First Thoughts

Capitalism Beyond Caricatures

Free enterprise ain't what it used to be.

First Links — 5.17.16

Is It Time for a US Christian Democracy Party?
Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Aleteia

The Sisters Who Treat the Untreatable
Gillian Laub and Brooke Jarvis, New York Times

Romeo and Juliet gets Local Twist in Gaza Performance
Fares Akram, Times of Israel

The Brotherhood of Moses the Black
Katie Zavadski, Daily Beast

Video: Why Poetry Matters
Dana Gioia, C-Span

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a Black Hole, Sucking the Fun out of the Universe
Sam Kriss, Wired

A Young Priest Sets the Record Straight for the Catholic Left
Fr. Kyle Doustou, Liturgy Guy

Death by GPS
Greg Milner, Ars Technica

The Little Sisters of the Poor Just Beat the Obama Administration at the Supreme Court
David French, National Review

Some Thoughts on Yesterday's Decision in the Contraception Mandate Case

A few quick observations on the Supreme Court's decision yesterday in Zubik v. Burwell, the contraception mandate case. Zubik presents the question of whether the administration's accommodation for religious nonprofits—such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, who argue that despite the . . . . Continue Reading »

What We've Been Reading—5.13.16

After reading the list of demands that black students at Oberlin College issued to the Oberlin leadership awhile back, I needed a quick antidote, which I found in the Port Huron Statement of 1962. Continue Reading »

First Links — 5.13.2016

Captain America: Civil War Puts Humanity Before Spectacle
Alexi Sargeant, Acculturated

What Is the Benedict Option, and Why Might It Be Coming to Your Neighborhood?
John Burger, Aleteia

A Confession of Liberal Intolerance
Nicholas Kristoff, New York Times

The Seven Deadly Social Networks
Robinson Meyer, Atlantic

Pope to Set Up Commission to Study Possibility of Women Deacons
Edward Pentin, National Catholic Register

What the Book Really Means
Melanie Bettinelli, Wine Dark Sea

Would the World be a Better Place Without People like my Daughter?
Dominic Lawson, Daily Mail

Shakespeare as All-Too-Modern Nightmare
Sohrab Ahmari, Wall Street Journal

Gene Editing: New Technology, Old Moral Questions
Brendan P. Foht, New Atlantis

Titles We Didn't Choose — June/July 2016

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 »

Judge Dread

The case of a Wyoming judge is a harbinger of what is to come for all of us.
Continue Reading »

Culture, Anti-Culture, and Nostalgia

Responding to two common criticisms of my view of the rise of the anti-culture. Continue Reading »

After Great Lent

Last Sunday Orthodox Christians around the world finally celebrated Pascha and proclaimed Christ risen from the dead. As in Western Christendom, Orthodox Easter is preceded by Holy Week—the liturgical pinnacle of the Orthodox Church. In this week of preparation and commemoration, our services, . . . . Continue Reading »

Defying Anti-Intellectualism: An Essay/Video Contest for Your Students

Last year, Adam Bellow and I edited a volume of essays entitled The State of the American Mind: 16 Leading Critics on the New Anti-Intellectualism. The contributions varied in subject matter and approach, but one motif ran more or less through them all. It is this: the knowledge and dispositions . . . . Continue Reading »