We often hear or read a word or phrase or we listen to a piece of music and we absorb it immediately without thinking. As Catholics, we have filters — defenses, really — that block or at least alert us to problematic messages. But some problematic messages slip through easily. I now realize that they…

The recent spike in silver prices has been framed, predictably, as a kind of vindication. On social media, metallists celebrate while mocking cryptocurrency advocates; old debates are resurrected as though price action itself had rendered a philosophical verdict. But this framing misses the point entirely. Silver is not “winning.” Bitcoin is not “losing.” What is…

Once upon a time, Hollywood used to produce movies. Real movies, that is. They were like serious novels but on celluloid. They were movies that explored the depths of the human condition, with its soaring peaks and dreadful valleys. It was a time when formidable creativity was placed at the service of truth and beauty….