The goal of the Forte Catholic Podcast is to inspire, uplift, and share the Good News in a way that will help you take the next step in your faith, no matter where you are on your journey with God.

Taylor Schroll 12/22/21 Taylor Schroll 12/22/21

Christmas, Santa & Church Engagement w/Aaron Weber, Jon Blevins & Fr Anthony | Forte Catholic Ep 271

Our Christmas special is jammed packed this year! Jon Blevins cohosts 2 segments to discuss engagement vs. entertainment and the life lessons we learn from Santa. And as is our Christmas tradition, comedian Aaron Weber joins Taylor & Fr. Anthony. They chat about his comedy and how tall Jesus & Mary were.

Jon Blevins cohosts two segments of our Christmas special. He and Taylor hung out in person this week for only the second time ever. They chat about that & Jon's strange request. Taylor also shares his thoughts on being entertaining vs. being engaging and what that means for the Church.

Next, Fr. Anthony and Aaron Weber join Taylor on the show for what has become an annual Christmas tradition! This is the 3rd year in a row that comedian Aaron Weber has been our guest for the Christmas episode. They discuss Aaron's big year of getting married, losing a ton of weight, his first standup special and more. They also tackle the age old Christmas season question of how tall Jesus and Mary were.

Jon rejoins Taylor for the final segment to go through a list of life lessons we can learn from Santa. They're mostly silly with some good advice hidden in there. Merry Christmas from all of us here at Forte Catholic!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 12/15/21 Taylor Schroll 12/15/21

Mary & Eve, Balance & Miscommunication w/Allison Sullivan | Ep 270

Allison & Taylor discuss some of the connections between Eve and Mary you might have missed, the illusion of finding balance in life and have an impromptu argument about their recent text thread. Enjoy! :)

In the first segment, Allison and Taylor were supposed to catch up about her recent trip and Taylor getting out of jury duty. But instead, THEY READ THE RECEIPTS on an argument they had via text and have a fun time deciding who was in the wrong and what they learned about each other.

Next, to calm down a bit, they discuss a lot connections between Eve and Mary you may have missed.

Finally, the discuss the illusion of finding balance in life and a new quote Taylor heard that might be the answer for how that is ok. Enjoy!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 12/8/21 Taylor Schroll 12/8/21

Pastoral Council, Bad Preaching & Good Penance w/Fr. Anthony Sciarappa | Ep 269

Pastoral Council, Scripture vs. Vatican II, Bad Preaching & the best penance I've received.

Taylor shares some Italian stories with the Italian priest and then kicks off the show with news involving him and his new role at home parish that may surprise some of you. He also shares a question that he recently heard with Fr. Anthony for his thoughts: "Is it as important to read Vatican II as Scripture." An interesting discussion ensues.

Next, Fr. Anthony has a question. "Do good talks actually matter?"

Finally, Taylor shares the best penance he's ever received and how happy it made him to be Catholic. Enjoy!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 12/1/21 Taylor Schroll 12/1/21

Modern Day Bible Stories w/Liv Harrison | Ep 268

Taylor shares two stories that are like modern retellings of Scripture. He went to his sister's wedding, had a moral dilemma & Liv went to Hawaii

We hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving and are having a lovely first week of Advent! Taylor starts the show sharing about a funny thing that happened for Thanksgiving and his adventures at his baby sister's wedding.

Liv shares about her recent Hawaii vacation, while Taylor admits he had FOMO during the trip. He also shares a moral dilemma he experienced at IHOP.

Finally, they discuss a modern day story with similarities to the young boy giving the fishes and the loaves to Jesus for the feeding of the 5000.

We hope you enjoy this week's episode! Please like, comment your favorite moments and subscribe!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 11/24/21 Taylor Schroll 11/24/21

Fat Guy in a Little Coat & Cold Takes w/Jon Blevins | Ep 267

Taylor scolds Jon for not sharing big news in his life. Taylor shares two new things in his life: one frustrating and one hilarious. Then Taylor throws some random cold takes at Jon to see what his reaction is. We hope you enjoy this episode and your Thanksgiving!

Taylor starts the show by getting after Jon for not sharing two big announcements with him. He then shares two new things in his life: one of which is hilarious and the other frustrating.

They both share their experiences of being home with their kids without their wives and how different those two experiences were.

And finally, they close the show with a segment of "cold takes." Some people like hot takes, but these takes are so random that no one could accuse them of being hot.

We hope you enjoy this episode and your Thanksgiving!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 11/17/21 Taylor Schroll 11/17/21

Caritas, Trust & Punishment Fits the Crime w/Allison Sullivan | Ep 266

Taylor & Allison tackle the difference between charity & love, growing in friendship & play the new Punishment Fits the Crime game.

