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David Dault

David Dault

David Dault is assistant professor of Christian spirituality at Loyola University Chicago's Institute of Pastoral Studies. He is executive producer and host of "Things Not Seen: Conversations About Culture and Faith." He is also co-host of The Francis Effect, along with Fr. Daniel P. Horan and NCR senior correspondent Heidi Schlumpf.

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A sign is pictured in a file photo at a homeless encampment in Seattle. (OSV News/Reuters/David Ryder)

The Francis Effect podcast: SCOTUS and homelessness; pop culture roundup; Sr. Elizabeth Johnson

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David talk about media they've been consuming lately, as well as a recent Supreme Court case that might affect care for the homeless. Then Heidi interviews Sr. Elizabeth Johnson.

Close-up of a basketball (Unsplash/Kylie O'Sullivan)

The Francis Effect podcast: Mar-A-Lago 'Catholic' event; March Madness; Bruce Morrill

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David look at the recent "prayer" event for Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago, and Heidi and Daniel teach David some things about basketball. Also, Bruce Morrill on the Eucharistic Congress.

Journalist and book author Michael J. O'Loughlin, seen in an undated photo, has been named as the first executive director of Outreach, a ministry that seeks to serve Catholics with same-sex attraction or who identify as transgender. (OSV News/Courtesy of Michael O'Loughlin)

The Francis Effect: Outreach's new director speaks; election race underway; Church Militant to end

Listen: Heidi, Father Dan and David talk about the 2024 election race, Super Tuesday and President Biden's State of the Union address; they discuss Church Militant; and Heidi interviews Michael O'Loughlin of Outreach.

A medical lab technologist operates an embryo vitrification during an intra cytoplasmic sperm injection process at a laboratory in Paris on Sept. 13, 2019. The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled that frozen embryos qualify as children under state law.

The Francis Effect podcast: IVF fallout; attack on Annunciation House; interview with Kathleen Dorsey Bellow

Listen: Heidi, Father Dan and David talk about fallout from court rulings on IVF and Texas AG's attack on Annunciation House.  

The URL for "He Gets Us" is seen on a display in Las Vegas Feb. 8, 2024, ahead of Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers Feb. 11. (OSV News/He Gets Us)

The Francis Effect podcast: Super Bowl ads; Sr. Joyce Rupp talks Lent

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David talk about the "He Gets Us" and "Hallow" Super Bowl ads; cardinals' meeting with women; and recent discussion on priestly celibacy. Heidi also discusses Lent with Sr. Joyce Rupp.

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leaves the courtroom after attending the Trump Organization civil fraud trial, in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan Nov. 6.

The Francis Effect podcast: $83M judgment against Trump; papal audience with Vatican journalists; Ansel Augustine

Listen: Heidi, Fr. Daniel and David talk about the defamation suit against Donald Trump and about the role of journalism in Catholic life. Plus, Heidi interviews Ansel Augustine about the synod and experiences of Black Catholics.

 

Signage for the 2024 Iowa caucuses is seen taken with a long exposure at the Iowa Caucus Media Center located within the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines Jan. 14. (OSV News/Reuters/Cheney Orr)

The Francis Effect podcast: Iowa caucus; 'Fiducia Supplicans'; Steven Millies

Listen: Father Daniel, Heidi and David discuss the Iowa caucus and the Vatican document on blessing same-sex couples, and Heidi interviews political scientist and friend of the show Steven P. Millies.

Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, listens to a speaker during the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 12, 2019, in Baltimore. (CNS/Bob Roller)

The Francis Effect podcast: Interview with Bishop John Stowe; COP28; pop culture

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David talk about the COP28, the U.N. climate change conference; Heidi interviews Bishop John Stowe of Kentucky; and the trio concludes Season 13 with a pop culture roundup.

"I voted" stickers (Unsplash/Element5 Digital)

The Francis Effect podcast: Bishop Strickland; Voting Rights Act; theologian timone davis

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David talk about the ouster of Bishop Joseph Strickland, and a court battle over voting rights in Arkansas. Also, Heidi interviews theologian and professor timone davis.

