Arts & Culture
The mischief of oppression
In The Secret Agent, Kleber Mendonça Filho shows how political corruption and violence create an atmosphere of dread—along with situations so confusing they are almost funny.
Danced religion at halftime
The stage was set for a direct confrontation at the Super Bowl. Instead, Bad Bunny created a liturgy for belonging.
Bad Bunny and us
What we witnessed at the Super Bowl was less a performance than an invitation.
Entertainment in an Easter Egg Economy
From Taylor Swift to Stranger Things, pop culture fandom now includes sleuthing—for better or worse.
What we could not see as beautiful
When I told my reading group we’d be looking at one of Brian Staveley’s dark fantasy novels alongside Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology, they balked.
A great library of witnesses
Watching from Bethlehem, feeling helpless as the death toll rose in Gaza, I applied to go far away and do research.
Luther Seminary’s death mask
The school’s replica mold of Martin Luther’s face reminds me that I’m readying the plaster for the tradition that bears his name.
Stranger Things at the hinge point of faith
If it seems impossible that these characters are gone, maybe it’s because in some sense, they aren’t.
The heaving, howling, rolling, jumping ecstasy of Ann Lee
I know “Shaker musical” sounds like a prompt at a bad improv class. But Mona Fastvold’s new film is wild and wondrous.