A few things online that caught my attention this week: Three cheers for university presses A former Bob Jones University student in the wake of the attempted fundamentalist coup Chestnuts roasting on an open fire Former Christian Right leader Rob […]
Way of Improvement
Are you reading Current?
Happy Thanksgiving! As 2022 winds to a close, I hope you have enjoyed our feature offerings this year at Current. In recent days we have published: Editor Eric Miller’s moving review of Wendell Berry’s new work of fiction. Miller writes: […]
More responses to the death of Michael Gerson
I commented on the death of the former Bush speechwriter and Washington Post columnist here. We also linked to the PBS Newshour tribute. A few more responses: Daniel Silliman reporting at Christianity Today: He gave Bush’s speeches about compassionate conservatism […]
Court evangelical James Robison: Trump acted “like a little elementary schoolchild”
The Washington Post is covering a speech by the seventy-nine-year-old James Robison at the November 16 meeting of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers. Read the Post piece here. According to its website, the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL) […]
The PBS News Hour remembers Michael Gerson
I wrote my own reflection here. RIP.
Staughton Lynd, 1929-2022
We brought Staughton Lynd’s death to your attention yesterday. We now have an obituary. Here is the New York Times: Staughton Lynd, a historian and lawyer who over a long and varied career organized schools for Black children in Mississippi, […]
Zakaria: The GOP must purge Trump
Do the results of the 2022 midterm elections represent a serious wound, if not a mortal wound, to Donald Trump and Trumpism? Not really. Take the issue of election denial. Kari Lake lost her gubernatorial bid in Arizona, but the […]
The Author’s Corner with Chad Pearson
Chad Pearson is Principal Lecturer of History at the University of North Texas. This interview is based on his new book, Capital’s Terrorists: Klansmen, Lawmen, and Employers in the Long Nineteenth Century (University of North Carolina Press, 2022). JF: What […]
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:
Staughton Lynd, RIP
I haven’t found an obituary yet, but Twitter is reporting that the activist-historian/historian-activist has died at the age of 92. I am sure we will have a few more things to say about Staughton Lynd‘s death in the coming days, […]
Why last night’s Mike Pence interview was so hard to watch
In case you missed it, CNN hosted a townhall conversation with former vice president Mike Pence. Jake Tapper hosted the event and Pence took questions from the audience. Pence is clearly positioning himself for a presidential run in 2024 and […]
Song of the Day
In honor of Eric Miller’s piece today on Wendell Berry.
Bob Jones University president Steve Pettit survives a fundamentalist revolt
Several old school fundamentalists on the board of Bob Jones University recently tried to remove university president Steve Petitt. They failed. I got the news from the BJU-watching blog “What In The World.” It was also just announced to the […]
Michael Gerson, RIP
This one hits hard. I am going to devote tomorrow’s column at Current to Gerson. In the meantime, here is the Washington Post obituary: Michael Gerson, a speechwriter for President George W. Bush who helped craft messages of grief and […]
The Author’s Corner with Elliott Drago
Elliott Drago is Editorial Officer of the Jack Miller Center. This interview is based on his new book, Street Diplomacy: The Politics of Slavery and Freedom in Philadelphia, 1820-1850 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Street […]
Evangelical roundup for November 17, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical Land? Evangelicals and creation care in the Middle East. A Christian college chancellor tells young evangelicals not to be “sucked into” anti-Jewish hate. Matthew Avery Sutton reviews the Hulu Jerry Falwell Jr. documentary. The National […]
Why Kari Lake lost the Arizona gubernatorial race
Watch Vaughn Hillyard on Morning Joe: This, of course, is also a stinging indictment of Trump’s 2024 candidacy. Even though Lake lost, I still think it is disturbing that she got over 1.2 million votes.
What are the court evangelicals saying about Trump’s announcement last night?
Unfamiliar with the term court evangelical? Read this. It is worth noting that Trump said nothing about evangelicals and very little about the moral issues they deem important during his speech last night. I did not see many court evangelicals […]
The Author’s Corner with Adam D. Mendelsohn
Adam D. Mendelsohn is Associate Professor of Historical Studies at the University of Cape Town. This interview is based on his new book, Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army (NYU Press, 2022). JF: What led you to […]
