Guest: New York Times Columnist Ross Douthat on The Decadent Society
Ross Douthat is a columnist for the New York Times op-ed page. He is the author of To Change the Church, Bad Religion, and Privilege, and coauthor of Grand New Party. Before joining the New York Times, he was a senior editor for the Atlantic. He is the film critic for National Review, and he cohosts the New York Times’s weekly op-ed podcast, The Argument. He lives in New Haven with his wife and three children.
Ross’s latest book is The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success. Today the Western world seems to be in crisis. But beneath our social media frenzy and reality television politics, the deeper reality is one of drift, repetition, and dead ends. The Decadent Society explains what happens when a rich and powerful society ceases advancing—how the combination of wealth and technological proficiency with economic stagnation, political stalemates, cultural exhaustion, and demographic decline creates a strange kind of “sustainable decadence,” a civilizational languor that could endure for longer than we think.
Reviews of The Decadent Society
- ALBERT MOHLER: The Decadent and the Damned? Ross Douthat’s Timely Vision of Western Civilization
- PETER THIEL: Back to the Future
- NYT: Ross Douthat Has a Vision of America. It’s Grim
- WP: How success ruined the West
- NATIONAL REVIEW: Ross Douthat Foresees the Same Old ‘Same Old Same-Old’
- WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Decline and Fall
- MERE ORTHODOXY: Book Review: The Decadent Society by Ross Douthat
- THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON: Review: Ross Douthat’s ‘The Decadent Society’
- THE NEW REPUBLIC: The Modern World Disappoints Ross Douthat
- CITY JOURNAL: Decadence As Alienation
- PUBLIC DISCOURSE: The Long Autumn of Our Content
Guest: Rachel Gilson on Born Again This Way
Rachel Gilson serves on the leadership team of Theological Development and Culture with Cru. Her writing has appeared in Christianity Today and for Desiring God and The Gospel Coalition, and she regularly speaks at churches and on college campuses. Rachel is wrapping up her Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and lives in the Boston area with her husband and daughter.
As a Christian who experiences same-sex attraction, is it possible to live a life that’s faithful and fulfiling? Rachel Gilson wants to show you that it is. Living as a Christian with same-sex attraction is not just a case of limping to the finish line—it’s possible to run the race with joy.
In this powerful and personal book, she describes her own unexpected journey of coming out and coming to faith… and what came next. As she does so, she addresses many of the questions that Christians living with same-sex attraction are wrestling with: Am I consigned to a life of loneliness? How do I navigate my friendships? Will my desires ever change? Is there some greater purpose to all this? What comes next, and next, and next?
Drawing on insights from the Bible and the experiences of others, Born Again This Way provides assurance and encouragement for Christians with same-sex attraction, and paints a compelling picture of discipleship for every believer. Whatever your sexuality, this book is an inspiring testimony of how a life submitted to Jesus will be fulfilling and fruitful—but not always in the ways we might expect.