A Little Home Cooking
Richmond, VA
I do not think it outrageous, every now and then, to despair for the future of cooking in this country. Not all the...
Smitten With The Mitten: Beer in SW Michigan
Holland, MI
Most “beer ranking lists” have Michigan somewhere in the top 5 of best beer states. I don’t need a list to tell me...
The Little Way of Raymond Chandler
Or, "Shaken and Stirred: The Cosmopolitan, the City, and the Regime of God"
Queens, NY
The following essay was presented at FPR's annual conference in Louisville...
The Loss of a Culture of Personhood and the End of...
Philadelphia, PA
The idea and practice of limited government begins with Christianity. Pagan antiquity could not imagine such a thing, because there was no distinction...
Texting: Why I Resolve to Avoid It
Recently I travelled to Louisville to attend the Front Porch Republic conference. The experience was memorable in several ways—not least of all in the...
Archimedean Points, Above and Below
“To the famous Archimedean boast: ‘Give me whereon to stand and I will move the world.’. Rabelais answers: ‘I move with my ship; and...
Life in the Kolache Belt: Reflections from the Intersection of Food,...
In some ways, the little farming community of Hallettsville where I have spent a writing sabbatical still resides in a simpler time. Czechs and...
What Would the Father of Nationalism Say About Scottish Independence?
On Thursday, voters in Scotland will go to the polls and either choose "Yes," meaning that they want Scotland to become an independent state,...
Please Block the Way: Campaigning Against Courtesy
Japanese rail commuters ride train station escalators the way you might expect: those who are in no hurry stand to the right, leaving a...
Why I Won’t Participate in the Ice-Bucket Challenge
Holland, MI
I can’t say I’m overly conversant with the history of charitable giving in America, but I can’t recall something taking off quite like...