Matt Fradd’s podcast “Pints with Aquinas” will join The Daily Wire in 2026. Courtesy | Matt Fradd

The popular Catholic podcast “Pints with Aquinas” has joined conservative media company The Daily Wire, in yet another example of Catholicism’s growing appeal among young conservatives. Catholicism will shape the future of conservatism and America’s political dialogue.

Catholic speaker and author Matt Fradd launched “Pints with Aquinas” in 2016 and has since gained more than 772,000 subscribers. His episodes range from debates to spiritual advice to discussions of the current state of the Church and culture. Fradd mainly interviews Catholic scholars and clergy as well as influential Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Christians. Fradd has also hosted political commentators such as Jordan Peterson, Dennis Prager, and The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh and Andrew Klavan. 

“Pints with Aquinas” has long appealed to similar audiences as The Daily Wire — namely, young, conservative Christians — but when Fradd announced his decision to join the team, comments flooded in with concerns that Fradd would have to kowtow to The Daily Wire’s interests and that he could alienate people curious about Christianity but with differing political viewpoints. 

While the eternal Church can never be limited by politics, it is strongly allied with conservatism on issues within the culture wars, such as family and pro-life causes, for which both Fradd and The Daily Wire advocate. Walsh, Michael Knowles, and recent Daily Wire hire Isabel Brown — three of The Daily Wire’s most well-known personalities — are openly Catholic. Fradd will be able to reach conservative audiences like never before. 

But “Pints with Aquinas” isn’t joining The Daily Wire because of political reasons, just like people aren’t converting to Catholicism at high and even record numbers just for political reasons. Fradd said, “I want to use the Daily Wire to preach Jesus Christ and Holy Mother Church to the world. And when Christianity is no longer working for [them] financially, I’ll go somewhere else and do that, but I want to take advantage of Daily Wire to do that.” 

It is true that people, often conservatives, are finding faith at the intersection of theology and politics because politics asks questions about human nature and morality. But politics lacks metaphysical explanations. Only theology can make sense of the whole picture, and people want to understand it through a faith that has withstood the test of time.  

The sudden interest in Catholicism extends far beyond American politics.

Young adults worldwide are increasingly drawn to Catholicism. This year, the Church in secular France welcomed 10,000 converts, a record number since 2002 and 45% increase from the year prior. In England and Wales, there are nearly twice as many Catholic churchgoers between the ages of 18 and 34 as Anglican churchgoers in the same age range. Catholicism is projected to overtake Anglicanism in the United Kingdom for the first time since the Anglican Reformation. Fort Worth, Texas, saw a 72% increase in conversions between 2023 and 2024. The Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, where Robert Barron presides as bishop, saw a 99% increase in converts this year compared with 2022. You’ll find similar figures in dioceses and archdioceses all around the United States. 

We don’t have to go far to see this trend. Just look at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Hillsdale. In 2024, Hillsdale students contributed to the 30% increase in the converts from the Diocese of Lansing from 2023. 

The global uptick of Catholic conversions suggests that people are actually looking beyond politics to solve today’s problems. The Catholic Church provides clear and well-defined explanations of God and the human person. It gives meaning that lasts longer than an election cycle or political circumstances as well as a stronger context from which to draw these principles. Not just The Daily Wire, not just conservatism, but all political dialogue needs Catholicism. The Daily Wire’s decision to take on “Pints with Aquinas” will bring more people into the Church and more Church into politics.

According to Pew Research Center, 52% of conservatives identify as evangelical or mainline Protestant Christians, while only 20% are Catholic. But given the Catholicization of conservative media and politics — Vice President (and possibly future President) J.D. Vance and over a third of President Donald Trump’s cabinet are Catholic — this number will likely rise over the next decade. 

In time, we’ll see if “Pints with Aquinas” will change under The Daily Wire —  Fradd said in the announcement video that it won’t. Hopefully, Fradd will be able to express Church teaching, even if and when it opposes political interests. But there is cause for Catholics to be optimistic about this decision.

The Daily Wire has tapped into a growing trend: The people want Catholicism. Let’s give it to them.  

Adriana Azarian is a senior studying politics.