As I wrote last week, “we now live in a world where a narcissistic sociopath wants to be president again and only a global pop superstar can stop him.” Can Taylor Swift influence the 2024 election? It appears that some […]
Way of Improvement
Have we reached the end of U.S. history?
Here is historian Steven Mintz at Inside Higher Ed: Recently, a leading editor at a major academic press said bluntly that she wasn’t aware of any breakthrough scholars in U.S. history under the age of 50. In response, I mentioned several […]
Mission journalism
Washington Post columnist Perry Bacon Jr. argues that “journalism may never again make money, so it should it focus on mission.” As a news junkie, this saddens me. I am afraid Bacon may be correct in his assessment. But I […]
The exchange of ideas is essential to American democracy. We at Current are trying to do our part.
At Current, we believe that good thinking makes the smooth places rough. Much of our public discourse today, to borrow a line from Columbia University historian Barbara Fields, is “toggling between blurb and melodrama.” It is woefully flat, predictable, and […]
The Washington Post calls on Trump to debate Haley
Haley wants a debate. Trump does not. Here is The Post: The Republican National Committee will not anoint former president Donald Trump as the GOP’s “presumptive nominee” this week in Las Vegas after all. The Trump campaign wanted that formal designation bestowed […]
Trump opposes an immigrant bill that does not yet have a text. Republicans line-up behind him.
The Senate is putting the finishing touches on a bipartisan border policy deal that would also provide aid to Ukraine. We are waiting for the text of the bill. Without a text, no one knows what is in the bill. […]
Two quick thoughts on Joe Biden campaigning in South Carolina over the weekend
Two quick thoughts this morning: Yes, Biden is old. But he does not lack energy: Churches are sacred spaces. They are places where the Gospel–the Good News–is proclaimed. Keep politics and political candidates out of the pulpit:
Travis Kelce has a great game despite the vaccine
11 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. Not bad. Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl. Over at the “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” blog, Scot Lemieux writes, “Imagine how good he would have been if he […]
Evangelical roundup for January 29, 2024
What is happening in Evangelical land? Study: 72% of evangelicals came to faith before adulthood. Defending the Asbury Revival, nearly one year later. A Tennessee church gives away ten cars to those in need. World Vision prioritizing education: Iowan evangelicals […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: What is creative non-fiction? What is the state of the Christian prophetic vision in age of nationalism and socialism? Amber Husain reviews Sara Marcus, Political Disappointment: A Culture History From […]
Civil War and Reconstruction historians: The 14th Amendment should bar Trump from the ballot in Colorado
Here is Martin Pengelly at The Guardian: Twenty-five historians of the civil war and Reconstruction filed a US supreme court brief in support of the attempt by Colorado to remove Donald Trump from the ballot under the 14th amendment, which bars insurrectionists […]
Nikki Haley should “go for broke” and “gently smack that gum” out of Trump’s mouth
Yesterday I suggested that Nikki Haley should, to use the words of writer Michael Wood, give Trump the “full Liz Cheney.” Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal seems to agree. Here is a taste of her column “Nikki Haley […]
Florida replaces sociology with a “factual” U.S. history survey course
Here is Praveena Somasundaram and Hannah Natanson at The Washington Post: Florida will no longer allow a sociology course to count toward students’ graduation requirements at state universities, replacing it with a class that officials say will teach “factual history” in a […]
Why James Cone didn’t “cancel” himself
David Fitch, the B.R. Linder Chair of Evangelical Theology at North Park University, reflects on Black liberation theologian James Cone’s decision not to “cancel” himself. Here is Fitch’s opening: In his 1989 preface to the 2nd edition of Black Theology and Black Power, […]
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:
Nikki Haley and E. Jean Carroll are rattling Trump in the form of 37 Truth Social posts in two hours
Tori Otten of The New Republic informs us that Donald Trump made 37 Truth Social posts last night between 9:22 p.m. and 11:43 p.m. Here is Otten: Donald Trump posted at least 37 times about E. Jean Carroll, the night […]
Anne Applebaum: “History will judge the complicit”
The Atlantic writer asks, “Why have Republican leaders abandoned their principles in support of an immoral and dangerous president?” Here are her answers: Anne Applebaum compares those complicit with Trumpism to historical examples from Vichy France, East Germany, fascists, and […]
It’s time for Nikki Haley to go “full Liz Cheney” on Trump
I am watching Sara Longwell, the publisher of The Bulwark, on CNN right now. She is calling on Nikki Haley to “go down swinging” in South Carolina. She wants the former South Carolina governor to give Trump the “full Liz […]
“Americans do not just disagree with each other, they live in different realities”
According to writer Peter Baker, the 2024 general election matchup that “seems likely between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump is about fundamentally disparate visions of America.” This seems like the understatement of the year, but Baker’s New […]
The last time the Detroit Lions were in the NFC championship game it did not go well
The Fea household will have a new member in May. My future son-in-law is a diehard Detroit Lions fan and we have watched him agonize over every game for the past two years. Emmett was not alive in 1992, the […]