How the Papacy Works

Data centers are the backbone of our digital world. All the sites you visit and social media you post happen there. A boom in huge data centers to support AI is underway, and they’re taking a big toll on the environment and life for the people around them.See omnystudio.com/liste ...  Show more

During the Cold War, the CIA used the legend of a vampire named Aswang to scare locals into not helping the communists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

According to the records of the Catholic Church, there have been 266 men who have been pope. However, for centuries it was thought that there was another pope not on the list that was different from all of the others. What made this pope different is that the pope was a woman. Le ...  Show more

Following the death of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005. He was elected after four ballots of the papal conclave. The late Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor took part and told Rebecca Kesby the story of how the new leader of the Ca ...  Show more

John Rock was the co-inventor of the birth control pill — and a committed Catholic. He wanted his church to approve of his invention. What happens when a layman takes on the Vatican? Part two of three. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee om ...  Show more

Giovanni de' Medici was a shrewd strategist who became pope before the age of 40. As a cardinal, he ended the Medicis’ exile in Florence, returning the dynasty to their seat of power. As pope, he would nearly bankrupt the Vatican — and upend the Christian world. Learn more about ...  Show more