The Speech of Herbs: Melissa Kwasny’s “The Cloud Path” by Johnny Payne Essay - “Yet what might in lesser hands become mere effusions is tempered with a wise, sometimes steely, sometimes self-abnegating, sometimes mournful contemplative voice that speaks of philosophical and personal concerns combined…” (2/2/2025)
New Poems:
Introducing Jonathan Church’s podcast:


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Understanding Orwell on the Lesser Evil by Dave Smith Essay - “Five years later, Orwell published an essay called ‘Looking Back on the Spanish War,’ in which he states, ‘War is evil, and it is often the lesser evil.'” (1/31/2025)
Second Thoughts on Airline Deregulation by Elie Nehme Essay - “The deregulation of air travel and other sectors of the economy in the 1970s was (and continues to be), in my view, a profound mistake. While controversial, I assure you that this contrarian take is not (entirely) a product of big-government sentimentalism from a crabby online socialist.” (1/29/2025)
Letter: On “Our Life-World, Its Enemies, and the Enduring Power of Common Sense” by Chris Augusta Essay - “Vice President Harris’s phrase could be described as the animating principle behind the whole modern project, as well as much of what we think of as progress: The more we unburden ourselves from nature and history, the more human ideas can determine what can be.” (1/28/2025)
Still in the Holler by Johnny Payne Reflection - “If a stranger comes around, if he’s wise, he will keep to the road and announce his business soon, clearly and loudly, then you’ll see what’s what. You’re not against him, but you’re not automatically for him.” (1/22/2025)
The Buster’s Hand: Sunni Brown Wilkinson’s “Rodeo” by Johnny Payne Essay - “In her exquisitely physical Rodeo, Sunni Brown Wilkinson takes her place among those superb modernists, early and late and post, who recognize the combination of mutability and continuity across poetic epochs that is a key to lyric’s continuing strength and relevance…” (1/19/2025)
How Close Are We to Escaping Dying? The Current State of Cryonics by Natasha Vita-More Essay - “This mainstream acceptance raises a key question: If vitrification can preserve embryos and organs like kidneys, why wouldn’t similar principles apply to brain preservation of cryonics?” (1/17/2025)
What James Lindsay Gets Wrong about “Right-Wing Postliberalism” by Daniel Addison Essay - “Recently, however, James Lindsay has sparked a contentious debate on this topic by disparaging postliberals as ‘woke right.’ We will examine [Alasdair] MacIntyre in the context of this vibrant debate.” (1/16/2025)
Spinoza and the Unrest of Capitalism by Jonathan Church Essay - “To succumb to pressure to suppress or disguise his true beliefs would have been, for Spinoza, a concession equivalent to defeatist self-abnegation.” (1/13/2025)
Jimmy Carter: A Man Ahead of His Time by Jonathan Church Essay - “It should be noted, however, that President Carter was not only the Great Humanitarian. He was also the Great Deregulator.” (1/5/2025)
God’s in the Weeds: Daneen Bergland’s “The Goodbye Kit” by Johnny Payne Essay - “Eve about to be cast out of the Garden kills as the mistress of straight-faced understatement. There is no fury, no rebuke, or if there is, it has not set in yet. Instead, we get rationalizing, looking on the bright side, and philosophical self-doubt.” (1/5/2025)
Letter: Reflecting on “These People All Know Each Other” by Chris Augusta Essay - “Collegiality may grease the wheels of society, but when does it become dysfunctional or oppressive? Or, to raise another question, what are the advantages of rudeness?” (1/3/2025)
Editor’s Choice: Notable Articles in 2024 by Jonathan Church Essay - “Reviving a Merion West tradition, I present here a list, though not a ranking, of some of my favorite articles that Merion West has published this year.” (12/31/2024)
In Reply to Walter Block: Sticking with Democratic Socialism by Ben Burgis Essay - “Of course, the question of whether healthcare should be socialized is only a small piece of my general disagreement with [Walter] Block on political economy. Still, it is a vivid enough example to stand in for all the bigger questions.” (12/30/2024)
Our Life-World, Its Enemies, and the Enduring Power of Common Sense by Alexander Zubatov Essay - “Similarly distinct from the regular life-world is the world of academic theory, in which, as in the fantasy world, theoretical constructs are often divorced from any dependency on practical outcomes.” (12/28/2024)