Articles & Essays
Automaticity and Creativity
A common controversy in math is between the “drill and kill” camp and the “inquiry-based learning” camp. The problem is that both of them are right—and both of them are wrong.
By Dave Maxham | March 06, 2026
There Is No Manual
While good counsel can help, no one can give you the playbook for raising your child; you have to write it.
By Alvaro de Vicente | February 24, 2026
The World Needs Your Son to Be Professionally Ambitious
Last week’s article focused on leisure—wasting time well. In his latest article, Alvaro de Vicente considers the other side of the coin, work, focusing especially on professional work.
By Alvaro de Vicente | January 27, 2026
In Defense of Wasting Time
Professional and vocational work requires practice and the building up of good habits; but so does our leisure. In his latest article, Alvaro de Vicente defends the disappearing art of wasting time.
By Alvaro de Vicente | January 20, 2026
A Review of The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World by Dr. Christine Rosen
It’s been said that reading a translation is like kissing your wife through a handkerchief. What comes between changes the experience; something is lost. Today, as technology increasingly “mediates” our experiences, we are losing something too—perhaps our humanity. This is the argument of Dr. Christine Rosen, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, in her book The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World. Experiences are direct contacts between our human nature—our bodies, minds, emotions, and perceptions—and reality. Technology (and our desire for ease, comfort, and safety)...
By Robert Greving | January 16, 2026
Cortex, Schmortex
I think I was in my early thirties when I first heard a scientific observation that has since passed into common knowledge, namely, that our brains aren’t fully developed until age 25. While I don’t remember exactly when I first heard this factoid, I am confident that it was after my twenty-fifth birthday. In other words, I don’t think there has ever been a day on which my immaturity could be explained by the neuroscientists’ assertion that my brain was still a work in progress. And yet my brain was...
By Mark Grannis | January 09, 2026
Educating Boys: Nature, Risk, and the Making of Men
In order to thrive, boys need teachers and parents to give them the freedom to act out their natural need for physical play.
By Dr. Joseph Lanzilotti | December 23, 2025
Trust Your Gut
Experienced parents know that reality is always more complex than rigid paradigms can capture. Decisions on the ground are a mix of principles, common sense, and God’s guiding grace. So, trust your gut.
By Alvaro de Vicente | December 16, 2025
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Book & Movie Reviews
Soaring Over the Rainbow
" Wicked: For Good completes the faithful adaptation of a Broadway masterpiece. The Broadway musical Wicked first hit movie theate..."
- Mark Grannis Read the ReviewThe Power and the Glory – A Review
"Have you ever read a book that inspired in you a soul-crushing desire to eat fried chicken, shed undefinable tears through a mouthful of Spr..."
- Joseph Bissex Read the ReviewIn Search of Sacrifice: The Drama of the Family in Godzilla Minus One
"2023’s Japanese film Godzilla Minus One is more than a monster flick—it’s a true family movie. Not to be confused with CGI-heavy Ameri..."
- Joe Breslin Read the ReviewTestosterone Tropes: A Review of F1: The Movie
"If the social media “manosphere” became incarnate as a movie, that movie would be F1. Not so much a story as a series of “manly” tro..."
- Joe Breslin Read the ReviewLook Up: Why I Believe in Superman (2025)
"Superman (2025) is a fun and wholesome movie that’s best enjoyed on the big screen. Despite some issues with pacing and a few unfortunate ..."
- Tom Cox Read the ReviewCutting Edge, but Get to the Point
"Fantasy authors have a league of their own. They play for various intramural teams, such as The Snarky Sendups (Terry Pratchett’s Discworl..."
- Joseph Bissex Read the ReviewMelancholy, Minnesotan Medicine
"In a post-progress Midwest, beside that omnipotent and mercurial god, Lake Superior, Rainy and his wife Lark have the closest thing to happi..."
- Joe Breslin Read the ReviewEscaping the Void: A Review of Thunderbolts*
"The Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t done itself any favors since Endgame (2019). Between emasculating beloved male characters, inserting ..."
