Michael Reneau

Deputy Managing Editor at The Dispatch

Believer. Managing editor for @thedispatch, editor of Dispatch Faith newsletter. Married to a wonderful woman. Father to three boys and a little girl.

Articles

Protecting Life Means Protecting Death | Opinion

1 week ago | bellinghamherald.com | Michael Reneau

From the Dispatch Faith on The DispatchHi and welcome back to Dispatch Faith. Multiple U.S. states have considered or are considering medical assistance in dying (MAiD) laws this year, while a yearslong debate over physician-assisted suicide is playing out in the United Kingdom too. For today's newsletter, Dispatch Contributing Writer Karen Swallow Prior focuses on one group's criticism of the UK MAiD proposal-that of advocates for women who have been victims of domestic abuse and violence.
‘Donald Trump Is FDR’

1 week ago | thedispatch.com | Noah Hickey |Emily P.G. Erickson |Ari Blaff |Michael Reneau

‘I've never seen in my lifetime a president accomplish so much of what he promised so quickly and so effectively.’ Published May 5, 2025 Jamie Weinstein is joined by self-proclaimed “MAGA lefty” Batya Ungar-Sargon to defend Donald Trump’s first 100 days as president and explain how a “lefty” can be MAGA. The Agenda:—Batya’s MAGA journey—MAGA Reaganites vs.
Protecting Life Means Protecting Death

1 week ago | thedispatch.com | Michael Reneau

Hi and welcome back to Dispatch Faith. Multiple U.S. states have considered or are considering medical assistance in dying (MAiD) laws this year, while a yearslong debate over physician-assisted suicide is playing out in the United Kingdom too. For today’s newsletter, Dispatch Contributing Writer Karen Swallow Prior focuses on one group’s criticism of the UK MAiD proposal—that of advocates for women who have been victims of domestic abuse and violence.
Surviving Trump’s Tariffs

2 weeks ago | thedispatch.com | Jamie Weinstein |David Drucker |Michael Reneau |Clemente Lisi

‘You can’t undo uncertainty.’ Published April 28, 2025 Jamie Weinstein is joined by Josh Barro, author of the Very Serious newsletter and co-host of Serious Trouble, to explain everything wrong with Donald Trump’s tariff regime. The Agenda:—You can’t undo uncertainty—What does Trump really believe about tariffs? —Reinventing trade alliances—Political consequences for a recession—Will America rebound? —America’s debt crisis
After Francis, What Now for the Catholic Church? - The Dispatch

2 weeks ago | thedispatch.com | Michael Reneau |Clemente Lisi

Plus: How to remember Pope Francis and an interview with George Weigel. - Start a free trial today for full access.
Water From Stone

3 weeks ago | thedispatch.com | Michael Reneau |Jake Meador

Happy Sunday, and, for fellow Christians, happy Easter! (He is risen!)It’s sometimes so hard to communicate something fresh about a holiday, event, or idea that we routinely interact with. But in contemplating what millions of Christians around the world are celebrating today—Jesus Christ’s resurrection—Contributing Writer Jake Meador focuses on key imagery taken from the Old Testament that Christians may see anew on Easter.
Passover and the Masters We Choose

1 month ago | thedispatch.com | Michael Reneau |Theodore Goldstein

Chag Pesach Sameach to those observing Passover this week. In this week’s Dispatch Faith and on our website today we’re featuring three writers with three different essays on Passover’s larger themes. First up as the featured essay in today’s newsletter is Theodore Goldstein’s meditation on freedom and Passover. As he puts it, Passover doesn’t just commemorate freedom from something (in this case, slavery), but freedom for something. And that, he argues, is a universal theme.
Can We Beat China? | Interview: Sen. Tom Cotton

1 month ago | thedispatch.com | Jamie Weinstein |Beatrice Scudeler |Michael Reneau |Hannah Anderson

'The threat with China is much worse than you think.' Published April 7, 2025 GOP Sen. Tom Cotton joins Jamie Weinstein to discuss his news book, Seven Things You Can’t Say About China, as well as the looming military threats against Taiwan and the Republican Party’s divided foreign policy views.
Loving Your Neighbor’s Job

1 month ago | thedispatch.com | Michael Reneau |Hannah Anderson

Hi and happy Sunday. Increasing efficiency in the federal government—the stated goal of Elon Musk’s new agency within the Trump administration—is a laudable goal in the abstract, and federal bureaucracies are certainly ripe for reform. Few Americans are likely to argue that point. But what happens when the impulse to slash runs amok, divorced from any notion of the value of work and how work itself—vocation—is baked into us as humans?
Faith, Beyond Worship

1 month ago | thedispatch.com | Michael Wear |Michael Reneau |Theodore Goldstein |Hannah Anderson

I have been thinking a lot about agency lately. Politics in America over the last decade has felt designed, scripted even, to rob people of their own sense of agency. I think many people feel as if our politics is happening to them—affecting their livelihood, their relationships, their neighborhoods—and is beyond their reach or influence. But agency is not only essential for a healthy democracy, agency is an essential aspect of what it means to be human.