John Fea

Sunday night odds and ends A few things online that caught my attention this week: Readers respond to Jennifer Frey's essay on liberal arts education. Did Alex Haley portray Malcolm X correctly? Lonely roads Does government support for religion make people religious? Can art history save democracy? Yoram Hazony and national conservatism Providence, George Washington, and Donald Trump Malibu's Beauty's Farm The Marxism of…

Sunday night odds and ends

A few things online that caught my attention this week: Readers respond to Jennifer Frey's essay on liberal arts education. Did Alex Haley portray Malcolm X correctly? Lonely roads Does government support for religion make people religious? Can art history save…

Image of the day I love my fellow Messiah University authors!

Image of the day

I love my fellow Messiah University authors!

Court evangelicals will gather at Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA Faith Summit Charlie Kirk is gathering the court evangelicals for another event. Speakers will include: Jack Hibbs, Greg Laurie, Samuel Rodriguez, Steve Deace, Megan Basham, Eric Metaxas, and Rob McCoy. Here is Jesse T. Jackson at Church Leaders: Turning Point USA (TPUSA) Faith is hosting Faith Forward, its second pastors summit of the year, in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on Aug.

Court evangelicals will gather at Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA Faith Summit

Charlie Kirk is gathering the court evangelicals for another event. Speakers will include: Jack Hibbs, Greg Laurie, Samuel Rodriguez, Steve Deace, Megan Basham, Eric Metaxas, and Rob McCoy. Here is Jesse T. Jackson at…

On the abortion claims of Texas legislator James Talarico James Talarico is a rising star in American politics. He is an articulate evangelical Democrat with a major social media presence and lots of ambition. In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, the 36-year-old Texas lawmaker said he believes the Bible supports abortion because Mary consented to carrying baby Jesus. The Christian Right is going crazy over this part of Talarico's interview with Rogan.

On the abortion claims of Texas legislator James Talarico

James Talarico is a rising star in American politics. He is an articulate evangelical Democrat with a major social media presence and lots of ambition. In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, the 36-year-old Texas lawmaker said he believes…

The American Conservative magazine rips “Ted Cruz Christians” for stand on Gaza Here is a taste of George D. O'Neill Jr.'s piece at The American Conservative: The whole world is witnessing the horror of the intentional starvation and killing of innocent children and women in Palestine. These grisly policies are supported by many Zionist Christians such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who claims he is biblically directed to support Israel…

The American Conservative magazine rips “Ted Cruz Christians” for stand on Gaza

Here is a taste of George D. O'Neill Jr.'s piece at The American Conservative: The whole world is witnessing the horror of the intentional starvation and killing of innocent children and women in Palestine. These…

Jonathan Kuttab responds to the attack on the West Bank town of Taybeh At 2:00am on July 28, 2025 a group of Israeli settlers attacked the Christian town of Taybeh. They set two vehicles on fire and spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on buildings. Learn more here. Over at Milhilard.org, a website that covers Christian Arabs in Jordan and Palestine, Jonathan Kuttab, an international human rights attorney and graduate of Messiah College (now university), comments:

Jonathan Kuttab responds to the attack on the West Bank town of Taybeh

At 2:00am on July 28, 2025 a group of Israeli settlers attacked the Christian town of Taybeh. They set two vehicles on fire and spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on buildings. Learn more here. Over at Milhilard.org, a website that…

One of the amazing parts about doing history is going through loads of material to produce one good paragraph.

Trump didn’t like the July jobs report so he fired the messenger "The first messenger, that give notice of Lucullus' coming was so far from pleasing Tigranes that, he had his head cut off for his pains; and no man dared to bring further information. Without any intelligence at all, Tigranes sat while war was already bussing around him, giving ear to those who flattered him." --Plutarch's Lives Here is the Association Press:

Trump didn’t like the July jobs report so he fired the messenger

"The first messenger, that give notice of Lucullus' coming was so far from pleasing Tigranes that, he had his head cut off for his pains; and no man dared to bring further information. Without any intelligence at all, Tigranes sat…

The Presbyterian Church in America forms a committee to study Christian nationalism It looks like a strong committee. Here is Megan Fowler at byFaith, the magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America: Kevin DeYoung, moderator of the 52nd General Assembly, has selected the elders to serve on the Ad Interim Study Committee on Christian Nationalism. The committee will consist of three teaching elders, four ruling elders, and two advisory members. The committee members are David Strain, Drew Martin, James Wood, Paul McNulty, Lance Kinzer, Steve Dowling, and Jay Green.

