Arc Magazine

An expansive new book contextualizes what is popularly accepted as the starting point of American religious history—the seventeenth-century arrival of colonists—in a longer and wider frame of time and space. Read all about it in Arc: arcmag.org/religion-in-th…

Great @ReligPolitics by @matthewschmitz on the rise and fall(?) of Confession: arcmag.org/how-many-hail-…

The greatest change in Catholic life since the 1950s has been not the introduction of the new Mass, nor the declarations of Vatican II, but the virtual disappearance of confession.

I reviewed James M. O’Toole’s history of confession for @ReligPolitics arcmag.org/how-many-hail-…

Will ignoring climate science alienate young Catholics, who repeatedly list climate issues as among their chief concerns? @kimwinston writes about this, and the Catholic Church's response to global warming, in Arc Magazine: arcmag.org/where-is-the-c…

What is the cowboy apocalypse? America’s frontier past is idealized, depicting white gun-toting cowboys, individually meting out justice against enemies, who are depicted as an evil horde demanding what is not theirs. Read all about it in Arc: arcmag.org/lord-teach-my-…

ICYMI: Author Neil Rudenstine talks student activism past and present and discusses his new book OUR CONTENTIOUS UNIVERSITIES in this Q&A for @ReligPolitics! bit.ly/44CF7RX

Welp, first Mass at a military chapel in a while yesterday, and the priest announced the parish coordinator’s contract might be terminated….

America will be feeling the effects of DOGE for years to come. Some Southern parishes in districts that voted heavily for Trump are feeling the effects already. @maggiemphillips on the DOGE cuts that are upending Catholic education in America: arcmag.org/doge-comes-for…

On its hundredth anniversary, we can say that the Scopes trial is more relevant than ever--the original template for conflicts that remain unresolved after a century. Read Randall Barry's compelling history and take in Arc: arcmag.org/the-scopes-tri…

I joined @NPR It’s Been a Minute, with host @bmluse and fellow scholar of religion, @nathanlean, to discuss Islamophobia in the wake of Zohran Mamdani’s primary victory. The show aired yesterday and you can listen here: npr.org/2025/07/09/126…

How did our campuses go from "Make Love, Not War" to "Globalize the Intifada"? Read about it in Arc: arcmag.org/from-make-love…

Our latest podcast! Mark sits down with David Litt, author of "It's Only Drowning," to talk surfing, unlikely saviors, and America's political divide. Listen to it here: arcmag.org/podcast/episod…

How do the never-Trumpers feel about the president these days? Arc's editor-in-chief sits down with Peter Wehner, a longtime Republican official and speechwriter who is deeply disturbed by what the party has become. arcmag.org/?p=20512&previ…

Read more about the new podcast from our online journal Arc: @ReligPolitics source.washu.edu/news_clip/new-…

New York City votes today in the Democratic Primary for Mayor! @tazeenmali writes about the race, Zohran Mamdani, Islamophobia, and the making of a "Muslim Menace." arcmag.org/zohran-mamdani…

Our newest episode of Arc: The Podcast just dropped, featuring @richcohen2003 talking about a Conn. murder, the glory days of American magazines, and the misery of sports parents. Check it out: arcmag.org/podcast/episod…

PACE board member, Tamara Tweel writes for @ReligPolitics, “A Peanut Farmer and Hasidic Rabbi Helped Build the Department of Education. Can Their Legacy Save It?” arcmag.org/a-peanut-farme…

What do Donald Trump and America's great religious leaders have in common? CHARISMA, argues Molly Worthen in her new book, reviewed by Randall Balmer in Arc Magazine: arcmag.org/possessed-by-c…

Grateful to @ReligPolitics for running this piece.