Avoiding Babylon

Avoiding Babylon Crew
  • 4.7 (196)
  • Christianity

Avoiding Babylon was started during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these difficult and dark days, when most of us were isolated from family, friends, our parishes, and even the Sacraments themselves, this channel was started as a statement of standing against the tyrannical mandates that many of us were living under. Since those early days, this channel has morphed into an amazing community of friends…no…more than friends…Christian brothers and sisters…who have grown in joy and charity.  As we see it, our job here at Avoiding Babylon is to remind ourselves and those who enjoy the channel that being Catholic is a joyful and exciting experience. We seek true Catholic fraternity and eutrapelia with other Catholics who, like us, are doing their best to live out their vocation with the help of God’s Grace.  Above all, we try to bring humor and joy to the craziness of this fallen world, for as Hillaire Belloc has famously said: “Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!”

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  1. 10h ago ·  Video

    You Can See Everything: The Art of Manipulating Reality (Nathan Fielder & Elizabeth Holmes)

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A single word can flip a villain into a victim, and that’s what sent us down a rabbit hole after watching the Elizabeth Holmes documentary. What bothered us wasn’t just Theranos or Holmes’ “character,” but the feeling that the film is actively working on the viewer. Once you see the fingerprints of narrative framing, you start asking a different question: who is manipulating whom, and why does it work so well? To make sense of it, we trace the logic back to Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal and his obsession with controlled reality, reenactment, and perception management. From there, the conversation gets uncomfortably personal: we take the same idea into everyday life, where two people can attend the same party and walk away with totally different stories of what happened. That gap between intent and interpretation is where most arguments live, and it’s also where media narratives thrive. Then we hit the deeper problem: memory. A Kathy Bates clip becomes the perfect illustration of how confidently wrong a person can be for decades, which forces hard questions about how we process long-ago events, public accusations, and “what I remember” as a substitute for evidence. Finally, we zoom out to the bigger anxieties of the moment: Pentagon guidance on 90-day self-sufficient military bases, governments nudging citizens toward emergency supplies, AI-driven cybersecurity incidents, and what a real power or internet disruption would do to modern life. If this made you rethink how you trust stories, memory, and “official narratives,” subscribe for more, share this with a friend who loves media breakdowns, and leave a review with the moment that stuck with you most. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

  2. 11h ago • Subscribers Only

    You Can See Everything: The Art of Manipulating Reality (Nathan Fielder & Elizabeth Holmes) (Full LOCALS Show)

    A well-made documentary can leave you feeling informed while quietly rearranging your instincts and that’s exactly what sent us down the rabbit hole. We start with the Elizabeth Holmes story, but the real hook is Nathan Fielder’s style of “reality” storytelling: reenactments, role-play, and tiny wording choices that can flip a villain into a victim in your head without you noticing. If you care about media manipulation, documentary ethics, or the psychology of persuasion, this is a fun and unsettling ride.That theme hits home when we pivot to something way more ordinary: a fight after a party. Two people live the same moment, then argue because they remember different versions of it. From there we pull on the thread of memory and misremembering, including why confidence is not proof and why emotion can become the record. It’s a conversation about perception, storytelling, and the uncomfortable fact that “what happened” often competes with “what felt true.”Then we zoom out to the world outside your living room: the Pentagon’s push for 90-day self-sufficient military bases, the wave of 72-hour preparedness messaging across countries, and what day three without power actually looks like when supply chains, water systems, and heat depend on electricity. We also dig into AI and cybersecurity, why passwords are getting weaker by the month, and why open-source tools change the threat landscape fast. We close with Catholic life and internet life colliding: liturgy debates over kneeling and veils, what kids are taught to do before Mass, and a blunt argument about authenticity when people publish AI-generated writing as if it were personal thought.Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves documentaries or preparedness talk, and leave a review if you want more long-form, off-the-rails analysis. What part of your “reality” do you trust the least: memory, media, or the internet?