The Presbyterian Church in America forms a committee to study Christian nationalism

It looks like a strong committee. Here is Megan Fowler at byFaith, the magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America: Kevin DeYoung, moderator of the 52nd General Assembly, has selected the elders to serve on the…

The Author’s Corner is back at The Way of Improvement Leads Home! Over our 18-year run here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home we have interviewed hundreds and hundreds of authors about their American history-related books. After the shuttering of Current, the Author's Corner took a nearly five month hiatus as relaunched The Way of Improvement Leads Home as an independent blog. But I am pleased to announce that in the coming days this popular feature will return!

The Author’s Corner is back at The Way of Improvement Leads Home!

Over our 18-year run here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home we have interviewed hundreds and hundreds of authors about their American history-related books. After the shuttering of Current, the Author's Corner took a nearly five…

Most popular posts of the last week Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home: As America becomes more diverse, it becomes more conservative Shielding your kids from device overuse might cost you $34,000 a year Jonathan Zimmerman: Columbia University just threw “free and open dialogue” under the bus Kevin Levin on Trump’s attack on American history Evangelicals support the bipartisan “Dignity Act.” Why all the hate? Sunday night odds and ends Six books chosen as finalists for the 2025 George Washington Book Prize Elizabeth Bruenig: Christian and journalist Molly Worthen on charisma

Most popular posts of the last week

Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home: As America becomes more diverse, it becomes more conservative Shielding your kids from device overuse might cost you $34,000 a year Jonathan Zimmerman: Columbia University…

Kaveny: “…the very label ‘extraordinary’ is problematic” Moral philosopher and law professor Cathleen Kaveny argues that our ordinariness holds us together. Here is a taste of her piece at Commonweal: ...Ordinary people are essential in all fields. We need a Maria Montessori—but her work is in vain without thousands of caring elementary-school teachers. We need a Franklin Roosevelt—but it is the tens of thousands of committed bureaucrats who administer the social safety net he imagined for the New Deal.

Kaveny: “…the very label ‘extraordinary’ is problematic”

Moral philosopher and law professor Cathleen Kaveny argues that our ordinariness holds us together. Here is a taste of her piece at Commonweal: ...Ordinary people are essential in all fields. We need a Maria Montessori—but her work is in…

William Chatterton Williams: “the summer of 2020 and the siege of the Capitol are fratricidal twins” Writer William Chatterton Williams’s forthcoming book is titled Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse. The Atlantic is running an excerpt titled, “T…

"These Americans felt the need to revolt against something. While Trump and his supporters rebelled against stay-at-home orders, progressives found their own outlet for rebellion in the protest against police brutality." thewayofimprovement.blog/2025/07/30/w...

Is Richard Hofstadter’s 1964 book on anti-intellectualism still relevant? Here is Peter Balakian’s LitHub piece on Richard Hofstadter’s Anti-Intellectualism in American Life: Hofstadter would have recognized Trump’s brand of businessman anti-intellectualism. …

"A liberal democracy depends on its intellectual and cultural producers to pursue their work with both freedom and support from the wider society and the federal government...."
thewayofimprovement.blog/2025/07/31/i...

Zohran Mamdani and Upton Sinclair If Americans know anything about Upton Sinclair, they know him as the muckraking author of the The Jungle. Most people don’t know he also ran for governor of California in 1934. Over at The C…

"Upton’s 1934 campaign initiated the on-again, off-again influence of radicals in the Democratic Party and illustrates some of the potential dynamics of that relationship, which, almost 100 years later, may be relevant to Mamdani in the coming months."
thewayofimprovement.blog/2025/07/31/z...

The liberal left and the virtues of work Over at Dissent, Antón Barba-Kay wonders why conservatives are better than liberals in talking about the virtues of work. Some of you may recognize the author from his earlier pieces at Current. He…

"The problem of attention urges on us fundamental questions about who we are and what we should do with our lives. While the answers to these questions cleave along political lines, only the right has grasped their weight." thewayofimprovement.blog/2025/07/31/t...

