5.15.26 Mail-order abortions continue, Top Gun is 40 years old, and Carl Truman’s favorite books

This episode of The World and Everything In It explores three major themes: the Supreme Court's decision to maintain nationwide mail-order access to the abortion pill Mifepristone, despite strong dissent from Justices Thomas and Alito, highlighting the ongoing legal and cultural battle over abortion rights in post-Dobbs America. The discussion with John Stone Street delves into how federal policies and 'shield laws' are undermining state-level pro-life laws, framing abortion not just as a legal issue but a moral and political one tied to the protection of human life. The episode also examines a troubling rise in threats against public speakers, exemplified by Chloe Cole's cancellation of a campus event due to security concerns, raising alarms about the safety of controversial speech. In culture, the 40th anniversary of Top Gun is celebrated, with reviewer Steve Limkeman praising the film’s enduring themes of courage, sacrifice, and devotion to a higher calling, drawing spiritual parallels to Christian virtue. Finally, theologian Carl Truman shares the books that shaped his thinking—Augustine’s Confessions, Erika Bachiochi’s The Rights of Women, Carter Snead’s What It Means to Be Human, and Abigail Favale’s The Genesis of Gender—emphasizing the importance of embodiment, teleology, and human dependence on God as central to understanding personhood and ethics.