Theo Von is a comedian from Louisiana whose weekly podcast, “This Past Weekend,” reaches millions. In 2025, Spotify reported that Von’s podcast was the second-most-viewed, after Joe Rogan’s.
“This Past Weekend” is a long-form podcast that touches on a wide range of topics. Recent guests have included Nick Saban, Candace Owens, Luke Bryan, and Mike Tyson.
I must admit that I am not a regular listener of this podcast. In fact, I had never even heard of it until about a month ago when I learned that Bishop Robert Barron had appeared on one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Barron’s interview was released in September and has over 2 million views on YouTube alone at this writing.
Over the hourlong conversation, Barron and Von spoke about topics ranging from God, prayer, and confession to pornography, heaven, and happiness.
Well known as a winsome defender of the Catholic faith, Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Ministries and the bishop of Winona-Rochestser in Minnesota. He is a No. 1 Amazon bestselling author and reaches millions through his various podcasts, articles, videos, and books. Much of his ministry focuses on bringing the power of the gospel and the vitality of Christ to contemporary culture.
While other episodes of the podcast include crude commentary and vulgar language, Von was welcoming to Barron and appeared to be genuinely interested in Christianity and growth in virtue. During the conversation, Von said that he has always believed in God, can “feel Him for sure,” and tries to pray each day.
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The episode shows the power of a captivating Christian being willing to sit and answer tough but honest questions from someone who is searching for God.
One of Von’s first questions to the bishop was how he defined God. Drawing on the Christian theological tradition, Barron responded by saying that God is the creator of all things and the only Being who is not dependent on another being for its existence. Every other creature, he explained, does not have to exist and cannot explain its own existence. God is the uncaused cause. He is not the most powerful being but the ground of all being.
Von responds by asking why, if God is responsible for everything, evil still exists?
“It’s a lack of good that ought to be there, like a cavity in a tooth,” Barron said. Moral evil is the same: lack of something that should be there. The bishop does an excellent job arguing that evil does not disprove the existence of God but instead actually necessitates it.
One of the most interesting parts of the interview revolved around the topic of happiness. It flowed from their conversation on prayer. To be truly happy, we must spend time with God. For nothing else in this world can truly satisfy us. Bishop Barron noted that each day he begins with an hour of prayer before the Eucharist, Jesus’ True Presence. This is the ultimate source of his happiness. Speaking with God and being silent, listening to Him, opens up an entirely new avenue of life because we are connected to our Creator and the One we are made for.
In our world today, we have so much stuff. We are inundated with comforts and luxuries, but we are poor in what really matters: knowing and experiencing the love of God. Committing to daily prayer is the surest way to be truly happy, no matter our circumstances.
Within the context of the discussion of happiness and addiction, Von is vulnerable about the topic of pornography. He is a proponent of groups that help people move past this addiction because he himself has struggled with it and seen its negative influence on his personal life and relationships. He is convinced that this addiction is ruining lives and families because it demeans love and the human person.
Out of one’s loneliness or depression, we seek comfort through this addiction while God is seeking to free us from all chains of sin to live in the freedom of love for the other. In a world that demeans sex and struggles to view marriage as permanent, speaking about pornography is necessary. For marriages, and really all relationships, cannot flourish unless we act for the good of others and reject selfish addictions that hurt our view of ourselves and others.
God, evil, and happiness. These are three topics that riddle the human heart, no matter one’s age or religious affiliation. These are the big questions that keep us up at night and they are approached in a thoughtful manner in Von’s podcast. The mainstream culture needs to hear more conversations like this one. May the meeting of Barron and Von be the first of many of its kind.
All in pursuit of renewing the culture and setting us free for truth, love, and God.
We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.
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