Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Ashley McKinlessJuly 13, 2018

You don’t have to have a Ph.D. in theology to write about religion (thank goodness)—but Tara Isabella Burton’s work shows it certainly doesn’t hurt. After getting her doctorate in theology at Oxford University, Tara became the first full-time religion correspondent for Vox (with a V she is quick to clarify). There she translates religious stories to a largely secular audience and brings a theologian’s lens to questions of public policy and values.

Tara also published her first novel this year, Social Creature, a thrilling story about striving and sin in the decadent world of upper-class New York. We ask her about the book, how her own own faith has shaped her writing and why everyone should study theology.

Jesuitical is on vacation until August, so no Signs of the Times this week, but we still want to hear from you! Come share your consolations and desolations or some interesting Catholics news in our Facebook group. You can also find us on Twitter @jesuiticalshow, support us on Patreon and send us an email at jesuitical@americamedia.org.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Leo said that if the teen “had come all the way to Rome, then (the pope) could come all the way to the hospital to see him.”
A Reflection for Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time, by Molly Cahill
Molly CahillAugust 04, 2025
As emergency workers searched for survivors and tried to recuperate the bodies of the dead, Pope Leo XIV offered his prayers for people impacted by the latest shipwreck of a migrant boat off the coast of Yemen.
Catholic News ServiceAugust 04, 2025
The Archdiocese of Miami celebrated the first Mass for detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz,” the Trump administration’s controversial immigrant detention center in the Florida Everglades.