Thursday’s News & Ideas - 12/18/2025

New NY archbishop — a Chicago priest, missionary, bridge builder — reflects Pope Leo’s style
National Catholic Reporter: Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet as the next archbishop of New York, marking a decisive shift in leadership style for one of the most visible dioceses in the United States.

Is DEI dead — or just changing?*
Inside Higher Ed: After a year of repeated blows, diversity professionals and scholars are debating whether DEI has a future on college campuses, and if so, what its next iteration looks like.

When Muslims save lives, the Islamophobia machine looks the other way
Religion News Service: The far-right response to a Muslim’s heroism in the Bondi Beach attack shows how Islamophobia depends on distortion and dehumanization.

Man who documented Uyghur camps in China may face removal from US after ICE arrest
The Guardian: Guan Heng, who filmed at sites in China of alleged rights violations against Muslim group, was detained by ICE in August

Can Zohran Mamdani reverse ultra-Orthodox Jews’ drift towards the far right?
ARC: A new ethno-nationalism is taking root in the Haredi world.

The Spark

Rob Reiner made a new kind of fairy tale
The director placed real people, with real senses of humor, into the fantasies* of mass culture, The New Yorker says.

*access is limited for nonsubscribers