I have never visited 10th Presbyterian Church. I’ve only had a couple of connections to the congregation. When we were working at The Stony Brook School, an evangelical boarding school on Long Island, 10th Presbyterian pastor James Montgomery Boice helped […]
Way of Improvement
Six members of Congress from Pennsylvania call for the University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill to resign
They are all Republicans. Here is Nick Robertson at The Hill: A group of six Pennsylvania Republicans called on the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to fire its president, Liz Magill, following backlash against comments she made at a House committee hearing […]
What a 2025 Trump cabinet might look like
Axios is reporting that Trump is already considering cabinet appointments. For Vice-President, Trump is considering Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate and election denier Kari Lake, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, Florida representative […]
The elite university presidents who testified before Congress are taking the heat
I have yet to watch the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn testify before Congress on the matter of campus antisemitism. But it does not look very good. This clip is pretty damning: The blowback has been strong and bipartisan. […]
Robert Kagan: “Will the people who selfishly refuse to put their own ambitions at risk finally act to save our democracy?”
Last week we brought your attention to Robert Kagan’s Washington Post piece on the potential of a Trump dictatorship should he be elected in 2024. Kagan was back at the post yesterday with a piece titled, “The Trump dictatorship: How […]
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:
The Author’s Corner with Stuart McKee
Stuart McKee is Associate Professor of Design at the University of San Francisco. This interview is based on his new book, Indigenous Enlightenment: Printing and Education in Evangelical Colonialism, 1790-1850 (University of Nebraska Press, 2023). JF: What led you to […]
Evangelical roundup for December 7, 2023
What is happening in Evangelical land? My interview with Tim Alberta, author of The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, will appear on CSPAN on these dates: Evangelicalism and secularism are on the rise in Latin America. Is the Evangelical […]
The “Children of God” started as a California Jesus People community and became an authoritarian cult. And it’s all captured in photos.
Some of you may remember our interview with historian Larry Eskridge in Episode 113 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. Larry is our foremost authority on the Jesus People and he is the author of God’s Forever Family: […]
Rutgers historian David Greenberg will publish a biography of civil rights leader John Lewis
Here is Olafimihan Oshin at The Hill: A biography of late civil rights pioneer and former Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), which will draw upon hundreds of interviews and classified documents and files, is in the works. Publishing company Simon & Schuster announced […]
Harvard youth poll: 18-to-29-year-olds are not happy with Biden, but they will still vote for him over Trump in 2024
Here are some takeaways from a national poll of 2,098 18-to-29-year -olds released yesterday by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. Learn more here. Watch:
Why aren’t there more places like the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research?
If I had my way, I would leave academia and try to create a non-profit like the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. If I could find funding for such a project, I would buy and old church and repurpose it […]
The dark language of Donald Trump’s campaign for president
How much lower can the former president go? Here is a taste of Ian Prasd Philbrick’s and Lyna Bentahar’s piece at The New York Times: He has made baldly antidemocratic statements, praising autocratic leaders like China’s Xi Jinping and continuing […]
The Author’s Corner with Marvin Chiles
Marvin Chiles is Assistant Professor of African American History at Old Dominion University. This interview is based on his new book, The Struggle for Change: Race and the Politics of Reconciliation in Modern Richmond (University of Virginia Press, 2023). JF: […]
North Carolina GOP congressman Patrick McHenry will not seek another term in the House of Representatives
Most Americans outside of Western North Carolina had no idea who the bow tie-wearing North Carolina congressman was until we saw him working the house floor in January 2023 trying to get Kevin McCarthy elected Speaker of the House. Recently […]
Is Oklahoma senator James Lankford conspiratorial enough for The Federalist?
Preview in new tab Here is The Federalist editor Mollie Hemingway, the daughter of a Missouri-Synod Lutheran minister. Career Democrat and ABC host George Stephanopoulos completely emasculated Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma this weekend on his Sunday show. Right at […]
And then there were four…
Believe it or not, there is another GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday night. This one is at the University of Alabama. Are people still watching these things? (I mean people other than political junkies like me?) The field is […]
Liz Cheney, one of the most conservative politicians in the United States, is pulling for Democrats in 2024
Here is Kelly Garrity at Politico: Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney would rather cede power to Democrats than see members of her own party win in 2024, she said, calling a Republican majority a “threat,” and warning of an existential […]
Calvin University turns to football to help enrollment
The strategy appears to be working. Check out Liam Knox’s Inside Higher Education piece on small liberal arts colleges that are trying to “bet on new athletics programs” to attract students: Here is the section on Calvin University: Calvin University […]
History News Network is back with a new look and a new partner
Here is the formal announcement: History News Network (HNN) was founded in 2001 to help put current events into historical perspective. Its original mandate, as articulated by founder Rick Shenkman, was to create a space for historians to offer deeper […]