One of the books that most influenced my moral and personal imagination was a small novel, Une vie de boy (“Houseboy,” 1956), by Ferdinand Oyono. An early novel by a great Cameroonian writer, diplomat, and civil leader, it made a minor splash on the French literary scene when it first . . . . Continue Reading »
In 2009, one of Google’s self-driving cars came to an intersection with a four-way stop. It came to a halt and waited for other cars to do the same before proceeding through. Apparently, that is the rule it was taught—but of course, that is not what people do. So the robot car got completely . . . . Continue Reading »
“What we are witnessing in America is a regime that is exhausted,” writes Patrick Deneen in his new book. The United States is fabulously rich; our military remains peerless. But on such key metrics as life expectancy and mental health, America is deteriorating, and the indictment of a former . . . . Continue Reading »
“The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.” It is now one year, . . . . Continue Reading »
Amidst a war involving the world’s foremost nuclear powers, Pope Francis has been a lonely voice for peace. For his pains, he has been criticized by commenters on left and right and by leaders in both Russia and Ukraine. Yet he has continued to speak. There is a great deal at stake in whether the . . . . Continue Reading »
Recently, while reading Sally Rooney’s hugely acclaimed novels for the first time, I messaged a friend to say how bleak I was finding them. He replied that his impression of the books was different. In a way, we were both right. On the one hand, the novels have shafts of light and humor; . . . . Continue Reading »
Death rates among American children are on the rise. Young people are killed by homicide and car accidents, and they are killing themselves by drug overdose and suicide. Mortality rates for ages one to nineteen rose by 10.7 percent between 2019 and 2020, and went up another 8.3 percent in 2021. . . . . Continue Reading »
Are you religious?” alcoholic rich kid Jay asks high-achieving Ellie. “Spiritual,” she replies. JAY: So you go to yoga twice a week—? ELLIE: Essentially. JAY: Yeah see that’s garbage. ELLIE: It’s better than nothing. JAY: No, it is nothing. ELLIE: Probably. Matthew Gasda, in whose . . . . Continue Reading »
He wouldn’t say her memory was lostBut that she was lost in it—the foggy pastClung to her and calcified to frostUntil, at last, her very present passedThrough this shimmering glass of memory.He woke once to her sitting up in bed.The drawl he’d thought she’d left in KentuckyReturned in . . . . Continue Reading »
Hadley Arkes joins the podcast to discuss his new book Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution. Continue Reading »
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