The Home Front

Show Notes:Brown v. Board of EducationIs the Constitution Colorblind? by Edward J. Erler, Co-Author, The Founders on Citizenship and ImmigrationMinority Schools and the Politics of Education by Thomas Sowell Judicial Hubris by David Lewis SchaeferPolicy Brief: The Threat of Judicial Tyranny Is Far from Over by Ken CuccinelliAdult conversions soar in dioceses across U.S. (National Catholic Register)Roman Catholic Churches See a Surge of New Converts (New York Times)America’s new Catholics, by the numbers (Brendan Hodge, The Pillar)Catholic Church should focus on getting ‘nones’ back, Bishop Barron saysThe Symbolism of the Christian Temple by Jean Hani (affiliate link) Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our podcast for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed listening to this one episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:NCLA Reaches Historic Settlement, Strikes Major Blow Against Government’s Social Media CensorshipIn Historic Settlement, NCLA Strikes Fatal Blow to State Department’s Censorship Industrial ComplexAmerica’s Most Infamous Serial Baby Killer Kermit Gosnell Dead At 85Sins of omission: The Kermit Gosnell defenses the press dared not mention by Tim Carney (archive version)New York Times obituary for Kermit Gosnell (archive version)Kermit Gosnell Grand Jury ReportYour paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our podcast for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed listening to this one episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:Them Before UsGreater ThanYou think you are just for helping the infertile? Read this:Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our podcast for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed listening to this one episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:Vatican appeal court orders review of financial trial investigation (The Pillar)Vatican appeals court declares mistrial in the ‘trial of the century’ against a cardinal (AP)Phil on that New York Times obituary for Paul Erlich The Resourceful Earth: A Response to Global 2000 (edited by Julian Simon and Herman Kahn) (affiliate link)The coming population implosion (Phil Lawler)How does bottle-feeding relate to the extraordinary amplification of Paul Erlich’s Zero Population Growth message? Listen here: Carrie Gress, Something Wicked: Why Feminism Can’t Be Fused with Christianity (affiliate link)Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our podcast for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed listening to this one episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:Bishop Robert Barron on the potential closing of La TrappeArchived version of “I Regret Having Children”Pope Pius XII on Large FamiliesMassive funeral in Lebanon for the Maronite priest Pierre El-Raii“This is our home”: Christians from southern Lebanon resist evacuating the area after the death of Father Pierre el-RaïLebanese Foreign Minister requests Holy See’s help for Christians in South (Vatican News)Cardinal of Tehran evacuates to RomeWhat a Session looks like at MacMaster-Leahy house (and it’s very much like the concert!)Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil: What to listen for.Lawler Family Book Club - 2026 (here’s our Amazon affiliate link — anything you buy when you open this tab, for 24 hours, sends a little change our way at no cost to you — thank you!)February: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David GrannApril: Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace StegnerJune/July: Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom WolfeAugust: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy TooleOctober: All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthyDecember: City of Bells by Elizabeth GoudgeYour paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our podcast for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed listening to this one episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:Exclusive: The Trump-Netanyahu call that changed the Middle East ~ Axios (archived link here).Iran: Is this war just? The questions are clear; the future is not by Phil LawlerU.S. Supreme Court Delivers Historic, Groundbreaking Victory for Parental Rights, Dismantles California’s Secret Gender Transition Regime ~ Thomas More Society Blessed: The martyrs of Compiègne — film by François Lespes with subtitles.Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our podcast for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed listening to this one episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:What if I’m wrong? Phil’s CatholicCulture column on the SSPX imbroglio. “For all these reasons I deeply regret the SSPX plan to proceed with the episcopal ordinations. But what if I’m wrong?”The reckoning the SSPX requires by Phil LawlerCardinal McElroy’s Conscience Trap (Synodality) by Leila Marie LawlerFilm: For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada (2012) The Cristero Counterrevolution and the Battle for the Soul of Mexico Os Justi PressViva Cristo Rey! The Cristeros Versus the Mexican Revolution (This Rock) by Christopher CheckCatholic World News News Feature: Beatification for Cristeros martyrs September 02, 2005Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our podcast for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoy listening: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:Bishop Rhoades expresses ‘strong opposition’ to pro-abortion professor’s appointment at Notre Dame (EWTN)Amid criticism by bishops, Notre Dame says pro-abortion professor ‘well prepared’ to lead institute (EWTN)More bishops call for Notre Dame to drop appointment of pro-abortion professor (EWTN)Notre Dame must choose courage. An excellent piece by a Notre Dame undergraduate, Liam Kelly, in the independent campus newspaper, The Observer. “Notre Dame is now at a time for choosing. It must decide whether it will remain resolutely and unapologetically a Catholic university or if it will continue down the slow and lamentable drift of secularization.”Why I’m Done with Notre Dame (Professor Christian Smith in First Things)The Land O’ Lakes Statement Has Caused Devastation For 50 Years (Essay by Patrick Reilly of the Cardinal Newman Society, from 2017)God and Man at Yale, by William F. Buckley, Jr. (1951) (affiliate link)Josef Pieper, Not Yet the Twilight: An Autobiography 1945-1964 (affiliate link)Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s address to the Munich Security ConferencePope Benedict XVI: The quote about Zionism can be found on pp. 16 and 17.IHRA working definition of antisemitism. (US Dept. of State)Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our podcast for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoy listening: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:Them Before Us: Katy FaustGreater ThanIs Germany facing ‘synodal fatigue’? by Luke CoppenSome favorite history books, military and otherwise (if it’s an Amazon link, a small amount goes to us without costing you more — thank you!):Thucydides: The History