What's it like being a nun today? Sister Monica Clare joins us to explain her path to the Community of St. John Baptist and why she is sharing her story on TikTok and in a new memoir.

Plus, scholars Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita explore the lessons about friendship, money, work, and more that we can learn from Sixteenth-century nuns in their podcast and their new book. They join us to explain that "anything you are going through right now has probably already happened to a nun living several hundred years ago.”

GUESTS:

• Sister Monica Clare: Sister superior at the Community of St. John Baptist, an Episcopal convent based in New Jersey. She is also a spiritual counselor specializing in religious trauma, mental illness, and addiction. She is the author of A Change of Habit: Leaving Behind My Husband, Career, and Everything I Owned to Become a Nun

• Ana Garriga: Co-host of the 'Las Hijas de Felipe' podcast, and co-author of Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First Century Life. Ana received her PhD from Brown University

• Carmen Urbita: Co-host of the 'Las Hijas de Felipe' podcast, and co-author of Convent Wisdom: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First Century Life. Carmen received her PhD from Brown University

MUSIC FEATURED (in order):

• Organ Symphony No 5 in F Minor Op. 42, No. 1 (V. Toccata) – Joseph Nolan, Charles-Marie Widor

• Dominique – Soeur Sourire (The Singing Nun)

• Calling All Angels – k.d. lang (ft. Jane Siberry)

• Maria – Sound of Music

• Let the Mystery Be – Iris DeMent

• Song of Bernadette – Jennifer Warnes

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Colin McEnroe and Dylan Reyes contributed to this show, which originally aired on November 19, 2025.