From the November issue: I am very happy to share with you my print magazine debut. Over the summer, I went on a traditional Catholic pilgrimage in France. It was my first walking pilgrimage, and it involved trekking sixty miles over three days from Paris to the Cathedral of Chartres, which houses a relic of the Virgin Mary’s tunic. Leaning into my embodiment on that long walk revealed to me how connected the spiritual and physical really are, and gave me renewed appreciation for the Church’s traditional liturgies. 

For further reading: The Chartres pilgrimage has inspired imitators around the world, including an annual walk to the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in upstate New York. Stefan McDaniel wrote about it in “American Pilgrimage” (February 2020).

As the Fifth Republic teeters, Michel Gurfinkiel looks back at the genius and flaws of France’s second longest-lasting regime since 1789. “In many respects, the Fifth Republic stands as the most coherent and deliberate attempt ever made to reconcile France’s contradictions,” he writes.

For further reading: Sam Kriss wrote on France’s conception of itself, couched in a book review of Dorothy Sayer’s translation of The Song of Roland, in “France’s Tragic Song” (April 2022). Former French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour, a major player in the later days of the Fifth Republic, wrote on “Saving Christian Europe” (June/July 2025).

Dorian Abbot, a professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, has five suggestions for fixing the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For years, wokeism has seeped out of the humanities and eclipsed the impartiality necessary for the study of the hard sciences. To fix it, universities need to root out DEI, put good people at the top, and promote curiosity-driven research. 

For further reading: Twenty-five years ago, Brian Harvey wrote “The Democratization of Science” (March 2000) about the infiltration of populist sentiments into the scientific academy, once thought immune to the skepticism of the masses. Harvey viewed this development with mixed emotions but noted that this skepticism, the natural end of “Enlightenment rationality,” eventually turns on its own foundations: “[Scientists] did not realize that a social process had begun that would eventually turn its sights on the authority of scientific methods.” Could wokeism and DEI’s assault on science be part of the same process?

Listen: On the latest episode of Conversations, Mark Bauerlein discusses charisma and leadership with journalist and historian Molly Worthen. Her new book, Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump, examines the impact of charismatic leaders on U.S. history from colonial America to present day.

• November 2, 2025: A Night of Poetry with Ben Myers | New York, NY. Register here.
• November 3, 2025: The 38th Annual Erasmus Lecture: In Praise of Translation with Bishop Erik Varden | New York, NY. Register here.
• November 11, 2025: The Future of Higher Education, a discussion with Mark Bauerlein and Mark Regnerus | Irving, TX. Register here.
• January 9, 2026: Second Annual Neuhaus Lecture at the New College of Florida | Sarasota, FL. Details coming soon.

Until next time.

VIRGINIA AABRAM

Newsletter Editor