of the Peloponnesian WarThe Face of Battle by John Keegan (all his books)Shelby Foote: The Civil War (3 volumes)WWI: Barbara Tuchman: The Guns of August; The Sleepwalkers by ChapmanWWII: The Storm of War by Andrew RobertsHistorical fiction:The Killer Angels by Michael ShaaraIn a Dark Wood Wandering by Hella HaasseThe Red Horse by Eugenio CortiAugust 1914 by Aleksandr SolzhenitsynYour paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our updates for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed this episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Confidential to the commenter who asked about Phil’s history reading recommendations (sorry, it’s impossible to search Notes here and I didn’t record your name, alas): We will get to his list next week!Show Notes:Xi Jinping Is Accelerating China’s Collapse by Steven MosherChina’s demographic crisis threatens the Party’s grand plans by Phil LawlerMatt Walsh: The Solution To The Immigration Problem That No One Is Talking About (plus a discussion of an AI history series). Taking Religion Seriously by Charles Murray (affiliate link)A social scientist seeking faith by Phil LawlerNetflix: The Seven Dials based on a book by Agatha ChristieThe Making of the American Mind: The Story of our Declaration of Independence by Matthew Spalding (affiliate link)Lawler Family Book Club: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (affiliate link)Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our updates for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed this episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:Minnesota DHS Employee on Welfare Fraud: “This Is Real” - City JournalTHE LAW on “Excessive Use Of Force Claims” -- Public Sentiments Do Not Reflect The Realities Of Legal Principles. (Bio of the author of this post from X: 22 years as DOJ prosecutor; Rep’d 91 Jan 6 clients.)Tim Walz compares Minnesota ICE actions to Holocaust and Anne Frank: ‘Hiding in their houses’ - Fox NewsFederal Affidavit: Church Invaders Blocked Parents from Kids, Told Them Their Parents Were ‘Nazis’The Bill of Rights: The First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”The Making of the American Mind: The Story of our Declaration of Independence by Matthew Spalding (affiliate link)Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out MysteryYour paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our updates for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed this episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:{Our apologies for the quality or lack thereof of Leila’s audio. We’ll try to do better next time! Thanks for sticking with us!}Finland’s president is a bit overconfident about not needing US military help — and immediately contradicts himself!President Trump’s full speech at Davos — in Leila’s opinion, even the seeming digressions off topic have meaning, and the whole thing will go down in history as a watershedEmmanuel Macron wants massive Chinese investmentNATO General Secretary declares Trump correct on the need for a strategic resetNew York Times: Top Catholic Clerics Denounce U.S. Foreign Policy (archived here)Broglio: US troops could refuse Greenland orders (The archbishop’s statement is more nuanced than the headline, but concerning nonetheless for reasons we discuss.)Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work, but we are happy for you to receive our updates for free!Want to tell a friend? Please do! It’s a great way to help us!How about this, if you enjoyed this episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:This week, Phil and I are really just talking about larger social issues creating a serious divide in our country, so we don’t have any particular show notes.Here is the tweet Leila read: Rob Henderson on X: 95% of children in 1960 were raised by two married parents regardless of social class… For on-the-ground reporting: Andy Ngo is a good source.Megyn Kelly has lots of information on events in Minneapolis and their effect on the public on her site, including a story about women reacting on social media and losing their minds. Black Lives Matter Activists Executed A Shocking $83 Billion Shakedown Of American CorporationsDo you look forward to our podcast? Do not hesitate to subscribe! It’s free! Or you can choose to support us financially if you are able— either way, we appreciate you!Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work.Want to tell a friend? Please do!Don’t wish to take out a paid subscription just now? We understand!How about this, if you enjoyed this episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:A Consistory to Revitalize the College of Cardinals by Fr. Daniel Gallagher (The Catholic Thing)Charlotte priests submit Dubia to Vatican over liturgical changes (The Pillar)Is our society normalizing dark things while our bishops polish their managerial skills? Nicole Shanahan: Burning Man; Mike Cernovich: Ayahuasca trips. What does the Church teach? Here is a more optimistic take.Phil Lawler:Pros and cons on the politics of the Venezuela action: Rich Lowry and Megyn KellyAnd what about the Just War aspect? Phil:My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (affiliate link) and the whimsical movie based on the book (highly enjoyable, not without mild adolescent themes, in keeping with the “coming of age” aspect).Do you look forward to our podcast? Do not hesitate to subscribe! It’s free! Or you can choose to support us financially if you are able— either way, we appreciate you!Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work.Want to tell a friend? Please do!Don’t wish to take out a paid subscription just now? We understand!How about this, if you enjoyed this episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe

Show Notes:Nick Shirley’s report on MN daycare fraud.Minnesota’s Massive Somali Fraud Scandal Is a Warning to Every State, Including Maine by Ben Midgley, Republican candidate for governor (not an endorsement; we don’t know anything about him)Andy Ngo addressing claims that the legacy media already reported on the MN fraudWashington State AG Warns Citizen Journalists To Stop Investigating Somali Daycares Or Face Potential Hate Crime Charges ~ ZerohedgeLegislators move to protect fraudstersPeachy Keenan: “You had to send your baby to a real daycare to pay a Somali to open a fake one.”The New York Times moves in to neutralize Nick Shirley (I said this article was unlocked but I’m not sure about that now.)There was even a Strange New Respect award! Tom BethellThe Bishop’s WifeSeven housewifely [and mostly universal] New Year’s resolutions that will actually change things from The School for HousewivesDo you look forward to our podcast? Do not hesitate to subscribe! It’s free! Or you can choose to support us financially if you are able— either way, we appreciate you!Your paid subscription means a lot to us and helps us continue our work.Want to tell a friend? Please do!Don’t wish to take out a paid subscription just now? We understand!How about this, if you enjoyed this episode: Get full access to Happy Despite Them at leilamarielawler.substack.com/subscribe