Why “cigarettes are back in vogue” and why it matters

The Daily Article · Jul 16, 2026 · 6m · transcript

Cigarettes seem to be “creeping back to the aspirational center,” appearing again on magazine covers and across TikTok, Reels, and Instagram despite remaining the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the US. No one who smokes a cigarette thinks it will kill them today; the social appeal and addiction are a present-tense allure. The same is true of nearly all temptation: we want what we want now and don’t care if we will one day regret what we choose this day. Today, we consider what it means to admit we are powerless over ourselves and to let Jesus “out of the cage” so he can let…