Two years ago this month, we watched a tragedy unfold in Afghanistan. The U.S. began withdrawing its troops, the Afghan army and government began collapsing faster than anyone thought possible, and chaos ensued for days at the airport in Kabul. A new book describes what happened, and how much is owed to the veterans organizations that stepped in to save Afghan allies and their families.
I didn’t know that, in A Preface to Paradise, C.S. Lewis criticized T.S. Eliot. Privately, he had criticized Eliot’s poetry, and he had previously criticized The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. A luncheon in 1945 midwifed by their mutual friend Charles Williams did little to bridge the chasm between the two. But things changed in the 1950s, and Joel Miller has the story. Miller also has a followup: it was Eliot who published Lewis's A Grief Observed, submitted under a pseudonym. Eliot guessed the writer's identity and agreed to publish the book, but with a different pseudonym.
I read recently that cholesterol may not be the awful villain it was once thought. Ditto for fat in foods. And then we were told all kinds of official positions during COVID that turned out to be something less than science based. We’re supposed, to “follow the science,” but what science is that? David Warren at Essays in Idleness reminds us that scientific journal editors themselves have long believed much research is suspect. Matt Taibbi at Racket News describes the “misinformation” that plagued the response to COVID from the very beginning.
More Good Reads
American Stuff
Talle de Noyer, Florissant – Chris Naffziger at St. Louis Patina.
The Unmarked Memorial at the Mouth of Mobile Bay – Chris Mackowski at Emerging Civil War.
A six-decade march – James Piereson at New Criterion.
Making American History Dramatic Again – Jonathan Den Hartog at Real Clear History.
A Hat for a Coat: Revisiting the Famous Parley Between J.E.B. Stuart and John Pope – Kevin Pawlak at Emerging Civil War.
Writing and Literature
Blurbs – Janet Reid, Literary Agent.
Life and Culture
Planting Our Flag in the Real World: Parents Take the Postman Pledge – Matt Stewart at Front Porch Republic.
The Messi Effect: New Miami stars brings big business to MLS – Dan Hajducky at ESPN.
Has the patriot economy’s moment finally arrived? – Amber Athey at The Spectator.
Faith
So, What Did Jesus Think about the Old Testament? – Michael Kruger at Canon Fodder.
Days Like Blackberries – Seth Lewis.
A hand on my shoulder: Meeting the man who led my Dad to Jesus – Andrew Roycroft at Thinking Pastorally.
They Will Never Understand How Much I Love Them – Jacob Crouch.
The Death of Church and Pub – Carl Trueman at First Things Magazine.
And for our 50th anniversary: Annie’s Song – John Denver
Painting: Man Reading a Newspaper, oil on board by August Friedrich Siegert (1820-1883).
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