♦ Leonid Radvinsky died on March 20. He was the billionaire majority owner of OnlyFans, an online platform that provides personalized pornography, a business model that can be described as a Substack for those who wish to commodify their bodies. The financial success of OnlyFans illustrates the way in which the internet revolution has eroded social norms and promoted vice. And it puts a spotlight on the refusal of our political leaders to lift a finger to prevent the degradation of society.
♦ The proliferation of betting apps such as FanDuel provides another example of misgovernance. Professional sports leagues partner with these apps, which, like social media sites, are designed to be addictive. It is an enterprise of asset stripping, endorsed by the leading institutions of our society. And not only major league sports. Before Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Trump Organization launched asset-stripping enterprises in the form of the meme coins $TRUMP and $MELANIA.
♦ The Financial Times reports that traders placed orders for $580 million in oil markets fifteen minutes before Trump made a social media announcement that the administration was in “productive” talks with the Iranian government. The timing is remarkable, encouraging speculation that members of the Trump administration are engaged in profiteering. But surely such suspicions have no reasonable basis, given past behavior.
♦ Here’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez commenting on Major League Baseball’s recent agreement to partner with betting company Polymarket:
This is sad. I know as a politician these companies are going to spend a billion dollars against me for saying it . . . Pervasive gambling is not good for society. It turns life into a casino, traps people in addiction & debt, surges domestic violence, and fosters manipulation.
She’s right.
♦ Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp announced that ordaining married men as priests is inevitable. He was not only predicting; by his account, Bishop Bonny is preparing. He says that he will “make every effort to ordain married men as priests in our diocese by 2028.” Pope Francis consistently rejected “optional celibacy” for Latin Rite priests. But this fact is of no moment for Bishop Bonny. He insists that “the ordination of married men has become a matter of conscience.” He makes similar arguments for the “inevitability” of the ordination of women to the diaconate. Arguments against this move, whether endorsed by Rome or not, “are theologically weak and anthropologically outdated.”
I will not be surprised if Bishop Bonny does as he says he must. The German Catholic Church is on the same path. In the matter of episcopal appointments, the Catholic Church in China is likewise diverging from the settled, universal practice of the modern Catholic Church. African bishops rattled their sabers when Pope Francis tiptoed toward a modus vivendi with the Rainbow Reich. From Vatican I to Vatican II, the Catholic Church achieved a remarkable and historically unprecedented degree of centralization, uniformity, and common mind. That unity is unwinding. Like so many institutions in the West, as a juridical entity, the Catholic Church is disintegrating.
♦ Writing in the Harvard Salient, Jason Morganbesser surveys syllabi for Harvard undergraduate courses in History, History & Literature, Social Studies, English, and Sociology (“Harvard’s One-Sided Veritas,” March 6, 2026). He observes a dramatic leftward tilt in assigned texts, with only a small number of assigned readings representing conservative views and most of those framed as troublesome and dangerous. For example, in its treatment of figures such as Friedrich Hayek, History 185 (“The Neoliberal Age”) introduces the reading with the leading question: “To what extent was the Mont Pelerin Society’s defense of liberal ‘civilization’ a defense of white, Western hegemony?” Morganbesser writes,
Even the ostensibly apolitical study of literature in the English Department is affected by this lopsided ideological slant. While one might hope that English students are learning about the great literary tradition, they are often instead learning critical theoretical analyses of the canon. Take English 172AD (American Democracy), which putatively discusses American literature. Much of the course focuses on political criticism of America, including extensive readings of Roberto Unger–a postmodernist critical theorist who views Marxism as tepid—hagiographies of left-wing political figures, and a nonfiction book declaring America to be in a “New Class War.” This is hardly Robert Penn Warren.
Indeed. The academic one-party state is one reason why English claims only one in sixty-five majors at four-year degree institutions. (In 1970, it drew one in thirteen.)
♦ This month, I comment on criticisms of postliberalism that issue stern warnings about the peril posed by people like me (“Debates About Postliberalism”). Nathan Pinkoski, in his Substack, “Lament for the Nations,” notes a delicious irony in this way of thinking:
Beleaguered liberals often adopt an illiberal understanding of politics that imitates their arch-nemesis, Carl Schmitt. To legitimate their position, they rely on a polemic that crudely divides the world between liberalism’s friends and enemies, and argue accordingly.
♦ In his weekly newsletter, “The Friday Update,” Mike Woodruff offers theologically informed commentary on the passing scene. I was particularly taken by this astute observation about Protestant ministers:
During COVID there were reports that most pastors wanted to quit. I said then that I knew few seriously considering it, so I thought the number more alarmist than accurate. Now we’re being told that “as many as one in four pastors want out of the ministry.” I think that sounds about right. But I don’t think it’s much of a story. I suspect 25% of people want out of their job. Work is not a curse, but it is cursed. Gardens East of Eden all grow weeds.
♦ Patriarch Ilia II of the Georgian Orthodox Church died on March 17 at the venerable age of ninety-three. He made news in 2007 when he promised to baptize and serve as godfather to any third or further child born to married parents. Apparently, his effort to reverse the birth dearth in Georgia worked. By 2010, birth rates had risen by 25 percent. At the time of his death, Patriarch Ilia had nearly 50,000 godchildren.
Pastor Josh Howerton of Lakepointe Church took a direct approach to cohabitation. In February, he challenged his congregation:
If you’re living with somebody that’s not your spouse, you’re sleeping with somebody that’s not your spouse, or you’ve actually already started a family and had kids with somebody that’s not your spouse, and you right now are coming under the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit that you need to honor God, bend your knee to Jesus. Put a ring on it and enter into a covenant with a person that you’re already acting like you’re in a covenant with.
♦A few weeks later, fifty-two couples were joined in matrimony during a ceremony at the church. Apparently, the best approach is the direct approach. Stop sinning. Live up to your creed. Put a ring on it.
♦ A friend recently wrote me about his experience at St. Joseph’s in Greenwich Village, a parish that attracts students from nearby New York University. He attends the 6 p.m. Mass on Sunday, often arriving five minutes late because of other duties. Here’s his report from Passion Sunday, two weeks before Easter:
As of a few months ago: had to squeeze into a seat in the balcony.
Starting a month ago: had to sit on steps in the balcony.
Last week: so many people sitting on the steps that I had to shuffle with other latecomers around the stairs in the back during the Mass.
Yesterday: arrived at 6:05 p.m. and was told by the usher that the church had reached its limit and everyone should head to Old St. Patrick’s for the 7:00 p.m. Mass.
♦ We have two readers seeking to form ROFTers groups in their areas.
Robin Martin in Toronto, Ontario, Canada: You can join by contacting her at robin.martin@live.ca.
Brian Nolder in Lexington, Kentucky: You can reach him at bdnolder@iowatelecom.net.
♦ The 2026 Chicago Conversation will take place on Monday, April 20, at the Atheneum Center in the Lakeview neighborhood of the Windy City. I’ll be talking with Aaron Renn about the question: “Can Christians Be Leaders?” Register at firstthings.com/events.
♦ This month, all First Things subscribers will receive complimentary copies of the inaugural issue of our new literary quarterly, Portico. Perhaps you already have the handsome publication in your hands. I hope you’ll take out a subscription.
