Sons and Daughters
When philosopher Umberto Galimberti began working as a psychoanalyst in 1979, his patients’ problems “were grounded in emotions, feelings, and sexuality. Now,” however, “they concern the void of meaning.” According to Galimberti, young people are plagued by a sense of...
The Danger of Respectable Christianity
Since its first season premiered on Netflix in 2016, The Crown has garnered attention from viewers, critics, and from the members of the royal family whose lives it portrays. The series’ fourth season, which was released late last year, has...
Lady Bird and the Buffered Self
“Do I look like I’m from Sacramento?” “You are from Sacramento.” Greta Gerwig’s 2018 film Lady Bird explores the relationship between identity, freedom, and givenness with painstaking attention to mundane details. An homage to her hometown of Sacramento, California, the...
J. Cole’s “For Your Eyez Only” Gives Hope for Change Beyond Elections
In my lessons on Christianity and social justice, I always feature clips from J. Cole’s 2017 HBO documentary For Your Eyez Only. The film, directed by Cole and Scott Lazer, features interviews with residents of small black cities throughout the...
Getting Back to Our Bodies: Feminism, Ontology, and Metaphysics
The onslaught of comments following J.K. Rowling’s critique of gender theory demonstrates an ever-growing confusion toward sexual difference and the concept of personhood more generally. “If sex isn’t real,” she tweeted, “the lived reality of women globally is erased. I...