If AI-generated music can be beautiful, emotionally moving, and indistinguishable from something a human could create, does human creativity actually matter?

Does It Matter Who Makes the Song? - Christ and Pop Culture

Are there any costs or downsides to encouraging the use of generative AI to create music, even remixes and covers?

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Christopher Nolan’s latest movie gives the viewer the opportunity to envision ethical hospitality and reimagine it in a contemporary context.

The Odyssey Can Empower the Church to Recapture the Lost Virtue of Hospitality - Christ and Pop Culture

Christopher Nolan's movie gives the viewer the opportunity to envision ethical hospitality and reimagine it in a contemporary context.

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Christopher Nolan’s movies and the MAGA mindset share a common theme: the slippery nature of truth and the lengths even the best of us go to to narcotize our moral judgement when the truth is too inconvenient.

“Can I Lie to Myself to Be Happy?” Nolan’s Themes, MAGA’s Blinders and Us - Christ and Pop Culture

We need to admit that apart from God’s grace, to some degree we are all Leonard Shelby.

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Last year, @christandpopculture.com published my review of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, a book that sadly remains as timely as ever. tinyurl.com/2m4v6kck #BookSky

Published last year, Lydia R. Hamessley’s in-depth book on “Jolene” explores why it’s one of the most iconic songs in modern music, country or otherwise. Read @ginadalfonzo.bsky.social’s review:

Lydia R. Hamessley Explores Why Dolly Parton's "Jolene" Still Haunts Us So - Christ and Pop Culture

It was part of Dolly’s gift, both as a singer and a songwriter, to make her songs sound effortless—yet they were anything but.

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There’s a lot of truth in Brandon Lake and Nick Jonas’s hit single, which celebrates God’s mercy and providence. But it misses the mark when it implies that we can’t bring our hard questions to God. “I do not believe Scripture describes a God who is threatened by the honest cries of his children.”

Who Am I?: Rethinking “The Author” by Brandon Lake and Nick Jonas - Christ and Pop Culture

If God is truly our Father, then I do not have to run from him with my doubts. I can run to him.

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Alice Rohrwacher’s enchanting “La Chimera” is a hypnotic portrait of a Romantic soul searching for transcendence in a world that’s evaporated of it, writes @micahrickard.bsky.social.

Modern Transcendence in Movies: Unearthing Lost Beauty in La Chimera - Christ and Pop Culture

Alice Rohrwacher's film is a hypnotic portrait of a Romantic soul searching for transcendence in a world evaporated of it.

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In #TheOdyssey, welcoming strangers is a duty; it should be one for American Christians too.

The Odyssey, Hospitality, and the Right of Strangers - Christ and Pop Culture

American Christians should follow the example of Odysseus’s hosts and love our immigrant neighbors.

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Originally a series of YouTube shorts, #Backrooms has become one of 2026’s most successful movies. Some of that success is arguably due to the way in which the film taps into Gen Z’s growing recognition that the modern American experience is fundamentally inhumane.

“It’s Massive in There”: The Inhuman Hell of Backrooms - Christ and Pop Culture

Kane Parsons' horror hit exposes the fundamental inhumanity inherent in the modern American experience.

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The latest chapter of #Deltarune explores the nature of agency and providence. “The Christian claim has never been that freedom consists in authoring our own existence. Within the providence of the ultimate Author who writes our stories, our choices remain eternally significant.”

Do Our Decisions Matter? Agency and Prophecy in Deltarune - Christ and Pop Culture

Deltarune continually distinguishes between an appointed end and the genuinely meaningful decisions made along the way.

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Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” (2014) offers a gentler, if no less provocative, exploration of humanity at the end of its scientific abilities, writes @micahrickard.bsky.social.

Modern Transcendence in Movies: The Immanent Answers of Interstellar - Christ and Pop Culture

Christopher Nolan offers a gentler, if no less provocative, exploration of humanity at the end of its scientific abilities.

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“The modern temptation of worship leaders is to reverse this pursuit and focus more on personal brand than ministering to God and others, assuming that if their brand is successful enough, genuine ministry will just automatically happen.”

A Life Laid Down or a Platform Built Up? - Christ and Pop Culture

A personal brand should be a byproduct of ministry, but too many worship leaders hope that ministry is a byproduct of brand.

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Film adaptations like Christopher Nolan’s #TheOdyssey “often tell us more about those who adapted the material than the original source itself—sometimes reflecting the reality of their time, sometimes showing us how they wish things could be, sometimes warning us of what might come.”

The Greatest Story Ever Adapted: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and the Adaptation at the Heart of the Gospel - Christ and Pop Culture

Why does this story continue to appeal to us? What does this latest version say about both the filmmaker and us? Nolan’s Odyssey gives us one man’s journey; what we need, though, is not just an adapta...

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Longtime CAPC editor/writer @ginadalfonzo.bsky.social has just published a new book titled “The Screen and the Mirror” on Wipf and Stock. They’ve graciously allowed us to share the opening chapter, which focuses on John Frankenheimer’s “The Manchurian Candidate,” with our readers.

CAPC Exclusive: Read the First Chapter From Gina Dalfonzo's The Screen and the Mirror - Christ and Pop Culture

Gina Dalfonzo's new book considers how flawed movie characters can teach us about our own fallen natures.

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Wrote about a film that continues to snake its way into the recesses of my mind over @christandpopculture.com—Alex Garland's ANNIHILATION. I never get tired of writing about or thinking about or being transformed by this one

Modern Transcendence in Movies: Annihilation Ventures Beyond Reason - Christ and Pop Culture

Alex Garland's 2018 sci-fi/horror film reminds us that the world contains powers that refute our modern rationality.

