The Iona Institute podcast

Best-selling writer and Christian convert, Paul Kingsnorth, author of a recent book called 'God or the Machine?', delivered the keynote address at The Iona Institute’s latest youth conference that took place on Saturday, October 10, in Ely House, Dublin 2.

Is the internet helping to draw young people to the faith? This is the question Mahon McCann asks in his talk delivered at this year's ‪Iona Institute‬ conference, 'God or the Machine?'. He describes the effects of living under digital conditions and how digital life, despite its many pitfalls, creates expected opportunities for conversion. Mahon presents a regular podcast that examines the intersection between faith and philosophy. He is an Irish philosophy PhD researcher and lecturer. A Catholic convert from atheism, on his channel Mahon McCann‬ explores Christian solutions to the meaning crisis, philosophy beyond reductive materialism, meaning and manipulation in the machine age and bridging the gap between the secular world and Christianity.His Substack can be found at: www.mahonmccann.com The Iona Institute youth conference took place on Saturday, October 10, 2026, in Ely House, Dublin.

Dr Gerard Casey, former head of the Department of Philosophy at UCD addressed a meeting organised by The Iona Institute called ‘Christians in a post-human world: a sneak look at our near future’.
Dr Casey described how our world is changing even more rapidly than we realise. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) develops, there is growing talk of a ‘trans-human’ or even ‘post-human’ future, in which humans, merged with technology, will transcend their own physical and intellectual limits and even achieve a kind of immortality.
Some thinkers welcome this and look forward to a time when humans will be ‘post-human’. They believe humans have had a destructive impact on the planet overall and evolution has given us a nature that is too violent and competitive.
But what are Christians to make of all this? Should we embrace post-humanism or reject it as an attack on how we are created by God?
In his talk, Dr Casey discussed these vital questions. (The talk was delivered in the Central Catholic Library, Dublin, on June 27th, 2023).

The Iona Institute was very pleased to host an outstanding talk by Melanie McDonagh on her widely reviewed new book, ‘Converts: From Oscar Wilde to Muriel Spark, Why So Many Became Catholic in the 20th Century’.
In front of a packed room, Melanie explained the social and religious conditions that led hundreds of thousands of English people to convert to Catholicism in the last century. It is a learned and entertaining overview of a particular moment in history and the larger-than-life characters who inhabited it. We think you will enjoy it immensely.

What are the signs of a great openness to religion among members of Gen Z? Stephen Bullivant, Professor of Theology and Sociology of Religion at St Mary's University, Twickenham in London, looks at what the data have to say.
He gave his talk at 2025 Iona Institute youth conference on October 11 in Dublin. The theme of the conference was 'Does Gen Z have a future without religion?'
(During his talk, professor Bullivant reffered to figures to an handout. Here is the link to the handout: https://ionainstitute.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Iona-handout.pdf )