I was recently reading Helen Lewis’s essay on podcaster Joe Rogan in the recent issue of The Atlantic. It’s a really interesting piece and I learned some things about Rogan I didn’t know before I read it. At one point […]
Way of Improvement
The Philadelphia Historical District may get a major makeover
Here is Frank Kummer at The Philadelphia Inquirer: A group of Philadelphia-based organizations, led by Independence Historical Trust, has crafted a broad vision for the city’s historical area that calls for more walkable and bike-friendly streets, new plazas, additional green […]
Cornel West will not be on the ballot in Pennsylvania
The independent presidential candidate’s petition was denied. Here is Kim Lyons at the Pennsylvania Capital-Star: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that rejected independent candidate Cornel West’s petition to appear on the November ballot. The one-page, unsigned […]
The Author’s Corner with Jeremy Beer
Jeremy Beer is Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of AmPhil. This interview is based on his new book, Beyond the Devil’s Road: Francisco GarcĂ©s and the Spanish Encounter with the American Southwest (University of Oklahoma Press, 2024). JF: What led you […]
Rutgers University Press teams with the Bruce Springsteen Archives for a new book series
Here is Publishers Weekly: Rutgers University Press has inked a publishing partnership with the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music (BSACAM) to launch a new series. BSACAM is located at Monmouth University, not too far from Rutgers and […]
The Author’s Corner with Court Carney
Court Carney is Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University. This interview is based on his new book, Reckoning with the Devil: Nathan Bedford Forrest in Myth and Memory (LSU Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write Reckoning […]
Is Pennsylvania in the Midwest?
I live in central Pennsylvania, slightly west of the Susquehanna River. I can get to some Jersey shore points in about three hours. I feel like I live on the East coast. But according to a recent poll, about 10% […]
The Author’s Corner with Amanda E. Hayes
Amanda E. Hayes is Associate Professor of English at Kent State University Tuscarawas. This interview is based on her new book, The Madison Women: Gender, Higher Education, and Literacy in Nineteenth-Century Appalachia (West Virginia University Press, 2024). JF: What led […]
Writing to figure it out
Check out Mitch Therieau‘s recent review of Greil Marcus’s What Nails It. Therieau writes: We don’t always nail it. Sometimes the writing overstretches, sometimes it manhandles its objects or produces a phantom version of them virtually unrecognizable to anyone who […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: The “crude division of people into conservatives and progressives” The meaning of the three-fifths clause You should read books Philosophy for the people Is Kamala Harris benefiting from a cultural […]
Haitian evangelicals: GOP ticket “fuels xenophobia and perpetuates damaging stereotypes”
In case you missed it, today on CNN JD Vance doubled-down on the view that Haitian immigrants, here in the country legally, are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. Watch: Vance comes across as really slimy in this interview. He tells […]
Election Day is 50 days away. What are evangelicals saying?
A group of evangelicals have issued “Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction.” It is essentially an anti-MAGA document. It is signed by some well-known evangelicals with big platforms. What strikes me about the statement is how it defines “evangelical.” It defines […]
Some conservatives cringe whenever the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” is mentioned
If you don’t want to read Project 2025, we summarized the key themes in our coverage of the Heritage Foundation’s “Policy Fest” at the Republican National Convention in July. Here is Michael Schaffer at Politico: Whenever Vice President Kamala Harris […]
Pope Francis: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are “against life”
On a recent flight from Singapore to Rome, Anna Matranga of CBS News had a question for Pope Francis: Your Holiness, you have always spoken in defence of the dignity of life. In Timor-Leste, which has a high birth rate, […]
“Only the curious have something to find”
We have now come to the point where *60 Minutes* is taking MAGA prophet Lance Wallnau seriously
Here is Wallnau talking about the “The Fourth Turning.” If you are not familiar with the idea of the Fourth Turning, here is a taste of my recent piece at Commonweal: In virtually all his public appearances, [Steve] Bannon references […]
The Author’s Corner with Vanessa Meikle Schulman
Vanessa Meikle Schulman is Associate Professor of Art History at George Mason University. This interview is based on her new book, Art during Wartime: Painting Everyday Life in the Civil War North (University of Massachusetts Press, 2024). JF: What led […]
Creation at the Crossroads Conference in Madison, Wisconsin
Christian pastors concerned about creation care will gather next week in Madison, Wisconsin for the annual Creation Care at the Crosswords conference sponsored by the Lausanne/World Evangelical Alliance Creation Care Network and the Loka Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. […]
How Taylor Swift can save democracy
OK, Taylor endorsed Kamala. That’s a start. But if Swift really wants to make a difference she can act on her endorsement. Why not use her great wealth to create a pro-Harris super Pac in her home state of Pennsylvania? […]
The golden age of Wisconsin socialism
Here is historian Joshua Kluever at Jacobin on the rich history of Wisconsin socialism: From 1905 to 1945, the Wisconsin legislature passed over five hundred pieces of socialist-authored legislation. They accomplished this despite never holding more than 20 percent of […]