Category Archives: Books
Review – Freedom As and Against Democracy
Annelien de Dijn is Professor of Modern Political History at Utrecht University. Paul E. Johnson is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh. Stephanie A. Martin is the Frank and Bethine Church Endowed Chair of Public Affairs at … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Freedom Theory, Politics
Tagged Conservatism, Democracy, Freedom
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American Individuals – A Conversation with Alex Zakaras
Alex Zakaras is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont. In his new book, The Roots of American Individualism: Political Myth in the Age of Jackson, he returns to the early nineteenth century to trace the mythology … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Christianity, Civility, Politics
Tagged America, Individualism, Zakaras
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Book Bans & Apple Pie
Since 2021, American public school boards have been targeted by a coordinated campaign intent on revising curricula, altering policies, and banning books. Especially after Glenn Youngkin’s surprise victory in the Virginia Governor’s race that fall, the rhetorical power of child- … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture War, Politics
Tagged Moms for Liberty, Warwick
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Recommended Reading II – Revolution to Civil War
In 2022 I read a bunch of books on American history from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War, spanning the period that Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. famously termed “the Age of Jackson.” The reading list is included here, along with … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged American History, Reading
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Christian Dialectic – A Conversation with David A. Hollinger
David A. Hollinger is the Preston Hotchkis Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. In his new book, Christianity’s American Fate: How Religion Became More Conservative and Society More Secular, he recounts the long-running, dialectical relationship between … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Christianity, Politics
Tagged Ecumenical, Evangelical
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How We Got Here – A Conversation with Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College. He is a contributor to The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and the New York Review of Books, and author of 20 books of his own. His latest, … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Christianity, Climate Change
Tagged Bill McKibben, Climate Change
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White Christian Nation – A Conversation with Philip S. Gorski
Philip S. Gorski is Professor and Chair of Sociology at Yale University. His latest book, co-authored with Samuel L. Perry, is The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to Democracy. It defines and diagnoses the ideological … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Christianity, Culture War, Politics
Tagged Conservatism, Insurrection, Republican Party, Trump
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Anti-Christians – A Conversation with Obery M. Hendricks
Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. is Visiting Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary and Adjunct Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Columbia University. His new book, Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Christianity, Culture War, Politics
Tagged Christians Against Christianity, Hendricks
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Church / State – A Conversation with Steven K. Green
Steven K. Green is the Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and Affiliated Professor of History and Religious Studies at Willamette University, a position he accepted after serving for ten years as legal director and special counsel for Americans United … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture War, Politics
Tagged Church-State Separation, Steven K. Green
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Hijacking History – A Conversation with Kathleen Wellman
Kathleen Wellman is the Dedman Family Distinguished Professor of History and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Southern Methodist University. In her new book, Hijacking History: How the Christian Right Teaches History and Why it Matters, she examines a series of … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Christianity, Culture War, Politics
Tagged Critical Race Theory, Kathleen Wellman
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Hidden Mercy – A Conversation with Michael J. O’Loughlin
Michael J. O’Loughlin is the award-winning national correspondent for America Media. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, National Catholic Reporter, and The Advocate. In his new book, Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Christianity, Culture War, Politics
Tagged AIDS, Catholicism
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Colorblind Christianity – A Conversation with Jesse Curtis
Jesse Curtis is Assistant Professor of History at Valparaiso University. His book, The Myth of Colorblind Christians: Evangelicals and White Supremacy in the Civil Rights Era parses the theories and practices animating white evangelical thinking on race since 1960. He … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Christianity, Culture War
Tagged Colorblind Christianity, Curtis
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The New Midwest – A Conversation with Kristy Nabhan-Warren
Kristy Nabhan-Warren is the V.O. and Elizabeth Kahl Figge Chair of Catholic Studies and Professor in the Departments of Religious Studies and Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. In her new book, Meatpacking America: How Migration, … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture War, Politics
Tagged Immigration, Iowa, Meatpacking America
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Active Passive – A Conversation with Stephanie A. Martin
Stephanie A. Martin is Associate Professor of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs at Southern Methodist University. In her new book, Decoding the Digital Church: Evangelical Storytelling and the Election of Donald J. Trump, she analyzes scores of sermons delivered at … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Christianity, Politics
Tagged Evangelicals, Sermons, Trump
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Public Confessions – A Conversation with Rebecca L. Davis
Rebecca L. Davis is the Miller Family Early Career Professor of History at the University of Delaware. In her new book, Public Confessions: The Religious Conversions that Changed American Politics, she documents famous changes-of-heart from across the twentieth century, noting … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Politics
Tagged Conversion, Davis
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Recommended Reading 