Podcast

The American Parish Today, part I

On this episode we hear from two of the most knowledgeable, hopeful voices in the American church: Susan Bigelow Reynolds, an expert theologian who studies “lived ecclesiology” at the parochial level, and Fr. Hector Madrigal, pastor of the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual St. Joseph’s Church in Amarillo, Texas.

The American Parish Today

Why Hong Kong Matters Now

China expert and social historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom, author of the new book Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink, joins us for a discussion about what we can learn from the protests.

Foreign Affairs

Social Justice

The Democrats' Dilemma

How should we understand the current split between so-called “progressives” and “moderates” in the Democratic Party? In the middle of an uncertain primary campaign, where can they find compromise and unity?

Domestic Affairs

Podcasts

Election 2020

Reporting Religion

Poet and reporter Eliza Griswold, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for her book ‘Amity and Prosperity’ and author of the new poetry collection ‘If Men, Then,’ explains how both genres have helped her tell stories that transcend her ego. She talks with us about writing poetry, reporting from conflict zones, and what the secular media get wrong about religious belief today.

Public Education in Crisis

What do billionaires like Betsy DeVos know about running schools? Absolutely nothing, argues public education expert Diane Ravitch. That’s why we need to join the resistance: parents, teachers’ unions, and progressive politicians fighting to save the public sphere.

God & Mammon

Does capitalism make us bad Christians? Eugene McCarraher thinks so. His new book, The Enchantments of Mammon, explains how money came to replace God in the modern era, seducing us with false promises of profit maximization.

Must Reads

Politics

Socialism or Feudalism

In today’s hypercapitalist society, the rich don’t just get richer. They accumulate more political power as they bend laws to their will.

By Frank Pasquale

June 15, 2020

Religion

A Different Kind of Catholic

Longtime peace activist Martin Gugino represents a face of Catholicism that Donald Trump would not know from the ‘powerful’ Catholics around him.

By Paul Moses

June 16, 2020

Culture

Working for Justice Means Taking Sides

Defending racist and violent policing as the result of individual “bad apples” doesn’t just obscure larger systemic problems. It hinders the pursuit of justice.

By Mollie Wilson O'Reilly

June 9, 2020

Books

Home Songs

A new, polyphonic collection with poems by more than a hundred Latinx writers responds to the vexed problem of identity with expansiveness, not reductionism.

By Isabella Simon

June 12, 2020

Collections

The Coronavirus

COVID-19 has profoundly affected our daily lives. Catch up with some of Commonweal’s best writing on the political and spiritual ramifications of the virus.

By The Editors

April 21, 2020