Articles 355
American Agrarian (On Sale Now)
How gratifying to learn of the cultural ascendancy of the Porchers! We’ve made it, we’ve convinced Americans of the abiding values of place, limits, and liberty. As evidence, I direct…
On a Sculpture by Herbert Adams
For Adams and his peers the trade of art must have itself seemed an imported thing: threatening, rarified, and set apart like thorned peaks of the Swiss Alps rupturing above…
When Richard Met Barber
BURNED-OVER DISTRICT, NY---“Richard Fenno’s oeuvre is the most important contribution to congressional scholarship during recent generations,” says Yale political scientist David R. Mayhew. Contemporary political science is dominated by quantitative…
It’s a Complicated Life
It’s A Wonderful Life was on my mind again recently, this time while watching Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 film, The Bicycle Thief. The leading men in the two films look…
John Taylor of Caroline and Energy Policy
When Odysseus visited Hades, he spoke with many of the greatest fallen Greeks: Achilles, Agamemnon, the prophet Tiresias. He sees many others, and considers seeking out Pirithous and Theseus. “But…
At Bar Harbor Once, And Once . . .
We scrambled up the craterous outcrop that ruptured like an isle in the gray sands spread thin around Cille inne Bay.
Life Under Compulsion: Play and No Play
In East Bangor, Pennsylvania (pop. 800), there’s a little diner named for the trolley that used to take people to the once bustling steel town of Bethlehem. The proprietors have…
A Radical Republican
We need more Richard Pettigrews in an age of Wall Street harlotry and Pax Americana war making.
The Localist and the Big Box Store
Hidden Springs Lane. Should a localist shop at Home Depot? Or Walmart? The question, as I’ve stated it, should taste slightly off, like milk that is just on the verge…
Place Isn’t Just Geographical
Rod Dreher’s new book, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, seems to have struck a chord among both sympathizers and critics of Wendell Berry. Ross Douthat, Alan Jacobs, Jake Meador,…
The Night of Susurrant Voices
God didn't put twelve months on the calendar so we could work them all.
The Limits of Place
Hidden Springs, VA. Recently Ross Douthat commented on Rod Dreher’s new book in a column devoted to the rising incidence of suicide and the problem of loneliness. In a follow-up…
The Coiled Hose
I spent the last eight months working on a dairy farm, and every morning after finishing milking and cleaning the stanchions, I would coil up the hoses in the corner…
Gatsby for the Millennials
Berwyn, PA. I was a little surprised, not too long ago, to hear a student mention that The Great Gatsby was her favorite book. "Because it is the only book you…
Life Under Compulsion: Noise
The child’s language is melodious. The words hide and protect themselves in the melody – the words that have come shyly out of the silence. They almost disappear again in…
On Not Knowing Nothing: Mastery and Expertise
I belong to a guild. As such, I'm recognized by its practitioners as a peer, a fellow, even, like them, a master. By this I do not mean anything remotely…
America Needs Another Bush?
Accusing President Obama of “caviling over chemical weapons in Syria,” The Economist insists that events in Syria are “exposing Mr Obama’s hubris,” his “overconfidence,” and revealing his foreign policy ineptitude.…
Harassed by the IRS? Don’t be Surprised.
Hidden Springs Lane. Americans have recently learned that certain groups seeking non-profit status were subjected to, ahem, "heightened scrutiny" by the IRS. It seems that groups that used words like…
Food Stamps and Krazy Glue
On a recent Monday morning, an officemate and I were discussing the current financial state—always a cheery subject on a Monday. Mark, a financial planner, said that many believe we…
Biopolitical Tyranny?
John Milbank has written a remarkable critique of gay marriage that points to the ways it will ultimately and immeasurably strengthen the modern liberal State. The theologian who launched "Radical…
On Buying Local Food, And Why
I decided some time ago that I wish to eat as little as possible from the “industrial” food chain; that is to say, I wish to buy little food from…
The Locale and Grace of Teaching
I’ve not yet decided if I’ve succumbed to despair (a sin) or prudence, but I no longer participate in any of the forums at my campus about online education, MOOCs,…
Dinner, Anyone?
In Dr. Mark Mitchell’s recent post on Front Porch Republic, “W[h]ither the Family Dinner?”, he asks the question, “Are family meals important?” My short answer is: yes. But why is it important? In…
What Then Must We Do?: Worker Ownership Redux
The following is an excerpt from from Gar Alperovitz's What Then Must We Do? (Chelsea Green, 2013) and is reprinted with permission of the publisher. Learn more about the book here. By the way, and…
