Jeffrey Bilbro
Website Editor-in-Chief
Jeffrey Bilbro is a Professor of English at Grove City College. He grew up in the mountainous state of Washington and earned his B.A. in Writing and Literature from George Fox University in Oregon and his Ph.D. in English from Baylor University. His books include Words for Conviviality: Media Technologies and Practices of Hope, Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News, Loving God’s Wildness: The Christian Roots of Ecological Ethics in American Literature, Wendell Berry and Higher Education: Cultivating Virtues of Place (written with Jack Baker), and Virtues of Renewal: Wendell Berry’s Sustainable Forms.
Articles by Jeffrey Bilbro
Good Work, CAFOs, and Pseudo Events
“Working Together.” Gracy Olmstead’s March newsletter relates the myriad benefits of working—and feasting—alongside friends. “Uyghurs for Sale.” Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, Danielle Cave, James Leibold, Kelsey Munro, and Nathan Ruser report…
Mobile Butchers, An Oily Bible, and Phytomining
“Eastern Kentucky Has Been Underwater, but You Probably Didn’t Notice.” Silas House writes about the flooding in Kentucky and the lack of attention it’s receiving: “When trouble comes to rural…
Proximity, Beauty, and the Craft of Farming
“The Distance from Our Food.” Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft makes a nuanced case for moving eating withing a circle of moral regard. In other words, eating animals and plants we know…
Local Culture 2.1
We're finalizing the next issue of Local Culture. Take a look at the cover and table of contents. If you subscribe by the end of February, you'll receive a copy…
2020 Conference Announcement
We've got a date, location, topic, and keynote speaker for the 2020 FPR conference. Save the date--September 26--and make plans to join us. We'll update the conference page with a…
Public Health, Decadence, and Replacing the Elite
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Colosseum.” James Matthew Wilson writes about the hope-giving state of American Catholic letters. “Warning: Chinese Authoritarianism is Hazardous to Your Health.”…
Groundhog Day, Apps, and Foie Gras
“America Needs a Miracle.” The first section of Andrew Sullivan’s musings, where he reflects on Ezra Klein’s Why We’re Polarized and Christopher Caldwell’s The Age of Entitlement, is balanced, nuanced, and quite insightful.…
Rivers, Bill Gates, and Hating Literature
“Rewilding Food, Rewilding Farming.” Vandana Shiva argues that we need to improve farming, not get rid of it: “The notion that high-tech ‘farm free’ lab food will save the planet…
Facial Recognition, Urban Dreams, and Rhetoric
“The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It.” Kashmir Hill details the workings of a new facial recognition app for the New York Times. What could go wrong?…
Love Is Its Own Justification: Wendell Berry and the Lure of Political Efficacy
Scialabba insists that our actions are meritorious and good if they are effective, if they transform society and lead to measurable improvements. Berry, on the other hand, upholds love as…
Elites, Content Collapse, and Amish Outhouses
“Saving Democracy From the Managerial Elite.” Michael Lind has a new book coming out about the new class war (look for FPR’s review on Monday). The Wall Street Journal published an excerpt:…
Old Tractors, Social Media, and Idolatry
“Once it Comes Time.” Michael Adno narrates the life and work of the photographer William Christenberry: “The thread of memory applied to all his work in sculpture, painting, and photography.…