Saturday Good Reads - June 8, 2024

For some time, the news media have been reporting how school and public libraries are under siege – from the book banners, the right-wing zealots, and those crazy fundamentalist wackos. (To be fair, when the news media start citing what objections people have, the reports tend to get almost deliberately vague.) This week, when I saw the story “Why I quit as a school librarian,” I expected more of the same. That’s not what happened. See former librarian Nina Welsch tell her story at UnHerd.  

Speaking of news media, the so-called news deserts are spreading. Mainstream media in general are in serious financial trouble, including big media names like the Washington Post. Sara Fischer at Axios gives a rundown, if not an explanation for why.

 

Writing for the blog at Slant Books, William Cain, a professor of English at Wellesley College, tells a story of how he first encountered a 1923 poem by Wallace Stevens, entitled “Death of a Soldier.” Stevens encapsulated history in that poem (included in the poet’s first published collection) that is rather wonderful and well worth exploring.

 

More Good Reads

 

Art

 

Doreen Fletcher’s Early Paintings – at Spitalfields Life.

 

These marks – Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

Exploring the rise and fall of British architectural sculpture – Roger Bowdler at The Art Newspaper. 

 

Israel

 

‘The first premeditated social media war against a people and a nation’ – Alan Rosenbaum at The Jerusalem Post.

 

Campus Protests

 

Anti-Israel Protesters Arrested at Stanford after Breaking into President’s Office, Injuring Officer – Zach Kessel at National Review.

 

Culture

 

We Have Been Subverted – Ali Hirsi at The Free Press.

 

The verdict boosted Trump – Lionel Shriver at The Spectator.

 

Poetry

 

Monday Morning’s Cupboard – poem by Kate Gaston at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

Approaching Zero – poem by A.M. Juster at The Hudson Review.

 

“To a Mouse” by Robert Burns – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Who Was Q. Patrick, the Golden Age Mystery Author? – Curtis Evans at CrimeReads. 

 

Rise of the Ghost Machines – Brian VanDyke at The Millions.

 

What Caleb Carr Taught Me about the Families We Make – Zack Budryk at CrimeReads.

 

One Hundred Years of Obscurity – David Heddendorf at Front Porch Republic on The Rector’s Daughter by F.M. Mayor.

 

Faith

 

The Least of My Children’s Accomplishments – Tim Challies. 

 

3 Waves That Have Shaped Evangelical Churches (and a 4^th on the Way) – Trevin Wax at The Gospel Coalition. 

 

American Stuff

 

Cross-Channel Trip: A report from Normandy – A.J. Liebling at The New Yorker (June 23, 1944).

 

Overture from Handel’s Messiah – Boston Baroque

 Painting: Magdalen Reading, by follower of Piero di Cosimo (1462-1521), The Courtauld, London. 

 

Saturday Good Reads - June 1, 2024

“Do you ever wonder what it was like to live through the fall of the Roman Republic? It took about a century. A sharp rise in street violence in the 130s and 120s BC was a warning sign, but even more ominous — we see this now with the wisdom of hindsight — was the slow draining of public confidence in the governing apparatus of the state. That confidence is the currency that purchases the golden talisman of legitimacy: a big, abstract word that suddenly impinges like a hammer when the streams that feed it fail. 

“It can be difficult to get one’s bearings in that situation. You look around and, despite the revolution in public sentiment, most of the familiar social paraphernalia persist. See: there are the congressmen and the buildings they occupy. They were in session just last week. The president of the United States was talking, sort of, about… well, we can leave that for another day. But still, there are policemen, the IRS, lawyers — lots of lawyers — schools and colleges, courts and judges.

“The difference is that none of these people or entities enjoys the level of public confidence — the measure, again, of legitimacy — they enjoyed even a decade ago. Here’s the dirty little secret: no matter what happened to Trump in lower Manhattan — whether or not he was convicted or walked — the prestige of American justice has suffered a serious attack of scrofula.”

     -Roger Kimball, “Trump found guilty in America’s first-ever Stalinist trial,” The Spectator.

“It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.”

     -Unnamed U.S. major, quoted by Peter Arnett of the Associated Press after the Battle of Ben Tre, Jan. 31, 1968.

 

American Stuff

 

Protecting America’s Promise – Ronald Lauder at The New Criterion.

 

The Case for Cartel Wars – John Daniel Davidson at The Spectator.

 

Denali National Park bridge crew ordered to stop flying American flags – Joel Davidson at Alaska Watchman.

 

News Media

 

How The New York Times Went Woke – Nellie Bowles at Persuasion.

 

Israel

 

Conservative Christians are lending support – and cash – to Israel at war – Jaclyn Diaz at NPR.

