Essay
Family flourishing and the education of killer robots
Netflix’s re-imagining of a sci-fi classic shows what does—and does not—change about the human condition when a family is “Lost in Space.” […]
Articles by Thomas P. Harmon
The Dispatch
“Avengers: Infinity War” presents a villain for our times
The latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is about its villain far more than about its heroes. […]
The Dispatch
The reactionary moralism of Spielberg’s “Ready Player One”
Spielberg’s film is an improvement upon its source material, being more interested in charting out the hazards of virtual reality. […]
Features
From heroism to cynicism: The deconstruction of Luke Skywalker
The Last Jedi demythologizes Skywalker in order to deconstruct the cultural achievements of the original Star Wars trilogy and clear the way for a new […]
Film & Music
“Stranger Things 2”: Not quite strange enough
In its second season, Stranger Things shifts from a show about human beings with monsters in it, to a show about monsters with human beings […]
General
Judas and St. Peter in Scorsese’s “Silence”
Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence is a story meant to plumb the depths of the mysterium iniquitatis by focusing on the character of Judas Iscariot and his relationship with Christ. Martin Scorsese underlines the theme of […]
General
On the Dark and the Light in Star Wars
The newest Star Wars movie is different. That is not a controversial observation. Many of the features that shout “Star Wars!” have been deliberately removed: the opening crawl, the John Williams score, the Jedi as […]
General
What it means to be Catholic in America: A reading list
This election season has been trying for many, many reasons. It has been tough no matter your party affiliation or religion. But it has been particularly frustrating for Catholics, who have been subjected to endless […]
Books
Who Is God?
Remi Brague begins his lovely little book by stating: “What is truly interesting is that the images and concepts that have been made of God (which concepts are themselves, at bottom, but images) differ among […]
Books
Jim Gaffigan on Fatherhood for the Recovering Narcissist
Jim Gaffigan is Catholic. As he wryly informs us, his wife is “Shiite Catholic.” Does that make his new book, Dad Is Fat, Catholic? Is he, as the Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein put it, “the […]