Should Harvard offer courses on Taylor Swift? Of course it should. Everyone is talking about a course at Harvard titled “Taylor Swift and Her World.” Here is some context from Stephanie Burt, the English professor who will be teaching the […]
Merry Christmas!
Notice that Linus drops the security blanket when he says “fear not.”
Album of the day
See Eric Miller’s reflection on this album here.
“Our founding fathers understood the absolute necessity for this nation to elect moral and upright statesmen to lead the people.”
That was Jerry Falwell Sr. on January 8, 1999 in the midst of the Bill Clinton impeachment trial. Here is the quote in context: “Our founding fathers understood the absolute necessity for this nation to elect moral and upright statesmen […]
A writer for The Atlantic discovers pizza
Over at The Atlantic, Saahil Desai calls our attention to Ora Dodd’s 1949 piece on pizza. Here is a taste of Dodd’s essay: The waiter moves aside the glasses of red wine, and sets before you a king-sized open pie. […]
Why good writing matters
Artificial intelligence cannot replace the act of writing. Here is a taste of Frank Bruni’s column at The New York Times: When my friend Molly Worthen, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a […]
51.4% of books sell between 12 and 999 units
As Tajja Isen notes in her piece at The Walrus, these numbers are not “especially encouraging.” Here is a taste of her piece, “How Do You Even Sell a Book Anymore?“: All of which highlights the two faces of the […]
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: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Arena blog:
“Unheard of in American history”
Today at La Presse, the French-Canadian online newspaper based in Montreal, is running a short interview I did with them about the Colorado Supreme Court decision that takes Donald Trump off the ballot in that state. Here is an English […]
Mike Godwin gives us permission to compare Trump to Hitler
The originator of “Godwin’s Law” weighs in! Here is Mike Godwin’s piece at The Washington Post: My very minor status as an authority on Adolf Hitler comparisons stems from having coined “Godwin’s Law” about three decades ago. I originally framed this “law” […]
Are the 1619 Project and the 1776 Commission really that different?
I just read Zine Magubane’s review of Kenan Malik’s Not So Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy at Catalyst. Malik argues that both the 1619 Project and Donald Trump’s “1776 Commission” fail to recognize the importance […]
Evangelical roundup for December 21, 2023
What is happening in Evangelical land? Are evangelicals who appear in a Rob Reiner film “selling out?” The Holy Post gang discusses the Rob Reiner film and my piece completely miss the spirit of it. Phil Vischer and Skye Jethani […]
Commentary. Reflection. Judgment.
2024 is going to be a doozy. Donald Trump will be running for president while he is on trial for multiple felonies. What will the Supreme Court say, if anything, about whether the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the former president from […]
“The most interesting Jesuit in the world”
Yesterday I came across James T. Keane’s piece in America magazine on Clement James McNaspy, S.J., a former associate editor (1960 to 1970) at the magazine. Keane writes that McNaspy, who taught music at Loyola University in New Orleans, “was […]
Santa Claus and America grew up together
Here is a taste of Ben Railton‘s piece at The Saturday Evening Post: “How Santa Claus and America Evolved Together Across the 19th Century”: While Santa Claus did not originate in the U.S., his story and image significantly evolved across […]
A liberal arts education is good for your mental health
Rosario Ceballo is a psychologist, expert on adolescent development, and dean of Georgetown University’s College of Arts & Sciences. Here is a taste of her piece at Inside Higher Ed: I began my role as dean of the College of […]
Donald Trump’s gut and the fate of American democracy
What will happen to truth if Donald Trump is our next president? Here is Megan Garber at The Atlantic: “I have a gut,” Donald Trump announced in 2018, “and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever […]
Will any GOP presidential candidate take advantage of the recent Colorado Supreme Court decision?
The Colorado Supreme Court says that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist and is thus disqualified from holding the presidency in 2024. This story is not over. Trump will appeal. Some commentators are saying the Supreme Court may have to decide […]
Retired conservative judge J. Michael Luttig says the Colorado Supreme Court is correct in keeping Trump off the ballot in 2024
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Donald Trump will not appear on the ballot in 2024 because he is an insurrectionist and the 14th Amendment does not permit insurrectionists to hold federal office. Some of you may recall our […]
Colorado Supreme Court: Donald Trump is an insurrectionist and must be removed from the 2024 ballot
Early today we linked to a piece asking “when, if ever, can a democracy exclude anti-democratic politicians and parties from democratic elections?” Read it here. Well, it appears that the Colorado Supreme Court has its own ideas on the matter. […]