Articles 356
Maintenant, ça suffit
I've been out of Paris for a week now, and apart from a brief stop there on my way to London to watch the Brexit vote unfold, I will be out…
In (Partial) Defense of the Liberal Arts Degree
One of the articles which recently crossed my desk was an interactive online presentation from Georgetown University’s Centre on Education and the Workforce, highlighting which college majors are the most…
Ten Theses on Our Populist Moment
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Tomorrow, with the California Democratic primary, the populist developments that so many have observed in this electoral cycle will definitively change. Either Sanders will prevail…
Gene Logsdon, RIP
The Porch lost a part of its patrimony yesterday with the passing of Gene Logsdon. News of his death can be found here, and his obituary here. An appreciation of…
Evangelicals and Monasteries
Jake Meador has a nice piece over at Mere Orthodoxy discussing the value of monasteries to any well-ordered community, and what evangelicals might learn from this. https://mereorthodoxy.com/the-joy-of-indifference/#more-127454
The Dirt on Your Shoes
Today, I needed to get my shoes shined. I usually shine them myself, but I forgot this morning. Luckily, in my building in downtown Indianapolis, there is a shoe shine…
Growing Up Stoic
For our home-schooling lessons my daughter and I have been reading Greek and Roman philosophers, and she has taken a shine to the Stoics – not only reading them with…
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…