What do Sammy Davis Jr., Muhammad Ali, Clare Booth Luce, Whitaker Chambers, and Charles Colson all have in common? They all had very public religious conversions. In this episode, historian Rebecca Davis joins us to talk about her new book Public […]
Archives for March 2022
Maybe the prophets of doom are correct. Perhaps we ARE in the “last days.”
In case you missed it, Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was texting with Donald Trump’s Chief of State Mark Meadows in the weeks between the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 […]
What does the Ketanji Brown Jackson hearing tell us about the state of the Republican Party?
Here is a taste of Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson recent column: Jackson’s main Republican questioners are not focused on qualifications, temperament or even judicial theory. Their clear objective has been to trip up the nominee by asking about the latest Republican culture-war debates. […]
It is finally okay to teach and play jazz in New Orleans public schools
Here is Juliette Arcodia at NBC News: New Orleans has long been known as the birthplace of jazz music, but for exactly a century that genre has been technically forbidden in the entire public school system. The rule was added […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Nadya Williams, “Putin’s Heritage of Lethal Incompetence“ John Fea, “Joe Biden’s Flip-Flop on Abortion“ Christopher Shannon, “Woke Wars and the Future of Public Life“ John Haas, “Avoid War“ Daniel K. […]
The Unbearable Lightness of the First TikTok War
How can we give a distant war its due?
Ted Cruz sends his daughters to an antiracist school that seems to promote ideas that he defines as critical race theory
The Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearings have been an utter embarrassment for the GOP members of the judicial committee. Take Ted Cruz, for example. His hypocrisy knows no bounds. Earlier this week I wrote about Ted Cruz’s attempt to demonize […]
Trump is keeping the court evangelicals close
The court evangelicals are back! Last Friday Trump called his evangelical disciples to Mar-a-Lago and they no doubt jumped on the first flight out of their home cities. The lunch was attended by Paula White-Cain (who organized the event), Jack […]
Evangelical roundup for March 24, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? What is going on at Calvin University? Two former female employees at Christianity Today talk about the Mark Galli sexual harassment allegations. Dan Silliman, the Christianity Today reporter who broke the Mark Galli story, […]
The Author’s Corner with Gerard Magliocca
Gerard Magliocca is Samuel R. Rosen Professor of Law at Indiana University McKinney School of Law. This interview is based on his new book, Washington’s Heir: The Life of Justice Bushrod Washington (Oxford University Press, 2022). JF: What led you to […]
Putin’s Heritage of Lethal Incompetence
While Russian school children joked about the Soviet regime, Vladimir Putin’s schooling took a deadly turn
Current Associate Editor Felicia Wu Song on the “perils of digital discipleship”
Listen to Felicia Wu Song’s interview with Heather Thompson Day at Christianity Today. In addition to her work at Current, she teaches sociology at Westmont College and is the author of Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the […]
Has Mitt Romney betrayed his party?
Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen thinks so: Trump acolytes have long labeled Sen. Mitt Romney a “RINO” — “Republican in Name Only.” This is an unfair charge, given Romney’s conservative credentials. But Romney is lending credence to his critics by not endorsing his […]
The Author’s Corner with William Novak
William Novak is Charles F. and Edith J. Clyne Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. This interview is based on his new book, New Democracy: The Creation of the Modern American State (Harvard University Press, 2022). […]
What Ted Cruz doesn’t know about Georgetown Day School (and critical race theory)
Watch Ted Cruz grill Supreme Court justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on critical race theory: Just for the record, critical race theory does not teach, as Cruz claims, that all of life is explained best by the clash of the […]
Bring On Your Wrecking Ball!
Ten years ago Bruce Springsteen cast a spiritual vision for America. It still rings true.
If you think the debate over American history is bad now, wait until 2026
What will debate over history in schools look like in 2026, the year we celebrate America’s 250th birthday. Over at Time, John Garrison Marks of the American Association for State and Local History has some thoughts . Here is a […]
Republicans on the judiciary committee are still very upset at how Amy Coney Barrett’s faith was handled during her confirmation hearings.
Earlier today I wrote about Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s faith and her previous connection to an evangelical church and Christian school. In that piece I noted that Texas senator Ted Cruz had used his written questions to Jackson […]
It looks like Philadelphia’s Atwater Kent Collection is going to Drexel University
Students of early America are familiar with the Atwater Kent Collection, some of which was on display in the now-closed Philadelphia History Museum. It now looks like the entire collection will be moving to Drexel University. Here is a taste […]
“Does academic freedom protect professors espousing white supremacist ideas?”
Here is Michael BĂ©rubĂ©, and Jennifer Ruth at The New Republic: Does academic freedom protect professors espousing white supremacist ideas? The answer, for the past hundred-and-more years since the founding of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in 1915, has […]