Steve Thorngate
Is Lent about self-denial?
I grew up around evangelical church leaders who were hardcore
about spiritual fasting, sometimes going a week on just water or 40 days on
...
The fight over public broadcasting
The House of Representatives is
voting today on a bill that would prevent public radio stations from paying
their NPR dues with federal money. This follows the video that brought down NPR head Vivian Schiller and
senior VP Ron Schiller (no relation to each other).
Other March madnesses
It's the most wonderful time of the year for fans of collegiate (men's) sports. I'm not one, but I can appreciate the thrill of a single-elimination tournament. I also enjoy the creative ways people use March Madness to bring attention to other subjects.
The Head and the Heart
This new band's sound has roots in the indie-folk scene, with its moody treatments of simple chord progressions and Americana rhythms. But the larger thread here is classic pop, and The Head and the Heart offers the complete feel-good package.
Are foodies gluttons?
By now, the no-longer-new food movement has provoked files full of skeptical responses....
Hollywood Town Hall & Tomorrow the Green Grass, by the Jayhawks
Alt-country is typically traced to Uncle Tupelo, but the early '90s Jayhawks made better records. Where Uncle Tupelo found scrappy affinities between traditional Americana and punk, the Jayhawks brought '70s country-rock to the alt-rock '90s.
The other Rob Bell
Amid the apocalyptic to-do about Rob Bell possibly considering an idea that other Christians have considered for centuries, Rachel Held Evans had a fun idea: an interview with another Rob Bell, a web designer in the U.K.
Low Country Blues, by Gregg Allman
While the most tried-and-true way to say "I'm a serious American roots artist" is to book Emmylou Harris to sing backup, a close second is to get T-Bone Burnett to be your producer.
Say Goodbye, by Liz Janes
While Say Goodbye is no
straightforward salute to Memphis, soul is as good a word as any for this quiet, strange but above all groovy little record.
On the byline gender gap
Last month, VIDA published a tally of male and female bylines at a variety of thought-leader magazines in 2010. The results aren't pretty....
Antifogmatic, by Punch Brothers
It's fine to eschew traditional bluegrass for intricate pop, but playing the latter with strict string-band instrumentation just sounds kind of gimmicky.
Why don't conservatives like AmeriCorps?
With a government shutdown looming due to federal-budget deadlock, House Republicans are proposing a stopgap measure--not a compromise but a short-term enactment of the massive budget cuts passed last week by the House but dismissed by the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House.
Wisconsin's fight over unions' right to exist
The fight Wisconsin's governor picked with state workers isn't about balancing the budget, and it isn't about making them pay for more of their benefits. It's about destroying unions.
Arts & Faith on horror
In a post introducing Arts & Faith's list of the top 25 horror films of all time, Jeffrey Overstreet rightly observes that not all horror is created equal.
Bad budgets and worse budgets
The White House's 2012 budget proposes significant cuts to
...