With a seemingly endless flood of social media content, creators and AI warnings, 2025 emerged as a year of skepticism and spectacle…. Leading the charge in their respective corners of the internet and weaving their personal experiences with their brands, here are RNS’ picks for the top movers and shakers in the online faith sphere in 2025. (Karmarkar & Murphy, Religion News Service)
Read MoreRemembering what happened yesterday, much less at the start of the year, could prove difficult. So, a recap might be in order. In an effort to remind you of some of those big moments, we've rounded them up and recapped them. See some of the moments that perfectly capture the zeitgeist of 2025. (Encinas, USA Today)
Read MoreWho’s to explain why parents alone in their cars were suddenly singing “up up up” from that “KPop Demon Hunters?” song? Or why, in the Venn diagram of pop culture and zoology, it was the capybara that emerged victorious and beloved? Goodbye, Moo Deng. You’re adorable, but so 2024. (Noveck, AP News)
Read MoreLux is exciting, at times breathtaking and surprising. It’s also spiritual. It “harkens back to an older tradition of Christian art,” wrote The Atlantic’s music critic: “the symphony written for the glory of God.” (Gonzalez & Bocanegra, Christianity Today)
Read MoreAn estimated 15,000 churches in the U.S. are likely to close in the next few years. Churches are more than places of worship – they are community centers, shelters, food banks. What's the community impact with church closures on the rise? (Sutherland & Chakrabarti, WBUR)
Read MoreThe R.S.S. originated as a shadowy cabal for the revival of Hindu pride after a long history of Muslim invasions and colonial rule in India, its early leaders openly drawing inspiration from the nationalist formula of Fascist parties in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. It has survived repeated bans, including being accused in the assassination of Gandhi, to grow into the largest right-wing juggernaut in the world. (Mashal & Kumar, The New York Times)
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