Chesterton Radio

In November 1978, a Notre Dame student could spend one weekend watching Gone with the Wind, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Big Fix, The Wild Geese, Magic, Paradise Alley, and Watership Down.
Seven movies. Seven completely different experiences. Some were classics. Others were daring new releases. And admission to campus screenings? Just $1.
Nearly fifty years later, Hollywood produces more content than ever. We have thousands of movies at our fingertips. So why does a single weekend in 1978 seem more exciting than a trip to the multiplex today?
In this episode of The Common Room, we open the November 17, 1978 edition of Notre Dame’s Observer and discover a remarkable snapshot of American moviegoing. From the creative explosion of 1970s Hollywood to today’s franchises, streaming services, and blockbuster economics, we ask a deceptively simple question:
Were the movies better back then—or was going to the movies better?
A nostalgic, funny, and thought-provoking journey through the movies we loved, the theaters we remember, and the Hollywood we’ve lost.
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Chesterton Radio — Playing the Classics!


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What happens when a priest confronting life’s deepest questions shares a college newspaper with a cartoonist finding humor in life’s everyday absurdities?
On November 17, 1978, Notre Dame’s Observer featured two remarkable voices: Father Robert Griffin, whose Letters to a Lonely God explored faith, compassion, and the difficult choices of human life, and Michael Molinelli, whose beloved Molarity comic strip captured the humor, awkwardness, and unforgettable characters of campus life.
Nearly fifty years later, we’re turning back the pages.
In this Friday Flashback deep dive, we revisit Griffin’s powerful column The Child That Never Cried, Molinelli’s hilarious take on preparing for a hall formal, and the extraordinary world of Notre Dame in 1978 — when Joe Montana was quarterback, dormitory life had its own traditions, and the student newspaper was a daily companion.
Two very different voices. One remarkable university. And a surprising reminder that faith and laughter have always belonged together.
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Chesterton Radio — Playing the Classics!


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Jesus warned that people could become so consumed with eating, drinking, buying, selling, and building that they would forget what matters most.
Yet Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini spent her life doing precisely those things—organizing, fundraising, traveling, and building hospitals, schools, and orphanages.
Was Mother Cabrini contradicting the Gospel? Or was she showing us what it really means?
In today’s Chesterton Radio Morning Prayer Deep Dive, we explore one of Christianity’s most fascinating paradoxes: how to love the world without becoming possessed by it.
Through the Gospel of Luke, the extraordinary life of America’s first canonized citizen saint, and the remarkable insights of G. K. Chesterton, we discover why the things we cannot keep may be the very things we are called to build.
We’ll explore Mother Cabrini’s extraordinary mission among America’s immigrants, Chesterton’s understanding of gratitude and wonder, and what Christ’s warning about the days of Noah and Lot means for our own lives.
What does Christian detachment really mean? Must we abandon ambition, achievement, and material security? Or can our ordinary work become something extraordinary?
And what are we building today that will matter in eternity?
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Chesterton Radio — Stories. Ideas. Wonder.
Playing the Classics!


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She wanted to go to China. The Pope sent her to America. And when she arrived in New York in 1889, she was told to go home.
She refused.
Today on The Common Room, we explore the extraordinary story of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first naturalized American citizen to become a saint—and one of the most remarkable institution builders in American history.
Armed with little more than her faith, determination, and an extraordinary ability to get things done, Mother Cabrini confronted poverty, prejudice, financial obstacles, and institutional resistance. She went on to establish an international network of schools, orphanages, and hospitals that transformed countless lives.
How did a woman of fragile health, who feared crossing the ocean, accomplish so much? And what can her story teach us about courage, leadership, faith, and the difference between talking about compassion and actually doing something about it?
Pull up a chair. There’s always room for one more in The Common Room.
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Chesterton Radio — Playing the Classics!
Chuck the TV and discover the world of radio.


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It’s Friday the 13th. What could possibly go wrong?
From the Little Station on Commercial Street in Atchison, Kansas, Chesterton Radio opens the door to superstition, suspense, and the wonderful world of classic radio.
Today we’re exploring the mystery of the missing thirteenth floor, thirteen double mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes, Perry Mason, and Suspense, thirteen kings from Shakespeare to Chesterton, and a little adventure with the Lone Ranger.
But that’s just the beginning.
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Today’s complete Daybreak Friday the 13th Special is available exclusively to our paid subscribers, with more stories, fascinating discoveries, and the commentary you won’t hear in Daybreak Headlines.
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Chesterton Radio — Where the Golden Age of Radio Never Ends.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.chestertonradio.com/subscribe