  3. 5d ago ·  Video

    Christ Is King, Never Vivek: The Speech That Aged Perfectly

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! A packed auditorium, a national candidate, and one question that made the whole room squirm: when politicians say “God,” who do they mean? We sit down with Alex (American Reform), now writing with Integrity Magazine, to break down the viral Charlie Kirk tour clip where he confronts Vivek Ramaswamy on faith, public language, and the temptation to hide behind safe, generic spirituality. The moment is bigger than one Q and A. It’s a window into how American civil religion works, why audiences reward vagueness, and how “Christian values” can become a substitute for actually naming Jesus Christ. From there we zoom out to the deeper framework: the founding story, Thomas Jefferson, and why deism and religious indifferentism still shape modern conservative politics. We talk about the Jefferson Bible, the way founders get treated like secular saints, and why Catholics who care about political theology can’t ignore the moral assumptions baked into the system. If your instincts tell you something feels off when faith gets reduced to a campaign aesthetic, we put real words and examples to that feeling. We also wrestle with the practical question everyone dreads at election time: what do you do when the choices are bad? We discuss the “lesser of two evils” argument, principled abstention, and how voting blocs actually gain leverage when parties stop taking them for granted. Along the way we touch on libertarian framing around culture issues and why the “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone” standard can’t carry a society. Follow Alex’s work at Integrity Magazine and the Journal of American Reform, then stick with us on Locals for the extended aftershow. Subscribe, share this with a friend who argues politics like theology doesn’t matter, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

  4. 5d ago • Subscribers Only

    Christ Is King, Never Vivek: The Speech That Aged Perfectly (Full LOCALS Show)

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  5. Oct 21 ·  Video

    Belloc Was Right: Europe Must Return to the Faith or Die

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! France is burning on your timeline and it’s hard to look away, not because it’s “foreign news,” but because it feels like a preview. We bring on Adrian from Sips with Sarah to talk through the France riots, the copycat unrest spreading across Europe, and the sickening vulnerability of churches, cathedrals, and historic landmarks when the state hesitates and mobs realize there’s no consequence. We keep coming back to a concrete question: what does real, non-vigilante resistance look like when sacred places and public order are on the line?  From there, we get into the bigger drivers people don’t want to name: European immigration policy, the collapse of assimilation expectations, and a cultural formation pipeline that can teach both natives and newcomers to despise the very place they live. We also unpack why so many officials seem frozen, including the idea that the post-war moral framework treats “racism” as the ultimate heresy, making leaders qualify everything while cities burn. Adrian adds a Catholic lens, including what older Catholic teaching says about borders, obligations to the common good, and the duty to respect a nation’s religious heritage.  The conversation doesn’t stay purely political. We talk about why watching formerly Catholic countries drift from their roots feels like a spiritual wound, what the Church’s leadership gets wrong when it defaults to dialogue alone, and whether any recovery requires something like a Nineveh-level return to God. If you care about Europe, Christianity, mass migration, assimilation, and the future of Western civilization, this one will challenge you. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with your take: are you hopeful or bracing for worse? Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

  6. Oct 21 • Subscribers Only

    Belloc Was Right: Europe Must Return to the Faith or Die (Full LOCALS Show)

    Europe isn’t “having a moment” it’s showing stress fractures in real time. We watch the footage out of France and ask the question that’s hard to say out loud: what happens when a country can’t or won’t defend its streets, its borders, or its churches? With Adrian from Sips with Sarah, we talk through riots, immigration, assimilation, and why Catholic cathedrals and historic monuments feel like more than tourist sites when your faith is tied to the civilization that built them. From there, we dig into the deeper story underneath the headlines: the fear of being labeled racist, the way leaders soften language while cities burn, and the idea that the post World War II “never again” consensus functions like a secular religion with its own heresies and original sins. We debate whether politics can actually solve a spiritual crisis, why “dialogue” can become denial, and why any real renewal has to include repentance, prayer, and courage from ordinary people. Then the conversation turns personal and practical. Adrian shares his path into the Catholic Church, how marriage and family life change when your spouse comes from a Buddhist background, and what confession, catechesis, and fatherhood demand when you’re serious about raising kids in the faith. We even detour into a brutal breakdown of Apple’s latest home tech ad as a snapshot of modern family dysfunction and where AI and surveillance culture may be headed. If this hit a nerve, subscribe, share it with someone who’s been doomscrolling Europe, and leave a review with your biggest question: what’s the first thing a culture has to defend to survive?

