Russell Arben Fox

Russell Arben Fox
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https://inmedias.blogspot.com/
Russell Arben Fox is a Front Porch Republic Contributing Editor. He grew up milking cows and baling hay in Spokane Valley, WA, but now lives in Wichita, KS, where he runs the History & Politics and the Honors programs at Friends University, a small Christian liberal arts college. He aspires to write a book about the theory and practice of democracy, community, and environmental sustainability in small to mid-sized cities, like the one he has made his and his family's home; his scribblings pertaining to that and related subjects are collected at the Substack "Wichita and the Mittelpolitan." He also blogs--irregularly and usually at too-great a length--more broadly about politics, philosophy, religion, socialism, bicycling, books, farming, pop music, and whatever else strikes his fancy, at "In Medias Res."

Recent Essays

Thoughts on Localism and Resilience

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak to the "Resilience Group," an informal gathering of environmentalists, activists, and interested others that meet regularly at...

The Deep and Discomforting Point of Populism (and Socialism, and Certain Sorts of Conservatism Too)

Over the weekend, a friend of mine shared an article which had joined in the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders fight, a fight which may come...

Soil and Sacrament in Certain Kinds of Cities

This past weekend here in Wichita, I participated in the Eighth Day Institute's symposium, Soil and Sacrament: The World as Gift; Rod Dreher has...

Sustainability in Cities that Hold Steady

Wichita, KS, is a large city, a regional center for manufacturing, medicine, finance, and the arts. It's also a politically conservative place, which means...

Christopher Lasch and the Lasting Dilemma of Localism

This past weekend, at the annual Front Porch Republic gathering (this year held at SUNY-Geneseo), three scholars reflected upon the writings of the historian...

Wichita and the Dilemma of Mid-Sized Cities

There's been some depressing news here in Wichita, Kansas, of late. Not the sort of depressing news that one might typically fear to hear...

The Decline of the Tory, A Continuing Saga

In a recent broadside against the teachings of what Damon Linker correctly notes today as the world's "politically inconvenient pontiff," George F. Will--with unsurprising...

Whatever Happened to Communitarianism?

Twenty years ago, the concept and label "communitarianism" was riding high, or at least as high as any broadly applicable yet intellectually coherent ideological...

From the Distant Liberal Consensus, a Defiant Conservative Yelp

As I write this review, I keep hearing about Jeb Bush, campaigning for president, talking about how the invasion of Iraq and the removal...

Bernie Sanders: Front Porch Socialist?

This October, Front Porch Republic will host its annual conference in Geneseo, NY, just a short day's drive from Burlington, Vermont, the home current...

A Presidential Proposal Worthy of the Porch

The blogger, pundit, screenwriter, and all-around mensch Noah Millman has come up with a brilliant idea--Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont, and Jim Webb,...

Hanging Out with, and Learning from, Some Thoroughly Material Benedictines

A few weeks ago I was able to, once again, do something that I enjoy doing immensely--take a group of students out on a...