Allison Sullivan & Taylor Schroll kick off the show with a discussion of two words we often get confused: charity & love. They have the same root word, but have come to mean different things today.

Next, they play their game of confessing strange or outlandish "sins" to one another and giving each other ridiculous penance for them. It's a game around the Sacrament of Confession ultimately meant to lead you to a real confessional.

Finally, they close the show with a discussion on growing deeper in friendship and the trust that that takes. We hope you enjoy this week's episode!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 11/10/21 Taylor Schroll 11/10/21

Biblical High School Cafeteria w/Fr. Anthony Sciarappa | Ep 265

Hard work now pays off later, deciding which Biblical characters to have lunch with & the awkwardness of inviting people to Church.

Fr. Anthony cohosts a fun show that kicks off with a discussion on how hard work pays off later. We often have to have times where we are putting in extra work in order to relieve our workload and have a better life later. The opposite is also true. If we don't do things we need to now, we will have to deal with the consequences later. He and Taylor chat about managing these seasons.

Next, they have a ton of fun with a meme that asks which biblical character you would choose to sit with in a cafeteria. They give the pros and cons to sitting at each table and ultimately decide who they would sit with. Their answers couldn't be any more different!

Finally, Taylor shares a story where he reflexively suggested a non-denominational Church in town to a couple instead of the Catholic Church. He immediately wondered why he did that, shares the situation with Fr. Anthony and asked what could have done better.

We hope you enjoy this week's show! Have a great week, friends!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 11/3/21 Taylor Schroll 11/3/21

Travel, Tradition & Personal Hygiene(?) w/Liv Harrison | Ep 264

Taylor & Liv discuss their recent travels, Taylor's experience of the traditions of attending a Texas A&M game as an outsider & personal hygiene for some reason (its a good one tho)

Taylor recently went to Iowa and Liv spent over two weeks in New York. They trade stories. Then Taylor shares his experience of going to a Texas A&M football game in town even though he isn't an Aggie. He talks about his experience of their traditions, how he was welcomed in and how it made him think of the Church.

They close out the show discussing personal hygiene. Taylor has questions and it leads to a discussion on the things we all may have missed growing up and how this effects our spiritual lives. Enjoy!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 10/27/21 Taylor Schroll 10/27/21

Busyness, Business & Burning Bush w/Jon Blevins | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 263

Taylor celebrates his birthday with Jon Blevins as they discuss busyness, the things we miss and the burning bush. They also play our new “Punishment Fits the Crime” game.

Taylor celebrates his birthday in this episode cohosted by Jon "Bearded" Blevins. They chat about the things we miss when busyness creeps in. Taylor shares two anecdotal stories both involving the NBA. They also discuss the burning bush and it's implications for our modern day lives.

Our newest segment, "Punishment Fits the Crime" returns as the guys take turns being a penitent with a strange confession while the other gives a strange penance to match. All fun and games, but for real, go to confession. Enjoy this week's episode!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 10/20/21 Taylor Schroll 10/20/21

Jesus on Social Media & Body Positivity w/Allison Sullivan | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 262

A big announcement, a discussion on how Jesus would utilize social media & analyzing the body positivity movement.

Allison Sullivan cohosts and announces the relaunch of her podcast! Sinner Saint Sister is back and better than ever with great guests, now on video and part of the Forte Catholic Podcast Network.

She & Taylor discuss how Jesus would social media. Would He be on it? What would He say? How would he conduct himself? Insightful conversation with moments of hilarity.

They close the show by discussing the body positivity movement that has become popular over the past couple years with Lizzo at the center of it all. They discuss the good parts of that movement but also where it falls short. This is ultimately a discussion on how we as Catholics should approach times where we are overweight.

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 10/13/21 Taylor Schroll 10/13/21

Anger, Blind Faith & Fancy Catholic Words w/Fr. Anthony Sciarappa | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 261

Taylor Schroll & Fr. Anthony Sciarappa kick off the show by sharing about their fun anger management issues. Fr. Anthony quizzes Taylor on fancy Catholic words & they discuss if faith is a blind leap or not.

Taylor Schroll & Fr. Anthony Sciarappa kick off the show by sharing about their fun anger management issues. Funny stories of when rage and anger boiled, the outcomes and what strategies they've learned to quell their rage.

Next they bring back a fun game creatively called "fancy Catholic words." Fr. Anthony gives Taylor random Catholic words no one has ever heard and Taylor has to define them. Hilarity ensues AND you will learn random Catholic facts you can use to impress your two friends.

