It’s been a busy year at Current! And if we had to narrate the arc of this year through the essays we have published, here is one subjective and incomplete way I at least might tell that story month-by-month (and while I include book reviews here, be sure to check out also our “2024 in 25 Current Book Reviews”—because we love books and will always happily talk about them!)
January
M. Elizabeth Carter, “You Can’t Leave It Behind”—a movie review that is an exhortation to life together. A reminder as fitting as we close this year as when we started it.
Eric Miller, “Authentic Humanity.” AI has been one of the biggest undercurrents of this year. Here Eric Miller considers authentic humanity as the antidote—and much more.
Katy Carl reviewed Jessica Hooten Wilson’s new edition of Flannery O’Connor’s unfinished novel: “Why Do the Heathen Rage?”
February
Forum: Christopher Lasch, Part I and Part II. This forum included essays from Catherine Tumber, Chris Shannon, Susan McWilliams Barndt, Dominic Aquila, and Eric Miller. The goal was to reflect on Lasch’s legacy and continued significance on the thirtieth anniversary of his death.
Allen C. Guelzo, “Abraham Lincoln’s Economic Hinge.” The leading historian of Lincoln wrote about one key point from his new book.
Miles Smith reviewed Andrew Wilson’s Remaking the World, asking the question “What’s 1776 got to do with it?”
March
Marvin Olasky, “Interview: Pivot Points” – We appreciated Marvin’s voice in Current this year. He is off to Christianity Today now, where he is the new Executive Editor for News and Global, and we’ll miss him but are excited for this new step for him.
Timothy Larsen, “When H. G. Wells Found God” – just beautiful.
Tim Carney’s book Family Unfriendly is one of the most culturally significant of 2024, so we published two reviews on it: Dixie Dillon Lane, “Why Aren’t Americans Having Children?” and Ivana Greco, “The Value of Homemakers.”
April
John Fea, “A Search for Spiritual Certainty” – over the course of this year, John published several moving excerpts from his memoir in progress; this is one of them.
Dan Williams, “Needed: A New History of Rural Working-Class Conservatism” – Dan has been thinking a lot over the past couple of years about the rural/urban divide in religion and politics.
Colleen Vasconcellos, “Funeral Food” – Colleen has a gift for writing about food, history, and culture in a way that is anything but simple.
Melanie Springer Mock’s review of Tiffany Eberle Kriner, “In Thought, Word, and Seed,” is a delight to read–or re-read.
May
Christina Bieber Lake, “Review: Stalking Joy” – Christina Bieber Lake had been a consultant on the new Flannery O’Connor film. Naturally we asked her to write about it.
Amanda McCrina, “The Unmysterious Russian Soul”—Almost three years on now, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. How we speak about the war—and about Ukraine and Russia—matters. Also see Amanda’s essay “What Does the Second Anniversary of the Invasion of Ukraine Mean?” and Vincent Artman’s powerful essay, “Survivor’s Guilt”
June
Eric Miller, “Summering: Follow the Tease” – This is the second summer that we’ve published a series on, well, Summering. This essay is a reminder of why we love that project. In another summertime essay, Eric also exhorted us all to “Please Walk on the Grass.”
Chris Shannon, “Long Form: It’s Hard to Be a Saint in the City” — True in the summer and at other times of year.
Matthew Mutter’s review of Rochelle Gurstein, “Written in Water,” is one of the best reviews I have read not only this year, but possibly ever.
Christopher Lane, a historian who researches vocation for, well, a vocation, reviewed Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity, asking the question: “Slowing down–but for what?”
July
In his piece “Conventional Wisdom,” Jim Cullen reminded us that “Contested nominations have been the norm, not the exception, in American history.
James Wildeman, “Messiah” – Handel’s Messiah, in July, once upon a time.
Amy Bass, “Thank Goodness—The Olympics Are Here” – Did you remember that the Olympics were this summer? It seems so long ago, but it’s true.
At the end of July, we unveiled Current‘s 100 Books of the 21st Century!
August
The Fiftieth Anniversary of Nixon’s Resignation: Forum Day I, Day II, and Day III – We at Current observe all kinds of important liturgical holidays. Like the anniversary of Nixon’s resignation. Many thanks to the panelists: John Haas, Steve Goodson, Dan Williams, Geoffrey, Kurtz, Adina Kelley, Mark Noll, Daniel Silliman, Jim Cullen, and Rusty Hawkins.
Timothy Larsen, “The Last Christian” – If you manage to read this essay without getting goosebumps, I am worried about you.
We gave a double review to two different books in August–because we thought they deserved the extended conversation: Tiffany Eberle Kriner and Bill Fullilove reviewed Marilynne Robinson’s new Reading Genesis; Chris Shannon and Russell Erben Fox reviewed James Davison Hunter’s Democracy and Solidarity.
September
Chris Shannon, “Long Form: Whose Culture? Which Solidarity?” – A reflection in response to James Davison Hunter’s latest, and also a bit more.
Forum: AI and Education—along with Forum: Part II –Look, we’re worried. Aren’t you?
The review by Dan Williams that became our most widely read review of the year: “Shepherds for Sale?”
October
Agnes Howard, “The Daughter of a Presidential Candidate Reflects” – Agnes Howard has a story to tell—poignant and personal.
Norman Wirtzba, “Faithful Hope” – a beautiful essay about a beautiful new book. We all need faithful hope.
November
John Fea, “A Hard Day’s Night” – That time John stayed up half the night, waiting on the results to come in and journaling all the way.
Forum, Election 2024 – along with Part II, Part III, and Part IV — we had thoughts. A lot of thoughts.
December
Lucy S. R. Austen, “Review: The Wood at Midwinter” – Oh, so beautiful. Both the book and this review.
Geoffrey Kurtz, “Waiting for a Realignment” – A wise, thoughtful, maybe even hopeful way to think about politics.
John Fea, “The Responsibility of Christian Intellectuals in the Age of Trump” – A fitting manifesto to end this year and look to the next.