Saturday, June 29, 2024

Saturday Good Reads - June 29, 2024


Last week, I linked to an article by British historian Niall Ferguson. In his debut column for The Free Press, he made a case for the increasing Sovietization of American society. Helen Andrews at The American Conservative begs to disagree, making her own case that Ferguson seriously understated what the situation really is.  

For about five years in the early 2000s, I left corporate communications. When I returned in 2004, I discovered something really odd: PR people weren’t talking to reporters anymore. Instead, responses to reporters’ questions were provided by email, usually laden with so many corporate talking points that they were almost nonsensical. And it wasn’t only my company; something had fundamentally shifted broadly. “Could not be reached for comment” or “declined to comment” has been growing as responses as well. Paul Farhi at Columbia Journalism Review takes a look at what’s been happening, but he doesn’t really dig into why. 

 

The first bridge across the Mississippi River was the Eads Bridge, opened in 1874 and named for the engineer who designed it. It was a marvel of its time – people said it would never work and soon collapse. Which never happened. Ayn Rand, in her famous novel Atlas Shrugged, used the Eads Bridge (under another name) and all its naysayers. The Missouri History Museum is celebrating the edifice’s 150th anniversary in a video, noting that the man behind it also built ironclads for the Union during the Civil War. 

 

I will also be the only person in the Western world who declines to comment on Thursday’s presidential debate.

 

More Good Reads

 

Poetry

 

Emerson’s Grief – David Bannon at Front Porch Republic.

 

“In Summer” by Paul Laurence Dunbar – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Life Without Internet – Liz Snell at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

Faith

 

Publishing Epistles: How the Apostles Wrote Their Letters – Benjamin Laird at Desiring God.

 

Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and God’s Beautiful Providence – David Prince at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Longing for Home with C.S. Lewis and Tyler Childers – Casey McCall at Remembrance of Former Days.

 

Israel, Gaza, and Anti-Semitism

 

The Pogrom on Pico Boulevard – Noah Pollak at The Free Press.

 

Israel’s Double-Edged Sword, Part III – Michael Oren at Clarity with Michael Oren.

 

American Stuff

 

History, memory and the Semiquincentennial: Musings & Reflections – Denis Brennan at The Daily Gazette.

 

The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt – Chuck Chalberg at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

Fourteen Union Heroes from a Forgotten Battle – Nigel Lambert at Emerging Civil War. 

 

Life and Culture

 

Bring Back Capitalism – Matt Taibbi at Racket News. 

 

Suppression of Dissent – Madeleine Rowley via Christopher Rufo. 

 

The Enduring American Car – Mark Mills at City Journal. 

 

The Supreme Court Punts on Censorship – Matt Taibbi at Racket News.

 

News Media

 

Assange is Free, But Never Forget How the Press Turned on Him – Matt Taibbi at Racket News.

 

Writing and Literature

 

The Literary Power of Hobbits: How JRR Tolkien Shaped Modern Fantasy – Verlyn Flieger at Literary Hub. 

 

Art 

 

The Crossing – Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

An exclusive visit to Van Gogh’s asylum to track down the scenes he painted – Martin Bailey at The Art Newspaper.

 

You Raise Me Up – Secret Garden



 
Painting: Candlemas Day, oil on canvas (1901) by Marianne Stokes (1855-1927).

 

No comments:

Post a Comment