It’s that time of year. A friend texts a picture of one red leaf on a maple tree, with a sad-face emoji. Your after-dinner walk is now a race with falling dark. Keats called it the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.” Americans know it as back-to-school.
NR’s October issue is a progress report on education, from K–12 through college. Frederick M. Hess kicks off the special section, asking, “Have We Turned the Corner on Higher Ed?” “Conservatives’ trust in higher education has plummeted since 2015, and for good reason,” he writes. “A deluge of canceled speakers, tent encampments, DEI depravity, grade inflation, and out-of-control borrowing has marked the culmination of decades of institutional rot that has turned brand-name campuses into bastions of left-wing ideology.” The “right’s recent counteroffensive” has had “truly remarkable” successes.
Hess knows what we’re all wondering: “Does this mean we’re winning? Yes — for the moment. But the wins are tenuous, and some may prove easily reversible. Still, we’re in a far better place than we were just three years ago.
Also in our education section:
- Mary Eberstadt senses the momentum of a religious revival on campus: “Campus Keepers of the Faith”
- Andrew Gillen lauds a positive development at the federal level: “Republicans Start Reforming Student Loans”
- Lauren Veldhuizen, new to NR and making her print debut, offers “Confessions of a Campus Conservative”
- Andy Smarick looks at Democratic opposition to an increasingly popular policy: “The March of School Choice”
- Nat Malkus searches for clues to the decline in achievement: “The Test-Score Mystery”
- Michael Hartney & Vladimir Kogan reveal a troubling trend that may surprise you: “Absentee Teachers: The Other Attendance Problem”
- Jeff Sandefer explains what Acton Academy is all about: “A Different Sort of School”
- Guy Denton looks at the push to get tech out of schools: “Smart Phones or Smart Kids: Pick One”
- Spencer A. Klavan explains why Latin declensions may be the key to wisdom: “Learning Ancient Languages in the Age of AI”
Elsewhere in this issue:
- There’s no one better than Andy McCarthy to say what needs saying on this subject: “Mamdani’s Intifada”
- Luther Ray Abel is our guide where tech meets defense meets NASCAR: “The New Generation of Defense Wizards”
- Charles C. W. Cooke gets at the heart of what really divides Americans, by way of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey: “Chasing Lost Edens”
- Becket Adams explores the decline of screenwriting, which has left us with a streaming pile: “Hollywood: Where Creativity Went to Die”
- In this month’s Our Spacious Skies, Sarah Colleen Schutte discovers that camping has its charms and being the last hiker to reach the summit isn’t all that bad: “Best Western: A Road Trip from Ohio to the Pacific”
- Our Happy Warrior this month is Amity Shlaes, with an unexpected take: “In Defense of Hoarders”
The offerings in Books, Arts & Manners this month are rich and wide-ranging, with more Odyssean dollops: Patrick T. Brown on JD Vance’s religious homecoming; Luke C. Sheahan on Patrick Deneen’s American Odyssey; Olivia Enos on Sam Brownback’s China’s War on Faith; Nick Ripatrazone on Christian Wiman’s new book of poems, The Dance; John-Paul Heil on Luke Burgis’s The One and the Ninety-Nine; Howard Schneider on Eric Moskowitz’s The Hardest, Longest Race; and Vahaken Mouradian’s Bookshelf reviews are the very essence of short and sweet. Turning to the screen, Martha Bayles lauds an earlier Odyssey adaptation in “A More Magnificent Penelope.” And it’s time to roll the credits, as Ross Douthat says farewell: “Reflecting on 20 Years as NR’s Film Critic.”
So, “While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, / And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue” (Keats again), we invite you to savor this issue. Whether you prefer print or digital, or enjoy them both, we have your subscription options covered.