About this episode

Damon Linker discusses the complexities of his relationship with Rod Dreher, exploring their differing political paths and the impact of the Catholic priest abuse scandal.

Damon Linker is back on the pod to talk about another former guest , the notorious R.O.D., Ray Oliver Dreher Jr. — i.e. Rod Dreher, one of the more fascinating, tragic, and infuriating writers of the Christian right over the last few decades. Linker and Dreher first met back when Linker, who is now a man of the solid center-left, was a conservative and an editor at the Catholic conservative magazine First Things. They bonded over their shared horror at the Catholic priest abuse scandal, a lot of details of which were unfolding at the time, and also over their shared frustration with various figures on the Catholic right, including some important people at First Things , who seemed to be in some kind of denial about the severity of the scandal, or if not in denial about the severity of it then intent on shifting as much blame as possible away from the Catholic Church and onto other folks or forces. The two remained friends over the next decade and a half, even as both of them went through various evolutions and migrations. Linker migrated towards the left, although not too far to the left, and Dreher went through a series of shifts, or perhaps repetitions, ever in search of some…

People in this episode

Host: Damon Linker

Guest: Ray Oliver Dreher Jr.

Topics covered

• Christian right
• Catholic Church
• political evolution
• friendship
• extremism
• media

Keywords

• Damon Linker
• Rod Dreher
• Catholic Church
• First Things
• political evolution
• Christian right
• friendship
• extremism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: First Things

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