With a history that spans three continents, and over 50 years experience in the medical community John speaks to Christian and secular groups around the world, communicating effectively on medical ethics, culture, public policy, and the integration of faith and science.
Publisher
John Patrick
Category
health & fitness · religion & spirituality · society & culture
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In this episode, Dr. John Patrick concludes his reading of Wendell Berry's short story 'Fidelity,' the tale of Burley Coulter, an old countryman taken off life support and secretly carried home by his son Danny to die among the people and land he loved. Dr. John Patrick uses the story, which he has taught to medical students for years, to explore themes of medical ethics, end-of-life decisions, and the meaning of dignity in death within a faithful rural community. He draws attention to Berry's sharp critique of modern medicine and bureaucracy through the character of Henry Catlett, a country lawyer who confronts a state police detective over the true meaning of law, love, and belonging. Listeners are introduced to Berry's fictional Port William membership, a community bound by fidelity to one another and to place, in contrast with the impersonal, profit-driven machinery of modern hospitals. Dr. John Patrick closes by encouraging listeners to read Wendell Berry's full body of work, beginning with 'That Distant Land' or 'Watch With Me.'
🎬 Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/Dmex2FIx0n8
// LINKS //
Website: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/
Podcast: https://doctorjohnpatrick.podbean.com/
Biblical Literacy Quiz: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/meaning-metaphor-and-allusion/
Recommended Reading list: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/book-list/
Ask Doctor John: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/ask/
LINKS: https://beacons.ai/doctorjohnpatrick
7 Oct 2026
Wendell Berry: A Professional Without Place
Join our monthly book club and keep thinking deeply about faith, culture, and truth:
🔗 https://pxllnk.co/bookclubpod
Considering college? Explore Augustine College, a one-year classical Christian program in Ottawa that prepares students to think and live faithfully in a secular age:
🔗 https://pxllnk.co/augustinepodcast
In this episode, Dr. John Patrick pays tribute to the late Wendell Berry, the American novelist, poet, and farmer who died at 92, reflecting on why mainstream obituaries failed to capture the man's true significance. Dr. John Patrick shares how Berry's essay line, 'a professional is a person without place,' reshaped his own choices as a physician and father, leading him to prioritize local community over career convenience during his family's years in Jamaica and Africa. He then reads much of Berry's short story 'Fidelity' from the collection of the same name, part of Berry's fictional Port William community, which portrays a family's anguish over a dying elder trapped in impersonal hospital care. Dr. John Patrick draws out the story's critique of modern medicine's loss of human fidelity and community, urging medical students in particular to read Berry's work. The episode closes mid-story, with Dr. John Patrick promising to continue the reading in a future episode.
🎬 Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/DBOZ7opYGzo
// LINKS //
Website: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/
Podcast: https://doctorjohnpatrick.podbean.com/
Biblical Literacy Quiz: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/meaning-metaphor-and-allusion/
Recommended Reading list: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/book-list/
Ask Doctor John: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/ask/
LINKS: https://beacons.ai/doctorjohnpatrick
30 Sept 2026
Peter Thiel on Pope Benedict and the Antichrist
Join our monthly book club and keep thinking deeply about faith, culture, and truth:
🔗 https://pxllnk.co/bookclubpod
Considering college? Explore Augustine College, a one-year classical Christian program in Ottawa that prepares students to think and live faithfully in a secular age:
🔗 https://pxllnk.co/augustinepodcast
In this episode, Dr. John Patrick reflects on a First Things article by Peter Thiel titled 'The Pope and the Antichrist,' which reveals that Pope Benedict XVI took seriously the theological concept of the Antichrist and the end times. Dr. John Patrick connects this to Oliver O'Donovan's 'The Disappearance of Ethics,' arguing that ethics depends on theology rather than philosophy, and traces how Western culture has drifted from its Judeo-Christian foundations. He also discusses Peter Thiel's views on education and entrepreneurship, the erosion of trust and free speech, and shares a detour into World War II history involving Air Marshal Hugh Dowding and the Battle of Britain. The episode closes with a call to recover deep reading and moral formation, especially through children's literature, as an antidote to cultural drift.
🎬 Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/1hNScdwffzQ
// LINKS //
Website: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/
Podcast: https://doctorjohnpatrick.podbean.com/
Biblical Literacy Quiz: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/meaning-metaphor-and-allusion/
Recommended Reading list: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/book-list/
Ask Doctor John: https://www.johnpatrick.ca/ask/
LINKS: https://beacons.ai/doctorjohnpatrick
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
20 ratings
Spotify
4.7 / 5
14 ratings
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Guest appearances
Books guests
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