The Economist.
J.D. Vance rose to fame off the back of a book.
Now, a decade after Hillbilly Elegy, he's written another.
Communion, Finding My Way Back to Faith, charts his conversion to Catholicism.
How does the way Vance writes about his faith
help us understand America's vice president?
I'm John Prodow, and this is Checks and Balance from The Economist.
Each week we take one big theme shaping American politics
and explore it in depth.
Today, Catholicism and conservatism.
The vice president is one of a number of prominent Catholics
on the right of American politics.
Marco Rubio, Steve Bannon, Kellyanne Conway, RFK Jr. are all Catholics,
as are most of the justices on the Supreme Court.
So what role does Catholicism play in politics today?
And how does it influence conservative thinking?
With me this week to talk about J.D. Vance's new book and the role of Catholicism in American politics these days
are James Bennet and Charlotte Howard, both in New York, the scene of some interesting primary results.
How are you both doing?
I'm doing well.