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R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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The End of the Road

From the October 2008 Print Edition

The road dominates the American imagination, from the Oregon Trail to Route 66. That strange, in-between time of escape, freedom, and adventure: On the road, you leave behind all the ordinary routines and demands. Still, I was surprised when my daughter was assigned On the Road in her high-school . . . . Continue Reading »

The Wall Street Crisis

From Web Exclusives

After more than a year of nasty gurgling and stomach churning over sub-prime mortgages, the financial markets have recently shown themselves to be very, very sick. Normally sober folks with no investment in the media shock-a-day culture of endless hype have expressed frank worries. The current Wall . . . . Continue Reading »

Me and YouTube

From Web Exclusives

I’m not a heavy user of the Web. But sometimes I get a few odd words of an old song or fragments of a melody stuck in my head. I fire up the computer, go to YouTube, type this or that into the search field, and presto, I’m listening to a recording of a half-forgotten song that until only . . . . Continue Reading »

Putting Politics in its Place

From Web Exclusives

I’m very thankful that I don’t have a television. We’re heading into the final months of the presidential election, and maybe I’ll be spared the demoralizing experience of so much stupidity conveyed with such seriousness. You know the routine. The news anchor asks, “Jim, did . . . . Continue Reading »

Death and the Postmodern Style

From Web Exclusives

Every once in a while I come across a perfect book¯not perfect in the sense of flawless or deep or indispensable, but perfect in the sense of being richly representative of an era or ethos or sensibility. Erich Fromm’s Escape from Freedom is perfect in this way. Uncomplicated, accessible, . . . . Continue Reading »

The Tattoo Fashion

From Web Exclusives

As the hot days of summer draw to a close, I find myself possessed of a full inventory of images. I certainly knew about the recent fashion of tattooing. But in the summer season of exposed skin, I found myself surprised by how widespread it has become.A morning under an umbrella on the patio of the . . . . Continue Reading »

The Pregnancy Pact

From Web Exclusives

Last month saw a flurry of interest in the reproductive goings-on in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Time magazine reported a spike in teen pregnancies at Gloucester High School¯from 3 or 4 last year to 17 this year (see June 18, 2008, “Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High”). That’s what . . . . Continue Reading »

Personal Freedom Without Political Liberty

From Web Exclusives

Sometimes events conspire. In mid-May, the California Supreme Court decided that anything less than marriage for same-sex partners leads to a fundamental discrimination against homosexuals. A week or so later, the Texas courts opined that state officials who removed children from a polygamist Mormon . . . . Continue Reading »

No There There

From Web Exclusives

Every other year, the Whitney Museum’s Biennial Exhibition promises to put its finger on the pulse of contemporary American art. Curators look for the latest and the greatest, the up-and-coming work, the cutting-edge stuff. It’s then gathered and put on display at the Whitney’s . . . . Continue Reading »