Only through a life like Christ’s can such wrongs be righted, such senseless deaths set in counterpoint.

Isaac Butler’s new book mixes history and personal testimony to examine the ‘culture wars’ that shaped the 1980s—conflicts that differed in striking ways from the ones we’re witnessing today.

A decade and change ago, Paul Elie taught a class that I found formative. Its focus was first books, and he talked about each assignment in revelatory terms, prodding us graduate students to connec…

A decade and change ago, Paul Elie taught a class that I found formative. Its focus was first books, and he talked about each assignment in revelatory terms, prodding us graduate students to connec…

Last week, when asked if he had a message about the war in Iran for President Trump, Pope Leo XIV said, “Hopefully, he’s looking for an off-ramp.”

Cuts in publishing and book reviewing imperil the future of narrative nonfiction, and our understanding of the world around us.

Cuts in publishing and book reviewing imperil the future of narrative nonfiction, and our understanding of the world around us.

Pope Leo has appointed Ronald Hicks, a seemingly like-minded cleric, as the Archbishop of New York—historically, the most prominent post in the U.S. Church.

Will Pope Leo XIV follow the progressive example of his predecessor or chart a more moderate course? His work in Chicago and Peru may shed light on his approach.

Will Pope Leo XIV follow the progressive example of his predecessor or chart a more moderate course? His work in Chicago and Peru may shed light on his approach.

Why our top picks of the year were about serial killers, silence and the enduring grace of the written word, according to The Times' reviewers.

It's often remarked that America has become less religious. But what if that religiosity hasn't disappeared, but just taken less visible forms?

Tracing the overlapping paths of two Joyces — artist and cleric, skeptic and believer — who negotiated a new world in the Eternal City

‎History · 2025

Philosophy, literature, ideas, criticism, history, art, music from The Chronicle of Higher Education.

YouTube video by American Writers Museum

For all of you ’70s and ’80s hipsters, I’ve got one for you. In his new book, acclaimed author Paul Elie (“The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex and Controversy in the 1980s,” Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 20...

For at least a year, the mail room in Penguin’s New York headquarters utilized a bomb-sniffing dog—named, for some unknown reason, Yalta—to screen packages. On one especially unnerving Saturday the fe...

For at least a year, the mail room in Penguin’s New York headquarters utilized a bomb-sniffing dog—named, for some unknown reason, Yalta—to screen packages. On one especially unnerving Saturday the fe...

For at least a year, the mail room in Penguin’s New York headquarters utilized a bomb-sniffing dog—named, for some unknown reason, Yalta—to screen packages. On one especially unnerving Saturday the fe...

The real thesis of the book is an argument that everyone who approaches the past or the present of art without looking to religion is simply mistaken.

From Madonna to Martin Scorsese, Paul Elie makes the case for spirituality’s influence on American musicians, writers and artists in the decade of materialism

Michael O'Loughlin interviews Paul Elie, author of "The Last Supper," exploring the stories of struggle for gay Catholics in 1980s New York.

His book explores the religious roots of some of the biggest artists of the 1980s. Listen now on the Dishcast.

What do Andy Warhol, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Flannery O’Connor, and Bono all have in common? According to writer and cultural historian Paul Elie,

Paul Eli'e's 'The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex and Controversy' investigates pop culture’s crypto-religious, uncanny symbols of immanence and transcendence.

Short reviews of recent releases.

The Independent is an important voice in the community of readers and writers dedicated to book reviews and writing about the world of books.

How do Pope Francis's call to a "culture of encounter" in "Fratelli Tutti" and his recurring emphasis on literature as a means of encounter point to/open up ways forward in a divided world?

What if American religiosity hasn’t disappeared, but just taken less visible forms?

Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.

For more than three decades, Paul Elie has been charting the often-overlooked topographies where faith, culture, and the arts converge. His latest book, "The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controve...

Nonfiction writer Paul Elie joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss his new book The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex, and Controversy in the 1980s and Pope Leo XIV. Elie comp…

In “The Last Supper,” Paul Elie explores how controversies over artists like Sinéad O’Connor and Keith Haring paved the way for today’s political and cultural rifts.

A cell phone tableau of inclusion and splendor from last year’s synod contrasts the Francis pontificate with this week’s secret meetings to choose his successor.

From the daily newsletter: a dispatch from Vatican City, where the Pope was laid to rest today.

Pope Francis has long advocated for immigrants, refugees, and the vulnerable—but the Church, like other institutions, may need to find new ways to sustain its commitments.

The author’s latest book examines the tension between religious and political conservatives and secular popular artists and entertainers in the 1980s.

Carlos Lozada is a columnist for The New York Times, based in Washington. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2019, while with The Was...