 

Lou Lenart: A Hero for our Tenebris Times – Michael Oren at Clarity.

 

Campus Protests

 

My message to Columbia’s sane students – Douglas Murray at The Free Press.

 

Some employers are reluctant to hire college grads who attended Palestinian protests, survey finds – Sawdah Bhaimiya at MSN.

 

The Letter of the 500 – Nathan Sharansky at Tablet Magazine.

 

The new Stalinism? – Ethan Green at The Critic Magazine.

 

This ‘Cowboy’ Wants to Teach Princeton Kids About Greatness – Francesca Block at The Free Press.

 

Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation” – Matt Taibbi at Racket News.

 

British Stuff

 

King Crimson – my thoughts on that portrait – Chris Green at Ministry Nuts and Bolts.

 

Faith

 

‘I Will Not Forget You’: Hope in the Grief of Dementia – Kathryn Butler at Desiring God. 

 

Christians are still being persecuted in Egypt – Lizzie Francis a The Critic Magazine.

 

‘A step back in time’: America’s Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways – Tim Sullivan at Associated Press.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Reading Photographs as Texts for Narrative Inspiration – Nathan Glower at CrimeReads.

 

Panegyric for G.K. Chesterton – Ronald Knox at The Imaginative Conservative. 

 

Novels in Unusual Forms – Lincoln Michel at Counter Craft.

 

Remembering Paul Auster – various authors at Literary Hub.

 

Why Are Debut Novels Failing to Launch? – Kate Dwyer at Esquire Magazine.

 

Poetry

 

“Birthday,” poem by Ted Kooser – Megan Willome at Poetry for Life.

 

The UK Blessing – UK Churches

Painting: The Reader, oil on canvas (1861) by Edouard Manet (1832-1883); St. Louis Art Museum. 

Saturday Good Reads - May 25, 2024

Matt Taibbi is the independent journalist who was part of the team that published the Twitter Files, exposing almost wholesale censorship at the major social platforms at the behest of the FBI and other federal government entities (euphemism for “the current Administration”). He operates Racket News, and he’s back at it, working with an organization called Undead FOIA. What they learned is that so called “anti-disinformation” programs, funded by none other than our tax dollars, have been put in place not so much to counter disinformation but to censor anything right of center, and perhaps even moderately left to far right of center, even if it’s not disinformation.  

A whole series of stories have been posted at Racket News:

 

Introducing the Censorship Files – Matt Taibbi.

 

FOIA Library: The University of Washington.

 

            Garry Kasparov Reigns from Aspen Institute Commission.

 

            “We Have Very Little Information about What Works.”

 

            “We Will Not Be Intimidated From Continuing Our Mission.”

 

            How the Intelligence Community Wore Down the Platform.

 

            Your Posts Replaced with “Dog Pictures, Quinoa Recipes, and Spots Scores?”

 

More Good Reads

 

Israel

 

The fight among the olive trees – Fin DePencier at The Spectator.

 

Israel Doesn’t Need Better ‘Hasbara’: It needs better friends – Richard Hanania at Tablet Magazine.

 

Decades of Denial: How Islamists Won the War Against Western Values – Amelia Adams at Clarity with Michael Oren. 

 

Why is Ireland rewarding Hamas? – Ian Doherty at The Spectator.

 

Culture

 

That Eerie Silence – Matt Taibbi at Racket News.

 

The Revenge of the Normies – Martin Gurri at The Free Press.

 

The Triumph of the Classical – James Stevens Curl at The Critic Magazine reviews The Language of Architectural Classicism. 

 

What My Soviet Life Taught Me about Censorship – Izabella Tabarovsky at Quillette.

 

Theology of Immigration – Brad Littlejohn at First Things Magazine.

 

My Failed Wild Garden and Inner Utopian – Eric Scheske at Front Porch Republic.

 

Poetry

 

At Melville’s Tomb – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Scripture as Poetic Sacrament – James Matthew Wilson at Public Discourse.

 

Campus Protests

 

Columbia’s Jewish Commencement – Michael Hoberman at Table Magazine.

 

American Stuff

 

Why Some U.S. Agents Are Contemplating Suicide – Joe Nocera and Michele DeMarco at The Free Press.

 

Faith

 

Christian Catholicity in a Digital Age – Samuel D. James at Digital Liturgies.

 

So What Happened to Jonah, and Why Does It Matter? – Michael Kelley at Forward Progress. 

 

Adam Poisoned Me – Stephen Steele at Gentle Reformation.

 

5 Notable College Commencement Addresses That Featured Faith – Clemente Lisi at Religion Unplugged.

 

News Media

 

From Paperboys to Algorithms: How Metrics Shape Modern Journalism – Brent Lucia at Far from Equilibrium.

