Front Porch Republic
Excelsior
My mom knew that she could not transfer the entire corpus of Western thought to us because she didn’t have it. But she did have love
A Renaissance is Upon Us
In this piece, I turn from the abstract idea of the marriage between the outer world of work and the inner world of the spirit to centers of education that…
New Beginnings: A Conversation with David Heddendorf about his Novel, The Terra Cotta Camel
David Heddendorf’s novel, The Terra Cotta Camel, is, as the subtitle accurately puts it, about “hope, new beginnings, and Des Moines.” It is about the small, the local, and the…
Good University Presses Make Good Neighbors
University presses are remarkable allies in the cause of localism. Though they publish all kinds of academic books, you’ll struggle to find a state university press that does not publish…
Prudence, Sabotage, and Despair
I’ll be taking the next couple of weeks off from putting together these Water Dippers. I plan to resume in the new year. “The Case for Left Conservatism.” Ashley Colby…
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From the Editor–The Inaugural Issue of Local Culture
And so in 2019, at the tenth annual FPR conference marking FPR’s tin anniversary, we are pleased to bring out the first issue of Local Culture: A Journal of the Front Porch Republic.
Climate Change, Dirty Hands, and the Grace (and Hope) of Limits
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Paul Schrader, the famed screenwriter and director, does not make subtle films. His latest movie, First Reformed--the story of a depressed, emotionally exhausted, and ultimately suicidal minister (played by Ethan Hawke), a man haunted his…
Florida Man Turns Out to be a Good Neighbor
“Florida man” is the source of many ridiculous headlines. So many that now there is a “game” you can play by typing your birthday and “Florida man” into Google to see what headline comes up. September 5: “Florida man caught…
Homesickness, Landscape of Despair, and Mass Barbecue
“Wayfaring in America.” Brian Smith reviews The American Road Trip and American Political Thought, by Susan McWilliams Barndt—a book that reflects on what Americans’ fondness for travel narratives suggests about our political culture. He concludes with the “radical possibility that the…
And Beauty for All
By seeking to protect and restore natural beauty, create lovely urban design, bring art into our communities and support local sustainable agriculture and healthy fish and wildlife populations, we can also build community and reduce polarization.
Yuval Levin’s “Conservative Capitalism”
Yuval Levin recently highlighted right and leftwing critiques of capitalism in National Review’s May issue. Many of these critiques, he says, are serious and should not be ignored. “For the most part, these complaints are not fundamentally economic but rather…
Wal-Mart Churches and the Need for Community
The truth is that many American Christians do not want a local church. We’re too independent and consumeristic for that.
Still Singin’
That this country boasts something called “The Great American Songbook” is one of the best jokes around. The Great American Songbook? Our songs—let alone songbooks—don’t stick around long enough to get great. We mow through our past like dry grass.…
George Herbert, Simone Weil, and Front Porches
“What a Famous Poet Can Teach Rural Pastors.” Stephen Witmer looks at George Herbert’s classic and asks, “what if we were to read Country Parson for its original purpose: as a guide for doing rural ministry?” “Celebrating the American Front Porch.” Strong Towns had…
Learning to Read “the Book in Front of Us”
As the fall semester looms, the minutia of meetings and syllabi revisions threatens to drain the excitement from my impending return to the classroom. As a way of warding off this danger, I am reminding myself of one of my…
Nisi Crederet, non Caperet
Beauty is the beginning and end of all true knowledge: really to know, one must first love, and having known, one must finally delight; only this “corresponds” to the Trinitarian love and delight that creates.
Asceticism is for Everyone
Those who are inclined to agree with Patrick Deneen (and others) that liberalism has indeed failed may ask what way of life would be more conducive to human flourishing. Deneen speaks favorably of something akin to Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option,…
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