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2023 Pulitzer Prizes announced

John Fea   |  May 10, 2023

Here are few of the prizes that caught my eye: Feature Writing (Finalist): Elizabeth Bruenig for her work on the death penalty in Alabama. History (Winner): Jefferson Cowie, Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power History (Finalist): […]

Manhattan jury: Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll

John Fea   |  May 10, 2023

Here is David French: It’s important to note that this was a civil case, not a criminal trial. The burden of proof in civil cases is lower. The jury was charged with determining whether Carroll proved her claims with a […]

Rep. George Santos just got arrested

John Fea   |  May 10, 2023

The representative from New York’s 3rd congressional district just got charged with wire fraud, money-laundering, theft of public funds, and lying to the House of Representatives. All felonies. Here is CNN: Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. […]

Historian Molly Worthen talks with The Gospel Coalition about her conversion to evangelical Christianity

John Fea   |  May 9, 2023

I love every minute of this interview. Here is Collin Hanson of The Gospel Coalition interviewing University of North Carolina historian Molly Worthen: Some highlights: What a beautiful and joyful conversation.

The Author’s Corner with Matthew Dennis

Rachel Petroziello   |  May 9, 2023

Matthew Dennis is Professor Emeritus of History and Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon. This interview is based on his new book, American Relics and the Politics of Public Memory (University of Massachusetts Press, 2023). JF: What led you to […]

The Author’s Corner with Julie Carr

Rachel Petroziello   |  May 8, 2023

Julie Carr is Professor of English and Chair of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. This interview is based on her new book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West (University […]

Evangelical roundup for May 8, 2023

John Fea   |  May 8, 2023

What is happening in Evangelical land? Russell Moore on Tucker Carlson. More on Iowa evangelicals and the 2024 GOP primary season. Evangelical parachurch organizations at Harvard. Rick Warren wants to follow Southern Baptist pastors on Twitter: Hispanic evangelicals continue to […]

Sunday night odds and ends

John Fea   |  May 7, 2023

A few things online that caught my attention this week: The influence of Roger Scruton on conservatism. Leah Finnegan reviews Ben Smith, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. How to rig an election: 1876 […]

8th grade U.S. history scores continue to decline

John Fea   |  May 6, 2023

Here is Sarah Mervosh at The New York Times: National test scores released on Wednesday showed a marked drop in students’ knowledge of U.S. history and a modest decline in civics, a sign of the pandemic’s alarming reach, damaging student […]

Commonplace Book #265

John Fea   |  May 6, 2023

When we fight for justice and stand up for the oppressed, we are knowing God, making him known, demonstrating by the spirit his own passion for justice. When we delight in beauty and create more of it, God the glad […]

Pope Francis on Ukraine

John Fea   |  May 6, 2023

The Pope wants peace in the Ukraine. He opposes Russian war crimes, but is not acting diplomatically on behalf of the West in the way John Paul II did during the Cold War. Over at The Atlantic, John Allen, the […]

What is going on at Taylor University?

John Fea   |  May 5, 2023

Here is Bob Smietana at Religion News Service: A veteran English professor at a leading evangelical university has lost her job — in part because a school official deemed her writing classes too liberal on the issue of race. Julie […]

Do journalists have more freedom than professors?

John Fea   |  May 5, 2023

Ross Douthat begins his recent New York Times piece by engaging with the recent pushback against “wokeness” on university campuses. If what is happening on the campuses of Stanford, Harvard, Penn State, Cornell, and Vanderbilt is any indication, and Columbia’s […]

Christopher Lasch’s plain style

John Fea   |  May 5, 2023

Christopher Lasch (1932-1994) was one of the 20th-century’s great cultural critics. But did you know he is the author of a writing guide? Here is a taste of Max Ridge’s piece on Lasch’s 2002 book (published posthumously) Plain Style: A […]

The Author’s Corner with Travis McDonald

Rachel Petroziello   |  May 5, 2023

Travis McDonald is Director of Architectural Restoration at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. This interview is based on his new book, Poplar Forest: Thomas Jefferson’s Villa Retreat (University of Virginia Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write Poplar Forest? TM: […]

What is popular this week at Current?

John Fea   |  May 5, 2023

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:

The Author’s Corner with Nicholas Dagen Bloom

Rachel Petroziello   |  May 4, 2023

Nicholas Dagen Bloom is Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College. This interview is based on his new book, The Great American Transit Disaster: A Century of Austerity, Auto-Centric Planning, and White Flight (University of Chicago Press, 2023). […]

Ron DeSantis: Tampa suburbanite and Ivy Leaguer

John Fea   |  May 4, 2023

Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a Yale and Harvard graduate, likes to tout his place-based working class roots. Writer Paul Waldman is having none of it. Here is a taste of Waldman’s piece at The Washington Post: Presidential candidates do lots of […]

Evangelical roundup for May 4, 2023

John Fea   |  May 4, 2023

What is happening in Evangelical land? If you read social media, sociologists, religious studies scholars, and historians today you might think that evangelicals are racists, patriarchs, and Christian nationalists. You might hear about how young people are leaving the church […]

What happened when a black rabbit and a white rabbit got married?

John Fea   |  May 3, 2023

Here is historian Cynthia Greenlee at The New York Times: In May 1959, the former Alabama schoolteacher Dora Haynes Parker mused about the sexual habits and matrimonial customs of rabbits in a letter to her hometown newspaper, The Montgomery Advertiser. […]

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