Ideas & Perspectives

Americans are increasingly disconnected from the institutions that once brought communities together. Religious studies scholar Brian Stiltner explores how churches can help address loneliness and division.

After discovering more than a thousand wartime letters from his parents, one son reconsiders what it means to call theirs the “Greatest Generation,” and the lasting cost of the war they survived.

What would we lose if music disappeared? Joe Carter reflects on the role music plays in our memories, our relationships, and our shared humanity.

Ten years after her wedding, a media professor reflects on the details she obsessed over - and why the things she remembers most have nothing to do with the invitations, chairs, or linens.

Nearly fifty years after its release, Pink Floyd’s The Wall still resonates… not just as a rock masterpiece, but as a warning about isolation, power, and politics. Philosophy professor Michael Ventimiglia explores what the album might reveal about the world we’re living in today.

As Hollywood celebrates another awards season filled with book adaptations, one English professor finds herself rethinking a familiar claim: that the book is always better. After seeing the film version of Hamnet, she discovered that sometimes a performance on screen can deepen the experience of the story on the page.

Today, on the first Friday of Lent, Daniel Rober, an associate professor of Catholic Studies, considers a timely question: Is religion making a comeback in the United States? He looks at the data, the politics, and the shifting role of gender in American religious life.

From shutdown threats to debt ceiling showdowns, Washington has made high-stakes budget fights a familiar part of politics. David Thomson traces that pattern back to the 1840s, and explains what it can teach us about today’s budget battles.

From snow-dusted towns to guaranteed happy endings, Hallmark’s Christmas movies provide the steady reassurance people crave today. Their simple, hopeful stories have become a cultural refuge during moments of uncertainty. David Thomson looks at the power of Hallmark.

Before the World Series begins tonight, Michael Ventimiglia reminds us that baseball is more than a national pastime. It’s a story—one where every game, every player, and every swing follows the path of the Hero’s Journey.