Articles 356
From the Multiversity Cave: Students and the State
Saginaw, MI This post is part of a series that will explore what prominent thinkers can teach us about today’s public multiversity, the modern university with its many colleges, departments,…
Just War Doctrine Doesn’t Need an Update
According to a “first of its kind” Vatican conference co-hosted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the international Catholic peace organization Pax Christi there is no such thing…
The Web, Our Brains, and You
Like most avid readers I have a queue of books I'm reading and plan to read. When a new book gets added to the queue it gets bumped to the…
Abernathy, TX before the Self-driving Car
A month ago I flew out to Lubbock, Texas, to give a couple of talks at Lubbock Christian University. Several times over the course of two days the topic of…
Palio
On an intercontinental flight these days one has dozens of options. Not only do they have the most recent movies available for your enjoyment, but classics as well. They even…
How Liberalism’s Contradictions Will Save It
In October 2013, Russell Brand wrote a rambling missive for the New Statesman, in which he called for a “total revolution” of the Western political system on the basis it…
Against Sentimental Rejections of the Pope
This Lent I have been reading the Letters of Flannery O'Connor: The Habit of Being. They may not seem like proper Lenten reading. The letters are not a spiritual manual…
The Seer: Seeing Through Wendell Berry’s Eyes
Laura Dunn’s The Seer: A Portrait of Wendell Berry (later retitled Look & See) begins with the blurred lights of cars speeding along freeways and the barren wasteland left by mountaintop removal…
The leaders we deserve
I'm heading back to the United States this month to spend some time with my family, and I'm headed back to an America whipped up into a political frenzy. Europeans…
Ashes Along the Edisto
Last summer, on a typically hot South Carolina day, my family gathered at my grandparent’s farm to scatter the ashes of my grandfather. Aside from family, my grandfather loved three…
Res Idiotica
South Bend, IN My students are know-nothings. They are exceedingly nice, pleasant, trustworthy, mostly honest, well-intentioned, and utterly decent. But their minds are largely empty, devoid of any substantial knowledge…
Thoughts on Localism and Resilience
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak to the "Resilience Group," an informal gathering of environmentalists, activists, and interested others that meet regularly at the…
Clinton, Kissinger, and the Democratic Tradition
Why would a self-proclaimed progressive Democrat pay honor to a Republican who exemplifies both dollar diplomacy and gunboat diplomacy?
The Deep and Discomforting Point of Populism (and Socialism, and Certain Sorts of Conservatism Too)
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Over the weekend, a friend of mine shared an article which had joined in the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders fight, a fight which may come to…
The Art of the Deal, and the Writing on the Wall
The Republican candidates for president would have us believe that they are strong, manly men who would stand up to Putin, destroy daesh, contain Iran, and generally “restore” America’s power…
Bad Popes and Public Memorials
One of the first things I noticed in Rome was the bodies. While praying in Santa Maria Sopra Minerva on my first visit, I happened to glance to my left,…
Soil and Sacrament in Certain Kinds of Cities
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] This past weekend here in Wichita, I participated in the Eighth Day Institute's symposium, Soil and Sacrament: The World as Gift; Rod Dreher has a…
Remembering Florence King
Louisville, Kentucky. “Reading Florence King is like opening a blast furnace,” reporter Liz Trotta said of her years ago. That fire is now out. The writer and satirist died on…
In the Pilsen Snow
My wife and I were married at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, on the near west side of South Bend, Indiana. I’ve written about her before, that Church, fashioned nearly two…
An Age of Unmaking
Over the years, I have made the case, here and elsewhere, for the recovery of the traditional work of poetry. The habits of mind and body that we cultivate and…
From The Multiversity Cave: General Education
Saginaw, MI This post is part of a series that will explore what prominent thinkers can teach us about today’s public multiversity, the modern university with its many colleges, departments,…
A Meditation on My Porch
I heard someone say recently, “Porches are back. They’re on all the new houses.” And I thought, “No, no they’re not.” Porches on newer houses are hardly more than…
Branding Disaster
Earlier this year, after the Charlie Hebdo shootings, I reflected on the conversations that may or may not ensue from the changing of a facebook profile picture. As my facebook…
FPR Update
Dear Readers, When FPR launched in 2009, we weren't sure what to expect. We knew our culture, economy, and politics were broken, and believed that we would have some repairs in…
