Ryan Sayre Patrico

The Future of History by John Lukacs Yale University Press, 192 pages, $24 Historian John Lukacs has never shied from asking the big questions. Over his long and prolific career, the idiosyncratic scholar has wrestled with such weighty themes as the rise of historical consciousness, the legacy of . . . . Continue Reading »

We are excited to offer in the next issue of First Things an essay by the baseball player turned theologian David Bentley Hart on the metaphysics of baseball. If baseball does indeed possess metaphysical qualities, one wonders whether the perfect game stolen yesterday from Detroit pitcher Armando . . . . Continue Reading »

Arakawa, the architect and artist whose buildings were supposed to help one live forever, has died . His wife and long-time collaborator, Madeline Gins comments: “This mortality thing is bad news,” Ms. Gins said by phone from her studio on Houston Street. She said she would redouble her . . . . Continue Reading »

The Rev. Kenneth Dupin, a Methodist minister in Salem, Virginia, might just revolutionize the way our country deals with its ever increasing elderly population. After an emotional encounter with a woman confined to a nursing home, Dupin decided to develop a novel, if not controversial, alternative . . . . Continue Reading »

The federal government—with, disturbingly enough, the help of Madison Avenue marketing firms—has set up a program teaching fourth through sixth graders how to read and respond to advertisements. One wonders, however, whether today’s children—who have been targeted by . . . . Continue Reading »

From Slate today : Like a birth doula, the abortion doula uses deep breathing and visualization while talking the patient through the procedure. “We are there before, during and after the abortion,” says Mahoney. “We hang out with them in the pre-op waiting room, accompany them to . . . . Continue Reading »

Forty years on, Earth Day in New York City no longer brings a million people to Central Park or shuts down Fifth Avenue. But it might bring in millions for corporations looking to cash in on a public that wants to feel good about its relationship with the planet: Forty years later, the day has . . . . Continue Reading »

At Philanthropy Roundtable , Christopher Levenick profiles non-Catholic benefactors of inner-city Catholic schools. The schools’ long record of success among low-income and minority populations has not gone unnoticed by such non-Catholic philanthropists as Peter T. Grauer: “I’m not . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at the Jewish magazine the Tablet , David Goldman examines how America’s conservative Jews blew it on Iraq and Iran: Gen. David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command and former commander of the multinational force in Iraq, next month will receive an award from the American Enterprise . . . . Continue Reading »

Yes, Joe , Anwar Al-Awlaki has committed treason, and treason is a crime punishable by death. As you note, the constitution is explicit in this regard. But in the chunk of Article 3, Section 3 that you cite, something else is also quite explicit: No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on . . . . Continue Reading »