and the fate of the soul. The post GWWL3 – Oscar Wilde & The Picture of Dorian Gray – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWWL2 – Mary Shelley and Frankenstein – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
Joseph Pearce and Kris McGregor explore Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, examining its moral vision, the consequences of unchecked scientific ambition, the novel’s cultural misreadings, and the enduring relevance of its questions about technology, responsibility, and love. The post GWWL2 – Mary Shelley and Frankenstein – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWWL1 – Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts
Joseph Pearce and Kris McGregor explore Wuthering Heights as a profoundly Christian novel that critiques destructive passion rather than celebrating romantic obsession. Through the figures of Heathcliff, Catherine and Nelly Dean, Emily Brontë exposes the spiritual damage caused by ego-driven desire and calls readers toward mature, self-giving love rooted in moral clarity. The post GWWL1 – Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 3 – The Day Is Now Far Spent – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast
We continue our exploration of Robert Cardinal Sarah’s “The Day Is Now Far Spent”—a tour de force response to the present darkness in the Church. From the New York City skyline to the meaning of the word “Modernism”. We continue our discussion of Robert Cardinal Sarah’s “The Day Is Now Far Spent”. You can find ... Read more The post Episode 3 – The Day Is Now Far Spent – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 2 – The Day Is Now Far Spent – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast
We begin our exploration of Robert Cardinal Sarah's "The Day Is Now Far Spent"—a tour de force response to the present darkness in the Church. From the New York City skyline to the meaning of the word "Modernism". We continue our discussion of Robert Cardinal Sarah's "The Day Is Now Far Spent". The post Episode 2 – The Day Is Now Far Spent – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 1 – The Day Is Now Far Spent – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast
We begin our exploration of Robert Cardinal Sarah's "The Day Is Now Far Spent"—a tour de force response to the present darkness in the Church. In this week's reading, the cardinal pays a special tribute to such controversial churchmen as Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (all Ignatius Press authors). What he says may surprise you. The post Episode 1 – The Day Is Now Far Spent – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

IP#34 Joseph Pearce – The Heart of Newman on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor
We will be praying with and learning from Blessed John Henry Newman for many, many years to come. Joseph Pearce has been an excellent student, as well as an instructor of (or should I say “illuminator of”) the life and work of this great man, John Henry Newman, and who is now a bonafide member of the ... Read more The post IP#34 Joseph Pearce – The Heart of Newman on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWML#24 – C. S. Lewis “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce
We discuss “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” by C. S. Lewis. Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return ... Read more The post GWML#24 – C. S. Lewis “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWML#23 William Shakespeare (Julius Caesar) – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcast
Episode 10 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – William Shakespeare Though a staple in high school English classes, Julius Caesar is not a simple play. Seemingly irreconcilable forces are at work: fate and free will, the changeableness and stubbornness of ambitious men, the demands of public service and the desire for ... Read more The post GWML#23 William Shakespeare (Julius Caesar) – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWML#10 William Shakespeare (Hamlet and Macbeth) – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcast
Arguably Shakespeare's finest and most important play, Hamlet is also one of the most misunderstood masterpieces of world literature. "To be or not to be", may be the question, but the answer has eluded many generations of critics. What does it mean "to be"? And is everything as it seems to be? The post GWML#10 William Shakespeare (Hamlet and Macbeth) – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWML#16 Charles Dickens and “A Tale of Two Cities” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts podcast
In this exciting novel set during the French Revolution, Charles Dickens expresses sympathy for the downtrodden poor and their outrage at the self-indulgent aristocracy. But Dickens is no friend of the vengeful mob that storms the Bastille and cheers the guillotine. As with all of his stories, his passion is for the unforgettable and unrepeatable individuals he creates. The sorrows of the suffering masses, their demands for justice, and the indiscriminate fury they unleash take flesh in Madame Defarge, while the self-sacrifice that is the truest means of atonement and rebirth manifests in the unlikely hero Sydney Carton. In A Tale of Two Cities, humanity does not show its best side in the mean streets of Paris or even London, but in the intimate circle of loyal friends that gathers around the honorable Doctor Manette and his lovely daughter, Lucie. The post GWML#16 Charles Dickens and “A Tale of Two Cities” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

GWML#21 T.S. Eliot and “The Waste Land” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts
"Eliot's place as a poet of the highest stature is assured. The Waste Land is the quintessential debunking of modernity and is also, simultaneously, a potent antidote to the poison of postmodernism.." --Joseph Pearce - St. Austin Review -- An excerpt from "The Wasteland" by T. S. Eliot If there were water And no rock If there were rock And also water And water 350 A spring A pool among the rock If there were the sound of water only Not the cicada And dry grass singing But sound of water over a rock Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop But there is no water Who is the third who walks always beside you? 360 When I count, there are only you and I together But when I look ahead up the white road There is always another one walking beside you Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded I do not know whether a man or a woman —But who is that on the other side of you? The post GWML#21 T.S. Eliot and “The Waste Land” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.