Opinion | All Good Things Come to an End. What About Bad Things?

Bret Stephens: Hi, Gail.I’m having a flashback to April 2017, just after my arrival at The Times from The Wall Street Journal.

It was, uh, a bit of a hard landing.You introduced yourself, told me you co-wrote an online column called “The Conversation,” and asked if I would like to be your next sparring partner/victim.Eight years and nearly 300 of these published conversations later, we’re bringing this to a finale so that we can each work on our books.

Any reflections about this long, fun, wild run we’ve had?Gail Collins: Have to admit I was surprised it was such a pleasure to do.I love my work, but I was still shocked to find myself thinking “Oh great, tomorrow’s conversation day.”Bret: And I was amazed at the way it resonated with so many readers.

To borrow a phrase from your second-least-favorite president, there’s a silent majority of people who prefer our style of good-humored disagreement to the endless food fight that is today’s politics.Although, I also think we have President Trump to thank for giving us a subject that always gave us something to agree about most of the time.Gail: Guess the way to start our finale is to just … converse.

Ready to roll?Bret: Well, as a Jew to a Catholic: My condolences about Pope Francis.Also as a Jew to a Catholic? Things tend to work better when you allow your clergy to marry.

Just saying.Gail: Having been raised Catholic back in the day, I spent untold hours of school, all the way through 12th grade, trapped in discussions about the importance of virginity until marriage — even if you didn’t take a husband until you were 40.So much of the nuttiness on the subject has been a reflection of the fact that the Church rules on sexual morality were set by guys who had never been with a woman....