Welcome to my weekly digest for Jul 7, 2023, with the best articles from around the web and a roundup of my recent writings and appearances.
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Life in the Negative World
I was a guest on a podcast hosted by Kelly Burton and Zak Schmoll talking about my three worlds of evangelicalism model. I also include a preview of my forthcoming book Life in the Negative World if you’d like to get a sneak peek of some of what is in that.
The Baby Bust
The folks at Kite and Key put together this short video about the birth dearth and whether or not it is a problem. Entertaining and informative as always.
Best of the Web
NYT: Why Platonic Friendships Are So Hard to Keep - Maybe because they are a bad idea in the first place, as I’ve written multiple times in the past. See, for example:
Palladium: When Every Child Is a Choice
What would it even look like in 2023 to have a lot of kids? Statistically, it is actually people like John and Tori––with over a million dollars a year in household income––who have the most children. Many of my friends are from large, wealthy families, and so I asked their parents about their experiences. They have different parenting styles: religious and secular, intensive and hands-off. But what unites them is their ability and willingness to deploy exorbitant resources to rebuild the childhood structures most Western parents would view as standard. They teach their children at home for a reasonably-priced education––then supplement with a few hundred thousand dollars of outside activities for social skills. They pay two doctor’s salaries for a house in a safe, close-knit community, where their kids can walk home without supervision.
Rob Henderson: Tony Soprano and the Jungian Death Mother
AP: Conservatives go to red states and liberals go to blue as the country grows more polarized
Gallup: Historically Low Faith in U.S. Institutions Continues - Deservedly so.
Glenn Loury had an interesting interview with Cornel West on his podcast recently.
New Content and Media Mentions
I picked up mentions this week from the Federalist and Instapundit.
In this shortened holiday week in the US, I had one big essay on how America’s military recruitment challenges reveal the country’s leadership failures.
Post-Script
An interesting tweet about gray divorce from Katy Faust.
Chatted with a 40 something mom of 4 last night who shared that her parents-married 38 years-had divorced 3 yrs ago. Her mom is now deathly ill, but dad has a new fiancé. She went back to her hometown to both care for her ailing mother, and also attend an event to celebrate her father's new fling.
"How's that going for you?" I asked.
"Completely disorienting and destabilizing," she responded.
Some may think that divorcing after the children are out of the home is no big deal. What it usually means is now the adult child must "parent" both their current children and their own parents as well. #Divorce #GrayDivorce #NofaultDivorce
Kelly and Zak are former students of mine. I’m glad you were able to talk to them.