Matthew Ward is Senior Lecturer in American History at the University of Dundee. This interview is based on his new book, Making the Frontier Man: Violence, White Manhood, and Authority in the Early Western Backcountry (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023). […]
Way of Improvement
1 in 3 “evangelical” or “born again” Christians supported a right to abortion in Ohio; pro-choice governor wins in red Kentucky
An NBC news exit poll shows that 32% of white “evangelical” or “born again” Christians voted to enshrine the right to an abortion in the Ohio constitution. As expected, 68% of white evangelicals opposed the measure, but I was surprised […]
Springsteen at “Stand Up for Heroes”
Last night the Boss played acoustic versions of “Addicted to Love” (live debut); “Dancing in the Dark”‘; “Power of Prayer”; “Working on a Highway.” Here is Chris Jordan at the Asbury Park Press: The Boss is back. Bruce Springsteen surprised […]
The pro-life movement has been “co-opted by GOP anti-abortion politics”
Bernard Prusak is the Raymond and Eleanor Smiley Chair in Business Ethics at John Carroll University. Commonweal has published his piece, “The Pro-Life Movement: Less Popular Than Ever?“, on the eve of the Ohio 1 abortion referendum. Here is a […]
Wendell Berry on the difference between “training” and “education”
I was reading in my commonplace book this morning and ran across this quote from Wendell Berry. It come from his essay “Discipline and Hope” published in the 1972 collection: A Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural and Agricultural: Training is a […]
Walzer: “Oppressed people can do no wrong” is an “old, bad argument”
Veteran political theorist Michael Walzer has a word or two for his fellow leftists. Here is a taste of his piece at The Atlantic: After the Hamas attack on Israel October 7, an old, bad argument resurfaced. In the streets of […]
The party of nihilism
Nihilism: “the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.” Here is a taste of Peter Wehner’s recent piece at The New York Times titled “Republicans Have Chosen Nihilism”: Mr. [Allan] Bloom believed a truly […]
Episode 122: “Springsteen, Joel, and the American Century”
In his new book Bridge & Tunnel Boys, historian Jim Cullen discusses how Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen represented what he calls “the metropolitan sound of the American century.” In this episode of the podcast, we talk with Cullen about how Joel […]
The Author’s Corner with William C. Harris
William C. Harris is Professor Emeritus of History at North Carolina State University. This interview is based on his new book, Confederate Privateer: The Life of John Yates Beall (LSU Press, 2023). JF: What led you to write Confederate Privateer? WH: […]
Keep an eye on Kentucky tonight
I’ll have my eye on several elections and referenda tonight. I am interested to see what happens with abortion in Ohio and I will be voting in the Pennsylvania state Supreme Court race. But I am most intrigued by the […]
“I want to keep politics out of schools”
I’ve been doing some last minute homework before I enter the ballot box tomorrow. As I was researching my local school board candidates I was struck by how many of them use their platforms to say something like this: “Politics […]
The Author’s Corner with Peter Radan
Peter Radan is Honorary Professor of Law at Macquarie University. This interview is based on his new book, Creating a More Perfect Slaveholders’ Union: Slavery, the Constitution, and Secession in Antebellum America (University Press of Kansas, 2023). JF: What led you to write […]
Evangelical roundup for November 6, 2023
What is happening in Evangelical land:‘ Jon Ward on leaving the “evangelical bubble.” He is the author of Testimony: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Failed a Generation. Thomas Kidd on the history of evangelical support for Israel. New Trustees at […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: How Robert Moses changed New York and impacted families. Abortion politics in the Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana. David French on Mike Johnson and Christian politics. How state legislatures and ideological boards […]
Why do Christian college administrators see “faculty as a political block to be managed at best and a group to be overridden at worst.”
John Hawthorne, a sociologist who was an administrator at multiple Christian colleges, is writing a book titled The Fearless Christian University. Here is a taste of his recent Substack post: “Three Problematic Metaphors in Christian Higher Education“: Looking at Christian […]
A revealing episode of the television drama “The West Wing” is making its rounds on social media:
Watch:
New reporting on Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, the Paul Pressler School of Law, and a Southern Baptist college
We have covered Mike Johnson’s connection to the Paul Pressler School of Law here and here. The Washington Post has has taken a deeper dive into this story. Here is Michael Kranish and Isaac Stanley-Becker: On Aug. 15, 2012, Mike […]
Image of the Day: Happy birthday Eugene Debs and Bill Walton!
New York Times poll: Trump leads Biden in Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
Here is Shane Goldmacher at The New York Times: President Biden is trailing Donald J. Trump in five of the six most important battleground states one year before the 2024 election, suffering from enormous doubts about his age and deep […]
The National Endowment for the Humanities survives another attempt to cut its funding
Yesterday I wrote about how my congressman, Scott Perry (PA-10) tried to cut funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Well, it appears that Perry’s attempt failed. Here a message I received today from the National Humanities Alliance: “…the […]