This Week's Recommended Reading on Substack:
Katherine Stewart writes that “the Red Scares of earlier times always came wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. It is no accident that they often invoked the language of religious authoritarianism. If God is on our side, according to the paranoid style of American politics, then the other side should have no rights at all. The presence of religious supremacy combined with a rejection of pluralism and equality — a Christian nationalist ethos — was always a sure indicator of profoundly anti-democratic intent.”
Steven Beschloss writes that “some tragedies are hard, if not impossible, to overcome. But I have returned to this this city now two times in the last four years. Maybe it’s to reckon with my history, but also to sort through how it’s possible to take the worst of times, learn from them and emerge wiser and stronger.”
Andra Watkins writes that “this has been a hard week to write, because it’s never fun to confront just how much one’s own country hates her and women like her. We can call it misogyny, but that word implies how MEN hate WOMEN. It misses how many WOMEN hate WOMEN, how enthusiastically women participate in the flaying subjugation humiliation oppression of other women.”
Justin Glawe writes that “the amount of money Donald Trump, his family and friends are making off the presidency is historic. The conflicts of interest in his administration are unprecedented. The taxpayer dollars he is spending on vanity construction projects is unheard of. His handling of the Iran war is catastrophic. The economy is a house of cards built on rampant speculation over artificial intelligence and crypto, which Trump and his cronies are profiting from. The scale of Trump and others’ efforts to sow distrust in and likely try to overturn the midterm elections has no comparison in all of American history.”
Brynn Tannehill writes that “the hypothesis that including transgender people will somehow destroy women’s sports has already been field tested for decades, and the evidence is pretty clear: trans athletes are a tiny and under-represented group in the sports they play, and they are far from dominant. The idea that trans people should have their own separate but equal events has been tested and failed.”
Brian Kaylor writes that “I’m annoyed by AI slop in general. But there’s something particularly troubling when someone claiming to offer “inspirational” Christian content is so willing to break multiple commandments just to make a bit of money with AI. Like the one about not bearing false witness and the one about not stealing…”
I'm always moved to see my name listed alongside people I admire. Thanks for including me, Teddy.