The Brass Spittoon

Joseph Loconte on the Imagination of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

Front Porch Republic editor Jeff Bilbro sits down with Joe Loconte of The King’s College for a spirited discussion of the book-turned-film A Hobbit,...

James Rebanks in Conversation: Pastoral Song

James Rebanks and Grace Olmstead discuss his book, Wendell Berry, his vision for future farming methodologies, and the conversations surrounding agricultural reform in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Epistemology on the Front Porch: Esther Lightcap Meek

Esther Lightcap Meek on Wendell Berry, Michael Polanyi, and covenant epistemology.

David Cayley on Illich and Institutions

Canadian radio broadcaster David Cayley pulls up a chair to discuss Ivan Illich, a renegade priest and professor who argued against schools, missionaries, and...

Ordered for Fruitfulness: An Interview with Michael LeFebvre

In the context of the calendars for holidays, feasts, and Sabbath observance in Leviticus, LeFebvre argues that we need to attend to the creation account in Genesis as a calendar for shaping the sacred rhythm of labor and worship.

Os Guinness on Liberty and Hope

Prolific author and social critic Os Guinness discusses the current challenges for liberty and his hopes for the future. The Chinese-born, English-educated, Irish-rooted scholar...

Grace Olmstead on Uprooted, Place, Idaho, and Prairie Lupines

Fidelity to place needn’t (and shouldn’t) result in stuckness, a condemnation of ever moving at all. But we must beware falling into that second trap: rejecting roots altogether.

John de Graaf, Affluenza, and Stewart Udall

Summary Filmmaker John de Graaf pulls up a chair to discuss his 1997 documentary Affluenza; a forthcoming project on Arizona politician and JFK/LBJ’s Secretary of...

Prospects for Localism (and a New Podcast)

This recording also serves as the inaugural episode of the Brass Spittoon, a new podcast from the Front Porch Republic. We’ll chew on issues timeless and timely, with a focus on place, limits, and liberty.

Lead for America: Encouraging Graduates to Return Home

Jackson, MI. As a college professor and reader of Wendell Berry, I've long been concerned about the dominant narrative of "upward (and lateral) mobility"...