One of last yearâs biggest hits was Top Gun: Maverick. The story takes place quite a bit later than the 1980s original, but in many ways Maverick is unchanged. Heâs still chasing the edgeâflying as fast as he can, willing […]
The Arena
Current contributing editor Christina Bieber Lake reviews Cormac McCarthy’s latest novels
Current Contributing Editor Christina Bieber Lake has reviewed Cormac McCarthy’s latest two novels for Comment. Bieber Lake describes McCarthy’s work as a whole as “Tales that make you ache for goodness and beauty… Tales written in prose that begs you […]
A moving meditation from Megan McArdle on the loss of her mother
However old they are when they pass, your parents pass too soon. For you, at least. You are, and always have been, their child, and a child is born to and cared for by these folk who are always somewhere in […]
What I am reading: lessons on marriage from Janice Holt Giles
Marriage roles are hotly contested in our society. Wrapped up as they are not just in the deeply important work of the family but also in debates over conceptions of biological sex itself, these roles are difficult to define. Efforts […]
Is it bad for you and others to respond to emails asap?
During the pandemic, email quantity has escalated in many workplaces. For some/many of us, this new and higher volume of digital correspondence is now the new(ish) normal). In today’s NYT Opinion piece, psychologist Adam Grant argues that some of us […]
Mass shootings
Itâs difficult to write about the recent shooting at Covenant School in Nashville. One fears saying something stupid or insensitive. Further, given the emotional heat regarding the tragedy (see the Tennessee Legislature) it seems there is a ready cadre of […]
On turning yet another year older
For two of my college years at the University of Virginia, I got to live in the French House, a beautiful historic mansion on the edge of campus. There were clear rules involved: all conversations in the house had to […]
Ukrainian mothers who traveled into Russian-occupied Ukraine to get their children back
The war in Ukraine has largely faded from the news of late, but this does not mean that the suffering there is any less profound. An emotional piece in the New York Times this weekend highlights the impact of war […]
What if students WANT the humanities in their college curriculum?
Most of the time, the well-merited jeremiads about the state of the humanities in American universities come from scholars. At the same time, most of the attacks themselves come from university administrators or system-level administrators (for state universities). But last […]
Revisiting the Cuban Missile Crisis
âWhatâs important,” Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev reflected in October 1962, “is not to cry for the dead or to avenge them, but to save those who might die if the conflict continues.â That so many didn’t die, then, was the result of Khrushchev’s, […]
What are you reading?
Billy Budd is one of Herman Melvilleâs most enigmatic writings. It involves an inexplicable animosity toward a handsome sailor, an accidental death, and a verdict of ambiguous justness. The captain of the ship on which the events take place is […]
More than meets the eye: Emma Green’s profile of Hillsdale College this week in the New Yorker
Earlier this week, Emma Green had an in-depth profile of Hillsdale College in the New Yorker. Intriguingly titled “The Christian Liberal Arts School at the Heart of the Culture Wars,” the profile emphasized Hillsdale’s connections to the Republic Party. But […]
What is the purpose of college? Recent articles and a book in progress
Yesterday at The Way of Improvement, John Fea had posted about Bret Devereaux’s New York Times Opinion article from this weekend. Devereaux’s article is in today’s print version of the New York Times, continuing this important conversation. But what is […]
Earthly injustice in light of the Resurrection
âChrist is risen!â â they sing at church. But I am saddened, my soul is silent. The world is filled with blood and tears, And the sound of this hymn before the altar seems an insult. If He were here […]
What I am reading: a review of Rick Kennedy’s Winds of Santa Ana
Winds of Santa Ana: Pilgrim Stories of the California Bight by Rick Kennedy. Wipf and Stock, 2022. 206 pp., $25.00. It is a time-tested truism of the academic profession that the best adventuring is of the armchair variety. But every […]
Liberty Valance meets Abraham Lincoln
A mark of a truly great work of art is the ability to go back time and again to the work and still find something new. As a homeschooling father I recently took command of my childrenâs education and introduced […]
Addendum to roundup of coverage on guns and gun control: Timothy Larsen’s essay from 2021
Earlier today, I ran a roundup of all Current, Arena, and Way of Improvement Leads Home coverage on guns and gun control since May 2022. But I want to add here one more resource. In August 2021, Current Contributing Editor […]
Guns and mass shootings coverage roundup since May 2022: Current, Arena, and Way of Improvement Leads Home
In late May 2022, less than a year ago, John Fea posted this roundup of coverage on guns and gun control on his blog. This week unfortunately seems to be an appropriate time to add to this list. Below are […]
The religion of antinatalism: something old, something new, something borrowedâŚ
Last week, information about a curious organizationâwith its exceedingly curious websiteâ briefly circulated on Twitter: Stop Having Kids.Org As the website name so clearly articulates already, this is an organization devoted to the cause of antinatalism, âa philosophical and ethical […]
Your favorite professor might be a dirtbag
Your favorite professor might be kind of a dirtbag. Dirtbag, in this case, referring to climbing subculture and people willing to eschew running water and good housing to spend their time scaling rock faces. According to climbinghouse.com, âdirtbagging emerged out […]