Five Things You Need to Read Today

Here's your weekly update, for subscribers only, drawing your attention to five stories that are worth catching. This week, the main theme is the growth of "anti-humanism."

1. Secular Anti-Humanism, Part 1

I remember back when conservatives used to complain about "secular humanism." I always thought the second part, the "humanism" part, was off-base, particularly because it was used to refer to inhuman totalitarian doctrines like Communism. But now, in the age of environmentalism, it's obviously obsolete. Hence the theme of John Podhoretz's excellent review of Darren Aronofsky's new film, mother! (the lower case and exclamation point are part of the pretentious styling of the film's publicity). There are plenty of spoilers in this review, but trust me, having seen one Darren Aronofsky film—the similarly anti-humanist Noah—you want to spare yourself the agony of actually watching this thing.

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