popular culture

The 2021 National Prayer Breakfast (NPB), held annually the first Thursday in February and attended by every sitting President since its founding in 1953, reverted this year to dishing out their faith…

Brother Laeo Mystwood looks at the camera, his body obscured by a 3D avatar. He is talking about the many coincidences of his life and how they led him to believe that he’s living in a computer…

If you’ve spent much time around fandoms, online or off, you’ve surely heard something like, “Celebrity X (or TV show, or book series, etc.) is great, but my God , their fans are the worst .” Of…

Positivity and positive thinking are very often held as inherently good qualities to embody. If you think positively, so the reasoning goes, you will live a better life. Self-help gurus and guides…

We could spend time preciously putting together a mildly clever and gently informative introduction to this list of RD’s most read stories, but if a perfectly rotten year has taught us anything it’s…

Like many areas in American life, the symbols of Christmas are haunted by the specter of race hovering in the background. Personally, I’m totally comfortable with Santa Claus being depicted as white…

New York City has the reputation of a place with absolutely zero patience for BS. This is a money-city, a global financial center driven by real estate, banking, and the stock market. Yes of course…

Christmas is nearly upon us, and for those observing this means smaller if not cancelled family gatherings. In this long and draining year, why not find consolation in the spirit of the Saturnalia as…

Under Trump’s presidency there has been a rise in high profile anti-Jewish incidents. Perhaps because these incidents are often perpetrated by white supremacists who hold denigrating racialized views…

In case you missed it: Religion has had quite a year. The Muslim Ban celebrated its second (or third) birthday . Reproductive justice once again took a backseat to religious “liberty,” and queer…