I’ve been listening to Matt Fradd for years and I’m happy he is going to reach a larger audience. Now that he’s on Daily Wire, I’m excited to see his guests like Trent Horn, Jimmy Akin, Joe Heschmeyer, Father Gregory Pine and others also reach a larger audience.
As far as the friendly fire thing I never thought of it as Andrew Klavan trying to goad Matt Fradd, but after you suggested it I can definitely see it. Matt Walsh did not look amused. He looked uncomfortable.
This is a really balaced take on the Fradd and Daily Wire situation. I agree with you that the conspiracy theories about Shapiro controlling Catholic media are pretty ridculous. The Daily Wire is clearly trying to build a diverse roster of conservative voices, and having strong Catholic voices is good for everyone. Your point about Christians not knowing how to respond to their culture warriors is spot on. We tend to either hero worship or completely tear down, without much middle ground. I think Fradd is smart to take this deal, he can reach way more people and still maintain his integrity. The concerns are valid but they don't justfy the hysteria. Thanks for writing this.
Huh. Maybe it’s because I’m not Catholic but Klavan’s jokes had me cracking up. More likely I just share his sick sense of humor, but I will say, Knowles seemed amused.
More to the point, though, this is my favorite thing I’ve seen from anybody about Fradd joining the Daily Wire. I miss his days of actually reading Aquinas and talking about how it applies to issues we face; I don’t particularly enjoy the Catholic Joe Rogan Experience so much, but I love Matt and I respect what he does. From what he’s said, it seems like he got a really good contract that any creative would love. It seems like he’s made a similar calculation to an indie author signing his books to one of the Big Five publishing houses. Hopefully, it really does just expand his reach. I share your disdain for the Jewish conspiracy angle. I’ve been very concerned about the rise of right wing Jew hatred, and particularly concerned that a lot of it seems to come from younger Catholic conservatives. Hopefully, though, God will use Matt to help correct that. His response video short to that criticism is one of the funniest things I’ve seen this week, so here’s hoping.
I also love your point about Christians not knowing how to respond to their culture warriors. That’s a great way of putting it. I have suspicions as to why that’s the case, but this is a great (and charitable) way of framing that.
Thank you for reading and the compliments. That's high praise coming from someone like yourself.
Your example about Indie authors is a good one. He definitely fooled me with the first 30 seconds of his response video, then I saw the yamaka, and I thought, "What was that?" Then he said, "It's just the tip," and at that point, I knew I had been duped.
I think that the disdain for Israel in the Catholic cultures is multi-generational. I haven't met many young people in my circles, but I have met people in my age group and older who have attempted to cast doubt on the events of the Holocaust. I've even seen some online argue that St. Maximilian Kolbe was propaganda — not sure if they were Catholic, but it's just a bit surprising whenever you see these things in the wild.
My wife and I (myself more deliberately) have been removing a lot of media from our lives… a lot less YouTube etc.
I watch barely any news anymore, and my life is becoming much more peaceful and intentional.
If it it wasn’t for a few Catholic Substacker’s, I wouldn’t have known about Fradd’s move to DW! So I appreciate your voice on the matter.
I will say this - Fradd is genuine, and I’m happy for his ‘worldly’ success. A high end landscape client I once worked for whose job I was doing was paying me $150,000 over 3 years for his work… he could tell I was nervous with the size of the contact, and he told me, “you know Jared, Profit is not a dirty word…”
And that sums up the Christian experience regarding money. It seems there’s this view that money is dirty, people who’ve ‘made it’ have lied and cheated for it… or there’s the prosperity gospel crowd who believe if you’re poor, you’re not a good enough Christian!
It’s impossible to win.
Why do I say he’s genuine?
I know Fradd, not at a personal friend level, but at a mutual he did NET Canada a year or two before I did. I personally know some of his in real life best friends, and they are great people. We’ve all ‘fought together’ against porn and promoted Mass and adoration in the early 2000’s when it really wasn’t ’cool’ to be religious.
We were raised up in our young adult years, and formed in the same Catholic circles. And if you are an actively involved Catholic pre-social media (especially in Canada), you know just how small the Catholic bubble really is. It’s literally impossible not to personally know some of these amazing people.
The first and last time that I personally met Matt, was at a men’s conference in Edmonton Alberta about 10~years ago before he started the podcast.
There was a mutual ‘NET connection’ that people who’ve served on that ministry all feel connected to - and if you were in the audience that day hearing him speak as vulnerably as a man can speak, and if you lived through the literal poverty and service of a NET ministries missionary. You know the heart is genuine.
So to anyone calling him a ‘sellout’ or insulting him for having ‘made it’.
Give it up. The guy has worked incredibly hard over the years, and I’m very happy for him and his family who will likely never have to worry about financial solvency ever again.
Anyone denying him this needs to spend some time in silence and prayer while pondering envy.
Thanks for reading. Make sure to let me know what you think about Matt Fradd joining Daily Wire.
I’ve been listening to Matt Fradd for years and I’m happy he is going to reach a larger audience. Now that he’s on Daily Wire, I’m excited to see his guests like Trent Horn, Jimmy Akin, Joe Heschmeyer, Father Gregory Pine and others also reach a larger audience.