- Joe Breslin Read the ReviewA Sublime Comedy: Joe Versus the Volcano at 35
"Friday, March 9, 1990, was a pivotal day in my life, because it’s the day I picked up the phone and called the young woman who would, eigh..."
- Mark Grannis Read the ReviewPure Murder: A Review of Gladiator II
"I never want to see this movie again. Granted, this might sound a bit harsh coming from a Classics undergrad who spent most of his Classics ..."
- Conn Mehigan Read the ReviewBrowse all Reviews...
Podcasts & Videos
HeightsCast
The Teacher’s Voice
Volume, pitch, pace, tone, inflection: the human voice is our primary teaching instrument, one that comes with enormous advantages.
Featuring Tom Steenson | March 05, 2026
Forum Faculty Podcast
Athlete or Academic: What’s the Real Priority in Schools?
We welcome to this conversation coaches and teachers Jeff Thompson, Joel Sellier, and Brian Carroccio. They dive into the historical importance of physical education, the post-COVID surge in youth sports, the impact of club sports on school sports, and the critical development of discipline and teamwork through athletics.
Featuring Jeff Thompson, Joel Sellier, Brian Carroccio | August 01, 2025
The Role of Parents in the Conspiracy for the Good
When we join a school community, it should be to join forces—with teachers, administrators, and other families.
Featuring Alvaro de Vicente | February 26, 2026
Educating Leaders with Thomas More
Does a talented person have a duty to serve others? What do leading citizens really need to live well, freely, impactfully—even greatly? How do we, parents and educators, order the educational goods?
Featuring Stephen Smith | February 19, 2026
Teaching Religion with Multiple Faiths in the Room
“Charity and clarity” are the lodestars when teaching middle school boys with various faith backgrounds—and who are developing faith dispositions of their own.
Featuring Bill Dardis | February 12, 2026
Your Calling and How to Find It
The crisis of meaning among young people gets a lot of press; but a quieter crisis of calling afflicts every generation today. Dr. Arthur Brooks says the causes are the same: not knowing what our life is really and ultimately for. In his talk at The Heights Forum Convivium 2025, Dr. Brooks shares the facts about calling—where neuroscience, psychology, and theology all agree, and how he (finally) found his. He goes on to say that helping young people to discover the true Christian purpose of life and then one’s personal...
Featuring Arthur Brooks | February 05, 2026
Frantic Families: Three Questions for a More Intentional Life
Kevin Twomey is a husband, father, and a principal consultant at Table Group, founded by Patrick Lencioni, which specializes in helping executive teams build a healthy operational work culture. Lencioni’s book, The Three Big Questions, brings that same expertise to bear on the modern frantic family: helping parents find their family identity, create intentional priorities, and live with more order and purpose. Chapters: 4:01 Typical family operations 9:09 Frantic families in a frantic world 14:36 What makes your family unique? 21:57 Parent leadership 26:02 What is your family’s top priority...
Featuring Kevin Twomey | January 23, 2026
The Father as Protector
Our role as fathers is to protect—less often as superheroes and more often as a steady presence. When we do our job well, they can live with confidence.
Featuring Colin Gleason | January 15, 2026
An Epic Education: Tolkien in the Middle School
To prepare for Homer, Virgil, Beowulf, the Eddas, and Dante—The Heights begins with Tolkien. In a talk from 2016, former middle school core teacher and current upper school classics teacher Tom Cox defends the place of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings in the epic tradition. He then explains why Middle Earth is so uniquely suited to the middle school, using Samwise the Stouthearted as our guide to the heart of a middle school boy. Chapters: 2:46 Rethinking “the middle” 4:01 How LotR prepares boys for upper...
Featuring Tom Cox | January 08, 2026
The Father as a Guide to the World
At the Fatherhood Conference, Michael Moynihan shared how a father’s parenting outlook now will shape his son’s vocational and professional readiness as an adult.
Featuring Michael Moynihan | December 18, 2025
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