AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast

Autumn in the US means football season, and our guest today is one of the greatest teachers and coaches in the history of Jesuit high school football.

Chuck Kyle was the head football coach at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1983 until his retirement in 2022. His teams racked up 353 wins and an Ohio-record 11 Division I state championships. More than a dozen of his players reached the NFL, including longtime quarterback Brian Hoyer and current Patriots starting linebacker Dre’Mont Jones. And earlier this year, Amazon Prime Video released a documentary on Coach Kyle called “The Object of the Game,” which features interviews with football luminaries such as Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin.

During our recent interview, host Mike Jordan Laskey asked Coach Kyle about his coaching philosophy and what made him so successful. Coach Kyle embodies the idea that football can be a powerful venue for teaching virtues like teamwork and perseverance that apply to life both on and off the field. And as Kyle also served as an English teacher throughout his coaching career, they discussed his favorites books to read and teach. It was such a fun conversation that revealed Coach Kyle’s passion for teaching and how he cared for his players using some of that good old-fashioned Jesuit cura personalis.

“The Object of the Game” documentary: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.07310b0e-9ed5-463e-8f37-ac1a375c6343?ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb

More about Coach Chuck Kyle: https://www.clevelandsportshall.com/kyle-chuck/

AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/

A great lesser-known Martin Luther King, Jr., quote is “that before you’ve finished eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world.” It’s even truer today than when Dr. King spoke the line during his Christmas sermon in 1967. Think of the millions of unseen hands that worked to bring you your toothpaste, your smartphone, your shoes, your clean running water, your toast, your cup of coffee.

Our guest today is a Jesuit economist who’s particularly interested in that last one on the list — your cup of coffee. Fr. Stephen Pitts, SJ, is an economics professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A lot of his research and ministry work has been done in connection with a cooperative of farmers called Capeltic Coffee. Based in Chiapas, Mexico, Capeltic is a word from the local Tseltal Maya language that means “our coffee.”

Capeltic is a Jesuit-supported project that was founded in 2001, and it brings together more than 300 local farmer-owners who grow, harvest, process and sell their coffee together. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked Fr. Pitts to share Capeltic’s story and why he finds their cooperative approach to be an interesting economic model. They also talked about the intersection of economics and Catholic social teaching more broadly, including what Fr. Pitts thinks the church tradition has to offer the discipline and what good economics can offer the church. It was a fascinating conversation with someone whose intellectual and pastoral vocations are so beautifully integrated.

More about Capeltic Coffee: https://www.capeltic.org/home

Order coffee in the USA: https://shop.ignatiansolidarity.net/collections/coffee/products/capeltic-origin-roasted-gourmet-coffee-2-20-lbs-1-kg

More about Fr. Stephen Pitts, SJ: https://spittssj.github.io/

AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/

In Rome, Ignatius and his companions endure accusations, obtain public vindication and begin works of spiritual and practical service that anticipate the Society of Jesus. Da Câmara closes the story by tracing the Spiritual Exercises to Ignatius’ own experiences and describing how, through the years, he grew ever more able to find God in every moment.

About the Series
We are bringing you the entire text of “The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola” in podcast form. Over 12 episodes, join our pilgrimage guides Fr. Jack Bentz, SJ, and Cameron Bellm as we make our way through this spiritual classic.

The series premiered on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, with episode 2 dropping Friday, July 31 — the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola. These first two episodes and the remaining 10 episodes (dropping on subsequent Fridays) will all appear here on the AMDG podcast feed.

The series is edited by Frank Tuson, who also composed all the music you hear on the podcast. The podcast uses a translation of the “Autobiography” by Fr. Parmananda Divarkar, SJ. The text is read by Fr. George Drance, SJ. Produced by Mike Jordan Laskey.

"The Autobiography of Saint Ignatius Loyola Podcast," a special-edition series of AMDG, is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/

There aren’t many people on Earth more famous than the Pope. It can be easy to think that there’s not much new to learn about a person with that level of fame. But we think you’ll learn something on literally every page of a new biography of Pope Leo XIV, which is titled “American Pope: Leo XIV’s Road from the South Side of Chicago to Vatican City.”

The book is by two NPR journalists, Daniel Burke and Scott Detrow, and they’re our guests today. Daniel serves as NPR’s Senior Editor of Religion and Spirituality and Scott is a host of “All Things Considered.” “American Pope” is the first deeply researched and reported biography of Pope Leo, and it covers his entire life from childhood through the 2025 conclave. Daniel and Scott traveled to Peru and all over the United States to report this story, talking to dozens and dozens of people who knew Robert Prevost during all stages of his life. And their reporting shines through throughout the book, which is filled with vivid story after vivid story about Pope Leo gathered from these interviews, 70-year-old church bulletins, historical archives, and more. Host Mike Jordan Laskey found the biography to be a truly moving portrait of a priest, a missionary and a leader.

It was so fun to have Daniel and Scott on the show just before the book released on October 6. We know you’ll enjoy hearing their behind-the-scenes stories of reporting and writing “American Pope.” And we think what they shared about the project in this conversation will make you eager to track down a copy as soon as you can.

"American Pope: Leo XIV’s Road from the South Side of Chicago to Vatican City": https://bookshop.org/p/books/american-pope-leo-xiv-s-road-from-the-south-side-of-chicago-to-vatican-city-daniel-burke/c6b282694ebe4270?ean=9781250446053

AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/

After returning briefly to his homeland to recover, teach and settle unfinished matters, Ignatius travels to Venice to rejoin his companions. When war prevents them from sailing to Jerusalem, they serve, preach and prepare for priesthood until their pilgrimage is redirected toward Rome, strengthened by Ignatius’ profound experience of being placed with Christ.

About the Series
We are bringing you the entire text of “The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola” in podcast form. Over 12 episodes, join our pilgrimage guides Fr. Jack Bentz, SJ, and Cameron Bellm as we make our way through this spiritual classic.

The series premiered on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, with episode 2 dropping Friday, July 31 — the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola. These first two episodes and the remaining 10 episodes (dropping on subsequent Fridays) will all appear here on the AMDG podcast feed.

The series is edited by Frank Tuson, who also composed all the music you hear on the podcast. The podcast uses a translation of the “Autobiography” by Fr. Parmananda Divarkar, SJ. The text is read by Fr. George Drance, SJ. Produced by Mike Jordan Laskey.

"The Autobiography of Saint Ignatius Loyola Podcast," a special-edition series of AMDG, is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

www.jesuits.org/
www.beajesuit.org/
twitter.com/jesuitnews
facebook.com/Jesuits
instagram.com/wearethejesuits
youtube.com/societyofjesus
www.jesuitmedialab.org/