The MAGA wing of the Southern Baptist convention finally takes down Brent Leatherwood Here is Bob Smietana of Religion News Service on the resignation of Brent Leatherwood as president of the Southern Baptist's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission: Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, resigned on Thursday (July 31), saying it was time for him to move on. “After nearly four years leading this institution, it is time to close this chapter of my life,” Leatherwood said in a press release announcing his departure.

The MAGA wing of the Southern Baptist convention finally takes down Brent Leatherwood

Here is Bob Smietana of Religion News Service on the resignation of Brent Leatherwood as president of the Southern Baptist's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission: Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern…

The liberal left and the virtues of work Over at Dissent, Antón Barba-Kay wonders why conservatives are better than liberals in talking about the virtues of work. Some of you may recognize the author from his earlier pieces at Current. Here is a taste: Attention is not a newly discovered capacity. But it has attained problem status over the last two decades for the obvious reason that digital screens completely saturate and quantify our conscious experience.

The liberal left and the virtues of work

Over at Dissent, Antón Barba-Kay wonders why conservatives are better than liberals in talking about the virtues of work. Some of you may recognize the author from his earlier pieces at Current. Here is a taste: Attention is not a newly discovered capacity.…

Zohran Mamdani and Upton Sinclair If Americans know anything about Upton Sinclair, they know him as the muckraking author of the The Jungle. Most people don't know he also ran for governor of California in 1934. Over at The Conversation, historian James Gregory compares Sinclair's 1934 gubernatorial run with the 2025 New York City mayoral candidacy of Zohran Mamdani. Here is a taste:

Zohran Mamdani and Upton Sinclair

If Americans know anything about Upton Sinclair, they know him as the muckraking author of the The Jungle. Most people don't know he also ran for governor of California in 1934. Over at The Conversation, historian James Gregory compares Sinclair's 1934…

Is Richard Hofstadter’s 1964 book on anti-intellectualism still relevant? Here is Peter Balakian's LitHub piece on Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life: Hofstadter would have recognized Trump’s brand of businessman anti-intellectualism. From gold toilet seats to gold airplanes, Trump is the monetized man exploiting his power as president to make billions—even issuing meme coins of himself and his wife and promoting monetizing crypto currency programs to enrich himself; he posts on social media “it’s a great time to get rich,” or “it’s a great time to invest.” It has been documented that his private business practices have defrauded banks, contractors, and customers.

Is Richard Hofstadter’s 1964 book on anti-intellectualism still relevant?

Here is Peter Balakian's LitHub piece on Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life: Hofstadter would have recognized Trump’s brand of businessman anti-intellectualism. From gold toilet seats to gold…

William Chatterton Williams: “the summer of 2020 and the siege of the Capitol are fratricidal twins” Writer William Chatterton Williams's forthcoming book is titled Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse. The Atlantic is running an excerpt titled, "To See How America Unraveled, Go Back Five Years." Here is a taste: Floyd’s killing inspired a summer of revolt that seemed, to much of the country, obviously justified. The postracial promise of the Barack Obama era had subsided.

William Chatterton Williams: “the summer of 2020 and the siege of the Capitol are fratricidal twins”

Writer William Chatterton Williams's forthcoming book is titled Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse. The Atlantic is running an excerpt titled, "To See How…

Vibe. Iconic. Only. Unique. Massive. What do these words have in common? Here is George Will: “When we Americans are done with the English language,” wrote Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936), “it will look as if it had been run over by a musical comedy.” Let’s survey some recent damage. The fifth-most misused word in what remains of the tattered language is “massive.” It is an adjective applied to anything big, even if the thing has no mass.

Vibe. Iconic. Only. Unique. Massive.

What do these words have in common? Here is George Will: “When we Americans are done with the English language,” wrote Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936), “it will look as if it had been run over by a musical comedy.” Let’s survey some recent damage. The fifth-most…

What happened to the shushing librarian? Over at his Substack, "The Honest Broker," Ted Gioia wonders what happened to the "quiet spaces." Here is a taste: Shushing was to a librarian what the Hippocratic oath was for a doctor—or maybe even more sacred. After all, physicians only utter their oath once, while librarians were constantly declaring sh-sh-sh-sh! That was a great catchphrase, and served the public well.

What happened to the shushing librarian?

