Posting tomorrow: The Sound Joy Makes.
A reflection on Louis Armstrong, the city that shaped him, and how my deaf grandfather somehow understood his joy.

Humanity is now the planet’s greatest evolutionary force, raising urgent questions about whether tools like CRISPR and assisted evolution can help species survive climate change—and how we can do it ethically without breaking our connection to the living world.

Taste, like translation, lives in the space between rules and whims—Hannah Arendt, Michael Denneny, and early-modern thinkers saw it as a guide to judgment, ethics, and politics, showing how learning to translate well is also learning how to live well. hedgehogreview.com/issues/lesso...

The new essay is up: When the Floodlight Falls. On J. I. Packer’s vision of the Holy Spirit and how we can see God’s work without chasing signs.

open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Ignatius of Loyola’s Examen is five minutes of honesty at the end of your day—an ancient tool for becoming more present, awake, and free. Read the new reflection on Substack: open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Today’s popular self-help advice encourages people to prioritize their own boundaries and peace—sometimes at the expense of others—reflecting a cultural shift toward unapologetic self-interest over social niceties. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/s...

Ann Goldstein talks about “accidentally” becoming a translator, her stay-close-to-the-text approach, and why Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet still resonates—now out in a new one-volume edition.

Hypocrisy isn’t evil so much as blindness…the mask we forget we’re wearing.   open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Paul Frank Spencer’s review of John Van Deusen’s Joyful Noise Pt. 1 celebrates an artist who refuses to chase trends or polish his sound for radio, instead offering worship that’s messy, honest, and deeply personal—more about faithfulness than fame. mereorthodoxy.com/faithful-obe...

Should we record everything? Philosopher Yannic Kappes argues lifelogs could deepen our sense of self, memory, and identity — but at what cost?

An anesthesiologist explains why patients facing surgery need more than facts — they need their doctor to play the role of priest. www.thenewatlantis.com/publications...

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat. Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

Barna’s latest research shows that Gen Z women are disengaging from faith faster than any other group, with 38 percent now identifying as non-religious—highlighting the urgent need for intergenerational relationships to rebuild belonging and belief. www.barna.com/trends/gen-z...

In Ireland, “Catholics outnumber Protestants” makes headlines. But look closer: weekly Mass attendance hovers around 30%. The real story isn’t Catholic vs Protestant, but faith vs secularism. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Numbers can mislead. In Ireland, Catholics now “outnumber” Protestants—but practice is declining on both sides. The real lesson for us: cultural Christianity is fading, and only deep, lived discipleship will endure. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

In a prison classroom where college students and incarcerated women study Plato together, philosophy becomes loud, honest, and transformative—breaking down walls of judgment and sparking unexpected solidarity. aeon.co/essays/philo...

The gospel isn’t just a rescue plan—it’s an apprenticeship. Dallas Willard and others showed us that grace doesn’t stop at forgiveness; it reshapes us from the inside out. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Fewer words, more meaning. That’s the kind of communication we need. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Christopher Marlowe’s innovations in drama and blank verse profoundly shaped Shakespeare’s work, making Marlowe the Bard’s most essential creative rival and influence. www.harvardmagazine.com/books-litera...

Africa’s leaders are advocating for replacing the distorted Mercator map with the Equal Earth projection, which accurately depicts the continent’s true size and significance. www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...

Jess Waters recycling the same guy over and over to represent “former” different enemies

Kierkegaard saw anxiety as the “dizziness of freedom”—not failure, but the signal of possibility. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Barnes & Noble’s revival shows what happens when a company remembers that books aren’t just products—they’re passions. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Words favored by chatbots—like “delve” and “inquiry”—are increasingly appearing in human conversations, blurring the line between natural speech and AI-influenced language. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” — Francis Of Assisi, The Little Flowers of St Francis of Assisi

The algorithm has gone mad.

When Francis met the Sultan, he came not to conquer but to honor—what if we did the same? That's what my Substack post today is about. I hope you'll read it and let me know what you think. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Tomorrow on Substack I’m posting a reflection about trust, repair, and courage across divides. I hope you’ll read it.

“Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills.” — CS Lewis

Faith isn’t a project to push on people; it’s something to share naturally with friends who matter. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Vice President JD Vance dismissed Trump’s AI-generated deepfake videos mocking Democratic leaders as “funny,” while Hakeem Jeffries condemned them as “racist” and Chuck Schumer called them proof Trump isn’t negotiating seriously. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

I’ve been faithfully using the en–dash since 1995, thanks to a mentor. A consultant just told me it screams “AI.” Guess I’m now a suspicious charlatan… all for a little line. www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/em-d...

Michael Knowles is defying Catholic teaching by defending the death penalty, highlighting a growing split between MAGA Catholics and the Catholic Church itself. substack.com/home/post/p-...

I don’t feel very comfortable sharing my faith—but maybe that’s the point: evangelism is more like waiting on the water than winning an argument. I'll say more about all this on Saturday in my next Substack post.

A million-year-old skull found in China may push back the origins of Homo sapiens by half a million years—rewriting the human family tree and suggesting we coexisted with Neanderthals far longer than thought. www.bbc.com/news/article...

At 90, Arvo Pärt—the Estonian “holy minimalist” whose music of silence, sorrow, and faith defied Soviet censors—remains one of the most performed and spiritually resonant composers of our time. www.newstatesman.com/culture/musi...

The divide between constant feeds and unplugged lives is growing—but I’m writing about how we might hold onto what matters most. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

“What Cardinal Dolan may not have known is that many of Mr. Kirk’s words were marked by racist, homophobic, transphobic, and anti-immigrant rhetoric, by violent pro-gun advocacy, and by the promotion of Christian nationalism,” the sisters' statement read. religionnews.com/2025/09/26/c...

Apple says the so-called “scratchgate” on new iPhone 17 models is actually harmless material transfer caused by worn display-stand MagSafe risers, not damage to the phone’s surface. www.tomsguide.com/phones/iphon...

Rev Dr John Huffman has died. /news/remembering-rev-dr-john-a-huffman-jr/

Terry Mattingly argues the NYT’s unusually empathetic feature on Erika Kirk wasn’t a fluke—it was old-school journalism made possible because Turning Point USA granted access, and Erika answered with raw honesty. substack.com/home/post/p-...

New study says social media’s biggest problems aren’t about algorithms—they’re baked into the very structure, and probably can’t be fixed. Bummer for us. arstechnica.com/science/2025...

We may soon live in parallel realities: some fully immersed in algorithmic feeds, others unplugged. My hope? That connection, trust & empathy can survive. I'll say more on Substack tomorrow.

How Charlie Kirk’s killing became an instant, AI-amplified canonization—and what that rush to secular sainthood reveals about U.S. politics, polarization, and the internet’s power to myth-make. theconversation.com/charlie-kirk...

Just take a few minutes to watch this. You will be glad you did. Thanks to Karen Swallow Prior for sharing. www.wtvm.com/2025/09/23/g...

You can’t control what others consume, but you can choose peace. Healthy boundaries and calm presence shrink the wedge, even if your family or friends never change their habits.

From frontier fighter to Disney icon, Davy Crockett’s legend has outgrown the man himself—blending fact, myth, and pop culture to make him one of America’s most unlikely enduring heroes. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-...