The Visible Sign
What might a new aesthetic look like in film? Help us find out.
Culture
Luke Burgis Newsletter.
Pursuing the mysterium tremendum et fascinans and writing at the intersection of philosophy, culture, art, technology, and religious wisdom.
Recent essays
30 of 39Magnifica Humanitas—By the Force of Subtraction
The Via Negativa of Pope Leo XIV
Anthropic’s “Discernment”
The ambiguous and sometimes manipulative spiritual language of Silicon Valley
The Human Worker as Civilizational Nexus
A myriad of forces threaten the integrity of the human person. Every one of them converges on the same place—work.
The Moral Mandate for Freedom
Agency and Responsibility in the Modern World
What My Father Gave Me by Forgetting
He is losing his memory. In losing it, he reminded me that the mind was never a solitary thing.
The One and the Ninety-Nine is here.
Three years and two children in the making — the most vulnerable thing I've ever written is finally out in the world.
The Book As Live Wire
On nonfiction, AI, and reader experience
Psychedelic Sheep
On attention, mortality, and the marks that set one life apart from the herd.
The Real and the Unreal
First Principles and Artificial Intelligence
I'd Love to Meet You in Person
Events and Happenings Over the Next 3 Months
Political Judas
Agency, Outcome, and the Girardian Moment
What is Life?
Come to Napa this summer to ask seriously. 25% off for readers through May 26.
A Good Contagion: René Girard's Influence
Cynthia L. Haven gives a snapshot of the early intellectual movement around one of the most important thinkers of our age.
Combatting the Hive Conscience
What to do when you're told what you should stand for
Is the Truth Boring?
The Glory and Danger of Energy
Be Not Conformed—René Girard at the Crossroads
A new book announcement—Updates and Opportunities
The One and the Ninety-Nine
Announcing a new book—out June 16, 2026
Agency Is Relational—Let's Meet
An opportunity to join an upcoming workshop, and an IRL gathering in northern California.
The Borification of American Education
Educating Hunters in the Age of Intelligence
Reading Between the Lines
A thing of the past.
Friday Catch-Up—I'm Hiring
And other news, personal and professional.
Talent Networks of the Future, with Tyler Cowen
A conversation with economist Tyler Cowen in Grand Rapids, MI
Spirit and The Cost of Cognition
If it can be repeated, it will be replaced—soon.
The Truth Coming Out of Her Well
Hidden Truths and Their Consequences
Life Abundant in an Artificial Age
You're invited to the 3rd annual Cluny Conference: ZOË
I'm Going to Prison
Discovering Girard in a Maximum-Security World
The Edge of the Crowd
What to do when belonging costs too much.
On Spiritual Manipulation
Not an Antichrist Essay (Yet)
The Dao of Technology
Between the Scylla and Charybdis of Digital Life