“Maybe there is something in our environment that makes staying together so hard.”
The Latest Interview
Latest from the Arts
On the Record: Past Interviews
Category: The Left
Clarifying My Comments on Lindsay, Pluckrose, and Boghossian
“The picture of science that they defend, however, is what merits the most attention.“
What Is Unity, Anyways?
“Without some clarification on this point, calling for unity looks less like an appeal to historical precedent and more like the nostalgic projection of order and stability onto time periods that were anything but.”
Interview: Rep. Susan Wild on How Congress Can Respond to the Pandemic
“The problem is, though, we can’t rely on volunteerism, donations, and gifts for much longer because—quite frankly—most of these places are getting pretty tapped out.”
Pharmakon III: Parable of the Talents
“Even more disturbingly, the odds of a state governor’s child eventually holding the same title is 1 in 51; 1 in 47 for Senators; 1 in 13 for Presidents; and 1 in 9 for billionaires.”
“It’s the Economy, Stupid”: What Marx Can Teach Us about the Pandemic
“Indeed, when COVID-19 hit, the sunny stock market forecasts President Donald Trump boasted of were belied by record levels of corporate debt and a low rate of productivity growth.”
Why the Left Can’t Agree on Anything
“The irony is that this is in stark contrast to how our rivals on the political right often portray the Left.”
On the “Sokal Squared” Trio
“Now, this is not a review of the book, nor a critique of them personally but, rather, a critique of their function as public intellectuals.”
On Tucker Carlson and Sycophants
“Regardless of whether President Trump succeeds in his bid for re-election to the White House, those who think and speak like Carlson will likely suffer no retribution for throwing red meat to his base.”
The Places Where Patrick Deneen and the Left Can Agree
“I agree with Deneen—and I suspect many others on the Left do too—that the local community is the optimal setting to pursue the good.”
How Ben Shapiro Might Consider Locke More Carefully
“Locke’s theoretical arguments prefigured another thinker who had a lot to say about labor and property: Karl Marx.”
Pharmakon II: Sold to the Corporate Libertarian
“Indeed, economist Thomas Piketty observes that the United States presents for the first time in history a society headed towards extreme inequality, driven not by hyper-patrimony (inherited wealth) but hyper-meritocracy…”
A Tribute to Michael Brooks
“It is truly hard to believe that he is gone and that this burgeoning collaboration and friendship will never get the chance to grow.”
Review: Ronald Beiner’s “Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right”
“During the past few years before, I had struggled with—and then firmly said goodbye to—the Catholicism of my upbringing, and I was searching for a new philosophy of meaning that did not seem to depend on so many leaps of faith.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell: Reflecting on the Impeachment of President Trump
“Maybe there are some lessons learned, so this never happens again.”