Tod Worner

Minneapolis

Managing Editor at Word on Fire

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Articles

The Hell of Overthinking

2 weeks ago | catholicworldreport.com | Tod Worner |Catherine Harmon

The Hell of OverthinkingThinking is good, but overthinking is not. It warps our sense of “what is” and it perseverates when we should let go. "The Thinker in The Gates of Hell" at the Musée Rodin in Paris. (Image: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra / Wikipedia)I swear to you that to think too much is a disease, a real, actual disease.—Fyodor DostoevskyYears ago, in a pique of weight lifting enthusiasm, I stumbled across an intriguing interview in Muscle and Fitness Magazine.
Pope Francis and the Elephant Man

1 month ago | wordonfire.org | Tod Worner

He was hideous. With an oversized skull that bulged forth frontally with multi-lobed bony protuberances, a chin that jutted rightward dragging his mouth down in a permanent frown, scales and scars dominating half of his face, and awkward wisps of hair pronouncing (and not obscuring) his deformity, John Merrick seemed a monstrosity. Was it any wonder that he was exploited in a London freak show? Was it any surprise he was hunted, harassed, and hounded by brutal street urchins?
Tod Worner: What happens to people when no one listens

Nov 23, 2024 | post-gazette.com | Tod Worner

There we sat. Two internal medicine residents, a pharmacy student, and me. And all I had in my hands was a short story by the 19th century Russian writer Anton Chekhov. Every Tuesday in my clinic, it is my privilege to have “chalk talks” with residents, medical students, and the occasional pharmacy student. I offer a mix of lessons that go beyond the management of heart failure, the treatment of diabetes, and the evaluation of syncope.
What ‘Firing Line’ Taught Me About Our Modern Democracy

Nov 13, 2024 | theimaginativeconservative.org | Tod Worner

What did William F. Buckley’s “Firing Line” teach me about our modern democracy? Simply this: It is not too late to reclaim intelligent and competent, moral and visionary political conversation. Nor is it too late to right the direction of our flagging democracy. The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy. —MontesquieuIt is the greatest of all mistakes, to do nothing because you can only do little.
What ‘Firing Line’ Taught Me About Our Modern Democracy

Nov 1, 2024 | wordonfire.org | Tod Worner

The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy. —MontesquieuIt is the greatest of all mistakes, to do nothing because you can only do little. —Sydney SmithPolitics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. — Charles de GaulleIn 1988, the University of South Carolina hosted William F. Buckley, Jr.’s Firing Line for a debate: Resolved: That the Right Is Better Able to Deal with the Soviets than the Left.
EP35 | What Is Democracy? — Bishop Robert Barron - Word on Fire

Oct 28, 2024 | wordonfire.org | Tod Worner

In a letter to the Massachusetts militia, John Adams wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” What are the origins of our system of democracy? How is it faring in the modern world? And what becomes of democracy if it is no longer informed by a moral and religious sensibility? Join me and Bishop Barron, as we discuss the gripping perils and hopeful potential of democracy.
EP34 | Why Liberalism Failed — Patrick Deneen - Word on Fire

Oct 14, 2024 | wordonfire.org | Tod Worner

What exactly is liberalism? And what has it become? Having evolved from a hard-earned freedom to be virtuous, to a freedom for unaccountable licentiousness, liberalism—according to Dr. Patrick Deneen—has failed. Join me and Dr. Deneen, author of Why Liberalism Failed and Regime Change, as we discuss what happened to a compelling idea and what we should do next.
Friend or enemy? Rising above the theories of Carl Schmitt

Oct 12, 2024 | catholicworldreport.com | Tod Worner |Carl Olson

Friend or enemy? Rising above the theories of Carl SchmittOut of sheer survival, we can find some advantage in an almost unconscious tendency to identify our friends and enemies—to draw bright, if not bitter, lines—and arrange our lives accordingly. But is this how we want to live? (Image: geralt/Pixabay)Well, the election is only a short time away. And lest you felt that political campaigning couldn’t get any more base, you were wrong.
It’s About Love, Not Reciprocation

Oct 4, 2024 | wordonfire.org | Tod Worner

Years ago, when I was a young father, I became the victim of my own illusion. My days in the clinic and the hospital were long, but if I timed it just right, I could arrive to pick up my two daughters from daycare. I adore my kiddos and I anticipated these rides home to be increasingly rich exchanges with my budding toddler conversationalist, Annabel, and my gurgling infant, Vivian. Here is the way I envisioned it would play out:Me: Hey, baby girls! How were your days?
EP33 | Solzhenitsyn’s Harvard Address — Gary Saul Morson - Word on Fire

Sep 30, 2024 | wordonfire.org | Tod Worner

In 1978, a Soviet dissident and former Gulag prisoner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn stood before the graduating class of Harvard University and offered the commencement address. But it wasn’t the address they expected (or necessarily wanted). In fact, it caused great angst among the contented intellectual classes. Join me and Dr. Gary Saul Morson, eminent professor of Russian literature as we consider the shock and lasting relevance of Solzhenitsyn’s Harvard address.