In the world of online Catholicism, Pints with Aquinas led by Matt Fradd is one of the major YouTube influencers, amassing over 772K subscribers, that features discussions on theology, philosophy, faith, and apologetics. His videos are a mix between short form topical videos to long-form interviews, often with notable guests in both Catholic and even political spheres. This would include protestants like Eric Metaxas and Dennis Prager, which featured Prager’s defense of masturbation. His audience would include various sects of Christianity.
Daily Wire announced that Pints with Aquinas would be signing on with the company. In a thirty-five minute announcement video, Fradd detailed the reasoning behind the decision being primarily the ability of Daily Wire to provide back-end support. The deal was initially broached during Fradd’s initial interview with Michael Knowles and he insisted throughout the video of how hesitant he was to work with them. Fradd described how he was becoming burned out with the production of his podcast, not so much the conversations, but the operational work which went into them. Daily Wire is expecting a weekly show of which they are building a studio for Fradd, which is consistent with the production schedule Pints with Aquinas currently adheres to. Throughout the video, Fradd insists that the Daily Wire will not alter the direction of his content with the promise of full editorial control. Fradd mentioned that the transition would begin in December with Christmas related content being released and the new format beginning in 2026.
Interestingly enough, he mentioned that there was a decent catholic presence at Daily Wire and that there were several seekers within the company.
Analysis
For the Daily Wire, this is a massive name that is being added to their roster as Fradd is able to draw numerous views while having a positive reputation among online Catholics. There would also be synergies with Matt Walsh and Michael Knowles both being traditional leaning Catholics. Perhaps this signifies a larger shift for the company to appeal to a Catholics audience and broaden their appeal, which has tanked in recent years. Ironically, Calvin Robinson posited that this is a Catholic redundancy in the event either Walsh or Knowles leave the company.
Beyond advertising, it remains to be seen how the Daily Wire will incorporate Fradd into their ecosystem. Obviously, they will have crossover with regards to other hosts being guests with Fradd. With Steven Crowder, Daily Wire was contracting content in addition to his daily show, so there could be a stipulation for a quarterly project of sorts included for Daily Wire subscribers. Doubtless, the same promises of “full editorial control” were made to Jordan Peterson, that while he is probably not ordered to produce certain the content by the executives, he plays ball nonetheless. Peterson certainly evolved to fit within the Daily Wire ecosystem. The saying, bad company corrupts good character could be at play for Fradd, and it certainly reflects the sentiments of his comment section. They would not have to force him, as he would voluntarily “sell-out” to the brand’s values.
As the Daily Wire is struggling both as a brand and financially, there is a chance that this deal diminishes the quality of his content in the eyes of his own audience, just as it did to Jordan Peterson.
One Response
Good. Now when Catholics say “Zionism is a Protestant heresy” we can point to Matt Fradd as he capitulates more and more to Zionism due to working for Ben Shapiro, as if we need that, since Vatican II already says Jews are saved without Christ (how is that not Zionism?) and JPII said to stop evangelizing Jews, etc.