Joe Carter

If you’ve every played Civilization IV —one of the greatest video games of all time—you’ve heard the theme song “Baba Yetu.” But did know that the lyrics are the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili? Last night the song, which is sung by the Soweto Gospel Choir, became the . . . . Continue Reading »

Why do so many musical superstars think that their careers are part of a divine plan ? Before they were famous, many of the biggest pop stars in the world believed that God wanted them to be famous, that this was his plan for them, just as it was his plan for the rest of us not to be famous. . . . . Continue Reading »

Mark C. Henrie, the Director of Academic Affairs and Senior Editor of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, considers the telos of the university : Here is a peculiarity of American life today: The young man or woman in high school invests enormous time and energy in the process of choosing and . . . . Continue Reading »

Over the past few weeks First Thoughts has had posts on politics, religion, and culture. But today we must set aside such trivial issues and turn to more serious matters: preparing men for Valentine’s Day. If you’ve waited until today to make plans you’ll find yourself at the . . . . Continue Reading »

1. How Much Information Is There in the World? Looking at both digital memory and analog devices, the researchers calculate that humankind is able to store at least 295 exabytes of information. (Yes, that’s a number with 20 zeroes in it.) Put another way, if a single star is a bit of . . . . Continue Reading »

During last month’s Coptic Christmas mass, Egyptian Muslims offered their bodies, and lives, as “shields” to protect the threatened Christian community . The action caused many to wonder if it was a sign of improving relations between the two groups. Unfortunately, Cornelis Hulsman, . . . . Continue Reading »

You know that NYU professor/artist who implanted a video camera in the back of his head? No? Oh, yeah, as part of a performance art piece a NYU professor/artist implanted a video camera in the back of his head . I know, I know, great idea, right? Who doesn’t love transhumanist performance . . . . Continue Reading »

Linga latina non est mortua : On the face of it, encouraging children to learn Latin doesn’t seem like the solution to our current skills crisis. Why waste valuable curriculum time on a dead language when children could be learning one that’s actually spoken? The prominence of Latin in . . . . Continue Reading »

When it comes to abortion, Mark Steyn doesn’t mince words : Oh. Well, “Dr” Gosnell’s just one rogue abortionist. How about the “right to choose” over at Planned Parenthood? There are a whole range of choices – not so much for the illegally smuggled underage . . . . Continue Reading »

I think I’ve stumbled upon a problem that is both common among scholars, intellectuals, and intellectually curious generalists (the category I fall into) and yet rarely discussed. The fact that they don’t talk about it could mean, of course, that it’s only a problem for me. Or it . . . . Continue Reading »