Ruth Graham
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ruthgraham.bsky.social
Ruth Graham
@ruthgraham.bsky.social
National correspondent at The New York Times covering religion, faith and values. ~Texas~. Ruth.Graham@nytimes.com
"It wasn’t really around when I was a young kid — that you could feel like you have a calling to A-list stars.” @skestenbaum.bsky.social profiles Judah Smith, and asks where the hypepriests of the 2010s fit into Charlie Kirk-style evangelicalism that succeeded them: www.vulture.com/article/juda...
The Hypepriest Riding the Bieber Wave
Judah Smith’s message of compassion earned him many famous followers. Is he out of step with other Evangelicals?
www.vulture.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:17 PM
wrong again, genius
January 5, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Willa Cather, “The Professor’s House”
January 4, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Ruth Graham
I went to Texas to write about the sudden end of one of America's most successful experiments: the six decades of welcoming India's most educated and ambitious citizens. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/o...
Opinion | One of America’s Most Successful Experiments Is Coming to a Shuddering Halt
www.nytimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 7:25 PM
“A Christmas Story” is about how actually it rules to get exactly what you want
December 26, 2025 at 1:05 AM
“The women moved through the day unhurried. There was no rushing to finish so they could get on to the ‘important things.’" www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/b...
Sue Bender, Who Wrote About Living With the Amish, Dies at 91
www.nytimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:20 PM
"In attuning ourselves to phone notifications, we seem to have accidentally recovered a form of attention that was once more clearly vital to Christian life." Lovely and truly thought-provoking (not just tut-tutting over Our Age of Distraction!): www.americamagazine.org/art/2025/11/...
To see as Mary sees: Marian art in an age of distraction
Marian art shows that distractability is itself a form of attention, one that is essential to living a Christian life.
www.americamagazine.org
December 18, 2025 at 3:26 PM
A new archbishop in New York, and an early signal of the direction in which Pope Leo wants to take the church in his home country. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
Pope Leo Names Illinois Bishop to Replace Cardinal Dolan in New York
www.nytimes.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Happy birthday to Beethoven! In his honor, TURN IT UP and FEEL SOMETHING: youtu.be/Rd0HnxWm5CY?...
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 | Bernard Haitink & the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
YouTube video by DW Classical Music
youtu.be
December 16, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Huge news for people of my exact age, background, taste, and demographic. www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-1...
Period drama hailed as 'unforgettable' finally streaming 31 years on
The show, which is based on Catherine Marshall's historical novel of the same name, was on our screens originally on CBS between April 1994 and August 1995.
www.dailymail.co.uk
December 15, 2025 at 8:22 PM
"'Elon Musk is becoming a role model now,' said Zhang. An increasing number of 'crazy rich' clients are commissioning dozens, or even hundreds, of U.S.-born babies with the goal of 'forging an unstoppable family dynasty.'" www.wsj.com/us-news/chin...
The Chinese Billionaires Having Dozens of U.S.-Born Babies Via Surrogate
Videogame executive Xu Bo, said to have more than 100 children, and other elites are building mega-families—testing citizenship laws and drawing on nannies, IVF and legal firms set up to help them.
www.wsj.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Here's what I read for fun in 2025. Some deep cuts from long-time faves, some new ones, some mysteries, some memoirs on lepidopterology and the nature of memory (actually I guess just one of those)
December 12, 2025 at 10:10 PM
A perfect storm of technology, cultural conditions and educational choices seem to be producing a generation of kids who are not readers. Read to the end (like our kids should be doing!) for some slivers of hope. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class.
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Like so many tech stories right now, this is also religion story: a 25-year-old founder who has moved through a Doug Wilson-affiliated church, is now Eastern Orthodox, and "quotes the Bible and Elon Musk in the same breath." By @ainsleyharris.bsky.social: www.fastcompany.com/91448561/thi...
The hardest startup in America
Augustus Doricko’s Rainmaker uses cloud seeding to bring rain where it’s needed. In the process, he’s been swept up in a storm of controversy.
www.fastcompany.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Ruth Graham
Frederick Sandys, Jacob Hears the Voice of the Lord, engraved by the Dalziel Brothers, 1881
https://botfrens.com/collections/14375/contents/1113220
December 9, 2025 at 11:29 AM
"Our generation — we’re the test dummies for the internet and social media. ... That’s what’s leading to what I guess is a spiritual revolution.” Smart wide-angle look at the complex Gen Z religious landscape from @michelleboorstein.bsky.social: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Religious leaders say they’re observing a hidden trend among younger Americans
Religious affiliation has been dropping among young people for decades, but examples abound of surging interest on college campuses and in cities like D.C.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Ah, yes, the two uses
December 4, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Did ... did a dad write this?
December 2, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Ruth Graham
Thousands of people gathered Tuesday near Beirut’s destroyed port where Pope Leo XIV celebrated a waterfront Mass. It was an extraordinary end to his first international trip as head of the Roman Catholic Church, which he used to deliver a message of peace to a tumultuous region. trib.al/QaoHdq9
December 2, 2025 at 4:33 PM
This Giving Tuesday, please remember the countless Media Americans who want to read the substack posts but also can't bring themselves to subscribe
December 2, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Ruth Graham
Absolutely stunned and honored to see THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US on this list.

I'm grateful beyond words to the five families who trusted me with their stories and allowed me to witness their struggle to secure a home.
The 10 Best Books of 2025
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Ruth Graham
Great culture can save lives. Literally.

Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Reposted by Ruth Graham
Oscar Jespers, Temptation of St. Anthony, 1934
https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1136243
December 1, 2025 at 5:51 AM
"To a degree unimaginable to modern humans, public spaces in the 2020s were dominated by the constant clattering of enormous metal water bottles being noisily unscrewed, set down on hard surfaces, and, somehow even more frequently, accidentally knocked over"—social historians of the future, probably
December 1, 2025 at 3:50 PM
"For more than a decade, Catholic nuns and clergy members visited the Broadview facility every Friday ... The coalition included Sister JoAnn Persch, who regularly visited the facility until her death last week at 91." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/u...
Catholic Group Sues Trump Administration for Access to Immigration Facility
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:26 PM