Editorial Note:
It’s been an excellent sixteenth year for Public Discourse. Every day, we continue to publish insightful essays, book reviews, interviews, long reads, and cultural commentaries on some of the most important and pressing social and political issues of our time. It was difficult to select the strongest pieces from this year, as there were many, but here is a sampling of our editors’ top picks.
We will be taking a break from publishing new essays the week of Christmas, but we look forward to sharing new pieces with you again the following week.
From all of us at Public Discourse, we wish you and yours well this holiday season.
Book Review:
Devorah Goldman, “It’s ‘Time to Think’ about the Irreversible Damage of Shoddy Sciences”
Barnes repeatedly emphasizes the many parents or clinic employees who had tried to sound the alarm but whose warnings were ignored by clinic authorities. But Barnes is loath to draw any firm conclusions from these stories. Her cautious wording and frequent qualifiers undermine some of the book’s most important points and questions.
Interview:
Matthew X. Wilson, “What’s Next for Venezuela? A Q&A with Angel Alvarado”
At this moment, what we can do is the right thing. And sometimes the right thing is very risky—going out into the streets and demonstrating your opinions on the situation. It’s risky, but I think it’s our right, and I think it’s what is right.
Long Read:
Daniel Kane, “Reflections on Israel’s Exceptional Fertility”
The enduring source of the Children of Israel’s exceptional, future-oriented natalism is their intense, equally exceptional rootedness in their shared past.
Cultural Commentary:
Patrick Brown, “What Does Another Trump Presidency Mean for the Pro-Life Movement?”
Figuring out how to advance the cause of justice for the unborn with the reality of a secularizing America will require heavy long-term thinking. But because it avoided the worst-case scenario in the 2024 election, the pro-life movement may well have meaningful opportunities to improve our response to women and families over the course of the second Trump administration. We shouldn’t miss our chance.
Series:
We asked a thinker from three traditions—Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish—to reflect and advise their own tradition on the needs of the moment, and also to indicate what they would ask of members of the other two religious communities.
Carl Trueman, “Protestant Futures and Friendships”
The challenges Protestants face are serious. But if we have the humility to learn from others, we will find that there are models and resources readily available to help us think through how we might respond to our cultural moment.
Daniel E. Burns, “American Catholics (and Others) after the Election”
Catholics can nurture their own friendships with serious adherents of other denominations and faiths. We can collaborate on projects to improve our neighborhoods and broader society. We can learn from each other in dealing with the many challenges of running a godly household today, from the sublime to the mundane. Wherever possible, and to the extent that our respective traditions permit, we can pray together to our common Father—for His blessings on our country, at least.
Yoram Hazony, “A New Alliance Between Christians and Jews”
Reviving a public Christianity in those parts of the country that are not yet entirely lost is the only plausible alternative to America’s continued decay into a brutal neo-Marxist tyranny. Jews who wish to avoid this calamity should seek an alliance with nationalist and conservative Protestants and Catholics.
Image by Junjira and licensed via Adobe Stock.
