Another Life with Joy Marie Clarkson

Caitrin Keiper writes of the vows in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables that brokenness does not erase the hope in any person when the cycle of retribution breaks for grace.

Kelsey Osgood, an Orthodox Jew, writes that we live in an age that glorifies self-care, but any attempt to deny oneself something pleasurable is suspect.

Susannah talks with Zohar Atkins, a rabbi and philosopher, about vows in Nietzsche, in other philosophers, and in the Jewish theological tradition. Are vows the origin of private conscience and thus the origin of secularism? Can human vows provide the kind of transcendence and eternity that even existentialists seek? Is it presumptuous to take a vow? Then, Susannah and Peter discuss what they’ve l...

Peter and Susannah have a long conversation with Professor Robert P. George of Princeton University. A veteran of the pro-life movement, Robert P. George reflects on the opportunity that we now have to build just laws that support the wellbeing of mothers and their children, and, echoing Lincoln, of the need to heal the division between pro-life and pro-choice Americans as much as possible, withou...

Peter and Susannah talk to Justin Giboney of The AND Campaign about polarization in American political life. They discuss practical matters: How can we seek common ground without wimping out? How can we work across the aisle? They also talk about the role of the Black church. What is the unique contribution that that tradition can make to our ongoing discussions of the proper interaction between f...

Susannah and Peter speak with Kelsey Osgood about her piece “The Dance of Devotion.” What’s the difference between a figure skater whose sport requires a strict regimen of training and eating, and an observant Jew whose life is also constrained by specific rules? Why is our society more friendly to the one than to the other? Why are we uncomfortable with the concept of a discipline that’s a matter...

Peter and Susannah speak with John Milbank about his reservations about National Conservatism, and the possibilities of Christian internationalism. Christianity makes universal claims, and all our national loyalties and other lesser loyalties are relativized by our loyalty to the Kingdom of God. In light of that, how can we best live out our local and universal commitments in friendship with each...

Peter and Susannah discuss Peter’s lead editorial, “Word Is Bond.” In a culture where keeping our options open is the categorical imperative, how can we become ourselves? Peter argues that the voluntary self-limitation of vows allows men and women to live their lives thoroughly, rather than skimming along the edge of reality. Monasticism, marriage, and the military are forms of commitment that com...

Lydia S. Dugdale on the loss of the Hippocratic Oath and the lack of an ethic to explain medicine’s telos.

Peter Mommsen, editor of Plough, writes that in a culture addicted to endless choice, vows offer a higher freedom.

David Bentley Hart writes that apocalypse, not dogma or tradition, is what gives Christianity grounds for hope in his book Tradition and Apocalypse.

Cardinal Peter Turkson speaks about ecological challenges and how more community may be an answer.

Hanna-Barbara Gerl-Falkovitz writes on John’s Revelation, apocalypse, fear, and why there is still hope.

The artwork of Wassily Kandinsky reveals his apocalyptic visions. Shira Telushkin reviews the Around the Circle exhibit of Kandinsky’s art at the Guggenheim.

Eberhard Arnold tells how the first Christians viewed the end of the age.

Susannah Black Roberts, Peter Mommsen, Shadi Hamid and Damir Marusic talk about Yoram Hazony’s National Conservative Statement of Principles, John Milbank’s Open Letter, and what postliberalism means. They talk about what the NatCon statement implies about what state power should be used for, and then find themselves discussing abortion, and the future of the country given the profound differences...

Brandon Mcginley, a father of young children, shares insights on whether or not to shield kids from tragic news.

Mindy Belz reports on Syrian refugees after the war with ISIS, who returned home to start over.

Lyman Stone explores Malthusianism past and present, and why its proponents are wrong.

Eleanor Parker writes about the sermon of Wulfstan, a bishop at a time when the Anglo-Saxon world was collapsing amid Viking terror and political chaos.

Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio shares an interview from 1972, in which Johnny Cash talks about faith and music – and then breaks into song.

Peter Leithart says our world may be dying, but churches should cultivate radical hope for the birth of a new one.

Peter Mommsen writes on climate change, the meaning of apocalypse, and the reasons we still have hope.

Peter and Susannah discuss with L. M. Sacasas the perils and promise of technology: how it shapes our lives and how it changes how we think about ourselves. Will artificial intelligence become sentient? How will we understand ourselves if we believe they are sentient? What can we do about it, and how can we live in a more human and embodied world? Then, Peter and Susannah take listener questions....

Peter and Susannah talk with Christopher Tollefsen about his piece on the history and ethics of nuclear deterrence, and the prospect of an antinuclear movement post-Ukraine. They discuss Tollefsen’s conviction that nuclear war is a life issue. Then, they speak with Samuel Moyn about his new book Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War. Is making war more “humane” actually...