This is a great tribute. (Seriously, Flaming Hydra has all the best stuff.)

My 2025 Highlights and Wrap Up (in chronological order): —In January, Presbyterian Outlook published "Orthodoxy, not heresy, is the root problem of Christian nationalism." pres-outlook.org/2025/01/orth...

One of the few situations where Oregon really embarrasses me. The crunchy antivax community is strong there.

Can’t believe I’ve never seen this before.

Might have to show this to my students.

Requested a correction from @princetonupress.bsky.social. Let's see what happens.

Wow, what a thread.

I listened to 38 audiobooks in 2025. Here's my list in the order I enjoyed them. Major highlights: --Omar El Akkad's remarkable essay/memoir on Palestine --John Ganz's book on the paleoconservative origins of Trump --Lauren Markham's incredible activist journalism --Kristin Lavransdatter (wow)

Time for my annual list of my 50 favorite albums. This year wasn't as strong as years past IMO, though the top few albums are contenders for the top spot in any year. A running theme was the use of all-caps album titles. Guitar-driven indie rock had a particularly strong year. Here we go:

This was definitely a highlight of my year. It meant a lot to see that from Smith.

This piece was our 18th most-read of the year.

These are the bestselling books of 2025, and a book I've never even heard of—The Let Them Theory—was #1. I know I'm not the type to read self-help books, but it's frightening how disconnected I am from the mainstream that I hadn't heard the name of the author (apparently a podcaster) or the book.

Always come back to this observation from @adamserwer.bsky.social

I was today years old when I learned…

The whiskey, chocolate, books, and coffee I got for Christmas are all great, but you know you’ve reached middle age when the most thrilling gift you received is a bidet.

Two years in a row I’ve had one of the top 10 most read opinion pieces at @presoutlook.bsky.social! This year it was my piece on how Christian orthodoxy sustains Christian nationalism. pres-outlook.org/2025/12/our-...

I have to see this movie.

Either this marks the start of higher education’s total unraveling, or it is the jolt we need to end a nightmare that feels disturbingly similar to Red Scare hysteria.

At least 11 congressmen from 1865-1871 were arguably not citizens under Trump's interpretation of 14th A, our research finds. Yet no one challenged their eligibility to serve. Why not? Obviously, b/c no one who drafted or ratified the 14th A shared Trump's view. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Sister in law made me the coolest ornament ever!

My son’s present to me was getting my books stocked in Barnes and Noble 🥹

I need to see this movie asap.

If I were a famous author this is the kind of quiet chaos I would create.

I’m afraid my Wario is Sohrab Ahmari. How appropriate to have one of the arch-postliberals as my nemesis.

My early Christmas gift is a box of KU Library books. Must have really confused the librarian to pack up books on Fuller missiologist Donald McGavran and Nietzschean German philosopher Ludwig Klages.

I fully believe these could be legitimate files, but I also wonder if the DOJ is generating fake files to poison the well and cast doubt on real documents. Trump has already accused some documents of being AI generated. This could all be a disinformation campaign.

He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.

Excellent piece by Steven Millies on the recent drama around Dolan’s replacement. His op-ed places the whole affair in a nuanced historical context.

Wheaton theology professor Daniel J. Treier has died from lung cancer at the age of 53. carmenjoyimes.substack.com/p/an-office-...

Pure class warfare. Also seems like a quick way to force people into violence.

“I’m not saying you have to be a Christian to be an American. I’m saying something simpler and truer," JD Vance said in a speech at AmericaFest on Sunday. “Christianity is America’s creed.” religionnews.com/2025/12/22/j...

This month's Beyond the Algorithm column over at the NYT is an annual tradition: we always devote December to movies that came out this year, are on the streamers right now, and are well worth a look over the holiday break. Gift link, no paywall: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/m...

*multiple sources go on the record with TV’s most respected news show about a government kidnapping/torture program* BARI: Can’t run it ‘til Stephen Miller calls me back. *one parent tells Bari about something that may have happened at Chapin* BARI: We do not need to hear Chapin’s side.

bari weiss saw this and decided that she had to hide it from the american public

!! Here’s a link to full video of the 60 Minutes segment that Bari Weiss killed last minute, via @jasonparis.bsky.social: is.gd/paU8Ko (It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)

NEW: Organ tuners have been leaving temperature and humidity records in little-known books for decades. 🎹 They reveal how temperatures inside churches have changed over time due to climate change and increased heating. A new scoop for The Reengineer! www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...

looking for a last minute gift at williams sonoma

Governor Laura Kelly: “Kansas is not a flyover state. Kansas is a touchdown state!”

Wolf Parade—and really everything done by Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner—is one of my favorite bands of all time and I still regularly listen to Apologies, a true 10/10 album.

Missouri has now lost both of their NFL teams.

I love exploring archives. There’s some wild stuff buried in there. But this story is especially good.

The smear campaign against Mustapha Kharbouch -- falsely accused of the Brown shooting and MIT murder by powerful politicians, pundits and plutocrats -- is a prime example of how pervasive racism has become. It's also a story largely ignored by the mainstream media www.thenation.com/article/poli...

My son’s Scholar Bowl team is raising money to go to the national competition in Atlanta. You can help by ordering from Panda Express today and applying the code 9010784 in the Fundraiser Code box during online checkout. 28% of proceeds go to the team. www.community-fundraiser.com/virtual-fund...

Yesterday on a whim I looked up Luci Shaw—the poet, editor, close friend of Madeleine L'Engle, and fellow Wheaton alum—and found out she died on December 1 this year at age 96. I have a couple books of her poetry and have long admired her work. May she rest in peace.

"Former Vice President Mike Pence’s political group is poaching top officials from the conservative Heritage Foundation amid growing ideological fights within the conservative movement and backlash at the prominent foundation." www.wsj.com/politics/ele...

This is a courageous email and everyone should read it.

AD-ROCK: Yo Ebenezer you gotta show re- BEASTIES: MORSE AD-ROCK: Redemption is not a mere matter of Beasties: COURSE MIKE D: We’ll show you Bob Cratchit’s not a lazy BEASTIES: MOOCHER MCA: We’re Christmas Past MIKE D: Christmas Present BEASTIES: AND CHRISTMAS FUTURE

Please to see that Kansas made the list.

this. i always wonder about academics who use AI for thinking and writing. i always feel like the job’s too hard, in too many ways, if you don’t actually enjoy thinking and writing. call me naive, but what’s the point of scholarship if we’re just going to dilute it with AI slop?