 

Why Did Google Ban Winslow Homer? – Suzy Weiss at The Free Press.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Stories Hatch in Silence – Ann Kroeker at Story Hatchery.

 

Why Harlan Coben Decided Now was the Time to Bring Back a Beloved Character – John Valeri at CrimeReads.

 

How to Become a Writer – Ursula Le Guin at Literary Hub.

 

Heinlein’s Business Habits for Writers – via Harvey Stanbrough at Harvey’s (Almost) Daily Journal.

 

Once Upon a Time in the West (Ennio Morricone) – Steffi Vertriest

 Painting: Woman Reading to a Little Girl. Oil on canvas by Felix Vallotton (1865-1925). 

Saturday Good Reads - May 18, 2024

If there was anyone who had the greatest influence on me as a young Christian, it was the theologian Francis Schaeffer and his book and video series How Shall We Then Live?. This past week was the 40^th anniversary of his death, and John Stonestreet and Timothy Padgett at Breakpoint have a remembrance.

Christianity may be experiencing a comeback. When Russell Brand announced he had become a Christian, eyebrows went up. When he was baptized, eyebrows went up even more; was he really serious? As it turns out, yes, he was. He’s not alone. Jane Stannus at The Spectator notes that all kinds of “unorthodox folks” are embracing Christianity these days, and she cites a reason: the growing awareness that Christianity is the last bulwark against society pitching itself into the abyss.

 

Douglas Murray, the writer, social commentator, and outspoken defender of Western culture (and Israel), received the Alexander Hamilton Award from the Manhattan Institute last week. His acceptance speech, “What It Means to Choose Life,” is a marvel. The Free Press has printed the text. 

 

Campus Protests

 

Hysterics for Hamas – Heather MacDonald at City Journal. 

 

Modern Protest Culture is Crippled by Internet Brain – Samuel D. James at Digital Liturgies.

 

Why the Gaza protests are worrying – editorial by The Spectator.

 

Israel

 

What Hamas Wants in Postwar Gaza – Matthew Levitt at Foreign Affairs. 

 

The Insane Anti-Jewish Literary Blacklist – Seth Mandel at Commentary.

 

Culture

 

Duke Commencement Address: ‘The Uncomfortable Feeling of Awkward Humor is Okay – Jerry Seinfeld at The Free Press.

 

Judi Dench on trigger warnings: “If you’re that sensitive, don’t go to the theatre” – Laura Rutkowski at Radio Times.

 

American Stuff

 

Ann Hill Carter Lee – JoAnna McDonald at Emerging Civil War.

 

Interest Costs Just Passed Defense and Medicare – Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

 

The Jessie Scouts: America’s Original Special Forces Unit – Patrick O’Donnell at CrimeReads.

 

Poetry

 

Working for Life Beyond the Words – Sarah Reardon at Front Porch Republic.

 

“Autumn,” poem by Joseph Bottum – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Faith

 

The Big Impact of Little Faith – John Pletcher at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics.

 

How Could a Good God… – Jacob Crouch.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Creating a Sense of Place in Fiction – Caroline Cleveland at Writer’s Digest.

 

Alice Munro was the writer’s writer – Megan Gibson at The New Statesman.

 

News Media

 

News publishers sound alarm on Google’s new AI-infused search, warn of ‘catastrophic’ impacts – Oliver Darcy at CNN.

 

In Christ Alone – Michael W. Smith

 Painting: Man Reading, oil on canvas (1851) by Jean-Louis-Ernest Messonnier (1815-1891); the Clark Art Museum, Willliamstown, Mass.

Saturday Good Reads - May 11, 2024

My wife and I have been members of the Missouri Botanical Garden, known in St. Louis as Shaw’s Garden, since 1979. We love the place, and I have a deep affection for its rural sister, Shaw’s Nature Reserve (which we call the Arboretum; St. Louisans have another “real” name for a lot of things). Some two or three years ago, the garden embarked upon a new welcome center, administration building, and meeting space, tearing down what was previously there and replacing it with, well, what I call the mausoleum. I don’t know what it is about modern architecture that is so institutional or even “anti-human,” but it’s all over. It turns out we are not alone. Michael Strand at Front Porch Republic asks the question: why does modern architecture seemed designed to demoralize? 

What caught my attention with the university campus protests was the tents the protestors were using for their encampments. No matter what the location – Columbia, UCLA, and all points in between – the tents looked oddly the same. There’s a reason, as it turns out. Read Park MacDoufald at Tablet Magazine on the people setting American on fire. Patrick West at The Spectator notes how the protests are curiously copycat, no matter what Western country they happen in.

 

Tim Challies has a 10-episode documentary on Christian history, capturing the story of global Christianity. It is now free to watch on YouTube or Tim’s web site.

