Archive
More than thirty-five years of First Things articles at your fingertips
Articles
Climbing and Death
During the last year or so, I’ve worked on a memoir. The topic is my youth spent chasing rock-climbing dreams. At age eighteen, I went to Yosemite Valley rather...
Why Portico? (ft. Micah Mattix)
In this episode, Micah Mattix joins R. R. Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about Portico, a new literary quarterly published by the Institute on Religion and Public...
Debates about Postliberalism
I tire of debates about postliberalism. So it was with reluctance that I turned to Zachary Chambers’s intervention, “The Logic of Liberalism” (Law & Liberty, March 18, 2026), which warns...
Catholic Bishops’ Empty Moralizing
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops made an ill-considered intervention in the legal battle over birthright citizenship. After taking office in 2025, Donald Trump issued an executive order...
Is Churchill America’s Hero? (ft. Sean McMeekin)
In this episode, Sean McMeekin joins R. R. Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about his recent essay, “Goodbye to the Postwar Consensus” from the April 2026 issue...
The Return of the Mainline? (ft. Brad East)
In this episode, Brad East joins R. R. Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about his recent review, “Mainlining Nostalgia” from the April 2026 issue of the magazine....
While We’re At It
Leonid Radvinsky died on March 20. He was the billionaire majority owner of OnlyFans, an online…
The Sexual Abuse Crisis Is a Law Crisis (ft. Michael Mazza)
In this episode, Michael J. Mazza joins R. R. Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about his recent essay, “Where the Dallas Charter Went Wrong,” from the March...
Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War
What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times of war, when the moral stakes are high. Which is why I’m...
Disclosure in Modern Poetry (ft. Glenn Arbery)
In this episode, Glenn C. Arbery joins R. R. Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about his recent essay, “Lyric as Disclosure” from the March 2026 issue of...
Trump’s Civilizational Project
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke at the recent Munich Security Conference. Last year, Vice President JD Vance issued stern warnings with harsh rhetoric. Rubio’s speech was conciliatory, often...
The Scandal of Judaism
Christianity has been marked by hostility toward Jews. I won’t rehearse the history. I’ll simply propose a thesis: Christian animus toward Jews across the centuries arises in large part...
Will Trump Need to Compromise with Iran?
War-making is a dynamic enterprise. Military successes and failures change the circumstances of conflict. That’s certainly the case for the war with Iran. The hoped-for domestic uprising against the...
While We’re At It
Above, I do my best to explain St. Paul’s reflections on the theological significance of Jewish...
Combating Vice
In my lifetime, American society has been transformed by widespread accommodation of vice. Marijuana has been legalized in many jurisdictions, as has addictive online gambling. Not surprisingly, pot use...