new york city
When religion thrived in New York
Jon Butler’s dazzling study of faith and practice in a 20th-century metropolis
The weed dealer character serves as the connective tissue between the lives of New Yorkers who might not meet.
Economic development is good, except when it’s bad.
I see the people I'm protesting against when I get my mail, or sort my laundry.
One day, a soup-kitchen guest named what was happening: church, a worshiping community distinct from the larger congregation.
Gateway to Freedom, by Eric Foner
Eric Foner resurrects the history of the Underground Railroad, its powerful place in New York City, and how it helped Harriet Beecher Stowe and others bring about the war that ended slavery.
Social microhistories can capture big ideas. I’d like to write one on pickles, which are as fundamental to civilization as anything in Chesterton’s pockets.