As far as the friendly fire thing I never thought of it as Andrew Klavan trying to goad Matt Fradd, but after you suggested it I can definitely see it. Matt Walsh did not look amused. He looked uncomfortable.
I saw their facial expressions too. And it looked like none of the Catholics were amused. But how about that ad read! Fradd was hilarious!
This is a really balaced take on the Fradd and Daily Wire situation. I agree with you that the conspiracy theories about Shapiro controlling Catholic media are pretty ridculous. The Daily Wire is clearly trying to build a diverse roster of conservative voices, and having strong Catholic voices is good for everyone. Your point about Christians not knowing how to respond to their culture warriors is spot on. We tend to either hero worship or completely tear down, without much middle ground. I think Fradd is smart to take this deal, he can reach way more people and still maintain his integrity. The concerns are valid but they don't justfy the hysteria. Thanks for writing this.
Thank you for reading, and your thoughtful comment! I'm also a software engineer. So I'll be subscribing to your stuff.
Huh. Maybe it’s because I’m not Catholic but Klavan’s jokes had me cracking up. More likely I just share his sick sense of humor, but I will say, Knowles seemed amused.
More to the point, though, this is my favorite thing I’ve seen from anybody about Fradd joining the Daily Wire. I miss his days of actually reading Aquinas and talking about how it applies to issues we face; I don’t particularly enjoy the Catholic Joe Rogan Experience so much, but I love Matt and I respect what he does. From what he’s said, it seems like he got a really good contract that any creative would love. It seems like he’s made a similar calculation to an indie author signing his books to one of the Big Five publishing houses. Hopefully, it really does just expand his reach. I share your disdain for the Jewish conspiracy angle. I’ve been very concerned about the rise of right wing Jew hatred, and particularly concerned that a lot of it seems to come from younger Catholic conservatives. Hopefully, though, God will use Matt to help correct that. His response video short to that criticism is one of the funniest things I’ve seen this week, so here’s hoping.
I also love your point about Christians not knowing how to respond to their culture warriors. That’s a great way of putting it. I have suspicions as to why that’s the case, but this is a great (and charitable) way of framing that.
Really good piece, Daniel!
Thank you for reading and the compliments. That's high praise coming from someone like yourself.
Your example about Indie authors is a good one. He definitely fooled me with the first 30 seconds of his response video, then I saw the yamaka, and I thought, "What was that?" Then he said, "It's just the tip," and at that point, I knew I had been duped.
I think that the disdain for Israel in the Catholic cultures is multi-generational. I haven't met many young people in my circles, but I have met people in my age group and older who have attempted to cast doubt on the events of the Holocaust. I've even seen some online argue that St. Maximilian Kolbe was propaganda — not sure if they were Catholic, but it's just a bit surprising whenever you see these things in the wild.
My wife and I (myself more deliberately) have been removing a lot of media from our lives… a lot less YouTube etc.
I watch barely any news anymore, and my life is becoming much more peaceful and intentional.
If it it wasn’t for a few Catholic Substacker’s, I wouldn’t have known about Fradd’s move to DW! So I appreciate your voice on the matter.
I will say this - Fradd is genuine, and I’m happy for his ‘worldly’ success. A high end landscape client I once worked for whose job I was doing was paying me $150,000 over 3 years for his work… he could tell I was nervous with the size of the contact, and he told me, “you know Jared, Profit is not a dirty word…”
And that sums up the Christian experience regarding money. It seems there’s this view that money is dirty, people who’ve ‘made it’ have lied and cheated for it… or there’s the prosperity gospel crowd who believe if you’re poor, you’re not a good enough Christian!
It’s impossible to win.
Why do I say he’s genuine?
I know Fradd, not at a personal friend level, but at a mutual he did NET Canada a year or two before I did. I personally know some of his in real life best friends, and they are great people. We’ve all ‘fought together’ against porn and promoted Mass and adoration in the early 2000’s when it really wasn’t ’cool’ to be religious.
We were raised up in our young adult years, and formed in the same Catholic circles. And if you are an actively involved Catholic pre-social media (especially in Canada), you know just how small the Catholic bubble really is. It’s literally impossible not to personally know some of these amazing people.
The first and last time that I personally met Matt, was at a men’s conference in Edmonton Alberta about 10~years ago before he started the podcast.
There was a mutual ‘NET connection’ that people who’ve served on that ministry all feel connected to - and if you were in the audience that day hearing him speak as vulnerably as a man can speak, and if you lived through the literal poverty and service of a NET ministries missionary. You know the heart is genuine.
So to anyone calling him a ‘sellout’ or insulting him for having ‘made it’.
Give it up. The guy has worked incredibly hard over the years, and I’m very happy for him and his family who will likely never have to worry about financial solvency ever again.
Anyone denying him this needs to spend some time in silence and prayer while pondering envy.
God Bless You.
Well said! Thanks for reading.
Seems the only way we win, is to recognize God as our judge and fear him more than man. May God bless you and your work!