Front Porch Republic
Large Language Models and the New Scholasticism
In trying to systematize relationships between words and humans, both medieval scholasticism and today’s automated dialogue sterilize the sources of human vitality.
Old Warnings for New Possibilities
What made the Isle of Pines an instance of regression is being sold to us as progress
Kill the (Robo) Ump!
As I unburdened myself of mask and chest protector I swore I would never again gainsay a ruling, no matter how dubious, of the fellow behind the plate ...
Leisure in an Age of Technology
Leisure is not entertainment, play, or a chance to catch your breath in order to return to work restored.
News, Notes, & Podcasts


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A Great Gathering at Baylor
While I was talking with one Texan who was at her first FPR conference, she told me, "I think I've found my people."

Andrea Kirk Assaf on Lessons From the Stoics
My guest is my friend Andrea Kirk Assaf, whom I have known for, well, a few decades now. She is the author most recently of 365 Lessons From the Stoics…

The Gin Is Cold, but the Piano’s Hot: Songs About Bars
Bars, saloons, taverns, whoopie spots—we talk about them all this week on A Symposium of Popular Songs, and I get to give one of my hackneyed theories about Cheers, too.…

Oliver Anthony, Paul Kingsnorth, and Marce Catlett
Amber Lapp goes to Oliver Anthony’s Rural Revival and explores the conditions for genuine, constructive populism.
More Articles
Writing Is for Humans
They accepted that the law of human judgment was Mercy—after all, that was the law of divine judgment.
How to Bite the Machine that Feeds You: Kingsnorth’s Options for Resistance
One must think seriously about where to draw lines in the sand
Children Shouldn’t Be Free Marketing Fodder
Shouldn’t we begin putting restrictions on how often and for what purposes minors’ images appear online?
State Universities Should Serve the State—Not the World
In focusing on the global economy, universities often lose sight of the needs of local economies.
Trump’s Hope for Heaven
Within the context of expressing his desire to help end the war between Ukraine and Russia, the President highlights another desire: he wants to go to heaven.
The Last Lesson of Charlie Kirk
Kirk started as a kind of ultra-MAGA influencer. Over time, however, he was becoming a serious man—one with a popular following, especially among the young.
The Word and the Machine: On Paul Kingsnorth
I wanted living color, an axe to break the frozen sea.
When the Internet Was a Place
Not too long ago, the internet was a place you visited. The family desktop sat in its designated closet or back office. In schools, there were rooms filled with computers blinking in tandem, waiting for your class to arrive and…
“Two Liberals Walk Out of a Pandemic…”
I have been hoping for a reckoning about covid for years now, and this book is a major step in that direction.
The Wars of Alex Garland
With "Civil War" and now "Warfare," the writer-director has made two consecutive movies about the “what” of armed conflicts rather than the “why”
Writing Like a Man
I found that Wink has not simply played haphazardly with an abundance of tropes but collected them together, arranged them in a pile—so he could then throw them aside and press deeper into the thicket of questions of manliness.
Decoding Toddlerese and Theology
It is such a joy to finally figure out something my son has been trying to say. Just so, it is a joy when a particular passage of Scripture finally breaks open.
From the Archive


