Massaged by the Media
Staying Afloat in an Environmental, Media Maelstrom
Staying Afloat in an Environmental, Media Maelstrom A Wandering Review of The Mechanical Bride Dr. Jeff Gardner In the 1970s, Bob Hunter was the driving force behind the environmental activist group Greenpeace. Brazenly committed to raising Greenpeace’s public profile, he was a self-described media insurgent, openly rejecting objectivity and embracing sensationalism to inject alarmist hype […]
Autumn Fog (from Rural Rides)
—Ink and Echoes— Autumn Fog from Rural Rides William Cobbett —1821— Fog that you might cut with a knife all the way from London to Newbury. This fog does not wet things. It is rather a smoke than a fog. There are no two things in this world; and, were it not for fear of […]
How To Reduce Inflation and Save the Environment Without Spending Seven Hundred and Forty Billion Dollars
How To Reduce Inflation and Save the Environment Without Spending Seven Hundred and Forty Billion Dollars The United States Congress recently passed the Inflation Reduction Act. This new law aims to reduce inflation by spending stupendous quantities of dollars. It will also save the environment. The Penn Wharton Budget Model says its “impact on inflation is […]
Amazon, Tolkien, and the American Technocracy
Amazon, Tolkien, and the American Technocracy Dr. Ben Reinhard Seldom has a television series generated so much controversy as Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The trailer alone became the subject of white-hot internet controversy within days of its release, pitting devotees of Tolkien against defenders of Amazon. Each side scored its […]
The Present
The Present Dr. Jeff Gardner Listen to this article, read by the author. I turned fifty-seven this year. Not that there is anything remarkable about that. I am at that point in life where I no longer see the passage of time as a wondrous thing, but I don’t fear it either. I could be […]
On the Perks & Pitfalls of Paper Money
—Ink and Echoes— On the Perks and Pitfalls of Paper Money From the Floor of the United States Senate Daniel Webster —1834— Is it possible,—is it possible that twelve millions of intelligent people can be expected voluntarily to subject themselves to severe distress, of unknown duration, for the purpose of making trial of an experiment […]
To Work & To Love: Living Like Uncle Burley
To Work & To Love Living Like Uncle Burley Mr. Jason Craig I like Burley Coulter. I like him, at least in part, because he “caused a lot of trouble for himself and other people,” as Wendell Berry puts it. Burley is a member of Berry’s fictitious town of Port William, the setting for novels […]
Fog
Fog Mr. Matthew Giambrone This essay was originally published in Crisis Magazine. It is now two years since “two weeks” to flatten the curve. Lent and Lockdown had, in 2020, commenced at about the same time. The one ended on schedule and the other did not. Two years later, Lent finds a world still navigating […]
Chesterton’s Swordstick
Every C. S. Lewis book published by HarperCollins carries an endorsement by John Updike, the late novelist. It says, “I read Lewis for comfort and pleasure many years ago, and a glance into the books revives my old admiration.” It makes me laugh, because Lewis would have hated that quote. Of course, if he’d met Mr. Updike, he would have been perfectly civil. He would have said, “Thank you for the nice blurb,” (if you can imagine C. S. Lewis using the word blurb) and offered to sign his copy. But, inside, he would have seethed a little.
On the Limits of War
—Ink and Echoes— On the Limits of War fromThe Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton G.K. Chesterton —1936— I have always suffered from the disadvantage, among my solid and sturdy British countrymen, of not altering my opinions quickly enough. I have generally attempted, in a modest way, to have reasons for my opinions; and I have never […]