Peter Biles
A New McDonald’s PlayPlace Doesn’t Look Very Fun
A virtual playground doesn't offer kids genuine play
Ross Douthat Makes the Case that Religious Belief Is Rational
His new book is written largely with the agnostic or full-on atheist in mind but believers would certainly also benefit, as I did
“60 Minutes” Segment Lauds Censorship
Free speech can indeed be "weaponized," but according to the founders of the United States, it was intended to be a weapon against government overreach.
A Novelist Posts on the Paranormal
Accounting for experiences of the supernatural
Douthat: Our Minds Are Tied to Reality
The New York Times columnist thinks everyone should be more religious“The world is intelligible,” Ross Douthat said to Jonah Goldberg on “The Remnant” podcast. Douthat, an opinion columnist at The New York Times, has a new book coming out on religion and why “everyone should be more religious,” and he joined Goldberg to discuss the book along with our current political landscape. Douthat, a Catholic, referenced fine tuning and the profound evidence of intentional design in nature as one of the motivations for his own faith. He told Goldberg that it’s remarkable that we have minds that are able to accurately comprehend the world around us, let alone the chemical makeup of the universe. Our questioning natures, bent on discovering the truth of things, demonstrate that we live in something Read More ›
Sports Gambling: The New Addiction Storming America
Making money off your favorite team just got wildly popular. But is it healthy?Super Bowl 2025 is less than two weeks away, with the Philadelphia Eagles finding themselves in a rematch with reigning champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. Sports engagement has ballooned over the past few years through the medium of online sports betting. Formerly illegal, sports betting has taken the U.S. by storm, with major celebrities and sports stars going on air advocating the practice. Making money off your favorite team just got wildly popular. But is it healthy? A recent article titled “I Got Divorced Because of Sports Betting” shows the dark side of the gamble. Pitched as an easy way to make money online, no one talks about the mad fury that ensues after your bet fails to deliver, your Read More ›
The Tech Giants Looming in the Background
The presence of these tech giants at Trump's inauguration signals a major "vibe shift" in the culture.
TikTok is Back, Thanks to Trump. The Battle Against Tech Addiction Continues
TikTok has gone through a chaotic whirlwind over the last few days
TikTok is on the Verge of a Ban. Now Users Are Flocking to Another Chinese App.
National security and the mental health of a generation are at stakeA federal ban of the wildly popular social media app TikTok is set to take effect on Sunday, unless a last-minute intervention occurs, or an American-owned business buys the company. The FBI, as well as several state authorities around the country, have said the app represents a national security threat, as it allows a foreign adversary to access the data of the 170 million Americans who use it. Apart from the issue of national security, plenty of people, particularly sociologist Jonathan Haidt, have pointed out TikTok’s profound negative impact on kids and users in general. TikTok uses an advanced algorithm system to hook its users. Haidt and his research assistant, Zach Rausch, list out the multiple harms: Executives within the Read More ›
Music in the Mind
The need for poetry in totalitarian times
Podcast Guest Claims He Won’t Die, Says We’re Creating God With AI
Got immortality? This man says he has the secret.
2025: Rejecting Brain Rot
Toward a more embodied and human way of life
Re-enchanting the Secular West
More writers and intellectuals recognize the need for right-brain thinking
2024 Was Substack’s Year and a Win for Independent Media
The rise of independent writers and creators threatens traditional media and publishing“You are the media now.” If Oxford were to have a “phrase of the year,” it might be that single little line, which, if you kept in touch with the media’s pulse over the last few months, makes a lot of sense. 2024 was arguably the year of the meteoric rise of the independent creator and the calamitous fall of the so-called legacy media. More than any other time in the digital era, it’s obvious that people with no ties to the gatekeeping institutions of our culture can create and distribute videos, journalism, and literature. You don’t have to send a million stories to The New Yorker anymore, only to be rejected. You can post your own commentary on Substack Read More ›
Is Bluesky Any Better than X? Social Media’s Real Problem Remains
Whatever platform it is, social media will always have toxicity
The Drones Continue to Hover
Mystery drones have been sighted in New Jersey and other states
In a Changing Media Landscape, Keep the Novel
Novels are unique in their capacity to shed insight into the complexity of our world and human nature
The Absurdity of Our Media Moment
When crimes seem almost scripted to stoke division and speculation