First Things Podcast

On this episode of the First Things Podcast: Editor Rusty Reno, senior editor Mark Bauerlein, associate editor Julia Yost, and deputy editor Elliot Milco gather on the morning after Donald Trump’s election victory to sort out how it happened and what it means. 0:50 Shock, awe, and the failure of Big Data 8:00 Taking Trump seriously but not literally 11:20 Implications for the Religious Right and the Catholic Church 24:10 What happened to fusion conservatism? 33:50 Trumpism in the global and globalist context 37:25 A permanent Republican majority?

1:10 – Senior editor Mark Bauerlein explains how classic hardboiled detective novels turn boys into men. And he does it while maintaining the lines between high culture, popular culture, and mass culture. 28:40 – Associate editor Julia Yost talks to deputy editor Elliot Milco about the buzzy new HBO series Westworld. What is producer Jonathan Nolan trying to tell us about human nature? And video games? And porn? And prestige-drama fan theories?

Now in its 29th year, the Erasmus Lecture brings world-renowned speakers to New York—including Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Gilbert Meilaender, and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks—to address an audience of First Things friends and subscribers each year. The lecture also appears in the pages of First Things and on firstthings.com.

1:25 – Rusty comments on the Vatican’s new guidelines for cremation. Why has the Catholic Church traditionally favored intact burial? And why are people, including Catholics, increasingly opting for cremation? 18:30 – Alexi Sargeant reflects on the life and legacy of Jack Chick, the evangelical comic book artist who died last week. The “Chick Tracts” sought to scare people to Jesus—and away from Catholicism, Halloween, Dungeons & Dragons, and a few other things. What should we make of this earnest and inventive evangelist, who was also rather feverish and offensive? 30:55 – Mark observes the one-year anniversary of the Halloween horror show at Yale, when students lost their minds over culturally insensitive costumes. This year, college administrators across America are designing programs to prevent offense from being given or taken. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Mark argues that rather than micromanaging students’ social interactions, administrators should be offering positive moral guidance.

First Things is pleased to host the second annual Poetry Reading with Dana Gioia. Learn more about this event at firstthings.com/poetry.

Literary editor Matthew Schmitz recounts his day in a Manhattan jury pool. He failed to be selected for the jury, but he made many colorful friends. Now he argues, in the spirit of Tocqueville, for fewer plea bargains, more jury trials, and the death penalty. Then, Matthew talks to associate editor Julia Yost about his Back Page column in the November issue. He argues, in the spirit of Confucius, against the utilitarian ethos that prevails at elite universities. What would the Master say about Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy?

Matthew responds to criticisms of his New York Times op-ed, “Has Pope Francis Failed?,” and reminds liberal Catholics of their claim that liberalizing doctrine and rhetoric would bring alienated believers back to the Church. Plus: What do the three new American cardinals tell us about Francis’s agenda? Then, First Things staffers stage a dramatic reading of the Clintonites’ Catholic-themed emails, revealed by WikiLeaks this week. Matthew and Julia discuss the proper response. Finally, Bob Dylan has won this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. Matthew reflects on Dylan’s legacy and achievements, and why Bill Gothard was right about secular music.

Helen Andrews provides some historical perspective on the choice Americans must make this November—between two styles of dictator, the personalist (Trump) and the clientelist (Clinton). She looks back on the last president who combined these two styles, as an illustration of how momentous a dictatorial presidency can be. Then, Matthew Walther previews a new edition of T. H. White’s “The Once and Future King,” a novel that contains more metaphysics, and less fantasy, than you think. Finally, Walther takes aim at E. B. White (no relation), explaining why “Elements of Style” is overrated and the passive voice is underrated.

Remember that time Slate alerted the civilized world to our terrifying feature article on “gay denialism”? Michael W. Hannon was the author of that feature, “Against Heterosexuality,” and he sits down with Matthew and Julia to recall his bombshell and reflect on its consistency with his present life with the Norbertine Fathers. On sexuality and gender, he has opinions to spare. Facebook’s seventy-one gender options: Too much? Or not enough? Then Rusty joins, fresh off his victory (or was it?) in a debate over Catholic perspectives on immigration. Should our preferential option be for immigrants, or for those who are already our neighbors?

Phyllis Schlafly, anti-feminist icon and foe of the Equal Rights Amendment, died this week. Rusty, Mark, and Julia discuss her legacy—with the help of their special guest, journalist and editor and all-around legend Midge Decter. Then, it’s time to head back to campus—and that means getting up to speed on the new rules for avoiding microaggressions. Is it still okay to say “you guys”? Rusty has sympathy for the special snowflakes; Mark and Julia have stories from the trenches.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be canonized on Sunday. Why is her service to the poor so much more inspiring than that of secular “effective altruists”? Rusty and Matthew explain their takes, and Julia freaks out her colleagues by half-agreeing with Christopher Hitchens. Then: If you were the mayor of a French town with a beachfront, what would you do about the burkini? Think carefully, because “the soul of France” is in question. But does France have a secular soul, or a Christian one? Finally, Julia reads a famous passage from literature, containing a prediction about saints named Teresa. Rusty and Matthew try to source it. Maybe you can beat them!

New survey findings from Georgetown University update us on rates of ritual participation among American Catholics. Do they show a “Francis Effect”? If so, is the effect positive or negative? Rusty, Matthew, and Julia discuss why millennial Catholics need more, not less, incense. Then, Broadway’s “Hamilton” is up for debate: Is it “a pack of tricks we play on the dead”—retrojecting multicultural ideology onto the Founding? Or does it benignly correct our postmodern suspicion of the American past? Assistant editor Alexi Sargeant and junior fellow Connor Grubaugh debate. Finally, the Marquis de Lafayette speaks through Alexi, rapping very fast about guns and ships.

A surprising new study reveals that members of the Millennial Generation are avoiding sex—and for all the wrong reasons. Rusty, Mark, and Julia discuss the impact of careerism, pornography, and the fear of “catching feelings,” and what it all means for Christian morality. Then, Rusty uses the “Elephant Graph” to explain why, in this age of globalization, there is no longer a harmony of economic interests between elites in the West and the middle classes they are elected to lead. Can the nation-state survive? Finally, Rusty and Mark try to guess the authors of three aphorisms, each on the subject of “Youth and Age.”

God was pronounced dead by Time Magazine fifty years ago—and now He’s deader than ever, according to Matthew Rose. Joining Rusty and Julia, Matt argues that our present age was heralded in 1966 by the Death of God theologians, who viewed secularity as the highest development of Christian ethics. Julia then interviews Rusty about his new book, Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society. Our culture is falling apart—which is good news and bad news, according to Rusty. Why is he optimistic that Christians will be the leaven in an increasingly decadent society? Finally, Julia hosts a game of “Stump the Editors” with Rusty, Mark, and Matthew. Play along and test your knowledge of literature! Musical credit: Dave Brubeck.

What can natural family planning teach you about the body that sex ed won’t? Catholic writer and "science nerd" Leah Libresco guests on this segment, as does her fiancé, assistant editor Alexi Sargeant. Then, why are Catholic and Evangelical Republicans parting ways over Trump? Leah crunches the numbers, and Rusty envisions life for religious conservatives during a Trump presidency. Finally, Matthew and Julia discuss this week’s news from Rome, and conclude that ordaining women as deacons not only makes no sense, but would set women back. Musical credits: The Losers, Chad Crouch.