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Articles Archive

The Power of Place: Northern Exposure and South Side

Places shape us and provide the contours of our communities. And despite the grittier dramas, the grip that a place has on us is not always all about past crimes…

Tree Tipping

Many Marches ago, a tree cracked in half, and my life began to change into what it’s become today.

A Plunge into the Mythic Wood: A Review of Seren of the Wildwood

Here is what Seren of the Wildwood has done for me: it’s rekindled my love of narrative poetry. Once I have read several of my old favourites, I’ll read it…

Conversion, Catan, and Vinyl

“Arcs of Life.” Matthew Loftus considers the claim that all suffering is bad and should be eliminated: “Yet taking this dictum and making it into a law is at the…

‘Art Will Touch Lives’: An Aging Farmer Adds a New Dimension to his Ministry

Ralph's art might never grace the walls of collectors or galleries or museums in his lifetime, but he knows from experience art’s potential to draw crowds that can encounter the…

Updating Homer for Sensitive Modern Readers: A Tongue-in-Cheek Proposal

As we reflect on the importance of this work in ensuring that Homer remains appropriate and enjoyable for future readers, we can surely agree that it is fully worth it.

A Community of Aliens

I continued to stumble on, frequently forgetting my own story, seeking evermore opportunities for dislocated, immortal, heroic freedom from the chains of that finite, particular history. It was only a…

I Gave up on March Madness Brackets

I’ve been thinking about Chesterton’s croquet essay a lot during March Madness. Watching games without the specter of a ruined bracket to kill my vibe, I find myself drawn more…

Barbarians, Liberalism, and Disinformation

“We Must Become Barbarians.” Paul Kingsnorth sketches out possible strategies of resistance to the Machine that evade its systems rather than confronting them directly: “What Scott’s book shows me above…

The War Machine is Not Ergonomic

We have wrought a strange and fantastically complicated world for ourselves. But we can know how well we are interfacing with it by its fruits: a terrifyingly effective machinery, but…

American Parenting and the Terror of Risk

All of parenting is risky because nothing is more important to us than our children. And the decisions we make do matter, sometimes greatly. But if we allow risk to…

The Power of Community: Tracksmith

Tracksmith makes beautiful things and promotes a beautiful vision of the world. So much the better. It is not fast fashion. It embraces the concepts of tradition and place and…

Remembering Loss Together: A Review of The Meaning of Mourning

The need to reconcile with one’s finitude and live as good a life in light of this was made clear by many of the more successful essays and tallied with…

Happiness, Blues, and the Farm Bill

“Renunciation and Christian Happiness.” In this excerpt from her new book, Zena Hitz probes the paradox at the core of a Christian view of happiness: “Both Aristotle and Paul have…

Augustine, Vodolazkin, and Christian Visions of Past and Future

Vodolazkin’s critical vision of the Medieval Russian past is no different in essence from Augustine’s similarly sharp and un-glamorous vision of Roman history.

Fatherhood: The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love

Fertility rates are low. After going through the pregnancy of our first child, I’m surprised they aren’t lower. Many young people lack the “why” to endure the cultural pessimism around…
March 23, 2023

Deeper than Religion, with Powys and Chesterton

Instead of opposing one religion to another, we need the conscience and that humorous raised eyebrow, which Powys described, with feminine overtones, as “that withdrawn, quizzical look which conscience, that…

Amish Imagination

The truth is, the Amish have had to adapt and innovate and negotiate the changing world. The truth is, the Amish are a people of imagination. Perhaps not “imagination” as…

Bison, Ignorance, and Selfies

“The Return of the Bison.” In the latest issue of Plough (which is another excellent issue), Nathan Beacom explores how bison continue to hold ecosystems together: “The American bison stands…

The County Meeting

We will speak to gatherings of farmers in seventeen different counties throughout southern Georgia. Along the way we will travel 1750 miles.

Eric Twardzik & American Ivy Style

Eric Twardzik is a regular in such publications as the Robb Report, WM Brown, and Drake’s online. His focus is men’s clothing and the drinks scene. We discuss classic American…

On Latimer, Localism, Liberalism, and Democracy

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Wichita, KS. Trevor Latimer’s Small Isn’t Beautiful: The Case Against Localism deeply engaged me, but not in a positive way, at least not initially. As…

Localism as a Form of Government, or Localism as a Way of Life?

Consider that here at FPR we are at least as concerned with cultural issues as with political ones. If we are being honest, many of us are probably more concerned…
March 14, 2023

Local Stories, National Character

We always have been an unruly people, from the very beginning. It is a fact that gives us hope that our current disagreements and fights are not signs of our…