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Is Strong Towns “Right-Libertarianism Dressed in Progressive Garb”?

"Keep doing what you can to build strong towns": that's the motto of Strong Towns, a citizen-driven, localism-minded urbanist group now over 1,000 members...

Suffering, Block Revitalization, and Faithful Presence

“Macedonia Morning.” Dana Wiser relates an inspiring account of a group of people committed to leading lives in the service of peace, despite the...

The Organic Metaphor in Politics

The crumbling liberal democratic order, combined with climate change and various environmental crises, has led to widespread reconsideration of the basics of political thought....

Food Economies, College Football, and Deceit

“The New Colonialist Food Economy.” If you don’t want your blood to boil, then don’t read Alexander Zaitchik’s essay on the colonial efforts of...

Bill Kauffman in Conversation

Bill Kauffman, author of multiple books including Poetry Night at the Ballpark and long the closing speaker at FPR conferences, talks about the origins...

Luddites, Reading, and Selfies

I'll be out of town the second half of next week for a book launch event in NYC. Since I'll be on the road,...

Hermits, Homesickness, and Barbarians

“Inis Cealtra.” Paul Kingsnorth explains—sort of—what he’ll be writing about for the foreseeable future. What makes it challenging to explain is that he’s after...

Digital Community, Dramatic History, and Suburban Sprawl

“The Community Community.” Nathan Beacom parses the effects that digital technologies have had on the way we imagine and experience community: “something important has...

Friday Night Lights, an AI Boom, and Buggy Lanes

“The Kind of People We Need at the End of the World.” Elizabeth Oldfield shares her family’s journey into communal living and relates how...

Bees, Local Music, and David Jones

“The Death of Conservatism Is Greatly Exaggerated.” In her critical response to Jon Askonas’s essay on how technologies erode traditions, Christine Rosen takes issue...