Front Porch Republic
Eddington’s Warning to Screen-Addled Souls
Kudos to Ari Aster and his film "Eddington" for showing us the truth of what is happening to us in our social media saturated world.
Shallow and Hollow: Media’s Romance Problem
Deep down, humans not only want but also require enduring, stable relationships.
Restoration Rides the Bus
Crouched between reflective handrails and stained cloth seats holding the memories of seasons past, I encountered daily more humanity, more culture, and more reverent wisdom than perhaps ever before.
In Defense of Children’s Work
Apprenticeship, not exploitation—and why place still matters.
When Minors View Violence Online
When will we confront the reality that terrible things can be etched into our memories in milliseconds?
News, Notes, & Podcasts


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A Little Time in Quiet: Songs About the Morning
We’re listening to songs about my favorite time of day, morning, this week on A Symposium of Popular Songs. Accordingly, it’s a pretty mellow episode. Send recommendations my way at…

Work, Friendship, and Literacy
Maya Sulkin talks to some influencers and wannabe influencers about the nature of work.

Bill McKibben with Sunshine on his Shoulder
The author, activist, and grandfather who once warned of The End of Nature has a brighter disposition these days. Resources Bill's bio and buy the book (and the other book)…

Every Tear on Every Face Tastes the Same: Songs About Solidarity
This week on A Symposium of Popular Songs, we’re listening to songs about solidarity, one-half of the foundation of Catholic social teaching. Send me your song recommendations at symposiumofsongs@gmail.com!
More Articles
Of Branson and Belonging
Belonging cannot be immediately grasped, but it must be chosen little by little.
Midwest Roots, American Aspirations: Charlie Kirk’s Legacy
I pray Charlie’s old neighbors will keep the flags flying, the campus debates respectful, and their doors open to all visitors.
Writing Is for Humans
They accepted that the law of human judgment was Mercy—after all, that was the law of divine judgment.
How to Bite the Machine that Feeds You: Kingsnorth’s Options for Resistance
One must think seriously about where to draw lines in the sand
Children Shouldn’t Be Free Marketing Fodder
Shouldn’t we begin putting restrictions on how often and for what purposes minors’ images appear online?
State Universities Should Serve the State—Not the World
In focusing on the global economy, universities often lose sight of the needs of local economies.
Trump’s Hope for Heaven
Within the context of expressing his desire to help end the war between Ukraine and Russia, the President highlights another desire: he wants to go to heaven.
The Last Lesson of Charlie Kirk
Kirk started as a kind of ultra-MAGA influencer. Over time, however, he was becoming a serious man—one with a popular following, especially among the young.
The Word and the Machine: On Paul Kingsnorth
I wanted living color, an axe to break the frozen sea.
When the Internet Was a Place
Not too long ago, the internet was a place you visited. The family desktop sat in its designated closet or back office. In schools, there were rooms filled with computers blinking in tandem, waiting for your class to arrive and…
“Two Liberals Walk Out of a Pandemic…”
I have been hoping for a reckoning about covid for years now, and this book is a major step in that direction.
The Wars of Alex Garland
With "Civil War" and now "Warfare," the writer-director has made two consecutive movies about the “what” of armed conflicts rather than the “why”
From the Archive


Spiritual Secession: A Conversation with Paul Kingsnorth
" None of your readers need me to tell them that the useful work is practical, particular, small and careful: to get away from screens as much as we can, get…

The Road Taken
Sometimes an important change becomes evident only in retrospect - not while it’s happening across quiet broken days alone in a house while autumn succumbs to shadow and cold.

Where Is Our Freedom to Exercise Sympathy?
The same things that happened to the family farms, and to farmers like my father, are now happening to the colleges, and to faculty like me.

The Art of Living an Examined Life
If human beings flourish from their inner core rather than in the realm of impact and results, then the inner work of learning is fundamental to human happiness, as far…

Cultivating the Skills that Freedom Requires in Matthew Crawford’s Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road
Human driving requires unending mutual predictions and constant accommodations for each other. It is in such experiences that we end up with something meaningful for life in the physical world…