Thoughts on Elshtain

[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic ] Jean Bethke Elshtain, a profound and important political theorist and ethicist, died yesterday I was lucky enough to have met her perhaps a handful of times, …

Pondering St. Francisville, Gilead, and our Stories of Place

[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic ] Jeremy Beer's recent review of The Little Way of Ruthie Leming leads me to once again reflect upon Rod Dreher's excellent book (about which I've …

Stuff that a Brilliant (and often Wise) Left-Wing Jewish Intellectual Had to Say

Tony Judt, a much-praised historian and all-around intellectual-provocateur, died of Lou Gehrig's disease nearly three years ago. I was not at all familiar with his scholarly work, and only knew …

The Problem of Undertheorized Agrarianism in Most Actually Argued Localism

[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic ] That's a terrible title for this post, I know. But hopefully it'll make sense, if you actually make it to the end. First of all, if any reader of this …

Mark Mitchell's Politics of Gratitude (Theoretical and Otherwise)

[Cross-posted to Front Porch Republic ] Mark Mitchell's fine and thoughtful book is filled with excellent insights and challenges, which unfortunately do not, in my judgment, quite achieve what …

Resolving Existential Crises Through Philosophy and/or Film (or, My Dinner with Megan)

[Cross-posted to By Common Consent ] Last night, our delightful, thoughtful, ambitious, and very smart oldest daughter, now aged sixteen (and getting ready to graduate a year early; help support her …