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Jesuit Fr. James Martin, editor at large of America magazine, share a laugh during a break at the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall Oct. 11. (CNS/Vatican Media)

The Francis Effect podcast: Trump in court, Speaker Johnson, and talking to Fr. James Martin

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David look at the recent testimony of former President Donald Trump and the recent election of Mike Johnson as House speaker, and Heidi talks with Fr. James Martin about the synod.

NCR Vatican correspondent Christopher White at work during the synod on synodality in Rome in October (NCR photo)

The Francis Effect podcast: Synod reflections and an interview with NCR's Christopher White

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel, and David reflect on the last four weeks of the synod on synodality and give their thoughts on the synthesis document. Also, Heidi interviews NCR Vatican correspondent Christopher White.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, walks back to the speaker's office after he was ousted from the position by a 216-to-210 vote of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington Oct. 3. (OSV News/Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

The Francis Effect podcast: No GOP speaker; 'Laudate Deum'; Kate McElwee interview

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel, and David explore the dysfunction of the Republican Party, and discuss Pope Francis' Laudate Deum. Also, Heidi interviews Kate McElwee of the Women's Ordination Conference.

Brian Flanagan (Courtesy of New Ways Ministry)

The Francis Effect podcast: Looming shutdown; German same-sex unions; Brian Flanagan

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David discuss the threat of U.S. government shutdown and look at recent friction in Germany over blessing same-sex unions. Also, Heidi interviews Brian Flanagan of New Ways Ministry.

SAG-AFTRA members picket in front of Warner Bros.' offices in Manhattan, New York, on July 31. (Wikimedia Commons/Phil Roeder)

The Francis Effect podcast: Migrant crisis; Hollywood strikes; interview with Gustavo Arellano

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David look at the Catholic response to the ongoing migrant crisis and at the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes through a lens of Catholic teaching, and Heidi interviews Gustavo Arellano of the LA Times.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to turn himself in to be processed at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta after his Georgia indictment, Aug. 24. Trump is one of 19 defendants in the indictment that alleges racketeering by a criminal organization that tried to overturn the election results. Local authorities said Trump would be treated like any other defendant. (OSV News/Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

The Francis Effect podcast: Trump indictments; climate crisis; Season of Creation

Listen: Season 13 of "The Francis Effect" kicks off as Heidi, Fr. Daniel, and David catch up on summer 2023; they discuss indictments against former President Donald Trump; and they look ahead to the Season of Creation.

Rainbow streamer (Pixabay/burin kul)

The Francis Effect podcast, live at St. Mary's College: Pride, elections and pop culture

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David go on the road for a live taping at St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana, where they look ahead to Pride Month and to next year's elections, and share a pop culture roundup.

"The Francis Effect" podcast co-hosts David Dault, Heidi Schlumpf and Franciscan Fr. Daniel Horan talk during the latest episode. (NCR screenshot)

The Francis Effect podcast: Tennessee Three; Clarence Thomas; Doctrine of Discovery

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David discuss the Tennessee Legislature, the potential scandal brewing around Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and the Vatican's repudiation of the "Doctrine of Discovery."

Free home COVID-19 self-testing kits provided by the District of Columbia government are seen in this illustration photo Jan. 11, 2022. (CNS/Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)

The Francis Effect podcast: End of COVID public health emergency; bishops' transgender guidance

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David discuss the upcoming end of the state of public health emergency, as well as the U.S. bishops' recent guidance document about health care for transgender people.

A headline about then-President Donald Trump is displayed outside Fox News studios in New York on Nov. 28, 2018. Documents in a defamation lawsuit illustrate pressures faced by Fox News journalists in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election. The network was on a collision course between giving its conservative audience what it wanted and reporting uncomfortable truths about then-President Donald Trump and his false fraud claims. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

The Francis Effect podcast: Fox News defamation case; heresy among bishops

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David discuss Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit against Fox News, Bishop Thomas Paprocki's accusations of heresy against other bishops; and an exploration of the Holy Spirit.

"The Francis Effect" podcast co-hosts David Dault, Heidi Schlumpf and Franciscan Fr. Daniel Horan record the latest episode. (NCR screenshot)

The Francis Effect podcast: DeSantis vs. AP African American studies; anti-LGBTQ policies

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel and David discuss anti-Black-studies legislation in Florida; parallels between policies at U.S. dioceses and anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation in many state houses; and the beginning of Lent.

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