Leah Libresco's Blog, page 14

Why Do Weinsteins Flourish?

I joined Julia Yost on the First Things podcast to talk about my article “How Vulgarity Normalizes Predators” and how abusers like Weinstein have an easier time hiding their abuse in plain sight when we accept moderate sexual harassment as just the way things are.

You can listen to the full episode here. I’m the guest for the first segment. In the final segment, one of the guests is a dog. Literally.

Fare Forward returns, with me on New Stoicism

Fare Forward, the Christian journal of ideas, is returning to print this December with a special edition. I have a feature on New Stoicism, with particular emphasis on Ryan Holiday (The Obstacle is the Way) and Massimo Pigliucci (How to be a Stoic)

The magazine will also include:

Matthew Loftus and Brandon McGinley (author of The Joys and Challenges of Family Life) on postliberal fatherhood.
Interview with Ross Douthat.
Charlie Clark on Walker Percy and the modern condition.
Susannah Black in defense of the city.
Kevin Gallagher reviewing Before Church and State .
Poetry by D. Wright, M. Maddox, P. Willis, and J.C. Scharl.
Plus Eve Tushnet, Tim Markatos, Peter Blair, and other people on topics I don’t know yet!

The issue is available to preorder now, for yourself or as a gift for a friend for Christmas.

I’m looking forward to my copy.

I’m keynoting at a Con for Christian nerds!

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be giving the keynote speech at this year’s Doxacon (a Christian convention on fantasy and science fiction)! Tickets are on sale now (and there’s an early bird rate, so if you think you’ll come, or you have a friend who would be interested, go ahead and book). My husband [Read More...]

How do you throw a fasting and silence party?

The New Yorker has written a profile of Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option, and my husband and I were interviewed as part of the article. (It was very funny overhearing the New Yorker fact checker asking Alexi to confirm he was wearing a bow-tie when we met with the author, and that the mac-and-cheese we ate could [Read More...]

Lenten disciplines draw on our weakness, not our strength

The most aggravating thing I’ve given up for Lent was jaywalking. I’m from New York, originally, and it’s habit to step into the road regardless of whether the light is green for me. Jaywalking was a good discipline for me because it’s clearly not a very big sacrifice. There’s no way for me to think [Read More...]

I’m speaking about my conversion in Denver!

The archdiocese of Denver is running a special season of Theology on Taps this spring on “Why I am Catholic.” I’ll be kicking off the series this coming Monday, January 9th, with “Arriving at Amen: An Atheist’s Conversion to Catholicism.” If you’re in Denver, or have a friend in Denver, let me know if you’ll [Read More...]

Books on deck for me for 2017

Getting married meant I read a lot fewer books this year than usual. According to my Goodreads account, I read 195 books this past year (that comprised a total of about fifty-eight thousand pages).  And eleven and a half of those were books I specifically set out to read in last year’s Books on Deck post. (Ok, [Read More...]

The post Books on deck for me for 2017 appeared first on Unequally Yoked.

My Favorite Books of 2016

These are my favorite books I read for the first time in 2016 (here’s last year’s list). Well, technically, my favorite books I read from December 2015-November 2016, since I always put this list together in time for people to grab Christmas gift ideas. And, if you’re looking for other book recommendations from me, you [Read More...]

The post My Favorite Books of 2016 appeared first on Unequally Yoked.

The Boring, Quiet Rituals that Sustain Us Spiritually

When I worked as an instructor at the Center for Applied Rationality, a lot of our curriculum on cognitive biases felt secretly virtue ethics-y: Here’s how small choices you make (including ones about what environments you exist in) shape your big choices and who you grow up to be. I really enjoyed reading James K. [Read More...]

Theology nerds (who are also generally nerds) come to Toronto!

I had a great time last year at Doxacon DC, a day of talks, revelry, and occasional cosplay for people who are deeply interested in both Christianity and fantasy/science fiction. So I’m thrilled to tell you that I’ll be the keynote speaker this fall for Doxacon Toronto (and that my now-fiancé, then-husband will be giving [Read More...]