Grace Olmstead on Uprooted, Place, Idaho, and Prairie Lupines
Fidelity to place needn’t (and shouldn’t) result in stuckness, a condemnation of ever moving at all. But we must beware falling into that second trap: rejecting roots altogether.
Communitarianism, Left and Right
Populism can in fact be seen as being precisely a reassertion of democracy against the anti-democratic tendencies of managerial, technocratic elites.
Cesar’s Circus
The purpose of politics is to accrue power. Chavez knew this reality, and perhaps his funeral was his last, best opportunity to control the stage and direct the players.
Should We Begin To Reconnect?
Add the past year on to this already disturbing trend, and such destructive realities have only been further exacerbated. The need for human sociality is not a deficiency, nor is it something that we can just put on hold for an indefinite amount of time.
Stories That Bind Us
Despite differences that are exacerbated at the national level, we often share significantly more in common with our “enemy” when we interact with them at human scales.
When Innovation Runs Out: The Vindication of Maintenance
The Innovation Delusion goes a long way toward demystifying and destigmatizing the ordinary yet essential work of maintenance.
The Professor and the Madman: Cancel Culture, Consequences, and Restorative Justice
Our society may sometimes be divided on how to define right and wrong, but that has not dampened enthusiasm for identifying wrongdoing.
Atticus, Scout, and the Gift of Children: On Reading To Kill...
This is the humbling gift our children offer. If we seek to shape their character, at some point in the journey we’ll find ourselves backed into a corner, faced with our own hypocrisy.
John de Graaf, Affluenza, and Stewart Udall
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...
The Seven Ranges
I go forth strangely heartened and even hopeful that I might succeed in my attempt to describe and perhaps even explain the hill country presently looming off our port bow.