Ross Douthat is a bit of an anomaly. If you’ve ever scrolled through the New York Times opinion section on a Sunday morning, you’ve probably hit one of his columns and felt that specific, itchy kind of friction. He’s the guy who writes about Tolkien, UFOs, and the decline of Western fertility in the same space where others are dissecting the latest GDP figures or primary polls.
People love to put him in a box. To the left, he’s often seen as the "sanitized" face of the religious right—a Harvard-educated intellectual who makes traditionalism sound almost reasonable. To the "New Right," he’s sometimes viewed as a relic of an older, too-polite era of conservatism that’s too attached to the establishment. Honestly? Both versions are kinda missing the point.
The NY Times Ross Douthat Experience: More Than Just a Token Conservative
Douthat didn't just stumble into his role. In 2009, he became the youngest regular op-ed writer in the history of the New York Times. He was 29. Think about that for a second. While most of us were still figuring out how to file taxes or navigate a quarter-life crisis, he was tasked with being the conservative conscience for the world's most influential liberal newspaper.
His background isn't the standard GOP operative path. He’s a convert to Catholicism who grew up in a household that experimented with everything from Episcopalianism to Pentecostalism. That "pilgrim" energy hasn't really left his writing. He doesn't just argue for tax cuts; he argues for a world that isn't so "decadent."
The "Decadence" Diagnosis
If you want to understand the current obsession with NY Times Ross Douthat, you have to understand his theory of decadence. He wrote a whole book about it in 2020 called The Decadent Society.
When we hear "decadence," we think of chocolate cake or 1920s flappers. Douthat means something much more boring and dangerous. To him, decadence is a state of economic stagnation, institutional decay, and cultural exhaustion. It’s the feeling that we’re just repeating the same movies, the same political arguments, and the same technological tweaks without actually going anywhere.
📖 Related: Sweden School Shooting 2025: What Really Happened at Campus Risbergska
He looks at the fact that we haven't been back to the moon in decades (until very recently) and sees a civilization that has lost its nerve.
Faith, Lyme, and the Paranormal
Lately, his writing has taken a turn that’s even more "out there" than his usual theological debates. His 2025 book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, makes a case that atheism is actually the more irrational position. He’s not just talking about "God" in the abstract, either.
He’s talked about:
- The "anthropic principle" (the idea the universe is fine-tuned for life).
- The irreducible nature of the human mind.
- Even weirder stuff like poltergeists and UAPs (UFOs).
It’s a weird mix. One day he’s analyzing the latest Synod in Rome, and the next he’s on a podcast like Interesting Times debating whether there’s a mystical element to our current political madness.
Why He Irritates Everyone (In a Good Way)
The thing about Douthat is that he’s rarely "on message." He’s a conservative who thinks the Republican party is often blind to the needs of the working class. He’s a Catholic who is frequently, and very publicly, critical of Pope Francis—suggesting that the current papacy is flirting with a kind of "liberalizing" break from tradition that could shatter the Church.
👉 See also: Will Palestine Ever Be Free: What Most People Get Wrong
This hasn't made him many friends in the Vatican.
But it also doesn't make him a darling of the secular left. His views on abortion and marriage are deeply traditional, rooted in a belief that the "sexual revolution" has left a lot of wreckage in its wake. He’s the guy who will tell you that the decline in birth rates isn't just an economic problem, but a spiritual one.
He basically lives in the "uncomfortable middle" of every argument.
The Lyme Disease Turning Point
You can't really talk about his recent work without mentioning his health. He spent years suffering from a debilitating case of chronic Lyme disease, which he chronicled in The Deep Places. It changed him.
Before the illness, he was a very "heady" writer—all logic and syllogisms. After spending years in agony that mainstream doctors told him was "all in his head," he became much more sympathetic to people who feel gaslit by experts. It gave his writing a raw edge that wasn't there before. It made him more of a skeptic of "The Establishment," even while he works for its flagship publication.
✨ Don't miss: JD Vance River Raised Controversy: What Really Happened in Ohio
What to Watch for in 2026
So, what’s next for the NY Times Ross Douthat beat? With the political landscape shifting again, Douthat has moved into new territory. His podcast Interesting Times has become a hub for exploring the "New Right"—those thinkers who are moving past Reagan-era politics into something stranger and more populist.
He’s also deeply embedded in the debate over AI. While everyone else is worried about job losses, Douthat is worried about the soul. He’s asking if a society that can’t even have children anymore is going to just hand the keys over to a digital simulation of life.
It's heavy stuff.
Actionable Insights for the Curious Reader
If you’re trying to actually keep up with his arguments without getting lost in the "Times" paywall or the Twitter noise, here’s how to approach it:
- Read the memoirs first. If you want to understand the man, skip the political columns for a second and read Privilege (about his time at Harvard) or The Deep Places. You’ll see where the "outsider" perspective comes from.
- Look for the "middle way." Douthat is best when he's trying to find a synthesis between two extremes. Look for his columns where he agrees with a liberal premise but offers a conservative solution (or vice-versa).
- Check the podcast. If you find his prose too dense, his voice on Interesting Times is much more conversational. He’s actually a pretty good listener, which is rare for a professional "opinionator."
- Follow the religion beat. Even if you aren't religious, his commentary on the Catholic Church is some of the most detailed reporting on institutional power struggles you'll find anywhere.
Don't expect him to give you easy answers. He's not there to confirm your biases; he's there to be the "dark swan" in the sea of predictable takes. Whether he’s right about the "decadent society" or just a guy who’s watched too many 70s sci-fi movies, he’s definitely not boring.
Keep an eye on his Sunday columns. In an age of AI-generated fluff and partisan screaming, having a guy who actually thinks—really, deeply, weirdly thinks—is worth the subscription.