Inspired by an excellent article we published last year and some of your emails (thanks Carla!), I added two volumes of James Baldwin’s collected works to my Christmas list and received them. So for me, 2023 is shaping up to be the Year of Baldwin. I was reading one of his essays while on the train this morning and came across this zinger: Americans “have a very deep-seated distrust of real intellectual effort (probably because we suspect that it will destroy, as I hope it does, that myth of America to which we cling so desperately).”
The Century engages in its share of myth-busting intellectual work. The latest episode of In Search Of is all about questioning our nation’s preferred histories. A new article from Michael Fick contends with the Christian myth of supersessionism that would allow for co-opting Jewish rituals. Our most recent editorial calls faith leaders to rally against false claims about US capital punishment. Plus more great content below.
“In some Christian circles, honoring Jesus’ Jewish identity has manifested in a desire to connect to Passover by holding a Seder meal. While usually well intentioned, this practice is problematic for multiple reasons.”
Jon chats with Voices columnist Alejandra Oliva about the role of revision in both writing and marriage. As Kiese Laymon has written—love is revision and revision is love.