  7. Oct 16 ·  Video

    Race War & False Religion: What's Really Destroying America

    Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link! Your feed wants you furious, but your soul can’t live there. We start by unpacking why a recent guest conversation sparked such a split reaction, and why we still think friendship, charity, and real dialogue matter even when we strongly disagree. The internet trains us to be adversarial on reflex, but we’re trying to keep a Catholic framework: speak honestly, avoid performative dunking, and remember there’s a real person on the other side of the take. From theology we move straight into the interior battle: what happens when fear turns into scrupulosity and despair. We talk about hell, how different saints describe judgment, and why obsessing over the harshest interpretations without Mass, confession, and grace can wreck your spiritual health. Along the way we share a powerful Marian intervention story tied to the rosary, suffering in the NICU, and a slow conversion that comes through patience, devotion to Our Lady, and the beauty of the Latin Mass. Then we hit the cultural flashpoints that tempt people to lose their souls: immigration policy and planned resettlement, the pain of walking into a familiar place and feeling like a stranger, and the danger of letting justified anger harden into disgust. We also talk about modern spectacle: phones ruining presence, social media turning everything into content, and why livestreaming executions crosses a line by making justice feel like entertainment. Finally, we dig into the Noahide laws controversy, Ben Shapiro’s rhetoric, and why Christians should be clear-eyed about theological conflict instead of sleepwalking through influencer politics. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who’s sick of rage bait, and leave a review that tells us where you think righteous anger ends and spiritual danger begins. Support the show Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout! Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order! Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.avoidingbabylon.com Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com Full Premium/Locals Shows on Audio Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1987412/subscribe RSS Feed for Podcast Apps: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1987412.rss

  8. Oct 16 • Subscribers Only

    Race War & False Religion: What's Really Destroying America (Full LOCALS Show)

    If you’ve ever felt your anger rising and then wondered, “What is this doing to my soul?”, we’re right there with you. We start by responding to the mixed reaction to a recent guest and explain why we refuse to run a gotcha show. We can disagree, even sharply, and still treat people like human beings. That sounds obvious until you’ve watched Catholic online culture turn every conversation into a loyalty test.From there, we get into heavier territory: hell, scrupulosity, despair, and how certain kinds of hyper-online religious content can push people toward fear instead of repentance and trust. We talk about mercy, what the saints actually emphasize, and why the sacraments and daily prayer matter more than “knowing all the arguments.” Then we share a listener’s Marian intervention story that cuts through the noise: a brutal NICU season, heartbreaking loss, a coworker’s quiet witness, and a rosary that becomes the turning point toward the Latin Mass and conversion.We also tackle the cultural storm head-on: immigration policy anxiety, the way social media turns real places and real suffering into performance, and the moral line between justified anger and hatred. That leads into a debate about the death penalty and why livestreamed executions risk becoming entertainment, plus the Noahide laws controversy and what it reveals about confusion between Christian belief and modern political punditry. We close with a blunt look at marriage deserts, delayed family formation, and why treating divorce as “two adults drifting apart” ignores what kids actually learn about permanence and loyalty.If this conversation helps you think clearer, pray deeper, or argue less online, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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4.7
out of 5
196 Ratings

About

Avoiding Babylon was started during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. During these difficult and dark days, when most of us were isolated from family, friends, our parishes, and even the Sacraments themselves, this channel was started as a statement of standing against the tyrannical mandates that many of us were living under. Since those early days, this channel has morphed into an amazing community of friends…no…more than friends…Christian brothers and sisters…who have grown in joy and charity.  As we see it, our job here at Avoiding Babylon is to remind ourselves and those who enjoy the channel that being Catholic is a joyful and exciting experience. We seek true Catholic fraternity and eutrapelia with other Catholics who, like us, are doing their best to live out their vocation with the help of God’s Grace.  Above all, we try to bring humor and joy to the craziness of this fallen world, for as Hillaire Belloc has famously said: “Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, There’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!”

Information

  • Creator
    Avoiding Babylon Crew
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    736
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Avoiding Babylon
  • Show Website
    Avoiding Babylon
  • Provider
    Robert Blyton

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