Joe Carter

In today’s second On the Square feature, Gabriel Torretta considers the toddler that is taking the art world by storm : Modern art’s greatest search is for a definition of itself. The meta-question—What is art?—often overwhelms the specific questions of art theory, like the . . . . Continue Reading »

In today’s On the Square feature, R.R. Reno laments the academic trend of scholars who disdain teaching : One major cause of this baleful trend is the growing importance of higher education as a source of upper-middle-class status. But the all-powerful U.S. News & World Report rankings have . . . . Continue Reading »

Why is faith-based counseling increasingly popular among Americans seeking mental-health services? Maybe because many people value an approach that heals the soul as well as the mind : Religious people often complain that secular therapists see their faith as a problem or a symptom, rather than as . . . . Continue Reading »

Robert George on the limits Catholicism puts on political categorization : It has long seemed to me that being a Catholic means that certain positions at the extremes of the spectrum are off the table. One cannot be a socialist, strictly speaking. The Church’s strong endorsement of private . . . . Continue Reading »

Garrison Keillor characterized his fictional hometown of Lake Wobegon as a place where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” Apparently, most college kids either hail from that town or suffer from the Lake Wobegon effect . A . . . . Continue Reading »

On my post highlighting the Best Dads in TV and Film , a couple of my friends pointed out that I had missed one of the most obvious candidates: Coach Eric Taylor of Friday Night Lights . They’re right, it’s a glaring oversight considering that Taylor could take the top spot in a number . . . . Continue Reading »

Sign of the times of the day: Forget Botox for 8-year-olds or push-up bras for 12-year-olds . A dance studio in the British midlands is offering pole-dancing classes for children as young as 3. In the “Little Spinners” class at the Make Me Fabulous Dance Studio in Northhampton, little . . . . Continue Reading »

[Note: Since Father’s Day is Sunday and Friday is pop culture day on First Thoughts, I thought it be appropriate to resurrect this post from last summer.] Father’s Day isn’t until Sunday, but it’s never too early to appreciate good ol’ dad. Here are several categories . . . . Continue Reading »

Earlier this week I was talking to an elderly gentleman, a successful healthcare lawyer and college professor, who told me that the worst advice his grandfather ever gave him was “Own your own home.” The fact that my friend had recently sold his house at a 25 percent loss may have soured . . . . Continue Reading »

Bloomberg Businessweek notes that many of the men who trained to be Mormon missionaries have gone on to become among the most distinguished persons in American business and civic life: For one to three months (depending on the language challenge ahead), their days begin at 6:30 a.m. and end at . . . . Continue Reading »