Josiah Duran

The new encyclical "on care for our common home" can be read here.

Today, The New Yorker ran an article called "A New Theory of Distraction." In the piece, the author--Joshua Rothman--speculates as to the nature of distraction in modern times: Like typing,…

Damon Linker had a piece at The Week yesterday, explaining "How to save liberal arts education." From the article: The structural trends working against the humanities are just too strong. There…

Yesterday, The Atlantic ran a piece called, "'I've Never Thanked My Parents for Anything.'" The author--Deepak Singh--explains the differences between "thank you"s  in the States, and expressions of gratitude from his…

There's a piece at Vox by Edward Schlosser (a pseudonym) entitled "I'm a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me." In the piece, the author confesses his own terror of…

Two articles caught the attention of my Porcher sensibilities today. The first was a piece in the New York Times on urban gardening: Kerry Trueman and Matt Rosenberg began by growing tomatoes…

The Atlantic ran a piece this morning on how a California-based company called HopeLab is trying to make layoffs and firings more enlivening: Chris Murchison, the company’s vice president of…

I read a piece in The Week today, provocatively entitled "Pay politicians like movie stars!" The author, Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, has taken aim against cronyism: But much of it, as you already…

There’s a recent piece in The New Yorker on the new Amazon Dash Button. For those who don’t know, the Dash Button is a small button you place in your…

You may have noticed that Localist Roundup—FPR’s bi-weekly short post collecting articles of interest from across the internet—has vanished in recent weeks. This post is a continuation of that series,…

This piece complains that Small Business Saturday remains in the shadow of the more famous day which precedes it. Meanwhile, this article reports that skilled young people may be returning to their…

This piece offers some criticism of trends in the local food movement. Meanwhile, this article condemns excess and waste in the use of food. This article contends that current American…

This piece counts the cost of U.S. military action against ISIS. In other news, Wal-Mart is set to make Black Friday a Thanksgiving week-long event. Meanwhile, this piece criticizes nostalgia…

This article bemoans the farm subsidiary structure in the US and wishes for more diversity in agriculture. Meanwhile, this piece notes that the oft-mentioned millennial generation is continuing the trend of…

This article looks at the relationship between technology and equality. In other news, Grist has a piece on Wendell Berry and local food. And this article looks at one school…

This article notes how adolescence is stretching further into the twenty-somethings. And, in this piece, a non-profit encourages people to walk to get their groceries. Lastly, this interview discusses ways…

This piece highlights the use of parklets--sidewalk extensions taking up the space normally used for curbside parking spaces--in Chicago. Meanwhile, this piece claims that agribusinesses are overproducing. And this article…

The news has been abuzz recently with yesterday's Supreme Court (non)ruling on same-sex marriage. The USDA continues to try to support local food, this time by including farmers markets in…

This piece reports on a global survey for food sustainability. In America specifically, there's a growing tendency to prefer snacks to meals. In other food news, this article criticizes food…

This article considers whether marriage is becoming a kind of luxury. Meanwhile, this piece attempts to coax readers into community involvement. In other news, this interesting piece claims 75 as…

This piece notes the disappearance of young American farmers.  Meanwhile, these people are making food with data. Lastly, this article advocates a strange combination of cosmopolitanism and local ideals to…

This piece explores Mandevillian tendencies in economic thought. In other news, The Guardian has launched a new section encouraging readers to "rethink prosperity." This article highlights an increasingly listless reaction to…

In recent news, single adults now comprise more than half of the U.S. population. Meanwhile, this piece considers how technology has changed the way we wander. This article argues that…

This article poses the question "Who's responsible for bad architecture?" Meanwhile, this piece criticizes the practice of communities outsourcing art, with particular reference to Florentijn Hofman and his giant rubber ducks.…