Richard Bernstein tackles difficult topics in his short study of an extraordinary entertainer, Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson in Lithuania in 1886), and a profoundly important movie—and not just because “The Jazz Singer” is recognized as the “first talkie.”
Music
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and the Communion of Saints
Bob Dylan, more than anyone, fused the pop cultural and the religious experience into one.
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
A Bob Dylan nerd reviews ‘A Complete Unknown’
As a young Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” Timothee Chalamet captures some of the iconic singer’s enigmatic yet magnetic personality.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
How a scandalous love song became a sacred Christmas carol: ‘What Child is This?’
On the final episode of Hark! this season, prepare yourselves for a wee bit of scandal because we’re looking at a tune that began as a bawdy love song and has long been associated with an evil monarch, but which, over the course of three centuries, finds its redemption as a Christmas carol. This is the story behind, “What Child Is This?”
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
‘What Child is This?’ brings us closer to Christ and the mystery of His birth
While “What Child Is This?” is an explicitly Christmas song, the tune speaks to the mystery of identity and purpose—questions that transcend religious boundaries and appeal to the human experience.
Posted inFaith
This Advent, let ‘Of the Father’s Love Begotten’ draw you closer to Jesus
My favorite carols are often among the least known.
Posted inFaith
‘The Little Drummer Boy’ reminds us we all have gifts to share this Advent
The Advent season prepares us for the incredibly humble journey of Jesus’ birth. This carol provides another dimension of this humility.
Posted inArts & Culture, Podcasts
Did the magi really exist? Investigating the story behind the Christmas carol
Besides its musical beauty and thrilling sense of wonder, the song ‘We Three Kings’ offers a treasure trove of stories to unwrap.
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
Puccini, opera and the arts as a gift from God
Giacomo Puccini, the composer of “La Bohème,” “Tosca” and “Madama Butterfly,” has been called the world’s most popular songwriter, and with good reason.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Pope Francis and Chappell Roan both refused to endorse Trump or Harris. Catholics can learn from the backlash.
Too often, Catholics expect Pope Francis to reflect their personal or political convictions perfectly, forgetting that he is the head of a global church, not of a political party of any particular country.