The Editors
Articles by The Editors
The Triumph of the Liberal State
First published in Dutch as De triomf van de liberale staat in the anthology Essays Over Het Midden (Groningen, The Netherlands: Uitgeverij de Blauwe Tijger, 2013) It was sometime back in the Dark Ages—by which I…
Gravity’s Rainbow
If a rainbow is a symbol of hope, there's a bright 'bow in the sky' to be found in Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity. And, just maybe, the movie might be an…
Return of the Master, Readiness to Fight
‘You, herdsman, and you, too, swineherd… Would you be men enough to stand by Odysseus if he came back?
Poems about God
I'm in the middle of writing a short essay on John Crowe Ransom's first book, Poems about God (1919). In his early poems even more obviously than in the later…
A spook speaks–just in time for Halloween
For those readers at all interested in Angela Merkel's dismay, or the reach of our homeland spy agencies, here are a few pertinent quotes from Paul Pillar, speaking on NPR's…
Gardnering at Night, Again
Anyone blessed enough to be within shouting distance of Batavia, New York, this Saturday, October 26, at 8 pm is invited to drop by the Pok-a-Dot, venerable and funky diner,…
The Joy of Being Edwin Arlington Robinson
Every semester, on the first day of the poetry courses I teach, I hold up Lilla Cabot Perry’s portrait of Edwin Arlington Robinson and tell the students an only slightly…
Politics on a Human Scale: Historiography
The language of “human scale” politics originated, at least in modern America, among the New Left and the Counterculture. More recently it has been adopted by traditional conservatives (appropriately enough).
Too Big To Fix
Hillsdale, Mich. Misery loves company, they say, but maybe not if the company is Comcast. Yes, I have returned to a subject of previous kvetching, though this time I am…
You Did Build That and You’re Receiving a Builder’s Discount
Hillsdale, Michigan. Thanks to Comcast (who says I never thank them), I noticed a headline from the Daily Beast today about the 20 most affordable colleges. The hook was trying…
Piercing Hawkeye
"I love Old October so/I can't bear to see her go," sang the Hoosier Poet of this most resplendent and melancholy month. Among the gifts this October brings is the…
What You Need to Know About John Lukacs
John Lukacs (1924-) is one of the last great narrative historians, to be numbered among Jacques Gibbon, Jacques Barzun, George Kennan and Samuel A. Huntington. Lukacs wrote more than twenty books,…
Paranoia Will Destroy Ya
From The American Conservative, my review of Jesse Walker's terrific new book The United States of Paranoia.
Touching Death: Mourning Physically through Burial
In mid-September of this year my father passed away after a several year decline with dementia. With the help and support of family and friends we were able to give…
An Imaginary Conservatism: The Realists vs. the Romantics
Reprinted from Ethika Politika Michael Hannon has made a serious attempt to deal with the disputes between the “capitalist” and “anti-capitalist” conservatives, and such a serious attempt deserves a serious…
The Rhetoric of War Powers
I suppose we have the Constitution we deserve--but we could fight for the one we had.
Craft First
As part of my recent visit to Hillsdale College, where I read from my forthcoming book, The Violent and the Fallen, I gave a short interview to the campus paper,…
What You Need to Know About Dwight Macdonald
Dwight Macdonald was one of the twentieth century’s great public intellectuals. American culture was Macdonald’s specialty, including government. A journalist by trade, Macdonald’s first professional job was writing for Time…
Michiganders Take Note: A Reading at Hillsdale College
As The Hillsdale Collegian announces, I shall be giving a reading from my two chapbooks of poetry at Hillsdale College this coming week. All persons of good will are welcome:…
It’s Up to You Not to Heed the Call Up
During the First World War, the Kansas Socialist Kate Richards O'Hare was thrown into prison for violating Woodrow Wilson's Espionage Act. Her crime? Telling a North Dakota audience that their…
Rod Dreher Praises The Violent and the Fallen
Last month, Rod Dreher discussed two of the poems from my forthcoming book, The Violent and the Fallen, on his blog at The American Conservative. Dreher writes, when I read these…
Community among Academics: An Economist’s Retrospective
Two weeks ago I spoke to an orientation program for new faculty at Pepperdine. I shared with them what I had been told at my new faculty orientation nineteen years…
What You Need to Know About Mozart
This is an entry in FPR’s One Thousand Words series. Over the next few months, perhaps longer, several dozen contributors will tell us what we need to know about a…
Life Under Compulsion: The Minotaur
When we lose the sense of transcendence, when in our hearts and minds the things of time are no longer oriented toward eternity, then, writes Jacques Maritain in The Range…