 

More Good Reads

 

British Stuff

 

The Relics of Old St. Paul’s – Spitalfields Life. 

 

Israel / Anti-Semitism

 

From the River to the Sea: Getting It Right, Getting It Wrong – Susie Linfield at Salmagundi.

 

Not in Our Name – the editors of Tablet Magazine.

 

Every argument for Israel: Answering the case against Israel point-by-point – Mark Humphreys at The Critic Magazine.

 

Faith

 

The Early Church’s Protection of Women and Children – Breakpoint / Colson Center.

 

Truth I Didn’t Learn in Business School – Ken Eldred at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics.

 

A Good Neighbor – Kit Swartz at Gentle Reformation.

 

Poetry

 

Tree House – Seth Lewis.

 

Pope’s Gilgamesh – Adam Roberts at Adam’s Notebook.

 

“Swans” by Sally Thomas – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

White Chalet Bird House – Lauren Camp at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

Writing and Literature

 

Why Research Matters in Fiction – Jack Du Brul at Writer’s Digest.

 

More Publishing Facts You May Not Know – Lincoln Michel at Counter Craft.

 

Paul Auster’s Voice – Michael O’Donnell at The Millions.

 

News Media

 

Is Journalism Back? New York Times Editor Goes Ballistic on Biden, “Safe Space” Era – Matt Taibbi at Racket News.

 

Unscientific American: Science journalism surrenders to progressive ideology – James Meigs at City Journal. 

Note to Readers: In Search of the Great Canadian Terror - Matt Taibbi at Racket News.

 

Early Morning Rain – Peter, Paul & Mary

 Painting: Interior with a Woman Reading, oil on canvas (1907) by Niels Holsoe (1865-1928). 

Saturday Good Reads - May 4, 2024

Growing up, I often worked at my father’s printing business in downtown New Orleans. And I was often employed to deliver finished jobs and pick up new ones. Many a time I passed the corner of Gravier Street and St. Charles Avenue and saw a plaque on a small building wall. It simply read: “The Paul Morphy Chess Club.” I was reminded of that plaque this week when I read “America’s Greatest Chess Player Was a Confederate?” by Evan Portman at Emerging Civil War. The Historic New Orleans Collection also has an article about how Morphy brought chess to New Orleans.  

With all the news coverage of the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, what’s being lost, or conveniently overlooked, is what happened on Oct. 7. Sheryl Sandberg, the former COO of Facebook, is promoting a documentary about that day, entitled Screams Before Silence. If Hamas was set on outdoing the Nazis, they at least came close. And I ask myself, if it’s the Palestinians the protestors are so concerned about, why aren’t they screaming about what Hamas has done to them: stealing billions in aid, using women and children as shields, placing missiles and weapons in schools and hospitals, indoctrinating children in hating Jews (with a little help from the United Nations). Instead, all we see and hear are college students (and outsiders) chanting the slogans of Hamas and Hezbollah.

 

More Good Reads

 

The Campus Protests 

 

An explanation of the campus protests – Charles Lipson at The Spectator.

 

There Are Two Set Rules of Speech – Abigail Shrier at The Free Press.

 

The ‘Micro-Intifada’: How American Protestors Are Being Trained in ‘Militancy’ – Francesca Block at The Free Press.

 

Parent Call to UCLA Police – via X (formerly Twitter).

 

Life and Culture

 

Understanding Russell Kirk: A Bold Biography by Bradley Birzer – Robert Stacey at The Imaginative Conservative. 

 

A True Bipartisan Scandal – Matt Taibbi at The Free Press. 

 

Writing and Literature

 

WITD (Writing into the Dark) is Not the Only Way – Harvey Stanbrough at Harvey’s (Almost) Daily Journal.

 

The Rare Entertainments of E.C.R. Lorac’s Death of an Author – Martin Edwards at CrimeReads.

 

2024 Edgar Allan Poe Award Winners – Mystery Writers of America.

 

Poetry

 

Canterbury Tales: The General Prologue – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Two poems by Christian Lehnert – a new translation by Richard Sieburth at New Criterion.

 

Judas in the Upper Room – Michael Stalcup at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

3 sentient blues – Franco Amati at Garbage Notes.

 

Israel

 

Israel and the making of nations – Daniel McCarthy at The Spectator.

 

Faith

 

Antisemitism is the Devil’s Flagpole by Andrew Klavan, and The Tide of Battle Turns by Spencer Klavan,-- at The New Jerusalem. 

 

There’s a Religious Earthquake Coming. Can You Feel It? – Stephen McAlpine. 

 

Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

 Painting: Old Man Reading a Book, oil on canvas (19^th century), artist unknown but associated with the American School.