Finally, they have a conversation around the topic "Is faith a blind leap?" Is it? How do reason and faith correlate? We hope you enjoy this conversation. Have a great week y'all!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 10/6/21 Taylor Schroll 10/6/21

Songs of Songs & Punishment Fits the Crime w/ Liv Harrison | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 260

Taylor shares a story about romance involving the Song of Songs. He and Liv Harrison discuss what that story means for our relationship with God. They also introduce a new game centered around confession(it's hilarious, we promise!)

Taylor shares a story about surprising his wife when they were dating and singing a song to her based on Song of Songs. It's a very intense romance book in the middle of the Old Testament. This leads to a conversation with cohost Liv Harrison about what it means for our relationship with the works of God and the God of works.

Next, they introduce a new game called "Punishment Fits the Crime." They take turns being the penitent and the priest as one shares an odd thing to confess in reconciliation and the other responds with a fitting penance. It's hilarious and will make much more sense when you listen (we promise!)

To close out the show, they each answer random questions from our Pod Decks. This adds some spontaneity to the show when the hosts have to answer random questions from a deck of cards. The possibilities are endless!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 9/29/21 Taylor Schroll 9/29/21

Idiotic Idiom & God's Favorite Sport w/Jon Blevins | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 259

Jon shares a huge life update! Taylor is frustrated by a common Christian idiom and they decide together which sport God loves the most.

Jon "Bearded" Blevins cohosts and has some big life changing news to share! Hear what has been going on behind the scenes of this big life change and where Jon has found God in the midst of all of it.

Taylor is frustrated with a common idiom used in Christian circles and wants to destroy it once and for all. He also shares his favorite bible verses and gives Jon a pop quiz.

They also debate which sport God loves the most. They go through the pros and cons of many of the major sports and end up narrowing it down to a top 3. Let us know which sport you think God loves the best and why in the comments!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 9/22/21 Taylor Schroll 9/22/21

I Feel God in This Chili's Tonight | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 258

Taylor shares how his terrible experience in Chili's got turned around by the staff correcting the mistakes and what that means for us. He forces Allison Sullivan to play her "favorite" game, Freestyle Preaching. Finally, they discuss how we don't really know the full power of the impact we can have on those around us.

Taylor shares a story with Allison about a terrible experience he had in Chili's with his family that was instantly turned around into a great experience because of how the staff responded and made up for their mistakes. He was able to find God in Chili's that night

Next, he forces Allison to play one of the listener's favorite games that she absolutely hates: Freestyle Preaching! Each host gives the other three words that they have to incorporate into a 60 second message about faith. She loves spontaneity!

Finally, Taylor shares a lesson he learned from a consistent theme in many recent movies. We really have more impact on the people around than we may think.

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 9/15/21 Taylor Schroll 9/15/21

Devotions, Seminarians & the Catechism w/Fr. Anthony & Edmund Mitchell | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 257

Taylor has a lot of things to yell about and Fr. Anthony has some answers. They have a blast yelling about things that ultimately don't matter but just show how fun the oddities of Catholicism can be. Edmund Mitchell joins the show to talk about his new project making the catechism more easily approachable so we can dive into the richness of our faith.

Fr. Anthony cohosts a hilarious episode where Taylor comes in with a ton of things to yell about. They kick off with his thoughts on seminarians wearing collars, should seminarians be on social media & is religious life higher than the priesthood?!?! Fr. Anthony has all the answers.

Edmund Mitchell joins the show to share about his new project called Real + True. So many Catholics(including us) have never read or really used the Catechism all that much. This new project makes the Catechism less daunting and much easier to engage with. There is so much depth to our faith, the Catechism has that depth and Real + True brings it to you in a way that's fun and easy to use. Check it out at RealTrue.org.

Taylor has more to yell about with Fr. Anthony. This time he shares how often people's personal devotions can get to a point where they're absurd and mostly just bothering those around them. We try to find a balance between honoring personal piety & not being a distraction to your neighbor. We have a lot of fun examples :)

We hope you enjoyed this episode! If so, please subscribe so you don't miss the next one :)

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 9/8/21 Taylor Schroll 9/8/21

Foundations, Salvation & Storytelling w/Kathryn Whitaker & Liv Harrison | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 256

Taylor & Liv are together in studio and kick off the show sharing awesome things God did in their lives during childhood. Kathryn Whitaker joins in the convo as they share foundations of who they are that sustain them even through the toughest of times. Finally, Taylor tries to talk with Liv about how salvation would work in the multiverse but she just gets confused. Enjoy! :)

Taylor drove all the way to Liv's house to record this episode in her home studio. The kick off the show with Chicken Soup for the Schroll: sharing stories of times that God did something awesome for them in their childhood/teen years. They talk about the importance of remembering and sharing what God has done in your life.

