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December 5, 2020 | Vol. 35, No. 23

Midnight trains to Georgia

The Peach State prepares for a political frenzy as a pair of January runoffs determine the balance of the Senate—and the shape of the presidency

FEATURES

Mint cigarettes and gas rations

Rediscovering a critical year in the U.S. fight against Nazism

Flights to freedom

The stories of two women making hard journeys to America show what refugees endure

United States of division?

Solutions for pushing back against polarization

Matters of mystery

Conventional science still fumbles with the question of how life began, but the best evidence points to a Designer

He calls you friend

Encountering Christ’s mercy for the hearts of sinners and sufferers

2020 Books of the Year

Timely books in a tough season

Waiting for order

Lessons to learn in the aftermath of the presidential election

COVID-19 behind bars

Pandemic restrictions lead to extreme isolation for inmates who can’t access visitors, ministries, and education

A “women’s wave” for the GOP

As remaining House race results trickle in, Democrats cast blame and Republicans consider gains made possible in part by successful women candidates

DISPATCHES

Quick Takes

Quotables

Goodbye, Alex Trebek

CULTURE

MOVIES & TV

A new classic?

Big-budget, music-filled Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey is a hit

Wholesome young radicals

The Trial of the Chicago 7 presents an entertaining but fictionalized account of its subjects

New sheriff in town

Vindication is a well-acted crime drama

Space Age traditions

The Mandalorian continues digging into intriguing worldview themes in Season 2

Hollow Hillbilly

New film Hillbilly Elegy replaces complex characters with a mediocre Appalachian melodrama

Music

Rough around the edges

Billy Joe Shaver led a hard life but penned music full of truth

Atypical “best-ofs”

New and noteworthy releases

Q&A

Parsing the politics of tyranny

Why conservatives and liberals repeatedly underestimate the revolutionaries

Books

All is not as it seems

Three current novels and an oldie

Read all about it

Books about this year’s big news stories

Children's Books

Devotions and delights

Books to quiet the soul and frame a new year

NOTEBOOK

Sports

’Tis the season to reschedule

In a college football season beset by the coronavirus, Pac-12’s late start looks wise

History

Flying unfriendly skies

WWII pilot Bill Patten faced perils of combat and turned to God

Health

Sleeping it off

Sobering centers are a new model to help cities handle public intoxication and provide addicts with treatment opportunities, yet some worry they may enable bad behavior

VOICES

Marvin Olasky

Win one for Joel

Andrée Seu Peterson

Return to say thank you

Janie B. Cheaney

A tangled web

Mindy Belz

History lessons

Joel Belz

Word and flesh, at once

The Editors

Mailbag