The Barbershop

A Few Favorable Words About Jud Heathcote

I understood immediately why Skiles was a Spartan and I was not.

Bring Me My Bow of Burning Gold: Micturition and Its Discontents

Why have we persisted in peeing outdoors well after the advent of outhouses and toilets?

Losing (Some of) the Local Commons

The annual Prairie Festival at The Land Institute just outside Salina, KS, was held two months ago, but it's been much on my mind...

The Local Game

The baseball season has ended. For fans just about everywhere outside of Boston, this will signal either melancholy or relief. Or possibly disgust. Melancholy...

Human Interaction: The Most Essential Business

Scotsdale, AZ. With a vaccine on the horizon, it is time to think hard about how our country should look when the pandemic ends....

The Beehive Plan

A folklife is made up of the food and craft, the local stories, songs, remedies and rumors—relationships that define a place as much as the geology and ecology do.

On the Beat in the City of Hospitality  

On my way to work at the local weekly newspaper, driving down East Mansion Street and then West Michigan Avenue in downtown Marshall, I...

In Praise of the Humble Slow Cooker

One easy solution is the crockpot. Why? You can throw in some basic ingredients in the morning before work or school, and then when you get home in the evening, you have a hot meal waiting. Bonus: the house will smell really good when you walk in. What’s not to love?

Thinking and Writing in ¾ Time: A Few Thoughts on Jimmy...

There are many surprising things about getting older. As I sit on the cusp of my late thirties, staring at that blinking cultural landmark...

Finding Joy in Intentional Community

Intentional community stands as a powerful rebuke to the modern pursuit of the good life: it is not by restlessly seeking to improve our circumstances, but by committing ourselves to a place and people, that joy becomes possible.