John Murdock

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John Murdock is an attorney and globetrotting localist who worked for over a decade in Washington, D.C.; left the Capital Beltway to write from a family farmhouse deep in the heart of the Lone Star state; taught law in South Korea; and then rode the housing waves of Boise. In 2023, John left the crisp dry air of Idaho and returned to the stifling humidity of his native east Texas. His writing is catalogued at johnmurdock.org.

Recent Essays

Poetry and Politics with A.M. Juster

John Murdock - November 23, 2021

Michael J. Astrue has earned degrees from Yale and Harvard. He had a long and distinguished legal career and held several government positions as...

Will Hoyt‘s Ohio River Journey to the Middle Ages

John Murdock - November 2, 2021

Host: John Murdock Guest: Will Hoyt Will Hoyt, author of The Seven Ranges, discusses his journey along the Ohio River into the physical, historical and philosophical...

Supply Chain Silver Linings: What Sam Walton, Ronald Reagan, and the Amish can Teach Us Right Now

John Murdock - October 22, 2021

With the supply chain tangled, we have what may be a brief moment to consider its flaws without being blinded by the glare of its surface efficiencies.

Joseph Loconte on the Imagination of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

John Murdock - September 23, 2021

Front Porch Republic editor Jeff Bilbro sits down with Joe Loconte of The King’s College for a spirited discussion of the book-turned-film A Hobbit,...

David Cayley on Illich and Institutions

John Murdock - July 5, 2021

Canadian radio broadcaster David Cayley pulls up a chair to discuss Ivan Illich, a renegade priest and professor who argued against schools, missionaries, and...

Cartoon Sex Ed

John Murdock - June 30, 2021

For those who still stand by the essential limiting power of words, these are trying times. In an age when homosexuality is immutable but gender is fluid, things can get a bit confusing.

Os Guinness on Liberty and Hope

John Murdock - May 5, 2021

Prolific author and social critic Os Guinness discusses the current challenges for liberty and his hopes for the future. The Chinese-born, English-educated, Irish-rooted scholar...

John de Graaf, Affluenza, and Stewart Udall

John Murdock - March 22, 2021

Summary Filmmaker John de Graaf pulls up a chair to discuss his 1997 documentary Affluenza; a forthcoming project on Arizona politician and JFK/LBJ’s Secretary of...

My Mask, My Choice

John Murdock - March 17, 2021

Unfortunately, much of what is currently driving the discussion is not reason nor compassion but anger.

Braver Angels and Civil Conversation across Partisan Divides

John Murdock - October 5, 2020

If you resonate with the conversation below and the aims of Braver Angels, consider signing their new letter: What We Will Do to Hold...

Anti-Prophets of Doom: A Review of Michael Shellenberger’s Apocalypse Never

John Murdock - September 18, 2020

What would be helpful is a book that acknowledge both sets of trends and moves beyond name-calling to begin the hard work of engaging in the tensions and trade-offs between them. Beneficial too would be a clear-eyed encounter with the fact that measures of human happiness and fulfillment have not skyrocketed along with our greater health and wealth. People need more than just more stuff.

Spiritual Dangers in the Trump Era

John Murdock - August 31, 2020

One of the spiritual dangers of Trump is that he can come to be seen as the only danger. Such “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” logic then leads to the temptation to overlook the problems posed by the other side.