Edgelords, Profanity, & Taming the Tongue w/ Matthew Schmitz
By Thomas V. Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Dec 16, 2025 | In The Catholic Culture Podcast
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For the past century or more, the left has put a high value on moral provocation, deliberately transgressing what they see as society’s hypocritical or puritanical moral norms, whether in religion, sexuality, or public decorum in general. Now the right, too, is getting in on the fun, performatively violating the speech norms held sacred by liberals—which is sometimes good, but sometimes itself violates traditional morality, not just leftist ideology.
Matthew Schmitz joins the podcast to discuss his First Things article “Taming the Tongue”, about the psychology of edginess, the problem with widespread profanity, and the need for restraint in speech.
Links
“Taming the Tongue” https://firstthings.com/taming-the-tongue/
Against the Grain podcast https://www.patreon.com/againstthepod
Compact Magazine https://www.compactmag.com/
Theme music: “Franciscan Eyes”, written and performed by Thomas Mirus. Download the Catholic Culture Podcast soundtrack.
Thomas V. Mirus is President of Trinity Communications and Director of Podcasts for CatholicCulture.org, hosts The Catholic Culture Podcast, and co-hosts Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast. See full bio.
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