Archive
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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...

What We’ve Been Reading—January
R. R. Reno A friend was shocked that I had not read Saul Bellow. He sought to remedy my grave literary deficit by sending me a copy of Herzog, the novelist’s...

The Reboot
The editors discuss the new Trump administration and how it came to be. What are the vibes, and why did they shift? What are the prospects for the pro-life...
Our Most Popular Articles of 2024
On the last day of the year, here’s a glance back at our most-read essays of 2024. This list is based on pageviews, and everything is linked—so if you...
What We’ve Been Reading—April 2023
Veronica ClarkernrnAssociate Editor I wonder if Holden Caulfield’s suitcases are still in a strongbox at Grand Central. No doubt his parents had the good sense to retrieve them after...
What We’ve Been Reading—March 2023
Mark BauerleinrnrnContributing Editor Gustave Flaubert’s Sentimental Education has an unfortunate pertinence to 2023 America, at least to the ranks of the aspiring-to-be-elite. The novel follows a sensitive, handsome, romantic young man from...
St. Patrick’s Day Tunes
We are pleased to offer you a smattering of Irish tunes for the feast of St. Patrick. Whether or not our daily deeds are as grueling as St. Patrick’s,...
First Things Junior Fellows Program 2023
Graduating college seniors and recent graduates are invited to apply for the First Things junior fellows program. The junior fellows work closely with the editors to produce the magazine and its...
Our Most Popular Articles of 2022
Resist junk food journalism. Support journalism that nourishes the mind and soul by contributing to our year-end campaign today. As the end of the year approaches, here’s a glance back...
Advent Tunes
Advent is upon us! As St. Augustine supposedly said, “Singing is praying twice.” We are happy to offer you this compilation of the First Things staff’s favorite advent hymns...
Events Roundup—10.27.23
Online Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman ReligionTuesday, November 1 Many scholars have held that Christianity created a new kind of religious belief and devotion, but in a new book,...
Events Roundup—2.7.22
KANSAS Institute for Catholic Liberal Education Retreat for Teachers Thursday through Sunday, July 28-31 The Institute for Catholic Liberal Education will be holding a retreat for teachers at Benedictine...

What We’ve Been Reading—January 2022
R. R. Reno Editor A few years ago, I was swept away by Laurus, the remarkable novel by Eugene Vodolazkin that appeared in translation in 2015. I’ve kept my...
Our Most Popular Articles of 2021
As 2022 approaches, here’s a look back at our top articles of 2021. The following list is sorted by pageviews, with separate sections for print articles and web exclusives. ...
What We’ve Been Reading—November 2021
R. R. RenoEditor The poet Czesław Miłosz defected from Soviet-dominated Poland in 1951. Two years later he published The Captive Mind. He had been a “man of the left,”...