Paul Kingsnorth

Against Christian Civilization

The last time I was in America, which was last autumn, I visited the battlefield at Little Bighorn.…
R. R. Reno

Pope Francis’s Apocalyptic Dream

Pope Francis published his suicide note. It took the form of a letter to the American Catholic bishops.…
Charles J. Chaput portrait
Charles J. Chaput

Cardinal Fernández Misleads

Joseph Ratzinger, better known as Pope Benedict XVI, stepped down from the papal ministry in 2013. But before…
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The Age of De-Globalization

R. R. Reno
Annex Greenland! Take back the Panama Canal! Canada as the fifty-first state! Speaking at an early January press conference, Donald Trump put the world in a tizzy. German chancellor…

Large Language Poetry

Nikolas Prassas

In my ideal undergraduate course in literary criticism, the first semester would include a brisk introduction to…

The Re-Churching of Men

Blake Johnson

Church life in America has been majority-­female for some time. According to Pew Research, women make up…

Biden Is the New Francis

Matthew Schmitz

Early in 2016, articles began to appear noting similarities between Pope Francis and Donald Trump. Trump’s promise…

Covenantal Capitalism

Liel Leibovitz

One recent afternoon, while visiting Universal Studios, I found myself seriously contemplating socialism. I was standing in…

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PODCASTS More Podcasts

The First Things Podcast

Super Bowls and Bad Samaritans

The editors discuss Super Bowl 59—why we watched, who tried to rig the outcome, and what Taylor Swift will do next. Then we talk JD Vance, Pope Francis, and…

The Editor’s Desk

Architecture for Real People

Host: R.R. Reno GUEST: Anselm Audley

In this episode, Anselm Audley joins Rusty Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about his essay “Cities for Humans” from the January 2024 issue of the magazine. The conversation…

Conversations

From Science to God

Host: Mark Bauerlein GUEST: Spencer A. Klavan

The latest installment of an ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein. Spencer A. Klavan joins in to discuss his recent book, Light of the Mind, Light of the…

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On the Square MORE ON THE SQUARE

Give the National Endowment for the Arts Back to the Public

Michael Astrue
For decades, Americans have become increasingly alienated from the American arts establishment. The main source for their discontent is clear: Academics and their allies have successfully insisted upon first…

On Getting Old

John Wilson

Two years plus a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a column that began thus: “I am…

The USCCB Should Reject Federal Funds

Kevin D. Roberts

On Monday, Pope Francis sent a letter to the bishops of the United States. Criticizing the Trump…

God and Man at Wheaton

Daniel Davis

Wheaton College once produced some of the boldest Christian voices in America. With graduates like Billy Graham,…

Eliminating DEI from Higher Education

Mark Bauerlein

President Trump’s executive order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” puts colleges and universities on notice. If…

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Essays MORE ESSAYS

Finding Faith in the Fragments

Peter Tonguette

When your parents were married for seventeen years before you were born, as mine were, you spend…

Dostoevsky’s Credo

Gary Saul Morson

What does it mean to believe something? Is it possible for a person to profess an idea…

Letter to a Young Bishop

Scott Hahn

Your Excellency, I’m writing only because you asked. I have so far successfully avoided the role of…

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Reviews MORE REVIEWS

Merkelʼs Country

Christopher Caldwell

Freedom: Memoirs 1954–2021by angela merkelst. martinʼs, 720 pages, $40 German readers have a powerful appetite for doorstop…

Mind the Gap

Kit Wilson

Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religiousby ross douthatzondervan, 240 pages, $29.99 I grew up in a religiously sympathetic,…

Necessary Societies

Sam Zeno Conedera

On the Dignity of Society:Catholic Social Teaching and Natural Lawby f. russell hittinger,edited by scott j. ronigercatholic…

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Poetry More Poetry

The End of March 

Sally Thomas

Stands of bearded iris, purple in mourningSpring up, early, among their cool green speartips,Pale and pointed, palmlike,…

Letter to a Middle-Aged Poet 

Matthew Buckley Smith

Nature and history have made us what we are, fat hapless amateurs stranded some ninety million miles from the nearest…

Birds of the Air 

Gretchen Bartels-Ray

Look— crimson berries for songbirds, writhing worms for red-breasted early birds, swarming mice and astonished doves plucked…

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