The Water Dipper
Luddite Pedagogy, Robert Moses, and Blue Labour
“Can We Go to the Neighbourhood?” Amber Lapp has a lovely essay on how her daughter helped her live in her neighborhood: “The sight of this toddler in a sparkly pink tutu…
More Articles in The Water Dipper
Conference Recap, Chess, and the Waste Land
The FPR conference this weekend was a great delight. The only problem is that I wanted to have long conversations with everyone who came. I was mollified, however, by seeing many lively…
Lippmann, Property, and Swamp People
“Labor, Land, and Racism.” Brian Volck reviews Berry’s new book, which comes out next month: “For Berry, there are no autonomous people and no isolated social problems. Thus, while acknowledging that ‘it…
Mourning, Coffeehouses, and Water
“The Work of Mourning.” Roger Scruton probes the necessity and value of mourning with his characteristic range and insight: “Until the work of mourning has been accomplished, Freud argued, new life, new…
Property, Work, and Hillbilly Thomists
Have you registered for our fall conference taking place in two weeks at Grove City College? Registration closes on the 17th, so don't delay! We haven't held a conference since 2019, and…
Love, Landmarks, and Chestnuts
“Can Love Take Sides?” The new issue of Plough is full of worthwhile essays, but Porchers will want to start with this essay by Wendell Berry. It’s an excerpt from his forthcoming…
Expertise, Facebook, and Friendship
“The Good Death in Psalm 73.” Timothy Kleiser draws out the wisdom regarding mortality and human finitude in Margaret Edson’s moving play Wit with the help of Psalm 73. “Can We Resurrect…
Compliance, Bourbon Tourism, and Sequoias
“No More 'Normal.' How to Live after the COVID Apocalypse.” I reflect on the themes of our upcoming conference and Chris Arnade’s book in an opinion piece for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Do…
Rare Earths, Canning, and Exhaustion
“David McCullough, Master Chronicler of American History, Dies at 89.” Glenn Rifkin remembers a remarkable storyteller who made forgotten aspects of American history come to life: “Working for much of his career…
Leftovers, Dumb Phones, and Waiting Tables
“Hoping for Doomsday.” I’ve been savoring the summer issue of Plough. Peter Mommsen’s opening editorial is, as usual, excellent: “In the interim of the ages, as the universe’s great Sabbath approaches, humankind…
Illich, Finitude, and Authority
“The Corruption of the Best: On Ivan Illich.” Geoff Shullenberger takes the occasion of David Cayley’s intellectual biography of Ivan Illich to offer a reassessment of Illich’s thought. In particular, Shullenberger explains…
Sympathy, Weeds, and Brutal Friends
“How Foreign Private Equity Hooked New England’s Fishing Industry.” Will Sennott has an in-depth report on the ways the local owners and fishermen in New England are increasingly squeezed out by large…
Journalism, Poetry, and Play
“A Way of Life Being Lost.” Ruth Conniff visits Henry County, KY to talk with Wendell Berry and Mary Berry about rural America, the work of the Berry Center, and models for…
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