Still in the Holler
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)
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)New Poems:
Introducing Jonathan Church’s podcast:
The Buster’s Hand: Sunni Brown Wilkinson’s “Rodeo”
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)
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
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)
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” 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)
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
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)
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
Essay - “It should be noted, however, that President Carter was not only the Great Humanitarian. He was also the Great Deregulator.” (1/5/2025)
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”
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)
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”
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)
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 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)
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 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)
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 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)
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)A Three-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Essay - “As Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said on the White House lawn in 1993 during the Oslo Accords, the progenitor initiative of what is required exactly now: ‘Enough of blood and tears. Enough.” (12/23/2024)
Essay - “As Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said on the White House lawn in 1993 during the Oslo Accords, the progenitor initiative of what is required exactly now: ‘Enough of blood and tears. Enough.” (12/23/2024)Sand, Ash, or Mud: Valerie Witte’s “A Rupture in the Interiors”
Essay - “As for most poets, [Valerie] Witte’s writing is intensely personal, whatever form it may take. No ‘experimental’ poet could be more candid and direct about her intention of ‘examining in a new way’ matters close to her heart.” (12/22/2024)
Essay - “As for most poets, [Valerie] Witte’s writing is intensely personal, whatever form it may take. No ‘experimental’ poet could be more candid and direct about her intention of ‘examining in a new way’ matters close to her heart.” (12/22/2024)Vigilantism and the Sex Offender Registry Op-Ed - “Social media and online articles about these incidents boast ten or even 20 comments praising the vigilante for each one condemning the act of violence.” (12/20/2024)
Op-Ed - “Social media and online articles about these incidents boast ten or even 20 comments praising the vigilante for each one condemning the act of violence.” (12/20/2024)Rejoinder to Ben Burgis: The Case for Laissez-Faire Capitalism
Essay - “According to that tried and true statement, ‘wealthier is healthier.’ Free enterprise leads to greater wealth and, thus, to greater health and longevity, ceteris paribus.” (12/19/2024)
Essay - “According to that tried and true statement, ‘wealthier is healthier.’ Free enterprise leads to greater wealth and, thus, to greater health and longevity, ceteris paribus.” (12/19/2024)