Leah Libresco's Blog, page 16

Hedgehogs of Redemption and the Comedy of Grace

One of my friends has been coordinating a series of Narnia book clubs, and, prompted by our discussion of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I’ve written a piece for Aleteia on a particularly farcical gift of grace in that book. The most pleased of the lot was the other lion, who kept running about [Read More...]

7QT: Remixes, Underwear, & Fake Fingers

— 1 — I’m not going to make you wait for it (wait for it).  The video of the Hamilton cast doing their relyricized opening number to tell the tale of Sweeney Todd is up! (Part of the annual Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit) — 2 — And, in another interesting bit of Hamilton reworking, [Read More...]

Mercy, Justice, and How To Tell The Difference

I haven’t blogged at all about Pope Francis’s Apostolic exortation Amoris Laetitia, for the simple reason that I haven’t yet read it! So I’m not in a position to analyze it myself or to evaluate other people’s takes on it. But Eve Tushnet wrote a reflection for First Things which opens with a good analysis [Read More...]

Running the Stats on Shakespeare!

Shakespeare’s 400th death day comes up this weekend, so I’ve done some analysis for FiveThirtyEight on which of his plays wind up taught outside English class (and offered a few recommendations of my own): Psychology students most often encounter Shakespeare’s great madmen: King Lear and Hamlet. Perhaps they’re the ones to blame for the more [Read More...]

When a Wedding Guide Leaves Out The Wedding Night

I’m at First Things, covering the unexpected gap I’ve found in the wedding planning books I’ve been reading. I became engaged at Easter, and, as I’ve started planning our wedding with my fiancé, I’ve noticed a suspicious lacuna in the wedding how-to’s I’ve picked up. I would have thought, after one magazine’s handbook covered strategies for [Read More...]

Fighting Weaponized Acedia

Commonweal has my double review of Acedia and Its Discontents: Metaphysical Boredom in an Empire of Desire by R.J. Snell and Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas by Natasha Dow Schüll.  Why review those two book alongside each other? I’m so glad that you asked. Slots, video poker, and other gambling machines are often described [Read More...]

I’m Speaking in NYC on Fights and Statistics

I have two speaking gigs coming up in New York City, if you’re in town or have friends who are interested in arguments, statistics or both!   Theology on Tap: “Fighting in Good Faith” April 11, 7:30p 121 W 45th St, New York, NY 10036 How to avoid “agreeing to disagree” while still engaging with [Read More...]

Engagement, A Bibliography

On Easter Sunday, my boyfriend proposed to me at Belvedere Castle in Central Park. And I feel the best way to invite you all into my joy is to share the bibliography of our courtship — the favorite books we asked each other to read, the books we read for the first time together, the [Read More...]

Dwelling In Wounds To Hide From Grace

I really enjoyed seeing a broadcast of Kenneth Brannagh’s The Winter’s Tale (and, if the taped version becomes more widely available, I highly recommend it). I’d only seen it once before, and one thing that changed for me when I saw this new one was that I couldn’t simply see Paulina as a pure heroine [Read More...]

7QT: The Peculiar Virtues of Daredevil, Pool Table Mechanics, and Silly Names

— 1 — I didn’t even know that there existed pay-to-play pool tables, but I was really happy to watch this short video on how the machinery inside manages to return the cue ball to you when you sink it, but divert all the other balls to a locked chamber, waiting for the next game.