Most Americans probably think of conservative evangelicals as climate change deniers who believe global warming is a hoax. If this is you, you would not be entirely wrong. But our guest today, Neill Pogue, author ofĀ The Nature of the Religious […]
Way of Improvement
The Author’s Corner with Stephen D. Engle
Stephen D. Engle is Professor of History and Associate Provost for Academic Personnel at Florida Atlantic University. This interview is based on his new book, In Pursuit of Justice: The Life of John Albion Andrew (University of Massachusetts Press, 2023). […]
Evangelical roundup for October 2, 2023
What is happening in Evangelical land? Young evangelicals fighting climate change. Spanish evangelicals unite. The World Evangelical Alliance defends freedom of religion in France. Robert Tracy McKenzie and Mark David Hall debate whether America had a Christian founding. Karen Swallow […]
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: Heather Cox Richardson: “The Fight for Our America“ Vladimir Putin’s view of history Shohei Othani’s 2023 season New stained-glass windows in Washington National Cathedral The inspiration for Uncle Tom 50,000 […]
Shawn Fain’s Christian radicalism
Earlier this week I wondered why people were not talking and writing more about UAW president Shawn Fain’s Christian faith. Church historian Heath Carter has published the piece I was hoping for. Here is a taste of his Jacobin article […]
Is it OK to like Barry Manilow’s music?
In fifteen years of blogging I think this is my first Barry Manilow post. I’ll join Tom Nichols of The Atlantic in admitting that I sometimes listen to Manilow’s music. (Though I have never seen him in concert.) Here is […]
Ibram X. Kendi’s “failure, intellectual and moral, is as much ours as it is his”
Back in June we brought some attention to Bates University environmental studies scholar Tyler Austin Harper‘s New York Times piece on race and college admissions. Now, in a piece at The Washington Post, he has weighed-in on the Ibram X. […]
California Senator Dianne Feinstein has passed away
Until an official obituary appears, learn about this trailbazing United States Senator here. She was mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988 and was elected to five U.S. Senate terms. In 1984 she was on Walter Mondale’s vice-presidential short […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week atĀ Current: Here are the most popular posts of the last week atĀ The Way of Improvement Leads HomeĀ blog: Here are the most popular posts of the last week atĀ The ArenaĀ blog:
Donald Trump goes to Michigan and speaks at a non-union factory
Donald Trump skipped Wednesday night’s GOP debate. Instead he went to Clinton Township, Michigan and spoke at a non-union auto parts factory. The day before Trump’s visit to Michigan, sitting president Joe Biden joined United Autoworkers leader Shawn Fain at […]
The Author’s Corner with Alexandra Filindra
Alexandra Filindra is Associate Professor of Political Science and Psychology at the University of Illinois, Chicago. This interview is based on her new book, Race, Rights, and Rifles: The Origins of the NRA and Contemporary Gun Culture (University of Chicago […]
Commonplace Book #286
Even at their worst, the churches kept alive a vision of man and fraternity, a knowledge of injustice suffered and retribution due. And for long periods, given the hopeless political environment in which the Negro found himself, “other-worldliness” was the […]
Springsteen is done for the year
The Boss has canceled all of his remaining 2023 shows. (He originally just canceled September shows). He continues to battle peptic ulcer disease. Here is Melina Newman at Billboard: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street BandĀ have pulled their remaining 2023 […]
Evangelical roundup for September 28, 2023
What is happening in Evangelical land? The National Association of Evangelicals has launched a “racial justice Assessment tool.” Syrian evangelicals on the ground in Turkey. The 50th anniversary of the Lausanne Covenant. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary hosts a conference […]
Commonplace Book #285
The miners retain many of their admirable qualities today, but it is evident that their world, the world of early industrialism, is dying–and the union, seeking to survive by allying itself to management and mechanization, itself becomes an enemy. It […]
The Christian faith of UAW’s Shawn Fain
He carries a Bible and regularly invokes his faith as he leads the United Auto Workers in a historic strike against the country’s three largest automakers. For Fain, the strike is a “righteous cause.” This reminds of Eugene Debs’s claim […]
Every candidate on the stage at tonight’s GOP debate should go after Trump
Tonight is the second presidential primary debate. Donald Trump will not be there. He really doesn’t have to be there. He has a massive lead in the polls. Why would any political adviser suggest that the former president attend this […]
Conquering the wilderness, building a city on a hill, and tonight’s GOP debate
Historian Peter Mancall will be looking for references to the Puritans in tonight’s GOP presidential primary debate. He found several in the first debate. Here is a taste of his piece at Zocalo Public Square: The second Republican debate will […]
Brooks Robinson, RIP
RIP:
Joe Biden joins the United Auto Workers picket line in support of striking workers
For the first time in United States history a sitting president joined a picket line. Here is Joe Biden at a General Motors warehouse in Van Buren Township, Michigan: More here. Interesting take from a Cambridge University historian: Socialist Jacobin […]