Skinamarink and the New Face of Enchantment
Vague, boring, sad, and unnerving, the new face of enchantment belongs to a cultural moment that sees people tying themselves in knots over what it means to be human.
The Holy Foolishness of Frederick Buechner
Though we just lost Frederick Buechner at the age of 96, I suspect that part of his legacy will consist in his bold reminder that preachers are poets.
Jordan Peele’s Resounding Nope to Lethal Entertainment
Nope asks, Who’s the real consumer here and who’s actually being consumed?
Does Evil Have a Sound? Reflections on Vecna’s Playlist, Black Metal & the Banality of Evil
Is Vecna’s evil really exemplified best by the tumultuous sounds of black metal artists like Darkthrone and Mayhem?
Fictional Evangelicalism: On Reading Daniel Silliman’s Reading Evangelicals
Silliman argues that each of these stories prefigures the current crisis within evangelicalism.
Mare of Easttown and the Allure of Other People’s Grief
As Mare of Easttown poignantly depicts, when we’re in serious pain ourselves, it’s tempting to hide behind other people’s grief.
HBO’s Chernobyl and the Communal Nature of Sin
Chernobyl is an excellent show… with its emphasis on the net effect of human sin—the disproportionately catastrophic results of seemingly small errors.
Low’s Double Negative and the Beauty of Damage
Courageous artists remind us that earthly beauty is always damaged.
In the Dark: Some Thoughts on the Best Podcast out There
Though plenty of other podcasts display all the hallmarks of slick production, In the Dark is unique in eschewing the entire, folksy podcast ethos.
Raise Your Voice by Kathy Khang, Free for CAPC Members
Balancing compassion with firmness, Khang leads her readers through the current morass of social media, and offers a thoughtful and constructive way forward for those who want to do more than seethe on the sidelines.
Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette Proves That Laughter Is Not Always the Best Medicine
Part of Hannah Gadsby’s subversive power consists in the fact she still manages to be hilarious even as she refuses to let us rest in the abridgments necessary to her former punchlines.
When Your ‘Story’ Gets in the Way of Your Testimony: Lessons from Leslie Jamison’s The Recovering
Jamison’s book recommends the freedom that comes with simply admitting that we need help… like everybody else.
Hereditary Is a Masterful Meditation on the Horrors of Grief
In Hereditary, guilt is grief’s demonic cousin, and it often makes an unwelcome entrance in the midst of tragedy.
Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer and the Making of a New Tradition
With DAMN. and its accompanying Pulitzer, Kendrick Lamar has crossed a milestone, has set a precedent—has established a fresh tradition; hip-hop has entered a new phase.
What the Rise of Time Traveler “Confession” Videos Says About How We View Reality
The convenience of fake news (and current “time travel” stories) may have increased exponentially in recent years, but the tendency for wishful thinking to override our commitment to reality has always been with us.
At 30, The Pixies’ Surfer Rosa Still Hasn’t Grown Up
Surfer Rosa, the Pixies’ debut studio album, turned 30 this year, and it still doesn’t sound a day over 18.
