In the last couple of weeks several newer subscribers have noted that they get a lot of emails from The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog. That is because we post multiple times a day (and have be…

Jonathan S. Jones is Assistant Professor of History at James Madison University. This interview is based on his new book, Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis (…

Keith Moore writes at The Washington Post: “As Nicholas Jacobs, an assistant professor at Colby College and co-author of ‘The Rural Voter,’ put it: ‘A lot of the divide betw…

The Atlantic is running a piece by historian Edward J. Larson adapted from his new book Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters. Here is a taste: America’s year of independence, 1776, began with v…

No, this is not another post about the Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere. (See my quick post on the movie here.) The line in the title of this post comes from my piece at Christ and Pop Cu…

Jordan B. Smith is Associate Professor of History and Pre-Law Advisor at Widener University. This interview is based on his new book, The Invention of Rum: Creating the Quintessential Atlantic Comm…

Marc James Carpenter is Associate Professor of History at the University of Jamestown. This interview is based on his new book, The War on Illahee: Genocide, Complicity, and Cover-Ups in the Pionee…

Bruce Springsteen is the political theologian we need in such a time as this.

Jonathan S. Jones is Assistant Professor of History at James Madison University. This interview is based on his new book, Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America’s First Opioid Crisis (…

No, this is not another post about the Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere. (See my quick post on the movie here.) The line in the title of this post comes from my piece at Christ and Pop Culture, published today, on Springsteen's song "House of a Thousand Guitars." Here is a taste: There will be singing in the new heavens and new earth (

The Atlantic is running a piece by historian Edward J. Larson adapted from his new book Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters. Here is a taste: America’s year of independence, 1776, began with virtually all of those living in Britain’s 13 North American colonies content to remain under royal rule so long as they could enjoy the basic rights of British subjects.

A few things online that caught my attention this week: Coming home to Allentown “Making transition the first-line treatment for children was a mistake…” Does a doctorate in the h…

Here is a taste of Damon Linker's piece at The New York Times: Viewed in the long arc of American political history, it’s the Reaganite dispensation that appears to be an aberration. The period stretching from the Cold War, and especially Reagan’s election in 1980, through the presidency of George W. Bush and the candidacies of John McCain and Mitt Romney, was an unusual and fleeting moment of moderation and responsibility for the G.O.P.

It's been pretty gray here in Madison the last few days. Yesterday morning I sat on our 10th floor porch with a cup of coffee and I could feel the Wisconsin winter coming on. We even got some snow this weekend! Here's what's been happening since the last Madison Miscellany: My 5-week book group/seminar on Harry Stout's The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelicalism…

In the last couple of weeks several newer subscribers have noted that they get a lot of emails from The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog. That is because we post multiple times a day (and have been doing so for eighteen years) and WordPress, our publishing platform, creates and email for every post we write. So if your inbox is getting too full with our posts, here is a way to change that and still enjoy our content.

A few things online that caught my attention this week: Coming home to Allentown "Making transition the first-line treatment for children was a mistake..." Does a doctorate in the humanities or liberal arts hurt candidates applying for non-academic jobs Garrett Epps reviews Jill Lepore, We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution. Is human knowledge useless? The 1983…

For about a decade now I have been part of the Organization of American Historian's Distinguished Lectureship Program. Learn more about it here. As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States, I hope your organization or university will consider a lecture. A host of lecturers are offering 250th anniversary themes. Mine include: "Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?"

Here is Mark Wolf at The Atlantic: In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed me as a federal judge. I was 38 years old. At the time, I looked forward to serving for the rest of my life. However, I resigned Friday, relinquishing that lifetime appointment and giving up the opportunity for public service that I have loved. My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom.

In 1998, the Christian right was at a crossroads. Tragically, it took a path leading into the arms of Donald Trump.

Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson is having a moment. The 72-year-old Christian nationalist was recently the subject of a CNN story. He just planted a church in Washington, D.C. The secretary of defense, Pe...

In 1998, the Christian right was at a crossroads. Tragically, it took a path leading into the arms of Donald Trump.

Historian David Greenberg things he did. Check out Greenberg's piece at Politico: "How Dick Cheney's Lack of Restraint Paved the Way for Donald Trump." (Subtitle: "The former vice president wanted to strengthen the presidency. He didn't see where it would lead.") A taste: In ideology and policy, Cheney should be duly credited as a distinctly different species of conservative from Trump — someone whose very philosophy Trump stridently opposed.

Check out Elizabeth Bruenig's piece at The Atlantic: "The Catholic Church and the Trump Administration Are Not Getting Along." A taste: Although the MAGA movement is home to its share of outspoken Catholics (J. D. Vance, Steve Bannon, and Jack Posobiec, for example, as well as recent influxes of young converts) its anti-migrant attitude directly contradicts Church teaching about the dignity and love that the faithful owe to foreigners and refugees.

Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home: Trinity Christian College in Chicagoland is closing It was a big election night for Democrats. What are evangelicals saying? Evangelical roundup for November 2, 2025 More on the closure of Trinity Christian College “SOCIALISM! MARXISM!” Mintz: “The diploma is more expensive than ever, more widely distributed than ever, and more meaningless than ever.”