Archives for August 2022

After his bid for governor of Oregon did not go so well, The New York Times gave him his old job back. We tried to recruit Kristof to Current, but we couldn’t afford him–at least not yet. 😉 Here is […]

Here is Kareem at his Substack page: I always knew I wanted to be active in civil rights, but I didn’t always know how I would do that. I had attended some anti-war and civil rights protests rallies while at […]

Here is conservative commentator Peter Wehner at The Atlantic: Fear: If the hallmarks of Ronald Reagan’s speeches were optimism, hope, and a sense of limitless possibilities, Trump’s speeches are the antithesis. Trump is a genius at tapping into fear. In his […]

The Internet and social media is killing it. Here is Sam Leith at The Spectator: Nostalgia depends to a large extent on the ability to misremember. The canonical form of nostalgia, captured in the Portuguese loan-word saudade, is longing for a […]

Who is Elizabeth Johnson Jr.? Vimal Patel explains: Elizabeth Johnson Jr. is — officially — not a witch. Until last week, the Andover, Mass., woman, who confessed to practicing witchcraft during the Salem witch trials, was the only remaining person convicted during […]

Michael Weeks is Lecturer of History at Utah Valley University. This interview is based on his new book, Cattle Beet Capital: Making Industrial Agriculture in Northern Colorado (University of Nebraska Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Cattle Beet […]

The crisis of leadership in contemporary religion and politics is rooted not in hypocrisy but in nihilism

A Christian rap band, with help from a GOP political activist, published a history book. Episode 43: “Jesus Freaks Do History” dropped today. Subscribers to Current at the Longshore level and above have access to new episodes of this narrative history podcast. Here is […]

Claire Arcenas is Associate Professor of History at the University of Montana. This interview is based on her new book, America’s Philosopher: John Locke in American Intellectual Life (University of Chicago Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write America’s […]

What is happening in Evangelical land? Remembering Ron Sider here and here and here and here and here. Michael Wear on Sider: Shane Claiborne on Ron Sider: National Association of Evangelicals on Sider: Jim Wallis on Sider: Lisa Sharon Harper […]

It’s never just a building that goes up in smoke