I've never... when I was having songs on the airwaves, and that sort of thing, I never felt a sense of pressure anywhere except from myself, to do things the way I wanted to do them; to feel authentic; to feel like I was presenting my true self to the world.

Carpenter's ninth studio album The Calling was released in 2007 by Rounder Records' rock/pop imprint Zoë and featured commentary about contemporary politics including reactions to the impact of Hurricane Katrina ("Houston") and the agreement with the Dixie Chicks ("On With the Song"). Carpenter was the author of a biweekly column in the Washington Times from December 2008 to March 2009 in which Mary Chapin Carpenter discussed topics related to music and politics. The album received some of the best reviews of Carpenter's career.

She followed that with The Age of Miracles in April 2010. Carpenter's first album 1987's Hometown Girl did not produce any singles although 1989's State of the Heart and 1990's Shooting Straight in the Dark each produced four Top 20 hits on the Billboard country singles charts. Her most acclaimed and most topical album to date The Calling was released in March 2007.