Radio Shows

2026

LA Catholic Morning Radio Interview Archives  

Topic: The Ethics of "Bodyoids" — Creating Headless or Brainless Human Beings from Stem Cells?

Should We Be Making a Simulacrum of the Human Body For Purposes of Harvesting Its Organs? Ellen and Todd discuss the disconcerting idea of "Zombie Bioethics" with Father Tad Pacholczyk, senior ethicist at the NCBC. This proposal involves creating embryonic beings that have most characteristics of a human being, but never develop a brain or perhaps never develop a head structure at all. These entities, it has been proposed, could then serve as "bags of organs" from which transplantable tissues and organs could be retrieved to help others in need of a fresh source of these tissues and organs. This ghoulish sounding proposal might also involve using women as surrogates to gestate these bodyoid entities in their wombs until they are large enough to be born or delivered by C-section.

 Broadcast Date: April 23, 2026

Topic: How Can We Go About Reversing Unjust Laws Allowing for Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia?

What Kinds of Strategic Approaches May Be Helpful Pushing Back Against the Legalization of Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide? Father Tad Pacholczyk, senior ethicist st the NCBC, joins Ellen and Todd to discuss the growing number of laws sanctioning physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, focusing on new efforts to scale back the existing laws, for example, in the province of Alberta Canada, and the strategies used recently to bring about the complete repeal of these laws in Slovenia via a public referendum.

 Broadcast Date: March 25, 2026

Topic: The Ethics of Killing Yourself, and Donating Your Organs for Transplant

What about the decision by two people in Australia to do Physician Assisted Suicide and to allow for several of their organs to be harvested afterwards? Father Tad, Ellen and Todd look at various notable ethical issues that arise around the controversial idea of permitting people who commit suicide, especially physician-assisted suicide, to donate organs following their death / suicide. Because the suicide typically needs to happen in the hospital in order for the organs to be harvested freshly and in a timely manner, what concerns arise regarding the hospital staff who cooperate in the process and their culpability?

 Broadcast Date: February 24, 2026

Topic: How Should We Be Funding Modern Research Science?

The National Institutes of Health Declines to Fund Scientific Grants and Biomedical Research that Relies on the Use of Cells and Tissues from Elective Abortions. Father Tad, Ellen and Todd, look at the manifold ethical concerns that arise around the use of fetal tissue in research, whether these come from elective abortions, or from the use of human embryonic stem cells obtained from destroyed human embryos "left over" from  IVF procedures. They discuss the development of "humanized mice" with human immune systems, and why the claim often put forward by researchers that this is absolutely essential for the continued progress of research belies the reality that there are alternative ways to produce humanized mice that do not require the use of fetal liver cells derived from direct abortions. They look at the importance of assuring proper oversight of research dollars, and the reasonableness of expecting full accountability from scientists so that only ethically-sound approaches to making advances and therapies are pursued. They discuss how the granting of funding, especially federal funding, is one of the highest forms of approbation and blessing a researcher can obtain in terms of his or her particular line of work, so that disbursement of our tax dollars for research in science needs to be directly linked to our vision of good, ethical science.

 Broadcast Date: January 28, 2026