Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!


Alexi Sargeant is assistant editor of First Things. He studied English and Theater at Yale University, graduating in 2015. He has written for the American Conservative, Commonweal, New Criterion, and Aleteia, and his plays have been performed in Philadelphia and at Yale. He previously served as the Junior Fellow at First Things.

RSS Feed

Titles We Didn't Choose — June/July 2016

From First Thoughts

Our June/July 2016 issue of First Things is hot off the press and available on our website. As a special piece of bonus content, I am here to share with you, loyal readers, some of our also-ran titles: headings for pieces that were suggested at our titles meeting but nixed for being too punny, too . . . . Continue Reading »

Hail Thee, Festival Day!

From First Thoughts

When I was young, my family's favorite hymn was sung on three days of the Church year. We knew it came on Easter and Pentecost, but we scratched our heads when we tried to remember the other festival day hailed in this resounding hymn. Ascension Thursday would catch us each year as a (pleasant) . . . . Continue Reading »

Shakespeare, Four Centuries On

From Web Exclusives

This Saturday, April 23rd, marks an important anniversary: four hundred years since the death of William Shakespeare. Or, at least, four centuries on from the traditional date of Shakespeare's death, dated backwards from his funeral on April 25th, 1616. Similarly, Shakespeare's birthday is not . . . . Continue Reading »

Titles We Didn't Choose — May 2016

From First Thoughts

Our May 2016 issue of First Things is hot of the press and available on our website. As a special piece of bonus content, I am here to share with you, loyal readers, some of our also-ran titles: headings for pieces that were suggested at our titles meeting but nixed for being too punny, too punchy, . . . . Continue Reading »

Titles We Didn't Choose — April 2016

From First Thoughts

Have you had a chance to look at the April 2016 edition of First Things on our website yet? Like last month, I am offering up some behind-the-scenes bonus content here in the form of also-ran titles: headings for pieces that were suggested at our titles meeting but nixed for being too punny, too . . . . Continue Reading »

Exposure Therapy and the Way of the Cross

From First Thoughts

This Holy Week, I am feeling the need to participate in some Catholic extremism.Now of course, we live in a time when religious extremism is a major threat to the world. That’s why I find it all the more distressing that so may Americans have a warped view of what constitutes extremism. The Barna . . . . Continue Reading »

Titles We Didn't Choose — March 2016

From First Thoughts

Today we released the March 2016 edition of First Things on our website. For the amusement of readers (and the delight of anyone who likes to get a glimpse behind the curtain), I have compiled some of the also-ran titles: headings for pieces that were suggested at our titles meeting but nixed for . . . . Continue Reading »

Bring Courtship Back

From First Thoughts

Staring down the barrel of Valentine’s Day, many young men and women have few and scanty models of what a romantic relationship looks like—especially (though not exclusively!) young people of faith interested in chastity and marriage. The Love and Fidelity Network has set out to . . . . Continue Reading »