Welcome to the spiritual life. I'm Father Jim Martin. On this podcast, we reflect on how people

experience God in their prayer and their daily lives. And I am joined by my wonderful producer, Maggie Van Dorn.

Maggie, good to be back with you. Good to be with you, Jim. So who are we talking to this week?

This time, we're speaking with Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

And how did you first become introduced or connected to Secretary Pete?

It's actually a funny story.

A couple of years ago, I think during COVID, I was invited to receive an award from the

Notre Dame LGBTQ Alumni Association. Right. And so it was virtual for me. And the other person

who was receiving an award was the mayor of South Bend, Pete Buttigieg. And I had to look him up

and look up how to pronounce

his name. So I tuned into this Zoom thing and I gave my little talk and they gave me an award.

And then this guy stepped onto the stage and gave one of the most brilliant off the cuff

talks I've ever heard. And I thought, who is this guy? Right. It's amazing. He's so

articulate. And I sort of filed it in the back of my mind. And I think about just a few months later,

he announced that he was running for president. So incredible, that timing. Yeah, kind of an early

fan. I mean, he really is, as you will see in this interview, very articulate and very smart.

So that's how I met him.

And we corresponded from time to time since then.

But Maggie, could you tell us a little bit more about Pete's background?

Yeah, I'd be glad to.

So Pete Buttigieg served as the 19th U.S. Secretary of Transportation from 2021 to 2025 under President

Joe Biden. Prior to that, Pete served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and was,

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