Articles Archive

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Jeremy Beer's recent review of The Little Way of Ruthie Leming leads me to once again reflect upon Rod Dreher's excellent book (about which I've…

Berwyn, PA.  Randy Boyagoda, my old neighbor from the Catholic ghetto that grew up around the Studebaker mansion in South Bend, writes about the dearth of Catholic writers and artists…

Earlier this month, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute held a summer program for college students in Louisville, Kentucky. Titled "Arguing Conservatism," the event featured faculty lectures followed by student debates on issues…

I am looking at another painting by Norman Rockwell, a part of his Four Seasons Calendar: Grandpa and Me in Summer.  I know that I am not supposed to enjoy…

The WSJ has a piece by Lee Siegel arguing that studying literature in college is a harmful activity and the decline in students majoring in the humanities (especially English) should…

Register here. You will also find a list of speakers and a run-down of the events. It's going to be a great time. I hope to see you there.

Hidden Springs Lane. The notion of scale should be an integral part of the conversation when we consider matters of economic and political import. Unfortunately, this is generally not the…

Surprise! Factory farming creates huge piles of manure. And these piles are difficult to keep out of the water system. An editorial from the NYT is critical of the rather…

Click here for a free download of an audiobook version of Wendell Berry's Jayber Crow.

Here's a piece describing how some backyard chicken owners are sending their birds to the animal shelter. Despite visions of quaint coops, happy birds and cheap eggs, the growing trend…

Herewith links to three great tunes responding to America's wars: "Glad to Be Home" by Charles Smith and Jeff Cooper (a Deep Soul gem via Clark Stooksbury); "Gettysburg" by Janie…

Last summer, my youngest son was on a church trip on the other side of the country, when he hurt his hand. A deep gash on his middle finger required…

As some prepare to don the stars and stripes in all tasteless manners of irony, and speak sarcastically and casually about concepts such as freedom; and as others, who opt…

This article first appeared in Ethika Politika, the journal of the Center for Morality in Public Life. In May of 1970, back from the Vietnam War and newly released from the…

The following is an excerpt from David E. Gumpert’s Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Food Rights (Chelsea Green, 2013) and is reprinted with permission of the publisher. Learn more about…

Berwyn, PA.  Gerald Russello reflects on Russell Kirk's theory of the unwritten Constitutionone in a new essay published on the Liberty Fund's Liberty Forum.  His essay is part of a…

The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Rom. 8:21) I am looking at Saying Grace, an…

Baseball, poetry, Frederick Exley, death.

From Orion, my profile of Vermont filmmaker Jay Craven.

Long time Georgetown University political theorist (and my mentor) George Carey passed away this week. The American Conservative has just published a symposium highlighting his work and influence. Traditional conservatives…

Justice Scalia’s dissents in the two same-sex “marriage” cases are worth reading. The first opinion addresses the idea of judicial supremacy within the federal government—what Jefferson called “the despotism of…

This Friday, June 28, Copperhead, which Ron Maxwell directed from my adaptation of a Harold Frederic novella, opens in about 70 cities. A second wave of openings washes across the…

The great Ray Sawhill innerviews me for Uncouth Reflections.

The Atlantic has a piece describing how the standards of the machine have wrongly been applied to human performances. It's time to rethink productivity. More output, produced faster may be…