Editor's Note: This episode was recorded on Wedneday, 4 November 2026. Since recording, there have been further developments in the legal proceedings involving Russell Brand, which are not reflected in this discussion.

TV channels, magazines and 90s lad culture celebrated Russell Brand for years. What did that culture teach a generation about sex, consent and the sacred, and what does his conversion mean?

Mark Lambert and Katherine Bennett catch up on the week in the Church and the culture. Plus: the films we thought were innocent, Bishop Georg Bätzing's public challenge to Pope Leo over abuse, Karl Bushby's 28-year walk and what we choose to celebrate, what actually counts as "magisterial", Bishop Barron's pushback against Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco on evangelisation, and Mass with Egypt's persecuted Christians.

📰 Read Stephen Morgan's article: https://www.catholicunscripted.com/p/on-the-magisterium-religious-liberty
🎥 Is it unchristian to judge? https://youtu.be/AH63C5mC_Zg
⭐ Become a Regina member: https://reginaunscripted.org/membership-levels/

Chapters

00:00 Mark's trip to Egypt & Mass with persecuted Christians
02:57 Russell Brand & the culture that celebrated him
09:18 Rewatching the films we grew up on
11:10 Are we just animals?
16:08 Sleepless in Seattle: "I'm trying on people"
17:00 Bishop Bätzing challenges Pope Leo on abuse
20:00 Abuse in the Church: a human problem
23:22 Good priests tarred with the same brush
25:13 Abuse & eroding boundaries
27:10 Karl Bushby's 28-year walk: what are we celebrating?
29:12 Ratzinger on true freedom
30:38 Loud music on trains & the turn to self
32:29 What counts as "magisterial"? Stephen Morgan's article
35:30 Should Catholics stop evangelising? Cardinal Vesco
37:29 Bishop Barron pushes back
38:38 Why Barron divides opinion
40:29 Thanks & a video on "judgmental" Christians