Over at his Substack, "The Honest Broker," Ted Gioia wonders what happened to the "quiet spaces." Here is a taste: Shushing was to a librarian what the Hippocratic oath was for a doctor—or maybe even more sacred. After all, physicians only utter their oath…

18th-century Americans loved doing genealogy In chapter one of my 2008 book The Way of Improvement Leads Home: Philip Vickers Fithian and the Rural Enlightenment in Early America, I wrote a paragraph or two about how Fithian, the son of rural New Jersey farmers, used his diary to record his family history. I think about that chapter whenever I read something Karin Wulf writes about the practice of 18th-century of genealogy.

18th-century Americans loved doing genealogy

In chapter one of my 2008 book The Way of Improvement Leads Home: Philip Vickers Fithian and the Rural Enlightenment in Early America, I wrote a paragraph or two about how Fithian, the son of rural New Jersey farmers, used his diary to record his family…

This looks really interesting 👇🏻

Jonathan Zimmerman: Columbia University just threw “free and open dialogue” under the bus University of Pennsylvania education professor Jonathan Zimmerman recently reflected on Columbia University's agreement with the Trump administration. Here is a taste: I am Jewish. And I believe in Israel. I am also outraged by its violent behavior in Gaza and the West Bank, but I do not believe Israel is an inherently colonialist or illegitimate entity. Nor do I believe that the Zionist nation — born in the wake of the Holocaust — is behaving like the Nazis who tried to eliminate us.

Jonathan Zimmerman: Columbia University just threw “free and open dialogue” under the bus

University of Pennsylvania education professor Jonathan Zimmerman recently reflected on Columbia University's agreement with the Trump administration. Here is a taste: I am Jewish. And I believe in Israel. I…

Shielding your kids from device overuse might cost you $34,000 a year Over at The New York Times, journalist Mary Harrington reflects on social class and the intellectual damage caused by smart phones and other devices. A taste: Increasingly, the very act of reading scarcely seems necessary. Platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts offer a bottomless supply of enthralling, short-form videos. These combine with visual memes, fake news, real news, clickbait, sometimes hostile misinformation and, increasingly, a torrent of A.I.-generated slop content.

Shielding your kids from device overuse might cost you $34,000 a year

Over at The New York Times, journalist Mary Harrington reflects on social class and the intellectual damage caused by smart phones and other devices. A taste: Increasingly, the very act of reading scarcely seems necessary.…

Molly Worthen on charisma I am looking forward to reading historian Molly Worthen's new book Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump. I think a copy is waiting for me at my new home base in Madison, Wisconsin. I am also anticipating Worthen's visit to Madison in October when she delivers the Lumen Center's annual Dallas Willard Lecture.

Molly Worthen on charisma

I am looking forward to reading historian Molly Worthen's new book Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump. I think a copy is waiting for me at my new home base in Madison, Wisconsin. I am also anticipating Worthen's visit to…

Sunday night odds and ends A few things online that caught my attention this week: Our society's struggle with truth-telling runs deeper than social media Thomas Kinkade Dana Milbank's farm A busker with a blessing David Brooks on ambition Do you want to become a columnist? Catherine Rampell has some tips. David French on the Chip and Joanna Gaines controversy Kathleen DuVal on native American history…

Sunday night odds and ends

A few things online that caught my attention this week: Our society's struggle with truth-telling runs deeper than social media Thomas Kinkade Dana Milbank's farm A busker with a blessing David Brooks on ambition Do you want to become a columnist? Catherine Rampell has…

SHOOTER!! Have you seen Happy Gilmore 2 yet? I have not. But I did enjoy Alan Siegel's piece on Christopher McDonald, the actor who played Shooter McGavin in the original Happy Gilmore and revives the character in the sequel. Here is a taste of Siegel's piece at The Ringer: Adam Sandler wanted to surprise him. It was a year ago, and Christopher McDonald was visiting the comedian backstage at a show filmed for his latest 

SHOOTER!!

Have you seen Happy Gilmore 2 yet? I have not. But I did enjoy Alan Siegel's piece on Christopher McDonald, the actor who played Shooter McGavin in the original Happy Gilmore and revives the character in the sequel. Here is a taste of Siegel's piece at The Ringer: Adam Sandler wanted to…