Roderick Vonhögen (born 5 April 1968[2]), also known as Father Roderick, is a Roman Catholic priest from Amersfoort, Netherlands.[3] He is a podcaster and new media producer known for his projects that combine Catholicism with pop culture commentary.
Roderick Vonhögen | |
|---|---|
 Father Roderick in 2011 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 April 1968 |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Occupation | Catholic Priest |
In April 2005, Vonhögen recorded audio reports from Rome, chronicling the death of Pope John Paul II and the subsequent election of Pope Benedict XVI, and released them as a podcast called The Catholic Insider.[4] Podcasting was brand-new at the time, and his use of the novel medium in the context of citizen journalism gained him international notoriety.[5][6]
Vonhögen continued to launch new podcast projects throughout 2005, and folded them into a production company called SQPN (Star Quest Production Network) which he co-founded that year.[7] Under SQPN branding, Vonhögen produced a talk show called The Daily Breakfast (which won the 2006,[8] 2007,[9] and 2008[10] People's Choice Podcast Awards in the Religion category) and a series of podcasts called Secrets that gave Catholic commentary on media franchises such as Lost, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones. In 2018, he stepped down as CEO of SQPN to focus on his work with Trideo, another media venture which he launched in 2014.[7]
Vonhögen is also known for his Star Wars fandom, having created a fan website called The Virtual Edition which was popular in the years after its 1997 launch, during the time when the Star Wars prequel trilogy was being produced.[11][12] He received widespread media attention again in 2015 for his reaction to the teaser trailer for the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[13][14][15]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Roderick Vonhögen". IMDB. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ "@FatherRoderick". Twitter. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
Born 5 April 1968
- ^ @FatherRoderick (3 June 2018). "I ❤️ my hometown #Amersfoort" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Meet Fr. Roderick Vönhogen, the 'podcasting priest'". Catholic World Report. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ "Invasion of the Podcasters". National Catholic Register. 17 July 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ Heffernan, Virginia (22 July 2005). "The Podcast as a New Podium". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Trideo and SQPN to continue as separate platforms". SQPN. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
- ^ Cochrane, Todd (15 August 2006). "2006 People's Choice Podcast Award Winners". Podcast Connect. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
- ^ Cochrane, Todd (15 August 2007). "Third Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards Category Winners Announced". Podcast Connect. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
- ^ "November – 2008 – Podcast Connect". podcastconnect.com.
- ^ "About". The Virtual Edition. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ Wen, Howard (18 May 1998). "The Internet strikes back". Salon. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ Kuruvilla, Carol (20 April 2015). "The Star Wars Trailer Is Out, And This Catholic Priest Can't Handle It". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
- ^ Bailey, Sarah Pulliam (18 April 2015). "Watch a priest delightfully geek out over the new Star Wars trailer". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
- ^ Westbrook, Caroline (22 April 2015). "This vicar is more excited about the Star Wars 7 trailer than you". Metro. Retrieved 17 January 2017.