Short 494
Lippmann, Property, and Swamp People
“Labor, Land, and Racism.” Brian Volck reviews Berry’s new book, which comes out next month: “For Berry, there are no autonomous people and no isolated social problems. Thus, while acknowledging…
Jason M. Baxter & The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis
Jason M. Baxter is a professor at the University of Notre Dame and has a new book from InterVarsity Press titled The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis. Dr. Baxter and…
Mourning, Coffeehouses, and Water
“The Work of Mourning.” Roger Scruton probes the necessity and value of mourning with his characteristic range and insight: “Until the work of mourning has been accomplished, Freud argued, new…
Property, Work, and Hillbilly Thomists
Have you registered for our fall conference taking place in two weeks at Grove City College? Registration closes on the 17th, so don't delay! We haven't held a conference since…
Love, Landmarks, and Chestnuts
“Can Love Take Sides?” The new issue of Plough is full of worthwhile essays, but Porchers will want to start with this essay by Wendell Berry. It’s an excerpt from…
Expertise, Facebook, and Friendship
“The Good Death in Psalm 73.” Timothy Kleiser draws out the wisdom regarding mortality and human finitude in Margaret Edson’s moving play Wit with the help of Psalm 73. “Can…
Matt Stewart on Wallace Stegner
Matthew Stewart, author of The Most Beautiful Place on Earth: Wallace Stegner in California, sits down (literally) with host John Murdock to discuss Stegner’s complicated relationship with the American West. …
Compliance, Bourbon Tourism, and Sequoias
“No More 'Normal.' How to Live after the COVID Apocalypse.” I reflect on the themes of our upcoming conference and Chris Arnade’s book in an opinion piece for the Pittsburgh…
Rare Earths, Canning, and Exhaustion
“David McCullough, Master Chronicler of American History, Dies at 89.” Glenn Rifkin remembers a remarkable storyteller who made forgotten aspects of American history come to life: “Working for much of…
Michael Possanner & the Art of Bespoke Tailoring
Michael Possanner is a bespoke tailor in Vienna, Austria. Michael and I discuss the value of bespoke tailoring, his non-traditional journey to learning the ancient trade, his love of American football,…
Leftovers, Dumb Phones, and Waiting Tables
“Hoping for Doomsday.” I’ve been savoring the summer issue of Plough. Peter Mommsen’s opening editorial is, as usual, excellent: “In the interim of the ages, as the universe’s great Sabbath…
Illich, Finitude, and Authority
“The Corruption of the Best: On Ivan Illich.” Geoff Shullenberger takes the occasion of David Cayley’s intellectual biography of Ivan Illich to offer a reassessment of Illich’s thought. In particular,…
Sympathy, Weeds, and Brutal Friends
“How Foreign Private Equity Hooked New England’s Fishing Industry.” Will Sennott has an in-depth report on the ways the local owners and fishermen in New England are increasingly squeezed out…
Journalism, Poetry, and Play
“A Way of Life Being Lost.” Ruth Conniff visits Henry County, KY to talk with Wendell Berry and Mary Berry about rural America, the work of the Berry Center, and…
Seeds, Reality, and Eucatastrophe
“Syria’s Seed Planters.” Plough’s Summer 2022 issue on “Hope in Apocalypse” has many essays on this important virtue. One of the most moving, I think, is Mindy Belz’s account of…
Greg Hillis on Thomas Merton’s Catholic Vision
Dr. Greg Hillis of Bellarmine University in Louisville. He is author of the recent book Man of Dialogue: Thomas Merton’s Catholic Vision from Liturgical Press. Dr. Hillis and I discuss…
Katharine Hayhoe Talks Climate Change
Katharine Hayhoe is a professor at Texas Tech and the Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy. Her most recent book is Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing…
The Regime, Progress, and the Last Battle
I'll be taking the month of June off email and, for the most part, the Internet. FPR will continue publishing essays while I'm away--we have some substantive essays on tap--but…
Fr. Gregory Pine On Prudence
Dominican Friar Fr. Gregory Pine is a host of the podcast Godsplaining and frequently appears on Pints With Aquinas. He is author of the new book Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live…
Fiction, Insects, and Baseball
“The Colorado River is in Crisis, And It’s Getting Worse Every Day.” In a beautifully produced, well-illustrated essay, Karin Brulliard journeys down the Colorado River and highlights the communities and…
The End of the World, Pawpaws, and Local Journalism
“Not That Brothers K.” Ken Sundet Jones praises David James Duncan’s brilliant novel on the thirtieth anniversary of its publication: “It’s about American angst, familial drama, and Seventh Day Adventist…
Chuck Marohn on the Human Errors of Traffic Engineering
Chuck Marohn, the founder of Strong Towns and author of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer, discusses streets, roads, “stroads,” and the perils of the American traffic system. A trained engineer himself,…
Christian Anarchism, Sigrid Undset, and Third Places
“Introduction to Christian Anarchism Summer 2022 Seminar.” Laurie Johnson is offering an online seminar exploring the tradition of Christian anarchism: “The five sessions will center on these themes: 1. basics…
Art Heists With Anthony Amore
Anthony Amore is a Boston based New York Times bestselling author and art security expert. He is author most recently of The Woman Who Stole Vermeer: The True Story of…