Kathryn Whitaker was also in studio and Taylor had a bone to pick with her :) But they the three of them shared some things that are anchors or foundations for them as people that keep them strong during even the toughest of times.

To close out the show, Taylor tries a segment about how salvation would work in the multiverse and Liv wanted nothing to do with it. So Taylor tried to pivot and talk about death bed conversions, especially for people who did horrible things and Liv didn't like that idea either lolol.

Super fun episode that we really hope you enjoy! We definitely all did being together in the studio :)

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 9/1/21 Taylor Schroll 9/1/21

Biblical Fantasy Draft, Copycats & Proposals w/ Jon Blevins | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 255

Jon Blevins cohosts an episode where he and Taylor do a fantasy draft of which characters they would want to be running Forte Catholic. They also share their proposal stories, why Jon got stitches in his hand and what the heck behavioral cognition is and what it means for our faith.

Jon "Bearded" Blevins cohosts. We start the show with the story of why he recently had to get stitches in his hand and then he and Taylor each share the story of how they proposed to their wives.

The next segment introduces the "Biblical Fantasy Draft" where Jon and Taylor each select the best biblical characters to run Forte Catholic: CEO, CFO, HR, etc. A really fun segment with some insight into which characters from the Bible would be great at running a modern Catholic media non-profit. Plus, you might learn about some biblical characters you've never heard of before.

Taylor tries to close the show by sounding smart with a discussion on behavioral cognition that he learned from "The Happiness Lab" podcast. It's about how we mimic the people we are around and this concept's importance in our faith growth.

Enjoy!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 8/25/21 Taylor Schroll 8/25/21

Lukewarm, Betrothals & Nickelback w/Fr. Anthony | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 254

Taylor & Fr. Anthony answer what to in regards to lukewarm Christianity, engagements & Nickelback songs.

We have all heard that we should be like God in every way. But Taylor says there are certain times that we shouldn't and shares one of those with Fr. Anthony to kick off the show.

In the second segment, our priest asks Taylor to compare and contrast two prayers for engaged couples. It shows the pure weirdness and beauty of Catholicism.

Finally, Taylor makes the claim that he can make a spiritual point out of Nickelback's hit "Photograph." Do you think he pulled it off?!?!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 8/18/21 Taylor Schroll 8/18/21

Fire, Boxing & Enduring w/Alison Sullivan | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 253

Taylor is back from a wonderful week of summer camp with another bad travel story. Allison smells like gasoline for some reason and wants to fight about everything verbally. They also share how they finally fought in the boxing ring after years of anticipation! Hear how their boxing match went from both perspectives.

Taylor is back from Life Teen summer camp and had a blast! He shares a terrible travel story, Allison is covered in gasoline for some reason and they fight about kids going back to school. The first segment goes off the rails QUICK!

In the second segment, this is what you have all been waiting for. The long awaited Forte Catholic boxing match between Taylor & Allison finally happened. Hear as they recount their versions of what happened at Taylor's first day at the boxing gym.

To close out the show, Taylor flips a common complaint we have against God back on ourselves. Enjoy!

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.

Taylor Schroll 8/11/21 Taylor Schroll 8/11/21

Memes, the Apocalypse & Tolkien vs. Lewis | Forte Catholic Podcast Ep 252

Liv cohosts a tremendous episode tackling a wide variety of topics. From her nickname to "daddy God" to memes and the Apocalypse, this episode has something for everyone. Tea with Tolkien and Pints with Jack join us to debate which author is superior!

Liv Harrison cohosts a tremendous episode tackling a wide variety of topics! She found a Hollywood star of the nickname Taylor has given her on the show. Taylor shares some of his favorite memes including attacking "daddy God", some that give great life advice and one that makes Taylor look like Iron Man.

Our guests debaters this week are Kaitlyn Facista of Tea with Tolkien and David Bates of Pints with Jack. They debate once and for all who is the better author and man: Tolkien or Lewis. It is a thrilling and fun debate that you don't want to miss!

The show wraps up with Taylor sharing a VERY long comment he got on Facebook about how he needs to repent and prepare himself for the Apocalypse. Fun stuff! He and Liv have a laugh and talk about what Catholics believe about the last day.

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Forte Catholic is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Support the work with a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! https://www.fortecatholic.com/donate

Episode art by Becka Gerhart

All music used on the show is by Brandon “BeTheSymbol” Morel. Find his music at bethesymbol.com.