“Remembering John Lukacs: Ode to an Academic Outsider.” Will Hoyt remembers the life and writings of one of the great historians and writers of the twentieth century.
“The Magnificent Tarkington.” Jeremy Beer reviews the new Library of America edition of Tarkington’s work. (Recommended by Jason Peters.)
“Josh Hawley’s Striking Critique of American Life.” Michael Brendan Dougherty summarizes Hawley’s recent address, in which he called for “a new politics of family and neighborhood, a new politics of love and belonging, a new politics of home.”
“Democrats Should Talk About Place-Based Policy.” James Fallows recognizes that “get a Uhaul” is an inadequate response to America’s struggling towns and rural communities. He looks at some alternative approaches to place-based development.
“Obedience to the Unenforceable.” Caleb Stegall’s column in his local paper provides a condensed version of the talk he gave at the FPR conference.
“The End of Babies.”Anna Louie Sussman writes in the New York Times about some of the many causes—economic, social, religious—behind declining fertility rates. I’d disagree with parts of her analysis, but she recognizes that it’s not just a lack of money that makes people less likely to want children. Even in places like Denmark where the government provides generous financial support for new parents, fertility rates remain low:
With their basic needs met and an abundance of opportunities at their fingertips, Danes instead must grapple with the promise and pressure of seemingly limitless freedom, which can combine to make children an afterthought, or an unwelcome intrusion on a life that offers rewards and satisfactions of a different kind — an engaging career, esoteric hobbies, exotic holidays.
“What Both Parties Could Learn from John Bel Edwards in Louisiana.” Matthew Walther points to the recent success of politicians who eschew partisanship in favor of seeking the common good. Maybe more politicians should take note.
“What Happens When We Get Tired of Letting Trump Divide Us?” Teri Carter reflects on speaking with her father for the first time after three years: “How long until we all decide that neither our adoration nor our disdain for Donald Trump is worth abandoning the people we love?”
“Environmental Activists Should Follow Pope Francis’ Example.” Grazie Pozo Christie argues that activists should be careful not to browbeat people with their environmental sins; rather, they should invite them to experience creation as a gift.
“How a New Grain Could Help Combat Climate Change.” Megan Thompson and others do a brief video segment on Kernza and the work of the Land Institute for PBS.
“Ruling Our Selves: The Right Kind of Regime Change.” Ben Peterson draws on Patrick Deneen to argue that liberty depends on self-rule.
“Classics for the People.” Edith Hall recovers a history of how Britain’s working-classes read and learned from the classics. (Recommended by Jesse Hake.)
I read the Dougherty bit about Hawley’s speech, and I have the same question I always do: If the individual can’t make decisions about her own life and defining her own values, who can make these decisions? Who gets that power?
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