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New from @micahrickard.bsky.social: Alex Garland’s “Annihilation” (2018) uses a blend of sci-fi and horror to encourage us to consider the powers that lie beyond our ability to describe and control. Read the full article: christandpopculture.com/modern-trans...

Natalie Portman in Annihilation

ALT: Natalie Portman in Annihilation

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AI tools can be great for boosting efficiency. But is efficiency what we really want when it comes to spiritual formation?

Spiritual Formation in an Autocomplete World - Christ and Pop Culture

Remove enough friction and you don’t have a more efficient formation process. You have no formation process. You have content delivery.

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Looking back at this year’s #WorldCup, here are some of the more notable moments — both on and off the pitch — that brought @opus.ing joy during those six weeks.

Moments of Joy From the 2026 World Cup - Christ and Pop Culture

The whole world coming together proved even more beautiful than the beautiful game itself.

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The speed at which AI is advancing, and the ways its advancement are changing how we think and work and relate, currently outpace our ability to describe and discuss its impact.

We Need New Words for the Experiences We Didn’t Have Before AI - Christ and Pop Culture

The speed of AI's advancement currently outpaces our ability to describe and discuss its impact.

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"When a society turns a human being into an icon, the truth is the first casualty. Facts and evidence become secondary to feelings and loyalty. People stop asking what is true and begin defending the version of reality they need to be true." Excellent piece. #filmsky #MichaelJackson

Christ and Pop Culture@christandpopculture.com · 3mo ago

For millions, #MichaelJackson was a vessel into which a lonely world poured its hopes, nostalgia, childhood innocence, and longing for redemption. Cecily Cox reviews the recent Michael biopic and what it says about our need for modern idols.

Caro Claire Burke’s #Yesteryear, about a tradwife influencer who awakens in the 19th century, has been one of the summer’s hottest — and most controversial — novels. In her review, Sarah Greene highlights how Burke’s novel challenges several competing cultural narratives.

The Way Out of the Maze: A Reflection on Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear - Christ and Pop Culture

Burke’s novel pulls the psychological and physical curtain back to reveal where the promise of a simpler life falls short.

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For millions, #MichaelJackson was a vessel into which a lonely world poured its hopes, nostalgia, childhood innocence, and longing for redemption. Cecily Cox reviews the recent Michael biopic and what it says about our need for modern idols.

A Cultural Critique of Michael Jackson and Modern Idolatry - Christ and Pop Culture

Why do so many of us still desperately want to believe in Michael Jackson?

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Mainstream #Batman stories have largely pushed in the direction of psychological horror and urban decay. Matt Fraction’s relaunch is so refreshing because it understands that Batman can suffocate beneath too much solemnity.

The Bat in Daylight: Matt Fraction, Batman, and a New Day in Gotham City - Christ and Pop Culture

You don't wait for institutions to become trustworthy, or people to become good, or the city to become clean before deciding whether it's worth fighting for.

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Ultimately, Kendrick Lamar’s theological vision presents a challenge: to examine not only his message but our own assumptions about faith and justice.

The Nature of Kendrick Lamar’s “Suffering Servant” - Christ and Pop Culture

Lamar’s music is a battlefield of competing theologies embedded in the dissonance of lived experience.

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“To hoard power and live a performative religion is to misrepresent God and to ignore love, to disobey, and ultimately to be annihilated.” Chris Fogle does a deep dive into Jonah’s tale of narcissism and big fish.

The Prophet and The Pagans: Narcissism versus Humility in Jonah - Christ and Pop Culture

Whether pastors or politicians, average Jo(nah)s or communities as a whole, we must move from being self-absorbed to being self-abnegating.

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New from @micahrickard.bsky.social: David Lowery’s #TheGreenKnight thrusts the viewer into “the strangeness of the enchanted world,” revealing that humanity’s rational mastery over the earth is a self-satisfied illusion.

Modern Transcendence in Movies: The Threat of Enchantment in The Green Knight - Christ and Pop Culture

David Lowery’s Arthurian tale reveals that humanity’s rational mastery over the earth is a self-satisfied illusion.

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“The Monolith,” a recently announced tabletop game from @plaidhatgames.bsky.social, seeks to satirize religious nationalism. But will players get the joke?

Sanctifying Splatter-punk: Rage, Fear, and Embodied Play in Christian Art - Christ and Pop Culture

Want to know what questions haunt our society? Ask horror.

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“The themes of Disney’s run may have been far more biblical than viewers realized… [T]he showrunners, it turns out, have quite a bit to say about the nature of Christian grace.” Josiah DeGraaf reviews the second season of “Daredevil: Born Again.”

Daredevil: Born Again Tests the Limits of Christian Grace - Christ and Pop Culture

The Disney superhero series can help us appreciate the brazenness of Christ’s grace.

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When I first pitched this piece, I didn't realize that we were actually entering into a golden era of cinematic Pentecosts

Christ and Pop Culture@christandpopculture.com · 4mo ago

A new series from @micahrickard.bsky.social explores how movies reveal modern notions of transcendence. The first installment considers David Lowery’s “Mother Mary,” starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel.

The way we engage in disagreement is just as important as the content that we are disagreeing about, and the way we speak to others is just as important as the beliefs and ideas we hold.

Spiritual Oneupmanship and the Dangers of Digital Discipleship - Christ and Pop Culture

The way we speak to others is just as important as the beliefs and ideas we hold.

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