First Things

Jan 21, 2025 | firstthings.com | Isabella Redjai

On January 4, President Joe Biden honored nineteen individuals with the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. While one could argue that some were less deserving of the award than others, I believe that one honoree deserved it without question: Ralph Lauren, a living embodiment of the American dream who in turn made America his muse. His designs pay homage to the cowboy, the soldier, the Ivy Leaguer.

Jan 20, 2025 | firstthings.com | Matthew Walther

I first visited the University of Notre Dame du Lac (to use its proper inflated style) in 2017 as a guest of some friends in the law school. By then I had already hated the place for more or less my entire life.

Jan 17, 2025 | firstthings.com | Peter J. Leithart

Élisabeth-Paule Labat (1897–1975) was an accomplished pianist and composer when she entered the abbey of Saint-Michel de Kergonan in her early twenties. She devoted her later years to writing theology and an “Essay on the Mystery of Music,” published a decade ago as The Song That I Am, translated by Erik Varden. It’s a brilliant and beautiful essay, but what sets it apart from most explorations of music is its deeply theological character.

Jan 16, 2025 | firstthings.com | Mark Bauerlein

Conversations with Mark Bauerlein The latest installment of an ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein. Peter Kreeft joins in to discuss his recent book, God on Stage: 15 Plays That Ask the Big Questions. The conversation is embedded below. For your long-term convenience, follow us on SoundCloud or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. Intro music by Jack Bauerlein.

Jan 15, 2025 | firstthings.com | Jonathon Van Maren

On December 14, Atheism UK and the Origins Project Foundation hosted a “Merry Hitchmas” event at the Royal Geographical Society in London to commemorate the life of atheist journalist Christopher Hitchens, who died of cancer in 2011 at the age of sixty-two. Four prominent atheists—physicist Lawrence Krauss, biologist Richard Dawkins, journalist Douglas Murray, and actor Stephen Fry—took the stage to reminisce about Hitchens, discuss literature, and, of course, mock religion.