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In the third episode of Season 5 of Madison’s Notes, Ryan Shinkel sits down with R. J. Snell, Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute, to examine the spiritual condition of the modern world.

Drawing on his book Lost in the Chaos (2023), Snell describes a world increasingly closed off to transcendence and therefore vulnerable to despair. Yet, as he argues, human beings cannot endure such despair for long. In its place, we generate substitutes—political rationalism, humanitarianism, and various forms of “re-enchantment”—which promise meaning but ultimately fail to satisfy.

The conversation turns to the distinction between these pale imitations and the real virtue of hope. Through examples ranging from Anglo-Saxon warriors to Soviet dissidents, R. J. Snell and Ryan Shinkel reflect on what genuine hope looks like in an age that often feels defined by its absence and why even our sense of hopelessness may be a summons to recover it.

Click here to listen.

We are proud to celebrate Senior Fellow Bradford P. Wilson on his nomination by President Trump to serve as Archivist of the United States. A distinguished scholar of American constitutional thought and longtime leader in civic education, Brad has made enduring contributions to the study and preservation of our nation’s foundational principles. His nomination is a testament to a career dedicated to intellectual rigor and public service. We extend our warmest congratulations and best wishes as he advances through the Senate confirmation process.

In a recent episode of the Thomistic Institute Podcast, R. J. Snell, Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute and Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse, offers a penetrating meditation on one of the most misunderstood spiritual maladies of modern life: sloth.

Titled “The Terrible Covenant of Sloth: Boredom and the Resistance of Joy,” the lecture was delivered at New York University and confronts a phenomenon many students and professionals alike recognize: restlessness, distraction, anxiety, and a persistent sense of boredom amid abundance and opportunity.

As Dr. Snell explains, sloth is not simply laziness. Drawing from St. Thomas Aquinas and the broader Catholic intellectual tradition, he presents sloth as a deeper spiritual resistance, a sadness or aversion toward the highest good. It is not merely a failure to act, but a refusal of joy itself. In this light, contemporary busyness, achievement culture, and endless distraction can become symptoms of a more fundamental problem: an unwillingness to receive and respond to the good that calls us.

You can listen to the full episode of The Thomistic Institute Podcast here:
https://podcast.thomisticinstitute.org/the-terrible-covenant-of-sloth-boredom-and-the-resistance-of-joy-dr-rj-snell/