At first glance, online provocateurs Nick Fuentes and Richard Hanania come from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Hanania represents a utilitarian left-wing vision that dismisses the value of human life, while Fuentes pays lip service to social conservative positions on life issues. But, Bethel McGrew argues, they both “see the world through pagan eyes and analyze it with pagan logic.”

For further reading: Louise Perry wrote about how paganism is creeping back into public life, less so as a religious practice but as a world view. Hanania and Fuentes’s popularity is perhaps evidence that “We Are Repaganizing” (October 2023). 

From the December issue: Daniel Kahneman, behavioral economist and expert in decision making, made the startling decision to kill himself last year. J. Mark Mutz examines what might have caused the man who helped millions of people make decisions with his book Thinking, Fast and Slow to opt for assisted suicide.

For further reading: The story of Kahneman’s research and his friendship with psychologist Amos Tversky was the subject of the 2016 book The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball, The Big Short, and The Blind Side. Peter Leithart reviewed The Undoing Project in “Distance and Decision-Making” (2017).

George Weigel dedicates this week’s column to books that would be good for gifting. They span everything from Catholic social teaching and the complex relationship between Thomas Merton and his abbot to speculative foreign policy.

For further reading: The editors shared their fall reads last week. Perhaps they can also serve as gift inspiration.

Upcoming Events

• February 1, 2026: Second Annual Neuhaus Lecture at the New College of Florida | Sarasota, FL. Details coming soon.

Until next time,

VIRGINIA AABRAM

Newsletter Editor