“Making the Welfare State Less Intrusive”

Last updated on: August 6, 2014 at 2:51 pm By Eve Tushnet

some thoughts from Jesse Walker: …The sorts of welfare-reform tinkering that interest me most are the ones that cashify and combine programs. By cashify, I mean taking a subsidy with strings attached—food stamps, Section 8 housing vouchers, anything like that—and instead just sending money to the people who qualify for it, letting them choose how to spend it. That way taxpayers can reduce the bureaucratic overhead (and sometimes corporate welfare) involved in administering the program; and that way the clients, who... Read more

“Youngest Son Adds Laments to the Indie Hymnal”: I’m at AmCon

Last updated on: August 6, 2014 at 1:46 pm By Eve Tushnet

with some music: We’ve tussled here about the possible merits of Mumford & Sons, and discussed other albums from the Christ-haunted section of the indie music world. There may be enough of these artists now to constitute a tradition or subgenre: heartfelt guys with sincere guitars, aching and unslaked souls whose faith is found in silhouette, in the negative space which remains despite everything they’ve lost. Youngest Son, a project of heartfelt/sincere Chicagoan Steve Slagg, has two new albums which... Read more

“Gay, Christian, And… Celibate”: Religion News Service

Last updated on: August 6, 2014 at 1:44 pm By Eve Tushnet

everybody’s doin’ it!: When Julie Rodgers came out as a lesbian at age 17, her mom responded by taking her to an ex-gay ministry in Dallas. Rodgers had grown up in a nondenominational evangelical church where she assumed being gay wasn’t an option. “With ex-gay ministries, it gave me the space to be honest about my sexuality,” said Rodgers, now 28. Yet that same honesty eventually led her away from ex-gay ministries. Rodgers spent several years in Exodus, the now-defunct ex-gay... Read more

I Review Christopher Beha’s New Novel of Reality-TV Redemption

Last updated on: August 1, 2014 at 12:05 pm By Eve Tushnet

for AmCon: Christopher Beha’s Arts & Entertainments is built around a classic morality-tale structure: the devil’s bargain, the spiraling consequences, the choice between a good reputation and a good conscience. Eddie Hartley is an acting teacher of the “those who can’t do” type, whose marriage is being ground down by his wife Susan’s longing for the children they can’t conceive on their own. To pay for another round of IVF treatments, Hartley sells a sex tape from his youthful relationship... Read more

From Helen Oyeyemi, “The Opposite House”

Last updated on: August 1, 2014 at 11:58 am By Eve Tushnet

Despina’s [wedding] dress was the second most beautiful in the world–this dress was satin, with a mist of silver mesh, the kind of dress that makes its wearer look newly wept. Read more

“Three Models for Intentional Communities of Friends”: Leah Libresco

Last updated on: July 31, 2014 at 6:27 pm By Eve Tushnet

blogs: To close out this week’s series on friendship, I’d like to recommend three articles on people building intentional communities that make it easier to bring friends to the center of our lives — a space conventionally reserved for family and lovers. more Read more

I Write About the Rise of Cracked.com as an Actual Journalism Behemoth Thing

Last updated on: July 31, 2014 at 10:53 am By Eve Tushnet

for AmSpec: Gallows humor is one of the most traditional and least savory elements of esprit de corps. For cops, doctors, soldiers, social workers—anybody whose job site is the miserable human heart—gallows humor puts the “against the world” into us-against-the-world. In a Venn diagram of “jokes cops post in online forums” and “civil rights violations,” a lot of material would fall in the overlap area. Emergency-room abbreviations like CTD (Circling the Drain) or FDGB (Fall Down Go Boom) cauterize the... Read more

From Christopher Beha, “Arts and Entertainments”

Last updated on: July 31, 2014 at 10:51 am By Eve Tushnet

“Eddie, this is Geena Tuff from Star Style. I’m calling to see if you’d like to sit down with me for an interview.” “No thanks.” “Think of it as a unique opportunity to get your side of the story on the record.” “I don’t really have a side of the story.” –Eddie Hartley, saying something we should all say more often Read more

All My Musical Rosary Posts in One Place

Last updated on: July 22, 2014 at 4:21 pm By Eve Tushnet

For your convenience. My favorites as freestanding posts were Presentation and Resurrection. #1–Annunciation #2–Visitation #3–Nativity #4–Presentation #5–Finding Jesus in the Temple #6–Agony in the Garden #7–Scourging at the Pillar #8–Crowning with Thorns #9–Carrying the Cross #10–Crucifixion #11–Resurrection #12–Ascension #13–Descent of the Holy Spirit #14–Assumption #15–Crowning of Mary, Queen of Heaven Read more

HEY Remember That Movie I Loved, About Same-Sex Attracted Catholics?

Last updated on: July 22, 2014 at 1:28 pm By Eve Tushnet

You can watch it online now!! Here’s my review; here’s the movie. Now you have your plans for this evening. Read more