Ann Bauer

Jan 16, 2025 | rap.wustl.edu | Ann Bauer |Debra Kennard

The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis is pleased to share the news that Abram Van Engen has been appointed the next director of the Center effective July 1, 2025. He will also hold the title of Professor of Religion and Politics with this appointment. Van Engen is the Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities and current chair of the Department of English at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dec 19, 2024 | arcmag.org | Ann Bauer

The biggest surprise of my November 2024—and remember, that’s a pretty high bar—was that I didn’t totally hate Wicked. Beyond the franchise-driven drek lie a good story, truly great performances, and brisk pacing that makes the film’s two hours-and-forty-minute run time sail by. And yet, as much as I enjoyed the movie, I was sad about what was missing: religion, politics, nuance, mysticism, science, class, and God. The Oz books—fourteen in total, written by L.

Nov 24, 2024 | brownstone.org | Ann Bauer

The biggest surprise of my November 2024—and remember, that’s a pretty high bar—was that I didn’t totally hate Wicked: Part One. Are the songs inane and forgettable? God yes, other than “Defying Gravity,” which is solidly OK. Is the iridescent gumdrop color palette irritating and a little like being showered in My Little Pony vomit? Again, yes. Do the scenes at Shiz University look like CGI knockoffs of Hogwarts from the Harry Potters 1-76? Indeed.

Nov 7, 2024 | wsj.com | Ann Bauer

WSJ Opinion: How Democrats Made a Trump Comeback PossibleYour browser does not support HTML5 video. 0:00Paused0:00 / 5:07St. Paul, Minn. Almost no one I know voted for either of the presidential tickets. We—my friends and family and I—all voted against Donald Trump and JD Vance or against Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. And we made concessions to do it. At a dinner party last weekend, I was lamenting this necessity.

Aug 20, 2024 | brownstone.org | Ann Bauer

In April of 2020, our portly, red-faced Aw, shucks governor, Tim Walz, was my hero. He’d closed the public schools in our state on March 15th, but spoke—this former teacher and coach—with solemn grace. “I want to be very clear about this: A decision to close school has a magnitude of consequences,” he said. “This will change life in Minnesota.”Our state was in good hands, it seemed, with a leader who was thinking through all the consequences.