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Russell Arben Fox

Russell Arben Fox is a Front Porch Republic Contributing Editor. He grew up milking cows and baling hay in Spokane Valley, WA, but now lives in Wichita, KS, where he runs the History & Politics and the Honors programs at Friends University, a small Christian liberal arts college. He aspires to write a book about the theory and practice of democracy, community, and environmental sustainability in small to mid-sized cities, like the one he has made his and his family’s home; his scribblings pertaining to that and related subjects are collected at the Substack “Wichita and the Mittelpolitan.” He also blogs–irregularly and usually at too-great a length–more broadly about politics, philosophy, religion, socialism, bicycling, books, farming, pop music, and whatever else strikes his fancy, at “In Medias Res.”

Articles by Russell Arben Fox

A Presidential Proposal Worthy of the Porch

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] The blogger, pundit, screenwriter, and all-around mensch Noah Millman has come up with a brilliant idea--Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont, and Jim Webb, former…
May 28, 2015

Hanging Out with, and Learning from, Some Thoroughly Material Benedictines

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] A few weeks ago I was able to, once again, do something that I enjoy doing immensely--take a group of students out on a local…
May 15, 2015

Once Again, the Opponents of Unsupervised Children are Revealed

The story is pretty much the same as before: you have children that are placed in a situation which many people would consider less than ideal, a situation which--as it…
April 13, 2015

Why Cities Ought to, Sometimes, Challenge Their States

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] On next Tuesday’s ballot here in Wichita, KS, voters will be able to, whether they realize it or not, directly contribute to an ongoing struggle…
April 2, 2015

“I’ve been called a Marxist and a conservative. I guess both are kind of true.”

Matthew Crawford, about whom we have talked a good deal before here at Front Porch Republic, is back with a new book. Like so many other wise observers of our…
March 26, 2015

Marijuana and Self-Government, Large and Small

Here in the Air Capital of the World, the Wichita City Council, in response to the second attempt by dozens of local volunteers to gather thousands of signatures in less…
January 30, 2015

Local Wonderings in Wichita

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Wichita, KS, is the home to a wonderful bookstore, Eighth Day Books. (Which isn't my favorite bookstore in Wichita, but that's partly because my wife…
January 20, 2015

Blasphemers, Terrorists, and Liberals in Your Neighborhood

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Would I read Charlie Hebdo? (Assuming I could read French, that is.) Would I want anyone in my family to read it? Would I want…
January 8, 2015

Local Dynasties Only, Please

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] With former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's announcement on Tuesday that he's "actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States"--a move which,…
December 18, 2014

A Porcher With Power

On Friday, Caleb Stegall--lawyer, farmer, family man, rabble-rouser, and long-time Front Porcher--was appointed to the Kansas Supreme Court by Governor Sam Brownback. The criticisms of Stegall's appointment are many--he's been…
December 8, 2014

Recognizing the Religion of Total Security, and Its Costs

There are relatively few developments in the world's present socio-economic and cultural moment that gives me much hope--but one of them is the increased frequency in which I see people…
November 24, 2014

Anarchism, Global Citites, and a Confucian Cosmopolitan Education

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] I recently attended a conference in Nanjing, China, hosted by the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and organized our fellow Porcher, Adam Webb. You can read a short…
November 21, 2014