GMOs, Bad Ag Secretaries, and Economic Growth
“The Case Against GMOs: Cautionary Tales From Uganda.” With biting wit, Mary Serumaga argues that legislation to introduce GMOs to Uganda is being driven...
Friends, Cattle Markets, and a Luddite Revolution
Plough Quarterly: Vocation. The new issue of Plough has several good pieces on the meaning and value of work. One of my favorites is the interview with...
China, Monopolies, and Logging
“Hawley to Introduce Bill to Move Federal Agencies out of Washington D.C. to Economically Stagnant Areas.” Jack Crowe outlines Josh Hawley’s new proposal. It...
Lasch, Old Country Stores, and Intelligent Trees
“Eric Miller on Christopher Lasch and Wendell Berry.” Elias Crim and Pete Davis talk with Eric Miller about two of FPR’s guiding lights, and...
Yokels, John Wesley Powell, and Packaged Pleasures
“Sneering at the Yokels in the Age of Trump.” Jeff Polet contrasts two different ways of writing the elites-from-the-coasts-come-to-the-heartland-to-find-out-why-these-weirdos-voted-for-Trump essay. Some do this poorly,...
The Pleasures of Eating, Romano Guardini, and the Two-Income Trap
“The Pleasures of Eating.” Emergence Magazine published a beautifully illustrated version of Wendell Berry’s classic essay with a preface by Alice Waters. Even if you know...
Lukacs, Tarkington, and Place-Based Policies
“Remembering John Lukacs: Ode to an Academic Outsider.” Will Hoyt remembers the life and writings of one of the great historians and writers of...
Chinese Surveillance, Class War, and a Land Tax
“Exposed: China’s Operating Manuals for Mass Internment and Arrest by Algorithm.” Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian reports on China’s sophisticated system of surveillance and detention of Uighurs:
The...
G.E.M. Anscombe, Climate Despair, and René Girard
“Untempted by the Consequences.” John Schwenkler has a rich essay on G.E.M. Anscombe in Commonweal. Her fierce fidelity to “doing the truth” makes her a...
The Farm Bill, Afghanistan, and Philanthropy
I hope you enjoy this week’s slate of essays. I’ll be taking a Christmas break the next two weeks, but look for the Water...