Over at Jacobin, historian William Hogeland discusses his ongoing work on “workers” and “elites” in the late eighteenth century. Here is a taste of his interview with Astra Taylor: ASTRA TAYLOR: Can you talk about what your narrative of America’s […]
“Experiments in how to capture attention rather than deepen it”
I’ve spent some time studying early American Quakers. This religious group featured prominently in my doctrinal dissertation and I once toyed with writing a book about an early 19th-century Quaker farmer. Perhaps Ezra Klein is onto something in his recent […]
The legal theory behind national conservatism
Over at Politico, Ian Ward has a fascinating longform piece on “common good constitutionalism,” a new legal theory gaining popularity in national conservative circles. It is associated with the work of Harvard law professor Adrian Vermeule. Here is a taste […]
Evangelical roundup for December 12, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical Land? Rob Schenck: The Christian Right “made a deal with the devil”. 63% of evangelicals believe the world is ending, but not because of global warming. Evangelicals, led by Rick Warren, gather to strategize about […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: What social media can learn from the coffeehouse Ross Douthat, Hootie and the Blowfish, and the end of history Randall Kennedy reviews Thomas Ricks, Waging a Good War: A Military […]
Do we need a national rail system?
Jacobin writer Luke Savage thinks so. I am sympathetic to his argument. Here is Savage’s recent piece: Earlier this year, the federal board charged with overseeing America’s rail network called a hearing to discuss widespread complaints about higher costs and poor service. […]
Hail!
Over at The New York Times, Matthew Walther, editor of the Catholic literary journal The Lamp, makes the case of the University of Michigan football program. Here is a taste:  In this year’s College Football Playoff, which begins on New […]
Does Krysten Sinema want another term in the U.S. Senate?
Krysten Sinema left the Democratic Party today. She registered as an Independent. Watch: I applaud Sinema’s independence. But from a political perspective, this looks likes suicide. If she runs again in 2024 as an Independent, the non-GOP vote (we can […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current:: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog:
Education for Freedom
What can we learn about liberal arts education from Frederick Douglass and the formerly enslaved?
It’s time for the Umbrella Man again
I wrote about the Umbrella Man in my section on historical causation in Why Study History?: Reflecting on the Importance of the Past. Watch: Good news: I just submitted the manuscript for the revised edition of Why Study History. Stay […]
Correcting some misconceptions about my resignation from the presidency of the Conference on Faith and History
Some of you know that I resigned last week as the president of the Conference on Faith and History, an organization of Christian historians of which I have been a member for more than thirty years and have served in […]
Evangelical roundup for December 8, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical Land: Young evangelicals are more concerned than their parents about climate change. More on Amy Grant: Kennedy Center honoree. Jesus Creed blog announces its books of the year. Jim Wallis on the Child Tax Credit: […]
Roots
Every year in my United States history survey course we spend three or four class periods talking about the meaning of democracy in antebellum America. During a small seminar I introduce students to Alexis De Tocqueville, the author of Democracy […]
Are you listening to WNYC’s “On the Media’s” podcast series on conservative talk radio?
We introduced you to this series here. Episode Four dropped today. I talked a bit about my experience with the Rush Limbaugh show in the early 1990s and introducing my Dad to the program. Here is WNYC’s “The Divided Dial: […]
Raphael Warnock: theologian
If you haven’t seen it yet, Gary Dorrien has published a fascinating piece at Commonweal. on re-elected Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock It provides several first-hand of accounts of his years at Union Theological Seminary (where Dorrien teaches) and his relationship […]
What happens when gay rights clash with religious freedom?
Here is Tish Harrison Warren at The New York Times: This week, the Supreme Court will hear a case that will reignite a continuing conversation about what to do when long-established religious convictions clash with gay people’s civil rights. In 303 […]
What Prohibition accomplished
Writing on the day (December 5) that marks the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933, political scientist Mark Lawrence Schrad wants us to think about what the movement to end the manufacture, transportation and sale of liquor in the […]
Is it better to be a vampire or a werewolf?
Obama!
Hey Oklahoma, teachers need a college degree
Have you heard about this? Here is Janelle Stecklein at the Enid News & Eagle: In response to Oklahoma’s continued teacher shortage, lawmakers passed a measure that no longer requires educators to have a college degree in order to teach […]