Thinking Out Loud

From The Atlantic and National Review to Slate, a slew of recent articles argues that reading among young people is becoming increasingly rare. To be sure, humanities professors have been making this argument for a long time, but the tone has shifted to a more practical concern in these new pieces. Students are simply unwilling (or unable) to read for extended periods of time. In this episode, we consider whether we’re truly becoming post-literate.

Wars and rumors of war are rampant at the moment. The sight of hundreds of rockets lighting up the sky over Jerusalem only intensifies these anxieties. In this episode, we discuss the nature of today’s global conflicts and consider how we might think, pray, and behave responsibly, first as Christians and then as citizens. 

Stuart McAllister grew up in post-war Britain and is no stranger to the allure of nationalism. In this episode, we asked Stuart about his past experiences with nationalism, as well as his read on its global resurgence.

A frequent question put to us is, “How do you come up with topics for TOL?” A twice-weekly podcast demands a lot of content after all. In this episode, we discuss our top sources for the podcast and consider how they help us to better frame current events.

On a recent trip to Singapore, Pope Francis made the following statement to an interreligious group: “[Religions] are like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all. Since God is God for all, then we are all children of God.” He went on to point out that all faith traditions lead to the same destination. Naturally, these off-the-cuff remarks have sparked controversy, particularly among conservative Catholics. Pope Francis’s approach to interfaith dialogue, however, is very much a part of our cultural moment in general. Join us as we dive into the discussion.

Miles Smith IV recently decided to comb through most of the major publications by self-proclaimed exvangelicals. The end result was a provocative piece for Mere Orthodoxy. We also recommend the interview he did with Aaron Renn. One major factor he identifies is a form of clericalism that stems from a weak ecclesial structure. Join us as we dive into this discussion.  

In this episode, we discuss the events of September 11, 2001 and consider how they changed the world.

We tend to think about cultural influence under the heading of major categories like politics, economics, education, technology, and media. However, what if all of these are outworkings of something much deeper and more mysterious—namely, the human spirit? Join us as we kick the hornet’s nest once again on the topic of cultural engagement.

If you know anything about TOL, you know we have tremendous respect for the sociologist James Davison Hunter. It just so happens that Hunter has released a new book: Democracy and Solidarity. It’s a sobering and at times pessimistic book about the cultural crisis in America. In this episode, we talk about Hunter’s approach to uncovering the deep sources of cultural change.

Gossip is a routine part of most of our lives. It’s also deeply destructive. In this episode, we consider the cultural significance of gossip and examine some of its outworkings in our communities.