Molly Worthen

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Freelance Journalist | Professor of History — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Molly Worthen is professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a freelance journalist. She lectures widely on religion and politics and teaches courses on North American religious and intellectual culture, global Christianity, and the history of ideas. She writes about religion, politics, and higher education for The New York Times and has also contributed to The New Yorker, Slate, The American Prospect, Foreign Policy, and other publications. She is the author of Spellbound, Apostles of Reason and The Man On Whom Nothing Was Lost.

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Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump

Everyone feels it. Cultural and political life in America has become unrecognizable and strange. Firebrands and would-be sages have taken the place of...

Featured on: Wednesday, August 20, 2025

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October 30, 2026

Penna Dexter

Close The Borders

President Trump and Vice President Vance have wise advice for France and other European countries that are seeing rioting, anarchy and destruction in their streets. “CLOSE THE BORDERS.”

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October 30, 2026

Kerby Anderson

Halloween

Tomorrow is October 31st. Most people know it as “Halloween” but it also has long been known as The Festival of the Dead.

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October 29, 2026

Kerby Anderson

Alchemy and Currency

Many years ago, a presenter at an international conference compared the printing of currency to alchemy. Centuries ago, alchemists tried to turn cheap “base” metals into gold. The idea goes all the wa...

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