Dope Popes—With Matt Sitman | The Nation

Dope Popes—With Matt Sitman | The Nation


Pope Leo XIV during a visit at the Maqam Echahid Martyrs’ Monument in El Madania, near Algiers, on April 13, 2026.

(Alberto Pizzoli / AFP via Getty Images)

Back in May, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas—a surprisingly forceful call-out of dehumanizing technology, Big Tech oligarchs, and an economic order that casts the few as gods and the many as disposable. To talk about this work (and Aaron’s growing Catholicism-envy, and the utterly pathetic “faith” of JD Vance), we invited Matthew Sitman, cohost of the great Know Your Enemy podcast and official Catholic sage of the erudite left, who walks us through this era of moral leadership from the Catholic Church. This is a good one. We swear, so help us God!

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Matt DaSilva

Matt DaSilva is a co-host of the Fighting Fascism podcast.

Jonathan Smucker



Jonathan Smucker is cofounder and executive director of Popular Comms, a cofounder of Pennsylvania Stands Up, and the author of Hegemony How-To: A Roadmap for Radicals. He has worked for over 25 years as a political organizer, campaigner, and strategist, and has trained thousands of organizers and social movement participants.

Aaron Regunberg



Aaron Regunberg is a climate lawyer, a contributing editor at The New Republic, and a former Rhode Island state representative.



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