Culture, High & Low 729
A Message in a Bottle
Every now and then we hear of a lucky homeowner who takes down a wall to make renovations on his house, and finds inside it a cache of wonders; dozens…
McClaughry Memoir: The Nixon Years
The following is the second installment of John McClaughry's memoir, Promoting Civil Society Among the Heathen. See the previous chapters here. 3. The Community Self Determination Act During my year at…
Being Thankful for National Communities and Civil Religion, Sometimes
[Cross-Posted to In Medias Res] Amongst those Americans who believe that the civic virtues which make both popular government and a fulfilling independence possible are themselves dependent upon, to a…
Are Porchers Urbane? Time to Wonder About Ourselves
As a student, I never trusted teachers who wanted to be part of student culture. You know the type, the teacher who wishes to have influence by becoming as much…
Promoting Civil Society Among the Heathen: a Memoir
John McClaughry is one of the most misunderstood figures in modern American politics. He served several terms in the Vermont House and state senate and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S.…
Airports are Non-Places
As I write this, Edward Snowden is moping his way through exile in the Moscow airport. He can't leave because crossing through passport control would mean legally entering Russia, and…
First Lecture
On Monday, November 11, I delivered the first "First Lecture" to students at the University of Notre Dame. This series - modeled on the idea of the "Last Lecture" -…
What You Need to Know About Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Prince while unemployed and in exile following the restoration of the Medici to Florentine rule in 1512. He dedicated it to Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of…
The Triumph of the Liberal State
First published in Dutch as De triomf van de liberale staat in the anthology Essays Over Het Midden (Groningen, The Netherlands: Uitgeverij de Blauwe Tijger, 2013) It was sometime back in the Dark Ages—by which I…
The Monster and the City
“I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man.” So says Frankenstein's creature. After being animated, the beast…
Gravity’s Rainbow
If a rainbow is a symbol of hope, there's a bright 'bow in the sky' to be found in Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity. And, just maybe, the movie might be an…
Politics on a Human Scale: Book Review
Politics on a Human Scale: The American Tradition of Decentralism. Jeff Taylor. Sept. 2013. 582 pages. Lexington Books. On occasion a political book emerges with such a wealth of information…
Pursuing Happiness
Arthur Brooks dropped out of college when he was nineteen. He played French Horn in orchestras and ensembles around the country. He joined the City Orchestra of Barcelona. He had…
It’s the Scale, Stupid
Hidden Springs Lane. The great shutdown charade (less than 50% of workers furloughed) is over for now. However, though our leaders are patting themselves on the back for ending the…
What You Need to Know About John Lukacs
John Lukacs (1924-) is one of the last great narrative historians, to be numbered among Jacques Gibbon, Jacques Barzun, George Kennan and Samuel A. Huntington. Lukacs wrote more than twenty books,…
Touching Death: Mourning Physically through Burial
In mid-September of this year my father passed away after a several year decline with dementia. With the help and support of family and friends we were able to give…
The Once and Future Boss: The Possibilities of Tammany Hall
We are, here in New York, just about ready to cast our votes for the next mayor: even Mike Bloomberg cannot, apparently, actually appoint himself Patrician after the model of…
Beauty will Save the World
The following talk was given at a symposium titled “‘Beauty will Save the World’ – It’s the Culture,” arranged by Andy Anuzis and The Civil Society Initiative. I want to…
What You Need to Know About Bernard Lonergan, S. J.
From the distance of 750 years, Thomas Aquinas can seem quite the stodgy fellow—not just old school but the old school. One needs to look a little closer to realize…
What You Need to Know About Dwight Macdonald
Dwight Macdonald was one of the twentieth century’s great public intellectuals. American culture was Macdonald’s specialty, including government. A journalist by trade, Macdonald’s first professional job was writing for Time…
Conservatism: What’s Wrong with it and How Can We Make it Right?
This is my contribution to ISI’s symposium, Conservatism: What’s Wrong with it and How Can We Make it Right? In one sense, there is nothing wrong with conservatism. The principles…
What You Need to Know About Jane Jacobs
Let us suppose we are confronted with a desperate thing-- say Pimlico... It is not enough for a man to disapprove of Pimlico: in that case he will merely cut…
What You Need to Know about Paul Gottfried
Paul Gottfried is among the most important contemporary conservative thinkers. An intellectual historian, since the 1980s Gottfried has been the foremost critic of American conservatism from the perspective of someone…