First Things Podcast

1:34 Poetry has gone viral on social media in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. Senior editor Mark Bauerlein and associate editor Julia Yost discuss what role poetry should play in public life, in this time of political tension and attention deficits.

30:12 Four cardinals have presented five ”dubia” to Pope Francis, concerning the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. Deputy editor Elliot Milco talks with Julia about what this move portends, why schism remains highly unlikely, and why Cardinal Burke inspires so much schadenfreude in Catholic liberals.

46:40 A special Thanksgiving message from the FIRST THINGS editorial staff, courtesy of assistant editor Alexi Sargeant.

On this episode of the First Things Podcast: Editor Rusty Reno, senior editor Mark Bauerlein, associate editor Julia Yost, and deputy editor Elliot Milco gather on the morning after Donald Trump’s election victory to sort out how it happened and what it means.

0:50 Shock, awe, and the failure of Big Data

8:00 Taking Trump seriously but not literally

11:20 Implications for the Religious Right and the Catholic Church

24:10 What happened to fusion conservatism?

33:50 Trumpism in the global and globalist context

37:25 A permanent Republican majority?

1:10 – Senior editor Mark Bauerlein explains how classic hardboiled detective novels turn boys into men. And he does it while maintaining the lines between high culture, popular culture, and mass culture.

28:40 – Associate editor Julia Yost talks to deputy editor Elliot Milco about the buzzy new HBO series Westworld. What is producer Jonathan Nolan trying to tell us about human nature? And video games? And porn? And prestige-drama fan theories?

Now in its 29th year, the Erasmus Lecture brings world-renowned speakers to New York—including Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Gilbert Meilaender, and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks—to address an audience of First Things friends and subscribers each year. The lecture also appears in the pages of First Things and on firstthings.com.

1:25 – Rusty comments on the Vatican’s new guidelines for cremation. Why has the Catholic Church traditionally favored intact burial? And why are people, including Catholics, increasingly opting for cremation?

18:30 – Alexi Sargeant reflects on the life and legacy of Jack Chick, the evangelical comic book artist who died last week. The “Chick Tracts” sought to scare people to Jesus—and away from Catholicism, Halloween, Dungeons & Dragons, and a few other things. What should we make of this earnest and inventive evangelist, who was also rather feverish and offensive?

30:55 – Mark observes the one-year anniversary of the Halloween horror show at Yale, when students lost their minds over culturally insensitive costumes. This year, college administrators across America are designing programs to prevent offense from being given or taken. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Mark argues that rather than micromanaging students’ social interactions, administrators should be offering positive moral guidance.

First Things is pleased to host the second annual Poetry Reading with Dana Gioia. Learn more about this event at firstthings.com/poetry.

Literary editor Matthew Schmitz recounts his day in a Manhattan jury pool. He failed to be selected for the jury, but he made many colorful friends. Now he argues, in the spirit of Tocqueville, for fewer plea bargains, more jury trials, and the death penalty. Then, Matthew talks to associate editor Julia Yost about his Back Page column in the November issue. He argues, in the spirit of Confucius, against the utilitarian ethos that prevails at elite universities. What would the Master say about Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy?

Matthew responds to criticisms of his New York Times op-ed, “Has Pope Francis Failed?,” and reminds liberal Catholics of their claim that liberalizing doctrine and rhetoric would bring alienated believers back to the Church. Plus: What do the three new American cardinals tell us about Francis’s agenda? Then, First Things staffers stage a dramatic reading of the Clintonites’ Catholic-themed emails, revealed by WikiLeaks this week. Matthew and Julia discuss the proper response. Finally, Bob Dylan has won this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. Matthew reflects on Dylan’s legacy and achievements, and why Bill Gothard was right about secular music.

Helen Andrews provides some historical perspective on the choice Americans must make this November—between two styles of dictator, the personalist (Trump) and the clientelist (Clinton). She looks back on the last president who combined these two styles, as an illustration of how momentous a dictatorial presidency can be. Then, Matthew Walther previews a new edition of T. H. White’s “The Once and Future King,” a novel that contains more metaphysics, and less fantasy, than you think. Finally, Walther takes aim at E. B. White (no relation), explaining why “Elements of Style” is overrated and the passive voice is underrated.

Remember that time Slate alerted the civilized world to our terrifying feature article on “gay denialism”? Michael W. Hannon was the author of that feature, “Against Heterosexuality,” and he sits down with Matthew and Julia to recall his bombshell and reflect on its consistency with his present life with the Norbertine Fathers. On sexuality and gender, he has opinions to spare. Facebook’s seventy-one gender options: Too much? Or not enough? Then Rusty joins, fresh off his victory (or was it?) in a debate over Catholic perspectives on immigration. Should our preferential option be for immigrants, or for those who are already our neighbors?