As some of you no doubt noticed author and occasional America contributor Michael Sean Winters has joined the ranks of our bloggers Michael has written for The New Republic and Slate and is the author of the forthcoming Left at the Altar How the Democrats Lost the Catholics and How the Catholic

The Wire by far my favorite show on television is now in its fifth and final season on HBO Even if you haven t been watching this sprawling Baltimore-based drama you can catch up with this handy synopsis of seasons 1-4 As I noted in my recent OMT each season of The Wire focuses on a di

America is now accepting submissions for the Foley Poetry Contest Details here Last year we received over 1 000 entries from all over the world The youngest writer was 8 the oldest 89 according to poetry editor James Torrens S J The winner was John Slater a Trappist monk from the Abbey of

This Slate article on IVF appeared a few weeks ago but is worth revisiting for the ethical questions it raises The author makes the case that fertility doctors should encourage couples struggling to have children to go straight to IVF rather than first trying fertility medication and then art

As America nears its 100th anniversary in April 2009 the magazine will be celebrating in a variety of ways both large and small One part of our celebration we re particularly excited about is the America Essay Contest Thanks to a generous donor we will be awarding 3 000 to the writer who mak

If you haven t seen it already be sure to read our Candidate Index in the December 24-31 Current Comment Just scroll down to the bottom of the page We hope Harper s won t mind Tim Reidy

Looking for holiday gift ideas Check out a selection of Christmas reading picks from America s editors now online and free to all Includes new books like Darwin s Angel John Cornwell s critique of Richard Dawkins and old favorites like Death Comes for the Archbishop and Mr Ives Christ

OK so the Catholic Book Club hasn t gone anywhere Every month since 1928 the CBC--as we fondly call it--has been picking the best in Catholic fiction and non-fiction for the benefit of America s readers first via a subscription mail service and now on the Web But we recently unveiled a newl

Some of you may know that America s former editor Thomas Reese S J is a contributor to On Faith a blog co-sponsored by Newsweek and the Washington Post Well here s Fr Reese on Mitt Romney s speech on religion and politics Governor Mitt Romney s speech shows the importance of havi

The ever prolific Gerald O Collins has reviewed Pope Benedict s encyclical Spe Salvi for America An early preview is now online Here s a taste The pope s message combines a pastor s concern for his people with a scholarly use of the scriptures and an effective appeal to some great v