New from me: President Trump will contribute to a weeklong reading of the entire Bible next week. He recorded his contribution from the Oval Office, a passage from the book of II Chronicles. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/u...
A newspaper clipping that reads: Hello, MARS! by R.S. Richardson, Mr. Wilson Observatory Martian Pictured Superior to Man Hardy, Intelligent Beings Visualized in Theories of Lowell.
A newspaper headline reading "MORE BRAINS IN MARTIANS THAN IN PEOPLE OF EARTH."
A newspaper headline reading "HOPES SOON TO TALK WITH MARS: Professor Todd Says Martians Are Amazed at Our Stupidity."
A newspaper headline. It reads: "MARTIANS ARE OUR SUPERIORS: Have Abandoned War to Build Immense Canals for Preservation of Mankind."
Most of the people lamenting the collapse of American journalism conveniently forget to mention the industry’s systematic marginalization and suppression of pro-Martian voices. It’s impossible to imagine an editor signing off on any of these stories today.
"The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is oft not enough to rebuild." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/w...
the rare and powerful two-Ruth byline
A new poll finds a sharp rise in the share of men under 30 who say that religion is “very important” to them. New from me and Ruth Igielnik: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/u...
This is why I go to Dairy Queen, the only fast food chain that supports determinism
another of life's simple pleasures is joking around online :)
a powerful reminder of the grotesqueness of man's sinful nature, thank u sonic
And I can't believe I'm saying this, but: Read the comments.
I spent some time this week talking with astronauts, theologians and others about the ancient human practice of contemplating the heavens. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/u...
I was thinking about this movie the whole time I was working on this!
Bible sales in the US are booming, and I looked at one corner of that market: premium Bibles made from high-quality materials and meant to last. One publisher calls them an example of the “a push away from instant, artificial, blue-light culture." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/u...
These two books contain the sum total of all human knowledge
Sorry to hear this, Mark.
This is the first I'm hearing of this... incredible.
The old world is dying. The new world struggles to be born. Things are pretty busy at the world hospital
Have 364 days to continue workshopping this one
"'How much more American we can get?' said Noor Mobeen, the director of Iman Academy’s main campus. ... 'The only thing we have to change is our faith, and then there is no point in having it.'" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...
"You need to take responsibility, to offer the vision, the mission, the focus, the direction for your own family. ... You’re not a guy who is playing video games all day.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/u...
Vice President JD Vance has a new book that will explore his religious faith and his conversion to Catholicism as an adult. “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith” will be out June 16.
The story notes that few islanders still observe Lent, which Mid-Lent arose to serve as a reprieve from. It's interesting to think about what this tradition (and Mardi Gras, for that matter) means apart from Lent!
"The festivities of Mid-Lent flourished precisely in communities where life during Lent was the most austere." Loved this: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/28/w...
"The first year after the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff from the United States, many Catholic churches across America are welcoming their highest numbers of new Catholics in recent years." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/u...
When the weather on your vacation is so bad it's national news. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/w...
“The bright side of the planet moves toward darkness
And the cities are falling asleep, each in its hour.
And for me, now as then, it is too much.
There is too much world.”
- Czeslaw Milosz
“Some might say at least they’re being honest about the fact that it’s just sheer brute force. But it’s also very dangerous. You’re asking people to die for the ambitions of a president and a moral calculus that’s no greater than might makes right.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/u...
everything else aside, "fiction books" is a red flag
"An honest accounting requires acknowledging that reactionaries are not the only ones who have followed Jesus into the public square." www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
this man should be at the helm of a 19th century steamboat on the Mississippi, not a tourist yacht on the Danube
