As a journalist, there are few things that I find more interesting than listening to the views of liberal thinkers who ask questions that make liberals nervous, or upset, and conservative thinkers who ask questions that make their fellow conservatives nervous, or upset.
One tragic, haunted, story about a dead streetwalker
Every now and then, The Washington Post focuses quite a bit of talent and effort on telling a long, detailed story that focuses on the darker, more tragic, side of life here in The District.
Sandra Fluke, Time's 'Person of the Year' and tender stories
Time magazine is doing its annual PR blitz for its “Person of the Year.” After I won the designation in 2006, I stopped paying attention to it. Since then the honor has gone to Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Mark Zuckerberg and “the protester.” And yes, if you’re wondering, the tradition of selecting a Man of the Year began in 1927 with Time editors contemplating newsworthy stories possible during a slow news week. We’ve all been there.
Times tries to pin a label on Dorothy Day (updated)
Back in the early 1990s, I had a chance to interview the late Father Ellwood “Bud” Kaiser about his unique career as a Catholic priest and as a producer in modern Hollywood, through Paulist Productions. Much of the interview focused on his film “Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story.”
Going off-script: Angus Jones zaps 'Two and a Half Men'
First things first. I sincerely hope that you’ve never had the displeasure of watching the abominable show “Two and a Half Men.”
Puritans lacked an Object for their Thanksgivings?
As of the moment I started writing this post, the following headlines graced — if that’s the right word — the top of The Drudge Report.
On women bishops: Who voted 'no' and why?
To the shock of legions of mainstream reporters, the Church of England fell just short of approving the long-debated step of raising women to the Anglican episcopate.
CNN on the superstar Stanleys: The ties that blind
Suffice it to say that I started working my way onto the religion-news beat in the late 1970s, precisely the era in which the Southern Baptist Convention — the mega-denomination in which I was raised, as part of a family active on all levels of SBC life — veered into a civil war that took very few prisoners.
The murder of Shaima Alawadi and media credulousness
I mentioned the story of Shaima Al Awadhi the other day. (Previous coverage here, here and here.) I became mildly obsessed with her after news of her unbelievably brutal killing broke in March. Al Awadhi was only 32 years old when she died and was a mother of five. She was attacked in her home, succumbing to her injuries a few days later.
