Archive
More than thirty-five years of First Things articles at your fingertips
Articles
The Twisted Consequences of Chatbots
In December last year, the autonomous robotaxi firm Waymo took a notable victory lap. The occasion was an independent analysis of Waymo’s safety record based on data from nearly...
The Promises of Gay Liberation (ft. Scott Yenor)
In this episode, Scott Yenor joins R. R. Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about his recent essay, “The Rise and Fall of Gay Activism” from the February...
Hard Stop
So gradually, it seemed, the wayThings pass: the ice cube in the glassDisappears in a pool of grey;The bright bud’s stem fades into grass. We sit in living rooms,...
Where the Dallas Charter Went Wrong
In Peter Weir’s 1981 film Gallipoli, hundreds of Australian foot soldiers, armed only with bayonets, are sent, wave upon wave, into the machine-gun fire of Turkish troops. This depiction...
How Hipsters Gave Us Trump
Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was powered by its embrace of the white working class. It also drew energy from its rejection of feminist conceits. While critics charged Trump...
A New Purity Culture
I grew up in evangelical purity culture. Well-thumbed copies of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Every Young Man’s Battle, and For Women Only lay on the nightstands in my house....
Long Days
To my brother John. What happened to long days,the ones whose ends we couldn’tfathom till they came,and by that time at longlast all we had to do was fall asleep,...
Dilbert’s Wager
Niall Ferguson recently discussed his conversion to Christianity. He expressed hope for a Christian revival, which he framed as the best antidote to the Great Awokening that has done...
The Case for Christian Nationalism
Recent polling paints a disturbing picture: Fewer than half of Gen-Z Americans are extremely or very proud of their country. There’s little doubt that relentless indoctrination in anti-American ideologies...
History, Our Creator
Many find Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit daunting to read. I don’t pretend that it’s easy sledding. But the main thrust is not difficult to grasp. The work offers a...
Letters
Glenn C. Loury makes several points with which I can’t possibly disagree (“Tucker and the Right,” January 2026)...
Latch Hook
The only rug we had was on the wall—linoleum was what my mother knew—a woodsy scene, green trees, a waterfall, the wool a mane I...
Terrarium
Look, here is grief,Her humid circuit riding, And here is God,Abiding. And here warm graceRuns down the lichen’s fuzz,And here sweats GodWith us. Now tap the glassWhich keeps the foggy...
Caravaggio’s “Conversion of St. Paul”
(in the Cerasi Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo) Paul lies sprawled beneath his horse, arms opened, hands extended, upraised, creating a cup for his spilled head.His face...
Combating Vice
In my lifetime, American society has been transformed by widespread accommodation of vice. Marijuana has been legalized in many jurisdictions, as has addictive online gambling. Not surprisingly, pot use...